lewrockwell--2020-05-04--Ten Point Plan To Stop Covid-19 in Its Tracks

1 .
Focus on the most at-risk groups for mortal outcomes : nursing home residents ; African Americans ; hospital workers ; the very old whose immune systems are not up to par ; the very young who have an undeveloped immune system .
Focus on educating nursing home directors , hospital infection control officers , African American community leaders , school nurses .
Don ’ t rely on top-down instruction from government sources .
Utilize local resources to promote public health , sanitation , and immunity .
Gain the public ’ s trust via education .
Government offers no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this current epidemic , not even having sufficient masks , blood testing or sanitation practices in place .
2 .
Population lockdown is an onerous , destructive , last-resort practice that is counterproductive as it eliminates the safety net our communities rely upon ( doctors , hospitals , ambulances ) and deprives the public of sunlight needed to produce natural vitamin D which is critical for immunity .
We now have a perpetual mandated population lockdown with no exit strategy in mind , which leads to public chaos .
Nutrition is the elephant @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Miraculous Results ... Jeff T Bowles Best Price : $ 4.97 Buy New $ 9.99 3 .
This infectious disease and all others are defined by their seasonal onset ( winter ) when sunshine vitamin D levels are low and immune systems are weak .
Coronaviruses become infectious in November and disappear in April with the arrival of spring and the solar equinox when the earth tilts on its axis back towards the sun in the northern hemisphere .
This highly infectious virus would , in a healthy population , provoke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in unhealthy individuals it wreaks havoc and leads to hospitalization and death .
It is all important to boost immunity or vaccines and natural immunity will not offer any protection against infectious disease of any kind .
Notice that masks and hand washing are not needed in summer .
These ineffective practices only give the public peace of mind , not real protection .
4 .
Test for vitamin D blood levels , not PCR for existence of the virus or coronavirus antibody tests .
Test for vitamin D blood levels upon hospital @ @ @ @ @ @ @ nutrient deficiencies with dietary supplements .
Test hospital workers who represent a third of all infections because they work indoors and typically have low vitamin D levels .
Nursing home directors need to be advised to take their patients outdoors for sunning .
Advise employers to give midday sunbreaks to their employees .
Schools , which are beginning to abandon physical education , need to maintain outdoor activities for children .
5 .
Ensure that the public makes sufficient antibodies to any and all pathogenic viruses , bacteria and fungi they are exposed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Zinc is required to make antibodies when we are exposed to pathogens in vaccines or circulating in the community .
Vaccines do not produce adequate antibodies without zinc .
Zinc blood tests are notoriously inaccurate and would produce misleading results .
Lypou2013Spheric Vitam ... Buy New $ 119.85 6 .
Recognize there may never be a vaccine against coronavirus .
Microbiologists have been unsuccessfully working for nearly a decade to make a coronavirus vaccine .
Vaccines activate antibodies in the blood stream but the lungs are “ outside ” of the body where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effect .
For lung infections like pneumonia , the flu , coronaviruses and tuberculosis , inhaled vaccines or medicines would make more sense , not injected vaccines .
Vaccines are approved in healthy people but the obese , diabetic , immune compromised , dark-skinned , very old and very young may not produce antibodies after inoculation and develop side effects from the vaccine , with some requiring hospitalization which can lead to avoidable deaths .
7 .
Mass vaccination as a public health policy for each and every bacterium and virus is a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ vaccines in the U.S. and another 200+ in development .
As a society are not going to jab our school children with over 100 vaccines .
The human immune system naturally makes antibodies against all infectious diseases and depends upon nutritional factors to efficiently produce antibodies : vitamin C , vitamin D , zinc , selenium .
No vaccination required .
8 .
Reports that warm temperature and outdoor exercise improve human immunity fail to note that when temperatures are warm , people wear less clothing and expose more skin to the sun @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the sun .
Organic Zinc Sulfate L ... Buy New $ 18.95 ( $ 4.74 / Fl Oz ) 9 .
Tuberculosis kills far more people than the flu or coronaviruses and is not even in the public death totals .
TB is a seasonal infectious lung disease like the flu and coronavirus infections .
Many people assumed to have COVID-19 coronavirus lung disease actually have TB .
Tuberculosis primarily occurs among immigrants who were born outside this country .
TB is latent and erupts when immunity is weak .
Vitamin D @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The World Health Organization guidebook for dealing with epidemics calls for politicians to be removed from management of epidemics and for doctors to be placed in control .
Politicians attempt to gain political capital through the spread of fear and other manipulations .
Mayors of towns will be confronted by the pro-vaccine medical establishment that will ridicule the measures suggested herein .
The medical community has a financial conflict of interest .
Towns and cities that ignore the advice herein will get tagged as death traps and people will no longer want to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ communities will be destroyed .
There is already a population movement towards rural areas .

1. Focus on the most at-risk groups for mortal outcomes: nursing home residents; African Americans; hospital workers; the very old whose immune systems are not up to par; the very young who have an undeveloped immune system. Focus on educating nursing home directors, hospital infection control officers, African American community leaders, school nurses. Don’t rely on top-down instruction from government sources. Utilize local resources to promote public health, sanitation, and immunity. Gain the public’s trust via education. Government offers no drugs or vaccines and was unprepared for this current epidemic, not even having sufficient masks, blood testing or sanitation practices in place.
2. Population lockdown is an onerous, destructive, last-resort practice that is counterproductive as it eliminates the safety net our communities rely upon (doctors, hospitals, ambulances) and deprives the public of sunlight needed to produce natural vitamin D which is critical for immunity. We now have a perpetual mandated population lockdown with no exit strategy in mind, which leads to public chaos. Nutrition is the elephant in the room that modern medicine ignores. The Miraculous Results... Bowles, Jeff T Best Price: $4.25 Buy New $6.99 (as of 01:50 UTC - Details)
3. This infectious disease and all others are defined by their seasonal onset (winter) when sunshine vitamin D levels are low and immune systems are weak. Coronaviruses become infectious in November and disappear in April with the arrival of spring and the solar equinox when the earth tilts on its axis back towards the sun in the northern hemisphere. This highly infectious virus would, in a healthy population, provoke antibody production and life-long immunity. But in unhealthy individuals it wreaks havoc and leads to hospitalization and death. It is all important to boost immunity or vaccines and natural immunity will not offer any protection against infectious disease of any kind. Notice that masks and hand washing are not needed in summer. These ineffective practices only give the public peace of mind, not real protection.
4. Test for vitamin D blood levels, not PCR for existence of the virus or coronavirus antibody tests. Test for vitamin D blood levels upon hospital admission and in nursing homes and correct nutrient deficiencies with dietary supplements. Test hospital workers who represent a third of all infections because they work indoors and typically have low vitamin D levels. Nursing home directors need to be advised to take their patients outdoors for sunning. Advise employers to give midday sunbreaks to their employees. Schools, which are beginning to abandon physical education, need to maintain outdoor activities for children.
5. Ensure that the public makes sufficient antibodies to any and all pathogenic viruses, bacteria and fungi they are exposed to by encouraging zinc dietary supplementation. Zinc is required to make antibodies when we are exposed to pathogens in vaccines or circulating in the community. Vaccines do not produce adequate antibodies without zinc. Zinc blood tests are notoriously inaccurate and would produce misleading results. Lypou2013Spheric Vitam... Buy New $119.85 (as of 03:33 UTC - Details)
6. Recognize there may never be a vaccine against coronavirus. Microbiologists have been unsuccessfully working for nearly a decade to make a coronavirus vaccine. Vaccines activate antibodies in the blood stream but the lungs are “outside” of the body where white blood cells do not have direct effect. For lung infections like pneumonia, the flu, coronaviruses and tuberculosis, inhaled vaccines or medicines would make more sense, not injected vaccines. Vaccines are approved in healthy people but the obese, diabetic, immune compromised, dark-skinned, very old and very young may not produce antibodies after inoculation and develop side effects from the vaccine, with some requiring hospitalization which can lead to avoidable deaths.
7. Mass vaccination as a public health policy for each and every bacterium and virus is a dead-end street. There are ~16 approved vaccines in the U.S. and another 200+ in development. As a society are not going to jab our school children with over 100 vaccines. The human immune system naturally makes antibodies against all infectious diseases and depends upon nutritional factors to efficiently produce antibodies: vitamin C, vitamin D, zinc, selenium. No vaccination required.
8. Reports that warm temperature and outdoor exercise improve human immunity fail to note that when temperatures are warm, people wear less clothing and expose more skin to the sun and exercise gets people outdoors and exposed to the sun. Organic Zinc Sulfate L... Buy New $18.95 ($4.74 / Fl Oz) (as of 02:28 UTC - Details)
9. Tuberculosis kills far more people than the flu or coronaviruses and is not even in the public death totals. TB is a seasonal infectious lung disease like the flu and coronavirus infections. Many people assumed to have COVID-19 coronavirus lung disease actually have TB. Tuberculosis primarily occurs among immigrants who were born outside this country. TB is latent and erupts when immunity is weak. Vitamin D is the primary antidote.
10. The World Health Organization guidebook for dealing with epidemics calls for politicians to be removed from management of epidemics and for doctors to be placed in control. Politicians attempt to gain political capital through the spread of fear and other manipulations.
Mayors of towns will be confronted by the pro-vaccine medical establishment that will ridicule the measures suggested herein. The medical community has a financial conflict of interest. Towns and cities that ignore the advice herein will get tagged as death traps and people will no longer want to live there. The economy of these communities will be destroyed. There is already a population movement towards rural areas.
Healthy Origins Inosit... Buy New $15.30 ($0.96 / Ounce) (as of 02:28 UTC - Details)


