Full screen recommended.
Canadian Prepper, 6/3/23
"AI: The War That's Coming Will Be Different..."
Comments here:
So, we rise from the rubble...
Saturday, June 3, 2023
"Pouring Gasoline On The Inflation Fire As We Witness The Fall Of An Empire; Detach From The System"
Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 6/3/23
"Pouring Gasoline On The Inflation Fire As We Witness
The Fall Of An Empire; Detach From The System"
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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"
“Can the night sky appear both serene and surreal? Perhaps classifiable as serene in the below panoramic image are the faint lights of small towns glowing across a dark foreground landscape of Doi Inthanon National Park in Thailand, as well as the numerous stars glowing across a dark background starscape. Also visible are the planet Venus and a band of zodiacal light on the image left.
Unusual events are also captured, however. First, the central band of our Milky Way Galaxy, while usually a common site, appears here to hover surreally above the ground. Next, a fortuitous streak of a meteor was captured on the image right. Perhaps the most unusual component is the bright spot just to the left of the meteor. That spot is the plume of a rising Ariane 5 rocket, launched a few minutes before from Kourou, French Guiana. How lucky was the astrophotographer to capture the rocket launch in his image? Not lucky at all- the image was timed to capture the rocket. What was lucky was how photogenic- and perhaps surreal- the rest of the sky turned out to be.”
Chet Raymo, “The Sea Grows Old In It”
“The Sea Grows Old In It”
by Chet Raymo
“The poet, like the electric [lightning] rod, must reach from a point nearer to the sky than all surrounding objects down to the earth, and down to the dark wet soil, or neither is of use. The poet must not only converse with pure thought, but he must demonstrate it almost to the senses. His words must be pictures, his verses must be spheres and cubes, to be seen, and smelled and handled.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Ah, Mr. Emerson. This seems about as good a description of poetry as one is likely to find. I love the image. Not a hand reaching up to grasp the hand of Zeus, the hurler of bolts, but merely a pointed rod that reaches higher than any surrounding objects. A pen-point, scratching the firmament. Not a conductor reaching down to the earth, but deeper, into the wet inkpot of the soul.
Not lofty thoughts, airy philosophies, gnostic arcana. Rather, ideas that come wrapped in the stuff of the senses. Ideas that must be unwrapped the way you’d peel an orange, or pry open an oyster, or stir up from the bottom of a bowl of soup. The electric fire of the heavens captured and stored in the Leyden jar of physical self.
Take, for example, Marianne Moore’s “The Fish”, a poem that has been endlessly analyzed without ever giving up its secrets. Anyone who stands on that rocky shore with the poet, looking into the wave-washed chasm - the sea as fluid as breath, as hard as a chisel- takes away a lesson as profound as any one might learn in school, perhaps without being able to articulate exactly what the lesson is. The experience is simply there, to be seen, smelled, handled, in the weave and wave of animal bodies, in the intricate rhyme and syllabication of the poem. Truth- crow-blue, ink-bespattered, hatcheted, defiant.
I’d go further. I’d say that Emerson’s description of poetry can be equally applied to science, or to any human attempt to attract the spark of Zeus. One must lift one’s rod beyond the scratch and tumble of the everyday, while keeping its foot buried in the dark wet soil of lived experience.”
•
“The Fish”
“Wade through black jade.
Of the crow-blue mussel-shells, one keeps
adjusting the ash-heaps;
opening and shutting itself like an injured fan.
The barnacles which encrust the side of the wave,
cannot hide there for the submerged shafts of the sun,
split like spun glass,
move themselves with spotlight swiftness into the crevices -
in and out, illuminating
The turquoise sea of bodies.
The water drives a wedge of iron through the iron edge of the cliff;
whereupon the stars, pink rice-grains, ink-
bespattered jelly fish, crabs like green lilies,
and submarine toadstools, slide each on the other.
All external marks of abuse are present on this defiant edifice -
all the physical features of accident -
lack of cornice, dynamite grooves, burns, and hatchet strokes,
these things stand out on it;
the chasm-side is dead.
