Liquid Mind, "I Am Willing"
Beautiful playlist follows.
So, we rise from the rubble...
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
"A Look to the Heavens"
“This colorful skyscape features the dusty, reddish glow of Sharpless catalog emission region Sh2-155, the Cave Nebula. About 2,400 light-years away, the scene lies along the plane of our Milky Way Galaxy toward the royal northern constellation of Cepheus.
Astronomical explorations of the region reveal that it has formed at the boundary of the massive Cepheus B molecular cloud and the hot, young, blue stars of the Cepheus OB 3 association. The bright rim of ionized hydrogen gas is energized by the radiation from the hot stars, dominated by the bright blue O-type star above picture center. Radiation driven ionization fronts are likely triggering collapsing cores and new star formation within. Appropriately sized for a stellar nursery, the cosmic cave is over 10 light-years across.”
Chet Raymo, “Trying To Be Good”
“Trying To Be Good”
by Chet Raymo
“A few lines from Mary Oliver's poem "Wild Geese":
"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves."
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves."
"I've quoted these lines before, if not here, then elsewhere. When I first read them back in the late 80s, they resonated with what I felt at the time. I had spent part of my earliest adulthood walking on my knees, both literally and metaphorically, seeking to tame what I took to be the animal within. Saint Augustine was whispering in my ear, and Bernanos' gloomy country priest walked at my side. I was ready to follow Thomas Merton into the desert; indeed, I once took myself briefly to the monastery at Gethsemane, Kentucky, where Merton was in residence. That was a journey of more than a hundred miles, and I was busy repenting, although of what I don't know.
As I read those lines from Mary Oliver in middle age, I had long been cultivating the "soft animal" within, immersing myself in the is-ness of things, the flesh and blood, the gorgeously sensual. No more walking on my knees, repenting. I walked proudly upright, with my sketchbook and my watercolors, my binoculars and my magnifier, sniffing the world like an animal on the prowl. I was letting my body learn to "love what it loves." Those were the years I wrote "The Soul of the Night" and "Honey From Stone" - the most intensely creative years of my life. The world offered itself to my imagination, if I may borrow another line from "Wild Geese."
And now, another half-lifetime has passed. The soft animal dozes, the body seeks repose. And I think of the first line quoted above: "You do not have to be good." What could the poet have possibly meant by that? Of course one has to be good. In a cell at Gethsemane or on the bridge over Queset Brook, one has to be good. And so one tries, one tries. The soft animal of the body that nature has contrived for us is not fine-tuned for goodness.”
•
“Wild Geese”
"You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things."
- Mary Oliver
"The Only Absolute..."
"Never perceive anything as being inevitable or predestined.
The only absolute is uncertainty."
- Lionel Suggs
"Humans may crave absolute certainty; they may aspire to it; they may pretend, as partisans of certain religions do, to have attained it. But the history of science- by far the most successful claim to knowledge accessible to humans- teaches that the most we can hope for is successive improvement in our understanding, learning from our mistakes, an asymptotic approach to the Universe, but with the proviso that absolute certainty will always elude us."
- Carl Sagan
Gregory Mannarino, Post-market 3/10/21: "And I Wonder Who Bought All The Debt Today? Guesses?"
Gregory Mannarino, Post-market 3/10/21:
"And I Wonder Who Bought All The Debt Today? Guesses?"
Gerald Celente, Trends Journal: "The Wizard of Covid, Who is Behind the Curtain?"
Gerald Celente, Trends Journal:
"The Wizard of Covid, Who is Behind the Curtain?"
"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over hype and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in the increasingly turbulent times ahead."
"It Takes Courage..."
"Failure is unimportant.
It takes courage to make a fool of yourself."
- Charlie Chaplin
"To Wall Street, the Greatest Money Laundering Operation and Generator of False Wealth Ever Conceived"
"To Wall Street, the Greatest Money Laundering
Operation and Generator of False Wealth Ever Conceived"
By Chris Black
"The people who are in the know get a front row seat to the biggest train wreck of all time. It takes around 1-2 years for the initial effects of an event to truly show up in the economy. Right now you are beginning to see the real effects of shutting down the entire country one year ago.
