"This world, after all our science and sciences, is still a miracle;
wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it."
- Thomas Carlyle
So, we rise from the rubble...
Tuesday, August 3, 2021
The Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke, "Book of Hours II, 16"
"Book of Hours II, 16"
"How surely gravity's law,
strong as an ocean current,
takes hold of even the strongest thing
and pulls it toward the heart of the world.
Each thing-
each stone, blossom, child-
is held in place.
Only we, in our arrogance,
push out beyond what we belong to
for some empty freedom.
If we surrendered
to earth's intelligence
we could rise up rooted, like trees.
Instead we entangle ourselves
in knots of our own making
and struggle, lonely and confused.
So, like children, we begin again
to learn from the things,
because they are in God's heart;
they have never left him.
This is what the things can teach us:
to fall,
patiently to trust our heaviness.
Even a bird has to do that
before he can fly."
~ Rainer Maria Rilke
"Marching to Victory"
"Marching to Victory"
By Bill Bonner
POITOU, FRANCE – "We love a good parade as much as the next guy. And a good war. The sound of the trumpet! The shine of the medals! The thrill of the ranks… marching to victory! Out on the battlefield, the front-line troops give ‘em hell… while back at home, mom and dad follow the glorious fight on the wireless… proud of their sons and daughters… And as long as the money keeps flowing… who cares what is really going on?
Career Opportunity: “War is the health of the state,” as the writer Randolph Bourne put it. Especially a war it can’t win, adds Bill Bonner. And now, with “breakthrough infections,” new “variants,” and vaccinated people still getting sick…
Hey, like the War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, and the war in Afghanistan, the War on COVID-19 is turning out to be a career opportunity for the feds…and a real moneymaker for their main suppliers – the drug companies. Forbes reports: "Operation Warp Speed (OWS)- the U.S. government’s Covid-19 relief program - would dole out $22 billion to Big Pharma." "The amounts of money were the kinds of sums normally seen in the smaller defense budget line items, but were massive for a public health project- $2.5 billion to Moderna, $1.2 billion to AstraZeneca, half a billion dollars to Johnson & Johnson, and $1.6 billion to a small company called Novavax. Only Pfizer opted out of ponying up to the trough at first - it didn’t want to devote resources to coordinating with the US government on its work."
In July, Pfizer signed a $1.95 billion deal to sell one hundred million doses of its two-shot vaccine to the United States, enough for fifty million people. It turned out to be a profitable move for Pfizer. The New York Times: "Pfizer Reaps Hundreds of Millions in Profits From Covid Vaccine." The vaccine brought in $3.5 billion in revenue in the first three months of this year, nearly a quarter of its total revenue, Pfizer reported. The vaccine was, far and away, Pfizer’s biggest source of revenue.
Federal Case: When COVID-19 came to light, all over the world, authorities might have treated it like any other health challenge. They might have alerted local officials… and warned vulnerable people to take cover. Instead, for better or for worse, almost all of the major nations – save, perhaps, Sweden – made a federal case out of it. They went to war.
They attempted to stop the virus… isolate it… to trace carriers… to block transmission… and to stifle its spread. The strategy seemed reasonable enough, if your aim was to treat it as an enemy. But the virus must have broken the code. It seemed to know what the field marshals were up to. It changed its tactics. Its new Delta variant is said to move quickly. It sneaks through our lines – even those of the veterans who are fully vaccinated.
And here’s the latest from the front, The Washington Post reporting: "Florida breaks record for new coronavirus cases as surge of infections rips through state. The data shows the severity of the surge in Florida, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak and now responsible for 1 in 5 new infections nationally. The previous peak in Florida had been on Jan. 7, when the state reported 19,334 cases, according to the CDC - before the widespread availability of coronavirus vaccinations. Florida has reported an average of 15,818 new cases a day over the past seven days, according to data compiled by The Washington Post."
The best wars – from the feds’ point of view – are those where the enemy never gives up… but can’t win either. Then, the conflict drags on for years. The feds spend trillions… get battlefield promotions… and reward their friends with contracts (guaranteeing a rich retirement for the insiders as “consultants” to their former suppliers).
Criminal Victims: So far, there is still no conclusive evidence that going to war with the virus really pays off. The headlines are full of alarums. But the death statistics show little connection between the war effort and the body count. Despite its sans souci approach, Sweden still has fewer deaths per 100,000 than the U.S., U.K., France, or Italy.
