Collapse Americana

With the stock market in the biggest losing streak in decades, we are beginning to see what may be the outlines of systemic collapse filling-in around the edges.  There’s a bunch of trouble out there and a short survey of problems immediately ahead seems appropriate grist for today’s review.

In order to brace yourself for coming months, a reread of the UrbanSurvival column from mid April will be a good appetizer: UrbanSurvival Collapse of Complexity: Engineering Food Collapse?

Not to be a nag, but driven by petroleum issues rising, the Biden administration has not only managed to step on a trip wire, they’ve maneuvered the whole country into jumping up and down on the “energy IED” with sanctions.

Toss in Italy’s seizure of Vlad Putin’s Yacht and, well, let’s just note that while Russia figures out logistics for more pressure on Ukraine, the fine line between “scorched earth” and “glassed earth” is shrinking.

In addition, Mr. Mirth N..  Merriment is here to even further add to festivities with a ChartPack that looks like 1929 redux.

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75 thoughts on “Collapse Americana”

  1. “Is the whole world flipping mad?” Quote from today’s subscriber side. Animals go mad, people get angry! Your right George, the world’s gone mad in spades!

  2. “A dollar printed in 1913 is worth 3.65 CENTS of purchasing power today.  Prices don’t go up.  Your money is just watered down! 
    Chiselers learned long ago if done slowly enough, people won’t catch the con,”
    Thank you (highly educated?) members of the Federal Reserve Board.
    Don’t just VOTE! “Mousolinisize“ politicians before they get a chance to insult our ‘Heavenly Father’ with their phony vow of office. ;-((

    • Mussolini spelled it out for the World – 2 C. Everybody ignored what he had to say regards NAZISM/NAZI’s – but he was Deadballz accurate and still is today! OPEN YOUR EYES and Listen to the words the man said..

      “FASCISM should more appropriately be called CORPORATISM because of its Merger of state and Corporate Power”

      Sayz here when you rip off the mask over Hitlers face – you will find AMERICA/CORPORATISM.

      By end of Day Monday the 9th May (“powerday” on the elevens) World will be a “changed” place ..”in the blink of an eye”…

      *Dont get too Kozy – Torsion Field Weapons tend to bend minds a wee bit with their hyperdimensional physics…

      cash/btc/silver-gold/food stores – bumpity ride just ahead – and If You dont Hold IT in Ure hands, you do Not own it.

      Got Water ?

      • “FASCISM should more appropriately be called CORPORATISM because of its Merger of state and Corporate Power” SO TRUE!

        That’s what is currently ruling all the “so-called” governments of our time, IMHO.

  3. “A recession plus a drought is how you get periodic longwave depressions.”
    Add some more:
    In 1929 through 1932, mobility was boosted by low energy prices, in comparison to the fuel hyperinflation we currently see. The energy-dependent economy which supports over-population (by all historical standards) is already weak and fragile.
    We are seeing consumer hyperinflation with recession, and the credit deflation is winding up. When you get laid off because your employer can’t get enough credit to operate and make payroll, that is credit deflation in action.
    Rampant debt slavery is also being fueled by unrealistic standard of living expectations. Credit is liquidated in depressions, and the debts being put forth as assets disappear. McMansions under mortgage are debts, not assets.
    Medical facilities and insurance are less accessible, with insurance programs like Obamacare restricting coverage out of state. Walking into an emergency room without coverage is an entry point for a lifetime of debt slavery.
    The US economic system is relying on spin and patriotism to conceal deteriorating standards of living. Throw in drought and a recession, and helicopters dispersing more credit aren’t going to stop the downslide. At some point, showering more debt at a debt default economy will cease to benefit anyone except the upper 0.001 percentile, who don’t need the credit except to leverage their stranglehold control on their marks.

    • “At some point, showering more debt at a debt default economy will cease to benefit anyone except the upper 0.001 percentile, who don’t need the credit”

      Not quite true. The megarich don’t spend their own money, they live on their corporate ccard and borrow for everything, including day-to-day expenses. This is one of the ways their accountants game the tax code. (Stop here, and think of the myriad tax implications of this…)

      • “The megarich don’t spend their own money, they live on their corporate ccard and borrow for everything, including day-to-day expenses. ”

        OTFLMAO… I agree @Ray… it was funny years ago.. I worked with the daughter of a designer.. she staged and did interior designs for the megga rich.. her husband in a position that made a lot of money.. anyway.. the daughter and I were talking her mom and dad were about to get a divorce.. the reason.. she designed for the megga rich.. would stage and decorate their homes.. and they wouldn’t pay her.. LOL LOL LOL so I gave her an old copy of an accounting program I had and helped set the mom up on a budget.. then told her if she wanted she could come to my house and decorate it to and I wouldn’t pay her either LOL LOL LOL…
        when I delivered pizza’s.. I asked for the wealthier neighborhoods.. after two weeks I told the boss.. dam I have to put in my notice.. he asked why.. I said I can’t even put gas in my car.. ( they don’t tip very well.. ask any waitress.. demand but don’t deliver) and everyone started to laugh.. there was a reason they had to bribe drivers to deliver to those neighborhoods..they had a pool on just how long it would take for me to get smart about that….. LOL LOL
        during that period of time I seen so many ways they would go through to try and not have to pay for their pizza.. it was commical from hiding their house numbers to pretending not to be home.. homes with out any furniture in it at all.. doorbells not hooked up.. LOL just push the button if you want to see us.. LOL..
        The son of a wealthy individual in our area.. was telling me he was going to set up a business.. he believed that the people his parents knew would rush to invest in his endeavor.. only to discover that .. I was right.. they wanted him to pay them for saying they approved of the business.. LOL LOL LOL
        anyway.. like the DJT.. they keep their money in the company and show no income.. the owners of one company I worked for didn’t own their own homes or cars etc.. even the gas they use to drive back and forth.. was in the company to be written off.. LOL LOL LOL LOL its the tax code.. which is why I support a set tax.. ten percent of anything over national poverty level. no deductions or borders.. if you make a ;buck in the usa you pay a tax on the buck in the banks..