Businesses are going to go bankrupt in numbers never seen before in history over the next year. It doesn’t matter if everything opens up, the supply chain was destroyed, the core of small business America is gone, and the only source for income is now the government. Entire cities are now boarded up with nothing left of commerce.
The things that drove people to the city, like shopping, and restaurants, are still shut down. You went to those things after you sought entertainment. Without the entertainment venues, everything else fails. How is anything outside Fenway going to survive when only 2000 people are allowed to go to a Red Sox game? How is the stadium going to survive? 5000 people at a Patriots game? The team doesn’t survive.
Cleveland Ohio is now a ghost town. The current situation makes the dark times of the 1970s look like the roaring twenties.
People thought 1929 was crazy and it could never happen again. It took 70 years but it happened.
1999 was insane and everyone knew it. But Wall Street was given a huge bailout and financial deregulation allowed a new massive bubble to form.
They called 2008-09 a financial crisis. Compared to what has happened over the last decade, it was nothing. Now every other bubble in history, including the South Seas and Tulip mania look like tiny blips.
Apple has fallen below $2 trillion, wiping out the entire valuation of the company prior to 2018.
That is how insane this bubble is. A company can have its total market cap after nearly 40 years of being a publicly traded company wiped out 100%, AND STILL BE WORTH $1.9 TRILLION!!!!! If Apple drops back to $1 trillion in market value, it would be the greatest crash of market valuation in history, and still leave the company worth nearly double what it was three years ago.
Global Macro is clearly filled with idiots.
The incomes of millions of workers have been permanently destroyed. The businesses aren’t coming back. What will be opened will be opened with diminished capacity. The supply chains are ruined and costs have skyrocketed. The only things that came through unscathed were the massive megacap companies that have been destroying the sustainable economy for decades.
Inflation is running at rates not seen since the 1970s and incomes are dropping. The things left alive have increased prices 25% since September. Restaurant meals that were $12 are now $17, you can’t even feed three people at Applebee’s for under $50. The entire leisure and hospitality industry is decimated and Covid regulations won’t be going away for a long time. This will keep a lid on the recovery in this sector.
The United States is dead. China is the new king of the world.
GDP is simply a measure of the transfer of money, not real economic activity. Sending a couple hundred billion to Israel, so that Israel can send it back to their agents around the world to buy up property and businesses doesn’t grow anything. It just concentrates power. But those transfers count as growth in GDP.
The vast majority of Americans do not care about stocks, even less care about crypto. The Wall Street Bets crowd is going to learn the hard way about what happens when the SEC and the IRS get involved.
If you actually made money and pay taxes, the “stimulus” is just a forward payment of a tax credit. Those who normally expect to get $2000-3000 back at tax time are in for a rude surprise. If you thought you were getting an extra couple thousand dollars, you’re wrong. You just got your refund early.
The wealthy don’t care about $1400, but they’ll claim that the stimulus is great for stocks, because if stocks go up 1%, they will make a lot more than $1400 on their holdings. The stimulus was really nothing but a gift to those of our society that live off government hand-outs. Because they pay no taxes, they just get to keep the cash. The “thank you” note for voting more big government I guess…"
"The Marauders Are Coming...In A Month!"
"The Marauders Are Coming...In A Month!"
by Pinball Preparedness
"The rent/mortgage moratorium ends on March 31st. Up to 20 million people are gonna be homeless on April 1st. This is WORSE than the great Depression. What are you gonna do when they come to your door for help…hundreds of them?"
"Economic Market Snapshot AM 3/10/21"
"Economic Market Snapshot AM 3/10/21"
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"Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will
do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone."
- John Maynard Keynes
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"Down the rabbit hole of psychopathic greed and insanity...
Only the consequences are real - to you!
Your guide:
Gregory Mannarino, AM 3/10/21
"Critical Alert!
Today Especially Watch The Bond Market- Here's Why"
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"The more I see of the monied classes,
the better I understand the guillotine."
- George Bernard Shaw
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MarketWatch Market Summary, Live Updates
CNN Market Data:
CNN Fear And Greed Index:
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A comprehensive, essential daily read.