lewrockwell--2020-05-04--Pseudo-Science Behind the Assault on Hydroxychloroquine

This is a research article published as information for health care professionals and public officials , and for an open peer review .
It is not medical advice .
I reviewed the scientific literature on hydroxychloroquine ( HCQ ) , azithromycin ( AZ ) , and their use for COVID-19 .
My conclusions : • HCQ-based treatments are effective in treating COVID-19 , unless started too late .
• Studies , cited in opposition , have been misinterpreted , invalid , or worse .
• HCQ and AZ are some of the most tested and safest prescription drugs .
• @ @ @ @ @ @ @ including heart arrhythmia .
QTc prolonging drugs might amplify this tendency .
Millions of people regularly take drugs having strong QTc prolongation effect , and neither FDA nor CDC bother to warn them .
HCQ+AZ combination , probably has a mild QTc prolongation effect .
Concerns over its negative effects , however minor , can be addressed by respecting contra-indications .
• Effectiveness of HCQ-based treatment for COVID-19 is hampered by conditions that are presented as precautions , delaying the onset of treatment .
For examples , some states require that COVID-19 patients @ @ @ @ @ @ @ settings .
• The COVID-19 Treatment Panel of NIH evaded disclosure of the massive financial links of its members to Gilead Sciences , the manufacturer of a competing drug remdesivir .
Among those who failed to disclose such links are 2 out of 3 of its co-chairs .
• Despite all the attempts by certain authorities to prevent COVID-19 treatment with HCQ and HCQ+AZ , both components are approved by FDA , and doctors can prescribe them for COVID-19 .
Hydroxychloroquine ( HCQ ) was accepted as a COVID-19 treatment by the medical @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early April .
67 % of the US physicians said they would prescribe HCQ or chloroquine CQ for COVID-19 to a family member ( Town Hall , 2020-04-08 ) .
An international poll of doctors rated HCQ the most effective coronavirus treatment ( NY Post , 2020-04-02 ) .
On April 6 , Peter Navarro told CNN that “ Virtually Every COVID-19 Patient In New York Is Given Hydroxychloroquine.
” This might explain decrease in COVID-19 deaths in the New York state after April 15 .
The time lag is because COVID-19 deaths @ @ @ @ @ @ @ symptoms .
But on April 21 , several perfectly coordinated events took place , attacking HCQ ’ s use for COVID-19 patients .
• The COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel of the National Institute of Health issued recommendations with negative-ambivalent stance regarding the use of HCQ as a COVID-19 treatment .
This surprising stance was taken contrary to the ample evidence of the efficacy and safety of HCQ and despite absence evidence of its harm .
The panel also strongly recommended against the use of hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin ( AZ ) , the combination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the same day , a paper ( Magagnoli , 2020 ) was posted on a pre-print server medRxiv , insinuating that HCQ is not only ineffective , but even harmful .
This not-yet peer reviewed paper , by unqualified authors with conflicts of interest , received wall-to-wall media coverage , as it if were a cancer cure .
It used data from Veterans Administration hospitals , spicing its effects .
The paper has shown to be somewhere between junk science and fraud .
• Rick Bright , a government official who was probably @ @ @ @ @ @ @ preparedness to the epidemic than most others , and had been re-assigned to a lower position earlier , emerged as a “ whistleblower.
” He claimed he had been demoted for opposing hydroxychloroquine , the claim to be soon debunked by documents bearing his signature .
The media also gave him a wall-to-wall coverage .
On April 24 , the FDA struck its own blow , issuing a stern warning against use of HCQ for COVID-19 treatment .
While these warnings are not binding to doctors , they do produce a chilling effect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ receive necessary treatment , or they receive it with a delay , sharper decreasing its effect .
This allows detractors to question HCQ efficacy even more aggressively .
Below , I review problems in the NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines and other sources , used to wage anti-HCQ propaganda .
Good-Bye Germ Theory : ... Trebing , Dr. William P Best Price : $ 36.69 Buy New $ 14.00 The relevant section of ( COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel , 2020 ) is Potential Antiviral Drugs .
The antiviral treatment recommendations ( more accurately , @ @ @ @ @ @ @

This is a research article published as information for health care professionals and public officials, and for an open peer review. It is not medical advice.
Summary
I reviewed the scientific literature on hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), azithromycin (AZ), and their use for COVID-19. My conclusions:
HCQ-based treatments are effective in treating COVID-19, unless started too late.
Studies, cited in opposition, have been misinterpreted, invalid, or worse.
HCQ and AZ are some of the most tested and safest prescription drugs.
Severe COVID-19 frequently causes cardiac effects, including heart arrhythmia. QTc prolonging drugs might amplify this tendency. Millions of people regularly take drugs having strong QTc prolongation effect, and neither FDA nor CDC bother to warn them. HCQ+AZ combination, probably has a mild QTc prolongation effect. Concerns over its negative effects, however minor, can be addressed by respecting contra-indications.
Effectiveness of HCQ-based treatment for COVID-19 is hampered by conditions that are presented as precautions, delaying the onset of treatment. For examples, some states require that COVID-19 patients be treated with HCQ exclusively in hospital settings. Master Manipulator: Th... James Ottar Grundvig Best Price: $14.15 Buy New $17.78 (as of 05:25 UTC - Details )
The COVID-19 Treatment Panel of NIH evaded disclosure of the massive financial links of its members to Gilead Sciences, the manufacturer of a competing drug remdesivir. Among those who failed to disclose such links are 2 out of 3 of its co-chairs.
Despite all the attempts by certain authorities to prevent COVID-19 treatment with HCQ and HCQ+AZ, both components are approved by FDA, and doctors can prescribe them for COVID-19.
Intro
Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) was accepted as a COVID-19 treatment by the medical community in the US and worldwide by early April. 67% of the US physicians said they would prescribe HCQ or chloroquine CQ for COVID-19 to a family member (Town Hall, 2020-04-08). An international poll of doctors rated HCQ the most effective coronavirus treatment (NY Post, 2020-04-02). On April 6, Peter Navarro told CNN that “Virtually Every COVID-19 Patient In New York Is Given Hydroxychloroquine.” This might explain decrease in COVID-19 deaths in the New York state after April 15. The time lag is because COVID-19 deaths happen on average 14 days after showing symptoms.
But on April 21, several perfectly coordinated events took place, attacking HCQ’s use for COVID-19 patients.
The COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel of the National Institute of Health issued recommendations with negative-ambivalent stance regarding the use of HCQ as a COVID-19 treatment. This surprising stance was taken contrary to the ample evidence of the efficacy and safety of HCQ and despite absence evidence of its harm. The panel also strongly recommended against the use of hydroxychloroquine with azithromycin (AZ), the combination of choice among practitioners. On the same day, a paper (Magagnoli, 2020) was posted on a pre-print server medRxiv, insinuating that HCQ is not only ineffective, but even harmful. This not-yet peer reviewed paper, by unqualified authors with conflicts of interest, received wall-to-wall media coverage, as it if were a cancer cure. It used data from Veterans Administration hospitals, spicing its effects. The paper has shown to be somewhere between junk science and fraud. Rick Bright, a government official who was probably more responsible for the low level of preparedness to the epidemic than most others, and had been re-assigned to a lower position earlier, emerged as a “whistleblower.” He claimed he had been demoted for opposing hydroxychloroquine, the claim to be soon debunked by documents bearing his signature. The media also gave him a wall-to-wall coverage.
On April 24, the FDA struck its own blow, issuing a stern warning against use of HCQ for COVID-19 treatment.
While these warnings are not binding to doctors, they do produce a chilling effect. Consequently, either patients do not receive necessary treatment, or they receive it with a delay, sharper decreasing its effect. This allows detractors to question HCQ efficacy even more aggressively. Below, I review problems in the NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines and other sources, used to wage anti-HCQ propaganda.
NIH Panel Guidelines
Good-Bye Germ Theory: ... Trebing, Dr. William P Best Price: $36.69 Buy New $14.00 (as of 04:04 UTC - Details) The relevant section of (COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel, 2020) is Potential Antiviral Drugs. The antiviral treatment recommendations (more accurately, failure to provide recommendations) include:


