The Wind Up and The Pig – SKN 2, Wonder Sites

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Are your balls getting ready to drop?  My, all this time I thought that was earlier in life. But sneaking up on 76, things in the world do look a little bit, uh, different.

Take the National Debt.  When Elaine was born in 1943, the National Debt was $142.6 billion.  By the time I came along (1949) it was swollen to $252-billion.  Still, we had just fought the biggest World War in history.

The U.S. population in 1950 was 151,325,798. That 1949 debt worked out to $1,665 per person. To wheel that into the spotlight, the average new car in 1950 was going for $1,300 for a Henry J all the way up to $3,149.  So my coffee-addled wetware pencils out the National Debt Problem to “an extra car payment for five-years and it would be gone.  We could have remained on Honest Money.  The kind the Founders put into the Constitution only later to be swindled by the Banksters.

For even clearer perspective: Today’s National Debt comes in two flavors.  One without interest that can’t be avoided.  And the “real” all-in costs.  The low-ball number is $36.574 trillion while the (other, unspeakable real cost of high crimes and treason) is $157.777 trillion as of press time.

U.S. population has grown a bit too. But, nowhere near enough to spread out all this financial pain. The U.S. population today is very roughly (since no one will admit to not counting illegals) is 346,346,203.  Which means if we use the “principle only” debt is $105,559 thousand each.

We know the average price of a new car is a little high, too.  We are up to an average nowadays of  $48,397.  Which means that in order to pay off the National Debt today, we would each need to pay off an additional 2 and a quarter car payments monthly.  And with higher rates on unpaid balances, it would be a 60-90 month deal.

While the Fed pretends its rates are meaningful (and they are, actually) you’d never know it from looking at credit card fine print.  Where the card-scammers quickly get up over 20-percent.  It’s part of a whole conspiracy to keep the herd in line.  “Sex and Glitter” ads drive us to consume more.  Ripping retained wealth out of our real estate via HELOCs is condoned.  But don’t overdo it – because once you trigger those high card rates, the skids are greeted for Bankruptcy.

We admit (being old and lazy efficient) to asking A.I. about things now and then. “According to data from the U.S. Courts, in 2024, there are expected to be around 481,350 personal bankruptcies, representing a 16.2% increase compared to 2023.”

The St. Louis Fed keeps an eye on such things.  And one of the shockers was that when Elaine and I were popped out of the oven, bankruptcies were very rare.  Maybe as low as 1 in 20,000 or lower.  Today on the other hand, we have a “bankruptcy industry.”

“Personal bankruptcies in the United States have had a dynamic history over the past 100 years. Bankruptcy filings in the first half of the 20th century averaged 0.15 per 1,000 people and grew at an average annual rate of 2.4 percent. Bankruptcies began to increase during the 1960s and have grown dramatically since 1980. Between 1980 and 2004, bankruptcies grew at an annual average rate of 7.6 percent a year. As of 2004, the filing rate was 5.3 per 1,000 people, more than four times the 1980 rate and nearly 80 times the 1920 rate.“

Pretty good for a country that “doesn’t have debtor prisons.”

Instead, we have homeless and street crime.  All while the real thugs are running social policy.

Don’t mean to end the year on a sour note.  Just reminding you that Reality is still out there. We are all getting on the economic elevator every day heading for the “top floor.” And when we get there, a year from now, we will (statistically) all get out on the ground floor, not understanding the elevator ride swindle any better than we do now.

Yet, it will be called Progress.

Similarly, World War Two required that America become the world’s leader in manufacturing.  But again, when Elaine and I sit down with the afternoon glass of “thinking juice” we both remember when one person working at an average (maybe union job) could raise a family.  Mom’s raised kids who – in turn – did better in school and seemed to benefit from the at-home supervision a great deal.  One history oriented sites, you can find snips like this one:

“Though women were in the workforce before the war, during WWII, more than 6 million of them engaged in industrial work. Though many of those female employees were forced to leave their jobs when men returned to the Home Front, millions continued to work outside the home after the war ended.”

