Greg Hunter, "Financial System Has Come to an End"

"Financial System Has Come to an End"

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"Legendary financial and geopolitical cycle analyst Martin Armstrong thinks we have come to the end of the line for the financial system, and this is why globalists are on a power grab of epic proportions. Armstrong explains, “The system has come to an end. They know they can no longer borrow indefinitely. So, what is this “Great Reset’? It is basically a move to redesign the world monetary system. They are going to stop the borrowing that they are doing, and they are just going to print. You also have this move for a digital currency. Once they move to a digital currency, they can impose negative interest rates and just take money out of your account at will. People don’t realize what this really is. I believe Bitcoin was started by the government to get this whole ball going. If I gave you a $100 bill, they don’t know where I got the $100 bill from. However, if I give you that in Bitcoin, not only do they know I gave it to you, but they know where I got it from. It can be completely traced all the way down. That is a tax authority’s dream. You have to understand what they are selling is really a totalitarian regime.”

Armstrong goes on to say, “The ‘Build Back Better’ slogan was bantered around at the World Economic Forum back in January 2019. This is being orchestrated and deliberately designed. Why have world leaders joined it? That’s because they know the system we currently have now is collapsing. The dollar has held up, and just look outside this country. In Europe, the bond market is destroyed. It’s completely gone. What institution is going to buy a bond from Europe with a negative interest rate? Pension funds need 8% to break even. You have bankrupted all the pension funds over there. It is a complete disaster. This is the greatest financial crisis in human history, and people don’t understand what is going on. Watch Europe. It’s the canary in the coal mine for the next big crash.” (Meaning, Europe will crash first and then the USA.)

Armstrong also predicts that, in the not-so-distant future, you will not be voting or your vote will simply not count if you vote for the wrong party. Armstrong contends, “They’re going to rig the elections again. There is too much at stake here. When Donald Trump won in 2016, they got scared because they (globalist elites) all thought they would lose their power. If you look at the eight points from the World Economic Forum, one of the points is by 2030, democracy must come to an end.” On a partly encouraging note, Armstrong says, “They (globalist elites) are not going to win, but they are going to destroy the country in the process.”

Armstrong gives analysis about the possibility of removing Senators from Congress because of voter fraud and gives analysis on the possibility of Donald Trump being reinstalled in the White House. Armstrong says regarding the duo occupying the White House today, “They have the perfect ‘dumb and dumber’ in office, and that’s what the bureaucrats always wanted to do.”

Armstrong predicts a break-up of the United States and talks more about the “panic cycle” in the 2022 elections. Armstrong points out it’s not just the USA in an election “panic cycle,” but sees a global election “panic cycle.” Armstrong has much analysis and data on CV19 and the vaccines to share too. Armstrong also talks about gold, silver and why any physical asset is a good bet to own in the coming so-called financial reset. In general, Armstrong see “chaos” coming in 2022 and beyond.

- https://usawatchdog.com/

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he goes One-on-One with Martin Armstrong, author of “Manipulating the World Economy,” which has 70 fresh new pages in the 5th edition of this very popular book. (There is much more in the one hour long interview.)

- https://rumble.com/

"Warning! No Access To Your Bank Account; Financial Cliff Gets Higher; Bank Restrictions Imminent"

Jeremiah Babe, PM 7/24/21:

"Warning! No Access To Your Bank Account; 

Financial Cliff Gets Higher; Bank Restrictions Imminent"

"It Matters..."

The sons - in the dungeon - think they hear Henry approach to kill them.

Richard: "He's here! He'll get no satisfaction out of me!

 He isn't going to see me beg!"

Geoffrey: "Why, you chivalric fool - as if the way one fell down mattered!"

Richard: "When the fall is all there is, it matters.”

- James Goldman, "The Lion In Winter"

Musical Interlude: Il Divo, "Wicked Game" ("Melanconia"), Live In London 2011

Full screen recommended.

Il Divo, "Wicked Game" ("Melanconia"),

 Live In London 2011

Musical Interlude: 2002, "Remember Now"

2002, "Remember Now"

Musical Interlude: Gnomusy (David Caballero), "Footprints On The Sea"

Full screen recommended.

Gnomusy (David Caballero), "Footprints On The Sea"

"Perhaps It Is Better..."

"Perhaps it is better to be un-sane and happy, than sane and un-happy.

But it is the best of all to be sane and happy. Whether our descendants

can achieve that goal will be the greatest challenge of the future.

