Friday, September 10, 2021

"Then What…?"

"Then What…?"
by Jim Kunstler

"The strange demeanor of CNN’s news readers is telling us something: check out Erin Burnett in the seven o’clock time slot. No affect, like she is on drugs, in a kind of trance… or just going through the motions against her will. Same thing with Kate Bolduan, a sort of permanent half-scowl, as if she’s been told to carry out a detested chore, like cleaning the carpet where hubbie’s old dog had another “accident.” Is it, perhaps, that they just don’t believe the bullshit they are serving up to anxious viewers anymore? Or is it something even darker? That would be my guess. Next thing you know, their heads will start rotating 360 degrees, projectile vomiting pea soup at the cameras.

I surf through all the major cable news channels, of course, to detect the textures, flavors, and odors of the American zeitgeist - the spirit of the times. It’s a harsh, sour thing these days, with overtones of dead skunk wrapped in a used diaper and dipped in vinegar, almost impossible to choke down and process, like being trapped in a room where evil dwells in a bad dream. It’s gotten so that some of us are beginning to wonder about actually living in the presence of true evil. As embodied, say, by “Joe Biden,” the ghostly figure said to be chief executive of the US government - but apparently in the service of forces and entities outside these fifty states.

Ol’ White Joe was back on TV yesterday issuing threats to his countrypersons. We are in thrall to a pandemic disease, you understand, this organism called Covid-19 and some 80-million of us have not availed ourselves of the magical vaccine required to prevent the transmission of said organism. We must take the vaccine in order to protect the people who already got the vax - many of them more than one shot - from catching Covid-19.

Hold on now… you say they got multiple doses of the vax but they can still catch the disease? Yes, they can, evidently. Okay… well… what kind of vax is it that doesn’t keep you from catching the disease? Oh, a most excellent vax! And you must take it, or lose your income, forfeit your useful position in this economy, give up all the normal routines of existing in a free society.

Then… this is no longer a free society? Oh, but it is… as long as you take as many vaxes as we can force you to take… and, by the way, don’t badmouth the vaxes. We will find out and we will deal with you. We’ll come for you. We’ll take away your access to banking. We’ll sic federal agencies on your case. You will become a non-person, perhaps an unperson! There, that’ll fix you!

That pin on the national grenade I’ve been alluding to…? I think Ol’ White Joe pulled it yesterday. Something big is going to blow now. I’m thinking: what remains of the American economy. You see, that 80-million of our fellow countrypersons remain unvaxed for a good reason. This vax has got a rather bad reputation. Not only is it largely ineffective, it can disable and even kill you. The news of this has gotten around, despite the efforts of CNN and The New York Times to conceal it. The active agent in the vaccine, the spike protein, attaches to the endothelial linings of your blood vessels and provokes blood clots in them. It especially likes the capillaries in vital organs: the heart, brain, liver, kidneys, and so on.

This is not good for you. Most adults of moderate intelligence understand that developing blood clots in vital organs is not a good thing. Many such adults in moderately good health might prefer taking their chances of getting Covid-19, wrassling their way through it, and coming out with full-fledged natural immunity, superior to the iffy immunity the vaxes confer (combined with those bonus blood clots).

There is also the matter of effective clinical early treatments for Covid-19 being suppressed by the government, the public health and medical authorities, and those dour babes on cable news. I speak (sssshhhh) of Ivermectin, monoclonal antibodies, prednisone, Vitamin D, Zinc, et cetera. MSNBC broadcast a story out of Kentucky Thursday about the terrible surge of Covid-19 ripping through the ICUs there. It was quite a sob story. The patients were all on ventilators (Kentucky docs apparently haven’t heard that the ventilator routine has poor outcomes.) No mention of early clinical treatments with the inexpensive and effective Ivermectin protocol. Has the information not traveled through the Cumberland Gap? Well, boo-hoo, then….

Now, something tells me that of those 80-million unvaxed Americans, most have made up their minds pretty firmly about this. “Joe Biden” speaks from the head of a government that has been lying to them about, well… just about everything, for a number of years, and this Covid-19 virus is one of the sketchiest stories that government has tried to put over - Tony Fauci funding development of the disease in a Chinese lab, and elsewhere… the shady business around the vaccine patents and the royalties from the sales of them… the spooky VAERS numbers… the testimony of quite a few medical giants warning about the vaxes… This “hesitant” 80-million is probably going to take the sage advice of former First Lady Nancy Reagan, and just say “no.” Out of good ol’ American politeness, they may even add… thank you… no, thank you…

If “Joe Biden’s” government insists, the politeness may evaporate, and our countrypersons will walk away. From their jobs. Maybe not every single one of them, but plenty… enough of them… enough to make sure that many of the activities in America seize up, including hospitals and doctors’ practices, with nurses, technicians, and even some doctors walking away. Yes, you will be shocked to learn that even some American doctors still have an ethics module in their well-trained brains. Also, probably trucking, so that things like food and auto parts and medicines don’t get where they are needed - which is, let’s face it, every place. That could harm the US economy, for sure, but it could also harm the administration of “Joe Biden.”

Wait for it. The pin has been pulled. Watch the USA descend into its season of darkness and chaos. Then what…? Redemption is a possibility."