March 9th and 10th, Updated Daily
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Financial Stress Index
"The OFR Financial Stress Index (OFR FSI) is a daily market-based snapshot of stress in global financial markets. It is constructed from 33 financial market variables, such as yield spreads, valuation measures, and interest rates. The OFR FSI is positive when stress levels are above average, and negative when stress levels are below average. The OFR FSI incorporates five categories of indicators: credit, equity valuation, funding, safe assets and volatility. The FSI shows stress contributions by three regions: United States, other advanced economies, and emerging markets."
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Daily Job Cuts
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Commentary, highly recommended:
Commentary, highly recommended:
And now, the End Game...
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Oh yeah...
"Let’s Compare The U.S. Military To The Russian Military And The Chinese Military"
"Let’s Compare The U.S. Military To
The Russian Military And The Chinese Military"
by Michael Snyder
"A couple decades ago, the U.S. military was an unparalleled fighting machine. Both Russia and China seemed hopelessly behind, and nobody dared to challenge America’s military superiority. Everyone else was battling for second place in the pecking order, and they knew it. But since that time, Russia and China have engaged in extremely aggressive modernization programs, while the U.S. military has chosen to focus on becoming more “diverse” and “inclusive”. As a result, the balance of power has changed dramatically. In this article, I would like to focus on a few examples that demonstrate the shift that has taken place.
For instance, the Russians are extremely excited about their new ultra-quiet Borei-class submarines that can rain death and destruction down upon their enemies from thousands of miles away: "Each of the submarine’s sixteen R-30 Bulava (“Mace”) missiles typically carries six 150-kiloton nuclear warheads designed to split apart to hit separate targets. This means one Borei can rain seventy-two nuclear warheads ten times more destructive than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima on cities and military bases over 5,800 miles away. The Borei is the most advanced SSBN in the Russian Navy, and is designed to replace its seven Soviet-era Delta-class SSBNs."
In China, scientists have been feverishly working to develop fearsome biologically-enhanced “super soldiers” that could potentially be far superior to standard western soldiers in a future war: "U.S. intelligence shows that China has conducted “human testing” on members of the People’s Liberation Army in hope of developing soldiers with “biologically enhanced capabilities,” the top U.S. intelligence official said Friday."
John Ratcliffe, the director of national intelligence, included the explosive claim in a long Wall Street Journal op-ed in which he made the case that China poses the pre-eminent national security threat to the U.S.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden says that the U.S. military is “making good progress” on feminist issues. Some of the current priorities include “creating maternity flight suits” and loosening hairstyle requirements: "You know, some of - some of it is relatively straightforward work where we’re making good progress designing body armor that fits women properly; tailoring combat uniforms for women; creating maternity flight suits; updating - updating requirements for their hairstyles."
Of course any of the old-timers that dare to object to the new “woke military” are being purged, and so soon there won’t be any dissenting voices standing in the way of the social justice reforms that the Biden administration wishes to implement.
Over in Russia, “diversity” is not a military priority. Instead, they are getting ready to introduce the new Sarmat intercontinental nuclear missiles into service. These new missiles can travel at speeds of up to 15,000 mph, and a single missile has enough firepower to “wipe out Texas”: "RUSSIA is poised to test an “unstoppable” 15,000 mph nuclear missile it boasts can beat any defense and wipe out Texas. The RS-28 Sarmat doomsday rocket is now primed to replace the much-feared R-36 – once dubbed the “Satan” nuke by Nato. The Kremlin brags it has a range of around 6,200 miles, can carry 16 warheads and is able to dodge any missile defense system.
At the same time, the Chinese are rapidly developing highly advanced missile delivery systems that look just like “standard international shipping containers”: "This missile would be a land-attack variant of an advanced anti-ship missile that would be deployed in launchers appearing to be standard international shipping containers from the outside. Such containers are being used all around the world for moving millions of tons of goods, and are often placed on the deck of large freighters.
The YJ-18C is China’s version of the Club-K cruise missile built by Russia that also uses a launcher disguised as a shipping container. Israel also is working on a container-launched missile called the Lora. Rick Fisher, a China military affairs expert, said he is not surprised China is copying the Russian Club container-launched missile. “It fits with China’s penchant for seeking asymmetric advantages against its enemies,” he said.