Argentina is notable, with a higher fatality rate than any of them… and also the strictest control measures. We spent nine months there last year. Roadblocks kept us from going anywhere. Everything was closed. The whole country was locked up… You needed a special permission to come in or go out. And now, Argentina is leading the way to the future (we fear) by turning the victims into criminals. Yes, the gauchos are cracking down. Here’s a message received from friends:
"Today's Infobae newspaper says that 20 people are down with the Delta version of COVID-19 and that five others have been arrested for violating articles 202 and 205 of the Argentine Penal Code. Article 202 of the Argentine Penal Code says [in an awkward translation]: “Shall be punished with seclusion or imprisonment for three to fifteen years a person who spreads a dangerous and contagious disease to others…”
Article 205 of the Argentine Penal Code says: “Will be punished with imprisonment for six months to two years he who violates the measures adopted by the competent authorities for impeding the introduction or propaganda [it probably is supposed to say propagation] means “of an epidemic.”
Found and Fined: All over the world, as we reported last week, the warriors are running out of patience with the malingerers and peaceniks. Far from giving up the war as a lost cause, they want a surge. Here’s the latest from the Earth’s underside, The Daily Mail: "Australia uses helicopters and the ARMY to enforce its 'Zero Covid' lockdown as thousands of police flood Sydney to enforce the rules and hand out $500 no-mask fines - with just 17% of adults vaccinated. Sirens blared across the city and a draconian message was broadcast from the skies, as millions were told: 'This is public health order - do not break rules - you will be found and fines issued.'
Yes… COVID-19 appears to be here to stay… along with a long war against it. And tomorrow, we look at yet another enemy… and another “transitory forever” war. Stay tuned…"
"Stop the Lies"
"Stop the Lies"
by Jim Rickards
"Health officials continue to lose credibility over COVID-19. They seem to change their minds daily based on whim rather than science. But that’s been the case since the pandemic started.
Going back to last January, official comments on COVID have been mostly wrong. The comments were either outright lies or were prescriptions based on politics, not medicine.
In January 2020, the World Health Organization said there was no human-to-human transmission of COVID. They knew better because of data from China, so that was a lie. Dr. Anthony Fauci said there was little risk of COVID coming from China to the U.S. Another lie. Then, over the course of 15 months, Fauci said not to wear masks, then he said to wear them, then he said you could take them off. Now, he says it’s time to put them on again.
Fauci is an over-the-hill bureaucrat, not a true scientist. His greatest skill has been successfully navigating the Washington swamp for the past four decades. He’s heavily conflicted because he owns patents on inputs to the vaccines. He also has a lot to hide, because he funded the Wuhan laboratory coronavirus research in the first place. The science is clear that masks don’t work (because the virus is far smaller than the mask weave), and lockdowns don’t work (because people indoors in confined spaces spread the virus faster than people outside who are in motion).
Masks are positively dangerous for children because they force you to breathe your own CO2, which causes dizziness, lethargy, inability to focus and can cause people to pass out. The latest lie is Biden’s call for vaccine mandates for federal workers or weekly testing, masking and distancing.
What Vaccine Mandate? The White House had repeatedly said there would be no federal vaccine mandates. It’s true that there is no single mandate that applies to all Americans. But there are now hundreds of mini-mandates that add up to the same thing. Biden’s federal worker mandate covers 4 million federal employees and as many as 4 million federal contractors.
Meanwhile, universities are imposing vaccine mandates on returning students. Large companies like Facebook and Google are imposing vaccine mandates on their workers. New York State has imposed a vaccine mandate on state workers. Sports and entertainment venues are barring anyone who cannot prove they have been vaccinated.
When you add it all up, we’re turning into a society of vaxxed and unvaxxed where the latter are denied the opportunity to work, attend school, go out for a show or sporting event and so on. “There is no vaccine mandate,” they’ll say. But in reality, the unvaccinated will be treated as second-class citizens who can’t live regular lives or participate fully in society.
Cheap, Effective Therapeutics Are Suppressed: At the same time, health authorities have suppressed cheap, effective therapeutics like Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine that can significantly reduce COVID hospitalizations and deaths. These drugs have been around for decades and are extremely safe. But the alphabet soup of health agencies says they need more testing before they can be approved. Yet these are the same people who are shoving experimental gene therapy down people’s throats, which were rushed through on an emergency basis without the usual testing that takes years.
Any health professional who cites the benefits of these therapeutics can be banned from social media, despite numerous clinical studies that demonstrate their effectiveness, especially if used in the early stages of illness. They aren’t magic bullets, but the data indicate they provide substantial benefit.
Why are public health authorities so determined to suppress these cheap but effective therapeutics? Well, you might want to follow the money. The FDA granted emergency use approval for the vaccines. But for the FDA to grant that emergency approval, “no formally approved alternatives” can be available at the time. If these other therapeutics were deemed effective, the vaccines couldn’t be rushed through on an emergency basis. And a lot of powerful interests stood to profit from the vaccines. They wouldn’t profit from off-patent therapeutic drugs that might cost pennies per pill.
