85 Comments

I don't share your pessimism. I believe we have about another generation. The real assets of the country aren't located anywhere near the cities. They are located in the heartland and the South, and in California's Central valley. The fertile and productive agricultural lands will lose some of their productivity with the loss of large processing plants and agricultural machinery manufacturing plus fertilizer plants and distribution networks. Ultimately, we don't need most things that cities produce.

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"I don't share your pessimism. I believe we have about another generation."

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I've seen that generation, and it's the cause of my pessimism.

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" The real assets of the country aren't located anywhere near the cities. They are located in the heartland and the South, and in California's Central valley. The fertile and productive agricultural lands will lose some of their productivity with the loss of large processing plants and agricultural machinery manufacturing plus fertilizer plants and distribution networks. Ultimately, we don't need most things that cities produce."

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I agree, and the cities are going to be such a gigantic shitshow that it will take the full attention of government. This is why I'm optimistic for the people who make stuff outside of the cities.

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The hierarchy of needs diagram clearly illustrates why the elites are determined to crash the economy, destroy our health and wreck our food supply. A population who is starving spends all its energy simply trying to feed their families and protect their existence. Tyrants & dictators throughout the ages have used starvation as a means of control.

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We all know that the answer to our financial woes is 87000 IRS agents and shutting down garage sales. (Sarc)

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There'd be no national debt if you'd properly pay taxes on selling that $4 chair, you wrecker!

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🤣. Yep.

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"The silver lining (if there is one) is that the wobbling Jenga tower is going to topple over on the big (blue) cities first."

NYS just pulled out the last jenga piece and the toppling has begun in earnest If you don't think natural gas bans are not going to "me-too freakout" across this country (red and blue alike), you are sorely mistaken.

https://narrowpath.substack.com/p/because-the-ho-said-so-c76

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Would quat massage be considered a luxury?

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Depends on how well you can get around without it, I would imagine.

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Yeah mine does scheduled farm calls but no emergencies. Nobody around me does.

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SC - re: B the odor of food wafting might bring her in.

In a system which is controlled by predatory oligarchs, prepare for a command economy much like China's, but without the social benefits.

Of course the DAVOS WEF ESG people ALWAYS have our best interest at heart. Their narrative is "save the planet". Yes, they are saving the planet, not for the brainwashed idiots that buy in and are just unwanted litters of strays who are "in their way", but for themselves.

“It’s called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it”.

St. George 2005, Dumb Americans: https://youtu.be/KLODGhEyLvk

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It was all good but the best part was Bonnie! San Fran was so beautiful! I haven't been there since the late 80s and have no plans to return. It is hard to imagine it was allowed to deteriorate so far. It was such a status symbol to live there! Us SoCal peasants (Orange County) couldn't afford to live there. Visit friends and sleep on their couches? Yes. Live there? Hahahahaha! I wonder if CA realizes they've let the entire country down? Not as much as they've let themselves down though. I live in NM now but I sure miss the CA of the 80s!

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How are you liking New Mexico? I’ve had a yearning to visit ever since watching breaking bad.

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Welllll... There are lots of oddly interesting places to see and things to do, but they're pretty backwards here. People are pretty nice as a rule, but a large number of them are... there's just no nice way to put it... stupid. Driving is surreal. My stepdad always said they turn like it hurts. After 18 years on Southern CA freeways, driving here is still a somewhat otherworldly experience.

I feel bad saying that stuff but "it is what it is." Breaking Bad is still very popular here but I don't even know if they are still filming! Albuquerque, where it is/was filmed, has one of the worst violent crime rates in the country. We're so proud! Terrible schools, too.

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They stopped filming it years ago but there’s spinoffs , I think. Landscape looks beautiful

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Many beautiful places here! The Bandelier cliff dwellings are completely amazing! Chaco is also great for ruins. Elephant Butte? Wellllll... BUT there is the VLA (Very Large Array) of radio telescopes near Socorro.

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One day I will see these things PS I love your avatar!

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Your kitty looks a LOT like my Chloe!! She's nearly 17.

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Aaaah Bonnie! Come on, you can do it! My cats LOVE bacon, they smell it cooking and come out of nap haven to score. Maybe fry up some bacon for her? Crumble a trail. Worth a shot.

