Liberty, South Carolina, USA. Thanks for stopping by!
So, we rise from the rubble...
Friday, August 12, 2022
"You Will Lose Your Job - Plan For Emergency Now; Fake Markets Have Created Hell On Earth For You"
Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 8/12/22:
"You Will Lose Your Job - Plan For Emergency Now;
Fake Markets Have Created Hell On Earth For You"
Comments here:
"We Are Living Through An Epic Collapse"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, iAllegedly 8/12/22:
"We Are Living Through An Epic Collapse"
"One day we're told there’s zero percent inflation and the next we find out that food inflation has risen to 13 1/2%. We can’t have it both ways. Business is suffering like never before."
Comments here:
Bill Bonner, "What if They're Wrong?"
"What if They're Wrong?"
On climate... on inflation... on the economy...
on how best to run YOUR life?
by Bill Bonner
Poitou, France - "Yesterday, Massachusetts signed onto the Great Transition crusade. The Washington Post: "Described as a “landmark bill,” the Massachusetts climate legislation notably includes a provision - the first of its kind for the state - that would allow 10 municipalities to legally ban fossil fuel infrastructure in new and major construction projects. With this policy, certain cities and towns in Massachusetts could soon join others across the country that have taken similar steps to change local building codes to block the use of fossil fuels, such as natural gas - meaning many people who want gas stoves or furnaces are probably out of luck in these places." What if they’re wrong? What if trying to change the earth’s climate is a wild goose chase?
The Pentagon was in the news yesterday too. In what ‘CovertAction’ calls the “Most Bloated Military Budget in History,” Democrats and Republicans joined hands to deliver defense contractors an $850 billion payday – a $45 billion increase. Supporters say the US needs to spend such huge amounts of money to counter the many threats they’ve managed to stir up – Russia, China… terrorists… gender inequality!
A Lifetime Setback: But what if they’re wrong? What if all that spending actually weakens the US economy… frightens foreigners… and causes potential enemies to ‘gun up’ themselves? Terrorists… Chinese… Russians – aren’t we pushing them to find new forms of money… new weapons… new friends?
What does it matter if you’re wrong? Marry the ‘wrong’ person, for example, and you might dread every breakfast. Making the wrong career choice, too, could be a lifetime setback.
In matters of public policy, the consequences of wrongness are directly proportional to the ambition of the undertaking. Generally, the grander the project, the greater the damage. Many public policies are just reflections of a consensus – drive on the right… don’t throw trash out the window – and do little damage. Otherwise, they are threats to life and property. They impose the fads of the ruling class upon everyone else and divert time and resources from what ‘the people’ actually want.
Does that make sense? We hope so; if not, we’d have to revise our entire weltanschauung. And now… you are faced with a choice. You can believe the ‘inflation has peaked’ narrative… for example. If it is true, the Fed can now ease off of its ‘tightening’… and soon return to doing what it does best – inflating."
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"What if They're Wrong?" This is how they really think.
- Jacques Attali, "Verbatem"
Sound familiar? Look around...
"Is the Food Crisis Over or Just Getting Started?"
"Is the Food Crisis Over or Just Getting Started?"
by Chris MacIntosh
"Are you hungry? Good, according to the central planners. The folks over at the UN stopped destroying the world for a brief few minutes to publish a piece (snapshot below) justifying their behavior and explaining the "benefits" of the famine they’ve engineered.
Not making this up. The article remained on the UN website for a day or so before being deleted after it went viral on social media, with people horrified at the truly unbelievable evil. The good thing about this is that as they continue with their predictive programming and NLP (seriously, look into both and it promises to blow your mind), more and more people wake from their trance. Once woken, they realize the incredible danger they are all in. And that is a good thing because you can’t fight an enemy until you understand one exists.
The "great reset" requires a populace beholden to the government and nobody else. As the central planners pursue their agenda of getting there, this is bound to be fraught with an awakening and a lot of angst.
The Great Awakening of the Average Joe: While Joe Sixpack doesn’t understand most of these, he doesn’t actually need to. What Joe does care about is when he can’t afford groceries and when his electricity bill now suddenly wipes out his entire annual disposable income. And that is enough to provide both pushback and an increasing ability to awaken to the horrors of what comes for him if this communist agenda masquerading as a plan to "save us from climate change" is NOT stopped in its tracks. And with this realization will come politicians - many who themselves are parasites but doing what comes naturally to them: sensing a shift in the winds and rushing to get in front of it, champion it, and gain support.
Here, take a look. According to France24, Giuseppe Conte, the head of Five Star, said: "I have a strong fear that September will be a time when many families will face the terrible choice of paying their electricity bills or buying food. We are absolutely willing to dialogue, to make our constructive contribution to the government, to Draghi, (but) we are not willing to write a blank cheque." He’s not wrong, of course, but this is a thug who was a massive contributor to the problems our proverbial "Joe" now faces. Take a look at this.
And as we’ve been continuously saying: energy underpins EVERYTHING. Which is why Eurozone CPI looks like it just mainlined viagra. And this is saying something because as you know the way they measure CPI is, of course, complete hogwash and roughly half the real rate. Check out John Williams’ Shadowstats, where inflation in the US is calculated based on the methodology used back in the 80’s (pre-fraud). It just hit 17.3%. That’s a tad more than the 9.1% print they just tried to trick you with.
The other thing "Joe" cares about is when the government - under the guise of "saving the planet" - begins the process of stealing up to 50% of the farms in the Netherlands.
