Jim Kunstler, "Ignition… Lift-off!"

"Ignition… Lift-off!"

by Jim Kunstler

"It looks like someone has called room service in a certain Swiss Fortress of Solitude and ordered der Schwabenklaus’s ass to be handed to him on a platter with a side of sauerkraut. The assisted suicide of Western Civ, Euro division, has been interrupted by peasant uprisings, first in the Netherlands, now spreading to Germany, Italy, and Poland. The farmers are on the march. They are coming for you, Klaus, and your World Economic Forum’s legion of implanted government goblins.

The governments of virtually all the nations of Western Civ have become enemies of their people. It’s been obvious in the USA for quite some time, but our preposterous attempt to turn Ukraine into a forward NATO missile base next door to Russia finally revealed the villainous rot in Euroland, too. Cut yourselves off, Germany, from Russian oil and natural gas? Whose bright idea was that? (Hint: Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who else? He supposedly runs that joint, doesn’t he?) Plan B, you Deutsches Volk now realize, is to burn your furniture to stay warm at Christmas.

America’s gambit to goad Russia into a Ukrainian quagmire turned into such a mighty fail that the US news media doesn’t even report on the doings there anymore. Which are: the Russians sent in their junior varsity and systematically wiped up the floor with Ukraine’s 250,000-man, NATO-trained (ha!) army of neo-Nazis. That is not an empty pejorative, by the way. They really are explicitly true believers in old Adolf’s mid-20th century program of exterminating the Russ people next door. Mr. Putin wasn’t kidding around when he highlighted that feature of his operation.

So, now the heart of Euroland looks forward to a new era without energy and without modern industry, meaning what? Well, without modern life (maybe without life, period). Der Schwabenklaus outlined that pretty clearly, too, with the by-now shopworn slogan that “You vill own nussing and you vill be heppy.” It was such an absurd maxim that many who pretend to think took it as a sort of joke. And, let’s face it, Klaus really does appear to be a comic figure — the weirdo tunic he sometimes wears, the Hollywood B-movie accent. But not so many are laughing now as the lights go out from Galway Bay to the Gulf of Riga.

If not the sinister Schwabenklaus, then, who or what entity is behind this world-ending mischief remains a matter of baffling consternation? Quite a few people, otherwise not insane, say we’re in thrall to some hovering alien presence not-of-this-Earth somehow directing our own destruction. Personally, I find that a bit silly. The most persuasive real-world clues point to China’s Communist Party (the CCP). Where did the “Wuhan Flu” (Sars C-19) emanate from? (Trick question.) At whose 2019 Wuhan World Military Games did the first outbreak occur? (Ditto.) Whose policy model was adopted in the US and Euroland for dealing with that punk-ass virus with lockdowns? Which current President of the USA has been on the payroll of the CCP for nearly a decade via shady business deals grifted up by his son? Hmmmm.

This latter saga of R. Hunter Biden is so well-publicized in its grotesque details - smoking crack and cavorting with Russian whores on-camera - that it seems like just another Netflix series. But guess what? It’s really real. And so are all the deal memoranda and emails on Hunter’s laptop, which has been in the passive possession of the FBI for three years. And you mean to tell me that no one has done anything about it? How is Director Chris Wray still walking around a free man?

Meanwhile, the very people who helped engineer the Wuhan Sars C-19 virus - and the mRNA “vaccines” now proving way deadlier than the virus - are still in the employ of our government: Anthony Fauci and former NIH Director Francis Collins (currently “Joe Biden’s” chief science advisor in the White House at $300+K-a-year). The effrontery! Notice, too, that, having winkled the Pentagon into “vaccinating” all our troops (including our military women-with-penises and men-with-vaginas), we now have an army programmed to drop dead on any battlefield they find themselves at without an enemy firing a shot. How do we even propose to defend North America if, say, China took a notion to seize our land by main force?

These quandaries and conundrums form a toxic cloud of cognitive dissonance blanketing America like a cosmic miasma of wickedness. We have got to turn the tables on these ghouls running things.

This week, a serious rebellion has sparked off in Europe. The Dutch government moved to seize the land belonging to about a third of its farmers, supposedly to cut nitrogen-oxide emissions so as to satisfy WEF-inspired EU 2030 climate goals. There is more horseshit in the government’s policy pretexts than there is on the farms of Holland, so the farmers have formed a tractor army of rebellion, blocked highways and border crossings, and mixed it up physically with the police. As I said at the beginning, the revolt against official climate change psychosis is spreading quickly to other European countries.

Perhaps the non-elites of Europe have realized that they were played for chumps. (They were.) They went along with the “vaccine” mandates only to learn now that their countrymen are dropping dead at suspiciously alarming rates, and maybe it has something to do with those shots they lined up for so obediently. And they can see the vast loss of jobs and income ahead as their industries have to shut down for lack of fuel. And they can see how their governments seek to starve them and force them to freeze to death a few months from now. So, it’s game on and governments are about to fall across Europe, and God knows what kind of strife will erupt out of that. BoJo is going in the UK… Holland’s PM Mark Rutte may be next… Olaf Scholz after him… and Mario Dragi in Italy. Look out below.

As of this writing Friday morning, we have no idea what the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might signify - except, perhaps, the ominous beginning of a global trend."

- https://kunstler.com/

"How It Really Is"

Today’s AAA National Average $4.721

Price as of 7/8/22

- https://gasprices.aaa.com/

Canadian Prepper, "It's Over! Prep Like Your Life Depends On It! It Does!"

