Strange Days, Indeed

By
eric
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Everyone is wondering what is going to happen and the thing is, none of us knows. That makes everyone understandably nervous. It’s hard to live normally when “normal” is no more. And – worse – no longer expected.

What to do?

Some of us try to go about our business normally – because what else is one supposed to do? It might all end tomorrow – or next week. But today it’s time to get up, get dressed and go to work. To write those checks and pay those bills. To cut the grass, if it looks like it needs to be cut.

It must have felt this way to people back in the fall of 1962, when it felt like it soon might all be over. Except it probably felt different, too, on account of the somewhat comforting thought that the people who were making the decisions that would determine whether the missiles flew seemed at least to not be outright maniacs. Or idiots.

JFK could complete a sentence, indicating he could complete a thought. This meant he had them. No small thing.

Kruschev, on the other side, had worked side-by-side one of the worst (maybe the worst) human monster to ever walk the Earth. Though himself complicit in much of what his master did, he was not the same species of thing as his master. Evidence in support of his humanity being he didn’t continue things as his master left them – and did much to end what his master had done. Kruschev was a hard man, certainly. But not an evil man.

Not a nihilistic man, either.

Neither wanted to see the world incinerated and both were willing to work together to prevent it, even at the cost of some of the “prestige” that usually matters more to psychopaths than anything else.

Are people like that in control of missiles today? Are people like that in control of largely anything today?

The dread answer we all don’t want to really look directly in the face is – no, they aren’t. At least, they aren’t here.

In Russia, there is sanity. Putin, like Kruschev, is a hard man. But he is not an insane man or a foolish man. He has been trying to prevent the missiles from flying, to a degree that does him at least as much credit as a human being as Kruschev deserved to be accorded. Kruschev’s master would never have abided what Putin has; probably because Stalin liked war and didn’t mind people dying in abundance so long as he lived.

In America, we have a pathological narcissist geriatric propped up by 25-year-old nihilists who write the speeches he can’t read without also reading “end quote” or “pause here” parts.

The alternative to him is another geriatric pathological narcissist who can, at least, complete a sentence (sort of) but who has as far as anyone can tell never reflected upon what he has said or done – and thought perhaps he ought to have done things differently. Much less given open utterance to such thoughts. That would be “weak,” is probably what this man thinks – and so he doesn’t think much about it.

This leaves us with a great deal to think about.

What will we do when whatever happens next inevitably happens?

And it will happen no matter what happens. We are at that point now – and there is no getting around it anymore. There will be a war – perhaps the big one, this time. Or a big collapse – even bigger than the so-far-biggest-one before that happened just a couple of years shy of 100 years ago. The former may happen sooner, if the forces propping up geriatric number one see it as the only way to prop up their power. The latter may happen later – if geriatric number two is the one they have selected to pin-the-economic-collapse tail on the spray-tanned donkey.

It tends to make one nervous. And that, of course, is what both sides of the same side want.

So let’s not be.

Sure, it’s difficult not to be. But difficult doesn’t mean impossible. It was also difficult to be kicked out of (or denied entry to) supermarkets during the late psychotic break if one did not go along with the madness. But it was still possible to eat and retain one’s sanity (as well as self-respect). It was the same with the drugs they pushed. It wasn’t easy to Just Say No. But it was possible.

And those who did are much less anxious now.

The thing the forces of chaos want most of all is for most of us to not realize just how much control we have over our lives – if only we’d seize it and assert it. They want us passive and anxious and looking for – here it comes – “leadership.”

One of theirs, that is.

The missiles may fly this time. And the collapse is likely coming, regardless. These things are out of our control. But we can control how we will deal with such things if and when they happen. It will be difficult, certainly.

But it is never impossible.

All we have to do is do it.

. . .

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82 COMMENTS

  1. Anyone here remember Event 201, the coronavirus pandemic simulation that took place in late 2019, right before the COVID was declared a “pandemic”? Some shady characters seem to want to enact a similar war game for bird flu, right before the 2024 (s)election. And the U.S. government recently awarded Moderna a $176 MILLION bird flu vaccine contract.

    Are we going to see ANOTHER fear porn campaign launched by the government AND establishment media? A call for social distancing, MASS testing, MASS killings of livestock, SHUTDOWNS of small farms, AND mask & vaxx mandates? Whatever these malicious people try or even decree with regard to Bird flu, DO NOT COMPLY. Mass compliance with nonsensical, draconian measures during COVID is one thing that made it possible for government to keep expanding the tyranny surrounding it. And yet, there are people who STILL think that those draconian measures were to “Protect public health” despite OVERWHELMING evidence to the contrary. Instead, it caused MASSIVE damage to modern society that remains to this day and will likely linger for YEARS if not DECADES to come.