Indeed, it may well decide whether we have any future."

- Arthur C. Clarke

"A Look to the Heavens"

“It's the bubble versus the cloud. NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula, is being pushed out by the stellar wind of massive central star BD+602522. Next door, though, lives a giant molecular cloud, visible to the right. At this place in space, an irresistible force meets an immovable object in an interesting way.

The cloud is able to contain the expansion of the bubble gas, but gets blasted by the hot radiation from the bubble's central star. The radiation heats up dense regions of the molecular cloud causing it to glow. The Bubble Nebula, pictured above in scientifically mapped colors to bring up contrast, is about 10 light-years across and part of a much larger complex of stars and shells. The Bubble Nebula can be seen with a small telescope towards the constellation of the Queen of Aethiopia (Cassiopeia).”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap111011.html

"What Is The Joy About?"

“There are meaningful warnings which history gives a threatened or perishing society. Such are, for instance, the decadence of art, or a lack of great statesmen. There are open and evident warnings, too. The center of your democracy and of your culture is left without electric power for a few hours only, and all of a sudden crowds of American citizens start looting and creating havoc. The smooth surface film must be very thin, then, the social system quite unstable and unhealthy. But the fight for our planet, physical and spiritual, a fight of cosmic proportions, is not a vague matter of the future; it has already started. The forces of Evil have begun their offensive; you can feel their pressure, and yet your screens and publications are full of prescribed smiles and raised glasses. What is the joy about?”

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

“Breaking! Fourth Stimulus Check Update Today, Monthly 4th Stimulus Checks And A Vote!”

LALATE Midday 7/24/21:

“Breaking! Fourth Stimulus Check Update Today, 

Monthly 4th Stimulus Checks And A Vote!”

The Poet: J.R.R. Tolkien, "I Sit And Think"

"I Sit And Think"

“I sit beside the fire and think

Of all that I have seen,

Of meadow flowers and butterflies

In summers that have been.

Of yellow leaves and gossamer

In autumns that there were,

With morning mist and silver sun

And wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think

Of how the world will be

When winter comes without a spring

That I shall ever see.

For still there are so many things

That I have never seen,

In every wood, in every spring,

There is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think

Of people long ago,

And people that will see a world

That I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think

Of times there were before,

I listen for returning feet

And voices at the door.”

- J.R.R. Tolkien

The Daily "Near You?"

Napier, Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. Thanks for stopping by!

“In The Time Of Your Life..."

“In the time of your life, live - so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches. Seek goodness everywhere, and when it is found, bring it out of its hiding place and let it be free and unashamed.

Place in matter and in flesh the least of the values, for these are the things that hold death and must pass away. Discover in all things that which shines and is beyond corruption. Encourage virtue in whatever heart it may have been driven into secrecy and sorrow by the shame and terror of the world. Ignore the obvious, for it is unworthy of the clear eye and the kindly heart.

Be the inferior of no man, or of any men be superior. Remember that every man is a variation of yourself. No man's guilt is not yours, nor is any man's innocence a thing apart. Despise evil and ungodliness, but not men of ungodliness or evil. These, understand. Have no shame in being kindly and gentle but if the time comes in the time of your life to kill, kill and have no regret.

In the time of your life, live - so that in that wondrous time you shall not add to the misery and sorrow of the world, but shall smile to the infinite delight and mystery of it.”

- William Saroyan,

"The Time of Your Life" (1939)

"Life Does..."

 

"Who Watches The Watchmen? - Fauci's 'Noble Lie' Exposed"

A medieval doodle of William of Ockham accompanying

 a litany of scientists using his razor to shred evidence.

"Who Watches The Watchmen? - Fauci's 'Noble Lie' Exposed"

by Charles Rixey

"Note — This article details current historical research into COVID-19’s origins, as part of the D.R.A.S.T.I.C. team of scientists, journalists & researchers. Recent news: D.R.A.S.T.I.C.’s research forms a large portion of the basis for investigations begun by the US Senate, House & National Institutes of Health. Recent appearances and/or discussion on 60 Minutes, The Joe Rogan Exp., Fox News, JRE [again], Bill Maher, & CNN.

All references for this and other articles are compiled under my research project "The Arc of Inquiry Bends Towards Enlightenment." The files include my statistical analysis of the impact of censorship on the search for the origin of SARS-CoV-2.

