investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Democrats want you to pay the media’s bills

( Natural News ) The media is dying .
Its business model is defunct .
Its bias has alienated most of the country .
In the latest Pew survey , the only group that still trusts the media are Democrats .
And while so many millions are out of work , Democrats are bailing out the media .
The wave of consolidations and bankruptcies is sweeping like a fire through major papers .
Cable news will be a casualty of demographics and the end of bundling .
The end of network television is less than a decade away .
Brand @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be where Time , Newsweek , and other news magazines ended up once subscriptions collapsed .
The media is dying , but it ’ s not about to die gracefully .
It just needs to find money .
Lots of it .
Big Tech billionaires have bought classic newspapers and magazines like Time , The Washington Post , and The New Republic , but those are vanity projects and even Jeff Bezos doesn ’ t have enough money to subsidize the entire ossified infrastructure of the media .
But the only people who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are the American people .
The media ’ s Plan A has been sponging off Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook , pressuring them to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into its operations .
Its Plan B is blurring the line between lefty activist non-profits and its newsrooms with organizations like Report for America being funded by Facebook and Google to embed activists into local newspapers .
Is that going to pay the media ’ s bills ?
No .
That ’ s why there ’ s Plan C. And Plan @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : The Local Journalism Sustainability Act was introduced in Congress , backed by a coalition that includes Report for America and the National Newspaper Association , and would offer tax credits for newspaper subscriptions and tax credits for paying the salaries of the radical activists working there .
There ’ s also a $ 5,000 tax credit for advertising in newspapers .
At a time when millions of Americans are out of work , when families are faced with losing their homes and businesses , Democrats have decided that they should aggressively subsidize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ everyone else whose jobs are seen as “ non-essential ” .
The countless stores , gyms , bars , salons , and other small businesses going out of business in the epidemic of Democrat lockdowns and lootings could use this kind of bailout .
But the Democrats insist that their media messaging operations are vital and should be subsidized .
While Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick , who introduced the bill , claims that it will fund “ local newspapers ” , those local newspapers are largely owned by national operations and hedge funds .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ business , Democrats are proposing a bailout for media investors .
Rep. Kirkpatrick ’ s press release touts support from from the News Media Alliance whose board is stacked with the heads of McClatchy and USA Today , huge national chains with a combined thousands of papers , not to mention the CFO of the New York Times , and a VP at the Washington Post .
Are these the local small businesses Democrats want to subsidize ?
The Local Journalism Sustainability Act has over 40 Democrat sponsors and nearly 20 Republican sponsors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ House ’ s most extreme figures like Rep. Ted Lieu , Rep. Raul Grijalva , Rep. Eric Swalwell , and Rep. Andre Carson .
H.R .
7640 would be an outrage at any time , it ’ s a particular outrage when so many Americans are out of work and so many small businesses are going under that Democrats and some Republicans want to provide a $ 250 tax credit for newspaper subscriptions , a tax credit covering half of $ 50,000 salaries for media hacks , and $ 5,000 credits for advertising @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , hundreds , and thousands of papers are lobbying Congress .
They keep claiming that the bill will help save “ local journalism ” .
But how does the Local Journalism Sustainability Act define local journalism ?
Not based on the paper , but the readers .
As long as 51 % of the paper ’ s readers live in the same state , it ’ s considered a local paper .
Even if the paper is a subsidiary of a national chain whose real headquarters is in New York or D.C. Or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of each other .
Depending on how you measure , Washington Post readers in New York and New York Times readers in D.C. would be “ local ” .
That ’ s some “ local ” journalism .
And it ’ s no accident that it was written this way .
There ’ s nothing local about this bailout .
It will mostly go to subsidize the huge newspaper chains that are lobbying for it , while bribing businesses and readers to fund their failed business model .
Even while Democrats are destroying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ re trying to keep the media alive by exclusively offering tax credits for their political allies .
It ’ s sleazy , it ’ s slimy , and it ’ s just the beginning .
Democrat organizations like Acronym ’ s Courier Newsroom have been setting up fake local papers while Report for America has been hollowing out papers by embedding radical activists into newsrooms .
The Local Journalism Sustainability Act is testing the business model for converting the media into a bunch of political non-profits backed by taxpayers and lefty donors @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Local Journalism Sustainability Act comes from Report for America , and the American Journalism Project , which is advocating the transformation of the media to a non-profit model .
Report for America is an initiative of the GroundTruth Project which is backed by the Knight Foundation , the MacArthur Foundation , and the Ford Foundation .
The Ford Foundation is a leading backer of Black Lives Matter .
While these donors already back a network of radical messaging operations , proposals like the Local Journalism Sustainability Act allow the media to ease @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ways , maintaining corporate ownership , while having their operations subsidized by tax credits .
As the Left sets up new complex interplays between corporate media and its non-profits , the line between journalism and political advocacy blurs into a strange twilight zone in which non-profits subsidize media operations and taxpayers subsidize corporate chains as if they were non-profits , while creating something that looks very much like a state media operation .
The internet has been slowly digesting the separate parts of the media , and it doesn ’ t pay the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ funded local newspapers were wiped out by the internet .
Streaming dooms cable channels and local news , leaving behind a lot of online video .
But even digital media is being crushed by social media .
Vox , Vice , the Huffington Post , and all the digital lefty outlets were hit with layoffs after facing the impossibility of actually turning a profit .
The media can ’ t survive on its own terms .
Its business model is defunct .
Its shakedown strategies aimed at Google and Facebook have silenced countless @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to spam its content , but won ’ t preserve the media as a viable institution .
The hedge funds and private equity firms that own the media will cut costs , consolidate , and dump .
The tech and communications firms that come into possession of media outlets will shrink and then dispose of them .
That doesn ’ t mean that the media will die .
It will ‘ Pravdaize ’ .
CNN , MSNBC , and the Huffington Post will be deemed “ essential ” forms of journalism that must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much as newspapers would be subsidized .
The media will become a public institution .
Its funding will come from taxpayers in a thousand different ways and the Local Journalism Sustainability Act is the least of it .
Media activists have been cooking up a large package of tax credits , subsidies , law changes , tax code restructurings , and assorted proposals to transform the media from corporate properties into state media .
Congress should not be bailing out media tycoons while Americans go hungry .
If Americans want local papers , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they aren ’ t , maybe it ’ s time that the big chains asked why they ’ re losing subscribers and why Americans aren ’ t buying what they ’ re selling .
A majority of Americans don ’ t like and don ’ t trust the media .
They ’ ve divested from it .
The Local Journalism Sustainability Act wants to bribe Americans to read the paper with their own money .
A better idea might be to have the media pay its taxes and let Americans keep their money @