Reducing Nitrogen Emissions: Under a ridiculous narrative of "reducing nitrogen omissions" the Dutch government are proceeding with a blatant land grab of 30% of the Farmland. It is worth pointing out that air is 78% nitrogen. These morons have literally decided that air is dangerous. Anyway, the farmers are having none of it and have blockaded roads, airports, and distribution centers. The fishermen have joined in and blocked the ports.
Domestically the Dutch farmers have massive support. Gratefully, people seem to intuitively understand that without them there will be no food. The propaganda is no longer having the desired effect on the populace. What a shame! Every day a few more people wake to reality, and once you wake, you can’t unsee what you’ve seen. The existing political parties’ credibility is severely damaged. I’ve thought for some years now that if there is to be a shift, it will likely come from third parties. This is true across the Western world, and not uniquely a Dutch thing. The Farmer–Citizen Movement in the Netherlands is now gaining momentum and size faster than any other.
Over in France, the Marxist agenda gathers momentum. France plans full nationalization of power utility EDF: "France will fully nationalize EDF (EDF.PA), Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Wednesday, in a move that would give the government more control over a restructuring of the debt-laden group while contending with a European energy crisis."
It is at this point that we should review a little history. The last head of a European government to be killed and eaten by a mob was Dutch Johan de Witt in 1672, who was mutilated, hung, and had his liver roasted and digested by Orangists in the Hague.
Davos man deserves at least as much. In the meantime, Europeans are going to be cold and hungry. Winter is just a few short months away now. The stampede will begin in earnest for food and all those banned products like fertilizer."
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Related:
"It's What You Know For Sure..."
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“Consider a turkey that is fed every day. Every single feeding will firm up the bird’s belief that it is the general rule of life to be fed every day by friendly members of the human race ‘looking out for its best interests,’ as a politician would say. On the afternoon of the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, something unexpected will happen to the turkey. It will incur a revision of belief.“
- Nouriel Roubini
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble.
It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
- Mark Twain
Jim Kunstler, "Gestapo the Steal"
"Gestapo the Steal"
by Jim Kunstler
"To America’s political Left, serving its masters in the runaway deep state, reality itself must be portrayed as “baseless,” as in nothing to see here, folks. Is it any wonder, then, that half the country has gone mental. The reality they don’t want you to see is that the intel-and-surveillance agencies of our Republic have taken on a rogue life of their own as a dominant “fourth branch of government,” and that some time ago they embarked on a crime spree against anyone threatening their operations.
That would include especially target number one: Donald Trump. For a masterful explication of how this amazing clusterf**k developed, I commend you to The Conservative Treehouse website where the writer who styles himself as “Sundance” put together a four-part report on how the original sin of RussiaGate metastasized into the stage-four cancer of institutional necrosis that culminated in this week’s raid on Mar-a-Lago.
The gist is: it turns out that the president does not have sole authority, in practice, to declassify and release government documents. With the rise of the security state, many new procedures have been erected within that massive labyrinth to prevent it or slow-walk it. The most effective has been to make the president himself a target of, or a material witness in, drawn-out investigations. That was the exact purpose of the Mueller exercise. Any exculpatory documents released by Mr. Trump - for instance, the complete unredacted text exchanges of FBI employees Peter Strzok and Lisa Page - could have been used to hang an obstruction of justice charge on the president.
Mr. Trump adroitly avoided that trap, and many other legal pitfalls the deep state laid for him, and might have won reelection but for the well-organized ballot fraud of 2020. But the epic blunders of “Joe Biden” are giving Mr. Trump, and the movement behind him, a pretty good shot at routing the incumbent regime. Doing so, first in the 2022 midterms and then in the 2024 presidential election, portends a now quite visible effort coming to dismantle that reckless, unelected “fourth branch” of government. So, the intel-and-surveillance agencies are fighting for their lives - and the actual humans in charge must be keenly aware of their criminal liabilities.
Despite all attempts to disable him in office, Mr. Trump, as president, got to see an awful lot of classified material, including all the evidence of Hillary Clinton’s Russia Collusion hoax, abetted by the FBI, the DOJ, CIA, and DOD, plus all the lawless shenanigans that took place in the FISA court. A lot of it was assembled when, late in the game, Mr. Trump was finally able to appoint Directors of National Intelligence he could trust - Ric Grenell and then John Ratcliffe - who wrested many documents out of the foot-dragging agencies. Further maneuvers by artful Attorney General William Barr - the appointment of John Durham as Special Counsel and his drawn-out investigations - kept Mr. Trump from releasing any declassified RussiaGate material ever since. The catch was: he still had bales of that evidence in his possession among the personal papers he took with him from the White House.
Now, it also happens that in March of this year Mr. Trump filed a lawsuit in Florida against Hillary Clinton and many entities and persons who abetted the construction of RussiaGate. The person assigned to preside over the case was magistrate judge Bruce Rhinehart, a one-time DOJ attorney who had been involved in the 2007 Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking prosecution, and who then mysteriously switched sides in mid-litigation and signed on as a lawyer for Epstein. Epstein was soon let off of serious charges with a wrist-slap, amid suspicions that he was an intel agency operative who required protection. And, of course, now Mr. Epstein is dead, offed under highly mysterious circumstances while in federal custody.
Bruce Rhinehart was involved in the 2013 government defense of IRS officer Lois Lerner, who never answered for targeting conservative organizations for tax punishment and “losing” thousands of emails pertaining to the cases. Bruce Rhinehart also left a long record of social media posts denouncing Mr. Trump for one thing or another. He remained as presiding judge over the Trump lawsuit against Hillary, et al., in Florida since March and then suddenly recused himself on June 22 of this year. Naturally, many of the aforesaid unclassified documents in Mr. Trump’s possession would be introduced as evidence in an effort to prove that Hillary Clinton sought to defame and defraud him over the confected Russia Collusion story.