    • You see, according to Cocteau’s plan I’m the enemy, ’cause I like to think;
      I like to read. I’m into freedom of speech and freedom of choice. I’m the
      kind of guy likes to sit in a greasy spoon and wonder – “Gee, should I have
      the T-bone steak or the jumbo rack of barbecued ribs with the side order of
      gravy fries?” I WANT high cholesterol. I wanna eat bacon and butter and
      BUCKETS of cheese, okay? I want to smoke Cuban cigar the size of Cincinnati
      in the non-smoking section. I want to run through the streets naked with
      green jello all over my body reading playboy magazine. Why? Because I
      suddenly might feel the need to, okay, pal? I’ve SEEN the future. Do you
      know what it is? It’s a 47-year-old virgin sitting around in his beige
      pajamas, drinking a banana-broccoli shake, singing
      “I’m an Oscar Meyer Wiener”.

    • Hi John,

      I don’t doubt they may try such a thing – but my hope is that if they do, this time, there would be mass resistance – not just a few refuseniks. I suspect worse is coming. War. As in a real one, here. Or an economic collapse and martial law.

      • Hi Eric,

        The demented world leaders who are in office now, including Joe Biden, are certainly pushing war under guise of “Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaving Democracy for Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeev!” and/ or “Stopping Big Bad Putin”. If a BIG war does break out, the Biden Thing may well call for suspending the upcoming election ala what Zelensky did in Ukraine.

        And then of course, there are people in this country who’ve been so propagandized into hating Trump they think he’s literally Hitler 2.0. If Trump should become President again, are they going to go after people who voted for him, even if they’re black or minorities? How ironic that would be, considering that they’ve constantly bleated for years about how they “Care about minorities”.

    • ‘President Joe Biden on Thursday mistakenly referred to Vice President Kamala Harris as “Vice President Trump” in the opening question of his highly-anticipated solo press conference in Washington.

      “Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president [if] I think she’s not qualified to be president,” Biden said, confusing his second-in-command with his November election opponent, former President Donald Trump.’ — CNBC

  4. Why didn’t they call for Biden not to run before the primaries? It is very anti-democratic to have the congress (controlled by big donors), the media (controlled by big donors) and the fundraisers/hollywood (controlled by big donors) sandbagging the president when voters no longer have any say as to who will be the nominee. Not that we ever really do anyway–but at least it goes to us for a vote. Surprised more people are not concerned about that. The Democrats have been saying the Republicans are a danger to the democracy, but it seems Garland should be sending the FBI after these big donors and their congressional/media minions who are conspiring to obstruct the carrying out of the primary vote results as to who should be the Democratic presidential nominee.

  5. Khrushchev was born in eastern Ukraine, maybe western Russia. He married a Ukrainian woman and wore Ukrainian shirts.

    He was Ukrainian, not Russky.

    Russians inhabit farmlands 30 miles south of me, they work and live just like all of us do.

    At one time, Russians flew the Russian flag down there.

    It’s a free country, don’t knock it. It’s Germans from Russia, not Ukraine. Odessa, Texas. How’d that happen?

    I’m going to remove my shoe, pound it on the podium, and mock you nutty Americans.

    We will bury you – Nikita Khrushchev

    You know what they say in the Russian army, toughky shitsky.

    Ukraine will remain in Russian hands.

    That’s the fight.

  7. Who’s more pathological, the country’s “leaders” or the folks
    who voted for them?

    My political button reads: “Don’t blame me I voted Libertarian”

  8. “whatever happens next”

    I have an idea what could happen next – the stock bubble pops. The stock market is poised to this, it is like an over ripe fruit ready to drop. The stock market (and the housing market) are both in the stratosphere, and neither has had a big correction, like a 1930’s correction for a century. It is an understatement to say the stock market is overdue for a crash. The market is currently surging near all time highs, the SPX has been making all time highs daily.

    And it could keep going up, or a bad inflation report sends it down. If there is a big uptick in inflation, the Fed will have to tighten, pivot expectations will fail, the market could plunge. And why should inflation be tamed, they are running trillion dollar deficits every 90 days!

    House values are also in super-bubble territory. A house can be valued at 100 times the monthly rent. If rent is 1200, then the house is worth 120,000. No houses out west can be bought anywhere near that standard real estate valuation, they are all 3 to 5 times overvalued – and rents are stuck where they are because of incomes.

