"The Politics of Obedience"

"The Politics of Obedience"

by Brian Maher

“A people enslaves itself, cuts its own throat, when, having a choice between being vassals and being free men, it deserts its liberties and takes on the yoke, gives consent to its own misery, or, rather, apparently welcomes it.” We believe the 16th-century French political theorist Étienne de La Boétie hooked onto a truth here. We plucked this passage from his masterly work "The Politics of Obedience by" title.

We believe it enjoys high relevance in this, the 21st century. More from which: "It is incredible how as soon as a people becomes subject, it promptly falls into such complete forgetfulness of its freedom that it can hardly be roused to the point of regaining it, obeying so easily and so willingly that one is led to say, on beholding such a situation, that this people has not so much lost its liberty as won its enslavement." Thus the frog goes into its pot of gradually heating water - and never jumps out.

Perfectly Imperfect: Yesterday we wondered why so many continue to accept the verdicts of Dr. Fauci... his understrappers within the field of public health… and the elected officials who boss us. In nearly every particular they have proven mistaken - intentionally or unintentionally... Mistaken on masks. Mistaken on lockups. Mistaken on medicines. Mistaken on vaccines. What they claim one day is proven false the following day. What they deny one day is proven true the following day. If not the following day, then the following week. If not the following week, then the following month.

It is not the erring that flusters us. Sincere men - men of good faith - can botch badly. We are merely confounded and discombobulated that so many continue heeding them… and submitting to their blemished authority. And why do so many have such blistering heat against those who point to holes in official theories, who announce that the emperor is well and truly nude? Would they prefer to be foxed, conned and tricked - to believe the emperor is garmented? These are the questions we tackle today...

No Judgment: We do not hector, we do not preach, we do not badger, we do not hold forth today. Nor do we judge. A man shoots an accusing finger outward and three shoot back at him… as is said. We are merely out to solve a puzzle, the way a detective is out to solve a crime, the way an autopsist is out to solve a death.

For light, we turn to Professor Mattias Desmet. This fellow professes psychology at Belgium’s Ghent University. A people acquire an acute anxiety, he explains. In the case before us, acute anxiety of the virus. Coney-catchers, sharpers and opportunists - that is, political leaders - emerge in response, holding out salvation. The people accept the outstretched hand. It soothes and comforts them. Anyone who slaps away this hand is a hellcat, a hobgoblin, a menace to the public happiness.

“Mass-Formation: Here the professor speaks of “Mass-Formation.” As summarized: "In Mass-Formations people become radically intolerant of dissident voices. This person threatens to wake the people up and they get angry when confronted by the initial anxiety and discontent they experience by challenges to the official doctrine. The crowd directs all their aggression at dissident voices.

At the same time they are radically tolerant of their leaders who pronounce the mainstream narrative. These people can lie and cheat and do everything they want and will always be forgiven by the crowd. All the lying, dishonesty and misbehavior is seen by the crowd as doing it for their own safety."

We suffer the acquaintance of certain individuals who fit this description to a fare-thee-well… as perfectly and precisely as the size 10 foot fits the size 10 shoe. They, like your editor, are reasonably sane. They are reasonably reasonable, they are reasonably tolerant. They are generally pleasant and agreeable.

Jekyll and Hyde: But tell them that Dr. Fauci has been less than fully truthful. Tell them that masks are minimally effective. Tell them that lockups fail to jail the virus. Above all… Tell them that these vaccines are not as safe or as formidable as the drummers claim. Now you have a demon on your hands. They will scourge you as a conspiracy theorist… a delusional… an imbecile… a witless dupe of the bedlamite fringe.

Here we speak with the invincible authority of personal experience. We know such gentlemen and ladies. We had best keep the names dark, lest our attorneys receive a sharp note claiming character defamation.

No matter what you hurl against them, it bounces off unbreachable armor… spitballs off a tank. They simply will not listen. They are sunk in a sort of intoxicating hypnosis. And woe to anyone out to shatter the spell…

Why Facts Don’t Work: More: Similar to hypnosis, people in this hyper-focused state are narrowly focused. In hypnosis, only the hypnotized are focused in this way… In Mass-Formation, leaders emerge which are even more narrowly focused than the followers. When people experience this mental intoxication it no longer matters if the narrative is wrong or even blatantly false. What matters is that it leads up to this mental intoxication. This is why they will continue to go along with the narrative.

The resistance to understanding the narrative is false or wrong is driven by the fear of returning to the state of Free-Floating Anxiety and wanting to continue to experience the mental intoxication. This explains why arguing based on facts will not work. Facts no longer matter to them. Given the facts, they are unable to come to sensible conclusions, even in their own best interests.

Here we believe the author lowers his hammer square upon the nailhead. We believe his thesis holds vast explanatory powers. It is immensely plausible. Again: We do not judge or condemn whom we consider the entranced. They consider us entranced. They are of course correct.

For example: This editor of yours believes he is the reincarnated soul of the Emperor Nero. He believes that he is a masterful lover. He believes that he is nice. He accepts them as fact… though in honest moments he concedes he lacks all confirming evidence. But let it go...

The Real Blame: Our grievance is not with the entranced, but rather with the spellbinders who entrance them. That is, with those who would wreck a society over a virus rate with a survival rate in excess of 99%...

With those who would decry the use of safe and effective drug treatments because they would harpoon the legal justification for experimental, emergency-use vaccines… With those who promised us we could discard our facial masks once we took aboard the vaccines… With those who would torture statistics to declare a false “pandemic of the unvaccinated”...

With those who deny that these vaccines have murdered many thousands of people and mangled hundreds of thousands more… With those who would inform mothers-to-be that these vaccines will not injure their child… With those who would vaccinate young children, young children who face infinitesimal risk of sickness or death and who are far more likely to perish from the vaccine itself… With those who believe they can and should dictate the medical choices of free men and women.