"Economic Market Snapshot AM 9/10/21"

"Economic Market Snapshot AM 9/10/21"
"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
"The more I see of the monied classes,
the better I understand the guillotine."
- George Bernard Shaw
MarketWatch Market Summary, Live Updates

CNN Market Data:

CNN Fear And Greed Index:
A comprehensive, essential daily read.
September 9th to 10th, Updated Daily
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."
Daily Job Cuts
Commentary, highly recommended:
And now, the End Game...
Oh yeah...

Gregory Mannarino, AM 9/10/21: "More Calls For An Imminent Stock Market Drop - Ignore Them! Fear, Propaganda, And Misinformation"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 9/10/21:
"More Calls For An Imminent Stock Market Drop - Ignore Them!
Fear, Propaganda, And Misinformation"

"How It Really Is"

 

Thursday, September 9, 2021

“WalMart Slashes Bonuses; Forced Back To Work; Broke Americans Bet Billions On Football Games”

Jeremiah Babe, PM 9/9/21:
“WalMart Slashes Bonuses; Forced Back To Work;
 Broke Americans Bet Billions On Football Games”

"The Warning Signs are Coming From Everywhere on the Economy"

Full screen recommended.
Dan, iAllegedly PM 9/9/21:
"The Warning Signs are Coming From Everywhere on the Economy"
"We are getting warning signs from every direction on the Economy. The Fed is worried. Jim Cramer is concerned. Goldman Sachs has issued a warning on the stock market. Trouble is coming very soon."

"Why Are Food Prices Going Up So Rapidly?"

Full screen recommended.
"Why Are Food Prices Going Up So Rapidly?"
by Epic Economist

"For a long time, experts have been warning that inflationary policies would lead to an aggressive jump in global food prices and now this is precisely what consumers are seeing at the grocery stores. Over the past twelve months, food prices rose dramatically. In fact, they faced the acutest increase in decades. But on the other hand, wages haven't been increasing nearly as quickly as food prices, and this is pushing tens of millions of people into poverty, food insecurity, and hunger. Here, in the United States, the wealthiest country on the entire planet, approximately 24 million Americans don't have enough to eat and rely on assistance to feed their families every month. Meanwhile, middle-class and low-income workers are now facing a severe case of sticker shock whenever they go to the stores and realize their food budget doesn't stretch as much as it used to. The last time US consumers have seen prices escalate this high was during the Jimmy Carter era of the 1970s. Needless to say that the latest price hikes are making people increasingly angry.

Since the health crisis started, global food supplies have been dwindling, and the result of tight supplies and high demand is, of course, an absolutely shocking surge in global food prices. While politicians and policymakers try to convince the public that soaring food inflation is only "temporary" and there's nothing to be worried about, a recent report released by UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) revealed that global food prices are now growing at the fastest pace in nearly a decade. In August, world food prices jumped 32.9% compared to the same period last year due to solid gains in sugar, vegetable oils, and cereals. FAO’s food price index, which tracks international prices of globally traded food commodities, averaged 127.4 points in August, an increase of 3.9 points from July.

As if that wasn't enough, food industry executives have been telling the media that there's no end in sight for those price increases. In fact, recently, one analyst and food trends expert said that this trend will continue for at least the next several years. It seems like the world is going through some sort of "perfect storm" that could lead us to mass food shortages in the coming months and years. And while our leaders should be coming up with effective solutions to mitigate these problems, they have actually been saying that the "greed of the meat processing industry" is the one to blame. The thing is that price gouging is a serious offense, and if that's really the case, it is also our leaders' responsibility to deal with this situation, instead of only pointing fingers and letting the public suffer with painful price increases.

Experts of the food industry, however, argue that the increases are mostly related to a series of disruptions that include global droughts, extreme weather, factory fires, labor shortages, and supply chain bottlenecks. Food inflation has been largely supported by artificially fueled consumer demand, and given that there are no signs abating and it actually may worsen during this fall, this could severely aggravate socio-economic turmoil around the world because people will now have to allocate more of their daily budgets to food. Last year, SocGen's Albert Edwards first warned about soaring food inflation. Back then, he said a driver of food inflation has been the global central bank's ultra-loose monetary policy and warned about the potential for further social conflicts across several countries, including the US. At this point, many of those who were expecting things to be returning to 'normal' and prices to be starting to stabilize are getting bitterly disappointed, because the health crisis is dramatically worsening and so are our economic conditions.

After so many epic failures, it's understandable why so many people can't trust the government anymore. The way our leaders responded to this crisis has been a complete and total disaster. We've been living a nightmare for the past 18 months, and given the way things are going, it seems like this is just the beginning. Over the next few months, we are going to witness more panic, more chaos, more shortages, and more price increases. This means that although food prices are already ridiculously high, they are about to reach insane levels and most people remain unaware of it. Sadly, many Americans don't even know how broken our system really is and they continue to believe that it will never fail. After all, this is America, the country of the great. But the truth is that it is failing, and what we have experienced so far is just a preview of what is coming next."

"We're All Waiting..."