It was dressed up as “workplace equality” but Elaine’s held to the view that women ought to have more say in the matter.  Even now, the Blob is down on home-schooling and stay at home parenting.

An Inconvenient Observation

When I look at the economic system, it’s clear that our “financial overlords” are engaged in massive social engineering.  Wrapped up in jingoism like “A rising tide lifts all ships” the impact on some racial subgroups has been pronounced.  Although it’s considered bad form to ask (by the radical left in particular) A.I. will tell you this if asked:

“Yes, the white birth rate in the United States has been declining:

Number of births:

  • From 1999 to 2016, the number of white births fell by 10.8%.
  • Triplet and higher-order births: From 1998 to 2023, the decline in triplet and higher-order birth rates for white mothers was 71%.
  • Minority births: Non-Hispanic whites now account for a minority of births in the U.S.

The decline in white births is part of a broader decline in the U.S. birth rate, which has been happening since the Great Recession in 2007.

The decline is due to lower childbearing rates across all groups, including:

  • Women in their early 20s, late 20s, and teens
  • White women, Black women, and Hispanic women
  • Women with and without college degrees
  • Married and unmarried women
  • Other factors that have contributed to the decline in the U.S. population include: Fewer immigrants and Baby boomers entering older ages.”

My, what a fine picture of Progress we have achieved in recent years.  Maybe – and only maybe –  with a less radical (even more rational) administration coming to power, things will improve.

Trump had one “swing at the pinata” already and little changed. The Deep State is likely less a collection of socialist bureaucrats than an assortment of colliding intractable trends.  In the end, though?

Ask me in a year.

Paper on Fire

We will be back with the Housing numbers in part 2 of this morning’s ramble.  But, before Housing, our Aggregate Index was still sawing logs and looking weak.

As should be clear, we’re walking up the underside of the trend channel.  When this happens, it’s called “kissing the underside of trend.”  Often, though not always, the move in direction of trend resumes. But to us it looks like a potential top, but that’s before eggnog and not financial advice.

Bitcoin – which was under $94,000 in yesterday’s report, is back above but still south of $95,000.  But there’s more hype than you’ll find from door-to-door religionists on this.  If you’re still trying to understand it all, head to How Bitcoin ETFs helped disrupt traditional finance in 2024 as a starting point.  Then continue into Trump’s Crypto Vision: US Set to Become Global Leader in Digital Assets. But just remember, he’s a real estate developer at heart…

Morning Histrionics

Blood pressure a little low?  Let me help!  A lot of media hype is just what the cardiologist might say to avoid, but here we go…

Everyone talks about the weather, but… Polar vortex headed for United States will bring ‘exceptionally cold’ temps in the new year: ‘Weather models are screaming’.  No, actually, they aren’t screaming at all.  We are 1) in Winter and 2) in this part of Texas the long range forecasts show just under freezing a few days.  Not exactly a Day After Tomorrow plot-line.  But slug down a triple-shot Americano tall with a shake and…uh…

It’s a gag, right? Exclusive | Trump team orders ‘all intended nominees’ to stop posting on social media ahead of Senate confirmations.

Sloppy Joe is at it again – with YOUR checkbook: Biden Is Sending $6B to Ukraine.

Woke goes for broke as People are now coming out as ‘symbiosexual’. Wonder if IRS would ever recognize three-party marriages? Oh boy….

Not related – but in today’s world you never know – “We need to change cows.” Bill Gates boasts all the different ways he is “changing cows”… I am proud to say we’re joining Gates in this fiasco.  Why, here in a couple of hours, I will be changing a three-rib standing prime into a 145F delight.  Think that will help?

Media Cover-up du jour: Screaming rise in all cause mortality: Joe Rogan: “If the media was legitimate, they would be talking about one of the biggest crises…  Go ahead, take a shot at why?