Full screen recommended.

Canadian Prepper, 7/7/22:

"It's Over! Prep Like Your Life Depends On It! It Does!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"20 Stunning Pieces Of Evidence That Show The Middle Class In America Is Dying"

Full screen recommended.

"20 Stunning Pieces Of Evidence That Show 

The Middle Class In America Is Dying"

by Epic Economist

"Once upon a time, middle-class households made up 65 percent of the U.S. population. Today, the middle-class is not only a minority but it also lost ground financially. This is just one of the cold, hard facts that you will learn in this video. At this point, we all know that the American middle class has been in a steady decline. Our incomes are shrinking, our net worth is going down, and yet the cost of living just keeps going higher and higher. Right now, millions of small business owners and enterpreneurs are being strangled out of existence by mountains of red tape and excessive taxation, while millions of middle class jobs have been shipped out of the country to other nations where it is legal to pay extremely low wages.

More than one-third, or 34%, of middle-class families can’t cover a $400 emergency expense, according to a new study from the Urban Institute. Their experience of financial insecurity underscores their financial fragility in a slowing economy, the researchers noted. “We were certainly surprised by the percentage of families, especially moderate-income families, that are struggling with financial insecurity," they wrote. "There are rising health care costs, housing costs -- all those things present challenges for families, even middle-income families.

As incomes have stagnated, the building blocks of a stable middle-class living have steadily become more expensive," they continued, adding that, "health care, child care, and education are a few of the fundamental but increasingly unaffordable pillars of the American dream." The average monthly expenses for American households are $5,111, according to the most recent Consumer Expenditure Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2019, the average monthly expenses were only $3,300. Housing is the largest average cost at roughly $1,784 per month, making up 35% of typical spending. Moreover, Americans spend $610 on food per month. Transportation costs more than many realize ($819 per month), largely due to rising fuel prices. And, as of March 2022, the average healthcare spending hit $431 per month.

Until we start doing things differently, we will continue to get the same results, and the middle class will just get increasingly smaller. Over the past decade, middle class households have officially became an economic minority in this country. How much worse do things have to get before we say enough is enough? Are we just going to stand on the sidelines and watch the middle class disappear entirely? We have to remember that this is our future. This is the future of our children and of our grandchildren. This is the future of our nation. And we have to stand up for ourselves because our standard of living is being destroyed, and we're doing nothing to prevent that from happening.

Unfortunately, “the American Dream” is now dying in plain sight, but most Americans don’t seem to care. What in the world is it going to take for people to finally wake up and start taking action? Maybe some of these numbers serve as a wake up-call."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gerald Celente, "Zelensky Blinded By Trends Journal Cover"

Full screen recommended.

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, "Trends In The News"

“Zelensky Blinded By Trends Journal Cover”

- https://trendsresearch.com/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

“The Writing Is on the Wall”

“The Writing Is on the Wall”

by Brian Maher

“The writing is on the wall.” This is the studied conclusion of a certain Frank Giustra, co-chairman of the International Crisis Group. What writing - precisely - adorns the wall? The writing is on the wall that some form of change is imminent, and a global monetary system reset may already be underway… the U.S. dollar feels like a lame-duck currency. It still rules, but the world is clearly jockeying for what comes next… something will eventually replace the U.S. dollar as the sole dominant global reserve currency, perhaps sooner than anyone expects.

It distresses us to discover that we store our limited wealth in a “lame-duck” currency.  A lame duck is eventually a dead duck - “perhaps sooner than anyone expects.” And a dead-duck currency is a bankrupt currency.

The anti-Russian sanctions merely intensified the hunt. And Russian kingpin Putin brought a shotgun to the recent huddling of the BRICS nations, loaded with buckshot. Giustra: Couple [monetary and fiscal irresponsibility among other factors] with the frequent weaponization of the U.S. dollar through sanctions and the SWIFT system and you can see why certain countries have been desperately looking for U.S. dollar alternatives… Russian President Vladimir Putin is advocating that BRICS economies look into creating an international reserve currency using the basket of their own currencies. Finally, he started making noises about creating a gold-backed ruble.

China too is hunting duck. It too is hot to shatter today’s “dollar hegemony.” Like Russia, it too has been hauling in fantastic quantities of gold in recent years. Could Russia and China lead the BRICS with a gold-backed currency? Jim Rickards has warned about it for years (more on which below).

But China has an extra load of ammunition in its case. Explains our colleague Chris Campbell: China is the second-largest user of oil on the planet, and it has, for the past few decades, been forced to buy oil using the United States dollar. It doesn’t want to use dollars to buy oil. Being forced to buy oil in dollars means giving power to your main rival. In March, news broke that the House of Saud was considering accepting the yuan for oil.

Recall, the dollar’s power comes from oil. China purchases a whopping 25% of Saudi Arabia’s oil exports. That would be like taking away 25% of the dollar’s power in one fell swoop. If this happens, it would devalue the U.S. dollar, diminishing its power on the world stage. Interestingly, the yuan jumped in value immediately after the news.

History reveals that oil-exporting nations follow in Saudi Arabia’s footsteps. This could start a domino effect. This is a major potential vector of attack for the U.S. dollar. One that you should be prepared for. “But it’s not the only danger,” Chris warns: "While some are worried about the fall of the dollar’s prominence on the world stage…Other experts are worried about what comes NEXT."