"We're all sinking in the same boat here. We're all bored and desperate and waiting for something to happen. Waiting for life to get better. Waiting for things to change. Waiting for that one person to finally notice us. We're all waiting. But we also need to realize that we all have the power to make those changes for ourselves."
- Susane Colasanti

"Biden Brings Out the Stick"

"Biden Brings Out the Stick"
by Brian Maher

"The president is no longer dangling the rewarding carrot… but seizing the punishing stick... The administration is mandating vaccination for all federal employees - and the employees of all federal contractors. Federal employees could previously slip through a loophole. They could go unvaccinated if they endured weekly testing. Now the string is pulled tight... and the loophole closes. Defiance will warrant indefinite suspension from duties, such as they are.

Reports CNN: "President Joe Biden on Thursday will impose more stringent vaccine rules on federal workers by signing an executive order requiring all government employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, with no option of being regularly tested to opt out, according to a source familiar with the plans.

During a major speech meant to lay out a new approach to combating the coronavirus, the president will also sign an executive order directing the same standard be extended to employees of contractors who do business with the federal government. The Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Indian Health Service and National Institutes of Health will also complete their previously announced vaccination requirements, which the White House estimates covers 2.5 million workers." Just so. Yet what about those employees who were afflicted with the virus but lived?

Natural Immunity Is up to 27 Times Stronger: The previously infected possess the mighty antibodies that keep the enemy outside the gates. Studies indicate - our men investigated - that natural immunity confers up to 27 times the defense of vaccines. Why would the naturally immunized require vaccination if their own immunity is vastly superior?

We can conceive of no reason in law or equity why they would. Yet apparently no exceptions will be granted... We must all be broken to the common harness, we must all yank in one direction, we must all march in step. We must all be members of the regiment. Young and old, robust and weak, healthy and sickly - all must fall under harsh political discipline.

How Beneficial Are the Vaccines? We might grant the public health goons a fairer hearing if vaccines were reliable sentries. Yet the evidence indicates - again, our men investigated - that these vaccines often allow the enemy in. That is, the present menace is not a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” A representative sample of the vaccinated are likewise afflicted.

Here we speak by the book. Look to the United Kingdom… Through Aug. 15, 58% of COVID sufferers aged 50 and over admitted to hospital had received both doses. They were “fully vaccinated.”

Perhaps that is true, allow the vaccine drummers. But hospitalization is not death. They say vaccines will keep the patient pegging along, however diminished. And in many cases they may. Yet consider: 70% of this over-50 cohort were dispatched to the morgue. They were partially or fully vaccinated. They are dead nonetheless. Now look to the nation of Israel…

The Curious Case of Israel: Israelis are among the most vaccinated peoples of Earth. Yet through mid-August, the fully vaccinated represented 59% of worrying cases. That is, Israeli data replicate nearly perfectly United Kingdom data. A certain Dr. Kobi Haviv, director of Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem, claims the fully vaccinated represent 85–90% of hospitalizations at his sick house. How many of these have succumbed we do not know. Our understrappers cannot locate perfectly reliable data.

Yet we hazard the toll exceeds the threshold of statistical significance. Israeli data further indicate that: "The fully vaccinated are 27 times more likely to acquire symptomatic COVID than those who acquired natural immunity through infection."

Dr. Martin Kulldorff professes medicine at Harvard University. From whom: "In Israel, vaccinated individuals had 27 times higher risk of symptomatic COVID infection compared to those with natural immunity from prior COVID disease. No COVID deaths in either group."

Affirms 'Science' magazine, dated Aug. 26: "The natural immune protection that develops after a SARS-CoV-2 infection offers considerably more of a shield against the Delta variant of the pandemic coronavirus than two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, according to a large Israeli study... The newly released data show people who once had a SARS-CoV-2 infection were much less likely than vaccinated people to get Delta, develop symptoms from it or become hospitalized with serious COVID-19."

Russian Roulette: We must assume Americans share a general biology with Israelis. So we ask once again: Why demand universal vaccination? They do not indemnify against the virus. They do not rival natural immunity - if the studies hold. They may limit hospitalizations and deaths - God bless them - but their healthful effects appear to erode after several months. Hence the yelling for booster shots.

Yet each dose of vaccine presents risk. The precise numbers of severe side effects… and deaths… are not known. But they are likely far greater than reported. Perhaps by many multiples. Vaccine fatalities may run to the tens of thousands, dramatic side effects to the hundreds of thousands. And the risk of severe side effects increases with each needling. How many will suffer agonies when drilled with a fourth, a fifth, a sixth, a ninth booster?

Here is another question: Are the vaccines themselves propagating the very virus they are designed to rout? That is, are the vaccines themselves frankensteining new variants into existence? It is a possibility we must consider...

The “Cure” Could Be the Problem: As bacteria outstrategize and outflank antibiotic medicines, viruses can - to our understanding - outstrategize and outflank vaccines. Vaccines force the virus to “evolve” in rapid fashion.

Here is Dr. Robert Malone, pioneer of the mRNA technology upon which these vaccines are structured: "The most important reason why a universal vaccination strategy is imprudent tracks to the collective risk associated with how the virus responds when replicating in vaccinated individuals. Here, basic virology and evolutionary genetics tell us the goal of any virus is to infect and replicate in as many people as possible. A virus can’t efficiently spread if, like with Ebola, it quickly kills its hosts… The more people you vaccinate, the greater the number of vaccine-resistant mutations you are likely to get, the less durable the vaccines will become, ever more powerful vaccines will have to be developed and individuals will be exposed to more and more risk."