And so it happened that Bruce Rhinehart was just the right person for the FBI to seek a warrant from, though the choice looks ludicrous now. And hence, the desperate raid on Mar-a-Lago to get that trove of evidence, especially with an election looming that could transform congress and lead next year to a raft of investigations into the corrupt intel-and-surveillance deep state. Of course, it’s laughable to imagine there aren’t copies of all that material in other places, so it’s not as though the FBI can make the evidence just disappear. But the apparent object of the move is to hastily convict Mr. Trump in a DC federal district court on any Mickey Mouse charge involving his dispute with the National Archives that would, theoretically, prevent him from running again in 2024.
One must wonder if Mr. Trump did not catch the FBI (and DOJ) in a “rope-a-dope” operation of his own. He’d just come off a successful primary season in which over 90 percent of his endorsees won their races. The midterm elections look increasingly dire for the Democrats, the Party of Chaos, as led by the transcendentally incompetent “Joe Biden.” In June, Mr. Trump had met at Mar-a-Lago with FBI agents and produced many documents requested under a subpoena. Were the FBI and DOJ alarmed by what Mr. Trump handed over then, and did it suggest there was plenty of other material, possibly more damaging, in the former president’s collection headed into court? The momentous lawsuit against Hillary - which gets no coverage in the Left agit-prop news media - is not over.
In any case, the FBI and DOJ ended up embarrassing themselves with the August 8 Mar-a-Lago raid, an act as ham-fisted and tone-deaf as any in the nauseating annals of “Joe Biden’s” sinister regime. They outed themselves as an American Gestapo, dedicated chiefly to persecuting the ruling regime’s political enemies, and they probably succeeded in galvanizing even sturdier opposition to be expressed at the polling places this November, at great peril to the agencies’ officers, and perhaps even the agencies’ continued existence."
"We Like To Think..."
“We like to think that we are rational beings; humane, conscientious, civilized, thoughtful. But when things fall apart, even just a little, it becomes clear we are not better than animals. We have opposable thumbs, we think, we walk erect, we speak, we dream, but deep down we are still routing around in the primordial ooze; biting, clawing, scratching out an existence in the cold, dark world like the rest of the tree-toads and sloths.”
- “Grey’s Anatomy”
"Crazy Prices At Family Dollar! This Is Getting Ridiculous!"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures with Danno, 8/12/22:
"Crazy Prices At Family Dollar! This Is Getting Ridiculous!"
"In today's vlog we are at Family Dollar, and are noticing massive price increases! We are here to check out skyrocketing prices, and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"
Comments here:
Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up, 8/12/22"
"Weekly News Wrap-Up, 8/12/22"
Biden True Approval 12%, Trump Raid Backfires,
Inflation Down Not Out
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
"If you really want to understand the crazy and desperate actions of the Biden/Obama Administration, you have to know the real numbers. Not the numbers of the latest poll that shows President Biden with a 40% approval rating. The real numbers that the public never gets to see, because it’s secret behind the scenes research, is Bidens true approval rating. Biden’s true approval numbers are somewhere between 11% and 12%, according to my confidential source and Martin Armstrong’s “Socrates” data mining computer. If Biden’s real approval rating is not more than 12%, you can see why the Democrat party is panicked and in deep trouble. They must do something to look stronger than they really are because they cannot even begin to cheat their way to victory in the midterms and beyond. 12% approval means most of the Democrats will not even vote for Biden or any other Democrats, and the economy is not going to give them or anyone else a reason to do so anytime soon.
The raid on the Florida home of President Donald Trump is backfiring big time on the Biden/Obama administration. His poll numbers have shot up even higher, and he’s breaking records for campaign donations when he’s not even announced he’s running - yet. This is just another fake made up case like the so-called “Russian Collusion” brought to you by fake FISA warrants, spying by the FBI and a fake dossier paid for by Hillary Clinton. The public see’s this tor the political attack it is and not a legit law enforcement action by a corrupt Deep State that includes RINO Republicans and commie Democrats.
Inflation backed off a bit this month and went down to 8.5% year over year. President Biden was so desperate for good economic news he spun this to mean 0% inflation month over month. Of course, this is preposterous and not the way inflation is counted even with the gimmicks to make it look better than it is. John Williams of Shadowstats.com says the real inflation as it was counted before all the gimmicks is around 17%. Gasoline prices have come down a bit, but they are going back up as the supply of gasoline is down to lows not seen since the early 1990’s. Enjoy the lower gas prices while they last. So, inflation is down a bit for now, but not out. There is much more in the 53-minute newscast."
Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these
stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up for 8/12/22.
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Gerald Celente, "Facts: The Game is Rigged, Prepare for Global Meltdown"
Strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, 8/11/22:
"Facts: The Game is Rigged, Prepare for Global Meltdown"
Comments here:
"This Is Getting Real Scary, Middle Class In Big Trouble; Food Prices Going Up; Housing Market Reset"
Jeremiah Babe, 8/11/22:
"This Is Getting Real Scary, Middle Class In Big Trouble;
Food Prices Going Up; Housing Market Reset"
Comments here:
Musical Interlude: Ludovico Einaudi, "Divenire", Live at Royal Albert Hall, London
Full screen recommended.
Ludovico Einaudi, "Divenire",
Live at Royal Albert Hall, London
Magnificent!
"A Look to the Heavens"
"To some, it looks like a giant chicken running across the sky. To others, it looks like a gaseous nebula where star formation takes place. Cataloged as IC 2944, the Running Chicken Nebula spans about 100 light years and lies about 6,000 light years away toward the constellation of the Centaur (Centaurus).