More than 100K pages of FOIA documents referenced here have been condensed into 173 pages of the most relevant selections in my appendix "Prometheus Shrugged." It was here, last February, that the role of Dr. Fauci in ongoing academic censorship of COVID’s origin was first exposed. A chronological narrative of the events described throughout my research will included in a forthcoming volume of DRASTIC’s set of published collections of evidence.

The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once wrote that truth goes through 3 stages: 1st, it is ridiculed; 2nd, it is violently opposed; and 3rd, it is accepted as being self-evident. Guess what’s next for us?"

Please view this lengthy, critically important complete article here:

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

- https://prometheusshrugged.substack.com/

"How It Really Is"

 

"Federal Court Rules CDC’s COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium Is Unlawful"

"Federal Court Rules CDC’s COVID-19 

Eviction Moratorium Is Unlawful"

by Jack Phillips

"A federal court on Friday ruled that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) overstepped its authority by halting evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cincinnati-based U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously agreed (pdf) with a lower court ruling that said the CDC engaged in federal overreach with the eviction moratorium, which the agency has consistently extended for months. Several weeks ago, the CDC announced it would allow the policy, which was passed into law by Congress, to expire at the end of July.

“It is not our job as judges to make legislative rules that favor one side or another,” the judges wrote. “But nor should it be the job of bureaucrats embedded in the executive branch. While landlords and tenants likely disagree on much, there is one thing both deserve: for their problems to be resolved by their elected representatives.”

The ruling upheld one handed down by U.S. District Judge Mark Norris, who in March blocked enforcement of the moratorium throughout western Tennessee. Under the moratorium, tenants who have lost income during the pandemic can declare under penalty of perjury that they’ve made their best effort to pay rent on time. The CDC claimed the measure was necessary to prevent people from having to enter overcrowded conditions if they were evicted, which would, according to the agency, impact public health.

Previously, the CDC’s lawyers argued in court filings that Congress authorized the eviction freeze as part of its COVID-19 relief legislation, while simultaneously asserting that the moratorium was within its authority. Those arguments were rejected by the three-panel appeals court on Friday.

“What’s the difference between executive-branch experts and congressional ones? Executive-branch experts make regulations; congressional experts make recommendations,” the appeals court wrote. “Congressional bureaucracy leaves the law-making power with the people’s representatives - right where the Founders put it.”

But last month, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision rejected a different plea by landlords to end the ban on evictions. Justice Brett Kavanaugh had written in an opinion (pdf) that while he believes that the CDC had exceeded its authority by implementing the moratorium, he voted against ending it because the policy is set to expire July 31. “Those few weeks,” he wrote, “will allow for additional and more orderly distribution” of the funds that Congress has appropriated to provide rental assistance to those in need because of the pandemic.

The CDC moratorium has faced pushback from property owners as well as the National Association of Realtors. “Landlords have been losing over $13 billion every month under the moratorium, and the total effect of the CDC’s overreach may reach up to $200 billion if it remains in effect for a year,” said the organization in an emergency petition to the Supreme Court. It’s not clear if the CDC’s attorneys will appeal the ruling. The Epoch Times has requested a comment from the agency."

-https://www.theepochtimes.com/

○

"Millions of Tenants Behind on Rent, Small Landlords Struggling, 

Eviction Moratoriums Expiring Soon: Inside the Next Housing Crisis"

In the post below Jeremiah Babe, as well as many others, asserts there are "12 million" evictions pending August 1, suddenly putting 40 million people on the streets homeless, jobless, and hopeless, including millions of children. What happens to them then? Maybe they'll come to your neighborhood, and YOU can shelter some of them?

○

"Mass Shootings On Course For Record 

Year As US Transforms Into Violent Mess"

Think it's bad now? Watch and see what "bad" is...

MUST WATCH! "Consumers Will Tap Out; Economic War On The Middle Class; The Stock Market Will Implode"

Jeremiah Babe, PM 7/23/21:

"Consumers Will Tap Out; Economic War On 

The Middle Class; The Stock Market Will Implode"

Time's up, folks, God help us...

"People are Angry About the Economy - Civility is Dead"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly, PM 7/23/21:

"People are Angry About the Economy - Civility is Dead"

"8 Signs That US Is Heading To The 21st Century Great Depression: Prepare Your Self For The Worst!"

Full screen recommended.

