Authored by Jesse Felder via The Felder Report,

The stock market soared in the first half of the year partly due to record inflows from foreign investors.

‘The rally in the technology sector was driven in large part by an unprecedented surge of international flows into US equities. June’s inflow was by far the greatest monthly flow on record.’ https://t.co/bbyDjTkctk pic.twitter.com/1S5P5wDwEt

— Jesse Felder (@jessefelder) August 18, 2023

But as the late, great Justin Mamis used to say, “foreigners and dentists are the last to buy.”

‘The revenue isn’t there yet, and might never come. If Evans’ experience is a canary in a coal mine, the whole generative AI field, at least at current valuations, could come to a fairly swift end.’ https://t.co/VEGLjkOJdB pic.twitter.com/NVIRirdPCV

— Jesse Felder (@jessefelder) August 17, 2023

A mania surrounding artificial intelligence also played a part but what if it “turns out to be a dud”?

“Where you had a lot of excess liquidity, all of a sudden the pieces that have held liquidity up so high are changing quickly as you go out the next 9 to 12 months.” -Greg Jensen https://t.co/XP1pE9uPon

— Jesse Felder (@jessefelder) August 15, 2023

Finally, a temporary reprieve from a growing “liquidity hole” also helped to support stock prices but that reprieve is now coming to an end.

Rising long-term interest rates, as a result of the rapidly growing needs of the treasury, could create problems for prices of assets of all sorts. 

‘Just letting rates rise high enough to attract more and more of the world’s savings might work for a while, but not without crushing the stock and housing markets. Or the Fed could step in and buy enough bonds to lower rates, rekindling inflation.’ https://t.co/GLgjsR0Fgp

— Jesse Felder (@jessefelder) August 13, 2023

More importantly, they could put the Fed in a real bind.

‘The gilded metal stands on the precipice of a roaring bull run, perhaps echoing its luminous days of the ’70s and the 2000s.’ https://t.co/VOdzVT0Cmb by @Go_Rozen pic.twitter.com/altPPJhAjz

— Jesse Felder (@jessefelder) August 16, 2023

At some point, investors may seek “protection from financial turmoil and mounting inflationary pressures” in an asset that proven an effective safe haven for generations.

Wine gives a man fresh strength when he is wearied”

– HOMER, THE ILIAD

Wine has been in our cups, in our thoughts, and in our poems for many a millennia, from the antics of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, to its symbolism in the Last Supper.

But, as Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao details below, breaking down the biggest wine producers by country in the modern era leads to some interesting surprises.

This infographic by Alberto Rojo Moro uses data from the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) to visualize where wine production is concentrated in the world.

We take a quick look below.

The Top Wine Producers By Country in 2022

At the top of the list, Italy produced nearly 50 million hectoliters—or about 1,994 Olympic-sized swimming pools—of wine in 2022, accounting for nearly one-fifth of total production in the year. Less than half of that wine was sent to overseas markets, also making Italy the biggest exporter of the beverage by volume.

ℹ️ One hectoliter is equal to 100 liters and is used as a unit of measure for wine, beer, and other agricultural produce.

The country’s long coastline results in a moderate climate, allowing winemaking to occur in 20 different regions in Italy, with Veneto, Apulia, Emilia-Romagna, and Sicily leading in production.

Other known wine connoisseur countries—France (45.6 hectoliters) and Spain (35.8 million hectoliters)—rank second and third in wine production respectively. Together these three countries make up half of the world’s wine supply.

Here’s a full list of the world’s biggest wine producers by country.

Note: Percentages may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

The U.S., ranked 4th, is the top wine producer from the Americas, beating out other wine-producing countries like Chile (8th) and Argentina (9th).

South Africa, ranked 10th, is one of only four African countries in the dataset as winemaking isn’t as widespread on the continent as other regions in the world.

Meanwhile, China (ranked 14th) is the top wine producer from Asia. The region’s preference for other distilled spirits helps explain why the next two biggest Asian wine producers, Japan (25th) and Türkiye (31st) occupy the middle ranks.

Unsurprisingly, European countries account for two-thirds of the world’s wine supply, followed by the Americas (20%) and then Oceania (6%).

Climate Concerns for Future Wine Production

Wine production has stayed relatively stable for the last decade but climate change is coming for this industry as well.