(Natural News) The media is dying. Its business model is defunct. Its bias has alienated most of the country. In the latest Pew survey, the only group that still trusts the media are Democrats.
(Article by Daniel Greenfield republished from FrontPageMag.com)
And while so many millions are out of work, Democrats are bailing out the media.
The wave of consolidations and bankruptcies is sweeping like a fire through major papers. Cable news will be a casualty of demographics and the end of bundling. The end of network television is less than a decade away. Brand names like CNN and MSNBC will soon be where Time, Newsweek, and other news magazines ended up once subscriptions collapsed.
The media is dying, but it’s not about to die gracefully. It just needs to find money. Lots of it.
Big Tech billionaires have bought classic newspapers and magazines like Time, The Washington Post, and The New Republic, but those are vanity projects and even Jeff Bezos doesn’t have enough money to subsidize the entire ossified infrastructure of the media.
But the only people who have more money than the Amazon CEO are the American people.
The media’s Plan A has been sponging off Big Tech companies like Google and Facebook, pressuring them to pour hundreds of millions of dollars into its operations. Its Plan B is blurring the line between lefty activist non-profits and its newsrooms with organizations like Report for America being funded by Facebook and Google to embed activists into local newspapers.
Is that going to pay the media’s bills? No. That’s why there’s Plan C. And Plan C is you.
H.R. 7640: The Local Journalism Sustainability Act was introduced in Congress, backed by a coalition that includes Report for America and the National Newspaper Association, and would offer tax credits for newspaper subscriptions and tax credits for paying the salaries of the radical activists working there. There’s also a $5,000 tax credit for advertising in newspapers.
At a time when millions of Americans are out of work, when families are faced with losing their homes and businesses, Democrats have decided that they should aggressively subsidize a dying industry at the expense of everyone else whose jobs are seen as “non-essential”.
The countless stores, gyms, bars, salons, and other small businesses going out of business in the epidemic of Democrat lockdowns and lootings could use this kind of bailout. But the Democrats insist that their media messaging operations are vital and should be subsidized.
While Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, who introduced the bill, claims that it will fund “local newspapers”, those local newspapers are largely owned by national operations and hedge funds. While actual local businesses go out of business, Democrats are proposing a bailout for media investors.
Rep. Kirkpatrick’s press release touts support from from the News Media Alliance whose board is stacked with the heads of McClatchy and USA Today, huge national chains with a combined thousands of papers, not to mention the CFO of the New York Times, and a VP at the Washington Post. Are these the local small businesses Democrats want to subsidize?
The Local Journalism Sustainability Act has over 40 Democrat sponsors and nearly 20 Republican sponsors. Democrat sponsors include some of the House’s most extreme figures like Rep. Ted Lieu, Rep. Raul Grijalva, Rep. Eric Swalwell, and Rep. Andre Carson.
H.R. 7640 would be an outrage at any time, it’s a particular outrage when so many Americans are out of work and so many small businesses are going under that Democrats and some Republicans want to provide a $250 tax credit for newspaper subscriptions, a tax credit covering half of $50,000 salaries for media hacks, and $5,000 credits for advertising in newspapers.
Companies that own dozens, hundreds, and thousands of papers are lobbying Congress.
They keep claiming that the bill will help save “local journalism”. But how does the Local Journalism Sustainability Act define local journalism? Not based on the paper, but the readers. As long as 51% of the paper’s readers live in the same state, it’s considered a local paper. Even if the paper is a subsidiary of a national chain whose real headquarters is in New York or D.C.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Or alternatively, they live within 200 miles of each other. Depending on how you measure, Washington Post readers in New York and New York Times readers in D.C. would be “local”.
That’s some “local” journalism. And it’s no accident that it was written this way.
There’s nothing local about this bailout. It will mostly go to subsidize the huge newspaper chains that are lobbying for it, while bribing businesses and readers to fund their failed business model.
Even while Democrats are destroying businesses with viable business models, they’re trying to keep the media alive by exclusively offering tax credits for their political allies.
It’s sleazy, it’s slimy, and it’s just the beginning.
Democrat organizations like Acronym’s Courier Newsroom have been setting up fake local papers while Report for America has been hollowing out papers by embedding radical activists into newsrooms. The Local Journalism Sustainability Act is testing the business model for converting the media into a bunch of political non-profits backed by taxpayers and lefty donors.
Beyond media associations, backing for the Local Journalism Sustainability Act comes from Report for America, and the American Journalism Project, which is advocating the transformation of the media to a non-profit model. Report for America is an initiative of the GroundTruth Project which is backed by the Knight Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. The Ford Foundation is a leading backer of Black Lives Matter.
While these donors already back a network of radical messaging operations, proposals like the Local Journalism Sustainability Act allow the media to ease into the transition by having it both ways, maintaining corporate ownership, while having their operations subsidized by tax credits.
As the Left sets up new complex interplays between corporate media and its non-profits, the line between journalism and political advocacy blurs into a strange twilight zone in which non-profits subsidize media operations and taxpayers subsidize corporate chains as if they were non-profits, while creating something that looks very much like a state media operation.
The internet has been slowly digesting the separate parts of the media, and it doesn’t pay the bills. The ads and subscriptions that funded local newspapers were wiped out by the internet. Streaming dooms cable channels and local news, leaving behind a lot of online video. But even digital media is being crushed by social media. Vox, Vice, the Huffington Post, and all the digital lefty outlets were hit with layoffs after facing the impossibility of actually turning a profit.
The media can’t survive on its own terms. Its business model is defunct. Its shakedown strategies aimed at Google and Facebook have silenced countless conservative voices, while pushing social media to spam its content, but won’t preserve the media as a viable institution. The hedge funds and private equity firms that own the media will cut costs, consolidate, and dump. The tech and communications firms that come into possession of media outlets will shrink and then dispose of them. That doesn’t mean that the media will die. It will ‘Pravdaize’.
CNN, MSNBC, and the Huffington Post will be deemed “essential” forms of journalism that must be protected by subsidizing their operations, much as newspapers would be subsidized.
The media will become a public institution. Its funding will come from taxpayers in a thousand different ways and the Local Journalism Sustainability Act is the least of it. Media activists have been cooking up a large package of tax credits, subsidies, law changes, tax code restructurings, and assorted proposals to transform the media from corporate properties into state media.
Imagine PBS and NPR multiplied by a million.
Congress should not be bailing out media tycoons while Americans go hungry. If Americans want local papers, they can buy them. And if they aren’t, maybe it’s time that the big chains asked why they’re losing subscribers and why Americans aren’t buying what they’re selling.
A majority of Americans don’t like and don’t trust the media. They’ve divested from it. The Local Journalism Sustainability Act wants to bribe Americans to read the paper with their own money.
A better idea might be to have the media pay its taxes and let Americans keep their money.
Read more at: FrontPageMag.com


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--TRUMP: “If you f*ck around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you

TRUMP: “If you f*ck around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you that have never been done before.”

TRUMP : “ If you fuck around with us , if you do something bad to us , we are @ @ @ @ @ you that have never been done before .
”

TRUMP: “If you fuck around with us, if you do something bad to us, we are going to do things to you that have never been done before.”
pic.twitter.com/C3TkBlZlhe
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) October 9, 2020


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--The Best Moments of Mike Pence Destroying Kamaltoe Hairy

And the debate from 4 years ago…

And the debate from 4 years ago…
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LM


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Pompeo has Hillary’s “33,000 missing emails” – and is releasing them

“ We ’ re doing it as fast as we can…there ’ ll be more to see before the election @

Pompeo responds to Trump’s criticism: We’ve got the emails, we’re getting them out pic.twitter.com/USAKecg79A — Acyn Torabi (@Acyn) October 9, 2020
“We’re doing it as fast as we can…there’ll be more to see before the election”
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h/t dodger007


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--NYC cancels $900M deferred payout to teachers, cites financial crisis

The de Blasio administration has canceled a long-scheduled $ 900 million deferred compensation payout to current and former teachers , @ @ @ @ @ .
The payout due this month — the last in the series of five stemming @ @ @ @ @ and 2011 — was called off as the city attempts to limit the number of @ @ @ @ @ Mayor Dean Fuleihan wrote to the teachers union Thursday .
“ It is the city @ @ @ @ @ the necessity for layoffs , and to make a retroactive payment at this time would @ @ @ @ @ ” Fuleihan wrote in a letter to Michael Mulgrew , president of the United Federation @ @ @

The de Blasio administration has canceled a long-scheduled $900 million deferred compensation payout to current and former teachers, citing the coronavirus-induced financial crisis.
The payout due this month — the last in the series of five stemming from union negotiations between 2009 and 2011 — was called off as the city attempts to limit the number of administration-wide layoffs, First Deputy Mayor Dean Fuleihan wrote to the teachers union Thursday.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
“It is the city’s desire to avoid the necessity for layoffs, and to make a retroactive payment at this time would therefore be fiscally irresponsible,” Fuleihan wrote in a letter to Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers.
nypost.com/2020/10/08/nyc-cancels-900m-deferred-compensation-payout-to-teachers/


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--NY and NJ have released the Covid19 alert app – WARNS when you’re within 6 ft of a confirmed Covid p

NY and NJ have released the Covid19 alert app – WARNS when you’re within 6 ft of a confirmed Covid positive person!

The system of the Beast is growing by leaps and bounds no thanks to the WWW and bluetooth technology !
@ @ @ @ @ — New York , along with other states in the Northeast , are taking the @ @ @ @ @ a new level .
Gov .
Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday the state has created a @ @ @ @ @ notify residents when they have come in contact with someone who has tested positive .
@ @ @ @ @ Alert NY , is free and is now available on Apple and Android devices .
@ @ @ @ @ will tell you if you were within six feet of a person who tested positive @ @ @ @ @ Cuomo said .
“ It will tell you if you ’ re in contact with @ @ @ @ @

The system of the Beast is growing by leaps and bounds no thanks to the WWW and bluetooth technology!
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — New York, along with other states in the Northeast, are taking the tracking of coronavirus cases to a new level.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday the state has created a new tracing app that will notify residents when they have come in contact with someone who has tested positive.
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The app, called COVID Alert NY, is free and is now available on Apple and Android devices.
“(The app) will tell you if you were within six feet of a person who tested positive for 10 minutes,” Cuomo said. “It will tell you if you’re in contact with a COVID-positive person.”
newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/10/01/coronavirus-covid-19-covid-alert-ny-app-andrew-cuomo/


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Canada caught building Covid-19 Quarantine camps in each province.