Repeated evidence has proved that it can live
on what can not revive its youth.
The sea grows old in it."
- Marianne Moore
"I'd Still Swim..."
"If I were dropped out of a plane into the ocean and told
the nearest land was a thousand miles away, I'd still swim.
And I'd despise the one who gave up. "
- Abraham Maslow
"A Very Fit Consideration..."
“How vast those Orbs must be, and how inconsiderable this Earth, the theatre upon which all our mighty designs, all our navigations, and all our wars are transacted, is when compared to them. A very fit consideration, and matter of reflection, for those Kings and Princes who sacrifice the lives of so many people, only to flatter their ambition in being masters of some pitiful corner of this small Spot.”
- Christiaan Huygens, (1629-1695)
"Ukraine Is Being Annihilated, Odessa And Kharkiv Fall Under Russian Control"
Douglas Macgregor, 6/3/23
"Ukraine Is Being Annihilated,
Odessa And Kharkiv Fall Under Russian Control"
Comments here:
"Scott Ritter: NATO's War On Russia Has Failed"
Full screen recommended.
Redacted, 6/3/23
"Scott Ritter: NATO's War On Russia Has Failed"
"Former U.N. weapons inspector Scott Ritter joins Redacted to talk about his month long trip to Russia and what he saw in the stores, streets, and among the people. What he saw is frankly SHOCKING. Moscow was hit with another round of drone strikes by NATO and Ukrainian forces. Russia just struck Ukraine's intelligence headquarters destroying it."
Comments here:
"Overwhelming Price Increases At Kroger! What's Next? What's Coming?"
Full screen recommended.
Adventures With Danno, 6/3/23
"Overwhelming Price Increases At Kroger!
What's Next? What's Coming?"
"In today's vlog, we are at Kroger and are seeing some overwhelming price increases on groceries. With inflation being as high as it has ever been, we are struggling to find items that fit most of the populations budget!"
Comments here:
"Does This Seem Normal?"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 6/3/23
"Does This Seem Normal?"
"Woo hoo. The debt ceiling gets resolved, and all is well. Only problem is the banks are about to fail big time and interest rates are climbing right before our eyes. Does any of this look or seem normal to you?"
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The Poet: Maya Angelou, "Alone"
“Alone”
“Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home,
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone.
I came up with one thing
And I don’t believe I’m wrong,
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone,
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
There are some millionaires
With money they can’t use,
Their wives run round like banshees,
Their children sing the blues.
They’ve got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone,
But nobody,
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone,
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.
Now if you listen closely
I’ll tell you what I know…
Storm clouds are gathering,
The wind is gonna blow.
The race of man is suffering,
And I can hear the moan,
‘Cause nobody,
But nobody,
Can make it out here alone.
Alone, all alone,
Nobody, but nobody,
Can make it out here alone.”
- Maya Angelou
"Internet Sacred Text Archive"
"About Sacred Texts"
"All ancient books which have once been called sacred by man, will have their lasting place in the history of mankind, and those who possess the courage, the perseverance, and the self-denial of the true miner, and of the true scholar, will find even in the darkest and dustiest shafts what they are seeking for, - real nuggets of thought, and precious jewels of faith and hope."
- Max Müller, "Introduction to the Upanishads" Vol. II.
"This site is a freely available archive of electronic texts about religion, mythology, legends and folklore, and occult and esoteric topics. Texts are presented in English translation and, where possible, in the original language.
This site has no particular agenda other than promoting religious tolerance and scholarship. Views expressed at this site are solely those of specific authors, and are not endorsed by sacred-texts. Sacred-texts is not sponsored by any religious group or organzation.
Sacred texts went live on March 9th, 1999. The traffic started to increase when sacred-texts was listed at Yahoo! under 'Society and Religion|Texts'. In its first year of operation sacred-texts had about a quarter million hits. By 2004, it was receiving well over a quarter million hits per day.
Today, site traffic often exceeds a million hits a day. Sacred texts is one of the top 20,000 sites on the web based on site traffic, consistently one of the top 10,000 sites in Australia, the US and India, and is one of the top 5 most visited general religion sites (source: Alexa.com).