According to the New York Times, warmer temperatures are both a blessing and curse for winemakers. Some areas once deemed too inhospitable for grapevines (like England) are starting to show potential for certain varietals and wines. At the same time, in some traditional regions, prolonged warmer weather is leading to overripening, forcing winemakers to limit the grapes’ exposure to sunlight.

And the general weather anomalies caused by climate change—floods, droughts, wildfires—all make wine production just a little more difficult than it already is.

Which prompts a question worth pouring a glass of wine over to ponder: which wine producing countries will survive, adapt, languish or thrive in the coming decades?

Via Off-Guardian.org,

Eris – the most recent “Covid variant” – is supposedly causing spikes in cases all over the world.

The story goes that England, Ireland and US are all being hit hard, it’s reached Australia too.

In yet another blow to the “BRICS will save us” crowd, India and China are playing along.

“Scientists” are even clamoring for the return of masks.

We’ve already been over everything you need to know about “Eris” here. Long story short, “Covid” is just another made up name for the flu, and the “variants” are coats of paint they slap on the narrative to try and keep it looking fresh.

In that same article I theorised Eris’ existence was a need to keep Covid alive, and that is part of it…but I also missed something obvious: The next round of Covid “vaccines” hits the shelves next month.

For those who have lost count, I think we’re up to six or seven shots now.

This “updated vaccine” is nothing to do with Eris, of course, as much as the language in the headlines implies it’s been “adapted” for the latest variant, it hasn’t.

It was in the works before Eris was even said to exist.

Moderna had the brass neck to claim that they did a “trial” showing their updated vaccine protects against Eris. Considering Eris first hit the headlines just a few weeks ago it looks like Moderna may have broken their own record in terms of speedy “trials”.

It’s just the same old slop it always was.

Hell, let’s be honest, it could be water. It could be ANYTHING.

The content of the syringe was never the important part.

After all, what you were being injected with wasn’t the point, the point was that you got injected because they told you to.

It was about forcing obedience, setting the vaccine mandate precedent and seeing how effectively people could be gaslit into taking a shot that they’d already been told they don’t need and doesn’t work.

Well, that and governments handing over VAST amounts of cash to pharmaceutical companies, obviously.

But they already have the money, and most people (allegedly) took the vaccine…so why are they still going?

You have to appreciate the huge amount of effort that went into hypnotizing millions – maybe billions – of people into acting against their own best interests, it’s a spell that’s easier to maintain than restart.

If they start letting people forget, then soon they’ll have to begin the ritual all over again.

And the magic is already wearing off.

Consider that, allegedly, over 200 million Americans took the first dose in 2021, and that by the time boosters were coming out in the fall of 2022 it was down to 50 million. That’s a 75% drop-off in only a year.

The power is slipping away, and as they scramble to get it back you can probably expect “Eris” to get a lot worse.

Authored by Gary Barnett via LewRockwell.com,

Most of you have entered the final stage of your voluntary acceptance of mass slavery, and that slavery is fully dependent on the concept of fear, compliance to a false ‘authority,’ and total dependence on the very tyrant called government, whose plan is to control the world by controlling the common, ignorant, and apathetic collective crowd called ‘the people.’

The most vital component of this ‘Great Reset’ agenda, is for the majority to be dependent on the State, and that phenomenon is now close at hand.

“It’s not an endlessly expanding list of rights – the ‘right’ to health care, the ‘right’ to food and housing. That’s not freedom, that’s dependency. Those aren’t rights, those are the rations of slavery – hay and a barn for human cattle.”

P.J. O’Rourke

The final foundation of all restriction, control of financial and monetary transactions, and control of movement, will hinge on the farcical fraud called manmade ‘climate change.’

No worries however, because many other excuses, and aspects of control and manipulation will be used as well, but at this point, the ‘climate change’ hoax is the lynchpin of the future takeover plot.

The speed of this agenda has accelerated far past earlier time projections, and I believe this to be due to more exposure by the few who understand what is actually happening, to explain all the contradiction, lies, and propaganda, that have inundated society for the past few decades. At this point, the somewhat panicked ruling class and its pawns in government, have vastly escalated their terror campaign worldwide, in order to shut down dissent before it can gain too much ground. This campaign of terror is meant to drive the tool of fear to a much higher degree, so as to be able to accomplish takeover goals with less resistance. As mentioned earlier, the main focus of this increased intimidation is based on the fake ‘climate change’ model.

