Steve Bull's Blog, page 1216
January 3, 2018
A Dangerous Year
‘Tis the season for making predictions about the events lurking in wait for us all in the upcoming year, and I see no reason to demur from that common if risky habit. Those of my readers who’ve been following my blog since the days of The Archdruid Report know that my method in making these predictions is at once simple, effective, and highly unpopular. Put briefly, I pay attention to what happened when the same conditions occurred in previous historical epochs, and predict that the same consequences are going to follow.
It’s simple because I’ve got five thousand years of history to work with, and since human beings are much less original than they like to think, it’s a safe bet that the events taking place now have occurred many times before, with predictable consequences. It’s effective because, again, human beings are much less original than they like to think, and the more of them get involved in any given event, the more of the Brownian motion brought into being by individual cussedness gets canceled out. Sure, we have lots of shiny new technogimmickry now, but the brains, hearts, and less mentionable organs guiding said technogimmickry haven’t changed noticeably since the end of the last ice age. That’s why the American special forces wasting their time and your money in the northern Euphrates valley right now are enacting a failed strategy that was already old when the legions of the Babylonian Empire were doing the same thing in the same place three thousand-odd years ago.
It’s highly unpopular, finally, because an astonishing number of people in today’s industrial societies labor under the bizarre delusion that when we make the same old mistakes and get the same overfamiliar consequences, we’re actually doing brand new, innovative, unparalleled things that will inevitably succeed in ways nothing has ever succeeded before, and how dare anyone suggest that we might learn something from the lessons of history!
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Washington Post Also Misreported CNN’s False WikiLeaks Story
I left on holiday just as the news was breaking about multiple mainstream media outlets independently reporting a spectacularly false story about WikiLeaks, Donald Trump and Russiagate, and I was pleased to return to find they’d received their much-deserved beatdown for it. One fact that doesn’t seem to have received any attention however is the fact that the Washington Post, who broke the story about CNN’s journalistic scandal, itself grossly distorted the truth to slander WikiLeaks in its own coverage.
In what The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald called “one of the most embarrassing days for the U.S. media in quite a long time,” a breaking story which was sent into immediate virality by CNN and was then independently (and falsely) corroborated by MSNBC and CBS, reporting that someone had emailed Donald Trump Jr with a decryption key allowing him to preview an impending leak drop from WikiLeaks. By the time all the facts were in it turned out that the real story, in its entirety, was that some random guy had emailed Trump notifying him of a Guccifer 2.0 release (not even WikiLeaks) that had already been published.
WikiLeaks
@wikileaks678.4 MB of new “DNC documents” from @Guccifer_2https://uploadfiles.io/7dc58
use 7zip to unpack
password: GuCCif3r_2.0
4:44 PM – Sep 13, 2016
[image error]
Uploadfiles.io @UploadFilesFree
NGP VAN.7z @UploadFilesFree
uploadfiles.io
Obviously Donald Trump Jr receiving an innocuous email about a publication already in existence is not a news story by any stretch of the imagination. It was exactly as newsworthy as it would have been if you, dear reader, had once sent an email to Don Jr informing him of Hillary Clinton’s leaked remarksabout Palestinian election rigging.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Prepare for Extreme Winter Weather: Forecasters Warn of Bomb Cyclone
If you aren’t dealing with extreme winter weather, consider yourself lucky. 90% of the 48 continental U.S. states started off 2018 below freezing (32 degrees or lower). For weeks, severe winter weather has pounded many parts of U.S. and Canada with no end in sight.
Currently, a winter cyclone is projected to bring much of the East coast to a screeching halt where forecasters are warning to prepare for heavy snow, hurricane-force gusts, and blizzard conditions. With these types of frigid storms, expect schools to be canceled, flights to be canceled and utility companies to have widespread outages. Given the record-breaking low temperatures, hospitals could see a record number of cold weather injuries from the grid being down.
How to Prepare for Extreme Winter Weather
The primary principles for preparing for these types of extreme weather is to concentrate on the basics: heat, food, water, and first aid. Keeping the core warm by layering clothing is your main priority. Exposure-related injuries such as frostbite and hypothermia could occur quickly with this type of weather. This will be discussed further in the article.
In an article on winter preparations, writer Jeremiah Johnson outlines the fundamentals.
Heat
The wood stove (wood burner, if you prefer) is the answer to keeping the abode heated when the temperature falls. This is crucial to keep your pipes from freezing. The problem being when you heat the place up too much (you should see mine…it’s only about 3’x2’x2’ but can heat the place up to 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit in nothing flat). Too much heat and your food in your refrigerator is going to go bad faster.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
By Imperial Decree
A dangerous expansion of presidential power has gone virtually unnoticed.