“ The Government of Canada ( GoC ) is currently soliciting feedback and information from industry service providers for additional @ @ @ @ @ which if built , could be used for “ other requirements ” .

Service Provider(s) for Federal Quarantine / Isolation sites (6D112-202772/A)
buyandsell.gc.ca/procurement-data/tender-notice/PW-ZL-105-38463
Toronto Locked Down Again
In the Toronto region, ICU units are now roughly 87 per cent full, the data suggests. t.co/BVMYdQCArF — CBC Toronto (@CBCToronto) October 9, 2020
Global pull for Communist control.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
“The Government of Canada (GoC) is currently soliciting feedback and information from industry service providers for additional “Federal Quarantine/Isolation sites” which if built, could be used for “other requirements”.
www.lifesitenews.com/news/politician-raises-alarm-over-trudeau-govts-plan-to-build-covid-quarantine-isolation-camps
h/t McDonald Trump


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Comms Sent,Durham Deep In The Rabbit Hole,Patriots Blocking All The Exits,Panic In DC

The [ DS ] scrambling they do not know what to do , Trump and the patriots are throwing hard @ @ @ @ @ propaganda is not working , next phase censor everything .
Durham is moving forward with @ @ @ @ @ that they will be releasing HRC emails .
It ’ s all falling apart .
@ @ @ @ @ [ DS ] , they are now desperate they do not have the upper-hand .

The [DS] scrambling they do not know what to do, Trump and the patriots are throwing hard facts at them and the propaganda is not working, next phase censor everything. Durham is moving forward with his investigation, Trump mentioned that they will be releasing HRC emails. It’s all falling apart. Comms were sent via the [DS], they are now desperate they do not have the upper-hand.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Has Our Luck Finally Run Out?

Has Our Luck Finally Run Out?

We are woefully unprepared for a long run of bad luck .
Long-term cycles escape our notice because they play out over many years or even decades ; few noticed the decreasing rainfall in the Mediterranean region in 150 A.D. but this gradual decline in rainfall slowly but surely reduced the grain harvests of the Roman Empire , which coupled with rising populations resulted in a reduced caloric intake for many people .
This weakened their immune systems in subtle ways , leaving them more vulnerable to the Antonine Plague of 165 AD .
The decline of temperatures in Northern @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ years without summer ” and failed grain harvests which reduced the caloric intake of most people , leaving them weakened and more vulnerable to the Black Plague which swept Europe in 1347 .
I ’ ve mentioned the book The Fate of Rome : Climate , Disease , and the End of an Empire a number of times as a source for understanding the impact of natural cycles on human civilization .
It ’ s important to note that the natural cycles and pandemics of 200 AD didn ’ t just cripple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ saw the collapse of the mighty Parthian Empire of Persia , the kingdoms of India and the Han Dynasty in China .
In addition to natural cycles , there are human socio-economic cycles of debt and decay of civic values and the social contract : a proliferation of parasitic elites , a weakening of state finances and a decline in the purchasing power of wages/labor .
The rising dependence on debt and its eventual collapse is a cycle noted by Kondratieff and others , and Peter Turchin listed these three dynamics as the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind that brings down empires and nations .
All three are playing out globally in the present .
In this context , the election of Donald Trump in 2016 was a political expression of long-brewing discontent with precisely these issues : the rise of self-serving parasitic elites , the decay/corruption of the social contract and state finances and the decades-long decline in the purchasing power of wages/labor .
Which brings us to karma , a topic of some confusion in Western cultures more familiar with Divine Retribution than with actions having consequences even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ essence of karma .
Broadly speaking , the U.S. squandered the opportunities presented by the end of the Cold War 30 years ago on hubristic Exceptionalism , wars of choice , parasitic elites and an unprecedented waste of resources on unproductive consumption .
Now the plan–for lack of any real plan–is to borrow trillions of dollars to fund an even more spectacular orgy of unproductive consumption , on the bizarre belief that “ money ” can be conjured out of thin air in essentially infinite quantities and squandered , and there will magically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the real world .
Actions have consequences , and after 30 years of waste , fraud and corruption being normalized by the parasitic elites while the purchasing power of labor decayed , the karmic consequences can no longer be delayed by doing more of what ’ s hollowed out the economy and society .
Which brings us to luck .
As a general rule , historians seek explanations which leave luck out of the equation .
This gives us a false confidence in the predictability and power of human will and action and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ action influence outcomes , but we do a great disservice by shunting luck into the shadows as a non-factor .
If Emperor Pius had chosen someone other than Marcus Aurelius as his successor , someone weak , vain and self-absorbed like so many of Rome ’ s late-stage emperors , then Rome would have fallen by 170 AD as the Antonine Plague crippled finances and the army , and the invading hordes would have swept the empire into the dustbin of history .
It can be argued that only Marcus Aurelius had the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Imperial treasure to raise the money needed to pay the soldiers and spend virtually his entire term in power in the front lines of battle , preserving Rome from complete collapse .
That was good judgement by Pius but also good luck .
As we ponder luck , consider the estimate that had the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago struck the Earth 30 minutes earlier or later , it would not have generated the Nuclear Winter that destroyed the dinosaurs .
( A direct hit in deep water @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but no dust cloud .
A direct hit on land would have raised a dust cloud but without the water vapor / steam generated by the vaporization of millions of gallons of sea water , the cloud wouldn ’ t have risen high enough to encircle the planet . )
That was bad luck for the dinosaurs , and good luck for the mammals who replaced them .
The global economy has been extraordinarily lucky for 75 years .
Food and energy have been cheap and abundant .
( If you think food @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about prices doubling or tripling , and then doubling again . )
In our complacency and hubris , we attribute this to our wonderful technologies , which we assume guarantee us permanent surpluses of energy and food .
The idea that technology has reached hard limits or that it could fail doesn ’ t occur to us .
We ’ ve taken good luck to be our birthright because it ’ s all we ’ ve known .
We attribute this good fortune to things within our control–technology , wise investments and policies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ these powers that we consider so godlike are insignificant doesn ’ t occur to us because we ’ ve enjoyed the favorable winds of luck without even being aware of it .
We are woefully unprepared for a long run of bad luck .
My sense is the cycles have turned and the good luck has drained from the hour-glass .
Energy and food will no longer be cheap and abundant , our luck in leadership will vanish , and our vaunted technologies will fail to maintain an abundance so vast that we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , water , resources and energy on mindless consumption .
I ’ m reminded of a line from an Albert King song , Born Under a Bad Sign ( composed by Booker T. Jones and William Bell ) : “ If it wasn ’ t for bad luck , I wouldn ’ t have no luck at all.
” The next five years might have us singing this line with feeling .