    Today the mockingbird media cackles about Ukraine, Kiev, Zelensky. Just a while back it was Afghanistan in the daily MSM lies, but the empire failed, now they don’t even mention it. With Russia pounding Ukraine into dust, how soon until they stop talking about that fail? Ukraine, Kiev, and Zelensky WILL BE SOON FORGOTTEN I guarantee it.

    The government is run by lunatics. Insane criminal psychopaths – who waste huge amount of monies on wars they have no business supporting. They care nothing about the blood they spill, the lives they ruin, and they are never brought to the Hague for a good hanging. The entire Biden administration needs to be hanged, for accessory to genocide in Gaza. Aiding and abetting a genocide is the same legally as committing genocide. Biden is a monster. So is Netanyahu. So is Nikki Haley, and nearly all of Congress.

    I would like to see Biden strung up, and who is under that rubber mask. Hmmm … we haven’t seen the actor Jim Carey on the Hollywood talk shows since Biden took office, must be on a photo shoot right now, can’t be interviewed.

    Candice Owens outed Brigitte Macron as a man. She, like, Michelle Obama, was born a male. Brigitte was born Jean-Micheal Trogneux. She(he) is the likely father of Emmanuel Macron, Jean Michael transitioned to a female and took his dead sister’s name, then when Emmanuel was 15, and “she” was 40, they got married.

    That information is being outed now. Brigitte Macron is the biological father of Emmanuel Macron. Shocked? I am not, the elites are nearly all inverts. The world is run by a secretive tranny sex cult, and has been for a long time.

    https://amg-news.com/alert-this-is-the-biggest-political-scandal-in-human-history-the-shocking-truth-behind-the-first-lady-of-france-brigitte-macron-transgender-past-revealed-the-first-lady-of-france-is-actua/

    • Evidently this Rumble clip is from yesterday. I am shocked — shocked — that I read nothing of “Biden’s” bizarre, off-color remark in the Lügenpresse (APe News), despite several paragraphs about “Biden’s” cognitive decline.

      Like ‘doctor’ Jill, media lapdogs — 95% Democrats — instinctively cover for ‘Joe.’

      Tomorrow he’s got a ‘big boy press conference’ [his staff’s term] coming up. Maybe he’ll say it again, or something even worse. Meanwhile, Hunter is amusing himself on the Resolute desk while Dad ventures out:

      https://ibb.co/ngmV3YF

      *sniff-sniff, sniff-sniff*

      • ‘If someone close to you has dementia, you might notice that they stop following social rules and behave in a way that’s very out of character for them.

        ‘This is called disinhibition, and it can look like: rude, tactless or hurtful comments;
        sexual comments or inappropriate flirting.’ — dementia.org

        ‘You’re a lying, dog-faced pony solider.‘ — ‘Biden’ to 21-year-old female questioner in a town hall, Feb 9, 2020

      • If you look closely at his facial expression, he’s actually lucid here. His expression clearly reads, “I can’t believe that’s what the teleprompter says, but that’s what I must say.” He pauses, leans in, squints, then decides to go ahead.

        That’s actually worse than his dementia episodes. On so many levels.

    • ‘Wow. Was that video real?’ — helot

      An MSM outlet called the dailydot — which features multiple video clips from multiple sources of “Biden’s” dumbfoundingly tasteless, obscene remark — tells us, Don’t believe your lying ears! :

      ‘Biden instead says: “Mr. Secretary, you’ve guided this alliance through one of the most consequential periods in its history. I realize I—as I was talking to your wife—I personally asked you to extend your service. Forgive me.”

      https://www.dailydot.com/debug/joe-biden-slept-with-nato-officials-wife-debunk/

      You can listen to this clip all day long … but ‘to’ is missing … and the verb is not ‘talking.’

      Disinhibition: CASE CLOSED.

      • So, it’s quite like the Brandon thing at NASCAR. “I realize I—as I was talking to your wife”. Mmm-hmm. Sure.

        At first I thought maybe it was an A.I. video creation or something.

        I think you’re right, Disinhibition: CASE CLOSED.

        • Indeed, Helot –

          My mom – who is in the advanced stages of this disease – would loudly say very obnoxious things in public while she was still more-or-less “normal.” Only she wasn’t anymore. It took us awhile to figure out something was wrong. And by that time, she was much worse.

  12. Time to get an old garden tractor, preferably one with a manual transmission, not hydrostatic; you can use it to snow or dirt plow, plough the soil for your garden, till, generate power with a PTO or charge car or pump batteries in the tractor itself, tow, and of course mow. Just has to be a real one or anything from the 50s to about 1980. They have points and often a backup pull start and no chip electronics

    • What’s wrong with hydrostatic?