In other words… You shouldn’t worry about the dollar, they say. You should worry about what’s going to REPLACE it. And it’s probably worse than you think… How does a man go bankrupt?Slowly at first, said Hemingway - then all at once. That is how the dollar will likely lose its reserve status: Slowly at first… then all at once. Alas, the “slowly” phase appears over and “all at once” is in prospect. The writing is on the wall…

Below, Jim Rickards shows you why the dollar is actually a victim of its own success. What does Jim mean? Read on."

○

"The Dollar Is a Victim of Its Own Success"

by Jim Rickards

"America’s most powerful weapon of war does not shoot, fly or explode. It’s not a submarine, plane, tank or laser. America’s most powerful strategic weapon today is the dollar. The U.S. uses the dollar strategically to reward friends and punish enemies. The use of the dollar as a weapon is not limited to trade wars and currency wars, although the dollar is used tactically in those disputes. The dollar is much more powerful than that. The dollar can be used for regime change by creating hyperinflation, bank runs and domestic dissent in countries targeted by the U.S. The U.S. can depose the governments of its adversaries, or at least blunt their policies, without firing a shot.

Consider the following. The dollar constitutes about 60% of global reserves, 80% of global payments and almost 100% of global oil transactions. European banks that make dollar-denominated loans to customers have to borrow dollars to fund those liabilities. Being based in Switzerland or Germany does not allow you to escape from the dollar’s dominance.

The U.S. not only controls the dollar itself. It controls the dollar payments system. This consists of the Treasury’s digital ledger of holders of U.S. debt, the Fedwire payments system among U.S. Fed member banks and the Clearing House Association (successor to the New York Clearing House and proprietor of CHIPS, the Clearing House Interbank Payments System) composed of the largest U.S. banks. A dollar payment going from a bank in Shanghai to another bank in Sydney runs through one of these U.S.-controlled payments systems. In short, the dollar is the oxygen supply for world commerce and the U.S. can cut off your oxygen whenever it wants.

The list of ways in which the dollar can be weaponized is extensive. The U.S. uses the dollar to force its enemies into fronts, crude barter or the black market if they want to do business. Examples of the U.S. employing these financial weapons are ubiquitous and long precede the draconian sanctions imposed on Russia in the wake of its recent invasion of Ukraine.

The U.S. slapped sanctions on Russia after the 2014 annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine. The U.S. waged a full-scale financial war with Iran from 2011–13 that resulted in bank runs, hyperinflation, local currency devaluation and social unrest. The U.S. slapped stiff penalties on China for theft of intellectual property. Other obvious victims of U.S. financial weapons are North Korea, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela.

The actions described above did not arise in the normal course of trade and finance. The Russian, Iranian and other sanctions noted are explicitly geopolitical, while the Chinese sanctions are geostrategic to the extent the U.S. and China are vying for technological supremacy in the 21st century.

None of these sanctions would be effective or even possible without the use of the dollar and the dollar payments system. Yet for every action there is a reaction. America’s adversaries realize how vulnerable they are to dollar-based sanctions. In the short run, they have to grin and bear it. But our adversaries and so-called allies are not standing still. They are already envisioning a world where the dollar is not the major reserve and trade currency. In the longer run, Russia, China, Iran and others are working flat-out to invent and implement non-dollar transactional currencies and independent payments systems. Vladimir Putin proposed a new reserve currency at the recent BRICS meeting.

I’ve been warning for years about efforts of nations like Russia and China to escape what they call “dollar hegemony” and create a new financial system that does not depend on the dollar and helps them get out from under dollar-based economic sanctions. These efforts are only increasing, especially after the Russian sanctions. No one wants to be next.

You can be confident that gold would play a role in a new monetary order. The use of gold is the ideal way to avoid U.S. financial warfare. Gold is physical so it cannot be hacked. It is completely fungible (an element, atomic number 79) so it cannot be traced. Gold can be transported in sealed containers on airplanes so movements cannot be identified through wire transfer message traffic or satellite surveillance.

Russia, for example, can settle its balance of payments obligations with gold shipments or gold sales and avoid U.S. asset freezes. Russia is providing other nations a model to achieve similar distance from U.S. efforts to use the dollar to enforce its foreign policy priorities.

Even Europe is showing signs it wants to escape dollar hegemony. The German foreign minister has called for a new EU-based payments system independent of the U.S. and SWIFT that would not involve dollar payments. SWIFT is the nerve center of the global financial network. All major banks transfer all major currencies using the SWIFT message system. Cutting a nation off from SWIFT is like taking away its oxygen. The U.S. had previously banned Iran from the dollar payments system (Fedwire), which it controls, but Iran turned to SWIFT to transfer euros and yen in order to maintain its receipt of hard currency for oil exports.

In 2012, the U.S. successfully kicked Iran out of SWIFT. This was a crushing blow to Iran because it could not receive payment in hard currencies for its oil. This pushed Iran to the bargaining table, which resulted in a nuclear deal with the U.S. in 2015. And of course, the U.S. banned Russia from SWIFT after its February invasion of Ukraine. But in the longer run, this is just one more development pushing the world at large away from dollars and toward alternatives of all kinds, including new payment systems and cryptocurrencies, possibly backed by gold.