Of course the U.S. military is modernizing as well. In fact, it has been reported that U.S. strategic nuclear forces are no longer using 8-inch floppy disks from the 1970s: "In 2014, “60 Minutes” made famous the 8-inch floppy disks used by one antiquated Air Force computer system that, in a crisis, could receive an order from the president to launch nuclear missiles from silos across the United States. But no more. At long last, that system, the Strategic Automated Command and Control System or SACCS, has dumped the floppy disk, moving to a “highly secure solid state digital storage solution” this past June, said Lt. Col. Jason Rossi, commander of the Air Force’s 595th Strategic Communications Squadron."
That is exciting news. What is next? Will they finally get rid of all of their old rotary phones? Meanwhile, President Biden is making it exceedingly clear that the U.S. military will have a culture of “inclusiveness” from this point forward: "That’s why we moved so quickly to overturn the discriminary - discriminatory ban on transgender service, and why General Austin’s first memo was a directive to take sexual assault in the military seriously. Every single person, no matter their gender identity, sexual orientation, race, or religious background, deserves to feel safe in the ranks and to have their contributions valued."
I could go on and on with more examples, but I think that most of you get the point. The U.S. military is being transformed into an institution of social change, and at the same time Russia and China are tightly focused on trying to figure out how to fight and win World War III.
When it comes time to fight a real war, do you think that we will actually win? Just because the U.S. military was overwhelmingly dominant at one time, that does not mean that it is still that way today or that it will be that way in the future. One of the only things that is constant about our world is change, and right now the U.S. military is definitely changing in the wrong direction."
Tuesday, March 9, 2021
Musical Interlude: 2002, "The Emerald Way"
Full screen recommended.
2002, "The Emerald Way"
"This is the title track to our album, "The Emerald Way." The Emerald Way refers to that moment in life when a pivotal choice must be made – to choose the way that is customary and expected of us – or to head down the overgrown hidden path leading to the unknown."
"A Look to the Heavens"
“A now famous picture from the Hubble Space Telescope featured Pillars of Creation, star forming columns of cold gas and dust light-years long inside M16, the Eagle Nebula. This false-color composite image views the nearby stellar nursery using data from the Herschel Space Observatory's panoramic exploration of interstellar clouds along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. Herschel's far infrared detectors record the emission from the region's cold dust directly.
The famous pillars are included near the center of the scene. While the central group of hot young stars is not apparent at these infrared wavelengths, the stars' radiation and winds carve the shapes within the interstellar clouds. Scattered white spots are denser knots of gas and dust, clumps of material collapsing to form new stars. The Eagle Nebula is some 6,500 light-years distant, an easy target for binoculars or small telescopes in a nebula rich part of the sky toward the split constellation Serpens Cauda (the tail of the snake).”
"Let Us Not Make Any Mistake About It..."
"We have got some very big problems confronting us and let us not make any mistake about it, human history in the future is fraught with tragedy. It's only through people making a stand against that tragedy and being doggedly optimistic that we are going to win through. If you look at the plight of the human race it could well tip you into despair, so you have to be very strong."
- Robert James Brown
"Chaos Sweeps Across Texas As Panic Buying Frenzy Triggers Massive Food And Fuel Shortages"
Full screen recommended.
"Chaos Sweeps Across Texas As Panic Buying
Frenzy Triggers Massive Food And Fuel Shortages"
by Epic Economist
"Panic-buying is once again causing ravaging shortages all over Texas, as residents are running to the stores to stockpile essentials and also to gas stations, waiting in mile-long lines, fearing they could be left without fuel for an indeterminate period. The storm's impact is all too similar to the problems faced earlier on the health crisis, when food supply chains broke down all across the country after people started to massively purchase food staples and cleaning products in face of the coming lockdowns.
Now, although power issues have been fixed in most parts of the state, water disruptions and snow and ice-covered roads have impacted the delivery of grocery supplies and gas. Residents are still facing major challenges as this chaotic situation has been lingering for weeks, with several stores and food banks revealing to be in "disaster mode" since food shortages are predicted to extend for much longer than previously expected. That's what we're going to expose in this video.