    • “Walking into an emergency room without coverage is an entry point for a lifetime of debt slavery.”

      I know, believe me, I know. One little trip through the ER five or six years ago racked up a $1500 bill that took a year to pay off and they still tried to get more out of us after that. What do you call health insurance premiums, deductibles, non-covered Rx’s and out of coverage area doctors and clinics when you have no choice?

      Went to pick up the wife’s Rx this week – 5% Lidocaine – which wasn’t covered by her insurance – $3 hundred bucks. Pharmacist showed me the 4% on the shelf for $6. The prescription strength went back into the pharmacist’s bin.

      If it weren’t for the insurance companies playing footsie with the medical establishment over the years these things wouldn’t happen but here we are. It’s also why I don’t have any medical insurance since I left my previous job in the school system a decade ago – but I still had to pay the damned Obummer Care penalties for not playing their game until that farce was taken down.

      Most of the time you’re paying big buck$ for nothing, literally NOTHING, and if I wind up having an otherwise unknown, unexpected episode in the middle of the pasture, get snake bit or the bull does a tap dance on my head at least I know I’ll be leaving my family with enough money and earnings potential to get by as long as they need to. In today’s world you have to go with guerrilla health care which means you do a lot of things for yourself. The doctors and mercenary health care facilities can KMA. A lot of the money NOT sent to some insurance agency has gone into prepping which would have, otherwise, been a total loss.

      • AMEN @Bill.. my ex had to have a same day surgery.. I had lost my insurance by trying to purchase my own policy that would be cheaper.. only to discover I wasn’t insurable until I fit their guidelines.. we went to the free clinic.. the tests everything were suppose to be free.. our minister at the time.. he had the same surgery with the exact same day and doctor.. same place.. the only difference was a three hours.. they called me down to the office.. while she was under the knife asking me how I planned to pay for the services.. it was embarassing.. what are we a bank.. why did you even come in for medical assistance if you didn’t have the money.. blah blah blah.. they made my life hell.. the surgeons bill alone was more than what the ministers total bill was..
        I worked it off by resurfacing his parking lot by hand.. ( which is how I became friends with my wife now.. she had had a stroke and they took everything from her even though she was a nurse and she was concerned about my health in the heat.. )
        the hospital collection agency called every hour on the hour.. they called day and into the night..
        I would feel sorry for myself.. then ran into a quad that was crying at a gas station.. she was a houskeeper at the hospital.. was hit on her way home from work on new years morning by a drunk driver without insurance.. they wouldn’t cover the accident on the health policy because it was a health policy not an accident policy.. so they tapped her bank for the money she got for dissability.. I called the television station for them to interview her.. ( they did and forgave her the debt.)
        I ended up begging them to let me work the debt off.. and apologized to those in charge for how the business office treated them when they asked them to let me work it off.. Hell year began I worked three full time and one part time positions to work off the debt to the hospital..
        EVEN the VA.. their collection agency is the IRS and the bank doesn’t argue with the IRS.. they just give it to them.. then you pay the penalties for not having funds in the account…
        People say well the system in canada and the UK etc.. are not efficient and they don’t realize the waits for services in the USA are even longer and the prices of medications thousands of percent more than other countries.. an inhaler here that is six hundred name brand in another country twenty bucks.. a shot that is ten thousand here is thirty dollars somewhere else.. one of my doctors would bring back expensive in the USA items that her patients couldn’t afford because in her home country they were under a buck a piece..
        It is what got Obama elected.. and allowed the insurance industry to write the nightmare obama care plan..

      • Bill, I’m totally on board with you! I’ve avoided medical “care” since age seven, and intend to keep it that way. I never paid for “health” insurance and lived a somewhat risky lifestyle by some standards. I’d always thought that rationally, paying cash should give me the cheapest “care”, though I’ve found that to be anything but true. When I was in my 20’s, I damaged myself in a motorcycle spill and the company I was at wanted me to go to the local hospital. I went there and when they told me what they planned, I left AMA. When I broke a wrist, I just toughed it out and dealt with it. I do have the background of medical education, but that just showed me what I don’t want to be part of, though LOOB has my greatest respect! I won’t suggest my own lifestyle to others – YMMV.

        Just to show what others think of American medical services:

        https://www.vice.com/en/article/8xyyka/canadians-drove-for-two-days-with-dads-corpse-to-avoid-american-healthcare-report

        Learn and prep all you can while you can. Good luck to all.

      • “Went to pick up the wife’s Rx this week – 5% Lidocaine – which wasn’t covered by her insurance – $3 hundred bucks.”

        Topical?

        If so, try [spray or cream for] burns, tattoos, or premature ejaculation. WalMart has Dynamite Delay 13% Lidocaine for nine bucks.

        https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dynamo-Delay-Spray-3-4oz/989328825

        My daughter and I both carry Dynamo in our burn kits because a minor 2nd can be too painful to touch with a cream. (When I bought it, it was 17%.) I bought a case of 12 and had everyone put them in their GO-Bag med-kit (after the lecture on what it was not to be used for.) My fire safety instructor daughter got an extra and I kept the last extra for my medicine cabinet.