lewrockwell--2020-05-04--Chinagate is the New Russiagate, Only More Dangerous

I ’ ve become convinced the next major event that ’ ll be used to further centralize power and escalate domestic authoritarianism will center around U.S.-China tensions .
We haven ’ t witnessed this “ event ” yet , but there ’ s a good chance it ’ ll occur within the next year or two .
Currently , the front runner appears to be a major aggressive move by China into Hong Kong , but it could be anything really .
Taiwan , the South China Sea , currency , economic or cyber warfare ; the flash points are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Something is going to snap and when it does we better be prepared to not act like mindless imbeciles for the fourth time this century .
When that day arrives , and it ’ s likely not too far off , certain factions will try to sell you on the monstrous idea that we must become more like China to defeat China .
We ’ ll be told we need more centralization , more authoritarianism , and less freedom and civil liberties or China will win .
Such talk is nonsense and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the worst aspects of the Chinese system and head the other way .
War with Russia ?
: From ... Cohen , Stephen F. Best Price : $ 8.99 Buy New $ 8.50 – From my 2019 piece : Two Paths Forward with China – The Good and The Bad As the clownish farce that is Russiagate slinks back into the psyop dumpster from which it emerged , an even more destructive narrative has metastasized following the U.S. government ’ s incompetent response to covid-19 .
It was clear to me from the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wildly embraced by a variety of powerful people in the wake of Trump ’ s election merely to serve their own ends .
For establishment Democrats , it was a way to pretend Hillary Clinton didn ’ t actually lose because she was a wretched status quo candidate with a destructive track record , but she lost due to “ foreign meddling.
” This allowed those involved in her campaign to deflect blame , but it also short-circuited any discussion of the merits of populism and widespread voter dissatisfaction ( within both parties @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was a fairytale invented by people intentionally putting their heads in the sand in order to avoid confrontation with political reality and to keep their cushy gravy-train of entrenched corruption going .
Russiagate was likewise embraced by the national security state ( imperial apparatus ) for similar reasons .
Like establishment Democrats , the national security state also wanted to prevent the narrative that the status quo was rejected in the 2016 election from spreading .
It was incentivized to pretend Hillary ’ s loss was the result of gullible Americans being duped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the idea that U.S. society was healthy and normal if not for some external enemy .
Collusion : How Central ... Prins , Nomi Best Price : $ 7.99 Buy New $ 15.97 Another primary driver for the national security state was to punish Russia for acting like a sovereign state as opposed to a colony of U.S. empire in recent years .
Russia has been an increasingly serious thorn in the side of unipolarism advocates over the past decade by performing acts such as buying gold , providing safe harbor for Edward @ @ @ @ @ @ @ regime change in Syria .
Such acts could not go unpunished .
So Russiagate served its purpose .
It wasted our time for much of Trump ’ s first term and it helped prevent Bernie Sanders from winning the Democratic nomination .
Now we get Chinagate .
When the premier empire on the planet starts blaming external enemies for its internal problems , you know it ’ s almost always an excuse to let your own elites off the hook and further erode civil liberties .
While it appears the novel coronavirus covid-19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and China tried to discourage other countries from taking decisive action in the early days , our internal political actors blaming China for their own lack of preparation and timely reaction is patently ridiculous .

I’ve become convinced the next major event that’ll be used to further centralize power and escalate domestic authoritarianism will center around U.S.-China tensions. We haven’t witnessed this “event” yet, but there’s a good chance it’ll occur within the next year or two. Currently, the front runner appears to be a major aggressive move by China into Hong Kong, but it could be anything really. Taiwan, the South China Sea, currency, economic or cyber warfare; the flash points are numerous and growing by the day. Something is going to snap and when it does we better be prepared to not act like mindless imbeciles for the fourth time this century.
When that day arrives, and it’s likely not too far off, certain factions will try to sell you on the monstrous idea that we must become more like China to defeat China. We’ll be told we need more centralization, more authoritarianism, and less freedom and civil liberties or China will win. Such talk is nonsense and the wise way to respond is to reject the worst aspects of the Chinese system and head the other way.
War with Russia?: From... Cohen, Stephen F. Best Price: $8.99 Buy New $8.50 (as of 02:15 UTC - Details) – From my 2019 piece: Two Paths Forward with China – The Good and The Bad
As the clownish farce that is Russiagate slinks back into the psyop dumpster from which it emerged, an even more destructive narrative has metastasized following the U.S. government’s incompetent response to covid-19.
It was clear to me from the start that Russiagate was a nonsensical narrative wildly embraced by a variety of powerful people in the wake of Trump’s election merely to serve their own ends. For establishment Democrats, it was a way to pretend Hillary Clinton didn’t actually lose because she was a wretched status quo candidate with a destructive track record, but she lost due to “foreign meddling.” This allowed those involved in her campaign to deflect blame, but it also short-circuited any discussion of the merits of populism and widespread voter dissatisfaction (within both parties) percolating throughout the land. It was a fairytale invented by people intentionally putting their heads in the sand in order to avoid confrontation with political reality and to keep their cushy gravy-train of entrenched corruption going.
Russiagate was likewise embraced by the national security state (imperial apparatus) for similar reasons. Like establishment Democrats, the national security state also wanted to prevent the narrative that the status quo was rejected in the 2016 election from spreading. It was incentivized to pretend Hillary’s loss was the result of gullible Americans being duped by crafty Russians in order to manufacture the idea that U.S. society was healthy and normal if not for some external enemy.
Collusion: How Central... Prins, Nomi Best Price: $7.99 Buy New $15.97 (as of 01:25 UTC - Details) Another primary driver for the national security state was to punish Russia for acting like a sovereign state as opposed to a colony of U.S. empire in recent years. Russia has been an increasingly serious thorn in the side of unipolarism advocates over the past decade by performing acts such as buying gold, providing safe harbor for Edward Snowden, and thwarting the dreams of regime change in Syria. Such acts could not go unpunished.
So Russiagate served its purpose. It wasted our time for much of Trump’s first term and it helped prevent Bernie Sanders from winning the Democratic nomination. Now we get Chinagate.
When the premier empire on the planet starts blaming external enemies for its internal problems, you know it’s almost always an excuse to let your own elites off the hook and further erode civil liberties. While it appears the novel coronavirus covid-19 did in fact come from China, and China tried to discourage other countries from taking decisive action in the early days, our internal political actors blaming China for their own lack of preparation and timely reaction is patently ridiculous.
Read the Whole Article
Washington Babylon: Fr... Hyman, Mark Best Price: $14.00 Buy New $19.69 (as of 03:02 UTC - Details)


lewrockwell--2020-05-04--The Destruction of the Financial Markets and What it Means for You