Last week, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, has finally resumed normal operations, ending a prolonged period of emergency interruptions. But according to PowerOutage.us, at least 58,000 Texans remain without power. And that's not even the most worrying problem the state is facing right now: about 7 million Texas residents are under “boil water” warnings, which means their water isn’t safe to drink without boiling first.
In total, over 14.9 million Texans have been severely affected by disruptions to water systems across the state. The damages registered up until this point have left the state on disaster footing as it still failing to promptly respond to what Austin City Council member Natasha Harper-Madison described in an interview as “a Katrina-scale crisis”. “I’m getting evidence of people’s infrastructure failing - people’s pipes failing, people’s toilets failing, people not having access to water because their homes have flooded,” said Harper-Madison.
According to the Texas Tribune, residents have also been suffering from food shortages, and due to the latest panic-buying spree, empty grocery shelves became a common sight. For weeks, water bottles were nowhere to be found. Even larger chains like H-E-B had no water inventory available across multiple facilities. H-E-B noted that there was a "severe disruption in the food supply chain”. Kroger said it had to temporarily shut down 15 stores across the state since its distribution center remains without power, impacting replenishment.
Moreover, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller sounded a red alert about the food supply chain, revealing that grocery retailers are unable to get dairy product shipments and farmers are dumping milk due to the lack of power on processing plants. "We're looking at a food supply chain problem like we’ve never seen before, even with the health crisis," Miller outlined.
Authorities are underlining that the panic-buying frenzy has been worsening shortages and leaving entire families without enough food. They have been asking residents not to hoard on essentials and to only get what they are going to actually consume. The heightened demand has sent food prices to exorbitant levels, even though Texas outlaws price gouging.
Additionally, across several cities, lines of cars waiting to get into gas stations are stretching for miles. Several gas terminals have either slowed down or rationed distribution, and many stations have started to shut off pumps as panicked consumers have been emptying a month's supply in a short few days. At this moment, one in every seven Texas gas stations is without fuel, and the Lone Star state might need to count on outside help. According to the Texas Food & Fuel Association, the number of gas stations and convenience stores with empty tanks hit 15 percent. For that reason, the association is urging motorists to avoid panic buying because the retail gas system is not prepared for everyone filling up their tanks all at once.
Meanwhile, food banks and pantries have been forced to close as it became impossible for staff and vehicles to get to the distribution centers. With grocery shortages, the suspension of school meal programs, and food bank deliveries interrupted by untreated, treacherous roads, millions of Texans are still in a precarious living situation with dwindling food supplies.
As Texas is still struggling to respond to the scale of the crisis even after weeks, the food supply disruption and widespread gas shortages show how poorly prepared the US is to manage climate crises. Our lack of planning and resilience to handle systemic failures will continue to put millions of lives in jeopardy while our nation dives into a never-ending chaos of economic catastrophes and natural disasters."
"Shaya's Home Run"
"Shaya's Home Run"
by Paysach Krohn
"In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning-disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school careers, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional yeshivos and Bais Yaakovs. There are a few children who attend Chush for most of the week and go to a regular school on Sundays. At a Chush fund-raising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, “Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything that Hashem [G-d] does is done with perfection. But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is Hashem’s perfection?” The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father’s anguish and stilled by his piercing query.
“I believe,” the father answered, “that when Hashem brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that He seeks is in the way people react to this child.” He then told the following story about his son Shaya. Shaya attends Chush throughout the week and Yeshivah Darchei Torah in Far Rockaway on Sundays. One Sunday afternoon, Shaya and his father came to Darchei Torah as his classmates were playing baseball. The game was in progress and as Shaya and his father made their way towards the ball field, Shaya said, “Do you think you could get me into the game?”
Shaya’s father knew his son was not at all athletic, and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya’s father understood that if his son was chosen in, it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging. Shaya’s father approached one of the boys in the field and asked, “Do you think my Shaya could get into the game?”
The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, “We are losing by six runs and the game is already in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning.” Shaya’s father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field, a position that exists only in softball. There were no protests from the opposing team, which would now be hitting with an extra man in the outfield.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya’s team scored again and now with two outs and the bases loaded and the potential winning runs on base, Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shaya was told to take a bat and try to get a hit. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible, for Shaya didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so that Shaya should at least be able to make contact.