Imagine a three-way trade in which North Korea sells weapons to Iran, Iran sells oil to China and China sells food to North Korea. All of these transactions can be recorded on a blockchain and netted out on a quarterly basis with the net settlement payment made in gold shipped to the party with the net balance due. That’s a glimpse of what a future non-dollar payments system looks like.

The bottom line is the world is looking to turn away from dollar dominance in global finance. Given the severe sanctions regime against Russia, it may end sooner than most expect. We are getting dangerously close to that point right now."

- dailyreckoning.com

Gregory Mannarino, "Epic! Another Miracle On Wall St.! Goldman Sachs Warns Of "Severe Recession"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 7/7/22:

"Epic! Another Miracle On Wall St.! 

Goldman Sachs Warns Of "Severe Recession"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: 2002, “Children in Time”

Full screen recommended.

2002, “Children in Time”

"This song is from 2002's album 'This Moment Now.' Twenty years ago, Pamela and Randy lived for awhile in different parts of the country, and part of their staying in touch was a steady stream of hand-written love letters to each other. The music on this album reflects a love that transcends distance and time."

"A Look to the Heavens"

 “Namibia has some of the darkest nights visible from any continent. It is therefore home to some of the more spectacular skyscapes, a few of which have been captured in the below time-lapse video. We recommend watching this video at FULL SCREEN (1080p), with audio on. The night sky of Namibia is one of the best in the world, about the same quality of the deserts of Chile and Australia.

Full screen recommended. 

Visible at the movie start are unusual quiver trees perched before a deep starfield highlighted by the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy. This bright band of stars and gas appears to pivot around the celestial south pole as our Earth rotates. The remains of camel thorn trees are then seen against a sky that includes a fuzzy patch on the far right that is the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small satellite galaxy to the Milky Way. A bright sunlight-reflecting satellite passes quickly overhead. Quiver trees appear again, now showing their unusual trunks, while the Small Magellanic Cloud becomes clearly visible in the background. Artificial lights illuminate a mist that surround camel thorn trees in Deadvlei. In the final sequence, natural Namibian stone arches are captured against the advancing shadows of the setting moon. This video incorporates over 16,000 images shot over two years, and won top honors among the 2012 Travel Photographer of the Year awards.”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130204.html

Chet Raymo, “Universal Constants, Universal Consensus”

“Universal Constants, Universal Consensus”

by Chet Raymo

“I once received a book in the mail, as I sometimes do, for potential review on this blog, James Stein's “Cosmic Numbers: The Numbers That Define Our Universe”. I often write here about books I read, but I don't review. I did glance at Stein's book, however. It has an audience, but it's not for me; been there, done that. The subtitle is provocative, however. The idea that a dozen or so numbers "define the universe." That's a mind-blowing concept.

The gravitational constant. The speed of light. Absolute zero. Planck's constant. The Hubble constant. And so on. Familiar to every introductory physics student. Built into the very structure of the Earth. And every other earth in the universe.

Look again at the Hubble Ultra Deep Field photograph above. Those myriad of galaxies. Those yawning light-years. That infinitude of worlds. And, as far as we know, the fundamental constants are the same everywhere,

The human mind has thrown a net across the cosmos. And as we have brought the galaxies into our ken, so have we come to realize that we too are part and parcel of the fabric of cosmic space and time. Exceptional clarity. Impenetrable mystery.

So what do we make of the news so breathlessly reported in the media of neutrinos moving faster than the speed of light? This is surely a bit of heroic physics, pitting what we believe to be true against the refining fire of experience, but I wouldn't make too much of it yet. Tom suggested that perhaps the researchers unwittingly measured the distance from CERN in Switzerland to Gran Sasso in Italy with greater accuracy. That's the kind of whimsy the result calls for now. The real story - for the time being - is as an illustration of the way the engine of scientific knowing grinds inexorably toward consensus.”

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

The Poet: Mark Strand, "Dreams"

"Dreams"

"Trying to recall the plot

And characters we dreamed,

     What life was like

Before the morning came,

We are seldom satisfied,

     And even then

There is no way of knowing

If what we know is true.

     Something nameless

Hums us into sleep,

Withdraws, and leaves us in

     A place that seems

Always vaguely familiar.

Perhaps it is because

     We take the props

And fixtures of our days

With us into the dark,

     Assuring ourselves

We are still alive. And yet

Nothing here is certain;

     Landscapes merge

With one another, houses

Are never where they should be,

     Doors and windows

Sometimes open out

To other doors and windows,

     Even the person

Who seems most like ourselves

Cannot be counted on,

     For there have been

Too many times when he,

Like everything else, has done

     The unexpected.

And as the night wears on,

The dim allegory of ourselves

     Unfolds, and we

Feel dreamed by someone else,

A sleeping counterpart,

     Who gathers in

The darkness of his person

Shades of the real world.

     Nothing is clear;

We are not ever sure

If the life we live there

     Belongs to us.

Each night it is the same;

Just when we’re on the verge

     Of catching on,

A sense of our remoteness

Closes in, and the world

     So lately seen

Gradually fades from sight.

We wake to find the sleeper

     Is ourselves

And the dreamt-of is someone who did

Something we can’t quite put

     Our finger on,

But which involved a life

We are always, we feel,

     About to discover."

- Mark Strand 

"You Must Not Be Frightened..."