Meanwhile, the push for new lockdowns, universal vaccination and vaccine passports continues. It’s a Brave New World, and it’s not going away soon."
Gerald Celente, "The Declaration of Vaccination, We The People Shall Not be Free"
Very strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, "The Trends Journal,"
"The Declaration of Vaccination, We The People Shall Not be Free"
"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."
"Shipping Container Shortage & Soaring Freight Rates Are Severely Aggravating Supply Chain Crisis"
Full screen recommended,
"Shipping Container Shortage & Soaring Freight
Rates Are Severely Aggravating Supply Chain Crisis"
by Epic Economist
"Last week's events were another major blow for global supply chains and now industry experts are warning businesses and consumers more delivery delays, shortages, and even more acute price hikes are coming. A series of disasters, including devastating floods in China and Europe, could result in empty grocery shelves, out-of-stock products, and prolonged shipping delays, exacerbating the already strained global supply chains. Western Europe and China’s Henan province - key transportation centers and home to several major businesses - are struggling to resume operations as the disasters have severely damaged railways used for the delivery of goods and raw materials in both regions. Companies in the supply chain industry reported that "water rushed into industrial areas extensively damaging facilities".
In an interview with CNBC, Pawan Joshi, the executive vice president of supply chain software firm E2open, said that “Black Friday and the holiday season, for which products and raw materials are being staged, will face the brunt of the impact,” he added that “consumer electronics, dorm room furniture, clothing, and appliances will all continue to be in short supply as back-to-school shopping starts up, and will trickle into the peak holiday shopping season". Delays from the distribution of raw materials necessary to produce goods will have a ripple effect and disrupt supply chains “for weeks and months,” Joshi highlighted. "Come Black Friday, we can likely expect to see prices rise for all sorts of goods such as consumer electronics, furniture, apparel, and appliances,” he told CNBC.
Amongst the hardest hit industries by the brutal floods is auto. Many of the biggest automakers in the globe along with their suppliers are based in regions that were critically affected by the disaster. Now that automakers were finally being able to start ramping up production, the disruption will likely hammer car manufacturing once again, with shipping delays expected to stall operations at several plants for months. The global shipping crisis is worsening at a quite alarming pace. Even Apple CEO Tim Cook stressed that freight costs are way too high. In a year, freight rates skyrocketed by nearly 500%, and they continue to reach unprecedented levels with each passing month. If billionaires are complaining about the staggering surge, for small business owners is has become simply impossible to find affordable vessel space to send their products overseas.
The main factor pushing shipping prices to sky-highs is the container crisis that started in September 2020. Almost one year later, the situation has only got worse, and the main problem behind the critical shortage of containers is the extraordinary surge in demand for consumer goods coming from China. Chinese companies are so eager to refill containers that shipping lines are sending them back to Asian ports rather than waiting for them to be restocked with U.S. products such as crops. That is aggravating the container shortage, and resulting in soaring transportation costs.
Shipping industry experts are estimating that only half of the normal container supply will be available for U.S. businesses to send their products in the September-October period when new crops are supposed to be moving to overseas markets. But several farmers and ranchers are already aware that they will remain unable to send their products across the ocean, and some of them are being forced to make some extremely painful choices. "We’ve already begun the process of laying off half of our staff,” one California farmer said, noting that shipping lines are canceling traditional container routes to focus on getting empty containers back to China.
The container shortage issue is particularly concerning for the U.S. agricultural industry, which is comprised of many small farmers that supply niche products to buyers who don’t want to buy bulk commodities. For instance, 40 percent of California's nuts and 35 percent of oat crops travel by container to markets around the world. But now, that number is expected to sharply drop due to the lack of available containers.
According to Jordan Atkins, the vice-president of WTC Group, a transloading company, there is no end in sight to the container crisis. “We’re seeing the demand that is causing these imbalances continue for at least the next six to eight months,” he said.
Already, shipping delays are having serious impacts across several U.S. industries as companies try to recover amid the reopening. Unfortunately, inflated prices are here to stay and what we're seeing right now is just the beginning. As supply chain woes get dramatically aggravated and imbalances between supply and demand get even more acute, the worst is yet to come, and in the coming months, we will all be seeing how ravaging the inflation crisis will turn out to be."
"Wake Up, It's Getting Real; Debt Defaults And Rate Hikes Coming; Household Debt Soars; Prepare Now!"
Jeremiah Babe, PM 8/3/21:
"Wake Up, It's Getting Real; Debt Defaults
And Rate Hikes Coming; Household Debt Soars; Prepare Now!"