"8 Signs That US Is Heading To The 21st Century 

Great Depression: Prepare Your Self For The Worst!"

by Epic Economist

"Since the onset of the global health crisis last year, the US economy has been on a bumpy road. But the truth is that the economic problems faced by our country are nothing new. The health crisis just accelerated the impending decay of many of our institutions, industries, and businesses, and once that free fall began some of us already knew there would be no turning back. We will never come back to "normal". That's why in 2021, our problems are only getting worse and our ongoing crises show no signs of stopping. Most Americans are just realizing the depth of the impact the past 18 months had on our lives and how everything will be different from now on. As we start to crawl our way out from the health crisis, we’re just beginning to see the damages and imbalances caused by it.

Of course, our leaders were the ones making decisions for us and many of those decisions were actually not beneficial to our society. They were responsible for millions of bankruptcies, lay-offs, and also for intensifying our economic woes while downgrading our living standards in that process. It's safe to say that our politicians and policymakers have failed us, and they have put us on a path of prolonged economic suffering. But once they saw most people were accepting of their non-sensical policies due to the promise of heading us out of this crisis, they started to say what the public wanted to hear so that they could keep finding justifications to spend more and more money. And they will continue feeding us with lies to keep their hands on that money with zero regards for the consequences.

Now that they created steep imbalances in the financial market, they have to come up with higher doses of liquidity to inject into the system, otherwise, it will completely fall apart. However, at some point, it will be just impossible to keep using artificial money to solve our problems. The government is arguing that because people are spending more, the economy is "recovering," but that is far from the truth. We're witnessing a temporary surge in consumer demand that will soon be eclipsed by an inflationary spike of unprecedented proportions. 

We are at risk of facing the worst financial crisis and economic depression the world has ever seen. And the more our leaders chose to ignore the risks, the closer we get to the financial abyss. Economists, market veterans, and financial analysts have all been warning that the pin that will pop the "Everything Bubble" will be rising inflation. At this point, the official inflation has already surpassed the 5 percent mark, and by the end of the year, it will undoubtedly be much higher than that. countless price bubbles caused by the current monetary policies. The three key markets that glue the financial world together are about to face a simultaneous crash. 

That's why what we have experienced so far is just a taste of what is coming next. So make no mistake, this is just the beginning of our nightmare. When we don't know what is truly happening, we can't prepare for what is coming - and that's exactly what they want. An uninformed, unprepared, and frightened population is easier to rule. If the population was aware of the crimes committed by those who we call leaders, the world wouldn't be the same. While in the dark, our people are bound to be pushed over the edge and be left with nothing but desperation. That's why we urge you to keep informed and spread the message. Global events are rapidly spiraling out of control, and our country is on the line. Painful times are ahead, but if you get ready in advance, you won't go down as the nation collapses. For that reason, today, we decided to expose 8 major warning signs that the US is on the verge of an irreversible collapse. Stay alert and keep your eyes wide open because things are changing at a very frightening pace."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com​

"The Cloak Of The Past..."

“The cloak of the past is cut from patches of feeling, and sewn with rebus threads. Most of the time, the best we can do is wrap it around ourselves for comfort or drag it behind us as we struggle to go on. But everything has its cause and its meaning. Every life, every love, every action and feeling and thought has its reason and significance: its beginning, and the part it plays in the end. Sometimes, we do see. Sometimes, we see the past so clearly, and read the legend of its parts with such acuity, that every stitch of time reveals its purpose, and a kind of message is enfolded in it. Nothing in any life, no matter how well or poorly lived, is wiser than failure or clearer than sorrow. And in the tiny, precious wisdom that they give to us, even those dread and hated enemies, suffering and failure, have their reason and their right to be.”

- Gregory David Roberts, “Shantaram”

"It Better Be Worth It..."

 

Musical Interlude: Chuck Wild, Liquid Mind, “My Silent Knowing”

Full screen recommended.

Chuck Wild, Liquid Mind, “My Silent Knowing”

"A Look to the Heavens"

"In the lower left corner, surrounded by blue spiral arms, is spiral galaxy M81. In the upper right corner, marked by red gas and dust clouds, is irregular galaxy M82. This stunning vista shows these two mammoth galaxies locked in gravitational combat, as they have been for the past billion years. The gravity from each galaxy dramatically affects the other during each hundred million-year pass. 

Last go-round, M82's gravity likely raised density waves rippling around M81, resulting in the richness of M81's spiral arms. But M81 left M82 with violent star forming regions and colliding gas clouds so energetic the galaxy glows in X-rays. This big battle is seen from Earth through the faint glow of an Integrated Flux Nebula, a little studied complex of diffuse gas and dust clouds in our Milky Way Galaxy. In a few billion years only one galaxy will remain."