"How should we be able to forget those ancient myths that are at the beginning of all peoples, the myths about dragons that at the last moment turn into princesses; perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything terrible is in its deepest being something helpless that needs our help. So you must not be frightened if a sadness rises up before you larger than any you have ever seen; if a restiveness, like light and cloud shadows, passes over your hands and over all you do. You must think that something is happening with you, that life has not forgotten you, that it holds you in its hand; it will not let you fall."

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Free Download: Jiddu Krishnamurti, “The Book of Life”

"You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it.

That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies,

that is why you must sing and dance,

and write poems and suffer and understand, for all that is life."

- Jiddu Krishnamurti

Freely download “The Book of Life”, by Jiddu Krishnamurti:

- https://selfdefinition.org/krishnamurti/

"Listen..."

“95 Questions to Help You Find Meaning and Happiness”

“95 Questions to Help You Find Meaning and Happiness”

by Marc

“At the cusp of a new day, week, month or year, most of us take a little time to reflect on our lives by looking back over the past and ahead into the future. We ponder the successes, failures and standout events that are slowly scripting our life’s story. This process of self-reflection helps us maintain a conscious awareness of where we’ve been and where we intend to go. It is pertinent to the organization and preservation of our long-term goals and happiness. The questions below will help you with this process, because when it comes to finding meaning in life, asking the right questions is the answer.

1. In one sentence, who are you?

2. Why do you matter?

3. What is your life motto?

4. What’s something you have that everyone wants?

5. What is missing in your life?

6. What’s been on your mind most lately?

7. Happiness is a ________?

8. What stands between you and happiness?

9. What do you need most right now?

10. What does the child inside you long for?

11. What is one thing right now that you are totally sure of?

12. What’s been bothering you lately?

13. What are you scared of?

14. What has fear of failure stopped you from doing?

15. What will you never give up on?

16. What do you want to remember forever?

17. What makes you feel secure?

18. Which activities make you lose track of time?

19. What’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever made?

20. What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?

21. What are you most grateful for?

22. What is worth the pain?

23. In order of importance, how would you rank: happiness, money, love, health, fame?

24. What is something you’ve always wanted, but don’t yet have?

25. What was the most defining moment in your life during this past year?

26. What’s the number one change you need to make in your life in the next twelve months?

27. What’s the number one thing you want to achieve in the next five years?

28. What is the biggest motivator in your life right now?

29. What will you never do?

30. What’s something you said you’d never do, but have since done?

31. What’s something new you recently learned about yourself?

32. What do you sometimes pretend to understand that you really do not?

33. In one sentence, what do you wish for your future self?

34. What worries you most about the future?

35. When you look into the past, what do you miss most?

36. What’s something from the past that you don’t miss at all?

37. What recently reminded you of how fast time flies?

38. What is the biggest challenge you face right now?

39. In one word, how would you describe your personality?

40. What never fails to frustrate you?

41. What are you known for by your friends and family?

42. What’s something most people don’t know about you?

43. What’s a common misconception people have about you?

44. What’s something a lot of people do that you disagree with?

45. What’s a belief you hold with which many people disagree?

46. What’s something that’s harder for you than it is for most people?

47. What are the top three qualities you look for in a friend?

48. If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?

49. When you think of ‘home,’ what, specifically, do you think of?

50. What’s the most valuable thing you own?

51. If you had to move 3000 miles away, what would you miss most?

52. What would make you smile right now?

53. What do you do when nothing else seems to make you happy?

54. What do you wish did not exist in your life?

55. What should you avoid to improve your life?

56. What is something you would hate to go without for a day?

57. What’s the biggest lie you once believed was true?

58. What’s something bad that happened to you that made you stronger?

59. What’s something nobody could ever steal from you?

60. What’s something you disliked when you were younger that you truly enjoy today?

61. What are you glad you quit?

62. What do you need to spend more time doing?

63. What are you naturally good at?

64. What have you been counting or keeping track of recently?

65. What has the little voice inside your head been saying lately?

66. What’s something you should always be careful with?

67. What should always be taken seriously?

68. What should never be taken seriously?

69. What are three things you can’t get enough of?

70. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?

71. What fascinates you?

72. What’s the difference between being alive and truly living?

73. What’s something you would do every day if you could?

74. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

75. Which is worse, failing or never trying?

76. What makes you feel incomplete?

77. When did you experience a major turning point in your life?

78. What or who do you wish you lived closer to?

79. If you had the opportunity to get a message across to a large group of people, what would your message be?

80. What’s something you know you can count on?

81. What makes you feel comfortable?

82. What’s something about you that has never changed?

83. What will be different about your life in exactly one year?

84. What mistakes do you make over and over again?

85. What do you have a hard time saying “no” to?

86. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

87. What’s something that used to scare you, but no longer does?

88. What promise to yourself do you still need to fulfill?

89. What do you appreciate most about your current situation?

90. What’s something simple that makes you smile?

91. So far, what has been the primary focus of your life?

92. How do you know when it’s time to move on?

93. What’s something you wish you could do one more time?

94. When you’re 90-years-old, what will matter to you the most?

95. What would you regret not fully doing, being, or having in your life?”

From the wonderful "Marc and Angel Hack Life" blog:

- http://www.marcandangel.com/

The Daily "Near You?"

Newquay, Cornwall, United Kingdom. Thanks for stopping by!

"Walking By Abandoned Stores Today, Proof Recession Has Begun; People Look Scared; Prepare Now"

Full screen recommended.