The featured image, shown in scientifically assigned colors, was captured recently in a 12-hour exposure. The star cluster Collinder 249 is visible embedded in the nebula's glowing gas. Although difficult to discern here, several dark molecular clouds with distinct shapes can be found inside the nebula."
Freely Download: Viktor Frankl, "Man's Search for Meaning"
"Man's Search for Meaning"
by Viktor Frankl
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”
"Some details of a particular man's inner greatness may have come to one's mind, like the story of a young woman whose death I witnessed in a concentration camp. It is a simple story. There is little to tell and it may sound as if I had invented it; but to me it seems like a poem.
This young woman knew that she would die in the next few days. But when I talked to her she was cheerful in spite of this knowledge. 'I am grateful that fate has hit me so hard,' she told me. 'In my former life I was spoiled and did not take spiritual accomplishments seriously.' Pointing through the window of the hut, she said, 'This tree here is the only friend I have in my loneliness.' Through that window she could see just one branch of a chestnut tree, and on the branch were two blossoms. 'I often talk to this tree,' she said to me. I was startled and didn't quite know how to take her words. Was she delirious? Did she have occasional hallucinations? Anxiously I asked her if the tree replied. 'Yes.' What did it say to her? She answered, 'It said to me, "I am here - I am here - I am life, eternal life."
Freely download "Man's Search for Meaning", by Viktor Frankl, here:
"Job Losses, Bankruptcies And Store Closings Are All Soaring As The US Economic Collapse Rolls On"
Full screen recommended.
"Job Losses, Bankruptcies And Store Closings
Are All Soaring As The US Economic Collapse Rolls On"
by Epic Economist
"The U.S. economy is facing an unending nightmare. All over the country, economic activity is dramatically slowing down as another recession begins. Hundreds of thousands of businesses are feeling the compounding effects of two years of persistent supply chain disruptions, shutdowns, labor shortages, and soaring inflation. That’s why many of them are starting to announce massive waves of layoffs and store closings in a repeat of scenes last seen during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. At the same time, bankruptcy rates are spiking again, and industry CEOs are warning that this is just the beginning.
We were actually supposed to be witnessing some sort of improvement right now. But instead, companies are announcing mass lay-offs, store closures, and filing for bankruptcy as they face the cumulative effects of hot inflation, supply chain imbalances, and dropping sales. It’s quite hard to believe that the numbers have gotten sob ad in such a short span. According to the Washington Post, we’re still seeing businesses fail at a rate that is absolutely staggering. Over the past two years, approximately 175,000 businesses have permanently closed their doors all across the country. In 2020, after the health crisis broke out, nearly 280 companies declared bankruptcy, according to Bloomberg. In the first half of 2020, at least 110 major companies filed for bankruptcy in America. Now, two years later, the U.S. has seen 221 bankruptcy filings from January to July, S&P Global data shows. The pace at which things are running off the tracks is quite shocking, and more gloomy announcements just keep coming.
Several iconic retailers, even some of the most established ones such as Walmart are having to close locations around the U.S. as consumers’ budgets get squeezed by soaring prices. Grocery stores have not been spared by the challenges across the retail space. Last month, Whole Foods announced the closure of dozens of stores. Shortly after that, two dozens of Sprouts Farmers Market locations were permanently shut down. Starbucks, which closed eye-popping 424 US company-operated stores during its most recent fiscal year is prepared to close even more branches as economic conditions deteriorate. "We are beginning to close stores," CEO Howard Schultz said in a video posted to Twitter last week. "This is just the beginning. There are going to be many more," he stressed.
According to Toys ‘R’ Us CEO, the carnage is far from over. During a recent interview with FoxNews, the company’s chief executive officer Gerald Storch warned that in the fall "we’re going to see record bankruptcies in retail". He emphasized that thousands of mom-and-pop stores will experience a "decimation" of mom-and-pop stores on Main Street.
Recent reports continue to trickle out about the growing number of job cuts across the nation. So far this summer, many major U.S. companies have laid off thousands of employees as executives fear more volatility in financial markets and worsening economic fundamentals. Amongst them, Microsoft reportedly laid off 200 employees in July, less than a month after the California tech giant announced it would cut 2,000 workers, Business Insider reported, The pessimism is rapidly spreading across Silicon Valley. This month, website design company Wix.com made its second round of layoffs of the year, cutting hundreds of employees as company President and COO Nir Zohar noted that “the world is experiencing an economic crisis and we have seen U.S. GDP fall without growth.”
When taking all the sectors of the industry together, there have already been hundreds of thousands of layoffs this year and many more are coming in the months ahead. What we’ve seen so far is just a hint of what is going to happen to this country once we’re into a full-blown recession and dealing with skyrocketing consumer prices and a collapsing job market. In essence, this is exactly what an economic collapse looks like, and unfortunately, it is just getting started."
“Why Do You Rob Banks?”
“Why Do You Rob Banks?”
by Brian Maher
“Why do you rob banks?” authorities asked notorious bank thief Willie Sutton. His response was a miracle of clarity, clearer than crystal and sharper than Damascus steel: “Because that's where the money is.”
Why does the United States government mine the middle class for tax revenues? For the same reason the criminally enterprising Mr. Sutton robbed banks - because that is where the money is. Mr. Biden and other boosters for the Inflation Reduction Act - so-called - shout that only wealthy corporations will suffer a deeper tax wound under the bill’s provisions. Moreover, they insist no household earning $400,000 or less will take the bite.