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160203.html
◆

"When observing the stars, you should see them in another perspective. Take into account what they really are: the mothers of the atoms from which we are constituted, the atoms that constitute the mortal and thinking species that admire the sun as a god, a father or a nuclear power station. The particles that were composed at the beginning of the Universe, the atoms that were forged in the stars, the molecules that were constituted on Earth or in another place… all that is also inside us."

- Michel Cassé, French astro-physicist, "Desafio do Século XXI"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 7/23/21: "Stock Market Melts Up As Economy Collapses"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 7/23/21:

"Stock Market Melts Up As Economy Collapses; 

FED Bubble Sheet Hyperbubble"

- https://traderschoice.net/

"America Has Lost the Trade War with China, and the Real Pain Has Yet to Begin"

"America Has Lost the Trade War with China, 

and the Real Pain Has Yet to Begin"

by Charles Hugh Smith

"Corporate America sacrificed national interests in service of greed, and so did the U.S. government.

As we all know, the source of Corporate America's unprecedented explosion in profits in the 21st century is the offshoring of manufacturing to China. If you doubt this, please study the chart below of corporate profits. Apologists claim many excuses in an attempt to evade the central role of offshoring production to China, but they all ring hollow: no, it wasn't increasing productivity or automation or Federal Reserve magic, it was shipping production to China and other low-labor-cost nations.

Whether we like to admit it or not - mostly not - the American economy is entirely dependent on manufacturing in China. America's short-sighted obsession with increasing profits to fund buybacks and golden parachutes for corporate insiders and vast fortunes for financiers has led to a dangerous dependency that has handed China tremendous leverage, which China is now starting to make use of. (And why not? Wouldn't the U.S. start using the same leverage if it could?)

A long-time U.S. correspondent who prefers to remain anonymous for obvious reasons recently shared his experiences with parts shortages and price increases from previously reliable suppliers in China. Here is his account of the disruptive shift in the supply chain of essential parts from China to the U.S.

"China is laying siege to the USA by slowing down production and delivery of goods. It doesn't take much to hang up US production, just one missing item can do it. So much stuff is sourced through China they can affect all supply chains. Semiconductors are just the canary - because the chains are so long and complex, and specialized materials are required, etc. But it is happening everywhere.

I have a little manufacturing company and I am seeing this in supply lines. I sent an order to China for printed circuit boards (US prices are astronomical because of various factors). They don't get back for a week, then they quote, then I send money, then they sit on it, then I call and they say they are having problems with some process... etc. But all the suppliers are like this, it is not an isolated incident. They are sandbagging. So just as in laying siege, the attackers have the food outside the castle and wait for the people inside to starve.

As prices rise the Chinese manufacturers take bigger profits so the slowdown effects on that end are mitigated. For products they do not have a monopoly on, like PC boards, they slow down. for things like LCD displays and NFeB magnets, the items become unavailable (try buying magnets on Amazon).

I have to say this is a brilliant idea on China's part, and no one on this side has realized the situation yet. This plan is straight out of Sun-Tzu. implications? inflation and shortages will continue for a long time... maybe forever. The only long-term solution is repatriation of manufacturing to the US. But it is going to cause some serious hurt, vastly more than the sanctioning of Chinese tech companies.

I just sent a request for quote for some radio chips I use to Alibaba. they are $1 each and there are many vendors. I sent notes to 2 vendors i used before and after 4 or 5 days got a ping back that my requests were cancelled. i wound up getting the parts - for 2x the price - from Hong Kong, which at the moment seems to be something of a channel to the mainland. But I expect they will close that leak pretty soon."

I have long made the case that manufacturing, energy and food are all fundamentally national security issues. Those benefiting from "free trade" (there is no such thing, that's just a handy PR cover) have sold the unwary the fraudulent notion that "everyone benefits" from globalization. Nothing could be further from reality. A handful of corporate insiders and financiers have benefited at the expense of everyone else.

And now the chickens are coming home to roost. Essential parts and feedstocks become unavailable for all sorts of flimsy excuses, prices double, triple, then double again, and since we've allowed our entire economy to become dependent on a handful of sources for these essentials because that dependency maximized profits, then there are no alternatives.