Jeremiah Babe 7/7/22:

"Walking By Abandoned Stores Today, Proof 

Recession Has Begun; People Look Scared; Prepare Now"

Comments here:

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"Retail Is Dead in 2022 - No More Merchandise Returns"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 7/7/22:

"Retail Is Dead in 2022 - 

No More Merchandise Returns"

"Retail sales are absolutely destroyed right now. Inflation has destroyed so many stores. Now we’re hearing from large retailers that they don’t want merchandise returned to the stores. When will the insanity end?"

Comments here:

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"The Monstrous Thing..."

"The monstrous thing is not that men have created roses out of this dung heap, but that, for some reason or other, they should want roses. For some reason or other man looks for the miracle, and to accomplish it he will wade through blood. He will debauch himself with ideas, he will reduce himself to a shadow if for only one second of his life he can close his eyes to the hideousness of reality. Everything is endured - disgrace, humiliation, poverty, war, crime, ennui - in the belief that overnight something will occur, a miracle, which will render life tolerable. And all the while a meter is running inside and there is no hand that can reach in there and shut it off."

- Henry Miller, “Tropic of Cancer”

Bill Bonner, "Forbidden Fruit and a Pension Problem"

"Forbidden Fruit and a Pension Problem"

A look at the 'original sin' behind today's stock prices, 

and where we're headed next.

by Bill Bonner

Baltimore, Maryland - "Our hoary president was in the news yesterday. CBSNews: "Biden promotes plan to protect millions of workers' pensions."

"WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Wednesday traveled to Ohio to highlight his administration’s work to prevent cuts to millions of workers’ pensions as his approval rating continues to sag ahead of the midterm elections. Biden’s visit was tied to the launch of a program launch of a program created under the American Rescue Plan that provides assistance to struggling multi-company pension plans, ensuring that as many as 3 million workers and retirees will receive their full benefits."

This morning, the Wall Street Journal adds that pension funds will be able to use up to a third of the $90 billion in free money to gamble in the stock market. Republicans allegedly maligned these pension bailouts as ‘rat holes.’ Of course, they were right. But the rats vote, and Joe will take votes from wherever he can get them.

And here’s an earlier WSJ note showing us what a big hole the rats dug for themselves. In Pasadena, California…"The local police and fire pension plan has been closed for nearly 50 years. Pension recipients have dwindled to fewer than 180. But the city still owes about $135 million in bond debt on the plan. Payments on it are expected to be about $6 million in 2022. Local governments made pension commitments that they couldn’t afford. Employees must have known it. So did fund managers. But such was the connivance between them that neither wanted to ask questions. They hoped for the best… and waited for the bailout."

Our pen pal, MN Gordon, adds this: "According to a Municipal Market Analytics analysis of Bloomberg data, more than 100 city, county, state, and other governments borrowed for their pension funds last year. This is twice the highest number that did so in any prior year."

Standing behind these pension funds are state and local taxpayers – that’s you, acting as the ATM. Moreover, when the investment returns of public pension funds fall short, governments are primarily responsible for filling the void. This means cutting other spending and services or increasing taxes. Behind the local pensions stand the local governments. And behind the local governments stand the state governments. And behind them all stands the US federal government. And the US government is us.

So, where do the citizens of Dubuque get the money to pay the pensions of garbage collectors in Baton Rouge? The question is rarely asked, because the money was… until recently… almost free and unlimited. Governments could borrow… and then rollover their debt at an even lower rate.

But now, bonds are falling, consumer prices are rising, and the question marks are coming out. And we have an answer that will delight the wokesters. They won’t have to worry about defunding the police… or the trash collectors. All current services will be defunded in order to fund past ones. And by the way, that is the way of all debt. The money must be taken from the future to make good on yesterday’s promises. Or, the promises must be broken.

We will not dwell on the coming disaster in the pension world. It is the debt disaster in the larger world that interests us. So far…

We have the worst inflation in 41 years.

The worst stock market in 52 years.

The worst bond market in 224 years.

The worst consumer sentiment… and the worst performance for a balanced 60-40 portfolio… since record keeping began.

So what gives? We’re glad you asked. And hope you don’t expect a short answer. A full accounting of ‘what is going on’ would take more time and space than we have available. You can go as deep as you care to – all the way to the Big Bang, if you want. After all, had not Adam gotten together with Eve, there would be no Jerome Powell today. And had not the naked lady eaten the forbidden fruit – thus bringing evil into the world – there would be no US Federal Reserve.

But we will spare you the Original Sin interpretation and just give you the Dummies Guide version. And in the spirit of ‘diversity, access and inclusion,’ we will begin at the ‘functioning moron’ level and head down on the freight elevator from there. Here at Bonner Private Research, we usually stop at the ‘smoked-too-much-weed-in-college’ explanation; it’s about all we can handle. Exceptionally, we will keep going down… examining the sedimentary layers as we go… and let you decide where to get off.

What’s going on? The simplest answer is: it’s a stock market selloff. Stocks go up. Then they go down. They went up, with brief interruptions, for 39 years… from August 1982 to November 2021. Since then, the Dow has lost about 5,000 points. If recent history is anything to go on, it will lose another 7,000 points before it hits bottom.

We doubt that recent history will do us much good, however. Something very important has changed. Inflation; we haven’t seen so much of it since Rod Stewart was singing, “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy.” So, we will go down another level and take a look. Bonds go up and down too – typically in very long cycles. The 10-year T-bond yield, the basic brick of the entire capital structure, hit a low in August 2020. Before that, the previous low came around the time we were born – in the late 1940s. Bottom to bottom took more than seven decades.