It is they who frost our nose. It is they who wring our gizzard. It is they who rile our customary serenity and our detached indifference to the world’s events.

Time for Inaction: We conclude today’s issue where we commenced - with Monsieur Étienne de La Boétie. Here is how to break the hypnotist’s spell… for those who care to break it. His counterspell requires not action - but inaction: "You can deliver yourselves if you try, not by taking action, but merely by willing to be free. Resolve to serve no more, and you are at once freed. I do not ask that you place hands upon the tyrant to topple him over, but simply that you support him no longer; then you will behold him, like a great Colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall of his own weight and break into pieces. The time for inaction is now…"

- dailyreckoning.com

○

Freely download "The Politics of Obedience" by Étienne de La Boétie here:

- https://mises.org/library/

Gregory Mannarino, "Must Watch: Proof The Middle Class Wipeout Is Accelerating With An Economy In Freefall"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 11/18/21:

"Must Watch: Proof The Middle Class Wipeout Is 

Accelerating With An Economy In Freefall"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Musical Interlude: Josh Groban, "Remember When It Rained"

Full screen recommended.

Josh Groban, "Remember When It Rained"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"The Horsehead Nebula is one of the most famous nebulae on the sky. It is visible as the dark indentation to the orange emission nebula at the far right of the featured picture. The horse-head feature is dark because it is really an opaque dust cloud that lies in front of the bright emission nebula. Like clouds in Earth's atmosphere, this cosmic cloud has assumed a recognizable shape by chance. After many thousands of years, the internal motions of the cloud will surely alter its appearance. 

The emission nebula's orange color is caused by electrons recombining with protons to form hydrogen atoms. Toward the lower left of the image is the Flame Nebula, an orange-tinged nebula that also contains intricate filaments of dark dust. Two prominent reflection nebulas are visible: round IC 432 on the far left, and blue NGC 2023 just to the lower left of the Horsehead nebula. Each glows primarily by reflecting the light of their central star."

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap211103.html

Chet Raymo, “Try To Remember…”

“Try To Remember…”

by Chet Raymo

“In a sleepless hour of the night, I was trying to remember the last name of a person I have known well for more than forty years. When my spouse stirred in her sleep, I asked her. She couldn’t remember either. One again I started mentally through the alphabet. “I think it starts with B,” I said. Ten minutes later she rolled over and said, “The next letter is R.” Bingo! The name popped into my head. Or I should say, “popped out of my head.” Because it was in there somewhere, recorded in a tangle of neurons as materially as if it were written on a piece of paper.

There was a time, back when I was a young man, when some scientists thought memory might be molecular – stored as proteins or RNA molecules that have somehow been modified by experience. The molecule theory of memory rested on experiments with worms (I remember the cover illustration on Scientific American). The worms were taught to navigate a simple maze. Then they were ground up and fed to untrained worms, which seemed to navigate the maze without training. Only molecules, it was thought, could have survived the transfer. Those experiments have been discredited. Scientists now overwhelmingly believe that memories are stored as webs of connections between spider-shaped brain cells called neurons. Each neuron is connected through electrochemical connections to thousands of others. According to the current view, experience fine-tunes the connections, strengthening some, weakening others, creating a different “trace” of interconnected cells for each memory.

But truth be told, memory is still deeply mysterious. How exactly are a lifetime of memories stored and retrieved at will? We know how it works for computers, but how for the human brain? What is self-consciousness? What are dreams? This is the primary scientific agenda for the 21st century. In the middle of the night I go fishing, in that sea of potentiated synapses that are the human soul, for a name that becomes ever more difficult to extract as I get older. I troll the alphabet: A, B, C, D… The name is in there, along with a face and more that forty years of interactions. The Nobel Prizes are waiting.”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

•

Graphic: Salvador Dali, “The Persistence of Memory”

"My Task..."

“My task, which I am trying to achieve, is by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel; it is, before all, to make you see. That and no more, and it is everything. If I succeed, you shall find there, according to your deserts, encouragement, consolation, fear, charm, all you demand – and, perhaps, also that glimpse of truth for which you have forgotten to ask.”

- Joseph Conrad

The Poet: Matthew Schwartz, “Ex Obscurum”

Full screen recommended.

“From emotional turmoil, hatred, and addiction the miracle of recovery begins in this Spadecaller Video entitled “Ex Obscurum” (From Darkness). Featuring original poetry narrated by the author and visual artist, Matthew Schwartz. Composer Samuel Barber’s powerful musical score, adopted for the movie Platoon, (Adagio for Strings) sets the background for this spiritual exodus “From Darkness.”

“Ex Obscurum”

“Remnants of my arrogance

Crumbles like ancient paper.

Why have me suffer this way?

Knowing I’m unable to lift myself up?

My dreams of grandeur are dead.

Glory is no mortal treasure;

Only a mirage for a lost soul.

Booze and drugs do not know my pain.

My body is failing.

My skin yellow, my vision dim.

I come to you burned and beaten.

Still clinging to these toxic vines,

The last rays of sunlight fading.

Is something or someone listening?

Hear my prayer:

Cut from me these twisted limbs.

Or, let me perish and be free at last.

I’ve failed at both life and death;

Must I wallow in this hideous morass,

Giving back nothing of any worth?

Death should have come many times past.

Why have you thwarted my retreat?

This is no pardon for a man like me.

To change I’ve tried, but look at me:

On the floor begging for eternal peace.

Begging you for one final breath.

Is this the mercy that befits your loving omnipotence?

Should I live one more moment of one more day,

Let it be free from hate.