America has already lost the trade war, but the pain has yet to begin. Corporate America sacrificed national interests in service of greed, and so did the U.S. government. Now it's too late, and all the good seats at the banquet of consequences have already been taken."

- https://www.oftwominds.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Thomasville, Georgia, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Where Your Gaze Lingers...”

“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isn’t something that has nothing to do with you, this storm is you. Something inside you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesn’t get in, and walk through it, step by step. There’s no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up the sky like pulverized bones.

You have to look! That’s another one of the rules. Closing your eyes isn’t going to change anything. Nothing’s going to disappear just because you can’t see what going on. In fact, things will be even worse the next time you open your eyes. That’s the kind of world we live in. Keep your eyes wide open. Only a coward closes his eyes. Closing your eyes and plugging up your ears won’t make time stand still.”

- Haruki Murakami

“Closing your eyes won’t make the awfulness go away. It may be that nothing will. But dwelling on it, dreading the evil, playing out the misery in your head – doesn’t this feed the monster? You can’t close your eyes to life, but you can choose where your gaze lingers.”

- Richelle E. Goodrich

"Follow the Money"

"Follow the Money"

by Bill Bonner

POITOU, FRANCE – "Another milestone is coming up. On August 31, all U.S. troops are scheduled for removal from Afghanistan… after 20 years of warfare. According to a Brown University study, the war cost about 174,000 lives… and $2.26 trillion, with much of the money lost to corruption and incompetence.

Early Whistleblower: Which reminded us… Long, long ago, we walked into a very ratty office… in a very ratty building… on what was then a very ratty street: East Capitol Street in Washington, D.C. After many summers spent painting towers, hauling trash, cleaning bricks, and building houses… we had our first real job. At $100 a week!

It was there, in the shabby offices of the National Taxpayers’ Union, that we met A. Ernest Fitzgerald. Ernie had worked for the Pentagon as a systems analyst, devising ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs. In 1970, he was fired on orders from Richard M. Nixon, then-president of the USA, who told his aides to “get rid of that son of a bitch.” “I got fired for committing truth,” Ernie explained in his Alabama accent. The truth Ernie told was about a $2.3 billion cost overrun on the Lockheed C-5A aircraft. And the people he told it to were those on the Joint Economic Committee. Ernie was an early whistleblower. He… and we… believed back then that government could do a better job of spending our money.

Selling Costs: Cynicism… like a fine wine or cancer… takes time to develop. The boy scout can believe that every penny of the Pentagon budget goes to keeping America safe. The old soldier begins to suspect that little of it does. He knows that expensive military adventures overseas probably make us less safe. And he has seen how deep the pockets of the “defense industry” can be. “Maybe 10 cents on the dollar,” he reckons, “are actually well spent.”

But back in 1974, we were new to the wily ways of Washington. We hadn’t yet learned that the real mission of the feds is to spend as much as possible, as badly as possible… so as to provide as much loot as possible to those in a position to get it. Over the years, we lost contact with Ernie. Recently, we learned that he died two years ago. But how it must have galled him… to watch, for half a century, as the waste got worse and worse… to the point where not just a billion here and a billion there were misspent… but where hundreds of billions went AWOL.

He had seen it coming. He explained that the real business of the military suppliers was not to sell weapons… but to “sell costs.” Many operated on cost-plus contracts. The more wars… the more weapons. The more weapons… the more money. The more the wars cost… the more the Pentagon’s suppliers make.

Wasted Millions: As of this writing, U.S. troops have already abandoned their huge Bagram base in Afghanistan, apparently leaving under cover of darkness, without informing their Afghan allies. They’re leaving behind very expensive buildings… very sophisticated helicopters – apparently unusable… and thousands of civilian vehicles, taking the keys with them, as well as hundreds of armored vehicles.

These things alone represent millions of dollars’ worth of spending – all of it now in the “waste” category. But calling it “waste” misses the point. Former Air Force fighter pilot, Col. John Boyd further explained: "People say the Pentagon does not have a strategy. They are wrong. The Pentagon does have a strategy. It is: Don’t interrupt the money flow, add to it. Every rusting aircraft and disabled tank added to the flow. They might not have been suitable to the Afghan climate, terrain, or infrastructure or to the Afghans’ operational or maintenance skills… but the suppliers still got their money."