So, it’s a big deal when these things turn around. And that’s what appears to be happening now. After 42 years of rising prices, bonds just suffered their worst loss since George Washington was President. But what does that mean? Why is it so important? Tomorrow, we head down further…closer to bedrock…to see if we can figure it out."

- bonnerprivateresearch@substack.com

"How It Really Is"

 

Gregory Mannarino, "A Global Economic Depression - You Are In One"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 7/7/22:

"A Global Economic Depression - You Are In One"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

○

Related:

"David Stockman on Why the Great Reckoning Has Begun"

"The Future – Post 2032 – A New Beginning?"

"The Future – Post 2032 – A New Beginning?"

by Martin Armstrong

"QUESTION: "Will you explain what Socrates foresees for after 2032 at this year’s WEC in November? I’m more concerned about my grandkids. A lot of people seem to be plagiarizing you these days. But all they have to offer is an opinion and we all have opinions. Socrates has been the only thing that has ever been consistently correct." - TH

ANSWER: I have warned that the Economic Confidence Model and how markets even trade themselves is always fractal. We are completing the end of the BIG ONE. I think a lot of people are starting to see this too. The End of the World is by no means the END. It is just the point in history where it all begins again. We can see that Biden is probably the instrument of death, or should I say those who write his executive orders and cheat sheets. They are obsessed with climate change and are deliberately trying to destroy our capacity to produce and use fossil fuels.

The hatred and division in our society is just insane. We have celebrities canceling the 4th of July over abortion. The very law that the Supreme Court ruled on limited abortion to 15 weeks. They seem to think they have the right to kill a child up to birth. Bette Midler started a controversy on Twitter by posting: “They don’t call us ‘women’ anymore; they call us ‘birthing people’ or ‘menstruators,’ and even ‘people with vaginas!’ Don’t let them erase you! Every human on earth owes you.” The world has gone insane, and all these labels only divide society, creating one group against another. This is the total destruction of society and these people are so stupid, that they cannot see what they are doing because of their own deranged views.

There is an ebb and flow to civilization. We all come together because it benefits all of us, and then it falls apart when one group begins to exploit another. This is the basic rhythm of civilization. As taxes are low and the economy booms in the city, the youth are attracted to the city and leave their parents on the farms or suburbs and head off to make their fortune in the world. Rome became the largest city in history, reaching a population in excess of 1 million by its peak in 180 AD. It had crossed that 1 million mark in 133 AD during the reign of Hadrian (117-138AD).

With the death of Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD) in 180 AD, the decline and fall began just 51.6 years after it exceeded one million people. The crazy emperor Commodus (177-192 AD) followed his father. Like the Democrats today who attack anyone who supported Trump and are still running against Trump in 2022, Commodus did the same, and anyone who had supported his father he attacked. Today, Liz Cheney, who is as evil as her father in my opinion, is today’s Commodus. She is the destroyer of civilization, for her personal hatred of Trump is dividing the nation and will ensure that people like her will end the United States as we have known it. Cheney will unleash civil war if she really thinks that she can prevent Trump from running imprisoning over 300 people already for entering the Capitol on January 6. Not even their hated Putin even did that to protesters. This will lead to civil war.

Edward Gibbon wrote in his “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” about the son of Marcus Aurelius and how he set in motion the collapse of Rome. He wrote of Commodus (177-192AD): “Distinction of every kind soon became criminal. The possession of wealth stimulated the diligence of the informers; rigid virtue implied a tacit censure of the irregularities of Commodus; important services implied a dangerous superiority of merit; and the friendship of the father always insured the aversion of the son. Suspicion was equivalent to proof; trial to condemnation. The execution of a considerable senator was attended with the death of all who might lament or revenge his fate; and when Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incapable of pity or remorse.” (Book 1, Chapter 4).

We see the same hatred spewing from Cheney’s mouth and with the Democrats. Nobody seems to understand what makes civilization work. They are dividing civilization for personal hatred and gain and in the process fulfilling the cycle that will end civilization as we know it.

Rome was the largest city in ancient times. It eventually collapsed to a population of just 15,000 during the middle ages. The city of London, England, was the first city to reach a population again of one million and it took nearly 6 waves of 309.6 years. London reached the 1 million mark in 1810 during the reign of George III (1760-1820) and in comparison, New York City finally reached that level in 1875 thanks to all the people fleeing Europe. We once again are approaching the peak in civilization and what will come after 2032 will be once more the disintegration of civilization.

Rome fell and broke up into small enclaves that ushered in the feudal system. People became serfs for the common protection of a landlord and his castle. We still retain the word “landlord” to this very day. We will see a new world where countries will no longer exist as we know them and they will all divide and separate into localized jurisdictions lacking the strength of central power.

There will be battles over separation. About 86 years from the peak of Rome, it was divided into three segments. Then there were battles to reunite the empire. Then Constantine divided the empire by moving the capital to Constantinople, which is today Istanbul. Even when Russia fell, it divided into regions along the lines of the original countries that were conquered as was the case following the fall of Rome.

Globalization will come to an end and we’re already witnessing this with the Biden sanctions on Russia that have caused inflation and divided the world economy in two. We will witness a return to make the manufacture of various goods locally for each division as well as growing their own food. Energy may revert back to wood and oil for there will be no major power grids as they become localized.