But wait!  Didn’t I tell you “Pandemic II in Q2“?  Here Comes the Untested mRNA Bird Flu Non-Vaccine Vaccine…  What was the rock and roll advice?  “Shoot if it makes you feel good…” wasn’t it. Janis?

At the Ranch: Eats – SKN2 – Wonder Sites

Pappy Ure always used to say “Your stomach doesn’t know you’re not rich…”  Neither does my liver.

A light breakfast today of Chinese pot stickers. Low carb, high protein.  Then a trip to the store to pick up the missing pieces:

  • Highlighting will be crab.  There’s a crab salad we like and some frozen snow crab legs which will make for a good (bit messy) appetizer.
  • Fresh salads and “collosal” shrimp on them.
  • Tonight’s main course that standing rib roast at 145F
  • Yukon’s in the air fryer
  • And even after all these years, a glass of Sutter Home white zin is good.

SKN Preps will fill in the time between.

I picked up a used SpiRo low band trap sloper antenna a while back.  Turned out to have a bad 160 meter trap, so may be able to get that repaired and drone -lifted to run it as a long trap vertical.  Idea is to drive that from the 180 room with a Kenwood 430 and a hand key.

Time will be of the essence, though.  And I may just postpone the wine room build and run with the 40-meter version of the W5GI that K4TR built for me. That and the Omni VII is the zero work, always ready option.

MTC has some good deals going until tonight.  Picked up a Yaesu YA-30 antenna – which is a  terminated folded dipole and while not great on transmit, they are very quiet on receive and frequency agile for ALE and whatnot.

Those links to eHam.net reviews are available for all kinds of ham gear.  If you’re a newbie and not clear on what works, you can do worse than limiting purchases to products rated 4.5 or higher.  My Kenwood 430 is not as highly rated as the more recent TS-590S, but that’s likely because the former is very “old school” while the latter is a current production run with tons of DSP and software options.

Wonder Sites

If you have nothing else going on tomorrow, might want to visit some of these places:

On that note, much to do. Before the…uh…balls drop.

Is this what Progress looks like???

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

39 thoughts on “The Wind Up and The Pig – SKN 2, Wonder Sites”

  1. Happy New Year George and Elaine and everyone here.. may it come in quietly instead of a bang..

  2. For the new year, here’s
    “March 22nd, 2025, the Moon reaches its greatest declination, and the moon, sun and Earth align in such a way, allowing for a unique gravitational node of a three-body system that happens only every 19 years.”
    Happy New Year !

  3. “But just remember, he’s a real estate developer at heart…’

    Hell ya! – mofos’ got magic vision – sees/conjures something in his mind, puts in de hard work, and voila New scheisse CREATED.

    No none with that way of thinking is for buggywhip G.

    Nope still beating his dirty clothes on rock in the creek. Still pedaling his lil bicycle wheel Generator for 2 hrs of electricty every evening. Still making up fraudulent script and pawning off on fellow zombies as value held script. Still lighting the whale oil lamps at night, and candles for reading at night. Still chopping Pine for firewood- heat. Let me guess still wit dumbass lead acids..?

    And yet you claim to utilze AI – the Savior of mankind going forward into new ET realized World, ahahahahah – thats a rich .

    • (“Hell ya! – mofos’ got magic vision – sees/conjures something in his mind, puts in de hard work, and voila New scheisse CREATED.”)

      there’s a child’s story…the goose that laid golden eggs…Trump I’d smart but ..I doubt he can fix this

  6. Dam…your view on in todays society is totally the same as mine…….
    kids having kids…..
    My grandkids tell me when I ask when will I become a great grandpa again.. I have eight great grandkids now…the cost… My sister home schooled her kids ..the state of Alaska paid parents in the country so much a semester and provided books and classes on the tv..
    no drama there wasn’t any sibling rivalry or anything the kids are all in their 40s now and in professions

    • “kids having kids…..”