Let it be unspoiled by fear,

Unencumbered by shameful lies.


Let it be imperfectly human.

To the power of all powers I come here now.

Spirit over all spirits I need your help.

You have always known,

When like a burning match my life was flickering.

No mere accident has kept this heart beating.

Could these odds persist year after perilous year?

No! To your power I surrender. But what now?

The black spots on this leopard are many.

Only a stroke from your sacred brush could change me.

To one knee, I lift my broken body. 

Salty tears wet my parched lips.

My dingy railroad flat on Second Street glows.

The fog clears from my blurry eyes.

The burden of my regrets and guilt lift away.

Loneliness and despair evaporate,

Like a dewdrop in the midday sun,

A voice within me, but not within calls.

Like thunder after a passing storm

The rumbling echo speaks softly:




“You are never alone. I love you enough to let you suffer.

I love you enough to let you choose between

Light or darkness;

Love or hate.”

- Spadecaller

- https://spadecaller.com/

"Mortals All...

"We are mortals all, human and nonhuman, bound in one fellowship of love and travail. No one escapes the fate of death. But we can, with caring, make our good-byes less tormented. If we broaden the circle of our compassion, life can be less cruel."

- Gary Kowalski

The Daily "Near You?"

Penticton, British Columbia, Canada. Thanks for stopping by!

"Paul Volcker, Wherefore Art Thou?"

"Paul Volcker, Wherefore Art Thou?"

by Bill Bonner

"There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved."

– Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – "The big showdown is coming. The moment of truth… when the Federal Reserve has to lay its cards on the table. This moment, when it comes, will determine the success – or failure – of your investments for many years to come. Will the feds voluntarily abandon their money-printing scheme? Or go on with it… until it results in a “total catastrophe”? Fire or ice? A bang or a whimper? Inflate or Die? We think we know the answer. The feds will keep at it until the whole system blows up. At least, that’s the answer we’ve been giving you for months… maybe years.

Reasonable Outlook: Of course, a lot of people think we are wrong – including some people whose opinions we take seriously. They believe the Fed will eventually do the right thing – raise rates in order to pinch off inflation. After all, the Fed is already talking about “tapering,” pledging to bring its “emergency” measures to an end. And Fed governors are not exceptionally stupid. They know their primary responsibility is to protect the U.S. currency. And if they neglect their duty now… runaway inflation will be even harder, probably impossible, to control later, leading to poverty, crashes, riots, and revolution.

Surely, faced with a nightmare, they’ll wake up and do “whatever it takes” to avoid it. This seems like such a reasonable outlook and expectation, we sometimes wonder why we don’t believe it, too. So let’s look more closely…

Clear Vision: David Stockman, Ronald Reagan’s former budget jefe, is of sound mind and clear vision. He sees the situation, as it has developed thus far, much as we do: The fake money and fake interest rates are ruining the country. He sees, too, that the interests of the moneyed elite – on Wall Street and in Washington – are not the same as those of the ordinary working stiff on Main Street. The former benefit from EZ-money policies. The latter suffer, sooner or later, in the form of higher consumer prices.

But David is much less cynical than we are. He must have a sunnier disposition and more faith in the democratic system.  That is, he thinks that when push comes to shove, the feds will do the right thing, if only to hold onto power: In short, in not too many months down the road a desperate White House will have no choice except to welcome in the next Paul Volcker, whoever that might prove to be, in order to douse the inflationary fires and forestall a monumental Democratic wipe-out in the 2022 mid-terms.

Good Politics: David knows a lot more about politics – and finance – than we do. Besides, he has a point we hadn’t fully considered. Politicians are either in office, desperately hoping to stay there… or they’re out of office, trying to get in. If they are in power, they want people to feel good. If they are out, they want them to feel bad. That is why, during the Trump years, the Democrat-leaning press portrayed the COVID-19 virus as an existential threat; it was just good politics.

On Tuesday, we noted that the Democrats may be changing course. They are in power now… They may stand a better chance of remaining in power by putting the voters in a better mood. Instead of making everyone fearful and panicky, as they did during the last two years, they may now want to see COVID-19 “in the rearview mirror.”

Super Power: But the inflation problem is very different from the COVID problem. The latter was caused by nature (apparently)… and there really wasn’t much the authorities could do about it. So, not doing much about it now won’t make much of a difference. Inflation, however, is caused by the government itself, for the purpose of shifting money from the public to the elite. And you can’t make it go away just by ignoring it.

EZ money – printing-press money – is the “super power” of the ruling elite. With it, they can pay for their jackass programs… pay themselves good salaries… fund their pet projects… and reward their donors and supporters… The trouble is, of course, that it leads to price increases. Voters get annoyed. And then, the ruling party is on the spot. It will lose the next election if inflation gets worse…

Monetary Restraint? But what can it do? Here’s David again: "…the Fed has truly painted itself into a corner. On one side is the rock of an egregiously inflated stock market that has the potential to implode like never before if the Fed is forced to move precipitously and unexpectedly into an inflation-fighting mode. On the other is a rapidly accelerating inflationary trend in wholesale and labor markets that will give it no choice except to belatedly lurch toward monetary restraint for the first time in more than a decade."

How likely is that? Probably not very. First, because there is no Volcker. The top candidate to replace Jerome Powell as head of the Federal Reserve is Lael Brainard. She is from the Bernanke-Yellen school, not the Volcker school. She is being considered for the post precisely because she is ready to go along with even more money-printing.

Second, it ain’t 1979 anymore. Then, the U.S. economy could afford a major recession and debt liquidation. Now, it can’t. The Fed’s key lending rate has been below zero for most of the last 11 years. Now, Wall Street… the federal government… households… and businesses – owe $85 trillion. They desperately need super-low rates to stay solvent.