The first pitch came in and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya’s teammates came up to Shaya and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shaya. As the next pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung the bat and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game.
Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far and wide beyond the first baseman’s reach. Everyone started yelling, “Shaya, run to first! Shaya, run to first!” Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher’s intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman’s head, as everyone yelled, “Shaya, run to second! Shaya, run to second.”
Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases towards home. As Shaya reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran towards him, turned him towards the direction of third base and shouted “Shaya, run to third!”
As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, “Shaya, run home! Shaya, run home!” Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as he had just hit the “grand slam” and won the game for his team.
“That day,” said the father who now had tears rolling down his face, “those 18 boys reached their level of perfection. They showed that it is not only those who are talented that should be recognized, but also those who have less talent. They too are human beings, they too have feelings and emotions, they too are people, they too want to feel important.”
That is the exceptional lesson of this episode. Too often we seek to find favor and give honor to those who have more than us. But there are people who have fewer friends than we, less money, and less prestige. Those people especially need attention and recognition. We should try to achieve the level of perfection in human relationships which the boys on the ball field at Yeshiva Darchei Torah achieved. Because if children can do it, we adults should certainly be able to accomplish it as well."
"If We're Lucky..."
“Maybe we accept the dream has become a nightmare. We tell ourselves that reality is better. We convince ourselves it’s better that we never dream at all. But, the strongest of us, the most determined of us, holds on to the dream or we find ourselves faced with a fresh dream we never considered. We wake to find ourselves, against all odds, feeling hopeful. And, if we’re lucky, we realize in the face of everything, in the face of life the true dream is being able to dream at all.”
- Dr. Meredith Grey, “Grey’s Anatomy”
The Poet: Mary Oliver, "What I Have Learned So Far"
"What I Have Learned So Far"
"Meditation is old and honorable, so why should I
not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside,
looking into the shining world? Because, properly
attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.
Can one be passionate about the just, the
ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit
to no labor in its cause? I don't think so.
All summations have a beginning, all effect has a
story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.
Thought buds toward radiance. The gospel of
light is the crossroads of- indolence, or action.
Be ignited, or be gone."
~ Mary Oliver
"9 Signs That Chess Pieces Are Being Moved Into Place For A Major War In The Middle East"
"9 Signs That Chess Pieces Are Being Moved
Into Place For A Major War In The Middle East"
by Michael Snyder
"The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency;
the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a
permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists."
- Ernest Hemingway
"The American people are really going to regret putting the warmongers back in control. Joe Biden has been in the White House for less than two months, and the warmongers that Biden has surrounded himself with have been feverishly setting the stage for the next war in the Middle East. I do not believe that it will start within the next week, but I do believe that it is inevitable.
While President Trump was in the White House for four years, the U.S. didn’t start any new conflicts, but now the Biden administration is quite determined to start projecting “American influence” all over the globe once again. Most Americans don’t understand the bigger picture, but the truth is that this is going to have very serious implications over the next few years.
In this article, I would like to examine some of the chess moves that have been made since Joe Biden entered the White House. As you will see, a very troubling picture emerges once you start putting all of the pieces together.
#1 Literally one day after Biden was inaugurated, a massive U.S. military convoy rolled into Syria: "A large US military convoy entered northeastern Syria on Thursday, Syrian state news agency SANA reports, citing sources on the ground. According to the report, the convoy included some 40 trucks and armored vehicles and was backed from the air by helicopters. President Trump had tried very hard to disengage from the war in Syria, but Biden has made it crystal clear that the U.S. will be heavily involved in that conflict moving forward."
#2 Just a few weeks later, Joe Biden conducted his first airstrike against Iranian-backed forces inside Syria: "The US has carried out an air strike targeting Iran-backed militias in Syria, in the first military action undertaken by the Biden administration. The Pentagon said the strike destroyed “multiple facilities” and was ordered in response to attacks against US and coalition personnel in Iraq. Militia officials said one person had been killed but a war monitor reported at least 22 fatalities."