“A family making less than $400,000 will not pay one penny in additional taxes under the Inflation Reduction Act,” bleats a Democratic spokeswoman with the Senate Finance Committee. They may be correct… technically. The bill officially exempts every man jack of the middling and lower classes. Yet as always the devil - or God - lies camouflaged within the details, hidden and buried. Alas, the middle and laboring classes will fail to detect the old boy within the details of the Inflation Reduction Act. Yet the tax man spots the hand of God…
The Middle Class Has More Resources Than the “Rich”: The middle class vastly outnumbers the “wealthy.” The United States houses under 800 billionaires. The number of millionaires is substantially greater - yet still limited. Meantime, the middle class constitutes up to two-thirds of the American populace, depending on the criteria selected. And that middle class, to cite Mr. Sutton yet again… is where the money is.
Any meaningful tax increase must hook - and rook - the great middle class. You may drill the corporations with higher taxation. Yet these corporations have resort to the most crackerjack tax attorneys and accountants in existence. They are expert at identifying loopholes, wormholes, foxholes and boltholes. Corporations can burrow deeper than the outstretched arm of the tax man can reach. What taxes they must endure they largely hand off to consumers - to the middle and lower classes.
Affirms Mr. Preston Brashers, senior tax policy analyst with the Heritage Foundation: 'Technically, legally, the corporations are the ones paying taxes, but ultimately that has to be paid by people, one way or the other. It’s not like Jeff Bezos - if you tax Amazon - that this is coming out of Jeff Bezos’ pocket." Yet that is not all. The evils multiply…
Unintended Consequences: These taxes may also chase corporations overseas in search of more hospitable business climates. They may take bunches of middle-class jobs with them. And will the Inflation Reduction Act meet its advertised objective?
The Senate’s Joint Committee on Taxation: "Analyses from nonpartisan experts show the legislation would raise taxes on low- and middle-income Americans during a period of declining GDP and high inflation; raise taxes on manufacturers, exacerbating supply-chain disruptions and costing U.S. jobs and investment; and do little to nothing to lower inflation. Citing data from the National Association of Manufacturers, the committee projects this legislation will yield a $68.45 billion slashing of real GDP…. 218,108 fewer workers… and a $17.11 billion falling-off in labor income."
In all, this Joint Commission on Taxation concludes that: "In 2023, taxes will increase by $16.7 billion on American taxpayers earning less than $200,000 - a nearly $17 billion tax targeted solidly at low- and middle-income earners next year, amidst stagflation…" At least half of all new tax revenue raised next year would come from those earning under $400,000. Throughout the 10-year window, the average tax rate for nearly every single income category would increase. By 2031… those earning below $400,000 are projected to bear as much as two-thirds of the burden of the additional tax revenue collected that year.
Promises, Promises: In fairness - in fairness - the bill’s drummers counter that this analysis neglects the benefits that would accrue to the middle class. They cite the bill’s household consumer tax credits, reduced drug prices and health care subsidies. These will place the middle class “distributionally ahead,” claims a certain Marc Goldwein of the preposterously titled Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. As well label a gang of drunkards the Committee for Responsible Drinking. And we are not half so convinced the bill’s proposed benefits will truly flow to the intended beneficiaries.
Each government intervention into markets drags behind it a train of consequences unintended. We hazard its efforts to reduce drug prices and offer health care subsidies will yield increased costs and reduced care elsewhere along the tracks. They may very likely negate the bill’s intended benefits.
87,000 New IRS Agents: Meantime, the Inflation Reduction Act provides the wherewithal to hire 87,000 freshly minted agents of the Internal Revenue Service. We are assured they will merely police the tax-dodging wealthy who refuse to haul the appropriate freight - who refuse to “pay their fair share.” We are heart and soul for paying a fair share. Yet we cannot define “fair share.” We do not know what it is. Is it 10% of a fellow’s income? 25%... 50%... perhaps 90%?
Roosevelt - Franklin Delano - once proposed a 100% top marginal tax rate. Was it fair? Regardless, let it go. Our concern here is the present, the Inflation Reduction Act in particular…
The Rich Are Different: The new IRS goons will harass the un-civic and tax-skirting rich, we are assured. Yet come sit down with the facts…The un-civic and tax-skirting rich enjoy access to white-shoed tax attorneys. These wiseacres are often more acquainted with the tax codes than the IRS itself. They can dispute IRS claims in courts of law. The IRS must expend legal costs and waste time battling away in court. In many instances they do not find their troubles worth the candle. They will often settle the dispute out of court… and on terms favorable to the un-civic and tax-skirting rich.
The middle and lower orders - meantime - lack all access to the wealthy’s premier tax attorneys. A TurboTax may offer you legal representation should the IRS tap you on the shoulder. Yet with the highest respect to TurboTax, it is not Baker McKenzie. The IRS hirees will therefore consecrate much of their efforts to hounding the middle and lower classes.
The Simple Truth: Research by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse reveals this capital fact: "Households earning under $25,000 per year are five times more likely to suffer an IRS audit than all others. Apologists claim these audits are manifestations of benevolence. The tax man merely wishes to ensure these sad sacks are claiming the proper exemptions. But the facts are the facts and an audit is an audit."
Meantime, the bipartisan Committee on Taxation concludes that: "Fully 78–90% of tax revenues to fund the Inflation Reduction Act would come siphoning out from taxpayers earning under $200,000." Up to 90-%! How do you like it? And what percentage would the wealthiest “contribute” - those earning $500,000 or higher? A mere 4–9%.
The Devil in the Details: Concludes the JCT: "The brunt of any new revenue from hiring an army of IRS auditors will overwhelming[ly] hit low- and middle-income earners...”