Whatever It Takes: Third, the current inflation rate is, let’s say, 6%. In order to get ahead of it, as Volcker did, the Federal Funds Rate – the interest rate charged to banks on unsecured loans borrowed overnight – would have to go much higher (it’s currently 0.08%). In the late 1970s, consumer price inflation was running at about 13%. In order to stop it, Volcker realized he couldn’t just follow inflation… he had to get ahead of it. So he put the Fed’s key rate at 20%. A similar move today would leave the Federal Funds Rate at about 10%.

Imagine what a 12,400% increase – from 0.08% to 10% – would do to the leveraged traders… the options gamblers… the crypto market… and the millions of zombie businesses and households that rely on cheap finance. And imagine the Fed’s reaction to the inevitable crash. Would it just sit tight, like Volcker, as the stock market sank? In February 1980, Volcker stood stock stiff, as the Dow fell to around the price of a single ounce of gold. If that were to happen today, it would be the equivalent of a 95% wipeout in the stock market.

What Fed… what president… what Congress would allow it? Isn’t it more likely that the Fed’s back would bend… and it would immediately signal that it was ready and willing to provide “whatever it takes” to revive the economy?

No Choice: Fourth, a half-century of fake money and a decade of below-zero lending have softened Americans’ minds… and erased the habits that made them rich. A “Volcker” today would get no respect and no support – neither from the public, nor from the press, politicians, the Deep State, the clergy, economists… or any other influential group.

Fifth, and most important… the elite control the government. The government controls money policy. And the power and wealth of America’s elite rest on a foundation of fake money and fake interest rates. ‘Nuff said.

In short, the Democrats will have no choice. They could not “pull a Volcker”… even if they wanted to. And the country will stay on course for destruction."

- www.rogueeconomics.com

○

Related:

"Top 1% Gains More Wealth Than the Combined GDPs of Japan, 

Germany, UK, France, India and Italy, Bottom 50% -You Get Nothing"

"What we find is a stunning asymmetry: if the top 1%'s net worth has risen along with GDP since 2000, it would now be about $21 trillion. Instead, it's now over $43 trillion, a $22 trillion gain above where it would be had it tracked GDP growth."

"Supply Chain and Retail Nightmare - Walmart’s Are Even Closing"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly, AM 11/18/21:

"Supply Chain and Retail Nightmare - 

Walmart’s Are Even Closing"

"All Of A Sudden, Things Are Starting To Get Really Weird As We Approach The End Of 2021"

"All Of A Sudden, Things Are Starting To Get Really 

Weird As We Approach The End Of 2021"

by Michael Snyder

"I hope that you are sitting down, because I am going to share some things with you in this article that are deeply alarming. I am going to try to cover everything as quickly as I can, but I want to warn you in advance that this is not going to be a short piece. Now that we have entered the second half of November, things appear to be breaking loose all over the globe. I don’t know if every single item that I will share with you in this article will become a crisis, but every single one of them is definitely worth monitoring.

But before I get to the specifics, let me tell you about something really strange that is happening with the moon. Very early on Friday morning, a nearly total lunar eclipse will turn the moon red for up to three and a half hours…The longest partial lunar eclipse of the century will take place on Friday morning, making the moon appear red for up to 3.5 hours. It will darken the moon for most of the planet on November 19, with up to 97 per cent of the moon slipping into Earth’s shadow. The best place to view the eclipse will be North America, where almost all of the 3.5 hours will be visible, as it will be nighttime when the eclipse begins. This will be the longest such eclipse for this entire century.

Needless to say, this “blood moon” is generating a lot of speculation, because “blood moons” are often associated with death and destruction. Those living in Europe will not have a good view of the eclipse at all, but the entire population of North America will be ideally positioned to see it as long as the weather cooperates.

Meanwhile, all sorts of very strange health-related stories have started to pop up in the news. For example, authorities just informed us that there is a confirmed case of the monkeypox in the United States… “The Maryland Department of Health, in collaboration with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), today confirmed a single case of monkeypox virus infection in a Maryland resident who recently returned from Nigeria.”

As I write this article, the only thing that we know about the victim is that he or she has been hospitalized…"The Maryland Department of Health (MDH) says the patient has been hospitalized and is currently recovering in isolation with mild symptoms. No details are available regarding the resident’s name, age, sex, where he or she lives, and where he or she traveled to in Nigeria."

Hopefully this individual has been isolated in time, because monkeypox causes grotesque sores on the skin, and it can be quite deadly. The following comes from the official CDC website…"Monkeypox is a rare disease that is caused by infection with monkeypox virus. Monkeypox virus belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus in the family Poxviridae. The Orthopoxvirus genus also includes variola virus (the cause of smallpox), vaccinia virus (used in the smallpox vaccine), and cowpox virus.

Monkeypox was first discovered in 1958 when two outbreaks of a pox-like disease occurred in colonies of monkeys kept for research, hence the name ‘monkeypox.’ The first human case of monkeypox was recorded in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a period of intensified effort to eliminate smallpox. Since then, monkeypox has been reported in humans in other central and western African countries. Human monkeypox infections have only been documented six times outside of Africa; in the United States in 2003 (47 cases), in both the United Kingdom (3 cases) and Israel (1 case) in 2018, in Singapore in 2019 (1 case) and in both the United Kingdom (3 cases) and the United States (1 case) in 2021."

The CDC admits that “there is no proven, safe treatment” for monkeypox, and so let us hope that it is successfully contained.

On Wednesday, we also learned that law enforcement authorities have recovered “questionable vials” that were labeled “smallpox” from a facility near Philadelphia…"The FBI and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are investigating “questionable vials” labeled “smallpox” and found in a freezer last night at a Merck facility outside Philadelphia, according to an alert sent to Department of Homeland Security leadership on Tuesday night.