      A manual tranny on a garden tractor is a bit like driving a car with a manual through 6 hours of stop & go bumper to bumper traffic. Not a good time. Or, fast.

      At least, on my lawn it would be. …Doing other activities is a whole nother story.
      I am thinking of getting a snow blade for a garden tractor with hydrostatic. I’ve yet to read why not.

      • Nothing for light work or mowing, its great, but not as efficient for plowing the dirt or towing over 1000 lbs. Not sure if you have hydraulic only PTO or a live attachment point, but I would think a live attachment would also be better to run a generator vs relying on fluid movement. As far as I know, that is an expensive part that may be hard to find on an older model, and cannot easily be fixed. Plus I would think there would be more potential for leaks that functionally matter. Full size tractors are not hydrostatic. I know there are plenty of heady duty hydrostatics out there and there are vids of them plowing, but it seems like there is more potential for failure.

        • Actually there are full size hydrostatic tractors. My city made the mistake of buying one for general use/street cleaning/smow removal. It was recommended by a farmer who loved that you could dial down the speed to a literal crawl for field work, but it turns out to be terrible for what we need.

          I really like hydrostatic for mowing, but also keep mechanical 1960s vintage JDs around for tilling, plowing, and rough use.

  13. It’s much harder for the warmongers to get the average citizen to want to go to war with another country’s people, because we can now have communication with the “enemy.” During the 20th century, there was no communication, so it was much easier to vilify the Germans, Japanese or Russians to make the average American hate those people.

    Does any American citizen really hate the Russian or Chinese people? Of course, with that said, these MIC sociopaths will try anyway.

    • Mr. Liberty, et al,

      Unfortunately, among my generation it seems that whipping up animus towards other peoples from other countries is the norm. Our problem is that totems like Biden, Trump and RFK Jr. all amount to puppets…it matters not one whit who the public face of empire is. What we have really amounts to Burnham’s managerial state. Our government is run by bureaucrats who have power but no oversight. For Orwell’s take on it have a look at https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/second-thoughts-on-james-burnham/

      The inefficiencies resulting from such an arrangement will result in total collapse, just as in the USSR. What we have to fear is that we have no Gorbachev to allow the process to be essentially bloodless. Oh, and the PtB are queueing up the next fear psyop with bird flu…..I doubt it’s going to work this time.

  14. “… the narrative is everywhere: “Trump will oversee a crash in America similar to 1929. […]

    The agenda will be to put conservative and liberty movement principles on trial and paint them as ideals of calamity. Meritocracy, individualism, independence, personal liberty, responsibility and discipline, free markets, private property, everything that makes up the foundations of western civilization is going to be put on the pyre. Giving Trump an easy win against a cognitive deficient like Biden (or any other weak candidate) might be a setup; letting conservatives gain a moment of power only to find they’re sitting on the throne of a crumbling castle. […]

    At the very least there will be organized leftist riots in major cities across the US.”…

    https://alt-market.us/trumps-return-get-ready-for-chaos-to-be-unleashed-and-blamed-on-you/

    BLM Duxe II? …Because, the 1st one was so much fun?

    Glad I don’t live in The City anymore.

    • Yes. Here’s why the powers that be are ok with another Trump presidency:

      “What happens when Biden walks away? All of that economic rigging disappears, and then the real data comes out while Trump is in office. Maybe WWIII kicks off, too. And guess who will be blamed? The fingers will point at Trump, but they will also point at YOU.”

    • Hi helot,

      The 2010 Rockefeller Foundation report has already stated that this will occur. There could be puppeteers behind the scenes pulling strings or maybe it is the Universe providing us a lesson in humbleness.

      One thing is consistent: the world (and its people) are out of control. Maybe, we all need to be taken down a few pegs. Social media, government intrusion, AI, technology, etc. have replaced pride and the satisfaction of hard work with material justification and a lack of human intimacy.

      Our parents and grandparents lived through the Great Depression. Are we so weak that we are unable to the same? If the grid goes down and gasoline runs dry are we unable to survive and rebuild? Today’s generations have something that previous generations do not…the ability and knowledge to rebuild. We know what we have to do. Human beings have lived through the Bubonic Plague, Firebombing Raids, and the Year 536. We didn’t die out then, we will not die out now.

      Will it suck? Absolutely. But, just as we see towns and countries rebuild after losing everything in a wildfire, tornado, or hurricane we can expect the human heart and spirit to triumph against defeat.

      • RG,

        I think you’re right; history certainly says you are. The question I have is: how LONG will the rebuilding take? Will we live to see it happen? IOW, will those of us presently alive endure nothing but the inevitable SUCK that the rebuilding will entail? For those over a certain age, I don’t think that they’ll live to see the rebuilt society.