The texts presented here are either original scans from books and articles clearly in the public domain, material which has been presented elsewhere on the Internet, or material included under fair use conditions in printed anthologies.
Many of the texts included here were originally posted in ftp archives or on bulletin boards before the growth of the World Wide Web and have been lost. In some cases, the texts were posted in such a form as to make them unusable by non-technically oriented users. Some of these texts were on the web at some point but have completely disappeared because the site they were posted on has closed. Thus the need for an archive which organizes this material in a persistent location.
From the start, we have had a special focus on remedying the under-representation of traditional cultures on the Internet. The site has one of the largest collections of transcriptions of complete books on Native American, Pacific, African, Asian and other traditional people's religion, spiritual practices, mythology and folklore. While many of these pre-20th century books are flawed due to orientalist or colonialist biases, they are also eye-witness accounts by reliable observers, typically at the moment of contact. These texts are crucial to the study of tribal traditions, and in many cases, the only link with the past. Locked up in academic libraries for decades, sacred-texts has made them freely accessible anywhere in the world.
We have scanned hundreds of books which have all been made freely accessible to the world. A comprehensive bibliography of the texts scanned at sacred texts is available here.
We welcome email regarding typographical or factual errors in any file at sacred-texts. Please write us if you spot an error; include the URL and a few lines of context so we can pin down the location.
While all due care has been taken in the reproduction of the texts here, none of the texts or translations here are represented to be sanctioned by any particular religious body or institution. We welcome advice as to errors of fact or transcription.
Some of the material here may be copyrighted. It is our hope that the copyright holders may allow these texts to be posted here in the public interest. If you are the copyright holder of record of a text which you believe has been archived at this site in error, please contact us at the email address listed at the bottom of this page. We have made a good-faith effort to determine the provenance of each text and apologize if we have posted a text in error. Note: If you are requesting the removal of a file, you must be the copyright holder of the file, and you must specify the exact URL of the file.”
○
Fabulous, an absolute treasure trove! Enjoy!
"The Web Gallery of Art"
"The Web Gallery of Art"
"The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism, Romanticism and Realism periods (1100-1850), containing over 52,800 reproductions. It was started in 1996 as a topical site of the Renaissance art, originated in the Italian city-states of the 14th century and spread to other countries in the 15th and 16th centuries. Intending to present Renaissance art as comprehensively as possible, the scope of the collection was later extended to show its Medieval roots as well as its evolution to Baroque and Rococo via Mannerism. More recently the periods of Neoclassicism and Romanticism were also included.
The collection has some of the characteristics of a virtual museum. The experience of the visitors is enhanced by guided tours helping to understand the artistic and historical relationship between different works and artists, by period music of choice in the background and a free postcard service. At the same time the collection serves the visitors' need for a site where various information on art, artists and history can be found together with corresponding pictorial illustrations. Although not a conventional one, the collection is a searchable database supplemented by a glossary containing articles on art terms, relevant historical events, personages, cities, museums and churches.
The Web Gallery of Art is intended to be a free resource of art history primarily for students and teachers. It is a private initiative not related to any museums or art institutions, and not supported financially by any state or corporate sponsors. However, we do our utmost, using authentic literature and advice from professionals, to ensure the quality and authenticity of the content.
We are convinced that such a collection of digital reproductions, containing a balanced mixture of interlinked visual and textual information, can serve multiple purposes. On one hand it can simply be a source of artistic enjoyment; a convenient alternative to visiting a distant museum, or an incentive to do just that. On the other hand, it can serve as a tool for public education both in schools and at home."
For those so inclined, this is a treasure trove of material. Enjoy!
"Luminarium"
"Luminarium"
“I have undertaken a labor, a labor out of love for the world, and to comfort noble hearts: those that I hold dear, and the world to which my heart goes out. Not the common world do I mean, of those who (as I have heard) cannot bear grief and desire but to bathe in bliss. (May God then let them dwell in bliss!) Their world and manner of life my tale does not regard: it's life and mine lie apart. Another world do I hold in mind, which bears together in one heart its bitter sweetness and its dear grief, its heart's delight and its pain of longing, dear life and sorrowful death, dear death and sorrowful life. In this world let me have my world, to be damned with it, or to be saved.”