Thus you have it - the devil within the details of the Inflation Reduction Act. As always, he is craftily hidden. It is said the devil’s greatest deception ever was to convince the world he did not exist. The Inflation Reduction Act’s trumpeters pray middle-class Americans remain convinced…"
Gregory Mannarino, "Alert! Be Ready For It! The Federal Reserve Is About To Do Something Big!"
Gregory Mannarino, PM 8/11/22:
"Alert! Be Ready For It!
The Federal Reserve Is About To Do Something Big!"
Comments here:
"Does Anyone Know..."
"All sins, of course, deserve to be treated with mercy: we all do what we can, and life is too hard and too cruel for us to condemn anyone for failing in this area. Does anyone know what he himself would do if faced with the worst and how much truth could he bear under such circumstances?"
- Andre Comte-Sponville
"The Price Of Eggs Is Up 47% As Food Costs In The US Spiral Out Of Control"
"The Price Of Eggs Is Up 47% As Food Costs
In The US Spiral Out Of Control"
by Michael Snyder
"Now they are trying to convince us that dramatically higher prices are good news. Are you kidding me? Our standard of living is being systematically destroyed, and more Americans are falling out of the middle class with each passing day. The government just announced that in July the consumer price index was 8.5 percent higher than it was the previous July. Of course many have challenged the value of the inflation numbers that the government is giving us because the way inflation is calculated has been changed many times over the years. As John Williams of shadowstats.com has pointed out, if the rate of inflation was still calculated the way that it was back in 1980 it would be far higher than anything that we experienced during the Jimmy Carter era of the 1970s. You can spin that any way that you want, but it is still a raging national crisis.
Yes, energy prices in the U.S. have fallen a bit, and many Americans are very thankful for that. This reprieve won’t last indefinitely, and so don’t celebrate too much. Meanwhile, food costs continue to spiral out of control… “The food index increased 10.9 percent over the last year, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending May 1979,” BLS said.
Some grocery store items have seen prices rise even faster, though. “The food at home index rose 13.1 percent over the last 12 months, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending March 1979,” BLS said. “The index for other food at home rose 15.8 percent and the index for cereals and bakery products increased 15.0 percent over the year. The remaining major grocery store food groups posted increases ranging from 9.3 percent (fruits and vegetables) to 14.9 percent (dairy and related products).”
Those numbers are absolutely abysmal. I am sure that you have noticed that prices are going up when you visit the grocery store. Personally, I still remember the days when I could fill up an entire shopping cart full of food for just 25 dollars. What will 25 dollars get you today?
In the old days, eggs were always a fairly inexpensive option, but the government is telling us that the price of eggs has risen 47 percent over the past year…"Inflation is wreaking havoc on breakfast, with egg prices at grocery stores soaring a whopping 47% in July over last year, according to retail analytics firm Information Resources Inc." 47 percent! That is nuts. Of course the bird flu pandemic that has killed tens of millions of our chickens is the primary reason for that price spike.
As I detailed a few days ago, a number of major problems have combined to create a “perfect storm” for global food production. The war in Ukraine, skyrocketing fertilizer prices and extremely bizarre weather patterns are just some of the reasons why global food supplies are getting tighter and tighter. So the truth is that food inflation is not going away any time soon. In fact, I expect global food prices to be substantially higher in 2023 because food production all over the planet will be way below expectations in the months ahead.
We could handle rising prices if our paychecks were going up just as fast. Needless to say, that isn’t happening. As Zero Hedge has pointed out, real average weekly earnings are “now down 16 straight months as inflation eats away at any wage gains”. So even the highly manipulated numbers that the government is giving us show that our standard of living has been falling for 16 months in a row. Ouch.
In the months ahead, I expect this trend to accelerate. It is being projected that heating costs are going to greatly accelerate all over the western world, and that is certainly not going to help matters. This will be particularly true over in Europe. Becoming so dependent on Russian natural gas was a very foolish thing to do, and now the war in Ukraine has changed everything.
For example, over in the UK it is being projected that absurdly high heating bills will push a significant proportion of the population into financial hardship this winter. The following comes from CNN…Nearly one third of households in the United Kingdom will face poverty this winter after paying energy bills that are set to soar again in January, campaigners say. About 10.5 million households will be in fuel poverty for the first three months of next year, according to estimates from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition (EFPC) published on Tuesday - meaning that their income after paying for energy will fall below the poverty line."
The UK is supposed to be one of the wealthiest nations on the entire planet. But thanks to the war in Ukraine, household energy bills are about to soar to absolutely unprecedented heights…"The predictions are based on new estimates from research firm Cornwall Insight, also published Tuesday, which show that the average household energy bill is expected to hit £3,582 ($4,335) a year from October, and £4,266 ($5,163) from January - equating to about £355 ($430) a month."
If the war in Ukraine is causing this much pain, what will happen to global energy markets when Iran and Israel go to war? And what will happen when the United States goes to war with China? I keep trying to sound the alarm, because it is just a matter of time until those conflicts also erupt.
Meanwhile, food production all over the planet will continue to be ravaged by drought, floods, crippling fertilizer costs and persistent global supply chain problems. Our leaders told us that inflation would just be “transitory”, but that turned out to be totally false. Now they are telling us that next year will be better. You can believe that if you want. But right now global food production is being hit by major crisis after major crisis, and as a result food prices are likely to continue their upward spiral for quite some time to come."
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Related:
And folks, they're serious about this...
"Another Bank Warning - Get Ready for a Credit Freeze"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, iAllegedly 8/11/22:
"Another Bank Warning - Get Ready for a Credit Freeze"
"Bank of America issues another credit warning. They see that the average consumer is paying more in rent and living expenses. They are borrowing more money than ever just to get by. Bank is concerned about overnight lending between banks. There could be a potential credit freeze and lock up."