        • My thinking, too MarkyMark.

          In ~2013 I bought a rusty beater pickup to use through the hard times & then easily be tossed by the side once the rebuilding took place & a better one would be more affordable & easy to come by.

          Thought maybe everything would be well on the upswing by now.

          …The party hasn’t even started yet and the old people are still at the tables.

          RG mentions “rebuild”. It won’t be too long now & I’ll be too old to rebuild Jack.

        • Hi Mark,

          You are right…not everyone will see the end of the rebuild just as everyone did not live to see the end of the Great Depression. Life continues on. Babies will be born and people will die.

          I believe preparedness is the safest bet, but that doesn’t guarantee quicker or easier results. I would urge people to pay down debt, continue to service and maintain their assets, stockpile food, etc. At the same time we must continue to live and thrive. Waiting for the next shoe to drop and going through life with a burden of shouldas, couldas, and wouldas just causes one sleepless nights and high blood pressure.

          The economy will go out in a whimper, not a bang, and everything will not fall at once. Also, people and communities that band together will come out quicker and stronger than their counterparts.

          • I think that the economy will see a slow and steady decline; it won’t be a dramatic collapse. If nothing else, a dramatic collapse would spoil the plans our “betters” have for us; a quick, dramatic collapse will wake people up, not to mention make them angry. As Gerald Celente always says, when people have nothing to lose, they lose it.

            I keep an eye on things, but I don’t worry too much; it won’t do much good anyway.

            Right now, I’m in the process of stockpiling parts for my bicycles, refrigerator, etc.; I stockpile what’s likely to break. For my bikes, I’m not doing that solely for preparedness purposes, though that’s on my mind; my bikes are old, and as such, certain parts are getting hard to get. I scan eBay regularly, and if I see a NOS part that I might need in the future, I get it while the gettin’ is good. For example, I found NOS derailleurs for one of my 38 year old road bikes, so I ordered them.

            For cars or motorcycles, it depends on whether or not it was popular when it was new. For example, anyone who has a Honda Accord or Toyota Camry of any vintage will have an easy time getting parts, as a gazillion of them were made. OTOH, if someone owns a car or motorcycle that was made only for a year or so and sold in small numbers, the story may be different; for them, finding parts at all will be a challenge, so they should stock up for future needs.

            Depending on our needs, we’ll have to get creative for sure.

          • “Waiting for the next shoe to drop and going through life with a burden of shouldas, couldas, and wouldas just causes one sleepless nights and high blood pressure.”

            No doubt, RG. This is important to remember. I’m gifted with a mind for endless paranoia, myself, and the just the everyday stresses of the homesteading life are taking their toll. But the trade-off truly is that I don’t worry quite as much about the manmade catastrophes that may likely one day befall the big cities. The calamity will touch everyone, but it’s best if they don’t land a punch squarely to your nose.

            Also, however, I agree about the economy ending with a whimper, most likely. Most of horrors of modern times are more accurately described as a persistent malaise rather than a spectacular, Hollywood-style cataclysm.

      • RE: “Today’s generations have something that previous generations do not…the ability and knowledge to rebuild.”

        I dunno about that. The, “Today’s generations” I encounter mostly don’t know anything, can’t fix anything, & don’t care that they don’t know.

        I relish it when I come across an older person who isn’t retired yet who actually knows something.

        Heck, most younger people I encounter can just barely hand back change at the cash register. Forget about counting the change back, they can’t do it.

        So far as I can tell, most of, “Today’s generations” do indeed have something that previous generations did not… zero work ethic.

        • Hi helot,

          There is nothing like the possibility of starving for one to quickly find their work ethic. Yes, today’s younger generations have been bedazzled with video games and social media accounts, but when all that disappears the family will hand young Jimmy a hoe and a fishing rod and little Susie an apron and a water canner. It will be an adjustment, but instincts will kick in.

          Plus each generation usually believes the generation after it is lazier than they are. 🙂

  15. The difference between the current pending disaster, and all those previous, is that this current disaster will affect the entire world, thanks to the “indispensable” US. Which will not hesitate to incinerate the planet to prove they are “indispensable”. Que Doctor Strangelove.

  16. Senile Joe just promised Ziolinsky all manner of weapons, missiles, etc. all compliments of us tax slaves, while our own infrastructure is falling apart all around us. IMHO that’s more than sufficient grounds for treason for him and most of Clowngress. He also promised NATO membership for Keeeeev, despite Putin’s clear warnings. It’s the Cuban missile crisis in reverse and our “leaders” are too arrogant to understand that.