#3 Of course it was inevitable that Iranian-backed forces would respond, and they retaliated by launching rockets at a military base in Iraq where U.S. forces are stationed. Just a couple days ago, new Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that there will be a U.S. military response “at a time and place of our own choosing”: "Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin tells @MarthaRaddatz the U.S. is still assessing who carried out recent rocket attack on base in Iraq housing U.S. troops - and that if the U.S. decides to respond, it will be “at a time and place of our own choosing.”
#4 More U.S. airstrikes may come sooner rather than later. In fact, it is being reported that the U.S. has just sent six B-52 bombers to Diego Garcia: "The U.S. Air Force is sending six B-52 Stratofortress bombers to Diego Garcia, a military hub that acts as a strategic location for operations in both the Middle East and the Pacific. Citing a U.S. official, CNN on Monday reported that the Cold War-era bomber will be “available for operations against Iran if ordered.”
#5 The Biden administration is also sending approximately 10,000 more U.S. troops to the Middle East: "Once the amphibious assault ship Bataan, which is moving toward the Middle East, arrives, the U.S. will have added roughly 10,000 personnel to the area within the last week, according to The Wall Street Journal."
#6 Russia has been busy making moves in the region as well. On Friday, Russia conducted an air strike on an oil-loading facility in Syria that is used by opposition forces that are backed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the Biden administration: "A suspected missile strike on an oil-loading facility used by Turkey-backed opposition forces in northern Syria sparked a massive blaze across a large area where oil tankers are normally parked, aerial and satellite images show.
Syrian opposition groups and at least one war monitor blamed Russia for the strike Friday night near the towns of Jarablus and al-Bab, near the border with Turkey. In a report, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, said Russian warships in the Mediterranean had fired three missiles that struck primitive oil refineries and tanker trucks in the region."
#7 Meanwhile, Israel continues to hit strategically important targets inside Syria on a regular basis. The following comes from a news report that was published in late February: "Syrian air defenses were activated in the capital Damascus and its southern suburbs Sunday night to repel an Israeli missile attack, state media reported. There was no word on casualties. State TV quoted an unnamed military official as saying that most of the Israeli missiles were shot down before reaching their targets near Damascus."
#8 Israel is particularly interested in keeping Iran from developing nuclear weapons. In an interview with Fox News, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz just stated that Israel is ready to attack Iran without any U.S. help: "The Israeli military is updating plans to strike Iranian nuclear sites and is prepared to act independently, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz told Fox News. Israel has identified numerous targets inside Iran that would hurt its ability to develop a nuclear bomb. “If the world stops them before, it’s very much good. But if not, we must stand independently and we must defend ourselves by ourselves,” Gantz said in his first sit-down interview with an American outlet."
#9 During a phone call last Thursday between Kamala Harris and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister made it exceedingly clear that his nation is ready to do whatever it takes to prevent the Iranians from developing their own nukes: “The prime minister said we would continue to strengthen our intelligence and security cooperation and said during their conversation that as prime minister of Israel, he is totally committed to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons that are meant for our destruction.”
Of course the Iranians have no plans to back down, and that makes a military conflict between Israel and Iran inevitable. There will be war in the Middle East, and the horror of that conflict will shock the entire planet. And once that war begins, it will greatly accelerate our economic problems and the ongoing political turmoil in this country. So enjoy this brief period of relative stability while you can, because our world is about to start changing in dramatic ways."
Monday, March 8, 2021
MUST WATCH! "Bank Meltdown Coming To America And Will Lead To An Apocalyptic End Game"
Full screen recommended.
"Bank Meltdown Coming To America And
Will Lead To An Apocalyptic End Game"
by Epic Economist
"A dramatic bank meltdown might soon occur as the economic fallout of the health crisis has greatly shaken global financial stability. America has fallen into such a steep recession that previous crises now look like "good times". Up until this point, over 70 million jobless claims were registered, and at least 10% of the entire U.S. workforce remains unemployed. The amount of debt accumulated by households and businesses all across the country has made banks record roughly $1 trillion in losses, with hundreds of billions more forecasted. Simply put, the U.S. bank system is on the verge of disaster, and mounting difficulties could spark a bank collapse that is likely to push America even deeper into the economic meltdown. That's what we're going to expose in this video.