      The year in which the most 14yo American girls gave birth (also the year the most 15yos and I believe 13yos had kids) was 1959.

      The difference between 1959 and all the “kids having kids” years since, is in 1959, the girls were virtually all married.

      Since time immemorial, kids of 12 or 13 have been ready, willing, and able to assume all the duties and responsibilities of adulthood. Only our society, increasingly made up of busybodies (social bullies), has raised the age at which kids could become responsible, to the point many people now NEVER become responsible.

      13 and 14 yo kids still want to screw. Thanks to the efforts of 30 years of Karens, they no longer have the option of doing so within the bounds of wedlock. (I believe South Carolina and possibly New Hampshire are the only States in which kids under 15 are even allowed to marry, even with parental blessing). Once they learn they can bang themselves silly without being married and the nuclear family is optional, they cease to understand the mental, emotional, and physical advantages of marriage, and lose appreciation for the multigenerational nuclear family.

      -=sad=-

      • In watching various boards over the years it appears that those MOST AGAINST marriage under 18 are Religious Female “Busy Bodies” … even though the Average Age of FIRST Sex for females (in my city at least) is currently 15. (per school district surveys)

        God, Nature, however you want to call it, created the human body and mind so as to CRAVE sex for procreation purposes starting in mid teens. That subconscious desire has nothing to do with “porn” or “movies” or anything in that regards.

        Sheesh … They are FORCING kids to have sex OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE and then complaining that the females are not getting married before having sex and having had multiple partners by the time they reach their mid 20’s,

  7. “Before the…uh…balls drop”

    Hmm, loaded topic among us elder menfolk George, polite company and all. Sigh.

    And a rudder thing: your Polar experience may vary (yPemv) Matey. We have roaring 40s in rolling gusts with snow on the way (read: any time now as temp crashes). It’s winter. Duh. We can handle it providing all the amateurs practice mass sanity should lake effect plumes form (as per advance models). By the weekend it will get sporty here with sustained 20-ish for the highs until … it’s less. Duh again.

    Buckle up Tex. I’m good to go on all winter gear, survival stuff. A big fire is in the air. Or, soon will be. Our trek to / from MN provided plenty of opportunity to get winter right. Hint: layering is everything it’s cracked up to be. A hat combined with protection for hands and feet does wonders. Polar Express? Bring it.

    For Jimmy: it would have been interesting to chat with a _very_ smart man with whom I disagreed on policy. Though always part of a cracker jack carpentry crew the opportunity to chat never presented. Hats off for Habitat to Humanity.

    Yesterday I lowered my main flag, in respect. I’m flying a Whiskey Rebellion flag so … am not really sure it that fits the anti-federal government slant but … had to be done. This _used_ to be the only time we lowered our flag. So I recall.

    With luck there’s a nice Irish whiskey while sizzling some Tiger Shrimp (prawn size) on the Barbie. Ball drop? Film at 11 (the day after).

    Happy New Year one and all,
    SnowMan Egor

    • “Hint: layering is everything it’s cracked up to be. A hat combined with protection for hands and feet does wonders. ”

      Lessons I learned early growing up in Wisconsin & working a paper route at -30 F. I found a much more cozy place to retire.

        • Warm Gloves?

          WOOL lined thick LEATHER gloves that have been factory water proofed.

          Hard to find anymore in this day and age of all sorts of “engineered” linings, but having tried the “Best” of the “engineered” linings and NONE are as warm if you have to wear them all day doing work as the old style WOOL LINED leather gloves (hand sweat kills the insulation abilities of those “engineered” linings)

          Often “New” and “Modern” is NOT compatible with “Best”

    • (“For Jimmy: it would have been interesting to chat with a _very_ smart man with whom I disagreed on policy.”)