Our population models suggest up to a 50% reduction perhaps as soon as 2040. The population is already shrinking and aging in all the major industrialized nations. Just as in ancient Rome, the first Emperor Augustus issued Family Laws because as an economy expands, the birthrate declines. We see many young girls professing they do not want children. This too is part of the cycle, but they will die alone for children historically were the foundation of civilization as they were charged with taking care of their parents in their final years. This is what socialism has done — destroyed the family unit. Children no longer save to take care of their parents. That’s the government’s job. And when the parents die, the state demands inheritance taxes.

I often am asked, how can we prevent the trend. Unfortunately, we cannot. It is far greater than anyone can correct. People like Jessica Chastain are all about them. Without children, her luxurious lifestyle will crumble and she will face the stark reality of how civilization has survived with children taking care of their parents. Even in China, the one-child rule significantly altered its future. While that has now been repealed, the damage long-term is profound.

This will be a NEW BEGINNING for civilization. We will get to rewrite the form of government of the future. This will be a 309.6-year Private Wave, which will be volatile, but our current form of Republics that pretend they are democracies are coming to an end. These are the most corrupt forms of government known in history. They will no longer exist. We will see an admixture of dictatorships/monarchies and democracies."

- https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/

"Sticker Shock At Kroger! Prices Are Getting Ridiculous!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 7/7/22:

"Sticker Shock At Kroger! Prices Are Getting Ridiculous!"

"In today's vlog we are at Kroger, and are noticing massive price increases! We are in complete sticker shock as we are seeing skyrocketing prices, and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"

Comments here:

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"Get Ready For A Stock Market Crash That Will Make You Panic As Massive Sell-Off Accelerates"

Full screen recommended.

"Get Ready For A Stock Market Crash That Will

 Make You Panic As Massive Sell-Off Accelerates"

by Epic Economist

"The stock market crash we’ve been warned about has already begun and now we’re officially in a bear market. Trillions of dollars have been wiped out at this point, and investors are still on edge with the highest interest rate hikes in 28 years, soaring inflation, ongoing tensions throughout Europe, and a historically tight housing market all weighting on the outlook of financial markets as we enter the second half of 2022. Everyone seems to be reasonably concerned. The unanimous feeling right now is that this meltdown is set to get a whole lot worse in the coming months, and in today’s video, we compiled the insights of some of the brightest minds on Wall Street – and they’re telling us to prepare for an impending disaster!

Any time a bear market is announced, investors think this is as bad as it’s going to get, and many assume the worst is probably over. That might have been the case in some of the previous downturns, but not this time, experts say. With the selloff coming in waves, and growing uncertainty about the future of the economy spreading across all sectors of the market, many investors are struggling to predict where stock prices are headed next. Consequently, that translates to a volatile market situation that will last for a while with more Fed meetings scheduled this year, meaning that despite any eventual rebounds, more losses are coming.

Regardless of how much volatility the market has faced so far this year, we should brace for even more drastic shifts as consumer spending starts to change, and the overall set of factors is completely unique when compared to anything that’s come before.

Even though the S&P 500 already plunged over 21% in the first six months of the year, marking its worst first half since 1970, Goldman estimated the index could hit 3,600 as the recession begins – a view also shared by the Scion Asset Management founder Michael J. Burry, who recently noted that the S&P 500 rebounded too quickly and disproportionately from the health-crisis-induced crash in 2020, compared to other market crashes. As such, the expert predicts a drop of more than 50% for the next few months.

By now, even the most notable optimists on Wall Street are starting to sound like “doom and gloomers”. In fact, one of the most well-known bullish personalities on the market, the founder and CEO of Ark Innovation, Cathie Wood is worried about the economic recession we’re entering right now. “We think we are in a recession. We think a big problem out there is inventories. the increase of which I’ve never seen this large in my career. I’ve been around for 45 years. We were wrong on one thing and that was inflation being as sustained as it has been,” Wood said.

By now, estimates suggest that roughly 20 trillion dollars have already been wiped out from the market so far this year. And as the sell-off accelerates, we will continue to get more bad news with each passing day. Now that there’s nothing supporting the speculative bubble that led stock valuations to skyrocket over the past couple of years, and an economic downturn is picking up speed, there is no hope that things will turn around any time soon.

It’s safe to say that the reckless optimists on Wall Street didn’t see this coming in advance. Things have changed very abruptly. In this case, many investors that didn’t get out in time are now feeling an extraordinary amount of pain. But a lot more pain is coming for Wall Street and the economy as a whole. Now it’s time to get ready for the bumpy ride ahead."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

Adrian Lester, "Hamlet", "To be or not to be..."

Full screen recommended.

Adrian Lester, "Hamlet", "To be or not to be..."

"Adrian Lester speaks "Hamlet’s" soliloquy from act III, scene 1, in which the prince reflects on mortality and considers taking his own life. To mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, we asked leading actors to perform key speeches from his plays."

"Ex Obscurum"

Full screen recommended.

"Ex Obscurum"

by Spadecaller

"From emotional turmoil, hatred, and addiction the miracle of recovery begins in this Spadecaller Video entitled "Ex Obscurum" ("From Darkness"). Featuring original poetry narrated by the author and visual artist, Matthew Schwartz. Composer Samuel Barber's powerful musical score, adapted for the movie "Platoon", (Adagio for Strings, Op. 11) sets the background for this spiritual exodus "From Darkness."