One obvious example of this fear campaign, is the purposely heightened threat of so-called weather anomalies, especially what are conspicuous (intentionally set) fires burning at ridiculously high temperatures, destroying particular properties, towns, cities, and valuable mineral-laden land holdings. These unnatural fire outbreaks began in earnest in early spring, and have continued incessantly since that time. What began in Canada, has now overtaken the Hawaiian island of Maui, among many other areas around the world, and the devastation is incredible. Only psychopaths could perpetrate such evil as this, but the coverup and blame on bogus ‘climate change,’ has been accepted by most of course, and promulgated by the ruling class, and every State-owned or controlled mainstream media outlet. The attack on all truthtellers claiming these horrendous fires to be intentionally set, was instant, without any legitimate evidence to the contrary to back their plotted refutations, and in fact, this universal response was certainly coordinated.

Now there is a fight to see who will take this land in Maui, and by take, I mean exactly that. It has been exposed that many are attempting to buy and gain contracts to build a new ‘smart city’ on this hallowed ground, and many big players are involved, including Blackrock.. Those claiming to help, people like Jeff Bezos and Oprah Winfrey, are already heavily involved, and the governor of Hawaii, Josh Green, has taken control of this, and not to the benefit of those residents and business owners who lost everything. (As an aside, the houses and property of Bezos and Winfrey magically escaped the fire?) This evil governor, a true controlling politician, said, and before all bodies have been recovered, or any funerals for the dead have taken place, “I’m already thinking of ways for the state to acquire that land so that we can put it into workforce housing, to put it back into families, or make it open spaces in perpetuity as a memorial to the people who were lost,” Democrat Gov. Josh Green said. What about all those who own that land the ‘State’ is going to force buy? (Steal)

But let us not stop here, as during this same year, there were unbelievable train derailments. most all of which involved very poisonous, and toxic materials, the most noted of course, being the purposely released (due to deliberate fire-setting) noxious chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio, that poisoned much of the northeast U.S. There were many more incidents of this nature as well.

As to extreme fear-mongering, weather ‘services’ nationwide, have intentionally changed all reporting in order to strike extreme fear in the collective herd called the ‘citizenry.’ Fantastic claims of record heat, which are bogus in most every case, are rampant. Instead of greens and darker muted colors to show heat, dark reds and purples just so happen to be the new norm across the entire country, and simultaneously; a coincidence certainly? In addition, the heat is not just hot, it is now “boiling” according to these weather idiots. These descriptions, while ludicrous and plotted, are purposely meant to cause undue alarm in an uninformed ‘public’ with little or no desire or effort to understand any truth.

All of these things, and an endless supply of other threats, including the threat of nuclear war, of financial collapse, of food shortages, of extreme inflation leading to extreme prices, to new ‘pandemic’ emergencies, to travel restrictions, lockdowns, monitoring of all transactions, and of total digitization of the economy in order to control all, are now constant. The end of cash is being pursued aggressively, and the replacement by central bank digital currency (CBDC) is looming in the near future. This agenda too, has recently accelerated greatly, indicating that the ruling element of society is attempting to expand its control mechanisms more quickly so as to avoid any pushback. Given what is happening in open view, the great increase of intentionally-structured disastrous events, the massive transfer of wealth and property, the government’s aggressive stance immediately following every manufactured ‘weather event’ or so-called ‘natural’ emergency, and the total disregard for life and personal property, how long will it be until this takeover plot becomes fully entrenched in reality?

All of these events are meant to make the average ‘citizen’ dependent on the State. The more dependency, the easier to control. When the bulk of society cannot or will not take care of themselves, will not be responsible for their own lives and freedom, will not fight back in their own defense, and voluntarily choose to acquiesce to authority and State relief instead of taking any personal responsibility, what will become of this country?

It will be very telling to watch this State terrorism that has been released on Maui, and how the people respond. Will they give up their homes and land that was destroyed by and due to evil forces, or will they demand to keep and hold their property? Will they disallow this totalitarian scum called a governor from his nefarious U.N. plans, and keep what is theirs? Or will they simply allow the State’s political class to do as they please with everything they have deliberately destroyed, and become wards (slaves) of the State?

“Between the government which does evil and the people who accept it – there is a certain shameful solidarity.”

~ Author: Victor Hugo

Once mass dependence is in place, there will no longer be any chance of a free society.

The State seeks to control all, and the way to accomplish that heinous mission, is to make the populace at large completely impotent, so that they have not the ability or drive to fight back. Total dependency is key to any takeover conspiracy by the ruling class and its State thugs, and many feigned threats and so-called emergencies will erupt on a regular basis going forward.