- Gottfried Von Strassburg
"A comprehensive anthology and guide to English literature of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Seventeenth Century, Restoration and Eighteenth Century. This site combines several sites first created in 1996 to provide a starting point for students and enthusiasts of English Literature. Nothing replaces a quality library, but hopefully this site will help fill the needs of those who have not access to one.
Luminarium is the labor of love of Anniina Jokinen. The site is not affiliated with any institution nor is it sponsored by anyone other than its maintainer and the contributions of its visitors through revenues from book sales via Amazon.com, poster sales via All Posters, and advertising via Google AdSense.
For all materials, authorities in a given subject are consulted. The Norton Anthology of English Literature, The Encyclopaedia Britannica, and The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English are some of the general reference works consulted for accuracy of dates and details. Many of the materials collected here reside elsewhere. Quality and accuracy are concerns, and all materials are checked regularly. However, "Luminarium" cannot be held responsible for materials residing on other sites. Corrections and suggestions for improvements are encouraged from the visitors.
The site started in early 1996. I remember looking for essays to spark an idea for a survey class I was taking at the time. It seemed that finding study materials online was prohibitively difficult and time-consuming - there was no all-encompassing site which could have assisted me in my search. I started the site as a public service, because I myself had to waste so much time as a student, trying to find anything useful or interesting. There were only a handful of sites back then (read: Internet Dark Ages) and I could spend hours on search engines, looking for just a few things. I realized I must not be the only one in the predicament and started a simple one-page site of links to Middle English Literature. That page was soon followed by a Renaissance site.
Gradually it became obvious that the number of resources was ungainly for such a simple design. It was then that the multi-page "Medlit" and "Renlit" pages were created, around July 1996. That structure is still the same today. In September 1996, I started creating the "Sevenlit" site, launched in November. I realized the need to somehow unite all three sites, and that led to the creation of Luminarium. I chose the name, which is Latin for "lantern," because I wanted the site to be a beacon of light in the darkness. It was also befitting for a site containing authors considered "luminaries" of English literature."
"Future Headline: The Problematic First Contact With Intelligent Alien Life"
"Future Headline:
The Problematic First Contact With Intelligent Alien Life"
By Simon Black
"I'm sure the universe is full of intelligent life.
It's just been too intelligent to come here."
- Arthur C. Clarke
"In a world brimming with bewildering headlines, we spend a lot of time thinking about the future… and to where all of this insanity leads. “Future Headline Friday” is our satirical take of where the world is going if it remains on its current path. While our satire may be humorous and exaggerated, rest assured that everything is based on actual events, news stories, personalities, and legislation.
June 2, 2028: The Problematic First Contact With Intelligent Alien Life: Worldwide hopes for friendlier relations with our extraterrestrial visitors vanished this morning when the aliens climbed back aboard their space ships and flew away, after nearly three weeks of failed talks with senior US government officials.
The aliens had known of Earth’s existence for centuries, but they deliberately avoided our planet in their interstellar travels because they viewed human civilization as too underdeveloped. However, after monitoring NASA’s first-ever public hearing on UFOs, which took place nearly five years ago to the day, on May 31, 2023, the aliens decided to initiate first contact.
Their journey to earth took several years. And when they arrived last month, a collective sigh of relief could be felt around the world when the aliens came bearing gifts. Their initial contact with our planet seemed expertly planned to calm our nerves, as they distributed miracle cures for viruses, parasites, and even cancer. And, as they had spent the entire journey learning our languages, they were easily able to communicate.
The first world leader the aliens met with was US President Kamala Harris, and they showed her a small metallic box which they said would provide limitless free energy to the world. However, relations with the alien visitors quickly took a turn for the worse when the President began talking about science.