Comments here:
"Strange Prices At Kroger! This Is Crazy!"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures with Danno, 8/11/22:
"Strange Prices At Kroger! This Is Crazy!"
"In today's vlog we are at Kroger, and are noticing some strange price increases! We are here to check out skyrocketing prices, and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"
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Gregory Mannarino, "Grocery Prices Rise At Fastest Pace In 43 Years!"
Gregory Mannarino, AM 8/11/22:
"Grocery Prices Rise At Fastest Pace In 43 Years!"
Comments here:
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Related:
Bill Bonner, "Sudden and Violent Pains"
"Sudden and Violent Pains"
Plus, has inflation finally "peaked"... is it time to go
swimming naked... or is there more to the story?
by Bill Bonner
“Only when the tide goes out do you get to see who’s swimming naked."
- Warren Buffett
Poitou, France - “Our swimming pool is so hot you can’t get in it,” says our neighbor, Pierre. “I’ve never seen it like that.” Europe is suffering another heat wave. The only two comparable heat waves in recent history came in 2003 and 1947. We were here for the 2003 event. We recall that the French held their heads in shame afterwards. Because, 15,000 elderly people died, many of whom probably would have been saved if caring relatives had made sure they had enough water to drink… and perhaps a cooling bath.
Here in the countryside, no one has air conditioning. But you don’t really need it. You just have to learn to live with a week or two of intense heat. First, you close your shutters during the morning. And close the windows. And the curtains. Thus do you keep the interior of the house relatively cool until evening. Then, in the middle of the day, when the heat is at its height, you go down to the river and jump in. The river water, generally protected from the sun by overhanging trees, is cool and refreshing. Back in 2003, the children’s grandmother would accompany them to the river and sit on the bank reading as they frolicked in the water. And one day…
More to the Story: We interrupt that story to bring the news. The Inflation Reduction Act has not even been passed yet. But it’s already producing positive results. Associated Press: "US inflation slows from a 40-year peak but remains high."
"WASHINGTON (AP) - Falling gas prices gave Americans a slight break from the pain of high inflation last month, though overall price increases slowed only modestly from the four-decade high that was reached in June. Consumer prices jumped 8.5% in July compared with a year earlier, the government said Wednesday, down from a 9.1% year-over-year jump in June. On a monthly basis, prices were unchanged from June to July, the smallest such rise in more than two years."
Does this mean the worst is over? Is that all there was to it? Oh, dear reader, don’t be silly. There’s always ‘more to it. Fuel costs came down. Reuters reports this morning that “US gasoline prices fall below $4 for the first time since March.” But while gas went down, food prices rose by more than 10%... the most since 1979. And rents are still going up, so much that a group of rent activists has asked the feds to declare yet another emergency! Productivity is down too… which means there will be fewer goods and services to buy. And labor costs are up, which means they will be more expensive. But the recession will reduce demand, so prices will fall!
What to make of it? Only in Hell does the heat last forever. Everywhere else, it comes and goes. High prices bring lower prices… boom follows bust… and after a credit-fueled bubble comes a debt-driven depression. With yesterday’s bump up, the Nasdaq is now 20% above its recent low… stocks all over the globe are rallying… and the futures market suggests that today will be a good day for stocks too. Meanwhile, down by the water…
A Sight to Behold: “I couldn’t believe it,” said the 85-year-old grandmother from Maryland, after returning from the river. “A very handsome man came down to the river near where I was sitting. He looked like something you would see on the cover of a romance novel, perhaps named Fabian, with long, dark hair. And then, he took off all his clothes. I was so shocked, I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. It must have looked as though I was staring; because I was. And then, he got into the river. I couldn’t wait ‘til he came out again,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.
Unlike the heat in Maryland, here the nights are cool. So, after the sun sets, you open the curtains, the windows and the shutters; the night air can cool down your house. It’s rare that it is so hot at night that it is uncomfortable.
In Paris, however, it is a different story. The pavement and concrete heat up during the day. It is hot at night too… as the masonry gives up its heat slowly. “Global warming” says the press. We need to do something about it. Should we buy an electric car? Should we pay more for solar powered electricity… eat only locally-grown produce… turn the thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer? If we do these things, will it be cooler in the summer? Will Pierre be able to enjoy his pool again? That’s the hypothesis…!
“Sudden and Violent Pains”: But wait. What about the Great Heat of 1757? Yes, there were heat waves even before humans discovered fossil fuels. On July 14, 1757, Paris nearly hit 100 degrees F. That was the hottest the city had been since 1659. And before that, there was the heat wave of 1540. How reliable the weather records from so long ago are… we don’t know. But hot weather in the summer is nothing new. In July 1757, Horace Walpole went for a walk in his garden and wrote: “I thought I should have died of it.”
Dr. John Huxham noticed the effects on the body, writing that the heat “caused haemorrhages from several parts of the body,” and “sudden and violent pains of the head, and vertigo, profuse sweats, great debility and oppression of the spirits.” “There were putrid fevers in great abundance,” he added.
But finally, after so many generations, humans are getting control of things. The Fed has the upper hand against inflation. And the feds will soon be setting the planet’s thermostat to the desired temperature. Yes, with carrot and stick, the feds will drive the economy towards lower carbon emissions… leading to cooler summers. And if that actually happens, it will be one for the record books.