Gregory Mannarino, AM/PM 8/3/21
Gregory Mannarino, AM 8/3/21:
"Very Important Updates"
Gregory Mannarino, PM 8/3/21:
“Hyperbubble! Start Betting Against It Right Now”
Monday, August 2, 2021
Musical Interlude: 2002, “When I See You Again”
Full screen recommended.
2002, “When I See You Again”
"Be Ready For The Biggest Eviction Horror Show In U.S. History"
Full screen recommended.
"Be Ready For The Biggest Eviction Horror Show In U.S. History"
by Epic Economist
"The month of August has just started, and for millions of Americans, so did a nightmare: A day of reckoning has arrived for renters all across the nation. Almost one year ago, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a moratorium that protected millions of renters who became unable to keep up with their monthly rent payments. But the moratorium has officially ended, and now billions in back rent must be paid. For some, this means that they have to come up with almost an entire year of rent in only a few weeks to avoid getting evicted. However, for the millions that simply cannot afford to pay what they owe, this means that they can effectively lose their homes anytime now. This situation has been building up for several months, and now it is rapidly evolving into a major national disaster. Welcome to America's eviction horror show.
Up until now, there doesn't seem to be any hope of preventing the most devastating eviction tsunami in the story of the United States.In essence, the expiration of the moratorium means that we are about to witness a years’ worth of evictions over several weeks, which can lead the U.S. to the worst housing crisis since the Great Recession. While some places will see a spike in evictions in just a few days, other jurisdictions will see an uptick in court filings that will lead to evictions over several months. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that roughly 3.6 million households in the U.S. are going to face eviction in the next two months, as their eviction notices have already been filed. And over 15 million people live in these households that collectively owe as much as $20 billion to their landlords, according to the Aspen Institute.
Even more alarming is the fact that this crisis is bound to get a lot worse in September when the first foreclosure proceedings are expected to begin. Approximately 1.75 million homeowners - which account for roughly 3.5% of all homes - are in some type of forbearance plan with their banks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. But the official U.S. government data indicates that 5.9 million homes are not current with their mortgage payments, while 8.7 million homeowners said they have little or no confidence in their ability to pay their mortgage next month, which puts 7.4 million tenants who are in rental properties that are not current with mortgage payments in danger of eviction too, regardless of having paid rent or not. As soon as these proceedings start, we're going to see a tragedy of unimaginable proportions.
In short, an avalanche of distressed renters will be forced out of their homes and into a housing market where prices are skyrocketing and vacancy rates are at all-time lows, meaning that those people will become unable to find housing for an indefinite period of time. Particularly because when people have an eviction record and back rent it's impossible for them to find new apartments, which leaves many in a very vulnerable position, especially amid a health crisis. Whether they shack up with families, seek already overcrowded shelters, or find unsafe dwellings in low-income neighborhoods that lack good schools, good jobs, and access to transportation, the alternatives do not look good. Many will also be overwhelmed by debt. In face of all of this, we have to think about what is going to happen to this country when millions of impoverished Americans are suddenly thrown out into the streets. The eviction crisis can potentially be the catalysts of widespread chaos and unrest all over the nation.
We have to admit that our system is not designed to handle a sudden disruption of this magnitude. While organizations can try to help those that are deeply in need, they cannot solve this crisis. Already, roughly half a million Americans will sleep on the streets tonight. So what will the number be after this massive wave of evictions is over? This is truly concerning. We are heading to extremely troubled times, and this eviction tsunami will without a doubt be a huge destabilizing force in our society. If we have got to this point is because the billions spent by Congress to lift people out of poverty never really provided a real safety net, and their "preventive" measures didn't work. August is going to be a major turning point, and you are going to see a whole lot more trouble erupting as we move towards the end of this year."
○
○
What now for possibly 40 million people?
What happens when they knock at YOUR door for help?
"A Look to the Heavens"
“M82 is a starburst galaxy with a superwind. In fact, through ensuing supernova explosions and powerful winds from massive stars, the burst of star formation in M82 is driving a prodigious outflow. Evidence for the superwind from the galaxy's central regions is clear in sharp telescopic snapshot. The composite image highlights emission from long outflow filaments of atomic hydrogen gas in reddish hues.
Some of the gas in the superwind, enriched in heavy elements forged in the massive stars, will eventually escape into intergalactic space. Triggered by a close encounter with nearby large galaxy M81, the furious burst of star formation in M82 should last about 100 million years or so. Also known as the Cigar Galaxy for its elongated visual appearance, M82 is about 30,000 light-years across. It lies 12 million light-years away near the northern boundary of Ursa Major.”