According to several observers at the meeting, President Harris explained to the aliens that basic principles of biology, like sex and gender, are myths that are rooted in violent heterodoxy, at which point the space diplomats appeared to burst out laughing. Of course, President Harris and her scientific advisers found this reaction deeply offensive, and they tried to explain that the aliens were displaying problematic colonizer attitudes.
Federal officials have spent the last several weeks trying to re-educate the aliens about science, leading to strained relations between our species. The aliens countered by producing thousands of holograms worth of data disproving the Americans’ claims, data which the White House called “ignorant and offensive”. Finally the aliens, in apparent exasperation, grabbed their energy cube, and stormed out. Their ship was observed leaving earth’s atmosphere this morning, and there has been no contact since.
Despite the loss of revolutionary alien technology, top officials say they don’t regret the outcome. As President Harris told reporters this morning, “Frankly, there’s no room on this earth for anti-science hate speech, whatever the species.” In other news, pharmaceutical and energy stocks, which initially plunged to near-zero value amid alien contact, have rebounded to record highs."
o
Friday, June 2, 2023
"People Have No Idea It's Going To Get, Much Worse Than The Great Depression"
Full screen recommended.
Jeremiah Babe, 6/2/23
"People Have No Idea It's Going To Get, Much
Worse Than The Great Depression"
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Musical Interlude: Liquid Mind, "My Orchid Spirit (Extragalactic)"
Full screen recommended.
Liquid Mind, "My Orchid Spirit (Extragalactic)"
"A Look to the Heavens..."
“Riding high in the constellation of Auriga, beautiful, blue vdB 31 is the 31st object in Sidney van den Bergh's 1966 catalog of reflection nebulae. It shares this well-composed celestial still life with dark, obscuring clouds recorded in Edward E. Barnard's 1919 catalog of dark markings in the sky. All are interstellar dust clouds, blocking the light from background stars in the case of Barnard's dark nebulae. For vdB 31, the dust preferentially reflects the bluish starlight from embedded, hot, variable star AB Aurigae.
Exploring the environs of AB Aurigae with the Hubble Space Telescope has revealed the several million year young star is itself surrounded by flattened dusty disk with evidence for the ongoing formation of a planetary system. AB Aurigae is about 470 light-years away. At that distance this cosmic canvas would span about four light-years.”
"Write Your Worries On The Sand..."
“I walked slowly out on the beach.
A few yards below high-water mark I stopped and read the words again:
WRITE YOUR WORRIES ON THE SAND.
I let the paper blow away, reached down and picked up a fragment of shell.
Kneeling there under the vault of the sky,
I wrote several words, one above the other.
Then I walked away, and I did not look back.
I had written my troubles on the sand.
The tide was coming in.”
- Arthur Gordon
"15 Big Box Retailers At Risk Of Bankruptcy In 2023"
Full screen recommended.
"15 Big Box Retailers At Risk Of Bankruptcy In 2023"
By Epic Economist
"The list of endangered retailers continues to grow this year. Many companies that actually exited bankruptcy in the past are now being threatened by it again, while others that proved resiliency and stability for decades are struggling with debt, weak revenue, and higher competition and may have to shut doors for good in the next few months. Forbes analysts say that a bankruptcy wave was already expected. The only surprising thing about it is that it didn't happen sooner. For many iconic companies, this will be the end of an era. And for many Americans, this crisis will result in some lamentable losses of favorite stores, brands, and products.
For example, after witnessing the bankruptcy and outright collapse of rival Cineworld, shares of AMC dropped by 38% in a single day. During the pandemic, the world's largest movie theater chain became a meme stock and retail investors pushed its stock up more than 1,000%. Unfortunately, from that point on, things have only gone downhill for the entertainment retailer. A series of controversies have emerged, including allegations that Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX may have manipulated AMC stock. More recently, Robinhood warned investors that the company was about to file for bankruptcy – which AMC later said wasn’t true. Well, at least for the time being because conditions continue to deteriorate from the chain. In February, its quarterly loss shot up to $287 million, and overall revenues fell again. The retailer is still in a very vulnerable position, and the current economic challenges may push it over the edge.