International Man : Decades of money printing have created enormous distortions in the market .
It seems that the coronavirus popped the Everything Bubble .
Where do you see the stock market going ?
David Stockman : I ’ d say it ’ s going in a new direction , and it ’ s not up year after year , month after month , day after day .
It ’ s not going to be a world where buying the dip is a no-brainer thing to do .
I think the stock market was insanely valued when the S & @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 19th .
It has got a long way yet to correct .
Who knows what earnings are going to be ?
Beyond Blockchain : The ... Townsend , Erik Best Price : $ 23.95 Buy New $ 24.95 No one knows how long these lockdowns will last .
You look at the news flow every day , and it ’ s like a massive political arm-wrestling match between the White House and the Democratic governors and mayors .
I ’ m sure in their minds , these local and state politicians , think @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and protecting the safety and lives of their citizens .
But , the fact is , back in the unstated regions of their brains , they ’ re focused on taking down the US economy , which was Trump ’ s only claim to reelection .
I think when push comes to shove in the great human struggle of things in our political system , this lockdown lunacy is going to be prolonged far longer than you can imagine , and the economic loss is going to be staggering .
Even the Wall @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of them—are projecting a 25 to 30 % GDP collapse on an annualized basis in Q2 .
Just a few days ago , they were all expecting this to be one and done , and that in the next quarter it ’ ll level out—but that view is fading very fast .
We have a hand-to-mouth economy .
By that , I mean no business could afford cashflow interruption because they had levered their balance sheet to the hilt or had spent most of their cashflow available to buy back their stock .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ reactions , you have incredibly vulnerable business balance sheets in America that collectively have $ 16 trillion of debt .
I ’ m not talking about banks or financial institutions now—just operating businesses .
That ’ s not to mention American households—half of them don ’ t even have $ 300 to last a week or two .
Overwhelmingly , 90 % of the households in America have been told that they ’ re the Energizer spending bunny of American economics , and if you don ’ t have enough wages this week @ @ @ @ @ @ @ card and just keep on spending .
This has created a hand-to-mouth economy that has no immunities—if you want to use that metaphor in an economic sense .
It can not cope , and it has no antibodies to fight back against the interruption of paychecks and cash flow .
There is going to be broken furniture everywhere as it filters through an economy that is sitting with $ 74 trillion of public and private debt on its back .
That ’ s how much we have today .
People need to focus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we had a warning back when the great financial crisis occurred in 2008 when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt , the Great Recession , all that .
At the time , there was $ 52 trillion of debt in the economy , and people said that we ’ re living beyond our means—we need to learn some lessons here and repair the excesses .
Well , that never happened .
We ’ ve added $ 22–23 trillion of debt since then .
Therefore , the economy is now even more fragile , even more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Now , what we ’ re getting is the mother of all dislocations .
It ’ s happening so fast and severely that it ’ s off the charts .
You can look at any of the so-called incoming indicators that everybody constantly jaws about on bubble vision on CNBC , and you will see that the last two data points are literally off the charts .
The Empire State Index was out recently , and it ’ s down to -70 , against a base of zero , and it usually says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Never has anything like this been recorded .
We have an economy that ’ s going to implode in the next four or five months .
Earnings are going to drop tremendously .
It ’ s going to be a question of whether the markets can convince themselves to “ do the Rip Van Winkle thing , go to sleep on earnings for the next year , and start discounting 2022 earnings , ” or something .
The Price of Tomorrow : ... Booth , Jeff Best Price : $ 21.14 Buy New @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that ’ s going to work this time .
I believe there is going to be a real loss of confidence because the Fed has no dry powder .
The market will likely work its way down in irregular , violent , volatile moves .
It will go up for a few days and then experience a big correction , and up for a few more days , another big correction .
The S & P 500 ought to be valued at 1,500 or 1,600 , which is way the hell below where @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was at the peak of almost 3,400 .
What I ’ m saying is , the market that never stops rising has finally met its match .
The patented “ buy the dip ” mantra is going to keep the thing alive for a few more months until the last robo-machine and day trader has his brains blown out after they bought the dip one more time and then got monkey-hammered by another reversal .
International Man : The Federal Reserve ’ s unprecedented bailout of everyone and everything seems to have no @ @ @ @ @ @ @ consequences of this will be ?
David Stockman : I think what people must get their minds around is that this is happening with such warp speed : job losses , cash flow , GDP , the federal budget .
What the Fed has done is more off the charts than anything we ’ ve seen yet .
In early March , the balance sheet of the Fed was at $ 4.2 trillion—after they gave up on quantitative tightening ( QT ) and normalizing the balance sheet—which they promised to do when Ben @ @ @ @ @ @ @ after the great recession .
In merely 30 days , they printed $ 2 trillion of additional balance sheet or doubled the first trillion .
That ’ s the level first achieved in September 2008—and had taken the Fed 94 years to create from the days that it opened its doors .
I calculated it : that ’ s about 35,000 days it took the Fed to get the first $ 1 trillion of balance sheet .
These madmen and women in the Eccles Building , it took them 30 days to create @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it took during those first 95 years of the Fed .
What does this mean ?
It means that they ’ re destroying the financial markets as we know them .
There ’ s no interest rate left .
They ’ re pushing everything close to zero through this massive intervention and buying everything in sight directly or indirectly .
That includes commercial paper , municipal bonds , investment-grade corporates , fallen angels , so to speak—that ’ s just a backdoor way into junk .
They ’ re buying ETFs—the bond ETFs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of time before they ’ re going to be in there , hand over fist , buying stocks .
Janet Yellen and all the rest of them are saying , “ Well , maybe they need that additional power.
” How can you have capitalism when you have no capital markets ?
When Money Dies : The N ... Adam Fergusson Best Price : $ 1.97 Buy New $ 10.08 It ’ s that simple .
The Fed destroyed it .
The consequence will be massive speculation , malinvestment , and keeping all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the high yield market had a significant dislocation recently—where yields soared from 5 % to 10 % or more—which was an effort by Mr. Market to say that there are a lot of borrowers out there that aren ’ t solvent .
They ’ re going to have to meet their maker in Chapter 11 .
So , what is the Fed trying to do ?
It ’ s trying to prevent any of that from happening .
The Fed wants to keep everybody that has borrowed up to their eyeballs alive .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ will become weaker , more stagnant , and more inefficiency-ridden with time .
If you don ’ t have the cleansing process of creative disruption , if you don ’ t allow the price of capital to reflect risk and reward , if you don ’ t permit failures to be eliminated and liquidated , you ’ re going to have either a sclerotic economy like Italy or England or even worse , a Soviet economy , if you carry this far enough .
Frankly , I think the right phrase for the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the FOMC is the “ Monetary Politburo.
” They ’ re trying to control every movement in the entire economic system through the domination of financial asset prices and pegging of interest rates across the whole yield curve .
Where it will lead is very hard to say .
Obviously , not to anything good .
It is so off the charts , and ludicrous relative to anything anybody thought even ten years ago , certainly twenty or thirty years ago .
It ’ s difficult to imagine how bad it is going @ @ @ @ @ @ @ going to get pretty bad .
International Man : Those are some great points .
Where do you see the future of the US dollar ?
David Stockman : To paraphrase Winston Churchill about democracy , the US dollar is the worst currency imaginable—except for all the other currencies in the world .
In other words , all the central banks are doing the same thing the Fed is doing , only worse .
It ’ s a race to the bottom .
The European Central Bank cut its policy rate to even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Bank of Japan might as well just buy a paper mill and print paper until there are no trees left in Japan .
In the case of the US dollar , the traditional idea is that we ’ re going to destroy the currency .
That ’ s true if the rest of the world is prudent .
We don ’ t have a Weimar Republic 1923 situation where they were trying , in the UK and certainly in New York , and the Bank of France , to restore sound @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were attempting to restore sound money and a gold standard currency .
Germany was a basket case economically ; they were paying reparations and started up their printing press .
There was massive capital outflow , they imported inflation , which then fed upon itself , and the whole wheelbarrow full of money thing happened .
That was inflation in one country when the rest of the world was trying to pursue relatively sound money .
By contrast , today , we have monetary inflation in all countries .
So you look @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at what the other central banks are doing , the dollar is the cleanest dirty shirt in the laundry .
It ’ s probably going to get stronger , not weaker in the FX markets .
But that doesn ’ t mean that we ’ re out of the woods .
It only means that the central banks of the world collectively—which have already taken their balance sheets from $ 2 trillion in the late 1990s to over $ 25 trillion—are printing money at such a rate that they ’ re likely to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Not simply the US dollar .
International Man : How will the Fed ’ s actions affect savers and retirees ?
David Stockman : The essence of it is that the Fed policy is criminal—just flat out criminal—in terms of its impact on savers and retirees on a fixed income .
There is no interest rate left unless you want to speculate in junk bonds .
Why should a 78-year-old be speculating in junk bonds to pay for rent or put food on the table ?
That ’ s what this whole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ or subzero interest rate policy is doing .
It ’ s hurting tens of millions of people who ’ ve tried to save and be prudent and not live hand to mouth .
If something like COVID-19 comes along , or an earthquake depending on where you live , or just a bad spell of health affecting your family , you need something to fall back on .
How can people save today when you get nothing ?
Take somebody who worked in the steel mill 40 years , who was able to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Let ’ s just say he came up with $ 300,000 of lifetime savings .
He ’ s now retired .
He needs to keep it liquid , but he ’ s earning less interest income per week than one cappuccino at Starbucks on a lifetime worth of savings .
You may ask these central bankers , “ Well , what about the savers ?
” These idiots say that there is too much in savings .
Well , let ’ s look around right now .
Why do we have a $ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ giving helicopter money to upwards of 180 million people—who are going to get that $ 1,200 check ?
Why are we bailing out small businesses left and right to have them preserve jobs ?
Why are we doing all of that if there ’ s an excess of savings in the world ?
In reality , there is no excess .
It ’ s complete nonsense .
The idea that the central bank is there to subsidize , coddle , and bail out the borrower and savage the saver is just fundamentally wrong @ @ @ @ @ @ @ why we ’ re in such big trouble .
The Best of David Stockman