Trump’s supporters can’t believe their man’s primary motivation is acquiring power. Trump’s enemies, other than Senator Feinstein, can’t believe how good he is at it. Neither side will recognize the real danger until it’s too late. Legions of worrywarts fret that an erratic, captured Trump will go off half-cocked and press a nuclear button or do something else almost as stupidly devastating. What should worry them are the precise calculations and bloodless strategies of the most ruthlessly Machiavellian president since Franklin D. Roosevelt as he further consolidates and extends his power. Given present jurisprudence, nothing in the Constitution stands in his way.
“So Deep It’s Sunk,” SLL, 9/3/17
Exhibit One would be President Trump’s Executive Order Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption, dated December 20, 2017. Within various executive orders issued by Trump’s predecessors, there are provisions that would scare the daylights out of any civil libertarian who had the time and intestinal fortitude to go through them. Trump has now added to this dubious pile.
In the finest tradition of such orders, regulations, and laws, the preamble cites Humongous Dangers.
I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the prevalence and severity of human rights abuse and corruption that have their source, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States, such as those committed or directed by persons listed in the Annex to this order, have reached such scope and gravity that they threaten the stability of international political and economic systems. Human rights abuse and corruption undermine the values that form an essential foundation of stable, secure, and functioning societies; have devastating impacts on individuals; weaken democratic institutions; degrade the rule of law; perpetuate violent conflicts; facilitate the activities of dangerous persons; and undermine economic markets.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
January 2, 2018
Chinese Military Rushed To North Korean Border In “Preparation For War”: Report
A Chinese province along the border with North Korea is seeing an influx of Chinese tanks, soldiers, and military trucks, according to the DailyNK and the Daily Star.
According to the same report, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces have been building up military assets in the cover of the night around the Tumen River in Yanji city, Jilin province, which borders North Korea.
One source told the Daily NK, “there were so many soldiers in the car that there was a lot of traffic. I have not seen so many soldiers trucking to Yanji so far.”
Another source said, “Chinese troops are gathering around the Yalu and Tumen rivers. It is also heard that the tanks are moving to the North and the Chinese border.”
Chinese authorities have reportedly told local residents near the Northern Korean border: “Trump to hit North Korea in the New Year, we are preparing for war on the peninsula.”
And according to the Daily Star: Chinese military officials have recently conducted the so-called “war ceremony” – urging their troops to be ready to fight.
If the media report is accurate, it would suggest that China – fearing the worst – is preparing for war on the Korean Penisula. Previously, internal documents leaked from China’s main state-owned telecommunications company shows three villages and cities in the northeastern border province of Jilin, have been designated for refugee camps-if war breaks out. China is afraid a swarm of refugees from North Korea could cross the Tumen River into China.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Economic Benefits of Ending the Fraud of Fractional Reserve Banking
Fractional reserve banking (FRB) is fraudulent. It should be prosecuted as a crime rather than accepted as normal practice under current banking laws. Any society that respects property rights and the rule of law would not allow it. For those unfamiliar with the term fractional reserve banking or not quite confident of its complete meaning, let’s cover some basics.
What Is Fractional Reserve Banking?
All financial transactions must be settled ultimately by an exchange of standard money, otherwise known as “reserves”. Reserves in the US are composed of federal reserve notes (good old paper money in your wallet, piggy bank, retailers’ cash register tills, or bank vaults) plus reserve account balances held by banks at their local Federal Reserve Bank that may be exchanged for federal reserve notes on demand. The important point is that reserves are not the same thing as the money supply. The money supply is composed of cash outside bank vaults plus demand (checking) accounts at banks. A financial transaction is not complete until reserves are exchanged. For example, accepting a check from your neighbor for selling him your used car is not final settlement, because reserves have not yet been exchanged. The check might bounce. Or the bank upon which the check is drawn might become insolvent ; i.e., it does not have and cannot raise the reserves with which to pay you, the check’s payee, even though the bank balance of the payor, your neighbor, was at least as large as the check.
Most people assume that their money held at banks can always be exchanged for reserves, but such is not the case. Under a fractional reserve banking system banks are not required to keep one hundred percent reserves.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Flu Survival Guide: Kitchen Remedies and Natural Strategies to Battle the Bug
If you are a flu shot avoider, like I am, you probably aren’t crazy about the drug store flu remedies. Here’s a flu survival guide loaded with natural strategies and kitchen remedies in case one or more of your family members gets sick.
Despite your best efforts at prevention, sometimes the flu just happens. If you work with the public or have children in school – or heck, even go to the store from time to time – you and your family will be exposed. Sometimes those viruses are simply tougher than your immune system. The flu is going wild right now and is widespread in 36 states, according to a report by the CDC.