Similarly, 130-year-old teen-targeting clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch may actually be in its final year. The impact of inflation in 2022 caused a higher-than-expected plunge in sales and almost 150 store closings. Deutsche Bank analyst Tiffany Kanaga said that the institution is “highly skeptical of Abercrombie’s ability to stabilize its gross profit margin against this competitive mall backdrop.” The retailer is trying to move its operations to online platforms as its brick-and-mortar business falls apart.
Moreover, High-end department store chain Macy’s isn’t new in bankruptcy court. If first filed for bankruptcy in 1992, filing for a second time one decade later, in 2003. If anything, the timing of the filings reveals just how sensitive the company is to economic downturns and this time is no different. In 2020, Macy’s dodged bankruptcy by securing $4.5 billion in financing, but the scenario drastically changed in 2023. In the past few months, the chain has reported store shutdowns, and sales declines both in physical and online stores. A looming change in leadership is also fueling rumors that Macy’s is preparing to go out of business in the coming months.
Once again, JCPenney is on the verge of bankruptcy. In the first quarter of 2020, it filed for Chapter 11 protection to restructure its $4 billion debt, exiting bankruptcy in November, when two firms rescued the department store. Since then, the company hasn’t released financial reports, insisting that it is now on “solid footing.” But data released by Retail Dive shows ongoing volatility under its post-bankruptcy ownership.
The months ahead will be exceedingly difficult for US businesses. This is the time to show support to our favorite brands because they may be gone from our economic landscape before we even notice. The retail collapse has only just begun, and thousands of companies will continue to die right before our eyes. Today, we decided to compile the businesses that recently indicated they may be going out of business by year's end."
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"Straight Calls with Douglas Macgregor, 6/2/23"
Straight Calls with Douglas Macgregor, 6/2/23
"This Was A Trap That the Russians Set For The Ukrainians"
Your home for analysis of breaking news and in-depth discussion of current geopolitical events in the United States and the world.
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o
Full screen recommended.
Redacted, 6/2/23
"'They Were All Killed Instantly!'
Donetsk Under Continued Devastating Attack"
"NATO continues to strike residential centers inside of pre-war Russia. This morning Ukraine and NATO attacked Moscow using UAP's. In response Putin launched a devastating strike at NATO decision making centers inside of Ukraine. Patrick Lancaster joins us with the latest attacks on residential neighborhoods in Donetsk."
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"Hurry Up and Crash Already"
Full screen recommended.
Dan, I Allegedly 6/2/23
"Hurry Up and Crash Already"
"Things have been propped up so long. It’s a wonder that the crash hasn't happened yet. Now that the debt ceiling nonsense is done a lot of people are not happy about that as well. What’s next?"
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Bill Bonner, "Saints and Geniuses"
"Saints and Geniuses"
With so many of our better angels on the job, how come we're falling behind?
by Bill Bonner
Youghal, Ireland - "We left you sitting on the edge of your chair yesterday, didn’t we, Dear Reader? You were wondering, as we were: how come the US falls behind? How come the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Why do our schools get worse, not better? Why do our life expectancies fall? Why do our middle classes get poorer…while our military enters more and more conflicts, and loses them all?
With so many saints and geniuses on the job – Ms. Elizabeth Warren in the Senate…Nobel Prize winner, Paul Krugman at The New York Times…Ta-Nehisi Coates, here and there…do-gooders doing well in academia as well as government itself – clarifying ‘the science’… protecting us from AI, drugs, poverty, Russia, Chinese chips… censoring wrong-think…stimulating the economy with trillions of new dollars… enacting thousands of new laws and regulations (all aimed at the perfection of our society and the expansion of the government) – we pause to catch our breath – America’s slippage is as spellbinding as it is inexplicable.
Under the Influence: Donald Trump blames foreigners – both those who offer us their labor (Mexicans)….and those who send us their finished products (Chinese).
Joe Biden favors domestic enemies – pretending that straight, white, Republican males want to end our democracy.