This is without doubt in my opinion, so believe nothing, trust no State representative at any level, trust no mainstream media, and question everything!

Authored by Antonio Graceffo via The Epoch Times,

The Center for Strategic and International Studies on July 18 identified China’s control over gallium (a rare earth element) as a national security threat.

Rare earth elements (REEs) are crucial to the U.S. military, but China holds the key. China possesses 36 percent of the world’s known rare earth reserves and controls 70 percent of the world’s extractive capacity and an astonishing 90 percent of the processing capacity. This dominance in extraction and processing gives China a commanding position in the global REE market, raising concerns about resource security and international dependency.

REEs are critical to defense technology as modern weapons can’t be built, repaired, or maintained without them. Everything from F-35 fighter aircraft to cellphones depends on rare earths, as do critical space technologies, electronics, and semiconductors. Of the 50 minerals designated as critical by the U.S. Geological Survey, 17 are considered rare earths. Although the supply of REEs is sufficient to meet defense needs, extracting a small amount of rare earths requires mining a large quantity of waste materials.

In February 2022, the Biden White House issued a statement acknowledging how critical minerals provide the building blocks for many modern technologies and are essential to U.S. national security and economic prosperity. The statement went on to outline steps that the administration was taking to secure the U.S. supply chain. However, the problem remains unresolved.

One of the reasons why the United States and Western nations can’t compete with China in rare earth mining is environmental regulations. The necessity for permits and achieving environmental standards make mining REEs extremely difficult and expensive. The United States only has one REE mine, which is located in Mountain Pass, California.

In 2022, the White House granted $35 million to MP Materials to process REEs from Mountain Pass, but the company still sends its REE feedstock to China for advanced processing. Similarly, the United States provided funding to Australia’s Lynas Corporation for REE mining, but Lynas continues to outsource processing to China.

An apparent contradiction in the environmental regulations on mining REEs is that the same amount of pollution is being added to the Earth’s atmosphere, whether the REEs are mined and processed in the United States or China. Furthermore, green technologies are heavily dependent on REEs. Wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicle motors require REEs. Unless the United States and other nations dramatically increase their REE mining and processing, the world can never achieve the Paris Agreement’s climate change goals.

To meet emission reduction targets set by President Joe Biden, the United States will have to increase its electricity generation by 60 percent by 2030.

With the growing sales of electric cars and wind turbines, Boston Consulting Group estimates that demand for REE will increase to 466 kilotons by 2035 from 170 kilotons in 2022.

Given the size of the average REE project, 30 new projects would have to be put into operation by 2035. A shortfall will result in electricity outages and a reduction in the standard of living for most Americans.

It could take years for the United States to build sufficient REE mining and refining operations.

Under current regulations, it takes an average of 16 years for a permit to be awarded. Once greenlighted, REE projects are capital-intensive and take a great deal of time to turn a profit. Due to these difficulties and the uncertainty of earning a positive return, most established mining companies have steered away from the REE business. Boston Consulting Group estimates that keeping up with increasing demand would require an investment of $100 billion per year for the next 12 years.

Environmentalists suggest recycling REEs already above ground as a partial solution. The Heritage Foundation recommends that private industry and the U.S. Department of Defense should stockpile processed and semi-processed REEs. To rebuild the U.S. capacity to mine and process REEs, Congress must reduce the environmental restrictions. Federal and state agencies must also follow suit. Federal land where mining is prohibited should be reviewed and potentially reopened.

Furthermore, the United States should collaborate with its defense partners in Europe, Australia, North America, and Asia to establish mining and processing operations so allies could mitigate dependence on China. Finally, the Development Finance Corporation should be empowered to provide financing to U.S. corporations and those of friendly nations to establish mining and processing operations.

The world has experienced rapid urbanization over the last century.

Today, more than 4.3 billion people live in urban settings, or 55% of the world’s population.

But what is the world’s largest city?

Answers to that question will vary greatly depending on which lines are being used to demarcate city boundaries and measure their populations.

In the graphic below, Visual Capitalist’s Bhabna Banerjee and Bruno Venditti use data taken from the latest official censuses and projections to rank the top cities based on the three most common metrics…

The Largest Cities by City Proper

Our first metric is based on the city proper, meaning the administrative boundaries.