International Man: Decades of money printing have created enormous distortions in the market. It seems that the coronavirus popped the Everything Bubble. Where do you see the stock market going?
David Stockman: I’d say it’s going in a new direction, and it’s not up year after year, month after month, day after day.
It’s not going to be a world where buying the dip is a no-brainer thing to do.
I think the stock market was insanely valued when the S&P 500 peaked at 3,380 on February 19th.
It has got a long way yet to correct.
Who knows what earnings are going to be? Beyond Blockchain: The... Townsend, Erik Best Price: $23.95 Buy New $24.95 (as of 03:36 UTC - Details)
No one knows how long these lockdowns will last.
You look at the news flow every day, and it’s like a massive political arm-wrestling match between the White House and the Democratic governors and mayors.
I’m sure in their minds, these local and state politicians, think they’re serving the public good and protecting the safety and lives of their citizens. But, the fact is, back in the unstated regions of their brains, they’re focused on taking down the US economy, which was Trump’s only claim to reelection.
I think when push comes to shove in the great human struggle of things in our political system, this lockdown lunacy is going to be prolonged far longer than you can imagine, and the economic loss is going to be staggering.
Even the Wall Street brokers now—Goldman Sachs and the rest of them—are projecting a 25 to 30% GDP collapse on an annualized basis in Q2.
Just a few days ago, they were all expecting this to be one and done, and that in the next quarter it’ll level out—but that view is fading very fast.
We have a hand-to-mouth economy. By that, I mean no business could afford cashflow interruption because they had levered their balance sheet to the hilt or had spent most of their cashflow available to buy back their stock.
So, once you start these chain reactions, you have incredibly vulnerable business balance sheets in America that collectively have $16 trillion of debt.
I’m not talking about banks or financial institutions now—just operating businesses.
That’s not to mention American households—half of them don’t even have $300 to last a week or two.
Overwhelmingly, 90% of the households in America have been told that they’re the Energizer spending bunny of American economics, and if you don’t have enough wages this week, borrow some money on your credit card and just keep on spending.
This has created a hand-to-mouth economy that has no immunities—if you want to use that metaphor in an economic sense. It cannot cope, and it has no antibodies to fight back against the interruption of paychecks and cash flow.
There is going to be broken furniture everywhere as it filters through an economy that is sitting with $74 trillion of public and private debt on its back. That’s how much we have today.
People need to focus on this fact, that we thought we had a warning back when the great financial crisis occurred in 2008 when Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, the Great Recession, all that.
At the time, there was $52 trillion of debt in the economy, and people said that we’re living beyond our means—we need to learn some lessons here and repair the excesses.
Well, that never happened. We’ve added $22–23 trillion of debt since then. Therefore, the economy is now even more fragile, even more vulnerable to any kind of dislocation.
Now, what we’re getting is the mother of all dislocations. It’s happening so fast and severely that it’s off the charts.
You can look at any of the so-called incoming indicators that everybody constantly jaws about on bubble vision on CNBC, and you will see that the last two data points are literally off the charts. The Empire State Index was out recently, and it’s down to -70, against a base of zero, and it usually says +20, 30, or 40.
Never has anything like this been recorded. We have an economy that’s going to implode in the next four or five months. Earnings are going to drop tremendously.
It’s going to be a question of whether the markets can convince themselves to “do the Rip Van Winkle thing, go to sleep on earnings for the next year, and start discounting 2022 earnings,” or something. The Price of Tomorrow:... Booth, Jeff Best Price: $21.14 Buy New $18.95 (as of 03:36 UTC - Details)
I don’t think that’s going to work this time. I believe there is going to be a real loss of confidence because the Fed has no dry powder.
The market will likely work its way down in irregular, violent, volatile moves. It will go up for a few days and then experience a big correction, and up for a few more days, another big correction.
The S&P 500 ought to be valued at 1,500 or 1,600, which is way the hell below where it is today—and far below where it was at the peak of almost 3,400.
What I’m saying is, the market that never stops rising has finally met its match.
The patented “buy the dip” mantra is going to keep the thing alive for a few more months until the last robo-machine and day trader has his brains blown out after they bought the dip one more time and then got monkey-hammered by another reversal.
That’s where I think we’re heading.
International Man: The Federal Reserve’s unprecedented bailout of everyone and everything seems to have no end. What do you think the consequences of this will be?
David Stockman: I think what people must get their minds around is that this is happening with such warp speed: job losses, cash flow, GDP, the federal budget.
What the Fed has done is more off the charts than anything we’ve seen yet.
In early March, the balance sheet of the Fed was at $4.2 trillion—after they gave up on quantitative tightening (QT) and normalizing the balance sheet—which they promised to do when Ben Bernanke took it to these high levels after the great recession.
Recently, that number was $6.2 trillion.
In merely 30 days, they printed $2 trillion of additional balance sheet or doubled the first trillion. That’s the level first achieved in September 2008—and had taken the Fed 94 years to create from the days that it opened its doors.
I calculated it: that’s about 35,000 days it took the Fed to get the first $1 trillion of balance sheet.
These madmen and women in the Eccles Building, it took them 30 days to create twice the amount of balance sheet that it took during those first 95 years of the Fed.
What does this mean?
It means that they’re destroying the financial markets as we know them.
There’s no interest rate left. They’re pushing everything close to zero through this massive intervention and buying everything in sight directly or indirectly. That includes commercial paper, municipal bonds, investment-grade corporates, fallen angels, so to speak—that’s just a backdoor way into junk. They’re buying ETFs—the bond ETFs.
It’s only a matter of time before they’re going to be in there, hand over fist, buying stocks.
Janet Yellen and all the rest of them are saying, “Well, maybe they need that additional power.”
How can you have capitalism when you have no capital markets? When Money Dies: The N... Adam Fergusson Best Price: $1.97 Buy New $10.08 (as of 10:10 UTC - Details)
It’s that simple. The Fed destroyed it.
The consequence will be massive speculation, malinvestment, and keeping all the zombies alive.
For instance, the high yield market had a significant dislocation recently—where yields soared from 5% to 10% or more—which was an effort by Mr. Market to say that there are a lot of borrowers out there that aren’t solvent. They’re going to have to meet their maker in Chapter 11.
So, what is the Fed trying to do?
It’s trying to prevent any of that from happening. The Fed wants to keep everybody that has borrowed up to their eyeballs alive.
Therefore, it means that the economy will become weaker, more stagnant, and more inefficiency-ridden with time.
If you don’t have the cleansing process of creative disruption, if you don’t allow the price of capital to reflect risk and reward, if you don’t permit failures to be eliminated and liquidated, you’re going to have either a sclerotic economy like Italy or England or even worse, a Soviet economy, if you carry this far enough.
Frankly, I think the right phrase for the Eccles Building and the twelve people on the FOMC is the “Monetary Politburo.” They’re trying to control every movement in the entire economic system through the domination of financial asset prices and pegging of interest rates across the whole yield curve.
It is madness.
Where it will lead is very hard to say. Obviously, not to anything good.
It is so off the charts, and ludicrous relative to anything anybody thought even ten years ago, certainly twenty or thirty years ago. It’s difficult to imagine how bad it is going to get, but it’s going to get pretty bad.
International Man: Those are some great points. Where do you see the future of the US dollar?
David Stockman: To paraphrase Winston Churchill about democracy, the US dollar is the worst currency imaginable—except for all the other currencies in the world.
In other words, all the central banks are doing the same thing the Fed is doing, only worse. It’s a race to the bottom.
The European Central Bank cut its policy rate to even deeper subzero, which is just crazy.
The Bank of Japan might as well just buy a paper mill and print paper until there are no trees left in Japan.
In the case of the US dollar, the traditional idea is that we’re going to destroy the currency. That’s true if the rest of the world is prudent.
We don’t have a Weimar Republic 1923 situation where they were trying, in the UK and certainly in New York, and the Bank of France, to restore sound money—prewar money. They failed, but they were attempting to restore sound money and a gold standard currency.
Germany was a basket case economically; they were paying reparations and started up their printing press. There was massive capital outflow, they imported inflation, which then fed upon itself, and the whole wheelbarrow full of money thing happened.
That was inflation in one country when the rest of the world was trying to pursue relatively sound money.
By contrast, today, we have monetary inflation in all countries. So you look at the dollar, and you look at what the other central banks are doing, the dollar is the cleanest dirty shirt in the laundry. It’s probably going to get stronger, not weaker in the FX markets.
But that doesn’t mean that we’re out of the woods.
It only means that the central banks of the world collectively—which have already taken their balance sheets from $2 trillion in the late 1990s to over $25 trillion—are printing money at such a rate that they’re likely to bring down the entire world monetary system. Not simply the US dollar.
International Man: How will the Fed’s actions affect savers and retirees?
David Stockman: The essence of it is that the Fed policy is criminal—just flat out criminal—in terms of its impact on savers and retirees on a fixed income.
There is no interest rate left unless you want to speculate in junk bonds. Why should a 78-year-old be speculating in junk bonds to pay for rent or put food on the table?
It is criminal.
That’s what this whole financial repression, zero interest rate, or subzero interest rate policy is doing. It’s hurting tens of millions of people who’ve tried to save and be prudent and not live hand to mouth.
If something like COVID-19 comes along, or an earthquake depending on where you live, or just a bad spell of health affecting your family, you need something to fall back on.
How can people save today when you get nothing?
Take somebody who worked in the steel mill 40 years, who was able to scratch and save and defer gratification. Let’s just say he came up with $300,000 of lifetime savings. He’s now retired. He needs to keep it liquid, but he’s earning less interest income per week than one cappuccino at Starbucks on a lifetime worth of savings.
That’s so evil.
You may ask these central bankers, “Well, what about the savers?” These idiots say that there is too much in savings.
Well, let’s look around right now.
Why do we have a $2.3 trillion bailout? Why are we giving helicopter money to upwards of 180 million people—who are going to get that $1,200 check?
Why are we bailing out small businesses left and right to have them preserve jobs?
Why are we doing all of that if there’s an excess of savings in the world?
In reality, there is no excess. It’s complete nonsense.
The idea that the central bank is there to subsidize, coddle, and bail out the borrower and savage the saver is just fundamentally wrong and goes right to the heart of why we’re in such big trouble.
Reprinted with permission from International Man.
The Best of David Stockman


lewrockwell--2020-05-04--How Much It’ll Cost Them

How Much It’ll Cost Them

Mask wearing is going to get expensive – for the businesses that insist , if we refuse .
I wrote about my decision to cancel my gym membership of more than 15 years ’ standing if my gym says I must wear a mask in order to be allowed in the gym .
Over the past 15 years , I have paid more than $ 5,000 in membership fees , not including the additional fees in the same amount paid by my ex-wife over about the same time period .
I obviously like this gym – Crunch Fitness in Roanoke @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for another 15 years , at least .
Which would be at least another $ 5,000 for the gym , just from me .
But if the Mask Mandate comes , my cash will go .
I won ’ t pay to play Sickness Kabuki for the sake of Sickness Psychotics who need therapy much more than a workout .
Gorilla Bow Portable H ... Buy New $ 199.75 Several of my gym friends agree with this decision and will also cancel their memberships .
This will get into real money – maybe @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Enough financial pressure to make the gym ’ s owners rethink their Mask Mandate .
This is power – the not-evil kind .
It is the power of voluntary free exchange .
Of mutual consent .
The gym , like any business , has the right to establish its terms and conditions .
But customers have a right to withhold their business when those terms and conditions are unacceptable to them .
Being told one must wear a surgical mask – while working out – is as preposterous as it is pathological .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ from respiratory distress caused by a mask – which isn ’ t designed to facilitate the deep and heavy breathing that comes with working out – than might get sick because someone wasn ’ t wearing a mask .
In any event , the gym can require .
But we don ’ t have to pay .
Vive Foam Roller - 12 ... Buy New $ 14.99 This power is tremendous and it is time to use it , if you do not like the idea of being made to play Sickness Kabuki @ @ @ @ @ @ @ into Sickness Psychosis or are just playing along for the sake of their own Babbittry .
Many businesses in America are like that now .
Their product or service is secondary to their insipid virtue-signaling .
Which they seem to think matters more than the products or services they offer .
And may , to some .
Not to me , though .
And perhaps not to you .
I pay a gym membership to get a workout ; not to be schooled .
I go there to relieve tension , not aggravate @ @ @ @ @ @ @