Dr. Malone is not the lone voice crying out from his wilderness.Dr. Geert Vanden Bossche is an authority on the science of vaccination. He has provided his expertise to Novartis Vaccines and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to name some. According to this fellow: "There can be no doubt that continued mass vaccination campaigns will enable new, more infectious viral variants to become increasingly dominant and ultimately result in a dramatic incline in new cases despite enhanced vaccine coverage rates. There can be no doubt either that this situation will soon lead to complete resistance of circulating variants to the current vaccines."

A Saner Alternative: Here then is irony itself. The hunt for the cure could drive the cure beyond reach. And so the dog undertakes a merry chase of his tail. The tail, the virus, will always maintain its lead. Does a saner alternative exist? Yes, argues the aforesaid Dr. Malone:

"A far more optimal strategy is to vaccinate only the most vulnerable. This will limit the amount of vaccine-resistant mutations and thereby slow, if not halt, the current vaccine arms race… There has been much controversy over ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. Yet with the emergence of a growing body of scientific evidence, we can be assured these two medicines are safe and effective in prophylaxis and early treatment when administered under a physician’s supervision. Numerous other useful treatments range from famotidine/celecoxib, fluvoxamine and apixaban to various anti-inflammatory steroids, vitamin D and zinc…"

The American people deserve better than a universal vaccination strategy under the flag of bad science and enforced through authoritarian measures. The American people may deserve better. But if universal vaccination plows on… forcing ever fiercer devil variants… they may never get better."
Related, must read:

Gerald Celente, "Biden's New Mandates: America, The Land Of The Un-Free"

Full screen recommended.
VERY strong language alert!
Gerald Celente, "The Trends Journal", PM 9/9/21":
"Biden's New Mandates: America, The Land Of The Un-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."

Gregory Mannarino, PM 9/9/21: "Buffet Warns Of A Possible Stock Market Crash; Global Inflation Is Surging"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 9/9/21:
"Buffet Warns Of A Possible Stock Market Crash; 
Global Inflation Is Surging"

Musical Interlude: 2002, "We Are Always"

2002, "We Are Always"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“A star cluster around 2 million years young surrounded by natal clouds of dust and glowing gas, M16 is also known as The Eagle Nebula. This beautifully detailed image of the region adopts the colorful Hubble palette and includes cosmic sculptures made famous in Hubble Space Telescope close-ups of the starforming complex. Described as elephant trunks or Pillars of Creation, dense, dusty columns rising near the center are light-years in length but are gravitationally contracting to form stars. 
Energetic radiation from the cluster stars erodes material near the tips, eventually exposing the embedded new stars. Extending from the ridge of bright emission left of center is another dusty starforming column known as the Fairy of Eagle Nebula. M16 lies about 7,000 light-years away, 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).”

The Poet: Mark Jarman, "Coyotes"

"Coyotes"

"Is this world truly fallen? They say no.
For there's the new moon, there's the Milky Way,
There's the rattler with a wren's egg in its mouth,
And there's the panting rabbit they will eat.
They sing their wild hymn on the dark slope,
Reading the stars like notes of hilarious music.
Is this a fallen world? How could it be?

And yet we're crying over the stars again,
And over the uncertainty of death,
Which we suspect will divide us all forever.
I'm tired of those who broadcast their certainties,
Constantly on their cell phones to their redeemer.
Is this a fallen world? For them it is.
But there's that starlit burst of animal laughter.

The day has sent its fires scattering.
The night has risen from its burning bed.
Our tears are proof that love is meant for life
And for the living. And this chorus of praise,
Which the pet dogs of the neighborhood are answering
Nostalgically, invites our answer, too.
Is this a fallen world? How could it be?"

~ Mark Jarman

"Remember..."

“Remember, we all stumble, every one of us.
That’s why it’s a comfort to go hand in hand.”
- Emily Kimbrough

Free Download: Aldous Huxley, “Brave New World"

“O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! 
How beauteous mankind is! 
O, brave new world, That has such people in't!”
- William Shakespeare, “The Tempest” (V, 1)

“Till at last the child's mind is these suggestions, and the sum of the suggestions is the child's mind. And not the child's mind only. The adult's mind too - all his life long. The mind that judges and desires and decides - made up of these suggestions. But all these suggestions are our suggestions...” 
- “Brave New World: Suggestions from the State”
Freely download “Brave New World", by Aldous Huxley here:

"In Three Words..."

 

"Someday stars will wind down or blow up. Someday death will cover us all like the water of a lake and perhaps nothing will ever come to the surface to show that we were ever there. But we WERE there, and during the time we lived, we were alive. That's the truth - what is, what was, what will be - not what could be, what should have been, what never can be."
- Orson Scott Card

“How Psychopaths Take Over”

“How Psychopaths Take Over”
by Kevin Dutton

"Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.” – John Lennon

“My father was a market trader in London. I used to help him when I should have been at school. “You’ll learn more on the stall than you ever will in a classroom,” he used to say. And in my case he was probably right. One evening, after shutting up shop, we went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. As we were paying the bill, Dad said: “Kev, if there’s one thing I want you to remember in life, it’s this: Persuasion ain’t about getting people to do what they don’t want to do. It’s about giving people a reason to do what they do want to do. Watch and learn.”