According to the United Nations, a city proper is “the single political jurisdiction which contains the historical city center.”

The Chinese city of Chongqing leads the ranks by this metric and has an administrative boundary the size of Austria, with an urban population of 32.1 million.

The city’s monorail system holds records for being the world’s longest and busiest, boasting 70 stations. Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport, is among the world’s top 50 busiest airports. Additionally, the city ranks among the globe’s top 50 hubs for scientific research.

Other Chinese cities dominate the ranking by this metric:

The first non-Chinese city, Delhi, has been experiencing one of the fastest urban expansions in the world.

The United Nations projects India will add over 400 million urban dwellers by 2050, compared to 250 million people in China and 190 million in Nigeria.

The Largest Cities by Urban Area

This measurement largely ignores territorial boundaries and considers a city a contiguous, connected built-up area.

Demographia describes urban areas as functioning as an integrated economic unit, linked by commuting flows, social, and economic interactions.

By this metric, Tokyo leads the ranking:

The city proper houses about 10% of Japan’s population. If the greater Tokyo metro area is considered, including cities like Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba, then Tokyo’s total population surpasses 37 million—about 30% of the country total.

Consequently, even with one of the world’s largest railway systems, trains in Tokyo are incredibly crowded, with a boarding rate of 200% during peak time in the most overcrowded areas. The city is also famous for its Shibuya Crossing, the busiest intersection on the planet.

The Largest Cities by Metropolitan Area

Tokyo also leads by our final metric, metropolitan area.

This measurement is similar to urban area, but is generally defined by official organizations, either for statistical purposes or governance.

In the United States, this takes the form of metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), such as Chicago-Naperville-Elgin or Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler.

As the global urban population continues to rise, new cities, especially in Africa and Asia, are expected to vie for the “largest” tag soon.

The UN projects that by 2050, 68% of the world will live in urban areas.

Authored by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.us,

I have to admit that in my efforts to analyze and dissect far-left/globalist ideologies and agendas I have come to a point where I am just as fascinated as I am horrified. Consider for a moment the progressive “intersectional” narrative which we often refer to as “woke”: It’s not an activist movement because they already have equal rights under the law. It’s partially a political movement but their goals go far beyond putting candidates in government – A large part of the government is already on their side.

They claim to stand against “capitalism” and corporate power, yet their movement is primarily funded by the very money elites they say they despise.

No, this movement is something different – It’s a system of blind belief and the invasion of a cult that worships itself, that worships power and seeks to undermine the truth whenever possible as a means to an end. We are witnessing history in the making; the birth of a monstrous religion of moral relativism.

To understand the political left and their tactics you have to understand their relationship with the globalists. Woke groups are a creation of the corporate/globalist regime. For decades think-tanks like the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation have been grooming universities to produce a steady supply of cult members, all of them indoctrinated into a carefully crafted narrative that clings to socialism and uses victim status as a currency.

They abhor meritocracy and have delusions of equity. They demand an impossible Utopia that guarantees equal outcomes. They see self sufficiency as criminality; an attempt to escape from collective oversight. And they are more than willing to rationalize dishonesty, disinformation, deconstruction, chaos and murder as a means to get what they want.

As I’ve noted in the past, it’s difficult to combat a movement with no morals and no shame. If your purpose is to convince them to stop what they are doing using logic, data, common sense and appeals to conscience, you will fail. They don’t care about any of these things. The leftist obsession with power is absolute – It’s all they talk about. It’s the root of every one of their arguments.

That said, their concept of power is rather limited and childish.

For the woke, power is in cancel culture. Power is in the mob. Power is in displays of collective destruction and control.

They ask themselves “What can we take from others, and how can we instill fear?” They believe the more they can take, the more power they have.

Globalists view power in a similar manner to leftists, but they expand on the manifesto with the question “How can we convince others to give us control willingly?”

Woke useful idiots see power as something that must be stolen through intimidation or force. Globalists see power as something that is handed to them by useful idiots. In order to get that power, globalists spend the vast majority of their energy and wealth on the manufacturing of consent. It’s not enough to control the population, you have to make them believe that your oligarchy is THEIR IDEA. That way, they never try to fight back.

While woke activists are running around like monkeys with matches trying to burn down the world, globalists are looking at the activists and saying “How can I make those monkeys burn down the things I want them to burn down?”