Mask wearing is going to get expensive – for the businesses that insist, if we refuse.
I wrote about my decision to cancel my gym membership of more than 15 years’ standing if my gym says I must wear a mask in order to be allowed in the gym. Over the past 15 years, I have paid more than $5,000 in membership fees, not including the additional fees in the same amount paid by my ex-wife over about the same time period. I obviously like this gym – Crunch Fitness in Roanoke – and planned to work out there for another 15 years, at least.
Which would be at least another $5,000 for the gym, just from me. But if the Mask Mandate comes, my cash will go. I won’t pay to play Sickness Kabuki for the sake of Sickness Psychotics who need therapy much more than a workout.
Gorilla Bow Portable H... Buy New $199.75 (as of 02:43 UTC - Details) Several of my gym friends agree with this decision and will also cancel their memberships. This will get into real money – maybe enough money to make a difference. Enough financial pressure to make the gym’s owners rethink their Mask Mandate.
This is power – the not-evil kind.
It is the power of voluntary free exchange. Of mutual consent.
The gym, like any business, has the right to establish its terms and conditions. But customers have a right to withhold their business when those terms and conditions are unacceptable to them.
Being told one must wear a surgical mask – while working out – is as preposterous as it is pathological. Probably someone is more likely to die from respiratory distress caused by a mask – which isn’t designed to facilitate the deep and heavy breathing that comes with working out – than might get sick because someone wasn’t wearing a mask.

In any event, the gym can require. But we don’t have to pay.
Vive Foam Roller - 12 ... Buy New $14.99 (as of 03:21 UTC - Details) This power is tremendous and it is time to use it, if you do not like the idea of being made to play Sickness Kabuki by businesses who’ve either bought into Sickness Psychosis or are just playing along for the sake of their own Babbittry. Many businesses in America are like that now. Their product or service is secondary to their insipid virtue-signaling. Which they seem to think matters more than the products or services they offer.
And may, to some.
Not to me, though. And perhaps not to you.
I pay a gym membership to get a workout; not to be schooled. I go there to relieve tension, not aggravate it.
I won’t pay to be aggravated.
Read the Whole Article
The Best of Eric Peters


lewrockwell--2020-05-04--Unemployment Kills: The Longer Lockdowns Last, the Worse It Will Get

Fed chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday announced the economic data now coming out “ is worse than any data we have seen for the economy.
” This is due in part to to twenty years of stimulus-driven economic growth based on blowing up and sustaining bubbles through easy money .
But it is now made much worse by the fact that many governments have frozen their states ’ and nations ’ economies , shut down businesses , and prevented markets from adapting to the new realities of consumers and workers in a world with a heightened risk of disease .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ with 30 million Americans filing for unemployment over the past six weeks ( one survey puts it at 50 million ) .
In states that insist on continuing with widespread coercive economic shutdowns , the numbers will only keep getting worse .
The Coddling of the Am ... Haidt , Jonathan Best Price : $ 12.68 Buy New $ 13.39 Many policymakers , unfortunately , continue to pretend that the costs associated with these shutdowns are minimal or insignificant .
Those who speak up against the shutdowns—whether from the perspective of protecting human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ often shouted down as choosing filthy lucre over public health .
The reality , however , is that when unemployment leads to impoverishment or loss of social status , it is itself a major health problem .
This has been evident in research for many years , but since this narrative does not support the myopic and single-minded drive toward “ fighting COVID-19 ” at all costs , many politicians and “ experts ” simply wave these facts aside .
The policymakers continue to pretend that everything will be fine once the politicians @ @ @ @ @ @ @ enough testing ” or that things are “ under control , ” or whatever arbitrary goal has been set to justify recognizing people ’ s basic human rights to seek employment and run their own businesses .
The Cost of Unemployment : A Survey of the Research According to a 2014 piece in Harvard Public Health magazine , unemployment due to business closures The risk of death increased : Taking Civility Out of ... CONDRA , BARBARA Buy New $ 8.95 And for men the impacts are often worse : In a study @ @ @ @ @ @ @ morbidity in the twentieth century , M. Harvey Brenner writes in the International Journal of Epidemiology that In this 2003 study on unemployment in the Journal of Health Economics , the authors concluded : The health effects of unemployment also become worse the earlier in the cycle one becomes unemployed .
In a Finnish study on unemployment , Pekka Martikainen found that In other words , those who became unemployed first—i.e.
, in 1990—had higher mortality than those who became jobless in later years .
But the general conclusion was familiar .
Mortality @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Moreover the long-term effects can be significant .
In a Swedish study on the long term effect of unemployment , the researchers found that For men , the risk of alcohol-related death was more than double what it was for the employed .
The risk was nearly double for women .
The same study also showed that for men who had suffered unemployment , long-term risk of death from suicide was more than 40 percent higher than the employed .
Even the risk of death from “ transport accidents ” became higher @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the effects of unemployment tend to be magnified by previous periods of unemployment , since “ The risk of becoming unemployed is higher among people who have previous experience of unemployment .
This has been referred to as ‘ scarring ’ , ‘ path dependency ’ or ‘ state dependency . '
” This increases the health effects of unemployment among the most economically disadvantaged groups .
Not surprisingly , increased unemployment also increases the risk of death from drug-related causes as well .
In this 2017 study , Fauci : The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New $ 5.99 Studies have now started to be published on our current recession .
Although not directly studying unemployment , a new study of Swiss data on the mental health–related “ consequences of COVID-19 mitigation ” ( i.e.
, economic lockdowns ) the authors concluded : In other words , the “ mitigation ” strategies that allegedly save lives are really just shifting the burden from some people onto to others .
In some cases , the lockdowns amount to nearly a decade of lost years thanks to the toll on mental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ortleb , Charles Best Price : $ 16.55 Buy New $ 17.95 Confronted with the likely costs of their lockdown policies , many will fall back on claiming basic arithmetic can give us the answer .
“ How many deaths are caused by unemployment versus by COVID-19 ?
” This claim is premised on the idea that it ’ s up to the defenders of freedom to prove that the number of deaths caused by economic destruction will outnumber the total COVID-19 deaths .
In the minds of the lockdown advocates , if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ continued lockdown is even a single person , then their policies throwing freedom and the rule of law under the bus are totally justified .
They get it wrong , of course .
The burden of proof is on them .
After all , they are the ones advocating for violence .
That is , they are the ones who want to impose fines on nonviolent people who just want to open their shops , or go to work , or sell their labor for wages .
If those people don ’ t @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these “ disobedient ” people must then be locked in cages or ruined financially through fines , lawsuits , and criminal charges .
The opponents of the lockdowns , on the other hand , only wish to allow people to exercise their freedom .
The burden of proof lies on those who wish to use police powers to coerce others .
Moreover , the truth is that the “ experts ” have no idea how much the lockdowns are even preventing the spread of disease or how employment and economic growth would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The lockdown proponents simply don ’ t have enough data to make the case for their position .
They only know they desire to force people to abandon their jobs , abandon their shops , and indefinitely embrace a life on the dole .
As a result , many will kill themselves .
Many will overdose on drugs .
Note : The views expressed on Mises.org are not necessarily those of the Mises Institute .
The Best of Ryan McMaken