  17. RE: “What will we do when whatever happens next inevitably happens?”

    I have been learning from the off-gridders, like this pair:

    https://www.youtube.com/@OFFGRIDwithDOUGSTACY

    As a just-in-case backup plan I have been applying some of their methods to my on-grid home. Seems like a good use of time.
    My weakest link is a sump pump. During the Spring thaw the pump can run as often as every 5 minutes. I have a 110 volt backup pump wired to a switch that automatically transfers power from the house to an inverter connected to a 100 AMP Hour 12-volt AGM battery connected to a trickle charger/battery maintainer.

    I didn’t do the calculations (lazy, do this) my plan was for the battery to run the pump if the power goes out while I’m asleep long enough for me to get up & get a genny running.
    I’m thinking about getting a portable power station to replace, or use in conjunction with, the AGM battery. I’ve yet to do the calculations of what size I need (lazy, do this). I wonder how reliable portable power stations are & how many years I can expect to get out of them.

    A 4000Wh LFP Battery costs ~ $3,700, half the price I paid for my ’98 Lincoln Navigator 6 years ago. Whole lotta money.
    I wonder if these LFP batteries are much like the Tesla batteries all you guys discuss at length? Ticking bombs while charging? That sorta thing.
    It sure seems like a good idea to use an LFP battery & then charge it with a genny, as opposed to constantly running a genny 24/7. I just don’t know.

    Will the power go out for 24 hours someday? Most likely.
    Will the power go out for months or years someday? …

    What to do. What to do.

    • Hey Helot,

      I’m not sure where you’re shopping, but I bought my set of LiFePO4 batteries for ~$4,000, and their capacity is 15,000Wh.

      They don’t have nearly the same capacity for self-immolation as other Li-ion chemistries. In fact, I’m not sure the same phenomenon is even possible. I don’t worry about it. They are great batteries and perform exceptionally well. They theoretically will last 4,000 cycles or more if you don’t abuse them, which is about 11 years if you consider every day a cycle.

      I’m not sure where you are in the world, but there is probably sunlight at least much of the time. Use solar panels. I know they’re demonized in right-wing circles, but they’re cheap these days, and you can buy enough of them to give yourself a full charge on most days, you just need the right controller to handle the wattage.

      Have a generator for back up, sure. Maybe for your purposes, a generator is fine. But it you want off-grid power, relying on one these days 24/7 is just unnecessary and frankly stupid. You’ll be paying out the ass for fuel, and have to be constantly getting more, not to mention if fuel supplies are cut.

    • Helot,

      As I understand it, the LFP batteries are much safer; they’re not likely to combust. However, their energy density isn’t quite the same as their more explosive Li-Ion counterparts.

      • Marky,

        That’s right, and hence their use in vehicles has been limited, but increasing, as though they’re a little heavier, they’ll also take a bit more abuse. They don’t have to spend so much time in the “Goldilocks-zones” of charge percentage and temperature.

        Also, if you think of 4,000 cycles at 80%, even an electric car with 200 miles range should get 200 miles*0.8*4,000 = 640,000 miles of life out of LFP batteries. Of course, most people really don’t drive like that, and who knows if it would actually play out that way.

        But I will attest that, so far, my LFP batteries have been great. Night and day better than the lead-acid batteries I’ve used over the years.

  18. 50 year old weapons systems that are due for replacement. That replacement cost could be $Trillions. Why not blast ’em off and see what happens?

    https://youtu.be/A1Kl6bQ8hxo?si=-Cwzks1pP3PkmIT-

    Fact is, the hypersonic missiles could probably destroy a good percentage/majority of the warheads in high altitude, prior to detonation. Sure, there’s bound to be radioactive debris from a high-altitude explosion, but spread out enough it won’t add much more than background radiation, and the big chunks can be easily located with aerial sensors. These tube-age systems are great feats of engineering, but can’t hold a candle to even the most basic microprocessor driven defense weapons of today.

    It’s all just posturing and justification for new nukes. Putin is just the justification.