by Charles Hugh-Smith
We are woefully unprepared for a long run of bad luck.
Long-term cycles escape our notice because they play out over many years or even decades; few noticed the decreasing rainfall in the Mediterranean region in 150 A.D. but this gradual decline in rainfall slowly but surely reduced the grain harvests of the Roman Empire, which coupled with rising populations resulted in a reduced caloric intake for many people.
This weakened their immune systems in subtle ways, leaving them more vulnerable to the Antonine Plague of 165 AD.
The decline of temperatures in Northern Europe in the early 1300s led to “years without summer” and failed grain harvests which reduced the caloric intake of most people, leaving them weakened and more vulnerable to the Black Plague which swept Europe in 1347.
I’ve mentioned the book The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire a number of times as a source for understanding the impact of natural cycles on human civilization.
It’s important to note that the natural cycles and pandemics of 200 AD didn’t just cripple the Roman Empire; this same era saw the collapse of the mighty Parthian Empire of Persia, the kingdoms of India and the Han Dynasty in China.
In addition to natural cycles, there are human socio-economic cycles of debt and decay of civic values and the social contract: a proliferation of parasitic elites, a weakening of state finances and a decline in the purchasing power of wages/labor.
The rising dependence on debt and its eventual collapse is a cycle noted by Kondratieff and others, and Peter Turchin listed these three dynamics as the key drivers of decisive discord of the kind that brings down empires and nations.
All three are playing out globally in the present.
In this context, the election of Donald Trump in 2016 was a political expression of long-brewing discontent with precisely these issues: the rise of self-serving parasitic elites, the decay/corruption of the social contract and state finances and the decades-long decline in the purchasing power of wages/labor.
Which brings us to karma, a topic of some confusion in Western cultures more familiar with Divine Retribution than with actions having consequences even without Divine Intervention, which is the essence of karma.
Broadly speaking, the U.S. squandered the opportunities presented by the end of the Cold War 30 years ago on hubristic Exceptionalism, wars of choice, parasitic elites and an unprecedented waste of resources on unproductive consumption.
Now the plan–for lack of any real plan–is to borrow trillions of dollars to fund an even more spectacular orgy of unproductive consumption, on the bizarre belief that “money” can be conjured out of thin air in essentially infinite quantities and squandered, and there will magically be no consequences of this trickery in the real world.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Actions have consequences, and after 30 years of waste, fraud and corruption being normalized by the parasitic elites while the purchasing power of labor decayed, the karmic consequences can no longer be delayed by doing more of what’s hollowed out the economy and society.
Which brings us to luck. As a general rule, historians seek explanations which leave luck out of the equation. This gives us a false confidence in the predictability and power of human will and action and cycles. Yes, cycles and human action influence outcomes, but we do a great disservice by shunting luck into the shadows as a non-factor.
If Emperor Pius had chosen someone other than Marcus Aurelius as his successor, someone weak, vain and self-absorbed like so many of Rome’s late-stage emperors, then Rome would have fallen by 170 AD as the Antonine Plague crippled finances and the army, and the invading hordes would have swept the empire into the dustbin of history.
It can be argued that only Marcus Aurelius had the experience and character to sell off the Imperial treasure to raise the money needed to pay the soldiers and spend virtually his entire term in power in the front lines of battle, preserving Rome from complete collapse.
That was good judgement by Pius but also good luck.
As we ponder luck, consider the estimate that had the meteorite that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago struck the Earth 30 minutes earlier or later, it would not have generated the Nuclear Winter that destroyed the dinosaurs. (A direct hit in deep water would have spawned a monstrous tsunami, but no dust cloud. A direct hit on land would have raised a dust cloud but without the water vapor / steam generated by the vaporization of millions of gallons of sea water, the cloud wouldn’t have risen high enough to encircle the planet.)
That was bad luck for the dinosaurs, and good luck for the mammals who replaced them.
The global economy has been extraordinarily lucky for 75 years. Food and energy have been cheap and abundant. (If you think food and energy are expensive now, think about prices doubling or tripling, and then doubling again.)
In our complacency and hubris, we attribute this to our wonderful technologies, which we assume guarantee us permanent surpluses of energy and food. The idea that technology has reached hard limits or that it could fail doesn’t occur to us.
We’ve taken good luck to be our birthright because it’s all we’ve known. We attribute this good fortune to things within our control–technology, wise investments and policies, etc. The possibility that all these powers that we consider so godlike are insignificant doesn’t occur to us because we’ve enjoyed the favorable winds of luck without even being aware of it.
We are woefully unprepared for a long run of bad luck. My sense is the cycles have turned and the good luck has drained from the hour-glass. Energy and food will no longer be cheap and abundant, our luck in leadership will vanish, and our vaunted technologies will fail to maintain an abundance so vast that we can squander the finite wealth of soil, water, resources and energy on mindless consumption.
I’m reminded of a line from an Albert King song, Born Under a Bad Sign (composed by Booker T. Jones and William Bell): “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.”
The next five years might have us singing this line with feeling.


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--They are going to steal it. And if you speak out against it, Twitter, Facebook, and Google will ensu

They are going to steal it .
And if you speak out against it , Twitter , Facebook , and @ @ @ @ @ your message .

They are going to steal it. And if you speak out against it, Twitter, Facebook, and Google will ensure no-one hears your message.t.co/6m7voLWNSA — Allum Bokhari (@LibertarianBlue) October 9, 2020
They are going to steal it. And if you speak out against it, Twitter, Facebook, and Google will ensure no-one hears your message.
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VK


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--More Than 90% Of Gulf Of Mexico Oil Production Shut In As Hurricane Approaches

More than 90 % of all oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has been shut in ahead of the latest hurricane set to rip through offshore oil country , the BSEE said on Thursday afternoon .
And the production cuts as a result are welcomed news as oil demand continues to press down on prices .
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Thursday that 272 platforms have been evacuated , or 42 % of all platforms in the Gulf of Mexico .
That is in addition to 70 % of all rigs and 88 % @ @ @ @ @ @ @ total , 91.53 % of all oil production—or about 1.7 million bpd–has been shut in , along with 61.82 % of all gas production .
Shell has shut in production at all of nine platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico “ as a precautionary measure ” , adding that all drilling operations had been paused .
Murphy Oil has evacuated some workers and facilities ahead of the storm , as has Equinor , BP , Chevron , and BHP .
Several storms this season have shut in production in the Gulf , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ recently ending with Sally .
The hurricane that shut in the most oil and gas production in the Gulf , however , was Laura , which made landfall in late August .
At its peak , Laura forced the evacuation of all 16 dynamically positioned drilling rigs , 11 of the 12 positioned drilling rigs moored to the seafloor , and nearly half of the 643 offshore production platforms operating in the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico .
The peak shut-in of crude oil production occurred on August 25 , two days before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent of the region ’ s average daily crude oil production in 2019 was shut in , the EIA said earlier this month .
WTI and Brent were both trading up by nearly 4 percent on Thursday afternoon , with WTI trading up $ 1.24 per barrel at $ 41.24 and Brent trading up $ 1.43 at $ 43.42 per barrel .
By Friday morning , crude prices were slightly down with WTI trading at $ 41.06 , 0.32 % down on the day , and with Brent changing hands at $ 43.19 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ day .

By Julianne Geiger
More than 90% of all oil production in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has been shut in ahead of the latest hurricane set to rip through offshore oil country, the BSEE said on Thursday afternoon.
And the production cuts as a result are welcomed news as oil demand continues to press down on prices.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said on Thursday that 272 platforms have been evacuated, or 42% of all platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. That is in addition to 70% of all rigs and 88% of all dynamically posited rigs.
In total, 91.53% of all oil production—or about 1.7 million bpd–has been shut in, along with 61.82% of all gas production.
Shell has shut in production at all of nine platforms in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico “as a precautionary measure”, adding that all drilling operations had been paused.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
Murphy Oil has evacuated some workers and facilities ahead of the storm, as has Equinor, BP, Chevron, and BHP.
Several storms this season have shut in production in the Gulf, starting with Cristobal in June and most recently ending with Sally. The hurricane that shut in the most oil and gas production in the Gulf, however, was Laura, which made landfall in late August.
At its peak, Laura forced the evacuation of all 16 dynamically positioned drilling rigs, 11 of the 12 positioned drilling rigs moored to the seafloor, and nearly half of the 643 offshore production platforms operating in the Federal Offshore Gulf of Mexico. The peak shut-in of crude oil production occurred on August 25, two days before Laura’s landfall, when 84 percent of the region’s average daily crude oil production in 2019 was shut in, the EIA said earlier this month.
WTI and Brent were both trading up by nearly 4 percent on Thursday afternoon, with WTI trading up $1.24 per barrel at $41.24 and Brent trading up $1.43 at $43.42 per barrel. By Friday morning, crude prices were slightly down with WTI trading at $41.06, 0.32% down on the day, and with Brent changing hands at $43.19, some 0.35% down on the day.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--ABC TV Studios Under Siege | GLENDALE CA

GLENDALE , CALIFORNIA – Armenian demonstrators took over the outside area of ABC7 in Glendale California blocking the entrance/exit with @ @ @ @ @ cover their story .
At one point all ABC employees working the 11:00pm news shift @ @ @ @ @ they could not leave the studio or grounds .
As of 1:00am no ins or @ @ @ @ @ They are trying to sneak employees out a back entrance .
ABC brought out an @ @ @ @ @ people and basically appeasing them so they would allow employee ’ s like Dallas Raines @ @ @ @ @ had been there since 10am .
Unknown at this time if it will affect morning @ @ @ @ @ not ) .

GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA – Armenian demonstrators took over the outside area of ABC7 in Glendale California blocking the entrance/exit with demands to Go Live and cover their story. At one point all ABC employees working the 11:00pm news shift were told by security that they could not leave the studio or grounds. As of 1:00am no ins or outs of ABC allowed. They are trying to sneak employees out a back entrance. ABC brought out an after hours news crew interviewing people and basically appeasing them so they would allow employee’s like Dallas Raines to go home, who had been there since 10am. Unknown at this time if it will affect morning news. (most likely not).
loudlabs.com/news/los-angeles-california/abc-tv-studios-under-siege-glendale-ca-89149/
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h/t MT


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Pompeo to release Hillary emails, Trump to make speech to hundreds on the WH lawn Saturday

This weekend is going to be one for the record books .
Trump to speak live to visitors from the @ @ @ @

This weekend is going to be one for the record books.
Trump to speak live to visitors from the WH balcony Saturday.
www.politico.com/news/2020/10/09/pompeo-hillary-clinton-emails-428392
politicalwire.com/2020/10/09/pompeo-says-hell-release-hillary-clinton-emails/
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www.forbes.com/sites/andrewsolender/2020/10/09/trump-to-hold-rally-with-hundreds-of-supporters-on-white-house-lawn-saturday/#4469827e47c9
h/t Dronenerd


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Australian government: “NO JAB, NO PAY”

Australian government: “NO JAB, NO PAY”

‘ No Jab No Pay is an Australian policy initiative which withholds three state payments – Child Care Benefit , @ @ @ @ @ Family Tax Benefit – for parents of children under 20 years of age who are @ @ @ @ @ a recognised catch-up schedule , and imposes fines on childcare centres that admit unvaccinated children @ @

‘No Jab No Pay is an Australian policy initiative which withholds three state payments – Child Care Benefit, the Child Care Rebate and Family Tax Benefit – for parents of children under 20 years of age who are not fully immunised or on a recognised catch-up schedule, and imposes fines on childcare centres that admit unvaccinated children.’


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--UH OH! Houston, we have a problem. MASSIVE crowd at least two dozen strong show out for Harris/Biden

UH OH! Houston, we have a problem. MASSIVE crowd at least two dozen strong show out for Harris/Biden in Yuma

CNN : Tens of thousands of Biden ’ s supporters were abducted by aliens at his last rally .

.@JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris bus came through Yuma! So many supporters excited to finally be able to cast their vote for #BidenHarris pic.twitter.com/fWbfEGCjxc — Unclesam (@Unclesa91623885) October 9, 2020
Doug Emhoff (Harris’ husband) Campaigns For Biden-Harris In Colorado
denver.cbslocal.com/photo-galleries/2020/10/09/doug-emhoff-campaigns-for-biden-harris-in-colorado/
CNN: Tens of thousands of Biden’s supporters were abducted by aliens at his last rally.
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Cut to video that shows a dozen people.
WATCH: Joe Biden takes in Mariachi music then talks to young man with lasso in Las Vegas, Nevada: "I've got a couple of people I'd like you to lasso." pic.twitter.com/vfmsDLFUlW — The Hill (@thehill) October 9, 2020
h/t McDonald Trump


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Deja Vu Showgirls announces mass layoffs

BAKERSFIELD , Calif. ( KGET ) — Deja Vu Showgirls said it has laid off 84 employees as the coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ and it can ’ t operate at full capacity .

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Deja Vu Showgirls said it has laid off 84 employees as the coronavirus continues to impact its running and it can’t operate at full capacity.
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www.kget.com/news/local-news/deja-vu-showgirls-announces-mass-layoffs/


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Victorians face $200 for wearing the wrong type of mask. WTF?

I have to wear a certain type of mask every moment I ’ m outside or face $ 200 fine @ @ @ @ @ a fitted face mask that covers the nose and mouth .
This means that face @ @ @ @ @ scarves on their own will no longer be considered a sufficient face covering .
To @ @ @ @ @ for this change , these rules will be enforced from 11:59pm on 11 October.
” @ @ @ @ @ day and we are still forced to wear face masks The announcement was made on @ @ @ @ @ period of two weeks was offered to allow people to prepare for the change .
@ @ @ @ @ face masks when they leave their homes as restrictions ease and movements increases .
The @ @ @ @ @ more important and obvious , ” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said .
“ I remind @ @ @ @ @ enforce these rules .
”

I have to wear a certain type of mask every moment I’m outside or face $200 fine.
“You must wear a fitted face mask that covers the nose and mouth. This means that face shields, bandanas, or scarves on their own will no longer be considered a sufficient face covering.
To give Victorians time to prepare for this change, these rules will be enforced from 11:59pm on 11 October.”
Source:
www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/face-masks-vic-covid-19
14 day average cases – 9.5, in metro Melbourne, it’s 0.4 cases in Regional Victoria.
Not even 10 cases a day and we are still forced to wear face masks
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The announcement was made on September 27 and a grace period of two weeks was offered to allow people to prepare for the change.
“All Victorias must wear face masks when they leave their homes as restrictions ease and movements increases. The effectiveness of masks is even more important and obvious,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said.
“I remind people that Victoria Police can enforce these rules.”
Source:
www.gold1043.com.au/lifestyle/rules-around-face-masks-to-change-in-victoria-this-weekend/
AL


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--MAJOR! California fire investigators seize PG&E equipment

SAN FRANCISCO ( AP ) — Fire investigators looking into what caused a wildfire that killed four people in far Northern California have taken possession of equipment belonging to Pacific Gas and Electric , the utility reported Friday .
PG & E said in a filing with the Public Utilities Commission that investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection seized some of its electrical equipment near where the Zogg Fire started Sept. 27. fox40.com/news/california-connection/cal-fire-investigators-seize-pge-equipment/ The fire erupted in Shasta County during high winds and quickly grew , killing four people in the community of Igo , population @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Tehama County .
As of Friday , it had scorched 88 square miles ( nearly 228 square kilometers ) and destroyed more than 200 buildings , about half of them homes .
It was almost fully contained .
The utility said it does not have access to the evidence collected by Cal Fire , which has yet to determine a cause for the fire .
bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/california-fire-investigators-seize-pge-utility-equipment PG & E , the nation ’ s largest utility , recently emerged from bankruptcy stemming from financial fallout from several devastating wildfires caused by its utility @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and destroyed more than 27,000 homes and other buildings in 2017 and 2018 .
Customers in the area where the fire started , near Zogg Mine Road and Jenny Bird Lane north of Igo , are served by a 12,000-volt PG & E circuit .
On the day the Zogg Fire began , the utility ’ s automated equipment in the area “ reported alarms and other activity between approximately 2:40 p.m. and 3:06 p.m. , ” PG & E told regulators .
The line was then de-activated .
The Shasta County Sheriff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victims as Alaina Michelle Rowe , 45 , who was found dead along a road on Sept. 28 .
The sheriff ’ s department said another victim was a minor but did not report the identity .
KRCR-TV in Redding reported that Rowe and her eight-year-old daughter Feyla died as they tried to escape the fire .
martinsvillebulletin.com/news/national/california-fire-investigators-seize-utility-equipment/article_59b4f9ac-1da6-5584-928f-8d182cbac1de.html

Video news:
www.kron4.com/video/california-fire-investigators-seize-pge-equipment/5926097/
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Fire investigators looking into what caused a wildfire that killed four people in far Northern California have taken possession of equipment belonging to Pacific Gas and Electric, the utility reported Friday.
PG&E said in a filing with the Public Utilities Commission that investigators with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection seized some of its electrical equipment near where the Zogg Fire started Sept. 27.
fox40.com/news/california-connection/cal-fire-investigators-seize-pge-equipment/
The fire erupted in Shasta County during high winds and quickly grew, killing four people in the community of Igo, population 600. It later spread to neighboring Tehama County. As of Friday, it had scorched 88 square miles (nearly 228 square kilometers) and destroyed more than 200 buildings, about half of them homes. It was almost fully contained.
The utility said it does not have access to the evidence collected by Cal Fire, which has yet to determine a cause for the fire.
bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/california-fire-investigators-seize-pge-utility-equipment
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
PG&E, the nation’s largest utility, recently emerged from bankruptcy stemming from financial fallout from several devastating wildfires caused by its utility equipment that killed more than 100 people and destroyed more than 27,000 homes and other buildings in 2017 and 2018.
Customers in the area where the fire started, near Zogg Mine Road and Jenny Bird Lane north of Igo, are served by a 12,000-volt PG&E circuit. On the day the Zogg Fire began, the utility’s automated equipment in the area “reported alarms and other activity between approximately 2:40 p.m. and 3:06 p.m.,” PG&E told regulators. The line was then de-activated.
The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office identified one of the victims as Alaina Michelle Rowe, 45, who was found dead along a road on Sept. 28. The sheriff’s department said another victim was a minor but did not report the identity. KRCR-TV in Redding reported that Rowe and her eight-year-old daughter Feyla died as they tried to escape the fire.
martinsvillebulletin.com/news/national/california-fire-investigators-seize-utility-equipment/article_59b4f9ac-1da6-5584-928f-8d182cbac1de.html
h/t McDonald Trump


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--No, “Coronavirus” Hasn’t Thrown 100 Million Into Extreme Poverty…The LOCKDOWNS Did That