"Things We Don't Want to Do: Outside the Comfort Zone"
"Things We Don't Want to Do:
Outside the Comfort Zone"
by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOM
"Doing things we don't want to do, or that scare us, creates flow in our lives and allows us to grow. Most of us have had the experience of tackling some dreaded task only to come out the other side feeling invigorated, filled with a new sense of confidence and strength. The funny thing is, most of the time when we do them, we come out on the other side changed and often wondering what we were so worried about or why it took us so long. We may even begin to look for other tasks we've been avoiding so that we can feel that same heady mix of excitement and completion.
Whether we avoid something because it scares us or bores us, or because we think it will force a change we're not ready for, putting it off only creates obstacles for us. On the other hand, facing the task at hand, no matter how onerous, creates flow in our lives and allows us to grow. The relief is palpable when we stand on the other side knowing that we did something even though it was hard or we didn't want to do it. On the other hand, when we cling to our comfort zone, never addressing the things we don't want to face, we cut ourselves off from flow and growth.
We all have at least one thing in our life that never seems to get done. Bringing that task to the top of the list and promising ourselves that we will do it as soon as possible is an act that could liberate a tremendous amount of energy in our lives. Whatever it is, we can allow ourselves to be fueled by the promise of the feelings of exhilaration and confidence that will be the natural result of doing it.”
○
Of course, some have different perspectives...
VERY STRONG Language Alert!
"In life you have to do a lot of things you don't ****ing want to do.
Many times, that's what the **** life is, one vile ****ing task after another.”
- “Al Swearengen”,
Ian McShane's character in “Deadwood”
"The Reality Of Life..."
"Despite my firm convictions, I have been always a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth."
- Malcolm X
"The Economy Is Imploding - Brace For Impact; Rental Property Destruction Is Coming; Eviction Apocalypse"
Jeremiah Babe, PM 8/2/21:
"The Economy Is Imploding - Brace For Impact;
Rental Property Destruction Is Coming; Eviction Apocalypse"
Gregory Mannarino, PM 8/2/21: "PROOF: The US Economy Is In COLLAPSE! Debt In A HYPER-BUBBLE, Inflation Is Surging"
Gregory Mannarino, PM 8/2/21:
"PROOF: The US Economy Is In COLLAPSE!
Debt In A HYPER-BUBBLE, Inflation Is Surging"
"A Disaster"
"A Disaster"
by Jim Rickards
"Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department reported second-quarter GDP for the U.S. rose at a 6.5% annualized rate. From 2009 to 2019 (the recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis), the average annual growth in GDP for the U.S. was 2.2%. So, in comparison with the previous recovery, 6.5% seems like exceptionally strong growth.
Of course, champagne corks were flying at The New York Times and other mainstream media outlets because Q2 output has regained 2019 levels. But the recession was over in April 2020. It's now August 2021, and they’re celebrating that we’re back to 2019 levels? That's a pathetic rebound and really nothing to celebrate. Let’s take a closer look at the numbers…
Less Than Meets the Eye: First, most analysts and media projected the Q2 number to be 7.5% or 8.0%, so it fell below expectations. Second, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta GDPNow tracker for Q2 GDP fell from 13% in April, to 10% in May, and then 7.5% in June. With allowance for noise, this means that growth weakened considerably over the course of the quarter. It also means if growth was stronger in April and May, and if growth for the quarter overall was 6.5%, then June must have been well below 6.5%. It’s simple math.
That means Q3 is off to a weak start. With the Delta variant of the virus out there, the situation is even worse. Finally, there was some highly troubling data in the fine print that comes along with the headline number.
Imports were healthy because Americans have been on a bit of a buying binge, using government handout checks. But exports were awful, a reflection of the fact that the rest of the world is not doing nearly as well as the U.S. Simply put, foreigners are not buying our goods because they’re in bad shape themselves.
Most dramatically, personal income fell 30% on an annualized basis. This is a measure of private income that does not include government handouts. Most of this 30% drop was based on revisions to prior data, which had been updated by the Commerce Department using more reliable surveys. Statistical adjustments aside, the bottom line is that private income (both wages and proprietor allocations) has been flat for eight months going back to October 2020.
Not a Recovery, But a Disaster: That’s not a recovery; that’s a disaster. It makes the forecast more dire because one-by-one the government subsidies are running out. The U.S. economy fell about 35% (annualized) in the first half of 2020 and then staged a strong comeback, rising 33.4% in the third quarter of 2020 with a more modest 4.3% gain in the fourth quarter. For the full-year 2020, the economy fell by the greatest amount since 1946, but the second-half recovery kept that from being far worse.