      • Thanks Ray – and Mike and LOOB, my sympathies.

        The Lidocaine is for her bunions and, yes, is a topical creme. Absolutely nothing special about it. The Rx box even looks the same as the one on the counter outside the pharmacy window and, I think, it’s also made by the same company.

        She’d have had surgery on one or both bunions by now but, as usual, what insurance she has with the small company she works for has given her the run-around this year with on-again, off-again coverage and time spent trying to get in to see the podiatrist and other doctors she has to go through. It’s a total farce.

        I showed her the ad and she’ll probably look into it. Just hope it doesn’t make her toe grow hair like mine. But if it does we can recommend it for my daughter who’s been losing her hair for a while now!

  4. Todays column got me thinking. Here are some thoughts about the charts prompted by your writing and a bug out scenario:

    Thoughts on your aggregate view:

    Some bears look at the NASDAQ chart from 1971 and suggest It looks like a parabolic five waves up and some bulls say it’s got more waves up and we blast to new highs. I surely don’t know. But…

    If the bears are right and this is in fact wave five of five then truly we could be facing an epic economic crisis because it heralds the end of the economic changes ushered in by the Apollo program.

    The thing is that if you look at the present political situation the next wave will be severe economic decline to a depression and global famine caused by various governments ESG policies, sanctions, supply chain collapse caused by Chinese government forced lockdowns hyper inflation and various world governments forcing the end of the oil age and war.

    While I think that the aggregate is your best work we might be starting a collapse that is bigger than you are considering.

    My bug out scenario:

    What interests me is the question of what time does a person “kick start the Harley” “load out the VW love bug” “depart in the Dodge”?

    I fear some kind of announcement from China that Chinese citizens have thirty days to liquidate all North American assets and leave, because of “sanctions concerns”. Followed by an announcement from Russia that it will be closing its embassy to the UN in New York effective immediately, and will henceforth be communicating to the UN Security Council via Skype or Zoom call from its embassy in Geneva. Followed by sudden announcements by countries that are friendly to Russia and China advising “caution” on investment and travel to North America citing “sanctions risk”.

    At that point I’m prepping the “bug out buggy”, “Torquing the Tiguan”, “Jamming Gears in the Jeep”, you get the picture…

    • If you’ve waited this long to plan your bugout, you’re several years too late. I bugged out of the big city 43 years ago and burrowed into the East Texas Pineywoods like a tick. Now I’m debt-free and have enough stored/planted to last us years.

      • Living in a saf(er) space than the city makes sense, but the Piney Woods would kill some of us with heat and humidity. We each (should) know our limits and find our own safer and habitable spaces. Living above the first mile of humid air in elevation works for me. Yes, it’s more difficult to grow things, but far easier to breathe. Obviously, prepping always makes sense.

    • “I fear some kind of announcement from China that Chinese citizens have thirty days to liquidate all North American assets and leave, because of “sanctions concerns”.

      That’s interesting.. my favorite restaurant is a Chinese restaurant.. everyone working there is from china.. great people good food and I enjoy their company..
      A month or so ago.. the ladies all started leaving.. staff is shorter.. everyone was heading back home due to the potential upcoming conflicts..
      Some of the girls were scared and horrified of the discrimination against Chinese..

      • The thing is that with Shanghai under strict lockdown it is quite shocking to me that anyone would feel the pressure to go back.

      • Chinese is a staple here in Western Texas. Don’t know what we’d do with only Mexican food steaks and catfish. There has been some turnover in the main buffet restaurant we go to but everyone seems cool, calm and collected.

        There are two things I fear going into what’s coming – the government having enough reach to enforce it idiocy and roving gangs from “down South” or pouring out of the cities within a few hours drive from us. Throw in the newbies that have moved out here over the past six years and it promises to be a wonderful hot mess. NEVER assume you’re far enough away from hungry and/or greedy people who write their own rules because there isn’t enough law enforcement to call on when these people mobilize otherwise Antifa wouldn’t be more than a political footnote. We’ve already had a “homeless”, ya, right, guy hauled off for exploring a family’s back yard in our area and I fully expect to have to relocate our food stores to … somewhere else or I’m going to have to sit on them with a shotgun at the ready 24/7 until they’re gone.

      • “The thing is that with Shanghai under strict lockdown it is quite shocking to me that anyone would feel the pressure to go back.”

        Oh @110 Percent… Now that is funny because the girls would share home videos that their parents would send them of home.. and the biggest concern they had that was what they couldn’t understand was the corruption and violence in the USA and in the cities..
        the home videos of daily life at home.. were really nice.. showing people out doing what they do here. What I seen was that. it was quite a bit different than the things we are told here.. which has me questioning just how honest the reports we are told are about their daily life.. or is it like the reports on american life being shared in NK..
        https://youtu.be/t6qF5NU-ehU

      • “Chinese is a staple here in Western Texas.”

        The other thing @Bill is western Texas makes the best dam beans I have ever eaten in my life… dam they are good…..

      • I’m really sorry to hear that. Some of my best friends are Chinese or Chinese-American. Those from Mainland China feel a level of homesickness that’s way more than most foreigners feel, and most seriously believe in filial piety. Their parents are in China and they want to be back there if things get bad.