He picked up a spoon and tinkled it against his glass. Suddenly, the room fell silent. Dad got to his feet. “I’d just like to thank everyone for coming,” he announced. “I’m aware that some of you hail from just around the corner and that others have made the journey from much further afield. But I want you to know that you are all most welcome, and that it’s very much appreciated. Oh, and that there’s a small reception in the King’s Arms across the road after you’ve finished. Thanks once again, and see you in the pub!”

With that, he started to clap… as did everyone else – a restaurant full of strangers whom we’d never seen before, who’d never seen each other before, all applauding wildly because they didn’t want to be seen to be the gate crashers. “We’re not really going to the pub are we?” I muttered, as we barreled out the door. “Course not,” said Dad. “But they are– and my old mate Malcolm has just taken over as landlord. He’ll make a few quid tonight!”

Seems utterly incomprehensible, doesn’t it, that anyone could have the sheer– I believe the technical term is cojones– to pull off such a stunt? But that was Dad all over. The man could sell shaving cream to the Taliban: There was just something about him. He was shameless, fearless and had about as much conscience as a roulette wheel. He was, though I didn’t know it at the time, a psychopath.

Years later, when I was at university, I met another one. Paul was bright, good-looking and, like Dad, as cold as ice under pressure. One night, we were in a bar together in London when a guy pulled a knife on his girlfriend. The whole place went silent as he waved it about just inches in front of her face. Calmly, Paul rose to his feet, and, as all the other customers stood rooted to the spot, began making his way slowly and deliberately toward him. Everyone, including the guy with the knife, was transfixed. When he got to within a meter or so of the assailant Paul stopped and took out his wallet. Then, removing a £20 note, he took a couple of steps forward and pressed it against the tip of the weapon so that the blade pierced it through. “Listen mate,” he said, in a comforting, avuncular tone. “Do yourself a favor and get me a drink, will you? Oh, and get yourself one, too.”

For what seemed like an age, the guy with the knife stood motionless. But then, as if in a trance, he slid the banknote meekly off the end and melted away to the bar. I could hardly believe my eyes. “What the hell was that all about?” I asked him back at the table, as things slowly started getting back to normal. “You could’ve got yourself killed!” Paul shrugged, and took a sip of his Bud. “I could’ve,” he replied, tossing a scrap of paper with a phone number on it in my direction. “But I didn’t, did I? Instead I got this. I’d been wondering how to get that girl off that prick all night– then he goes and does it for me!”

Psychopath. It’s just one of those words, isn’t it? No sooner does it roll off the tongue than images of Jack Nicholson’s chopper (you know what I mean) come crashing through the flimsy neural plasterboard of our minds. “H-e-r-e-’s Johnny!” Except these days, of course, Jack’s likely to have some company. Tyrannical testostrenous traders, catastrophically cavalier CEOs, and bonus-brained, bonkers bankers are also in the shakeup- a seditious stampede that, several weeks ago, prompted one of my colleagues at Oxford, a professor of economics, to quip, over the High Table gazpacho, that perhaps “Off-the-Wall” Street might constitute a better moniker. So who is this person we generically call the psychopath? Is he the killer on the road whose brain is squirming like a toad, as Jim Morrison once famously put it? Or is he, like Paul and my dad, more likely to make a killing in the market?

To begin with, let’s get one thing straight from the start: The psychopath has been around a long time. In fact, he first crops up in the musings of the ancient Greeks. The philosopher Theophrastus (c. 371–287 B.C.) delineates, in his book “The Characters,” a comprehensive canon of 30 moral temperaments. One of the caseload seems way ahead of his time. “The Unscrupulous Man,” Theophrastus laments, “will go and borrow more money from a creditor he has never paid…” as if we haven’t heard that one before, Bernie Madoff. Scroll forward 2,000 years, to the turn of the 18th century, and the physician Philippe Pinel scribbles in his notebook the words “manie sans delire” as he looks on in horror, down a backstreet in central Paris, while a man boots a dog to death. Not only does the gentleman in question appear exquisitely unconcerned by his actions, he is also, notes Pinel, otherwise completely rational. He is, as present-day experts on psychopathy will attest, “mad without being mad.”

Being mad without being mad isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, manie sans delire, as we’ve already seen, can sometimes offer distinct advantages in life. I once heard a story about one of the world’s most successful hedge fund managers. In the middle of the night, around 3 a.m., he dials up his secretary and gets her out of bed. “What’s the problem?” she mumbles, half asleep. “I need a mouse,” he replies, casually. “Could you pop out and get one for me?” The woman is totally gobsmacked. “Er, I don’t wish to be rude,” she stammers. “But do you have any idea what time it is? I mean, do you really need to have one now? Can’t you just wait until the computer guys get in in the morning?” There’s a moment of silence. And then a moment of abject horror. “I’m afraid you don’t understand,” says her boss. “I’m not talking about my computer. My computer is working fine. No, when I say mouse, I mean a real mouse. You know, for my cat. She’s bored.”