Why wasn’t the 2020 economy much worse? The answer is that a huge number of financial rescue programs were put in place, backed up by tens of trillions of dollars of either money printing or deficit spending. The Fed expanded its balance sheet by over $4 trillion in the immediate aftermath of the collapse. Congress approved trillions of dollars of checks sent directly to the American people. Unemployment benefits were extended and increased. Student loan repayments were deferred. Payroll Protection Plan loans were made to small businesses (and most were later forgiven).
The Gravy Train Has Stopped: But expanded unemployment benefits are mostly done. The Payroll Protection Plan loans are over. No additional checks are going to be mass-mailed, as happened last February and December. With government handouts mostly over, private income stagnant and exports falling, it’s not clear what will drive GDP growth at all in the second half of 2021. To top it all off, the rent eviction moratorium is over.
One of the most effective and least reported programs was the moratorium on evictions of renters. This was a federal program, although there were many local equivalents. Once renters knew they could not be evicted, they stopped paying rent. The program was so widespread that 14.7% of all renters in America now owe back rent. That moratorium expired as of last Saturday. What happens next?
It would be one thing if the renters had put the monthly rent money in escrow so that it would be available when the moratorium expired. That’s unlikely to have happened for more than a few of the six million families covered by the program. A three or four-month moratorium on eviction starting in April 2020 might have made some sense. But running the program for 15 months with no plan for a smooth exit has led to another crack-up for an economy still not up to speed.
Landlords Have Bills to Pay Too: People naturally sympathize with the renters who were affected by COVID. However, little consideration is given to landlords. Many landlords have mortgages and had to pay principal and interest to banks, plus maintenance and property taxes while their tenants were paying no rent. Now those landlords want to collect the back rent in order to get caught up on their own obligations. Many tenants just don’t have the money. What comes next is a wave of evictions.
This will put an enormous number of Americans out on the street looking for new places to live without much money in their pockets. It could also lead to a depressed housing market in certain cities as a surge of rental properties comes on the market while people are fleeing the cities to move to suburbs or more attractive states like Florida.
This will be one more headwind for the economy, as both tenants struggle with housing costs and landlords struggle with a surplus of property for rent. It’s one more example of the unintended consequences of government intervention.
Of course, the stock market is still in bubble-land and in denial about all of this technical data. That won’t last. The stock market may continue to float for another month or two, but by October, a severe correction may be in the cards as new data make it impossible to ignore reality."
"Defining Liberty"
"Defining Liberty"
by Jeff Thomas
"Here we have a most interesting collection of signage. Some low-level civil servant who’s in charge of deciding what the motorist may do at this particular junction has become quite thorough in creating restrictions. The motorist may not proceed, may not turn left or right, and, most interestingly, in the second sign from the bottom, may not reverse out. In essence, "You’re stuck here and whatever you do to get out, you’re in violation of the rules we’ve placed upon you."
Of course, if we were to encounter this particular intersection, we might say, "That’s absurd – they can’t possibly hold me to this." But, interestingly, under the traffic laws, a policeman can cite us for violating the signage. If we’re lucky, he might agree that it’s absurd and give us a break, but his job is to enforce it, regardless of its absurdity. And if he enjoys his position of authority, as many in his position do, he just may choose to demonstrate his power. And, if we defy him, we’re in real trouble.
How many laws exist in the US today? The answer is that no one knows. It’s too complex to define. There are roughly 20,000 laws regarding gun control alone – and that’s just the federal laws. State, county and city laws also exist in abundance. The level of governmental dominance now exists to such a degree that literally everyone is a criminal, whether they know it or not. It’s been estimated that the average American commits about three felonies per day, in addition to many lesser crimes. If, for any reason, the authorities wished to victimize you, they’d find their task quite simple.
Yet, there’s a general assumption amongst those who simply accept the laws that are heaped upon their shoulders, that they were somehow "necessary," that legislators only pass laws if they have no other choice. In my estimation, this view is diametrically opposite to what is true. One of my own principles regarding governance is, "It is the primary business of any government to grow its own power and wealth at the expense of its people."
This is an important principle to understand, as it opens the mind to recognize that governments always move in a direction of increased control. Given enough time, governments will always create a state of despotism. And, historically, no government has ever reversed its level of control and introduced greater liberty. It then follows that each country is in the process of becoming increasingly tyrannical. The only difference between them is the degree of tyranny that’s been achieved so far.
Liberty and governmental control are polar opposites. Yet, most people have a rather vague perception of the term "liberty" and might even find it difficult to define. This is unfortunate, as it means that, when liberty is lost, those same people will be unlikely to recognize the fact. Here are two good working definitions of liberty, courtesy of the dictionary:
"The power or scope to act as one pleases."
"The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views."