      • LOOB –
        Yes, my wife made some beans this past weekend and they are always good. LOTS of red pepper goes into them, garlic and ham bits and pieces. Now if I could just get her to make cornbread with it!

    • various world governments forcing the end of the oil age and war.

      This can’t happen, because there’s not enough landmass on Earth to produce enough solar energy to replace petroleum and nuclear energy. The only way it can work is for there to be a 90% die-off of the human race. 750mln people can survive in the modern world with horse-drawn plowshares and brick or stone woodburning fireplaces, provided they can find space around, or develop grains that’ll grow below, the solar panels. They can’t survive with electric vehicles, nor can they manufacture or mass-produce.

      I hope you’re preparing your bug out buggy to bug out from your bug-out location. If not, you’re years behind where you need to be. If’fn you’re just starting, I suggest you acquire a military Deuce-and-a-half, fitted with a 3000 gallon kerosene/diesel tank and a “tail-gunner pod” with rifle ports.

      {Yeah, I’m saying you are that far behind the survivalist curve…}

      • Well @Ray.. I am really not a nuclear energy fan..in my opinion it’s to hard and costly to dispose of and to dam dangerous.. but I am a fan of all the others.. use them all use them wisely and cleanly..I use coal and wood.. propane natural gas, solar etc.. I have solar and small wind.. I totally love coal it’s versatile and if you incorporatean afterburner it’s clean.. it’s also realitively inexpensive in comparison.. transportation is the big issue for me. Even so I just made arrangements for two tons to be delivered..for next winters heat..well actually I can get two years out of it.. I want to make a combo pellet using three parts saw dust to one part coal dust.. a nice hot fire but not to hot for the electronics of the.multi fuel stove..

  5. Fertilizer did jump in price.

    Earlier in the year I was paying around $27.00 for 50 lbs of 19-19-19. Yesterday I picked-up a bag and paid about $1.00 a pound, $49.99 for the same bag. The lawn will suffer going forward.

    Last year, 12/2 I bought a new mattress for $999.99 +tax w/discounts. Free foundation/delivery.

    Now ask on the same mattress w/discounts is $2,065.00 +tax. Foundation extra but still free delivery. No warranty without the new foundation.

  6. “Meanwhile propane prices are also off to the moon. While there has been some progress on the green side of this fuel, stories like Renewable propane: gas made from waste products hits the market (burlingtonfreepress.com)”

    Not to be a nag.. but gas is really easy to make..

    It is all in the business model as to why this isn’t publicly known..
    really easy to make a waste oil stove or use it to make a gas… alcohol is easy to make.. depending on how it is processed or injected.. I love to make camp stoves.. then make an injector engine..
    want to have some fun.. take a used and empty bic lighter.. drill two holes in the bottom.. and then one that crosses from the one side into the other side through one of the bottom holes making a mini hoffman cell.. now take two pieces of welding rod.. fill it with water.. then put the rod in.. seal it in there.. and hit it with a battery.. a few seconds.. now light the lighter.. you just made browns gas with an empty bic lighter and a few drops of water….

    https://www.amazon.com/King-Kooker-WKAF1B-Pressure-Orifice/dp/B0047O3PRK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1541376288&sr=8-1&keywords=King+Kooker+WKAF1B&linkCode=sl1&tag=andreww06d-20&linkId=db8e8e61beecf89301a3c4a5723f7f54

    https://www.agrisupply.com/burners-cookers-fryers/c/6202000/

    http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/docs.html
    https://www.nrel.gov/docs/legosti/old/3022.pdf
    most of this stuff was removed from the emergency planning manuals back in the late eighties and early nineties..
    in some countries.. you can buy a counter top oil reclaimer from waste plastic.. but they are not allowed to be purchased in the USA.. sort of like the pharmaceuticals and their price structures.. I believe that its all in the business model and control of where you get your fuel or energy..that is one reason why our grid is vulnerable..

    • As usual, the best solution is often DIY. If you search on Yandex for countertop oil reclaimer, you’ll find lots of info. The American sites will have a lot less. There are youtube videos on building your own pyrolysis and fractionation/distillation setups to DIY your own fuels from plastic. I suggest downloading everything. If you can view it, you can download it – it just takes a bit of research. Whenever we get our proposed Mistress of Truth from the Brandon group, we can plan on having less easy access to anything useful. Unfortunately, all this takes time.

      • heck buy a coleman camp stove.. and then look at it.. ingenious.. and simple things they knew before big tech..
        I believe you are not allowed to purchase an oil reclaimer in the USA.. the only one I know of in the country was bought before it was outlawed.. and is owned by the University of Washington State.. simple enough design.. you can reclaim the oil from the oil shale.. or oil sands the same way.. and the one I looked at was using only twenty watts of power.. super efficient insulation.. using a slow cooker design..
        I was going to buy one camp stove from india.. the cost.. less than a dollar to use multi fuel.. but they can’t ship it to the USA.. LOL LOL for years you couldn’t buy small grid tie inverters here.. they were not allowed.. several presidents toured a facility that could make ribbon solar cells for less than a penny a watt.. then congress outlawed it and sent it out of the country.. just like the hummingbird generator.. or long distance carburetors .. the tech is old school.. hundreds of years old.. but forgotten .. and outlawed because of the current business model in place….
        some of it you can still buy..
        https://www.speedwaymotors.com/AEM-30-3301-V2-Water-Methanol-Injection-Kit-5-Gallon,402907.html?sku=186303301&utm_medium=CSEGoogle&utm_source=CSE&utm_campaign=CSEGOOGLE&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI29WHlJPQ9wIV441bCh0vhQqVEAQYAiABEgL1WvD_BwE

      • LOOB, check this out. The guy goes into why he thinks it works:

        https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=lawn+mower+carburetor+on+v8+engine

        It started as an April Fool’s joke and actually worked! It’s fascinating for those who actually have time to research this. Unfortunately, EPA is wedded to the current paradigm, including mandating “rich burn” technology and cats for ICE cars. Somehow, we went from the “land of the free”, to the “land of the fee”, along with regulations on everything. We’ve gone from a permissive regime to a prescriptive one and it’s barely noticed.