      I questioned his policy as well..but after you dove into it..he was spot on.. if we had followed his plan at the time..we wouldn’t be where we are today..Congress at the time didn’t want to upset the puppeteers and threw the middle class under the bus instead..he didn’t whine about it he took the blame with great dignity.. I wish I was half the man he was..
      a really decent guy.. I read in the local newspaper that he came to the wastelands and swing a hammer along with the volunteers in building a couple houses.. definitely a man to be respected..

      • Bigtime Loob, bigtime respect.

        wrote book entitled Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid

        way ahead of his time – bless the Peacmakers.

        Imagine his thoughts on israHELLs’ slaughter of the 1000’s of Babies, Thousands of unarmed Women & Children, attacking& bombing Hospitals every fucking day.
        Worse than any other regime in history in terms of #’s innocent Babies,Children, Women and Doctors – and we are ALL part of IT..

        – Thanks Chynah joe, U filthydirtydim soul pedo.

    • Another great man to be admired was Gerald Ford…
      the guys on the white house duty use to come back and talk about him all admired him.. story was his wife made his meals .. it was a regular family..

      • Except for serving on the Warren Commission’s COVER UP MISSION.

        If it wasn’t for his Warren Commission work I would have a lot more respect for Gerald Ford. That sort of destroyed it for me.

    • You know I have always wanted to go to Cuba and see a coffee plantation..see how they process the beans etc..
      last summer my grand daughter had her wedding at a winery..I had so much fun got a personal tour and shared recipes with the vintners.. it was a hoot..

  10. New Years here is locally just a quiet party, lots of home made music (as long as the beer lasts), and plenty food of all kinds. After tomorrow the ‘big town’ will shut down for more than a few days so merchants can do inventory. Small freighters that deliver supplies will also be on short service so fuel and basics will get slim in a week or so, then should build back to normal.
    All we wish for is simple. Peace and prosperity for as many of us as possible.
    Still floating on our lines so most else is just gravy.
    Bless and protect all of us.
    Happy New Year!
    Stiks

  11. There is a subculture which supports the people who have come to grips with their inability to make it as debt slaves, and have made hard choices to live within their modest means. A good website to bookmark and get an introduction at is Bob Wells’ YouTube site:

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

    Bob has written a couple of books, which can be found on Amazon.

    Bob interviews a multitude of the people who the Powers That Be (remember them?) don’t want you to hear. I recognize some of the stories from personal life experience, but some are very new to me.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Wells_(vandweller)

    While we are throwing out websites of near folk heroes, ROAR has a new for-pay Patreon account:

    https://www.patreon.com/user?u=40099464

    Have a safe New Years Eve, and a productive and profitable New Year.

  12. Happy New Year g and to all your readers/posters who make this the most interesting online place to visit every day.

    If you keep your Peoplenomics subscription rate at $40 or .0004 Bitcoin, I am sure we will be able to afford another year of your intense wisdom and prognostications. ;-)

  13. Be or has a sale on oil expellors..

    https://m.vevor.com/commercial-press-machine-c_10657/oil-press-machine-commercial-olive-oil-press-3-6-kg-hr-oil-expeller-machine-p_010155173329?

    I have two..one just like the one in the ad and one hand crank one..if.. things go bad cooking oil is one of the things that people take advantage of thinking it will always be here..
    Without the press here’s one method..
    https://youtu.be/5l7UO1zFSO4?si=dTTriksbzxekbsrg

  15. “it will be called Progress.”

    The people spoke and we kept General Motors, Boeing, Intel – name your own – all for “national security” or nostalgia either way they’re here to stay.

    “1946”

    There’s no comparison to today. Detroit’s Davidson Freeway was completed during 1944. Today we have the luxurious Interstate w/a motel and Big Mac station every 3rd exit.

    Look up pics of pre-jet U.S. airports during the 1946 era. They don’t compare to today’s techno marvels with facial recognition and etc.

    1st world costs loot.