Fed chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday announced the economic data now coming out “is worse than any data we have seen for the economy.”
This is due in part to to twenty years of stimulus-driven economic growth based on blowing up and sustaining bubbles through easy money. But it is now made much worse by the fact that many governments have frozen their states’ and nations’ economies, shut down businesses, and prevented markets from adapting to the new realities of consumers and workers in a world with a heightened risk of disease.
The result has been catastrophic unemployment, with 30 million Americans filing for unemployment over the past six weeks (one survey puts it at 50 million). In states that insist on continuing with widespread coercive economic shutdowns, the numbers will only keep getting worse.
The Coddling of the Am... Haidt, Jonathan Best Price: $12.68 Buy New $13.39 (as of 02:43 UTC - Details) Many policymakers, unfortunately, continue to pretend that the costs associated with these shutdowns are minimal or insignificant. Those who speak up against the shutdowns—whether from the perspective of protecting human rights, or simply on pragmatic grounds—are often shouted down as choosing filthy lucre over public health.
The reality, however, is that when unemployment leads to impoverishment or loss of social status, it is itself a major health problem.
This has been evident in research for many years, but since this narrative does not support the myopic and single-minded drive toward “fighting COVID-19” at all costs, many politicians and “experts” simply wave these facts aside. The policymakers continue to pretend that everything will be fine once the politicians unilaterally decide that there has been “enough testing” or that things are “under control,” or whatever arbitrary goal has been set to justify recognizing people’s basic human rights to seek employment and run their own businesses.
The Cost of Unemployment: A Survey of the Research
According to a 2014 piece in Harvard Public Health magazine, unemployment due to business closures
increased by 83 percent the odds of new health conditions likely triggered by job loss—stress-related conditions such as stroke, hypertension, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, and emotional and psychiatric problems.
The risk of death increased: Taking Civility Out of... CONDRA, BARBARA Buy New $8.95 (as of 03:40 UTC - Details)
A 2011 meta-analysis of international research—published in Social Science & Medicine by David Roelfs, Eran Shor, Karina Davidson, and Joseph Schwartz—found that the risk of death was 63 percent higher during the study periods among those who experienced unemployment than among those who did not, after adjusting for age and other variables.
And for men the impacts are often worse:
A 2009 study on the impact of the 1980s oil crisis and subsequent recession in Pennsylvania, published by economists Daniel Sullivan and Till von Wachter in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, found that in the year after men lost their jobs in mass layoffs, their chances of dying doubled.
In a study of the effect of economic growth in morbidity in the twentieth century, M. Harvey Brenner writes in the International Journal of Epidemiology that
the large and growing literature on unemployment and health is highly consistent in demonstrating elevated morbidity and mortality associated with unemployment and withdrawal from the labour force…. The literature on the long-term unemployed also shows increased exposure to alcoholism and use of other psychotropic substances such as tobacco and less expensive/nutritious foods. Equally important, the long-term unemployed are especially at risk for damaged family and friendship relations, quite apart from the social isolation induced by the loss of employment itself. Dissolving Illusions: ... Bystrianyk, Roman Best Price: $38.50 Buy New $21.60 (as of 11:00 UTC - Details)
In this 2003 study on unemployment in the Journal of Health Economics, the authors concluded:
Unemployment increases the risk of being dead from 5.36 to 7.83%, i.e. an increased risk of 46%. For mortality from [noncancer and cardiovascular causes] unemployment leads to more than a doubling of the risk, and this effect is significant. Also for suicides the estimated effect of unemployment is significant, and the point estimate implies that unemployment increases the risk of suicides by 145%.
The health effects of unemployment also become worse the earlier in the cycle one becomes unemployed. In a Finnish study on unemployment, Pekka Martikainen found that
Men unemployed for the first time in 1990, 1991 or 1992 had, respectively, 111,72 and 35 per cent higher standardized mortality than did men who remained employed
In other words, those who became unemployed first—i.e., in 1990—had higher mortality than those who became jobless in later years. But the general conclusion was familiar. Mortality increased sizeably for those who became unemployed:
excess mortality of 47 per cent was observed among men unemployed or working part-time for reasons other than illness after adjustment for age, geographic region, social class, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, weight and known pre-existing disease. Strengthening Your Imm... Lohmeier, Sebastian Buy New $6.99 (as of 03:40 UTC - Details)
Moreover the long-term effects can be significant. In a Swedish study on the long term effect of unemployment, the researchers found that
Alcohol-related mortality was significantly raised among both men and women who had experienced unemployment.
For men, the risk of alcohol-related death was more than double what it was for the employed. The risk was nearly double for women. The same study also showed that for men who had suffered unemployment, long-term risk of death from suicide was more than 40 percent higher than the employed. Even the risk of death from “transport accidents” became higher following bouts of unemployment.
The authors conclude:
At the very least, unemployment has taken its mortality toll among a vulnerable segment of the population, particularly among young men, unmarried men and men of low education or income.
Even worse, the effects of unemployment tend to be magnified by previous periods of unemployment, since “The risk of becoming unemployed is higher among people who have previous experience of unemployment. This has been referred to as ‘scarring’, ‘path dependency’ or ‘state dependency.'”
This increases the health effects of unemployment among the most economically disadvantaged groups.
Not surprisingly, increased unemployment also increases the risk of death from drug-related causes as well. In this 2017 study, Fauci: The Bernie Mado... Ortleb, Charles Buy New $5.99 (as of 02:55 UTC - Details)
the researchers find that a one percentage point increase in the county unemployment rate is associated with an additional 0.2 opioid-involved drug-related deaths per 100,000 county residents, a 3.6 percent increase relative to the average rate of 5.4 deaths per 100,000. Similarly, there is a 3.3 percent increase in the rate of all drug-related deaths. For ED [emergency department] visits, a one percentage point rise in the county unemployment rate is linked to an additional 0.95 opioid overdose ED visits per 100,000 residents, a 7.0 percent increase.
Studies have now started to be published on our current recession. Although not directly studying unemployment, a new study of Swiss data on the mental health–related “consequences of COVID-19 mitigation” (i.e., economic lockdowns) the authors concluded:
The study projects that the average person would suffer 0.205 YLL [years of life lost] due to psychosocial consequence of COVID-19 mitigation measures. However, this loss would be entirely borne by 2.1% of the population, who will suffer an average 9.79 YLL….The results presented here are likely to underestimate the true impact of the mitigation strategies on YLL.
In other words, the “mitigation” strategies that allegedly save lives are really just shifting the burden from some people onto to others. In some cases, the lockdowns amount to nearly a decade of lost years thanks to the toll on mental health.
The Chronic Fatigue Sy... Ortleb, Charles Best Price: $16.55 Buy New $17.95 (as of 05:07 UTC - Details) Confronted with the likely costs of their lockdown policies, many will fall back on claiming basic arithmetic can give us the answer. “How many deaths are caused by unemployment versus by COVID-19?” This claim is premised on the idea that it’s up to the defenders of freedom to prove that the number of deaths caused by economic destruction will outnumber the total COVID-19 deaths. In the minds of the lockdown advocates, if the net number of lives saved by continued lockdown is even a single person, then their policies throwing freedom and the rule of law under the bus are totally justified.
They get it wrong, of course. The burden of proof is on them. After all, they are the ones advocating for violence. That is, they are the ones who want to impose fines on nonviolent people who just want to open their shops, or go to work, or sell their labor for wages. If those people don’t comply, the prolockdown position is that these “disobedient” people must then be locked in cages or ruined financially through fines, lawsuits, and criminal charges.
The opponents of the lockdowns, on the other hand, only wish to allow people to exercise their freedom.
The burden of proof lies on those who wish to use police powers to coerce others.
Moreover, the truth is that the “experts” have no idea how much the lockdowns are even preventing the spread of disease or how employment and economic growth would be affected in the absence of coerced lockdowns. The lockdown proponents simply don’t have enough data to make the case for their position. They only know they desire to force people to abandon their jobs, abandon their shops, and indefinitely embrace a life on the dole. As a result, many will kill themselves. Many will overdose on drugs.
Note: The views expressed on Mises.org are not necessarily those of the Mises Institute.
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lewrockwell--2020-05-04--Nature Is a Bastard

Nature Is a Bastard

In Western culture , ‘ nature ’ and that which is ‘ natural ’ is usually evoked as something benign , pure , innocent and uncontaminated .
‘ Nature ’ relates to the way things should be – the natural order of things .
This association is manifest most clearly in television adverts , where ‘ natural ’ is used to convey the message that a product is harmless and harmonious .
It has sprung forth unmolested from Mother Earth .
It ’ s an implicit opposite to ‘ manmade ’ , that which is potentially perilous because its inherent @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At a deep level , this myth of natural goodness has its origins in Christianity and the notion that mankind is a fallen creature , who once inhabited the untainted Garden of Eden before his innate immorality got the better of him .
It ’ s a myth that has been repeated and reinforced over the centuries , by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the 18th century , who lauded man in the childlike ‘ state of nature ’ .
It gained traction soon after in the Romantic reaction to the Industrial Revolution , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lament about those ‘ dark satanic mills ’ .
In more recent decades , the supposedly benevolent qualities of the ‘ natural ’ and ‘ organic ’ have been espoused by the environmentalist movement , in response to the perceived deleterious effect man has had on the planet , whether it be pollution , industrialised farming , nuclear disaster or climate change .
Doctor Yourself : Natur ... Saul , Andrew W PH.D. Best Price : $ 24.27 Buy New $ 28.28 All the same , it has always been a myth .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ myth at that .
The reality of nature is this : disease , pain , parasitism , predation , cancer , infant mortality , brain tumours , faeces , wisdom teeth , eczema , infection , plagues , tempests , earthquakes , madness , ageing , decrepitude , death – and deadly viruses .
All these things are natural .
Nature in a benign light is something beautiful to behold , if we consider the lilies in the field , or raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens .
But nature ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and terror : cold , cunning , savage and utterly indifferent .
Foul and visceral , ferocious and scheming – ‘ all swoll ’ n and ulcerous , pitiful to the eye ’ , as Shakespeare put it .
At the moment , many people are beginning to talk of the coronavirus from an imagined future point of view – namely , what we will have remembered from this dreadful affair in , say , six months time .
It is hoped that we will have remembered the sense of community , how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ how we kept in touch with relatives via Zoom , how for weeks we diligently kept ourselves indoors and metres apart for the greater good .
The Treatment Trap : Ho ... Singh , Janardan Prasad Best Price : $ 8.42 Buy New $ 7.90 I do hope we do remember all this .
I do indeed hope all survivors will be grateful for being alive and live every day like a cancer survivor does : in joy and gratitude .
But I also hope we take away a more sober , rational @ @ @ @ @ @ @ remember the death , fear , paranoia and utter boredom inflicted upon the entire world in the spring of 2020 at the hands not of nasty mankind – who usually gets the blame for these things – but by nature , by a natural virus .
Nature is not our friend .
Nature is a bastard : red in tooth and claw .
Nature is mankind ’ s eternal enemy .
Our lot is a perpetual war against it .
We may be of nature , but unique to all species on this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its lethal diktats .
We transcend our origins .
This is why we have always had medicines and doctors , and in more recent centuries , hospitals to treat the poorly , and scientists to invent cures and vaccines to nature ’ s deadly defects .
Without all of this , life would be very nasty , brutish and short indeed .
The Progressive Era Murray N Rothbard Best Price : $ 17.74 Buy New $ 11.33 The Vitamin Cure for C ... Andrew W. Saul Best Price : $ 9.99 Buy New @ @