      • “LOOB, check this out.”

        You know @NM Mike back in the late 80’s a guy I worked with brought a pickup home from europe.. I had the toy.. it was my 1972 bronco 4 wheel drive.. best mileage was 12 mpg 6 in 4 wheel drive.
        Anyway they hounded him even offered him free oild changes for life etc if he would let them take off that carburetor..I don’t know what difference there was with it but he drove 180 miles and only used a quarter tank..
        I bought a motor for my Honda from japan.. they ship motors to California that only have 30 thousand miles on them..guarantee them for 3 years..anyway it had a carburetor on it for japan..they wouldn’t let me keep it on the car..
        Didn’t Harleys use a soup can for a carburetor?.. I don’t know why one from a lawnmower wouldn’t work ..they look quite a bit similar to those from a model a..

    • “Not to be a nag.. but gas is really easy to make..”

      Yep. Broccoli does it for me… ;>)

  7. Lotta Doom Porn this morning — not to worry, though: it’s all informative and serves as a valid and fair warning to he who has ears. Kinda enjoyable in a weird way — girding for Battle and all. Exciting. True Warriors live for the days of Battle.

    Having said that:

    1) All the extrapolations leave out one critical point: All curves break. They “inflect.” At some point, the PA system goes into feedback, but if you turn the master volume down just a bit, the howling will stop. This means as long as people do nothing curves will extend and extrapolate into Crazy Zones — BUT! People get angry and rebel and act and things change as conditions shift.

    2) Americans (and some others) will do what Americans always do. They will do the best they CAN, with what they HAVE, right where they ARE. Maybe they form co-ops, or neighborhood groups for mutual assistance. or Black Markets, or maybe they go storm city hall and root out the local predatory morons who think they run things. In short, Americans will ACT to bust the curve and change course. Always have and always will.

    I have Faith in this. I better be right…

    (Stop gilding the lily on the radio thing, and just get a good one now. TODAY. ACT! Save your ass. Simple is good.)

    • What I am reading is less doom porn and more reality checks from the front lines. I can’t use anecdotes from my work place, but I can tell you that what I am witnessing is a lot worse than what is being acknowledged in the press, or even venues like Ure’s.
      And as I drive home, I see enormous housing developments with prices from the 300’s to 1 MM’s being sold to ordinary Joe’s.
      A lay-off will put those “homeowners” under.
      In the height of the Dust Bowl days, people packed up and went to the West Coast. Where do the refugees go now? Locally, the cops are starting to take a zero tolerance position with the homeless.
      Blend in the stock market action, and it looks like a Prechteresque nightmare in not-so-slow motion from my observation point.

      • “I see enormous housing developments”

        I don’t.

        I see enormous apartment developments, springing up everywhere, and factories & schools that pass an EPA inquisition being repurposed into luxury apartments or suites.

        The McMansions stopped in the Midwest about 2 years ago, except for the one-offs for the nouveau riche. I would assume there are still a few developments around Columbus and Indy (million-sized cities which no-one realizes are that big) and Nashville (which is fast-becoming every singers’ tax-free haven) but I’m not seeing it in the Great Lakes towns, nor the middle of the country. ‘S all apartments, I assume because someone figures folks with less than a 7 or 8 figure income will shortly become incapable of owning property.

        Freaking Daleville, Indiana!

        I just remembered: Daleville is a town of about 500-600, located northeast of Indianapolis, about half-way between Anderson and Muncie on Interstate 69. They had this trapezoid-shaped concrete building at the town’s only notable intersection. That building was the Daleville Commercial Bank — I believe on the National Register of Historic Places because it is the first bank John Dillinger robbed.

        I noticed on my last pass through that the building is no longer there. It has been replaced by an empty 3-story apartment building which looks like it could house all of Daleville’s residents.

      • May 7, 2022 at 12:59
        And as I drive home, I see enormous housing developments with prices from the 300’s to 1 MM’s being sold to ordinary Joe’s.
        A lay-off will put those “homeowners” under.
        ____________________________________________
        Where I live there are both enormous sections of land (previously farm land) going for those giant priced new home villages AND apartment buildings that house people in new multi-story, ghetto density level occupancy.
        When the current tenants finish becoming un-employed and destitute and then must move downward to something cheaper, how long until the currently mortgaged owners go broke and government steps in and buys all of them up and becomes the de-facto new owners? Won’t this be like those cities in China that are owned by the CCP that sets all the rules and limitations and is currently locking the tenants inside to starve? Sort of a modern version of a concentration camp with Total Control.
        Who was it here that recently said, “In the future you will own nothing and you will learn to like it?”

      • We may differ on the definition of a McMansion- if it is two or more stories and goes for a half-million out on the prairie (or across from the dump), I would call it a McMansion. There are aren’t enough nouveau riche to fill all those houses. And yes, the apartment complexes are being over-built as well.