Guys like the mouse-hunter are more common than you might think in big business. The reason we don’t hear more about them is because they’re relentlessly, ruthlessly successful, and terrorize those around them into blind, untrammeled obedience. One of them, funnily enough, lit the touchpaper in front of Paul, who, after he left university, got a job with a high-flying London financier notorious for his constantly “revolving door” of temporary PAs. No one, it seemed, could measure up to his steely, uncompromising drive and towering expectations. One afternoon, as he was barking out his customary orders to the latest arrival in the boardroom- “Get me the report from the marketing sub-committee! Courier that parcel to the Guggenheim in New York! Transcribe the minutes of the accounts meeting this morning! Book me a flight and get me a hotel reservation for the conference in Tokyo …!” - Paul interrupted him mid-sentence. “Tell you what,” he said. “How about she shoves a broom up her ass and sweeps up as she goes along?” Not only did the guy give Paul a raise, he hired the girl on the spot. And Paul ended up going out with her.

So how is it that some psychopaths sibilate their way through life as liver-chomping, chianti-swilling monsters, while others are high achievers? Is it simply just a matter of luck? Or does the psychopath mould come in different shapes and sizes? A recent study looking at the personality profiles of so-called “hero populations”– those who work in law enforcement, the military and the rescue services, for instance– may shed some light on this question. The study found that while the heroes exhibited high levels of some psychopathic traits- fearlessness, stress immunity, focus and social dominance, for example- they parted company from incarcerated criminal psychopaths in that they scored lower on the so-called “negative emotion” attributes also associated with the condition: attributes such as antisocial behaviour, narcissism and impulsivity. So it depends, it would seem, on what kind of psychopath you are: which psychopath characteristics your genes and your upbringing have added to your personality basket, and moreover, in precisely what proportion.

But that’s not all. Factors such as intelligence and one’s natural proclivity toward violence also have a say. Take a look at the following grid. Let’s go clockwise from the top right.
1. Let’s say you’re a psychopath, get a poor start in life, are of low intelligence and are also dispositionally violent. You’re going to end up as a low-level thug or an enforcer for a criminal gang. Something like that. Either way, you’re going to end up in prison pretty quickly.

2. Take away the violence and the outlook is little better. You’re going to be a burglar, low-level con artist, drug dealer or hooker – probably all of them put together, in fact – and again, you’re going to wind up in prison pretty sharpish.

3. But now let’s say that you’re a psychopath, that you’re nonviolent, but that you do get a good start in life, and are intelligent. Now it’s a different story. Now you’re more likely to be locking other people up than being locked up yourself!

4. Finally, if you’re a psychopath, intelligent and violent: well, any number of interesting occupations might await you – anything from Special Forces soldier, perhaps, to the head of a criminal syndicate.

Which begs the obvious question: Should we all be adding a few more psychopath items to our personality baskets? And if so, which ones? There is evidence to suggest that the answer to this question is yes- and that a judicious combination of ruthlessness, fearlessness and mindfulness can help us get ahead. Last year, for instance, in a study entitled “Do Nice Guys- and Gals- Really Finish Last?” researchers came up with a resounding, if rather unpalatable, answer to that question: yes! Male employees who scored below average on the personality trait “agreeableness” earned around 18 percent more per annum than those chilling out at the smilier end of the scale. Tougher-minded women, on the other hand, fared a little worse, but still came out on top: earning around 5 percent more. One of the reasons for this differential, according to the lead author of the study, was surprisingly simple. Ball-breakers are more likely to secure higher salaries for themselves across the negotiating table- either to start with or when getting a raise.

Bottom line? Tone up that psychopath muscle by having one day a week when you leave Mr. Nice Guy at home. Give up feeling bad about feeling bad. If it’s up for grabs, grab it.

Then there’s fearlessness. Several years ago, I interviewed the employees of a TV production company about their bosses. One was an affable socializer who was uncomfortable with giving appraisals and was forever putting them off, while the other was a no-nonsense tough guy who would tell it as it is. Who was the most popular? It was difficult to tell. The former was liked more, but the latter (who was aptly nicknamed Spock) got more respect. When I asked him about his approach, he had this to say: “When you’ve got a difficult decision to make, just imagine you’re advising someone else. When you’re advising someone else you don’t feel the heat of the decision– you just see the light.” Take-home message? Fear is good, but if you experience too much of it you risk becoming emotionally obese. So go on a psychopath diet and cut down on the worry calories. Got a call to make? Make it. Got a risk to take? Take it.

And if you do come unstuck, move on. Take it in your stride. Research has shown that psychopaths are far better at getting over rejection and recovering from setbacks than the rest of us. Reason? Because, just like expert mindfulness meditators, they live predominantly in the present: unencumbered by regret or sullied by expectation. One psychopath I interviewed sported a tattoo that said: “Die and Let Live.” That just about says it all. “Let go– or get dragged” as the ancient Zen masters used to put it. The hero and psychopath, opined David Lykken, one of the founding fathers of modern psychopathy research, “are twigs on the same genetic branch.” The science has proven him right. It’s just lucky, in my case, that genes aren’t everything.