John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, documented how money was wasted on machines that either didn’t work or couldn’t be maintained by the Afghans. Money also just “disappeared.” In all, officials estimate a loss of as much as $100 billion just to waste. But the figure is surely many times that amount. “We wasted a lot of money,” Sopko reported to journalist Andrew Cockburn. “We spent $36 million on a building that was totally built, never used, and has been turned over to the Afghans. As far as we know, it’s empty. It was a disaster ready to happen. And it happened. It wasn’t that people were stupid, and it wasn’t that people didn’t care; it’s just the system almost guarantees failure.”

Grateful Appreciation: And now, the “insurgents” gain ground… reinforced with captured U.S. supplies. “Thanks for the memories,” is the goodbye song sung by the arms industry. Assume a 10% profit margin – either on fixed-cost, cost-plus, incentive, or sole-source/non-competitive bid contracts. That means they made out pretty well – with about a quarter of a trillion dollars in profits from the war.

Naturally, they are very grateful for the business. And they show their thanks by employing retired generals and D.C. insiders, who can help them make more. Retired General Lloyd Austin, for example, now Secretary of Defense, was out of the army for four years before joining the White House team. During that time, he earned a retired general’s pension of about $15,000 per month… But he didn’t just “fade away,” as America’s top commander in the Pacific during World War II, General Douglas MacArthur, recommended.

Instead, he became a director of Raytheon – the defense contractor to which he and his fellow officers had given so much business… and was awarded as much as $1.7 million worth of stock. He also joined private equity firm Pine Island Capital Partners, where the door revolves so fast, it must regularly come off its hinges. In addition to Austin, partners include Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the ghastly warmonger, Michèle Flournoy, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy.

Deep State Incarnate: Flournoy is practically the armed wing of the Deep State incarnate. She’s been involved in every busybody group from the Council on Foreign Relations to Booz Allen Hamilton, the Atlantic Council, the Aspen Strategy Group, and the CIA’s External Advisory Board. And while she worked with the Boston Consulting Group, its military contracts went from $1.6 million in 2013 to $32 million three years later.

Along with Blinken, Flournoy founded WestExec Advisors in 2017. Clients include Wall Street giants, tech companies, investment firms, and the big data miner, Palantir Technologies. The following year, the aforementioned Pine Island Capital Partners was set up. In addition to Ms. Flournoy, Blinken, and Austin, its “D.C. partners” include a long list of ex-senators and retired military brass.

And not for nothing are they there. The firm raised more than $200 million last year to fund a SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company). Let us take a wild guess… The SPAC will buy a smallish defense contractor, whose technology the Pentagon will soon find indispensable. And if there is no war underway in which to use it… they will start one!"

- www.rogueeconomics.com

"Inflation Shock: Are You Ready To Start Paying “$40 Or $50” For A Hamburger?"

"Inflation Shock: Are You Ready To Start 

Paying “$40 Or $50” For A Hamburger?"

by Michael Snyder

"After decades of living in a relatively low inflation environment, it is hard for most Americans to believe that things have gotten so bad so quickly. In fact, even though I write about this stuff almost every day, it is hard for me to believe it. We are watching prices spiral out of control all over the nation, and we know precisely who is to blame. During the pandemic, our politicians in Washington have been borrowing and spending money at an unprecedented rate, and this has pushed our national debt up to 28 trillion dollars. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has been pumping trillions of fresh dollars into our financial system, and this has resulted in the Fed balance sheet nearly doubling over the course of this pandemic. I have used the term “economic malpractice” to describe what our leaders are doing, but it is actually far worse than that. They are literally in the process of destroying our economy, and even after so many experts have pointed out their colossal errors they still won’t stop. They just keep creating more money, and now we have a horrific inflation crisis on our hands.

Following Joe Biden’s town hall on Wednesday night, the Daily Mail spoke to a restaurant manager in Manhattan named John Stratidis. According to Stratidis, rising costs and rising wages will mean that consumers will have to pay more for their meals. In fact, he is warning that New Yorkers could end up “paying $40 or $50 for a hamburger”… "When minimum wage goes up, who do you think is going to pay for that? The customer. Everything is going to go up just to be able to stay in business. When we give more money, the prices go up and when the prices go up who’s going to pay for that? They’re going to be crying about it, and saying “it’s too expensive”. That’s inflation. You’re going to be walking in somewhere to eat something and paying $40 or $50 for a hamburger."