The challenges ahead are complex and the path is uncertain. Unemployment rates largely exceeded Great Depression levels, hundreds of thousands of businesses have permanently closed, and over 25 percent of small businesses predict declaring bankruptcy in the next six months. Industries such as oil and gas, travel, and retail, were the hardest-hit by the recession and are likely to be completely restructured. For its part, banks were affected by record-low interest rates and a flattened yield curve, which means net interest income has significantly declined. Credit losses are expected to exceed $1 trillion. And the effects of it will extend over many years, perhaps more than a decade.
American banks are burdened with a staggering amount of credit losses. According to experts with the management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, credit losses may range from $400 billion to $1 trillion between 2020 and 2024, and net interest income may decline by up to $200 billion from its 2019 baseline, considerably compromising revenues over the next 18 months, and possibly sparking a widespread bank collapse.
Consequently, loan, securities, and derivatives portfolios are likely to face extreme downward pressures, setting the stage for a banking collapse particularly considering that several other sources of bank income have already started to dry up. After the previous financial crisis of 2007-08, policymakers tried to improve a series of safeguard measures to reduce the chances of instability in the banking system, which have contributed to the initial resilience seen on the system at the beginning of the current recession.
Some banking sectors, such as shadow banking, however, needed immediate government intervention. The Federal Reserve, then implemented extraordinary emergency measures, including stimulus plans, tax rebates, and record low-interest rates, in an effort to prevent total collapse, since the entire economy was at stake. But as we have repeatedly discussed in this channel, very quickly things spiraled out of control, and the primary response to the issues brought on by the health crisis was the issuance of more and more liquidity.
If policies aren't reversed and borrowers become massively delinquent on their loans, the potential bank meltdown will affect several other financial institutions, such as pension funds, mutual funds, and insurance companies. Some experts argue that the banking collapse will be fueled by banks greed to make more profits no matter what. Before the health crisis ever started, bankers were repeating the same mistakes they did during the previous financial crisis.
We are seeing the exact same scenario, but the unexpected arrival of a ravaging health crisis added a twist bankers and bondholders couldn't see it coming. Suddenly, a large chunk of the population and countless businesses lost their ability to meet their loan payments, and so far have accumulated over $40 billion in rental and mortgage debt. The same that happened before is happening once again right now: the subprime mortgage market is becoming a ticking bomb, ready to explode at any time.
The credit crunch will then affect businesses' and individuals' ability to financially recover. It can impact entire cities, as major urban centers are witnessing a commercial real estate collapse, and municipal bonds are used to used to fund cities' maintenance, colleges, and hospitals. Every aspect of the economy will be on the hook. And the higher interest rates go, the lower will be borrowers' ability to meet their late payments, which will result in more defaults, and worsen the current recession. To put it another way, a bank collapse is only a matter of time, and it will create a financial tsunami that will jeopardize America's recovery and growth for years and years."
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Related:
"Global Derivatives Market Now Valued at $1.14 Quadrillion!"
"The Bank of International Settlements, which seems to be the only institution that tracks the derivatives market, has recently reported that global outstanding derivatives have reached 1.14 quadrillion dollars: $548 Trillion in listed credit derivatives plus $596 trillion in notional/OTC derivatives. Yes, that is Quadrillion. One and 15 zeroes!
Derivatives, as you may know, are essentially unregulated, high-risk credit bets. Unlike the earnest farmer who might employ a futures contract to hedge the price of the beans he’s worked so hard to grow, many of today’s institutions use futures, forwards, options, swaps, swaptions, caps, collars and floors - any kind of leverage device they can cook up - to bet the hell out of virtually anything. (While earning fat commissions for doing so. - CP)
What drives derivatives, at their very roots (if you can somehow get back that far), are base assets that get leveraged to a demented degree. Martin Mayer writing for the Brookings Institute, said, “the receiver of the payments on these loans or securities has bought the securities for the duration of the swap on 95% margin, even though the law says nobody can buy securities without putting up half the price.”
Please view this complete article here:
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This is what the psychopaths have done.
This isn't a tsunami.
This horror is a margin call supernova of absolutely total obliteration.
"Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here" indeed...
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