In Western culture, ‘nature’ and that which is ‘natural’ is usually evoked as something benign, pure, innocent and uncontaminated. ‘Nature’ relates to the way things should be – the natural order of things. This association is manifest most clearly in television adverts, where ‘natural’ is used to convey the message that a product is harmless and harmonious. It has sprung forth unmolested from Mother Earth. It’s an implicit opposite to ‘manmade’, that which is potentially perilous because its inherent purity has been violated by homo sapiens.
At a deep level, this myth of natural goodness has its origins in Christianity and the notion that mankind is a fallen creature, who once inhabited the untainted Garden of Eden before his innate immorality got the better of him. It’s a myth that has been repeated and reinforced over the centuries, by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in the 18th century, who lauded man in the childlike ‘state of nature’. It gained traction soon after in the Romantic reaction to the Industrial Revolution, as epitomised by William Blake’s lament about those ‘dark satanic mills’. In more recent decades, the supposedly benevolent qualities of the ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ have been espoused by the environmentalist movement, in response to the perceived deleterious effect man has had on the planet, whether it be pollution, industrialised farming, nuclear disaster or climate change. Doctor Yourself: Natur... Saul, Andrew W PH.D. Best Price: $24.27 Buy New $28.28 (as of 03:19 UTC - Details)
All the same, it has always been a myth. And a staggeringly ludicrous, even risible myth at that. The reality of nature is this: disease, pain, parasitism, predation, cancer, infant mortality, brain tumours, faeces, wisdom teeth, eczema, infection, plagues, tempests, earthquakes, madness, ageing, decrepitude, death – and deadly viruses. All these things are natural.
Nature in a benign light is something beautiful to behold, if we consider the lilies in the field, or raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. But nature’s malign aspect is a thing of awe and terror: cold, cunning, savage and utterly indifferent. Foul and visceral, ferocious and scheming – ‘all swoll’n and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye’, as Shakespeare put it.
At the moment, many people are beginning to talk of the coronavirus from an imagined future point of view – namely, what we will have remembered from this dreadful affair in, say, six months time. It is hoped that we will have remembered the sense of community, how our neighbours came to our aid, how we kept in touch with relatives via Zoom, how for weeks we diligently kept ourselves indoors and metres apart for the greater good. The Treatment Trap: Ho... Singh, Janardan Prasad Best Price: $8.42 Buy New $7.90 (as of 03:41 UTC - Details)
I do hope we do remember all this. I do indeed hope all survivors will be grateful for being alive and live every day like a cancer survivor does: in joy and gratitude. But I also hope we take away a more sober, rational lesson. I hope that we will remember the death, fear, paranoia and utter boredom inflicted upon the entire world in the spring of 2020 at the hands not of nasty mankind – who usually gets the blame for these things – but by nature, by a natural virus.
Nature is not our friend. Nature is a bastard: red in tooth and claw. Nature is mankind’s eternal enemy. Our lot is a perpetual war against it. We may be of nature, but unique to all species on this planet, we are not slaves to its lethal diktats. We transcend our origins. This is why we have always had medicines and doctors, and in more recent centuries, hospitals to treat the poorly, and scientists to invent cures and vaccines to nature’s deadly defects. Without all of this, life would be very nasty, brutish and short indeed.
Read the Whole Article
The Progressive Era Murray N Rothbard Best Price: $17.74 Buy New $11.33 (as of 07:25 UTC - Details) The Vitamin Cure for C... Andrew W. Saul Best Price: $9.99 Buy New $13.28 (as of 03:19 UTC - Details)


lewrockwell--2020-05-04--From Great Boredom Come Great Tales

From Great Boredom Come Great Tales

When indolence becomes intolerable , remembrances of things past become a lifesaver .
Charles Moore ’ s recent Spectator notes also helped ; for example , his stories about the 94-year-old Lady Penn , who is the Queen of England ’ s closest childhood friend .
It must be at least thirty years or so ago , but it had slipped my mind because at the time I had been under the influence and without sleep .
Then about twenty years ago , in New York , the designer Carolina Herrera rang me to invite me to a dinner for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her and her husband .
When introduced to Lady Penn , she laughingly told me that we had met before when “ you tried to pick me up at 10 in the morning in a petrol station on the M4.
” My host looked shocked , but Prue went on to say that I had been very funny and charming , dead drunk but all spruced up , and had invited her to Badminton House for lunch , and as a kicker had also proposed introducing her to the King of Greece .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s memory , and the mention of the petrol station brought some of it back .
I was on my way to the ducal house of Badminton for lunch , after one of those unfortunate nights of old , and had noticed an attractive lady stopping for gas .
I think or perhaps imagine she had a green or light blue scarf .
The rest is a blur , including the name-drop of my King .
And that ’ s it .
Lady Penn thought it very amusing despite the fact she @ @ @ @ @ @ @ [ 1080p HD & Audio Comp ... Buy New $ 459.99 And then there ’ s Hylton Murray-Philipson , and his wonderful recovery from the virus that was reported in the British press .
I ’ ve never met Hylton , but I had been sweet on his sister Cornelia .
Speaking to him on the telephone with her some 35 years ago , he told us a story about a Syrian-born ex–belly dancer , Patricia Kluge , who had married one of America ’ s richest men , John Kluge , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that their shooting party had killed five boars .
“ Gosh , I hope no one we know , ” answered Hylton .
She didn ’ t get it .
The lady married Virginia ’ s African-American governor Wilder after Kluge divorced her .
Once the memory gets off the pot , all sorts of goodies suddenly appear .
My great friend Timmy Hanbury had introduced me to Cornelia soon after he had commandeered an enormous bus idling in front of Annabel ’ s full of Japanese tourists .
( The driver had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Square to relieve himself . )
Timmy drove around for a while , then ran out of room in a mews , abandoned the bus while the tourists screamed for help , and returned to the bar .
When the fuzz arrived , Sidney the barman vouched that “ Mister ’ anbury ’ ad never left the club.
” The cops were certain they had their man , and they knew Sidney was covering up , but such are the joys of people who worked for Mark Birley .
( Timmy had to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ presented every year to the winner of the once-around-the-square race held at exactly 4.a.m . )
The Best of Taki Theodoracopulos

When indolence becomes intolerable, remembrances of things past become a lifesaver. Charles Moore’s recent Spectator notes also helped; for example, his stories about the 94-year-old Lady Penn, who is the Queen of England’s closest childhood friend. It must be at least thirty years or so ago, but it had slipped my mind because at the time I had been under the influence and without sleep. Then about twenty years ago, in New York, the designer Carolina Herrera rang me to invite me to a dinner for Prue Penn, who was staying with her and her husband. When introduced to Lady Penn, she laughingly told me that we had met before when “you tried to pick me up at 10 in the morning in a petrol station on the M4.” My host looked shocked, but Prue went on to say that I had been very funny and charming, dead drunk but all spruced up, and had invited her to Badminton House for lunch, and as a kicker had also proposed introducing her to the King of Greece.
Certain words or images can jolt one’s memory, and the mention of the petrol station brought some of it back. I was on my way to the ducal house of Badminton for lunch, after one of those unfortunate nights of old, and had noticed an attractive lady stopping for gas. I think or perhaps imagine she had a green or light blue scarf. The rest is a blur, including the name-drop of my King. And that’s it. Lady Penn thought it very amusing despite the fact she did not take up my offer. [1080p HD & Audio Comp... Buy New $459.99 (as of 02:27 UTC - Details)
And then there’s Hylton Murray-Philipson, and his wonderful recovery from the virus that was reported in the British press. I’ve never met Hylton, but I had been sweet on his sister Cornelia. Speaking to him on the telephone with her some 35 years ago, he told us a story about a Syrian-born ex–belly dancer, Patricia Kluge, who had married one of America’s richest men, John Kluge, and while ringing Hylton from Virginia had announced that their shooting party had killed five boars. “Gosh, I hope no one we know,” answered Hylton. She didn’t get it. The lady married Virginia’s African-American governor Wilder after Kluge divorced her.
Once the memory gets off the pot, all sorts of goodies suddenly appear. My great friend Timmy Hanbury had introduced me to Cornelia soon after he had commandeered an enormous bus idling in front of Annabel’s full of Japanese tourists. (The driver had gone out to the middle of Berkeley Square to relieve himself.) Timmy drove around for a while, then ran out of room in a mews, abandoned the bus while the tourists screamed for help, and returned to the bar. When the fuzz arrived, Sidney the barman vouched that “Mister ’anbury ’ad never left the club.” The cops were certain they had their man, and they knew Sidney was covering up, but such are the joys of people who worked for Mark Birley. (Timmy had to offer a silver cup in return, presented every year to the winner of the once-around-the-square race held at exactly 4.a.m.)
Read the Whole Article
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The Best of Taki Theodoracopulos