( Natural News ) For the first time in recorded history , world leaders who are supposed to have access to cutting-edge research and science , closed down their countries , shuttered their economies and ordered their people locked away , for the most part , in response to a new virus pandemic , COVID-19 .
Predictably , thousands of businesses and firms closed .
Factories shut down , producing shortages of consumer goods .
Hundreds of millions of people , worldwide , lost their jobs , many for good since a sizable percentage of those jobs are never coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ World Bank , tens of millions , globally , are now living in “ extreme poverty , ” allegedly because of the Chinese Wuhan virus .
The coronavirus pandemic has thrown between 88 million and 114 million people into extreme poverty , according to the World Bank ’ s biennial estimates of global poverty .
The reversal is by far the largest increase in extreme poverty going back to 1990 when the data begin [ s ] , and marks an end to a streak of more than two decades of declines in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which the World Bank defines as living on less than $ 1.90 a day , or about $ 700 a year .
The World Bank now estimates a total of between 703 million and 729 million people are in extreme poverty , and that the number could rise further in 2021 .
Let ’ s get one thing straight : ‘ The virus ’ hasn ’ t caused this poverty , it was caused by our reaction to the virus .
The vast majority of the world ’ s countries believed the early @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incorrect models — predicting death on a “ Black Plague/Spanish Flu ” scale .
Within a month of the pandemic , however , the world already had enough data on illnesses and deaths to prove that COVID-19 was never going to be anything like a black plague/Spanish flu .
But still , the lockdowns of economies continued .
Jobs were lost ; businesses began to go bankrupt and close .
In the U.S. , these ridiculous lockdowns and other business activity and social gathering restrictions are continuing nearly seven months later , after @ @ @ @ @ @ @ only have to ‘ shut down ’ for a few weeks to a month , at most , to ‘ bend the curve ’ of the virus .
The smartest among us knew that was a recipe for disaster .
The smartest among us being the Swedes , of course ; they never shut down and now the country is practically virus-free .
In America , states like South Dakota that did not shutter their economies and order citizens to cower in fear ( instead of just ensuring that we take care of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better , economically , than we are doing nationally .
Overall , the U.S. economic recovery that began in June and ran into July and August has now stalled again thanks to new coronavirus restrictions in some of our biggest , wealthiest states like Texas , California and New York .
What ’ s also clear by now is that the sustained lockdowns are an effort by Democrats and # NeverTrump Republican governors to destroy the magnificent economy President Trump and Republicans built through a combination of tax cuts , trade deals and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ In three years ’ time , Trump and the GOP had the U.S. economy completely turned around ; it was the polar opposite of Barack Obama ’ s moribund 1.5-1.8 percent average GDP growth .
So while its true that the ‘ coronavirus ’ pandemic is real , what ’ s also true is that the pandemic did not cause the poverty we ’ re seeing now .
The lockdowns and the policies of purposeful economic depravation are what is driving the dramatic increases in poverty — increases that can and would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ went away and the coronavirus was allowed to burn itself out by moving through our populations , as though it isn ’ t already .

by JD Heyes via Natural News
(Natural News) For the first time in recorded history, world leaders who are supposed to have access to cutting-edge research and science, closed down their countries, shuttered their economies and ordered their people locked away, for the most part, in response to a new virus pandemic, COVID-19.
Predictably, thousands of businesses and firms closed. Factories shut down, producing shortages of consumer goods. Hundreds of millions of people, worldwide, lost their jobs, many for good since a sizable percentage of those jobs are never coming back.
And, according to the World Bank, tens of millions, globally, are now living in “extreme poverty,” allegedly because of the Chinese Wuhan virus.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
The coronavirus pandemic has thrown between 88 million and 114 million people into extreme poverty, according to the World Bank’s biennial estimates of global poverty.
The reversal is by far the largest increase in extreme poverty going back to 1990 when the data begin[s], and marks an end to a streak of more than two decades of declines in the number of the extremely impoverished, which the World Bank defines as living on less than $1.90 a day, or about $700 a year.
The World Bank now estimates a total of between 703 million and 729 million people are in extreme poverty, and that the number could rise further in 2021.
Let’s get one thing straight: ‘The virus’ hasn’t caused this poverty, it was caused by our reaction to the virus. The vast majority of the world’s countries believed the early models — those grossly inaccurate, criminally incorrect models — predicting death on a “Black Plague/Spanish Flu” scale. Within a month of the pandemic, however, the world already had enough data on illnesses and deaths to prove that COVID-19 was never going to be anything like a black plague/Spanish flu.
We are primarily funded by readers. Please subscribe and donate to support us!
But still, the lockdowns of economies continued. Jobs were lost; businesses began to go bankrupt and close.
In the U.S., these ridiculous lockdowns and other business activity and social gathering restrictions are continuing nearly seven months later, after we were told that we’d only have to ‘shut down’ for a few weeks to a month, at most, to ‘bend the curve’ of the virus.
The smartest among us knew that was a recipe for disaster. The smartest among us being the Swedes, of course; they never shut down and now the country is practically virus-free.
In America, states like South Dakota that did not shutter their economies and order citizens to cower in fear (instead of just ensuring that we take care of our most vulnerable populations) are doing better, economically, than we are doing nationally. Overall, the U.S. economic recovery that began in June and ran into July and August has now stalled again thanks to new coronavirus restrictions in some of our biggest, wealthiest states like Texas, California and New York.
What’s also clear by now is that the sustained lockdowns are an effort by Democrats and #NeverTrump Republican governors to destroy the magnificent economy President Trump and Republicans built through a combination of tax cuts, trade deals and cutting of regulations and red tape. In three years’ time, Trump and the GOP had the U.S. economy completely turned around; it was the polar opposite of Barack Obama’s moribund 1.5-1.8 percent average GDP growth.
So while its true that the ‘coronavirus’ pandemic is real, what’s also true is that the pandemic did not cause the poverty we’re seeing now. The lockdowns and the policies of purposeful economic depravation are what is driving the dramatic increases in poverty — increases that can and would be reversed, quickly, if these policies went away and the coronavirus was allowed to burn itself out by moving through our populations, as though it isn’t already.
Sources include:
NaturalNews.com
WSJ.com


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--US commission on presidential debates cancels second match-up between Trump, Bide

# URGENT | US commission on presidential debates cancels second match-up between Trump , Biden – report t.co/ZJ3CADY0eT # SputnikUrgent @ @ @ @ @

#URGENT | US commission on presidential debates cancels second match-up between Trump, Biden – report t.co/ZJ3CADY0eT#SputnikUrgent @JoeBiden @realDonaldTrump pic.twitter.com/Zj5i8ruCWb
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) October 9, 2020


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Mapped: America’s $2 Trillion Economic Drop, by State and Sector

It only took a handful of months for the U.S. economy to reel from COVID-19 ’ s effects .
As unemployment rates hit all-time highs and businesses scrambled to stay afloat , new data shows that current dollar GDP plummeted from nearly $ 21.6 trillion down to $ 19.5 trillion between Q1 ’ 2020 and Q2 ’ 2020 ( seasonally adjusted at annual rates ) .
While all states experienced a decline , the effects were not distributed equally across the nation .
This visualization takes a look at the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis , uncovering @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which industries were most affected by COVID-19 related closures and uncertainty .
Change in GDP by State and Industry Between March-June 2020 , stay-at-home orders resulted in disruptions to consumer activity , health , and the broader economy , causing U.S. GDP to fall by 31.4 % from numbers posted in Q1 .
The U.S. economy is the sum of its parts , with each state contributing to the total output—making the COVID-19 decline even more evident when state-by-state change in GDP is taken into consideration .
Note : Industry changes are reported @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of total current dollar GDP between Q1 and Q2 .
A total of 18 states took the biggest hit within the Accommodation & Food Services sector , which was also the industry that suffered the most nationally , dropping by 4.38 % .
Highly dependent on tourism , Hawaii bore the brunt of decline in this industry with a 18.85 % drop .
According to The Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii ( UHERO ) , a second wave of infections and expired financial assistance were behind this contraction .
Next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sector was most impacted in 17 states between the two quarters , falling the most in Tennessee ( -6.25 % ) .
The most resilient industry amid the pandemic was Financial Services .
In the state of Delaware , home to major banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Capital One , the sector actually grew by 4.47 % .
However , Delaware ’ s GDP ultimately still fell due to contractions in other sectors .
Looking at it another way , the worst-performing state by industry also becomes clear when the change in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ –Q2 ’ 2020 GDP contributions are measured .
Of the 21 industries profiled , Nevada shows up in the lower end of the spectrum four times .
With many U.S. business leaders expecting a second contraction to occur in the economy , will future figures reflect further declines , or will states manage to bounce back ?