    Cars? Those are a marvel too w/anti-lock brakes, air bags and crumple zones.

    What A 1930 Car Crash Looks Like

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki9fDmBTX7w

  16. If you ever want to get a set of gloves the real deal is WWII German Luftwaffe pilots gloves. I have a set I have had/used for thirty years. Best gloves ever! Takes some searching but they are around. The ones with the pebbled button on the wrist is the one. For driving and just wearing when cold i just use Flyers Summer gloves. Leather on hand Nomex on back. So comfy. As Indeeke would say MERRY NEW YEAR! Oh Inga from Sweden! Or was it Austria? Beef Jerky time! Careful of the wind!

  17. Another Day, another reason to express Gratitudes.

    The Capricorn New Black Moon comes soonly..closely assoc. wit asteroid Pallas (PallasAthena).
    Pallas symbolizes personal call 2 action and sharp thinking. > See DJT chart @ astrodienst.

    Innaug day is 1/20 when Sun shifts into Aquarius..big,powerful alignment for DJT.

    Embrace Ure Will 2 POWER, reflect on what You want 4 future, AND take BOLD steps toward IT. U CAN DO IT.

    * Frohes Neues Jahr!

  18. “Woke goes for broke as People are now coming out as ‘symbiosexual’”

    Caused by a combination of boredom, wealth, too much leisure time, and a loss of understanding of “what love is.”
    ____________
    “Not related – but in today’s world you never know – “We need to change cows.” Bill Gates boasts all the different ways he is “changing cows”… ”

    Gates is bragging because he’s gotten 3-Nitrooxypropanol approved as a cattle-feed additive. If you force cattle to emit less methane when they belch, how do you affect their life-expectancy, their health while they’re alive, and the fitness of their meat and milk, for consumption by humans (and FTM other animals)?

    I have few bills. I can afford grass-fed and Amish-raised cow. My kids can’t. They suffer many of the same digestive issues as I, when consuming frankenfood. I really wish Mr. Gates would quit fucking with the genomes of animals that’ve developed over thousands or millions of years, to have both a synergistic and symbiotic relationship with Earth and their local environment…
    ____________

    “Media Cover-up du jour: Screaming rise in all cause mortality: Joe Rogan: “If the media was legitimate, they would be talking about one of the biggest crises… Go ahead, take a shot at why?”

    Why? The same reason people will do everything short of murder, to keep RFK from being put in charge of food and pharmaceuticals in the incoming Administration.
    ____________

    “But wait! Didn’t I tell you “Pandemic II in Q2“? Here Comes the Untested mRNA Bird Flu Non-Vaccine Vaccine… What was the rock and roll advice? “Shoot if it makes you feel good…”

    Janis was referring to heroin. I will update her advise and shoot if someone tries to shove a hypodermic in me…

      • Happy New Year to you too, Bob.

        I saw that the other day. It was the combination of the two, along with Gates releasing 150,000,000 franken-mosquitoes in Florida, which prompted my “genome” comment when I read the “bovine Beano” article.

        Sorry, Bill Gates is a good programmer, a decent hacker, and an audacious salesman. Nothing I know about him tells me he has any business anywhere near a nuclear biology lab or any expertise in selecting people who should be.

        I also firmly believe we should work with Mother Nature, not try to re-engineer millions of years of natural evolution.

  19. Wishing you and Elaine and all the readers and contributors
    to this site a Very Happy and Healthy New Year!

  20. Dropping balls? I don’t think so. Around here it’s the thermometer that’s dropping. If it gets much colder I’ll have to unbutton my shirt to pee.

    12/31/2024 2356hrs – transformer a few hundred yards east of me shit itself and exploded. My side of the road has power. The two houses 90yds away across the road, do not. THEY, are not preppers…

    May you all be safe, sound, and prosperous in the year to come. Burn the bayberry and Praise the Lord!

    Happy New Year…

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