The first is interesting, as it suggests that liberty means each person doing exactly as he pleases. Doug Casey often offers a similarly simple, but more refined rule of life: "Do as thou wilt, but be prepared to accept the consequences."
The latter dictionary definition is probably in keeping with the perception of most Americans around 1800, but today’s American would caution that, "Ideally, that would be true, but without our current laws and regulations, there’d be chaos." Libertarians would disagree and offer only two principles that they believe would largely negate the need for laws: "Do all that you say that you’ll do and don’t initiate aggression against another person or his property."
And, again, non-libertarian thinkers would shake their heads and assert that this would result in chaos. Americans have become indoctrinated to believe this through slow measures. As Thomas Jefferson said, "Even under the best forms of Government, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny." The key to governmental domination is that we tend to tolerate the loss of liberty if it’s taken away slowly. In the US, liberty has been in decline, by my reckoning, for about one hundred years, but has been in rapid decline since 2001.
Of course, in all countries, at some point, the governmental domination becomes so intolerable that the people rise up. Revolution follows – a period of great upheaval and hardship. Eventually, a recovery begins and the entire process starts over. It stands to reason that the best place to be is a country that has already recovered and is in the reconstruction stage – a time when liberty is at its greatest.
The US was in this stage in the nineteenth century – a period of great expansion and development. However, by the mid-twentieth century, the rot had set in. America was past its peak and was ready to begin the final, and most rapid, period of decline. At that time, the Russian Ayn Rand, living in the US, stated, "We are fast approaching the stage of the ultimate inversion: the stage where the government is free to do anything it pleases, while the citizens may act only by permission; which is the stage of the darkest periods of human history, the stage of rule by brute force."
At the time Ms. Rand made this statement, she was largely dismissed. After all, Americans had never seen riot squads, dressed in black and heavily-armed, barging into homes without a warrant. Authorities did not yet have the legal right to confiscate all of the possessions of an individual, based upon suspicion alone. Yet, this is exactly what Ms. Rand warned against when she said, "the stage of total dominance is fast approaching."
In reflection, we can have a laugh at the signage above, as it was clearly created by a low-level civil servant who was careless with his own puffed-up authority to the point of creating an absurdity. But, in the larger picture, the signs are equally in place. Liberty in the US, at this point, is all but extinguished. And greater restrictions are being written every day. The reader is left with a choice. He can either accept the signs that tell him he’s not allowed to go left, right, forward or back and wait until his government instructs him as to what he’s allowed to do, or he may say, "That’s it - I’m reversing out of here and finding a location where liberty is still in abundance."
"Prepare For The End Of The World As We Know It"
"Prepare For The End Of The World As We Know It"
By Josey Wales
"We’re on the last leg of a major world wide collapse. American cities will turn into death zones. Uninhabitable. Humanity is about to face a dire situation as the Great Reset rolls out all across the world. Listen as Alex Jones and Mike Adams walk you through the details that have evolved over the weekend."
Please view this video on Rumble,
as Google Blogger will not permit embedding it:
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Related:
Related, essential:
"We Are All..."
“I know something of shame… how can we not all feel it? We are all small-minded people, creeping about the earth grubbing for our own adventure and making the very mistakes for which we want to humiliate our neighbors… I think we wake up every day with high intentions and by dusk we have routinely fallen short. Sometimes I think God created the darkness just so he didn’t have to look at us all the time.”
- Helen Simonson, “Major Pettigrew”
"When Things Don’t Add Up"
"When Things Don’t Add Up"
by Jim Kunstler
"It was only a week ago that the American Medical Association (AMA) declared that the category formerly known as “sex” must be removed from US birth certificates - replaced, one supposes, by a tacit “to-be-determined” status in the great Progressive rush to extract the human race from the animal kingdom. Of course, that’s only one skirmish in the great Woke Jacobin war on the moiling masses who clutter up planet Earth, cramping the style of its transhuman-seeking ubermanagers, Bill Gates, Bezos, Daszak, Zuck, Jack, Elon, Klaus & Company, et al.
But this was the old redoubtable, white-coated AMA, you understand, not some claque of screeching, size-16, “body-positive,” gender-cryptic freshman hopping up and down outside the Yale faculty lounge at the sherry-sipping toffs within. Amateur diagnosticians out there might recognize it as another symptom of the hebephrenic toxicosis infecting America’s elites, especially those who work in realms supposedly based on facts, figures, and the general effort to make sense of life in our mysterious universe.