      • “We may differ on the definition of a McMansion”

        Not very much.

        I’d add “over 4000 sq. ft.” and drop the pricing requirement because I live in a cheap place, and it’s not unusual to see 20yo (or newer) 2/3/4 story (4-story = finished attic with dormers or an accessible cupola, and a finished basement) houses around here on ~5 acres for $225k-$445k.

    • You are right — unfortunately, no one can predict where and when the breaks will occur, nor what current processes or anticipated outcomes will change radically, or cease completely. Murphy is a bastard, and in times of chaos his Law reigns supreme…

  8. Options are all that I trade – and I had a fantastic week ! In fact, my lunch money account is 6% higher then all of last year’s ROI. And last year was pretty decent. Not really an “I” [ Investment] More like a “G” [ Gamble] ROG !
    “I love it when a plan comes together.” [ Thursday was incredible.]
    – Yeah., in case you missed it – I’m braggin’

  9. So, in the midst of all this gathering gloom, where on Earth would you rather be than in the USA (remember, ex-pats, who sends those Social Security payments)?
    Life should not be based on absolutes but on realistic alternatives.

    • What! No takers!?!
      I’ve asked this question several times and don’t get any responses. Just bitchin’ and complainin’.
      BTW, if any of you bugger-outers think you’re just gonna hop in the BOV, drive to the country, and be welcomed with open arms, think again. We don’t want ya (unless of course, you’re bringing ammo, MRE’s and women).

  10. Early lunch today with a trip to the big town for tractor parts but I noticed a mention of compost tea early in the report. I’ll need to read it again this evening.
    Compost tea is not such a long shot for small growers which if indications continue most everyone will need to become one if you like to eat. My dad made up his own to put on the maters and squash with good results. We compost in the back yard as well.
    Last Christmas my Nurse Practioner daughter gifted me a large box. Once opened it was a 5 gallon countertop Bokashi composter that has a spigot on the side for collecting the compost tea. Basically an anaerobic composter. Not a product endorsement but they have them on the Zon. Research Bokashi for more information.
    After the “You’re not putting that on my kitchen counter”, I, since my wife likes to play dumb on such endeavors, followed the instructions which are simple enough and a few weeks, I drained the first quart of tea and realized my wife was correct and that these should not be called in the kitchen composters. The smell when adding scraps and draining the tea can knock a dog off a gut wagon so it resides in the mudroom. After diluting the tea I gave my in ground matter and squash plants their first feeding before transplanting. And since I am getting about a quart a week out of this thing they will probably be getting fed with it every couple of weeks.
    May not be the answer to all of our fertilizer challenges going forward but this may be something to help the smaller growers along when supplies get really short. Which looks to be sooner than later.

    Stay safe. 73

  11. Just to add an additional bit of information, heavy truck repair/replacement parts are becoming scarce. Some parts are taking 6 months to be delivered.

    Those rigs are sidelined and not pulling freight until they’re repaired.

    This will add to the supply issue.

    • I can see a business opportunity for those parts that can be repaired or copied in a machine shop. Prototyping shops will be well set for making what can’t be bought, since the trucks are needed. People are already hacking computers in trucks and ag equipment to bypass the need for the scarce and unnecessary DEF.

  12. Sir,

    Your prior remark of kicking back in Burbank overlooking Dodger Stadium was prescient. America should be delighted to learn that a part-owner of the Dodgers will lead the consortium buying the highly regarded Chelsea Football Club from Russian oligarch Mr. Abramovich for several billions.

    The consortium also includes a journalist and conservative politician, The Lord Finkelstein OBE. His maternal grandfather founded the Weiner Library which catalogued the rising tide of nazi anti-semitic propaganda during and prior to wwII. His father was born in Lviv, Ukraine.

    Also in the consortium mix is UK multi billionaire Jonathan Goldstein of the privately held real estate investment company Cain International. Not to be forgotten from the Chelsea group bid is the left-leaning Swiss billionaire philanthropist Hansjörg Wyss. His Hub Project has spawned US charity ports of call with deep draught berths to accommodate anonymous contributions from Sorosian big whales towards democratic considerations. At least one such deep seas docking port was apparently spawned by a Clinton administration alumni.

    Now then, back to the “Saturday Times” and let’s drop in as The Lord Finkelstein shares sage footy tips and advice via the respected “Fink Tank”. This is not investment advice.

    • Addedum: Apologies to the George III Fan Club members of the republic seeking comment from their commander-in-chief during such precursial mentions of “Collapse Americana”. Publicly published schedules have his presence and entourage retired to the familial home surroundings of Castle County, Delaware as with every second weekend. Please do leave any important thoughts and messages with the White House operator in the meantime. Have a wonderful weekend!

  13. In your fear mongering frenzy about natural gas and the soon to happen American famine, you forgot that the U.S. imports 98% of it’s natgas from Jumpin’ Jack’ Flash the Canuck! (Canada).
    https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/natural-gas/imports-and-exports.php

    Self righteous Axios claims ‘healthy soil’ is where it’s at? Puhleeze…composting has been proven many times to be better than fertilizers.
    https://csef.usc.edu/History/2010/Projects/J2019.pdf

    You forgot to mention that Republicans and Trump prefer workers dying in their dangerous fertilizer factories, rather than encouraging composting:
    https://www.texastribune.org/2019/11/21/west-texas-fertilizer-explosion-spurred-safety-rules-trump-rescinding/
    https://csef.usc.edu/History/2010/Projects/J2019.pdf

    Oh, and that ‘Liberals can’t handle hand watering rant’….we figured out drip irrigation…sorry your feeble Republican mentality can’t deal with it…

    • You keep skirting banned status.