by visualcapitalist
It only took a handful of months for the U.S. economy to reel from COVID-19’s effects.
As unemployment rates hit all-time highs and businesses scrambled to stay afloat, new data shows that current dollar GDP plummeted from nearly $21.6 trillion down to $19.5 trillion between Q1’2020 and Q2’2020 (seasonally adjusted at annual rates).
While all states experienced a decline, the effects were not distributed equally across the nation. This visualization takes a look at the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, uncovering the biggest declines across states, and which industries were most affected by COVID-19 related closures and uncertainty.
Change in GDP by State and Industry
Between March-June 2020, stay-at-home orders resulted in disruptions to consumer activity, health, and the broader economy, causing U.S. GDP to fall by 31.4% from numbers posted in Q1.
The U.S. economy is the sum of its parts, with each state contributing to the total output—making the COVID-19 decline even more evident when state-by-state change in GDP is taken into consideration.
Search: State Real GDP Change Biggest Industry Decline Industry Change
(p.p.) Alabama -29.6 Durable Goods Manufacturing -5.02 Alaska -33.8 Transport and Warehousing -9.43 Arizona -25.3 Accommodation and Food Services -4.2 Arkansas -27.9 Health Care and Social Assistance -4.57 California -31.5 Accommodation and Food Services -4.43 Colorado -28.1 Accommodation and Food Services -3.85 Connecticut -31.1 Health Care and Social Assistance -4.61 Delaware -21.9 Health Care and Social Assistance -4.19 Florida -30.1 Accommodation and Food Services -5.3 Georgia -27.7 Accommodation and Food Services -3.43 🇺🇸 U.S. -31.4 Accommodation and Food Services -4.38 Previous Next
Note: Industry changes are reported in percentage points (p.p.) of total current dollar GDP between Q1 and Q2.
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A total of 18 states took the biggest hit within the Accommodation & Food Services sector, which was also the industry that suffered the most nationally, dropping by 4.38%.
Highly dependent on tourism, Hawaii bore the brunt of decline in this industry with a 18.85% drop. According to The Economic Research Organization at the University of Hawaii (UHERO), a second wave of infections and expired financial assistance were behind this contraction.
Next, the Health Care & Social Assistance sector was most impacted in 17 states between the two quarters, falling the most in Tennessee (-6.25%).
The most resilient industry amid the pandemic was Financial Services. In the state of Delaware, home to major banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Capital One, the sector actually grew by 4.47%. However, Delaware’s GDP ultimately still fell due to contractions in other sectors.
Each Industry’s Worst Performing State
Looking at it another way, the worst-performing state by industry also becomes clear when the change in percentage points (p.p.) Q1’–Q2’2020 GDP contributions are measured. Of the 21 industries profiled, Nevada shows up in the lower end of the spectrum four times.
With many U.S. business leaders expecting a second contraction to occur in the economy, will future figures reflect further declines, or will states manage to bounce back?


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--Trump Now Starting to Starve Iranians Into Submission

As the great anonymous investigative journalist who writes the “ Moon Over Alabama ” blog documented on October 9th , U.S. President Donald Trump signed , on October 8th , Executive Order 13902 , which will apply crushing penalties to any entity which trades with Iran , and this will finally close off the entry of food and medicine into Iran , so as to complete the destruction of Iran that has already been done previously by Trump and the U.S. Congress ( the sanctions resolutions ) , and by the global coronavirus epidemic .
The writer points out also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such as China , Russia , and perhaps even India , might be willing to suffer those crushing penalties , in order not to buckle to an international dictatorship — basically , in order to preserve their own national sovereignty .
He also notes that this crushing blow to Iran could have been perpetrated particularly at the present time in order for Trump ’ s failing re-election campaign to be able to draw in enough financial donations “ from the Zionist lobby ” ( basically , billionaires in the U.S. and Israel ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his chances of re-election .
Trump would not have been able to win the Presidency in 2016 if he had not been backed by $ 82 billion of political donations by the U.S-Israeli casino-operator Sheldon Adelson ( plus many other Zionists , some of whom are Christians — in addition , of course , to other types of billionaires , who don ’ t happen to place Israel ’ s interests above all others ) .
Wall Street Journal on August 27th and titled Furthermore , the article that some speculate might have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this , which was published as an opinion-piece in the Zioniston August 27th and titled “ How the U.S. Can Finally Cut Off Tehran ’ s Financial Oxygen ” , was written by Mark Dubowitz , CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies , which was founded by Adelson and other Zionist billionaires ; and was co-written by Richard Goldberg , who is part of FDD ’ s “ Team ” ; and the biography of him there states , about his time on the U.S. National Security Council , that , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ President Trump ’ s maximum pressure campaign on Iran.
” So , perhaps Trump had been considering this action previously , and is doing it only now due to the Presidential campaign .
In any case , this is yet another example of regime-change in action , from the U.S. regime , which had perpetrated a coup in Iran in 1953 , in order to cut U.S.-and-allied oil companies in on Iran ’ s oil , just as that oil was being nationalized by Iran ’ s popular Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who ( as a secular ) was opposed by Iran ’ s clerics .
That clergy ended up taking over the country when the U.S.-imposed dictator Shah finally became overthrown in 1979 , which restoration of Iranian control has precipitated , ever since 1979 , the U.S. regime ’ s determination to grab Iran , once again — a determination that is supported especially by the regimes in UK , Netherlands , and Israel .
The countries of “ the Seven Sisters ” oil companies are owned and controlled by U.S. , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ companies are controlled by Christian billionaires .
So , in the current operation ( the current U.S.-regime operation for regime-change in a foreign country ) , it ’ s really a partnership between Christian and Jewish billionaires , which is now squeezing Iran so as to maximize the desperateness of the Iranian people , in order to force them to overthrow the existing Government , and bring back in foreign control , over their Government ( and over their oil ) .
However , for Donald Trump , right now , it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his Presidency over the United States in order for him to continue to serve the interests of his chief financial backers .
Joe Biden , by contrast , is backed by Democratic Party billionaires .
Most of America ’ s oil billionaires are Republicans , not Democrats .
In America , the issues that are the most important to the public are not the issues that are the most important to the billionaires ; and , so , the people who actually choose the two Parties ’ Presidential and congressional nominees — which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ little , if at all , about the problems that the American people face .
Whichever of the two nominees will win , will certainly fulfill his promises to his billionaire backers , and will likely not even push very hard to move forward toward realization his promises to the voters — which latter promises are typically waiting for decades ( if ever ) to be realized .
However bad this is for the American people , it is far worse for the populations in countries such as Afghanistan , Iraq , Syria @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Venezuela , Iran , Russia , and China .
But it is very good for U.S.-and-allied billionaires .

Eric Zuesse
As the great anonymous investigative journalist who writes the “Moon Over Alabama” blog documented on October 9th , U.S. President Donald Trump signed, on October 8th, Executive Order 13902, which will apply crushing penalties to any entity which trades with Iran, and this will finally close off the entry of food and medicine into Iran, so as to complete the destruction of Iran that has already been done previously by Trump and the U.S. Congress (the sanctions resolutions), and by the global coronavirus epidemic. The writer points out also a possibility that a few countries, such as China, Russia, and perhaps even India, might be willing to suffer those crushing penalties, in order not to buckle to an international dictatorship — basically, in order to preserve their own national sovereignty. He also notes that this crushing blow to Iran could have been perpetrated particularly at the present time in order for Trump’s failing re-election campaign to be able to draw in enough financial donations “from the Zionist lobby” (basically, billionaires in the U.S. and Israel) so as to be able to increase his chances of re-election.
Trump would not have been able to win the Presidency in 2016 if he had not been backed by $82 billion of political donations by the U.S-Israeli casino-operator Sheldon Adelson (plus many other Zionists, some of whom are Christians — in addition, of course, to other types of billionaires, who don’t happen to place Israel’s interests above all others).
Wall Street Journal on August 27th and titled Furthermore, the article that some speculate might have sparked Trump to think seriously about doing this, which was published as an opinion-piece in the Zioniston August 27th and titled “How the U.S. Can Finally Cut Off Tehran’s Financial Oxygen” , was written by Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which was founded by Adelson and other Zionist billionaires ; and was co-written by Richard Goldberg, who is part of FDD’s “Team” ; and the biography of him there states, about his time on the U.S. National Security Council, that, “On the NSC, Richard coordinated President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran.” So, perhaps Trump had been considering this action previously, and is doing it only now due to the Presidential campaign.
In any case, this is yet another example of regime-change in action, from the U.S. regime, which had perpetrated a coup in Iran in 1953, in order to cut U.S.-and-allied oil companies in on Iran’s oil, just as that oil was being nationalized by Iran’s popular Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh, who was a nationalist and a progressive, who (as a secular) was opposed by Iran’s clerics. That clergy ended up taking over the country when the U.S.-imposed dictator Shah finally became overthrown in 1979, which restoration of Iranian control has precipitated, ever since 1979, the U.S. regime’s determination to grab Iran, once again — a determination that is supported especially by the regimes in UK, Netherlands, and Israel. The countries of “the Seven Sisters” oil companies are owned and controlled by U.S., UK and Dutch, billionaires. Those companies are controlled by Christian billionaires. So, in the current operation (the current U.S.-regime operation for regime-change in a foreign country), it’s really a partnership between Christian and Jewish billionaires, which is now squeezing Iran so as to maximize the desperateness of the Iranian people, in order to force them to overthrow the existing Government, and bring back in foreign control, over their Government (and over their oil).
However, for Donald Trump, right now, it is a desperate move for him to retain his Presidency over the United States in order for him to continue to serve the interests of his chief financial backers. Joe Biden, by contrast, is backed by Democratic Party billionaires. Most of America’s oil billionaires are Republicans, not Democrats.
In America, the issues that are the most important to the public are not the issues that are the most important to the billionaires; and, so, the people who actually choose the two Parties’ Presidential and congressional nominees — which is being done in primaries — care little, if at all, about the problems that the American people face. Whichever of the two nominees will win, will certainly fulfill his promises to his billionaire backers, and will likely not even push very hard to move forward toward realization his promises to the voters — which latter promises are typically waiting for decades (if ever) to be realized.
However bad this is for the American people, it is far worse for the populations in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Yemen, Iran, Venezuela, Iran, Russia, and China. But it is very good for U.S.-and-allied billionaires.
—————