Obviously, we aren’t at that point yet. But if we stay on the path that we are currently on, we will eventually get there. In some tourist traps, prices for burgers are already completely insane. For example, one Las Vegas restaurant is now selling a burger that costs $100… "Located on the casino floor and a few steps from the poker lounge, Posh Burger offers seven burger choices, ranging from a $12 traditional hamburger to a $23 half-pound “super deluxe” waygyu steak burger, plus the option of a $16 vegetarian Impossible burger. For diners looking to play out their high roller fantasies, an eye-catching $100 menu highlight is dubbed the Posh Royale Burger and created with wagyu beef, truffle, foie gras, gold dust, a garnish of lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and the secret Posh sauce."

That is crazy, but that isn’t even the most expensive burger around. In the Netherlands, one luxury chef is actually selling a burger for $6,000.

I still remember the days when you could get a nice, thick fancy burger with all of the fixings for less than a dollar. Sadly, those days are long gone, and food prices are now rising at a frightening pace all over the country.

The other day, billionaire John Catsimatidis made headlines when he warned that there would be a double digit spike in food prices “by October first”… "Catsimatidis said that he expects a 10 to 14% spike in food prices by October first. FOX Business’ Ashley Webster asked Catsimatidis if he is going to be forced to pass the extra costs onto consumers. “You have to pass it on otherwise you’re not doing your duty to guard your country, your employees and your company,” he responded."

But at least housing is still affordable, right? Actually, CNN is reporting that home prices are 23 percent higher than they were at the same time a year ago… "The median price for an existing home in June hit an all-time high of $363,300, up 23% over last year. That marks 112 straight months of year-over-year gains." 23 percent in one year! Has your paycheck gone up by 23 percent over the past year? If not, you are rapidly losing ground.

Renters are not faring much better. In some of the hottest rental markets around the country, rents have risen by more than 20 percent. The following example comes from the New York Times… "Kaitlin Cindrich is facing a $200 monthly increase in rent this August if she and her husband can renew their apartment lease in Provo, Utah. That 25 percent jump is not something she expected, and the 21-year-old fears she may have to skip doctor appointments for her autoimmune disease to keep up with the payments. Still, she acknowledges there isn’t much choice but to pay more. “We are hoping to stay because everything is so expensive right now that I would be paying the same whether I’m here or somewhere else,” Ms. Cindrich said."

Some markets are seeing more moderate increases, but overall we have seen rental prices increase by 9.2 percent up to this point in 2021… "Data from Apartment List, a listing site, confirms the trend visible in the Zillow numbers: So far in 2021, rental prices nationally have grown 9.2 percent, compared with the 2 to 3 percent that is typical from January to June. According to the most recent data available, prices were higher than economists at Apartment List would have expected had prepandemic trends persisted."

So what will the rest of 2021 look like? Will rental prices have risen by a total of 15 or 20 percent by the time the year is through? The Biden administration continues to insist that inflation is “low”, but hardly anyone believes them. In fact, one recent survey found that 70 percent of Americans are “extremely or very concerned” about inflation… "A new internal poll from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) shows growing concerns about rising inflation in a number of battleground districts ahead of 2022.

Seventy percent of respondents said they were either “extremely or very concerned” about rising prices and the rising costs of living, according to the polling memo released Thursday. Additionally, 60 percent of voters said they disapproved of President Biden‘s handling of rising prices and the higher cost of living. On top of that, the poll found that 42 percent of people polled were more likely to blame Biden and congressional Democrats for rising prices. Ten percent said they were more likely to blame congressional Republicans."

If you are in the 30 percent that is not very concerned about inflation, you should be, because it is going to absolutely suck the life out of your standard of living. Meanwhile, more shortages continue to pop up throughout our economy. Earlier today, I was stunned to learn that a shortage of back-to-school supplies is now being projected… "Back-to-school shopping is always a nightmare. This year, expect it to be even worse.

While parents may be used to encountering shortages of items like sneakers, backpacks and gadgets later in the season - which typically lasts from mid-July through the end of August - products are expected to be in tight supply even earlier. That means shoppers could find themselves picking over the handful of ugly backpacks and bento lunch boxes with missing pieces left at the store as early as this month."

In the new book that I just released, I have an entire chapter about hyperinflation and shortages. Everyone could see this coming from a mile away, but our leaders just couldn’t help themselves. Whenever a major crisis comes along, their only answer is to create, borrow and spend more money. Many are comparing this to the Jimmy Carter era of the 1970s, but the truth is that what we are facing is much worse than that. We are literally witnessing our nation commit slow-motion economic suicide, and it is absolutely horrifying to watch."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/