There were reportedly a total of 15 questionable vials, according to the unclassified “For Official Use Only” alert, a copy of which was obtained by Yahoo News. Five of the vials were labeled as “smallpox” and 10 were labeled as “vaccinia.” The vials were secured immediately."

We definitely do not want to see a smallpox outbreak. Like monkeypox, it can cause horrifying sores on the skin, and the death rate for smallpox is very high. The following comes from the official CDC website…"Before smallpox was eradicated, it was a serious infectious disease caused by the variola virus. It was contagious—meaning, it spread from one person to another. People who had smallpox had a fever and a distinctive, progressive skin rash. Most people with smallpox recovered, but about 3 out of every 10 people with the disease died. Many smallpox survivors have permanent scars over large areas of their body, especially their faces. Some are left blind."

The good news is that there is no indication that anyone was exposed to whatever these vials contain… “There is no indication that anyone has been exposed to the small number of frozen vials. The frozen vials labeled “Smallpox” were incidentally discovered by a laboratory worker while cleaning out a freezer in a facility that conducts vaccine research in Pennsylvania,” the CDC said in a statement to Yahoo News. “CDC, its Administration partners, and law enforcement are investigating the matter and the vials’ contents appear intact. The laboratory worker who discovered the vials was wearing gloves and a face mask. We will provide further details as they are available.”

For years, health experts have been mentioning a return of smallpox as a very serious potential threat. And it is interesting to note that Bill Gates was talking about smallpox just a few weeks ago…"Bill Gates has called on governments to give billions in research and development funding to prevent future pandemics and ‘bio-terrorism’. The billionaire founder of Microsoft warned that world leaders must prepare for disasters like ‘smallpox terror attacks’ whatever the cost, and called for the formation of a new billion-dollar World Health Organisation Pandemic Task Force."

Meanwhile, we are starting to see horrifying bird flu outbreaks all over the globe. For now, humans are not being affected, but large numbers of chickens have been culled in an attempt to prevent the spread of the disease.

According to Forbes, Europe and Asia are being hit the hardest so far…"Here’s some fowl news. Outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have recently been occurring in various parts of Europe and Asia. Highly pathogenic avian influenza ain’t just your run-of-the-mill bird flu. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “pathogenic” as “causing or capable of causing disease.” Therefore, being called “highly pathogenic” by your friends would not be a compliment. Similarly, highly pathogenic avian influenza is essentially bird flu that is either highly capable of causing disease or can cause severe disease. Or both. That’s why these outbreaks have been a bit of an “oh cluck” problem for poultry and poultry farmers."

At the same time, a very alarming new strain of COVID has been identified in France…"A new Covid strain with unprecedented changes in its spike protein has reportedly been discovered in the northwestern French region of Brittany, according to local media. The new strain was reportedly detected in people who contracted the virus back in mid-October. It infected a total of 24 people in France, including 18 children attending the same school and six adults who had contact with them, French media reported."

Scientists don’t know if this new strain is more dangerous than other strains, but what we do know is that it appears to be very different from anything seen previously…"Analysis of this strain “did not correspond to anything” previously known, the official said, adding that it resembled neither the profile of the widespread Delta variant, nor those of other Covid-19 strains of concern. The variant, which has since been called B.1.640, is reportedly missing part of its spike protein. This protein is normally used by the virus to enter human cells and spread the infection through the body. It is unclear if this mutation makes the virus more or less contagious."

Of course this comes at a time when a “new wave” of COVID is starting to hammer Europe really hard. In fact, Angela Merkel says that the virus is hitting her nation with “full force” right now…"Germany’s Angela Merkel has described the Covid-19 situation in her country as “dramatic,” as the outgoing chancellor considers how to deal with an infection rate that has hit a record. “The fourth wave is hitting our country with full force,” Merkel told an event for the Association of German Cities, according to a translation by Deutsche Welle and several other media outlets."

As I discussed in my most recent book, I believe that we have entered an era of great pestilences. So many labs are monkeying around with extremely virulent diseases these days, and it is way too easy for mistakes to happen. In addition, it is only a matter of time before we start seeing major terror organizations use biological weapons to further their goals.

If a relatively minor pandemic like COVID can cause so much chaos, what is going to happen to our world once something far worse is unleashed? You may want to think about that, because the next great pandemic may get here a lot sooner than most people expect."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "You Are Being Lied To On A Massive Scale - Here's What You Must Know"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 11/18/21:

"You Are Being Lied To On A Massive Scale - 

Here's What You Must Know"

- https://traderschoice.net/

"Truth..."

"No one today likes truth: utility and self interest have long ago been substituted for truth. We live in a nightmare of falsehoods, and there are few who are sufficiently awake and aware to see things as they are. Our first duty is to clear away illusions and recover a sense of reality."

- Nikolai Alexandrovich Berdyaev

“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.” 

- Oscar Wilde

"How It Really Is"

 

"Welcome To The 'New Normal': This Is Going To Be A Holiday Season That None Of Us Will Ever Forget"

"Welcome To The 'New Normal': This Is Going To Be 

A Holiday Season That None Of Us Will Ever Forget"

by Michael Snyder

"We seem to have entered a nightmare that does not appear to have an ending. Earlier this year, many of the “experts” assured us that the U.S. economy would be “booming” by the end of 2021, but that didn’t turn out to be true at all. Instead, we are dealing with widespread shortages, the worst inflation since the 1970s, and the most epic supply chain crisis in the history of the United States. So this year, we are all going to have a “new normal” holiday season. The upcoming holidays may not be quite what you have become accustomed to, but the elite are still trying to put a positive spin on things.