No other grand program, run by the government, has ever achieved anything but misery. Not the Crusades. Not the war to ‘Make the World Safe for Democracy.’ Not Prohibition. Not the Germans’ quest for ‘living room’ nor the Soviets’ promise to create a ‘paradise for the working class.’ And not America’s ‘War on Terror.’ No ‘Great Society’ emerged from LBJ’s meddles. And after Trump’s claims to make America ‘Great Again,’ the country is worse than ever. Instead, every promise is broken. And every ambitious scheme ends in failure. We doubt the Great Transition will be an exception."
"A Very Dangerous Economy Printing Money To Lower Inflation? Prices Of Everything Soaring; Housing"
Jeremiah Babe, 8/10/22:
"A Very Dangerous Economy Printing Money To Lower Inflation?
Prices Of Everything Soaring; Housing"
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Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Musical Interlude: Supertramp, "Take The Long Way Home"
Full screen recommended.
Supertramp, "Take The Long Way Home"
"A Look to the Heavens"
“Separated by about 14 degrees (28 Full Moons) in planet Earth's sky, spiral galaxies M31 at left, and M33 are both large members of the Local Group, along with our own Milky Way galaxy. This narrow- and wide-angle, multi-camera composite finds details of spiral structure in both, while the massive neighboring galaxies seem to be balanced in starry fields either side of bright Mirach, beta star in the constellation Andromeda. Mirach is just 200 light-years from the Sun. But M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, is really 2.5 million light-years distant and M33, the Triangulum Galaxy, is also about 3 million light years away.
Although they look far apart, M31 and M33 are engaged in a gravitational struggle. In fact, radio astronomers have found indications of a bridge of neutral hydrogen gas that could connect the two, evidence of a closer encounter in the past. Based on measurements, gravitational simulations currently predict that the Milky Way, M31, and M33 will all undergo mutual close encounters and potentially mergers, billions of years in the future.”
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"Everything passes away - suffering, pain, blood, hunger, pestilence. The sword will pass away too, but the stars will still remain when the shadows of our presence and our deeds have vanished from the earth. There is no man who does not know that. Why, then, will we not turn our eyes towards the stars? Why?"
- Mikhail Bulgakov, "The White Guard"
"30 Facts That Prove Ranchers Are Panic Selling Millions Of Cattle As The Food Supply Chain Collapses"
Full screen recommended.
"30 Facts That Prove Ranchers Are Panic Selling
Millions Of Cattle As The Food Supply Chain Collapses"
by Epic Economist
"U.S. ranchers are in panic mode. As drought conditions worsen, the lives of millions of cattle are hanging by a thread. That's why thousands of ranchers from all across the country are selling off cattle in unprecedented numbers before more animals are victimized by the extreme weather conditions. Over the past few years, the cost of raising livestock in the U.S. has absolutely exploded, and many farmers are being pushed to the edge of a financial abyss due to the soaring costs of feed, fertilizers, fuel, and farming equipment at a time their herds are being slashed by a shortage of grass and water. The situation is creating serious imbalances in the U.S. food supply chain, with executives warning that meat prices are about to go through the roof given that the U.S. beef cow herd continues to shrink. This problem is rapidly reaching crisis levels, but most people don't even know this is happening.
James Mitchell, an extension livestock economist for the Division of Agriculture, exposed that from January to June, total beef cow slaughter in the U.S. is at its highest level since 1996. “If you look at the number of head slaughtered as a percentage of the January 1 inventory, that’s 5.3 percent of available cows in the U.S. That would be confirmation that we’re seeing people sell off their herd, are culling, or are digging deeper into their herds to cull more cattle. Drought is pressing some hard decisions for people,” Mitchell said.
Farmers are also coping with expensive prices for fertilizer. Record-high natural gas prices have pushed up the cost of nitrogen-based fertilizers such as ammonia, which jumped from about $700 a tonne in August to more than $1,600 in May. The price of potash, rich in potassium, has also hit records above $1,100 a tonne as sanctions curtail supplies from Russia.
Texas farmer, Amador Guerrero, revealed that a calf normally sells for $400 to $800 at auction. But last Wednesday, he watched his calf sell for $70. With so many ranchers selling off cattle, the market is flooded and the price for cows is crashing. This situation is pushing farmers to the edge of a financial abyss. Missouri farmer, Kevin Lawson, who directs extension activities in the 25-county Ozark District, an area heavy in cattle, doesn’t mince words about what he has seen: “We’re on the edge of a disaster,” he emphasized.
The U.S. food supply chain is in a very vulnerable position. The decline in meat production is coming at a time when food prices are 12% higher than they were a year ago. In short, tighter supplies of highly demanded products such as beef are going to result in even higher prices at the stores. At this moment, grocery shortages are already becoming increasingly more extensive across the nation, and it's safe to say that once people realizing this is going on, things are going to very chaotic very quickly. If you can, buy lots of food and store it some place safe because prices will not be lower than they are right now, and challenging times are definately ahead. For that reason, today we compiled 30 statistics that expose the shocking selloff of millions of cattle and reveal why the coming meat shortages are going to be far worse than most Americans are anticipating. Don’t forget to share this list and share your thoughts in the comment section down below!"
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Gerald Celente, "Welcome to the Totalitarian State of America"
Full screen recommended.
Gerald Celente, "The Trends Journal", 8/10/22:
"Welcome to the Totalitarian State of America"
The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in these increasingly turbulent times."
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"What Keeps You Going..."
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"What keeps you going isn't some fine destination but just the road you're on, and the fact that you know how to drive. You keep your eyes open, you see this damned-to-hell world you got born into, and you ask yourself, 'What life can I live that will let me breathe in and out and love somebody or something and not run off screaming into the woods?'"
- Barbara Kingsolver
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