      In your fear mongering frenzy ***That’s what you can reporting? No wonder the droolers media controls appeal to you. Free speech hater, are you?

      about natural gas and the soon to happen American famine, you forgot that the U.S. imports 98% of it’s natgas from Jumpin’ Jack’ Flash the Canuck! (Canada).
      https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/natural-gas/imports-and-exports.php

      ***Gas imports peaked in 2007

      Self righteous Axios claims ‘healthy soil’ is where it’s at? Puhleeze…composting has been proven many times to be better than fertilizers.
      https://csef.usc.edu/History/2010/Projects/J2019.pdf
      *** You forgot to mention gas imports peaked in 2007 https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/natural-gas/imports-and-exports.php#:~:text=In%202020%2C%20about%2098%25%20of,were%20from%20Trinidad%20and%20Tobago. and that prices are going to more than double this winter anyway because slow joe killed pipelines as political paybacks to big money dems.

      You forgot to mention that Republicans and Trump prefer workers dying
      HORSEHITR! Show me PROOF when you make libelous claims like this!

      in their dangerous fertilizer factories, rather than encouraging composting:
      https://www.texastribune.org/2019/11/21/west-texas-fertilizer-explosion-spurred-safety-rules-trump-rescinding/
      https://csef.usc.edu/History/2010/Projects/J2019.pdf
      *** What I wrote is that there is not enough organic to get along without chemical farming in the mix. C all Evelyn Wood stat!

      Oh, and that ‘Liberals can’t handle hand watering rant’
      *** Like the sack-o-shit liar and his Truth board, what I wrote was
      “Fact is there is not enough manual labor in America to water by hand and ensure organic compliance with even a quarter of our crops.” Which I stand by as True.

      “….we figured out drip irrigation…sorry your feeble Republican mentality can’t deal with it…”
      ***Jesus Lord! Like Biden you take credit for everything for your democrats. Fact is Drip Irrigation was invented by Simcha Blass, an Israeli who is neither democrap or a republicon https://hasbarafellowships.org/drip-irrigation-israels-ingenious-invention/#:~:text=Simcha%20Blass%20is%20known%20as,it%20small%20amounts%20of%20water.

      OK, schools out for total.

      Pearls, swine, and organics invented by Al Gore next?

      • Composting is a very good way to build your soil health that reduces the need for heavier use of chemical fertilizer. But it must be remembered that it is just a component, not the sum. Organic fertilizer is no different than chemical, it still requires massive energy inputs to produce with nitrogen being the most expensive.
        You do a very good job dealing with the negative comments. It’s understood that everyone’s thoughts have value…to a point. You’re a much more patient man than I.

        • Not really patient. Live out in the woods and don’t have time for bullshit and compose at 90 WPM.

          What I worry about is the increasing number of people who “hear voices in their heads.” They read something I wrote (plain King’s Engrish (sic)) and then insisting on their interpretative reading, not what I wrote.

          I keep a kind of mental tally – people who’s “voices” color their every input.

          That is in large measure what’s wrong with America. We not only no long speak a common language, we also don’t think and process anywhere near.

          Notice the two largest countries in the world – emphasis on the national language.

          We ought to have a national hearing test.

  14. Logistics for Ukraine have long ago been figured out. It was not the Russian plan to destroy Ukrainian infrastructure in the beginning of the war, but now there is no alternative – rail bridges, rail stations, fuel storage lines, road junctions must all come down – of course, the destruction is happening in central and western Ukraine as the Russians will not want to overly destroy stuff in areas they will be taking over in a month or so. The US willingness to extend the war will prove to be disastrous in retrospect – but that’s always the case with the former United States.

    For those betting on a Stooge President with late stage dementia and an EU leadership that seems to be even more incompetent then the pre-WWI leadership in Europe that agreed to commit collective suicide, good luck with that one! I am afraid you don’t live in the America that you think you live in – the war in Ukraine will slowly progress. Btw, don’t think that things that are stolen can only go one way – the international water tap for theft and sabotage has been turned on full – don’t think one side will always play nice!

    International law and order stopped the day the Russian Sovereign Wealth was stolen. So, you are totally sure your electronic assets are safe forever???

  15. Comrades,

    The Bureau perhaps regrets to advise that this week’s Saturday evening neo-noir movie presentation, “Se7en”, may not be broadcast due to black cats in the matrix. However following in the footsteps of the seven late Russian generals of the Ukraine conflict, Deutsche Welle brings us dark tidings of seven unfortunate Russian non-sanctioned oligarchs.

    https://m.dw.com/en/mysterious-series-of-deaths-among-russian-oligarchs/a-61719107

    And now, back from a hard day’s night rounding up digital tulips trying to squeeze the melon margins of good taste, here’s DJ Ure serving up a 1930 George Gershwin classic played by The Foursome with a special callout to all George’s friends toonin’ in from Castle County, Delaware:

    Bidin’ My Time

    https://youtu.be/l-6Hf2EWTEQ

    Y’all don’t let The Doors hit you on the stampede out from the starship.

  16. Whoa…what happened? Is this planet Earth? Tuned to The Doors’ Crystal Ship at The Matrix, SFO, 1967 and got transported to some Bulgarian website with an Imagine Dragons teaser when all hades suddenly let loose with German thrash band Sodom’s 2021 re-release of Bombenagel. Forbidden zone landing rejected and filters reset for new coordinates beaming Bavaria, 1594, with Lassus’ Lagrime di San Pietro composed for 7 voices.