For example, CNN is encouraging us to look on the bright side by assuring us that we “won’t have to cancel Thanksgiving” even though store shelves are increasingly bare…"If you’ve been noticing emptier shelves when shopping for Thanksgiving, you’re not alone. But you won’t have to cancel Thanksgiving."

The shortages of 2020 were supposed to be long gone by now, but instead the shortages of 2021 are far worse. If you doubt this, just check out these availability numbers for some of our most important Thanksgiving staples… "During that first week of November, whole bird frozen, fixed-weight turkeys were in stock at a rate of 64% on average across national retailers, IRI found. This time last year, that figure was around 86%. IRI data didn’t include seasonal fresh turkey. Last week, many Americans who were buying turkey early were buying frozen birds.

Availability of packaged pie was roughly 68% that week, compared to 78% in 2020. Liquid gravy, with an in-stock rate of 73%, is down about 12 percentage points compared to last year. Cranberry sauce, with 79% availability, is down from 89% in that same period."

I still remember the “good old days” when every store had turkeys and pies. Will we ever see such days again?

There is a shortage of Christmas trees too. It is being reported that the U.S. is now facing a significant shortage of both real and fake Christmas trees… "Anyone planning on purchasing a Christmas tree this year should act fast, according to experts. Extreme weather and supply chain issues caused by the ongoing pandemic have led to shortages in both real and faux trees, according to the American Christmas Tree Association."

A shortage of fake Christmas trees? Oh the humanity! How will we possibly survive?

In addition to a lack of trees, CBS News is telling us that a number of other things will also be in very short supply over the next couple of months…

- Clothing and accessories

- Apple iPhone 13

- Sportswear

- L.O.L. Surprise! toys

- Alcohol

- Jewelry

- PS5 and Xbox gaming consoles

- Christmas lights

Of course these shortages shouldn’t really surprise anyone, because it seems like there are shortages of just about everything these days. For instance, the shortage of garage doors has become so severe that builders in Sacramento are now being permitted to board up the garages of newly built homes…"The city of Sacramento will now allow garages to be boarded up in new homes, if the garage doors are not delivered in time. It's a response to the shortage of garage doors caused by rampant supply chain problems."

Sadly, a lot of other things will be getting boarded up in the months ahead as our economy continues to crumble. A little over a year ago, Joe Biden promised voters that prices would go down and our standard of living would go up if he won the election. Apparently he must have been campaigning in “Bizarro World” at the time, because what we have actually gotten has been the exact opposite. And things aren’t going to be getting better any time soon.

At this point, even Goldman Sachs is publicly admitting that inflation “will get worse this winter”… “The current inflation surge will get worse this winter before it gets better,” Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research warns clients in a “2022 U.S. Economic Outlook.”

This is the weirdest economy that I have ever seen in the entire time that I have been writing, and the American people are becoming increasingly restless. In fact, the latest ABC News-Washington Post poll found that 70 percent of all Americans now rate the economy negatively.

So there is certainly a lot of bad news out there right now. But I am going to end this article with some good news. We just learned that implementation and enforcement of the OSHA mandate has been officially suspended. The following comes from the official OSHA website…

"On November 12, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted a motion to stay OSHA’s COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Emergency Temporary Standard, published on November 5, 2021 (86 Fed. Reg. 61402) (“ETS”). The court ordered that OSHA “take no steps to implement or enforce” the ETS “until further court order.” While OSHA remains confident in its authority to protect workers in emergencies, OSHA has suspended activities related to the implementation and enforcement of the ETS pending future developments in the litigation."

As litigation proceeds, things could still change. But for now, this deeply insidious unconstitutional mandate has officially been put on hold. And that is something that all of us should be truly thankful for, because the OSHA mandate could have forced millions of hard working Americans out of their jobs early next year. So despite the widespread shortages we are witnessing, the painful inflation we are enduring and the supply chain problems that never seem to end, we have a great deal to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. At least for now, millions of jobs have been saved, and the U.S. economy has avoided an absolutely devastating blow."

- http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/

"Could Get Worse..."

"I'd been in hairier situations than this one. Actually, it's sort of depressing, thinking how many times I'd been in them. But if experience had taught me anything, it was this: No matter how screwed up things are, they can get a whole lot worse."

- Jim Butcher

○

Dig your way out, they said...

"Banks Will Seize Your Cash To Survive; Pensions Take Big Risks"

Jeremiah Babe, PM 11/17/21:

"Banks Will Seize Your Cash To Survive; 

Pensions Take Big Risks"

"This Is How They Intend To Get Us To 'You Will Own Nothing And Be Happy'”

Full screen recommended.

"This Is How They Intend To Get Us To 

'You Will Own Nothing And Be Happy'”

by Epic Economist

"Anyone that couldn't tell this before has realized, after the eruption of the health crisis, that the global elites are behind everything that upholds the current system. They influence every major decision in our society. They have control of every mainstream media narrative, they can decide the fate of every new crisis, but their main goal is to find a way to rule all of us without making people realize what they're actually doing. The elites are coming up with a plan for a new way of life, in which everyone will have everything, but people will own nothing. In their dirty little utopia, we won't be able to make our own decisions, we will be constantly surveilled, and the worst part is that they will try to make it look as if this is our own choice.

With each new crisis, they find subtle ways to make this transition without us noticing. The elites know it is counter-productive to just attack us and take all we have. They need the people to keep the system running. And it's safe to say that the world population would react and bring about a lot of chaos and unrest once people realized their liberties were being stolen. But the elites are tricky, and they are incredibly smart. To overcome that obstacle they actually don't have to do much. They don't even need to take anything from us to implement their goals. At this point, all they have to do is watch our incompetent governments destroying our currency and collapsing the value of our money -- and do nothing.