This national freak-show-of-the-mind might account for the many recent instances of science talking out of its booty-hole, led by its very personification, Dr. Anthony (“The Science”) Fauci, proud papa of SARS-CoV-2 (stage-name: Covid-19), with all its fabulous HIV and monkeypox gain-of-function bells and whistles. Dr. Fauci’s mighty, 20-year effort to bring forth this gift to mankind happens to coincide neatly with the collapse of advanced techno-industrial economies, a frightful condition that was already causing enough trouble in the world before Covid-19 marched in. Some suspect that Covid-19 is a contrived cover for all that, perhaps even an attempt to manage the journey down.
The Covid 19 panic, which has been driving formerly civilized societies crazy for eighteen months, prompted the bringing-forth of The Science’s follow-up project: vaccines to stop the spread of the virus. Enter the scene, these vaxes did, like, a day-and-a-half after Covid-19 pirouetted onstage. Hmmmm. Could someone have been working on those vaxes backstage before the dread virus even premiered? Were patents issued for them pre-dating January, 2020? Seems so. But never mind that for now. The vaxes were rolled out to fanfares over a year ago and those moiling masses of America, the superfluous holders of bachelor’s degrees in Oppression Studies - for whom, sadly, the world had run-out of paying positions - lined up like kids at Santa’s throne in Macy’s on Black Sunday for their Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson jabs. Whew…! That was a close call!
Or was it? Naw, not even close, actually. Since now it turns out that the jabs don’t seem to work that well. The official story got murkier last week when the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported internally to staff (it leaked) that “fully vaccinated people might spread the Delta variant at the same rate as unvaccinated people.” Whoopsie…. In a Delta variant outbreak on Cape Cod last month, three-quarters of the infected were fully vaxed-up patients. The story got darker because The New York Times, the usually-reliable mouthpiece for The Science and his allies in “Joe Biden’s” public health bureaucracy, let slip that, “The Delta variant is as contagious as chickenpox and may be spread by vaccinated people as easily as the unvaccinated.”
Wuh-oh…! A worm the size of an Amtrak Acela train has turned in the myocarditic heart of our nation’s capital. Things have changed overnight - didn’t they see it coming? - and now the government is freaking out as it appears to have some serious ‘splainin’ to do - and right on the heels, too, of an hysterical month-long campaign to persuade the remaining unvaxed millions to submit to the needle, climaxed by threatening the obdurate “hesitants” with taking away their employment and ability to participate in commerce and social life. All that sound-and-fury for what? For vaccines that don’t work… and which, quite possibly, could leave you seriously ill, even dead?
There’s one beguiling explanation I’ve heard - from Brandon Smith of Alt-Markets.us, and others - for that hysterical campaign of recent days to jab every last hold-out: the need to eliminate what’s called the “control group,” the bunch of people who, in any drug trial, are given no drug, or a fake shot (like saline), or a placebo (mindf**k agent) to see if the real thing actually works. The desperate effort couldn’t have been more idiotic, since there was no realistic hope of gulling the remaining unvaxed into getting a shot, and the effort only made the “Joe Biden” admin look even more dishonest and despotic.
This could be the beginning of the end for POTUS 46 and the Woke-Jacobin derangement he stole in on. The CDC numbers look so bad now, that Ol’ White “Joe” himself will have to step up to the mic and say something like: “We made a mistake with these vaccines. I hope you will forgive us.” Of course, he absolutely won’t rise to the occasion and say that, no way… and, anyway, the government (and POTUS 46) will not be forgiven because they’ve destroyed millions of livelihoods and tens of thousands of going businesses, and allowed a bunch of cities to get burned and trashed, and city-dwellers to be harassed and attacked by their Antifa/ BLM shock troops, and enabled roughly half the US population not-insane to be terrorized, mau-maued, and insulted by every Woke jape from the Drag Queen Reading Hour to Nancy Pelosi’s January 6 “insurrection” circus - with the janky 2020 election right in the middle.
Speaking of which election, evidence is likely to emerge soon that the numbers really don’t add up. And in a big way. The max-vax campaign may have been an attempted smoke screen for all that trouble coming down the line, but the max-vax move is obviously flopping now. And, by the way, do you suppose that the not-insane half of the nation has failed to notice that upward of half-a million people from other lands (all over the world!), many carrying Covid-19, have been jumping our border with Mexico… and that the US government has deliberately assisted them… and distributed them by bus, and even on airplanes, to distant points all over the USA… and now these government rogues have the nerve to put the squeeze on American citizens to vax up against a virus they are seeding around the country! Is it really too much to declare that this regime has got to go, and go as soon as possible?"
"Economic Market Snapshot PM 8/2/21"
"Economic Market Snapshot PM 8/2/21"
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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 8/2/21:
"Critical Must Know Now Updates!
Crypto, Stocks, Market, The Fed, More"
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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.
July 30th to August 2nd, 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:
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And now, the End Game...
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Oh yeah...
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