Once, Dad and I were heading up to central London on the tube. We were running late for something (can’t remember what) and the train pulled in packed like a can of sardines. Most normal people would’ve just bitten the bullet and waited for the next one. But not Dad. Instead, he was straight on the intercom: “All change, please!” As hundreds of disgruntled passengers filed out onto the platform, cursing and muttering under their breath, we filed on. And with mystical, magical, timing, the train doors closed. “Give ‘em a wave!” said Dad, as shrugs of acceptance turned slowly to frowns of confusion- and then, as light bulbs went on, and pennies started to drop, to snarls of ungovernable fury. And he did. He actually gave them a wave! It just didn’t seem to bother him that I happened to have my school uniform on at the time. And caught that train every day. Twice a day, in fact: to and from school.

I mean, don’t be silly. No one was going to recognize me, right? It wasn’t as if we were conspicuous, this little kid with his school uniform and satchel, and his dad in a sheepskin coat and a cloth cap, nodding, and smiling, and waving at a platform-load of apoplectic commuters. But just to be on the safe side, I gave the train a miss for the next six months. I took the bus to school."

Kevin Dutton is a research psychologist at the University of Oxford. His most recent book is, "The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success."

"The Holstee Manifesto"


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The Daily "Near You?"

Londonderry, New Hampshire, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"I Think..."

"I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be “happy.” I think
the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate.
It is, above all, to matter and to count, to stand for something,
to have made some difference that you lived at all.”
- Leo C. Rosten

"Why Are Food Prices Going Up So Rapidly?"

"Why Are Food Prices Going Up So Rapidly?"
by Michael Snyder

"For a long time I have been warning that global food prices would rise dramatically, and that is precisely what we have witnessed over the past 12 months. Unfortunately, global wages are not rising nearly as quickly as global food prices are, and so this has pushed millions and millions more people into poverty and hunger. Here in the United States, nobody is currently in danger of starving to death, but many Americans have been getting a severe case of sticker shock when they go to the grocery store. Not since the Jimmy Carter era of the 1970s have we seen prices escalate like this, and people are starting to get angry.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, global food supplies have been getting tighter and tighter. When I first started writing about this, certain individuals derisively dismissed what I had to say, but now the truth is becoming apparent to everyone. Very tight supplies and growing demand have pushed global food prices 32.9 percent higher over the past year… "Central banks and mainstream media continue to peddle the notion that soaring food inflation is temporary and the average Joe and Jane should not worry about it. But in a new report via the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), global food prices are on the rise, once again, and back to near-decade highs.

FAO released a statement Thursday that detailed after two consecutive months of declines, world food prices in August jumped due to solid gains in sugar, vegetable oils, and cereals. FAO’s food price index, which follows international prices of globally traded food commodities, averaged 127.4 points in August, up 3.9 points (3.1%) from July and 31.5 points (32.9%) from the same period last year."

Unfortunately, experts are telling us that food prices are going to continue to climb. In fact, one is estimating that food prices will continue to go up like this “for the next two years or so”… "Grocery prices have been on an upward trend for most of the year, and some experts say that this will continue for at least the next several years. “We’re going to continue to see price increases, probably for the next two years or so,” says Phil Lempert, an analyst and food trends expert perhaps best known as the Supermarket Guru.

This is really bad news. So why is this happening? Well, the Biden administration is blaming the greed of the meat processing industry… "During Wednesday’s press briefing, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack spoke about the actions the administration was taking to help alleviate what Deese called ‘pandemic profiteering’ from the top meat processing companies. ‘One of the interesting findings of the report that we put out today, is that about half of the overall increase in grocery prices can be attributed to significant increases in prices in three products – in beef, in pork and in poultry,’ Deese said from the podium."

Certainly greed is playing a role, but as Zero Hedge has pointed out, a whole host of other factors are contributing to this crisis as well… "A combination of global droughts, volatile weather, labor shortages, and supply chain disruptions persisting from COVID, among others, have contributed to the rapid rise in food prices over the last year. Heading into fall, soaring food inflation shows no signs of abating and may worsen. This may cause socio-economic turmoil in emerging market economies, mainly because people in those countries allocate more of their daily budgets to food."

The pandemic was supposed to be subsiding by now, and so by this time of the year prices were supposed to be starting to stabilize. But instead the Delta variant is causing widespread panic, and this is causing more disruptions throughout our entire society… "The summer that was supposed to mark America’s independence from COVID-19 is instead drawing to a close with the U.S. more firmly under the tyranny of the virus, with deaths per day back up to where they were in March.

The delta variant is filling hospitals, sickening alarming numbers of children and driving coronavirus deaths in some places to the highest levels of the entire pandemic. School systems that reopened their classrooms are abruptly switching back to remote learning because of outbreaks. Legal disputes, threats and violence have erupted over mask and vaccine requirements."

We already had a shortage of nurses and other health care workers before this pandemic, and now all of the various mandates that have been instituted threaten to cause a meltdown of the entire system… "Fortune.com reported last week that about 39 percent of U.S. hospitals have announced vaccine mandates for staff members. “It’s not just nurses at stake with vaccine mandates. Respiratory techs, nursing assistants, food service employees, billing staff and other health care workers are already in short supply. According to the latest KFF/The Washington Post Frontline Health Care Workers Survey, released in April, at least one-third of health care workers who assist with patient care and administrative tasks have considered leaving the workforce,” according to Fortune."