  19. I read this interesting article by Steve McCann from the American Thinker:
    https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2024/07/biden_s_blackmail.html

    So, Brandon isn’t going anywhere for the near future or likely thru the election. No matter what Marxist-Democrat party elites say or do, Brandon has some leverage to play. Biden-Inc has been a corrupt enterprise with a lot to lose. Brandon is not going to allow himself to be exposed to the Orangeman’s DOJ if he loses and will pre-emptively *Self-Pardon* himself, Hunter, his brother and Dr. Jill and the whole family. There is nothing in the constitution prohibiting the president pardoning himself, our founders never contemplated such open corruption. This could be challenged up to the Supreme court but that would take years and buy lots of time and shade for Brandon. When Ford pardoned Nixon (to which Nixon had not been convicted of any crime, he had just quit his presidency) it was a pre-emptive pardon which had never been done before. Technically not valid. It was controversial, showed favoritism from one Republican to another, and sent the election right into the peanut farmers hands. If the Marxist-Democrats play the 25th amendment on Brandon, he can threaten them he will immediately *Self-Pardon* which will send media shock waves and likely guarantee the Orangeman the election. If the Marxist-Democrats really want Brandon gone, then they will have to negotiate and pay a heavy price in either $ and or other hidden ill-gotten gains to get him to quit running and hold off *Self-Pardon* until November 6th after the election. Otherwise, Brandon is in it to win it and or *Self-Pardon* himself if he loses. He has a lot at stake and is not going unless he gets what he wants.

    Which takes us to another dangerous scenario. Taking lives was easy for Stalin especially if it meant purging a few million refuse-niks in his way. Our government has been behaving a lot like the former Soviet Union recently.

  20. The uniparty snuck a provision into the NDAA making selective service registration mandatory. This is a precursor to the draft. The uniparty wants its war –and like EP’s comment about Stalin– they won’t be the ones to die.

    We’ve been lying to the Russians since 1992. Bush the Elder promised the Rooskies that NATO would not expand eastward. NATO celebrated its 75th birthday. It should’ve died with the Warsaw Pact.

    • NATO is a lie. The premise was that it would prevent the Russians from expanding west. The reality is the fellow members took on a bilateral contract. Germany couldn’t raise up an army and attack France any more than France could do the same. An attack on one is an attack on all. Russia was just another player even though they didn’t sign it. But they had their own version that kept peace in the Balkans until the collapse. Without the Warsaw Pact, the balkan infighting might have spread into Western Europe.

      With that view in mind, one could see that NATO expansion is more about keeping the peace throughout Europe, not just about pillaging Russia. But that sort of thinking is what many Trump people think when his “plan” and 4D chess strategy come up. Maybe that was the intent of the men who drafted the NATO treaty, but the midwits in charge now just want to pillage.

      • Its another excuse to build and sell obsolete death machinery and constant upgrades. It generates hopium known as retirement accounts in a psychopathic casino. Look at em any Monday morning racing in denial to spread the ignorance to offspring.

        Theres your stupid murcan dream in a nuts hell.

        Billions of humans now see this plainly.

        Times up.

    • If the elites insist on wars perhaps looking at the requirement in Robert Heinlein’s book “Starship Troopers” of service to the United Citizen’s Federation to be a citizen and to be able to vote and work in certain professions might be the solution. The book explains it better than the movie does. The gist of it is that no one can be turned down for service as long as they can understand the oath of service, the service itself is to insure the citizen understands the price he paid to become a citizen and that he or she will hopefully be reminded of that when they select their rulers.

      It’ll never happen though but it can’t be any worse than the current system is. Or just bring back the original voting requirements and allow all men and woman who meet them the right to vote. It would be a lot harder to loot the treasury if the people paying for it are needed to pay for said looting.

    • >This is a precursor to the draft.
      Yeah, but conscripts are *so* 19th century.
      These days, with behavioral design being a reality, the armed forces really need professional warriors, whose consciences have been chemically suppressed, whose testosterone levels have been enhanced, and whose amphetamine pumps are always operational.
      Quality, not quantity, is what matters.
      Fiction:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZgjJOPvHFs
      Reality:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eS17F7nuTM&t=7s
      The Terminators are coming, and right soon. 🙁

  21. Unfortunately, the party that OM belongs to and he himself is terrible at explaining what he ingmheriteed. Looking back 42 years, Reagan took the hit for what Paul Volker and Jimmy Carter left him. We got out of that rut through massive debt expansion ans through massive “defense” spending. Weapons systems. Military “buildup” We broke up the Soviets by debt expansion, having the world reserve currency and through cheap energy.

    Today, none of those options are available. This time gold abd silver. And ammo (eye roll) as well as canned food might be the answers

    • Actually, Swamprat, it was the Democratic controlled Congress that EXPLODED social spending back then! The Reagan tax cuts accelerated economic activity, thus boosting tax revenues by 90% during Reagan’s tenure; i.e. revenues were almost doubled. The problem is that the Dem controlled Congress increased spending by 135% during the same period; that’s not a recipe for fiscal solvency!

  22. God give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

    • We AMERICANS supposedly fought a War of Revolution precisely so we’d not be a part of European squabbles. Same should apply to the perpetual conflict between “Isra-Hell” and what “Ahab, the A-Rab” group theyre feuding with ATM.