  17. stay short . long gold . take note . its decision time gold . its flirting with a triple sell .. take note . especially the evil dark side that lurk here

  18. Revolver Exposes How the Ministry of Truth Plans to Hide Immigration Failures and Label Open-Border Critics “Disinfo Agents”

    The Biden Administration’s new “Disinformation Governance Board” has mostly attracted attention for the ridiculous Harry Potter/Mary Poppins superfan chosen to lead it. The janky lady in question is one Nina Jankowicz. But amid all the justified outrage over the disinfo board’s existence, few people have drawn attention to its unusual issue portfolio.

    In short, the Disinformation Governance Board’s chief purpose isn’t simply to suppress unwanted ideas in America, but specifically to assist in a crucial development: The transformation of DHS from the department that guards America’s borders into the department keeping them pried open at all costs.

    https://www.revolver.news/2022/05/biden-mayorkas-jankowicz-disinfo-board-goes-to-war-with-open-borders-critics/

    • I am still waiting to how the PTB will spin this border catastrophe to blame Trump or Putin.. @Ray

      • Sending his wife to Nukraine worries me.

        Would You send YOUR lovel;y spouse to Kyiv is the war wasn’t pretty “well-m anaged?”

        Joe just keeps shooting his own feet.

        I won’t send Elaine to the store if the weather is “iffy” – let alone with a war zone. I mean seriously, WTF?>

      • “Sending his wife to Nukraine worries me.”

        I would venture to say the “war” our government and media present to us is vastly different than the “war” which is actually occurring.

        I would also posit that BJ, nattering Nancy, and our 1st Lady would not have ventured anywhere near that part of the Universe, were we fighting the NAZIs instead of arming them…

  19. These Key Similarities Between Lenin’s Red Terror and America’s Woke Culture Reveal Left’s Blueprint For Complete Takeover

    Thursday marked the 151st birthday of the most successful revolutionary of all time, Vladimir Lenin. With only a tiny cabal of diehard followers, Lenin seized control of the world’s largest country and inaugurated a reign of darkness and terror that lasted seventy years. There are many lessons to draw from the blood-soaked life of Lenin. But one of the most important is this takeaway for the terrifying “woke” moment America is living through right now. Things are not going to naturally get better. Things will not organically “calm down.” Until there is a fundamental reset of America’s treasonous leadership class, today’s unthinkable witch hunt is merely a prelude of an even darker globalist terror to come.

    https://www.revolver.news/2021/04/woke-cancel-culture-lenin-bolshevik-red-terror/

  20. In Georgia, a judge rules that Marjorie Taylor Greene did not engage in an insurrection on Jan. 6.

    An administrative law judge found on Friday that Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene should be eligible to run for re-election, saying that he saw no evidence the Georgia Republican engaged in an insurrection on Jan. 6, as several legal challengers had asserted in an effort to have her removed from the ballot.

    https://archive.ph/km37r#selection-419.0-419.313

  21. Elon Musk plans to FIRE 1,000 Twitter staff, quintuple revenue, get 69 million users paying $3 a month and cut reliance on advertising income, presentation to investors shows

    Elon Musk is planning to fire 1,000 staffers at Twitter as soon as his purchase of the social media platform is complete. It’s believed he will fire many of the firm’s woke staff following the transfer of ownership which will take around six months, after which Musk is likely to wield the ax. But then within the next three years, Musk anticipates making thousands of new hires, swelling the ranks to around 11,000 employees, up from 7,500 currently. Much of the new talent is likely to be in the field of engineering.

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10791425

  22. Who Funds the Campaign to Smear and Pressure Elon Musk?

    Elon Musk’s maybe-impending purchase of Twitter is being treated not as a mere business acquisition but as a kind of twilight battle over the fate of the American experiment. Maybe there was a time when hypothetical and probably minor changes to the terms of service of a social networking website could be seen as an eminently survivable event, without any larger implications for long-established rights and customs like free speech. But those days are gone now, as evidenced by yet another high-profile, strong-arm effort by a weirdly open combination of private and public powers acting in unison to taint or scuttle the Twitter sale.

    https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/who-funds-the-campaign-to-smear-and-pressure-elon-musk

    Bear in-mind Tablet is a [New York Liberal Jewish] rag and this Bozo thinks Media Matters and these other organizations are merely “left-center.”

  23. Adam Kinzinger Executes Neocon Vision for Ukraine

    As the war in Ukraine approaches its tenth week, the steady flow of ominous headlines has grown to a floodwater deluge. Dissenting observers are made to watch, seemingly helpless, as the broader levy of sanity threatens to break, unleashing a torrent of death and destruction across Eastern Europe, and likely, the globe. Leading the bad news cycle, on Sunday, May 1, Congressman Adam Kinzinger proposed a new Authorization of Use of Military Force (AUMF) in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation, if passed, would allow President Joe Biden to deploy American forces to restore “the territorial integrity of Ukraine”

    https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/adam-kinzinger-executes-necon-vision-for-ukraine/

    The most dangerous Leftist is always a Neocon…

  24. George I am only trying to alert you to stabilise your fibulation
    In this new 5g world. I would like to know the meds they have put you on please

    • So far they haven’t, Len – no meds at all. They think it MAY be hereditary so we will go 85 percent of max heart rate sometime in June or July with radioactive dyes and all that.
      thanks for askin mate

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