A better explanation comes from Vladimir Lenin. He thought there was a flaw in capitalism itself that causes a drift toward fascism. In the 1970s, and ‘80s, economist George Stigler, and others, developed the theory of ‘regulatory capture’ to explain it. The idea was that the angels working for the feds were subject to influence. Ruthless, profit driven capitalists lure them into sin. Big businesses ‘capture’ the agencies…and use them to stifle competition, increase sales, lower taxes, and raise profit margins.
That is the way most thinking politicians, if there are any, see it. RFK, Jr. takes the idea a little further. Big Pharma and the FDA took advantage of the Covid Hysteria, he says, to sell drugs and gain power. Raytheon and General Dynamics teamed up with the Pentagon to exploit America’s empire madness and sell more weapons.
But the capture goes much further. The Drug Enforcement Agency protects illegal drug dealers – by keeping prices high and access limited. Police departments and prisons get bigger budgets, too. And the last thing anti-poverty warriors want is for the poor to suddenly become independent. The poverty-fighters live on greasy grants and giveaways from feds; take them away and they would have to earn an honest living. And now there are whole new industries colluding with the feds to sell “green” energy as well as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
But there’s something missing in the “capture” hypothesis. Who’s being captured by whom?
All Too Human: Our contribution to the ‘capture’ theory is to observe that both the regulators and the regulated put on their pants one leg at a time. Both want the same things – power, money, status. And they both get it by conspiring against the public. One side has money (made by providing goods and services for grateful customers). The other has power – given to it by the deciders, and backed by the firepower of the police and the army. Neither is a devil. Neither is a saint. Instead, both are all too human.
Government programs depend on chaste federal agents, pure of heart, clear of head, and ready to forsake earthly temptations. ‘Regulatory capture’ imagines that they, Ms. Warren and the entire regulatory, Deep State payroll are like nuns in a remote convent, always praying for peace and prosperity, while in danger of being carried off and ravished by lusty Vikings.
Of course, if the feds wanted to avoid ‘capture,’ they could easily strengthen their defenses. No speaking fees. No revolving door. No consulting for regulated industries. Why aren’t these measures taken? Oh, dear reader, you disappoint us. Isn’t it obvious? These gals want a good time too!
And what about using the tax system, as Ms. Warren suggests, to right wrongs? She aims to reduce inequality, she says, by taxing the wealth of the richest families. But the more laws and regulations, the more enforcers and adjusters, the greater the opportunity for the elite who know how to get around them.
Already, the tax code runs to 70,000 pages…with 3 million words…each of them intended to improve the world in some way. Surely, another few pages – with a property tax on wealthy families, such as the Kennedys, will help set things to right?
More Public Disservice: But wait…who writes those thousands of pages of tax code? Who puts the loopholes into the tax system and then advises rich people on where to find them? What lawyers move from the upper ranks of the IRS to partnership in the major tax firms? Who do these ‘public servants’ really serve – the middle class, or their rich clients? ‘The People’…or the elite?
And who will write the new tax law? Who will consult…who will interpret…who will slip the plum into the pudding? Perhaps it could be inserted as an amendment to this helpful IRS instruction: "For purposes of Paragraph (3), an organization described in Paragraph (2) shall be deemed to include an organization described in Section 501(c) (4), (5), or (6) which would be described in Paragraph (2) if it were an organization described in Section 509(a)(3)." Who would know?
But maybe the rich and powerful…along with their lawyers, lobbyists and Congressional representatives (for whom they paid good money!) will take a break. Maybe they’ll go to the Hamptons for a long summer vacation while Ms. Warren writes the new tax law herself. And Ms. Warren? Who does she work for? The few? Or the many? Have the capitalists been unable to tame her…or she, them? Did she remain hidden in some dark nook, innocent, in prayer…as the rest of Washington was captured? Or, by proposing yet another phony regulatory ‘solution’ is she merely anesthetizing ‘the people’…allowing the elite to rip them off even more?"
"We Are In A Full Blown Debt Crisis, Things Are About To Get Much Worse From Here"
Gregory Mannarino, AM 6/2/23
"We Are In A Full Blown Debt Crisis,
Things Are About To Get Much Worse From Here"
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o
And it's only beginning...
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