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-10--We No Longer Have Markets – Only Interventions

The actual quote is : “ There are no markets anymore , just interventions – GATA.
” The only people who deny that Central Banks and Governments prop up the financial markets are those who are completely ignorant of the facts , tragically naive or those who stand to benefit from some way from the market manipulation .
Et tu , Bill Fleckenstein ?
Of course , a populace which enables and allows the head Central Banker to stand in public and convince everyone that creating inflation is good for the economy – when in fact price inflation of necessities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country ( Chapwood Index ) , far out-pacing income growth , can probably be convinced of anything .
Rather than trust hearsay from me or GATA , how about from the horse ’ s mouth – the former White House Chief of Staff just 5 days ago : It ’ s hard to label those who make an effort to expose the truth as “ conspiracy theorists ” when in fact those “ conspiracies ” are confirmed to be “ conspiracy truths ” by those who are involved with the activity being labeled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , financial and political system in the U.S. ( and in most of the rest of the world ) is skating on thin ice .
I said 17 years ago that the corporate , billionaire and political elitists who are pulling the strings on our system will print money and manipulate the markets until they ’ ve wiped every last crumb of middle class wealth off the table .
And then they ’ ll let the Comex default and the dollar collapse .
The money printing by the Fed enables these people to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wealth from your pocket to their ’ s .
That the purpose of a fiat currency based system and that ’ s what is happening now .
It ’ s also why I convert a meaningful percentage of my earnings into physical gold and silver ( emphatically not GLD or SLV ) .
The devaluative effect of the money printing on the dollar is the reason gold has risen in price from $ 35 to $ 1900 since 1971 , with the majority of that rise in the value of gold occurring after @ @

by Dave Kranzler of Investment Research Dynamics
The actual quote is: “There are no markets anymore, just interventions – GATA.” The only people who deny that Central Banks and Governments prop up the financial markets are those who are completely ignorant of the facts, tragically naive or those who stand to benefit from some way from the market manipulation. Et tu, Bill Fleckenstein?
Of course, a populace which enables and allows the head Central Banker to stand in public and convince everyone that creating inflation is good for the economy – when in fact price inflation of necessities is running around 10% across the country (Chapwood Index), far out-pacing income growth, can probably be convinced of anything.
Rather than trust hearsay from me or GATA, how about from the horse’s mouth – the former White House Chief of Staff just 5 days ago:
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It’s hard to label those who make an effort to expose the truth as “conspiracy theorists” when in fact those “conspiracies” are confirmed to be “conspiracy truths” by those who are involved with the activity being labeled a “conspiracy.”
The entire economic, financial and political system in the U.S. (and in most of the rest of the world) is skating on thin ice. I said 17 years ago that the corporate, billionaire and political elitists who are pulling the strings on our system will print money and manipulate the markets until they’ve wiped every last crumb of middle class wealth off the table. And then they’ll let the Comex default and the dollar collapse.
The money printing by the Fed enables these people to prop up the market s AND transfer wealth from your pocket to their’s. That the purpose of a fiat currency based system and that’s what is happening now. It’s also why I convert a meaningful percentage of my earnings into physical gold and silver (emphatically not GLD or SLV). The devaluative effect of the money printing on the dollar is the reason gold has risen in price from $35 to $1900 since 1971, with the majority of that rise in the value of gold occurring after 2000.
That end game is growing closer.


investmentwatchblog--2020-10-12--BOLD STRATEGY, COTTON: Buzz grows around Andrew Cuomo as Biden’s attorney general pick.

Democrats are so convinced that New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo could be considered for Joe Biden ’ s attorney general that aides at the National Governors Association , which Cuomo chairs , are looking into contingencies for replacing him , two sources familiar with the situation tell Axios .
What we ’ re hearing : Some Democratic donors in Cuomo ’ s orbit tell Axios that the governor is being pushed for the job and that Biden would consider him , based on their long friendship .
Why it matters : The AG would be among the most politically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Biden administration .
• The Justice Department will face pressure to investigate Trump-era officials — and perhaps Trump himself — for wrongdoing in office .
• Biden ’ s AG also would manage the federal response to police violence , social unrest and systemic racism , and the AG could seek to use federal powers to blunt state abortion restrictions .
● Andrew Cuomo ’ s Book Deal and Why the Worst Rise to the Top in Politics .
● No , Governor Cuomo , COVID-19 Is Not ‘ Just a Metaphor @ @ @ @ @ @ @ obscures his own failed leadership as the coronavirus claimed the lives of 30,000 New Yorkers .
And finally , from America ’ s Newspaper of Record : Man Who Believes He ’ s On The Right Side Of History Announces Crackdown On The Jews .
UPDATE : The above Axios article notes that “ Biden is clearly fond of Cuomo , but he ’ s also committed — and under pressure — to name a racially and gender-diverse Cabinet , including the marquee posts .
Names like former acting AG Sally Yates and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ list of AG candidates.
” Perhaps the burnout from governing Georgia during these tumultuous times is driving the latter candidate ’ s desire for a career change .

via axios:
Democrats are so convinced that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo could be considered for Joe Biden’s attorney general that aides at the National Governors Association, which Cuomo chairs, are looking into contingencies for replacing him, two sources familiar with the situation tell Axios. What we’re hearing: Some Democratic donors in Cuomo’s orbit tell Axios that the governor is being pushed for the job and that Biden would consider him, based on their long friendship. Why it matters: The AG would be among the most politically sensitive — and high-profile — jobs in a Biden administration.
The Justice Department will face pressure to investigate Trump-era officials — and perhaps Trump himself — for wrongdoing in office.
Biden’s AG also would manage the federal response to police violence, social unrest and systemic racism, and the AG could seek to use federal powers to blunt state abortion restrictions.
Flashbacks:
● Andrew Cuomo’s latest nursing home deception.
● ‘The gov killed Nana’ banner flies over NYC, LI beaches to troll Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
● Andrew Cuomo’s Book Deal and Why the Worst Rise to the Top in Politics.
● Andrew Cuomo, Serial Killer.
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● No, Governor Cuomo, COVID-19 Is Not ‘Just a Metaphor’: Cuomo’s tortured analogy obscures his own failed leadership as the coronavirus claimed the lives of 30,000 New Yorkers.
● Chris Cuomo’s COVID-19 Interviews With Andrew Cuomo Are Disgraceful.
And finally, from America’s Newspaper of Record: Man Who Believes He’s On The Right Side Of History Announces Crackdown On The Jews.
UPDATE: The above Axios article notes that “Biden is clearly fond of Cuomo, but he’s also committed — and under pressure — to name a racially and gender-diverse Cabinet, including the marquee posts. Names like former acting AG Sally Yates and Stacey Abrams are also likely on a list of AG candidates.”
Perhaps the burnout from governing Georgia during these tumultuous times is driving the latter candidate’s desire for a career change.
h/t Ed