If our money becomes some worthless paper, people will start falling into poverty, and that would be enough to bend us over and make us accept their 'new, generous, and revolutionary' rescue plan. Without money and personal wealth, we lose our independence. We will need help. And the elites will appear as martyrs trying to save us from the mess our leaders created. Eventually, people will own virtually nothing, and they will be okay with that. Well... at least until they realize they have fallen victim to a tyrannical system. But that's a whole other discussion. For now, we will focus on the tools the elites currently use to achieve their utopia. And if you think inflation talk is boring, just wait until you see how higher prices and a debased currency will become the gateway for an authoritarian system.

Today, inflation is the main issue plaguing most economies around the planet. And this crisis will likely linger for several years, some say we will see the worst out of it in 2022. By now, there is nothing politicians can say to deny what's going on. The truth is that the Federal Reserve has lost control over its own policies, and 2022 will be a very chaotic year from an economic standpoint. Just imagine what will happen when gasoline prices soar above $5 per gallon all across the country. Already, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in some states, such as California, is nearing this mark.

Over the weekend, gas prices hit an average of $4.676 in California, beating its previous record average price of $4.671 for regular gasoline set in October 2012, according to AAA. In some areas, including Northern California's Humboldt County, prices are pushing $5. Industry specialists say that this upward trend will persist well into 2022, and that's really bad news given that pretty much everything we buy has to be transported, and increased transportation costs are translated into higher inflation. Unfortunately, those at the bottom of the economic food chain will suffer the most. With food prices jumping to record levels, food banks are receiving considerably fewer donations, and many of them are already reportedly struggling to purchase enough food because price hikes have been sharper than expected.

According to Katie Fitzgerald, the COO of Feeding America, a nonprofit organization that operates more than 200 food banks across the country, her network of food banks is "already stretched thin due to the unprecedented demand spurred by the [health-crisis-induced] downturn in the economy last year". She warned that "it has become more difficult for the organization to absorb food inflation, resulting in fewer families being fed this holiday season". Many problems are converging and simultaneously aggravating right now. That's why so many people use the term "perfect storm" to describe the current state of affairs. We wish we could tell you that life will get better from now on. But that's simply unrealistic. Every time a major systemic change started to happen in the world, things always ended in disaster. And it seems that now it is our turn."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com​

Gregory Mannarino, "Watch For A False Flag Event To Occur- When Crude Falls, People Die"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 11/17/21:

"Watch For A False Flag Event To Occur- 

When Crude Falls, People Die"

- https://traderschoice.net/

“Your Diatribe Against the Vaccines Is Most Unfortunate”

“Your Diatribe Against the Vaccines Is Most Unfortunate”

by Brian Maher

"The unvaccinated anywhere… evidently threaten the vaccinated everywhere. Thus reader Bruce reads us a sharp lesson in citizenship… and recalls us to our civic duties: Your diatribe against the vaccines is most unfortunate. As a concerned citizen, I participated in a Novavax Phase 3 trial of a vaccine that will probably be approved shortly. When we started, none had been approved, but I seriously felt something was needed and wanted to help. Those who refuse to be vaccinated are a threat to the rest of society, no matter how you phrase "Freedom," which is only socially acceptable if it is based on Responsibility!

Here is Bruce’s message, reduced to essentials: The renegade must lay aside his individuality. He must become a member of the regiment. He must march in step. That is: He must submit to the bodily invasion of alien genetic material. Society’s good requires it.

We admire Bruce’s elevation of others above self. We admire his courageous guinea-pigging. We admire his civic spirit. He is the ideal citizen, the model citizen, the copybook virtues in flesh. And it is our heart’s yearning that Bruce escapes his drug trial with a whole skin. It is, after all, an experiment.

The Civic Spirit of a Skunk: Your editor - unlike Bruce - embodies the civic spirit of a skunk. He instinctively grazes against the grain of popular opinion. He distrusts crowds… and navigates invariably around them. Perhaps the business is not entirely rational. It is more a reflex, as when a patient kicks the doctor hard when his knee is karate-chopped. Yet rarely has your editor discovered crowds to be repositories of wisdom or intelligence. They push along on passion, under hormonal steam. That is why you will often find us on our lonesome own.

And when we believe a crowd is under the spell of rogues, rascals, rapscallions… of brickheads, bandicoots and blackguards… of cads, clodpates and corruptos… of liars, lickspittles and lunks? That is, under the spell of a Dr. Fauci and his goons? We strike out on a line... 180 degrees the other way from that crowd... fast as two legs can deliver a man. This we have done. We have run the other way.

For we believe Dr. Fauci, the public health authorities and government officials heeding their counsel have taken the crowd for a sleigh ride. They have told us the one thing originally. They have then proceeded to tell us the opposite thing. Their rules have proven arbitrary, their rules have proven capricious. They often war with logic itself. Here is one personal example in point…

Lunacy: Your editor recently attended a company outing at a Baltimore drinkhouse. He stood primarily off to one side, aloof - as befits his temperament. But colleagues gathered in tight huddles, each formation throbbing with conversation, each formation throbbing with laughter. Yet this mandate was in force: To acquire a beverage from the bar, one had to place a surgical mask upon the face before lighting out. One was likewise required to remain in this masked state for the homeward journey. Only when the round trip was concluded, once he was back among his fellows, could he expose his naked face.

That is, no mask was required to assemble in bunches… inches from colleagues… blowing germ-filled gales into one another’s faces… and likely spitting saliva into one another’s faces... in the course of conversation. Yet when transiting to and from the bar in 100% solitude, in 100% silence, wordless and spitless... the mask had to go on. We filed a sharp grievance with the barman, attempting an appeal to his reason. But he informed us that the rules were the rules and that that was that. Thus it was - that.