  23. ‘The latter may happen later – if geriatric number two is the one they have selected to pin-the-economic-collapse tail on the spray-tanned donkey.’ — eric

    A chart compares the current unemployment rate (in black) to its 10-month average (in green):

    https://ibb.co/gSgvC7m

    Every time since 1949 when the black line rose above the green line, a recession (pink bars) was about to start, or was already underway. Typically, recessions aren’t officially announced until a year after the fact. So charts like this one convey useful, timely information.

    In mid-2024, recession is already baked in the cake. It’s a function of what went before: goosing the economy in 2020-2021, under first Trump then ‘Biden,’ to power out of the covid lockdowns. Now those magic-wand stimmies have worn off, and the economy is sucking wind in the cold gray dawn.

    Karma is at work on multiple levels. Democrats stole the last election to install the empty figurehead ‘Biden.’ Now that expedient crime is blowing up in their fool faces.

    For his part, Orange Jesus plans to ride up Pennsylvania Avenue next January on a white steed to reclaim what was his. But by the time he’s sworn in, joblessness and poverty will be on an inexorable rise. Attempting to run a $5 trillion deficit to counter the slide will make things much worse, much faster.

    Hubris, then nemesis: it’s going to sting both of these flawed, ancient vessels.

    • RE: “joblessness and poverty will be on an inexorable rise”

      ‘Housing Market Cracks: Record Number Of Listed Homes Have Price Drops’

      … “That means that unless the Fed cuts rates significantly in the next few months, the housing market is on the verge of creating its own reflexive and self-reinforcing liquidation spiral, as more sellers cut prices, forcing even more sellers to cut prices until suddenly the specter of a full-blown housing crash returns… just in time for Trump’s presidency.”

      https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/housing-market-cracks-record-number-listed-homes-have-price-drops

      “… I want everyone to remember Why They Need Us!”

      • No, there will be no reduction in housing cost. That would make people smile. Psychopath Jill needs constant suffering. Sorry.

      • When was it, November, the last time you were on here forecasting the housing “bubble” to pop? RE prices at all time highs in June and just about every month since November. Stonks, too. Have to be because they are priced in continually and rapidly devaluing fiat money, dollars. For some reason, 0Hedge ignores these facts and peddles doom porn. As if your dollars are gonna be worth more some day in the future. There are nuggets here and there with that site but its financial predictions are 99% wrong.

            • “Let the good times roll” is a song which is sung by those who think house prices are at a permanent plateau & will keep rising forever in spite of everything else & we’re not in, “The Everything Bubble”. Are bubbles solid or fragile? Seems that the Brownstone article is learning about wobbly leg supported bubbles.

              “There is going to come a time in the next 6 to 12 months this huge shock that we saw in the 2008 financial crisis, and the 2000 bubble where massive layoffs start to happen–it’s inevitable. This is what happens when you crank up interest rates from 0% to 5.5%. There is a lag in the real economy, and it’s hitting right now. It’s only going to intensify as time goes on.” …

              https://usawatchdog.com/huge-financial-shock-inevitable-hitting-now-ed-dowd/

              Perfect recipe for prices of houses going to the moon, right?

              • You obviously didn’t get the point of the Brownstone article. These guys see the nominal economic activity data and wonder if anything is changing or if we have been and still are in a depression. You see nominal prices rising and say “bubble.” Are houses “worth” more now? Only in the sense of the number of FRNs it takes to buy one or anything else with intrinsic value, like a screw or a 2×4.

                For all the supposed similarities to ‘00 or ‘08, and dire warnings by the doomers like Greg Hunter about no-docs and NINJAs coming back, lending, the main component of a classic bubble, is at a standstill. Rates moved up 6% and prices are at an all time high. One more percent should crash it, though, right? LOL.

                BTW, USAWatchdog is an even worse bunch of crap when it comes to predictions than 0Hedge.

        • I agree, the stock market keeps going up, and up, and up. Until it doesn’t. Bear market forecasts are continually crushed. As a result, the public is all in on index funds. It is bigger and badder than 1929. What could go wrong? I predict rising inflation and interest rates going to the moon is eventually going to crash the market. What are stocks worth when nukes go off?

  24. History repeats itself. Always. If you know history, there is nothing to be afraid of. Humanity has survived much worse and will survive until the world ends. If you have faith in God and not man, what is happening, has happened, and will happen is simply chaos and ego-filled actions of humanity. In the end, we all reach eternal life. Where we go is our choice, not the choice of our selected “leaders.” Very comforting thought.

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