Here’s an arsenal of strategies if someone gets sick.
Note: I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. These home remedies are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for medical attention from a professional.
Containing the Illness
When someone in your home is sick, one of your first goals is not to pass the illness on to other family members. The other priority is treating the sick people in the house with remedies that strengthen them rather than weaken them.
It’s important to make an effort to contain the illness. Despite your best efforts, it may not work, but it’s worth a try.
I’d like to note that antibacterial products are highly controversial. It’s my belief that the problem is the overuse of antibacterial products that causes the issues. I believe that if used judiciously, they can be very effective aids in preventing the spread of an illness.
Try these techniques to help contain the contagion.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Are We Decoupling? (Not really, but happy 2018 anyway!)
“Decoupling”: are we really so smart that we can do more with less? Apparently not: we can paint things in green, but it is not the same thing. But so is life and happy 2018 to everybody!
Decoupling looks like an obvious idea, isn’t it? After all, isn’t that true that we are becoming more efficient? Think of a modern LED light compared with an old lamp powered by a whale oil. We are now hundreds of times more efficient than we were and we also saved the whales (but, wait, did we…..?). So, if we can do the same things with much less energy, then we could grow the economy without using more energy, solving the climate problem and also the depletion problem. It is part of the concept of “dematerialization” of the economy. Then we paint everything in green and all will be well in the best of worlds.
But there has to be something wrong with this idea, because it is just not happening, at least at the global scale. Just take a look at this image:
Note how closely related the GDP an the world’s energy consumption are. It is impressive because the GDP is measured in terms of money flows. So it seems that money, although not a measure of power in itself, is a proxy for power. The idea that “money is power” doesn’t seem to be just a metaphor.
Now, by carefully looking at the curve, we could say that we have been doing a little better in recent years. That is, we seem to have been able to produce a little more GDP for the same amount of energy.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
If You See These 14 Signs It’s Time to Bug Out
ReadyNutrition Guys and Gals, this article is presented by request of one of the readers. Here is the requesting comment, as posted to the recent METL (Mission Essential Task List) article of mine:
RedClay: “ How about a list of circumstances for when it’s time to bug out. I’m amazed on prepper discussion boards about bugging out, at how many people are going to hit the road to bug out BEFORE the crowds mob the roads. But how will people know when to bug out? What combination of signs or circumstances will one depend on, in that decision? If one waits until it’s obvious, then everyone will know & be on the roads.”
So, as you can see, this is a common question in everyone’s mind, and not unusual by any means. We have presented articles in the past to help you gauge by different sources how to prepare and when something is likely to happen. Let’s jump into this in-depth!
One of the problems with preparation is the desire for an exact forecast of when the end of the world is going to occur. First, allow me to state I’m Jeremiah Johnson, not the Prophet Jeremiah. Secondly, anyone who claims to be a Prophet (not to delve into didactics) may not necessarily be one. So, what to do?
If You See These 14 Signs It’s Time to Bug Out
What you do is observe what is happening and estimate…comparing possible with probable and coming up with the best course of action…and act when you know and feel it is the time to do so.
There are keys to show you that everything is going down. The more that occur simultaneously, the higher the probability that it’s time to get out of town. Let’s list some of them (and some of these may surprise you):
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Forecast 2018 — What Could Go Wrong?
Markets
If you take your cues from Consensus Trance Central — the cable news networks, The New York Times, WashPost, and HuffPo — Trump is all that ails this foundering empire. Well, Trump andRussia, since the Golden Golem of Greatness is in league with Vladimir Putin to loot the world, or something like that.
Since I believe that the financial system is at the heart of today’s meta-question (What Could Go Wrong?), it would be perhaps more to the point to ask: what has held this matrix of rackets together so long? After all, rackets are characterized by pervasive lying and fraud, meaning their operations don’t add up. Things that don’t comport with reality are generally prone to failure so sooner or later they have to implode.
Financial markets have been surging supernaturally on “liquidity” since 2009 — and by “liquidity” I mean “money” (digital credit from thin air) supplied by the Federal Reserve, in rotation with the other sovereign central banks, BOE, ECB, BOJ, PBOC, from whence it pings ‘round the world, wherever the lure of the main chance sparkles. Trillions wafted into the stock and bond markets, levitating them as a sort of stage-managed misdirection from the sickening spectacle of wobbling real stuff economies. In 2017, The Dow Jones Industrial Average recorded an astounding 5,000 point year-on-year upzoom, with 12 months of gains and no loser months, and a string of 71 record highs.
America’s central bank, the Federal Reserve, acted as if pumping up the stock markets was the only thing that mattered. The result was a Potemkin economy, a glittering Wall Street false-front with a landscape of “flyover” squalor and desolation behind.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
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