I give my dog massage several times a week, I cannot fathom paying someone else to do it. It creates a lovely bond and connection beyond the usual dog love. It really helps w/his old age and arthritis issues. In fact if I get out of sync doing it, I am reminded how much it is missed w/clear communication from him. Animals never cease to amaze.

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So what happens to an economy that is run on luxury when people can no longer afford luxury?

Love the Bonnie update.

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People will need to #learntonail.

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If you sit inside your doorway on the floor, about 2 feet inside, no sudden moves, will Bonnie venture in? By sitting on the floor, you are making yourself "equal" to her and are less threatening. Leave the door open so she has a way to quickly run back outside if need be. Talk to her in the voice she likes. Worth a try maybe.

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then there are those of us awaiting the total collapse into chaos, then the tried and tested, only true equitable, system - anarchy - will pull us out of that chaos, back to real living.

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My only hope is that a couple of cities will implode and change the trajectory that this country is on.

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It has to happen. Things need to get so bad in some of these cities than even the blue checks cannot deny it any longer.

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Just read an article about the same thing happening in SF- buisnesses and people moving out because it is a cess pit (it already sorta was when I saw it for the last time in the 90's I cannot imagine how that got 'worse'...), it just goes to show that woke policies are not working for any one except criminals.

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There's a few SF links sprinkled in the post. All bad.

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I agree and I think the woke agenda making more and ultimately too many criminals was the point.

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One of the best (?) things I've seen on the news recently was two side-by-side articles on KOMO. One was a poll asking what reasons people could possibly have for not wanting to use Seattle's delightful public transportation systems. The other article, directly below it, was headlined something like "Bus drivers complain about health effects from secondhand fentanyl smoke". Absolutely priceless. I regret that I didn't screenshot it.

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When I was riding it stabbings were a problem and I was starting to see drug use on the bus.

What I hated at the time was that they welded all the ventilation windows shut so all you had was recirulated air. The pot and vape was bad enough but the stench of people practically bathed in perfume (many of which contain carcinogens, but they've been in there since 1920, so who cares?) was nearly unbearable. Closing people in with fentanyl smoke on top of that with no escape, jees, thats nearly criminal.

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We are on the verge of a total implosion -- we need Phase Two of the Binary Poison asap.

What If the Fed Has Lost Control?

When this bubble bursts, there will be no fourth or fifth bubble, there will only be rubble.

The US economy and its financial system operate under the implicit belief that the Federal Reserve controls the direction of the economy and finance. This belief isn't in Fed influence, it's in Fed control: the Fed can reverse a stock market decline on a dime, it can reverse a recession, it can do "whatever it takes" to keep markets stable and expansive.

The history of the past 30 years seems to support this belief. Every time a financial crisis has manifested, the Fed has "saved the day" with some new policy extreme, changing the rules, jacking up its balance sheet 10-fold, and so on.

The flaw in this confidence in Fed control is the three speculative bubbles that have inflated and burst in the era of Fed Control, 1995 to the present. These bubbles could not have inflated without a "dovish" Fed pushing interest rates down and juicing the financial system with liquidity / credit. Since all speculative bubbles eventually burst, the Fed is forced into "rescue mode" which requires ever more extreme manipulation, oops, I mean intervention, to stabilize the bubble bursting and inflate the next bubble.

What few entertain as a possibility is the Fed is losing control of the economy and finance for systemic reasons that have nothing to do with Fed Policy per se. In other words, it's not a "Fed policy error" that brings the system down, it's much larger forces: diminishing returns and second order effects.

More: http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2023/05/what-if-fed-has-lost-control.html

THE FED IS LOSING

The big picture theme of this report is: The Fed Is Losing. They are losing control of the markets. They are losing their credibility. They are losing their ability to craft and control the narrative. They may even be losing their institutional freedom as recent moves by Congress reflect the fact that they have done a dreadful job, and tough questions are being asked.

https://quoththeraven.substack.com/p/simple-math-shows-the-fed-is-losing

More https://www.headsupster.com/forumthread?shortId=220

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The Fed has morphed into a political tool controlled by outside forces looking to destroy this country.

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Why would the farmer destroy the farm and kill/sicken all his animals?

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Yep. The entire system is built on sand.

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And their heads are in it.

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