But was it logic? If it was logic... it was a logic far beyond our comprehension. We hazard it is likewise a logic that would stymie and stupefy Aristotle. It would wobble the poor fellow dreadfully. Yet it is the logic of Baltimore City. And it is the logic of the establishments under its velveted, jackbooted heel.

Next we turn to the vaccines...

Vaccines Don’t Stop the Virus. Get Vaccinated Anyway: Alas, the weight of evidence sinks Bruce and his altruistic civics. That is because vaccination does not block a man from acquiring the virus. Nor does it block him from disseminating the virus. The unvaccinated therefore form no greater menace than the vaccinated.

Even the vaccine-drummers presently concede this point. They claim rather that it slashes hospitalizations and dyings - not that it meaningfully inhibits the travel. A question of course arises: Why mandate a vaccine if it fails to jail the virus in, if the microscopic felon slips so easily through the dragnet?

We have yet to hear one answer that appeals to the logic centers. The answers generally reduce to this: “Yes, you can still catch and spread the virus, which is why you must still wear a mask, even if fully vaccinated. But it is essential that you be fully vaccinated if we want to stop the spread.” Yet the literature reveals the most vaccinated peoples of Earth are enduring the greatest caseloads. The least vaccinated, meantime, are experiencing the lightest caseloads. The reasons may be complex. They likely are complex. Yet the facts are the facts. We were told the facts would be otherwise.

More Head-Scratchers: Another question: If the vaccinated must live in dread fear of the unvaccinated, what sort of vaccines are these? A man inoculated against measles - for example - does not cower from his uninoculated neighbor. He has his immunity, he does not feel menaced. Let the neighbor take his chance. Yet Bruce and others believe the unvaccinated are murderers-in-waiting - even the unvaccinated with natural immunity.

Meantime, the Centers for Disease Control cannot cite one solitary instance of the naturally immunized sickening anyone. Not one instance. Our minions have further shown us medical literature indicating that the immune... who undergo vaccination… are 56% more likely to acquire the virus. Why then must they endure vaccination?

Besides, it is now known these potions lose their oomph within months. The magic dissipates. Another dose is then required. It too will fade. Even Dr. Fauci acknowledges this fact. Even Mr. William Gates - vaccine kingpin - acknowledges this fact. Yet they insist upon universal vaccination.

A 60-fold Increase in Adverse Events: Once again, we wish Bruce every success in his vaccine trial. We hope sincerely that it does not sicken him - or worse. For the evidence of grave vaccine aftereffects continues to pile and pile…

For example: Thoroughbred professional athletes have endured a 60-fold increase in incidents such as heart attacks in 2021. Sixty-fold! Any professional athlete to endure such a calamity invariably rates mention in the sporting news. Thus the 60-fold increase in 2021 cannot owe to statistical cherry-plucking. Meantime, subversives within the medical field report that the hospitals are bulging with the fully vaccinated. Many are down with rare and confounding conditions.

“The Most Dangerous Vaccines in Human History”: Mr. Steve Kirsch cites evidence from data crackerjack and VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Effects Reporting System) authority, Albert Benavides: "As of Nov. 1, 2021, there have been more adverse events reported for the COVID vaccines than for all 70-plus vaccines combined since they started tracking adverse events 30 years ago. That’s a stunning statistic, nobody can deny it, but nobody in the mainstream medical community (or mainstream media) seems to care much...

Here’s what the evidence shows: "The COVID vaccines are the most dangerous vaccines in human history. They are 800 times more deadly than the smallpox vaccine, which was the previous record holder. The vaccines have killed over 150,000 Americans and permanently disabled even more… For kids, it is estimated that we kill 117 kids for every COVID death we prevent."

The Pfizer six-month trial showed the drug can save one life for every 22,000 people vaccinated. It also appeared from the trial that the drug killed more people than it saved (there were 20 deaths in the treatment group versus 14 in placebo after unblinding). So we are “saving” fewer than 10,000 lives at the expense of over 150,000 deaths. In short, we kill 15 people to save one...

They can’t admit that they missed the signals now because that would be an admission they missed them before. So they will try to discredit this article with ad hominem attacks (this is a technique used to win an argument when you cannot win on the evidence). Thus one wag - a certain Anthony Vera - quips on Twitter: “What we really have now is a pandemic of people who can’t admit they were wrong.”

Are these naysayers correct? If so… why do the American people continue to heed the “experts”... and take aboard their medical advice? Answer tomorrow…"

- dailyreckoning.com

○

Must read:

"Unthinkable Thoughts"

Musical Interlude: The Alan Parsons Project, "Sirius", "Eye In The Sky"

The Alan Parsons Project, "Sirius", "Eye In The Sky"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"Why doesn't the nearby galaxy create a gravitational lensing effect on the background galaxy? It does, but since both galaxies are so nearby, the angular shift is much smaller than the angular sizes of the galaxies themselves. The featured Hubble image of NGC 3314 shows two large spiral galaxies which happen to line up exactly. The foreground spiral NGC 3314a appears nearly face-on with its pinwheel shape defined by young bright star clusters. Against the glow of the background galaxy NGC 3314b, though, dark swirling lanes of interstellar dust can also be seen tracing the nearer spiral's structure. Both galaxies appear on the edge of the Hydra Cluster of Galaxies, a cluster that is about 200 million light years away. 

Gravitational lens distortions are much easier to see when the lensing galaxy is smaller and further away. Then, the background galaxy may even be distorted into a ring around the nearer. Fast gravitational lens flashes due to stars in the foreground galaxy momentarily magnifying the light from stars in the background galaxy might one day be visible in future observing campaigns with high-resolution telescopes."

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