I can’t even begin to describe how foolish it is to institute mandates that could potentially force thousands upon thousands of health care workers to leave their jobs right in the middle of a pandemic. But that is what we are now facing. The way that we have responded to this pandemic has been a complete and total nightmare, but those running things seem entirely convinced that they are on the right track. 

Moving forward, there is going to be more panic, more chaos, more shortages and more price increases. So even though food prices are already ridiculously high, now is the time to stock up, because food prices are only going to go higher from here. I have been doing my best to sound the alarm, but sometimes I feel like I am pounding my head into a wall. Most people just have an absurd amount of faith in the strength and durability of our system, and so they refuse to believe that it could ever fail. But it is failing, and what we have experienced so far is just a preview of coming attractions."

"Trump, Biden… What’s the Difference?"

"Trump, Biden… What’s the Difference?"
by Bill Bonner

YOUGHAL, IRELAND – "Coming up next month… the U.S. will bump its head on the Debt Ceiling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned yesterday that if Congress doesn’t act, it will be The End of The World As We Have Known It. CNN elaborates: "In short, a default would be an economic cataclysm. Interest rates would spike, the stock market would crater, retirement accounts would take a beating, the value of the US dollar would erode and the financial reputation of the world’s only superpower would be tarnished. “It would be financial Armageddon,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told CNN. “It’s complete craziness to even contemplate the idea of not paying our debt on time.”

Democrats were quick to blame Republicans. “We’re paying the credit card, the Trump credit card,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Republicans blame Democrats’ $3.5 trillion budget plan. Voters choose sides. And the show goes on.

Global Elite: But this is where we leave the theater. We’ve seen this show before. It is a time-waster. And a fraud. It is like the scalawag who bumps into you on the street, diverting your attention while his accomplice picks your pocket. We blame them both. Republicans. Democrats. And the gods, too.

Built in, hard-wired into the human character, is the desire to expand and to dominate… to be the cock of the walk. Nations, as well as individuals, fight for wealth, power, and status. Nations, rich or poor, democracies as well as monarchies and oligarchies, are never actually controlled by “the people.” The common man has his hands full simply trying to earn a living and find his own place in life. Instead, an elite… an upper class of fixers, hustlers, and suits… a “deep state”… always takes control. And then, once in command, it is corrupted by its own power. And its primary goal turns to protecting its own position and privileges – at all costs.

Today, there’s a worldwide elite, a caste of people who have gone to the same business schools and universities. They read the same newspapers and attend the same seminars and conferences. With some variation and internal squabbling, they believe in the same theories – Keynesian economics, government-directed capitalism, popular democracy, feminism, equality, and global climate change. Most importantly, they are all convinced that freedom must not be allowed to get in the way of their power and wealth.

Same Suits: Which is why the debt ceiling will be raised again – just as it was under Trump, Obama, Bush, and Clinton – until it finally goes through the roof. Debt is mothers’ milk to the ruling caste… It’s what allows them to continue spending money they don’t have on things “the people” don’t really want.

In America, after the presidential election of 2016, and again after the election of 2020, a new regime took over in Washington. Obama to Trump… Trump to Biden… Each time, the new team could scarcely have been more different from the one preceding it. “A new departure,” said the press each time. But what was new? Which part of the bureaucracy did the new administrations eliminate? How many federal employees were fired? How many programs were shut down?

There are hundreds of sub-agencies and departments. Surely, the new crews could have found a few unworthy recipients… a few programs that had not lived up to their promises… or “investments” that hadn’t really paid off. But no… almost no change in Washington. Some new people. Some new slogans. But the same suits. And the same programs. There were 2.8 million federal employees 10 years ago. There are 2.8 million today.

Doubling Down: And how about where the rubber meets the road… the U.S. budget? Since the turn of the century, the feds have added $23 trillion in debt to “stimulate” the economy, with the steepest increase in history during the Trump years. It clearly didn’t work. Growth has slowed down, not sped up.

So what a marvelous opportunity for the Biden administration! What about leaving the debt ceiling in place… shutting down the printing press… and putting the government on a pay-as-you-go footing? What about it? Give freedom a chance. Liberate people to decide for themselves where to invest their time and resources. Let free markets set prices. But no again…

Oh, Dear Reader, you’re making us laugh. Fake money… real deficits – that’s the blood that keeps the zombies fed… No way are they going to give that up. Trump doubled down on the failed policies of Bush and Obama. And now, Biden doubles down again on the failed policies of Trump.

Okay… how about a more minor change – interest rate policy? A “zero interest rate policy” has always been controversial… It punishes savers, distorts the whole economy, and rewards borrowers and risk-takers. How about a change of policy there? Nope.

Afghanistan? Not even. Trump wanted to leave. Biden just followed through. No change of policy.

Radical Change: Wait… Here are some real, radical changes. On his first day in office, Mr. Biden brought back the transgender bathroom policies of the Obama years. Yep. And the White House website now asks you to choose your own personal pronoun – she/her, he/him, they/them… And if you are confused, you can now choose to identify yourself neither as Mr., Mrs., or Ms., but as “Mx”… as in, really mixed up. That’s “change we can believe in,” right? More to come… on the ruling caste… and its battle against freedom."