Manufacturing consent from half the population of a nation requires a massive disinfo apparatus. I doubt that most leftists even realize their entire philosophy was funded and fabricated by corporate interests. And if you educate them on the fact that they are now allied with the same ultra-rich corporate vampires they say they hate, you’ll soon discover they don’t mind. They’ll happily embrace the devil’s contract because they see it as a means of “winning.” In this way political leftists and the globalists are indelibly intertwined.

This is why I don’t take arguments over the “false left/right paradigm” very seriously anymore. Sure, there are still Neo-Cons in the Republican Party that claim to be conservative when they are actually globalists and leftists. That’s not the point. The point is, millions upon millions of regular people on the left have willfully chosen to side with the globalists and have specifically targeted conservative and patriot culture for destruction.

They are the enemy, just as much as the globalists are the enemy. Without the leftist mob the globalists have no power. It’s time to accept this reality instead of falling back on the same old lazy argument: “But both sides are the problem…” No, only one side is the problem. They have always been the problem regardless of the political masks they wear.

If you look at the pyramid from the bottom-up, there is no such thing as the “false left/right paradigm” anymore. There is a VERY REAL left/right paradigm. The division is a fact of life. The lines have been drawn by the establishment; either you’re with them or you’re against them. There is no in-between.

In the film ‘The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari’ an elite member of society turns a man into a monster through hypnosis, sending him to stalk the countryside to kill people the elite wants out of his way.  The globalists have also used mesmerism to summon their own leftist monster whenever they need some dirty work done.  There are two key pillars that they want leftists to tear down – People’s perceptions of freedom and people’s perceptions of objective fact.

For example, look at the recent covid “crisis” and the draconian response that the majority of leftists supported. Also look at the hysterical climate change narratives and the calls for carbon restrictions that would inevitably lead to mass depopulation; once again largely supported by the political left.

Both agendas rely on the notion of an existential threat that requires people to sacrifice their freedoms on a micro-level. Yet, covid mandates suggest that we need to save the population from death while climate change mandates suggest that we need to kill most of the population to protect the environment. It doesn’t make sense unless you understand that diminishing freedom is the ultimate point. Covid was never about saving lives and climate controls have nothing to do with saving the planet.

As for perceptions of objective fact, one need only look at the transgender movement to see that the very foundations of truth are under siege. If biology is subjective, if identity is subjective, if the genetic details we use to define and categorize our species are “social constructs” instead of facts, then almost any truth could be targeted. I believe that this attempt to make biological truth a matter of prerogative is done with the intent of making moral truth mutable.

If civilization is convinced to accept the surgical/chemical mutilation and sterilization of our youth, if we can be convinced to accept the sexualization of children from an early age, then we can easily be convinced to accept just about anything else. Pedophilia? Slavery? Murder? All in the name of hedonism posing as freedom.

By extension, the abandonment of universal truths will invariably lead to the rebuke of freedom itself. What is freedom really? Is it a legitimate concern for the future? We “live in a society” after all, and according to leftists everything we do “affects everyone else.” Therefore, freedom can be dangerous; it might hurt or upset others. It might ruin the planet. Best to get rid of it entirely for the good of the collective…

It is an eternal dichotomy – Without truth there can be no freedom – Without freedom there can be no truth. On the dark side of that coin is the globalist/leftist dichotomy – Without the globalists there is no leftist mob, without the leftist mob the globalists will be erased.

Globalists are seeking to subjugate the world, and to do that they need to undermine the basic tenets of human interaction and understanding. They have allied with the political left in order to blitz the populace with chaos, keeping people distracted and off balance while the powers-that-be wrap their tentacles around every last vestige of private liberty.

Our greatest hope is for the citizenry to adopt a hostile posture and refuse to compromise another inch. We have to start calling the political left out for what they really are – The striking hand of the globalist cabal. There can be no give-and-take when it comes to our core principles. No more tolerance of deconstruction, no more slack given to saboteurs. If a subversive group is trying to tear down the moral fabric that makes the west functional and free, if they desire to eradicate the heritage that our founders fought to establish, then we must do as the founders did and remove the threat.

*  *  *

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Summer in the Northern Hemisphere has peaked and will soon give way to the cold season. The latest extended weather forecast for the winter 2023-24 season reveals cold temperatures, snow, and damp conditions across the Lower 48. 

“After a weird and warm winter season last year, this winter should make cold weather fans rejoice—especially those in the Great Lakes, Midwest, and northern New England areas,” Peter Geiger, editor of the Farmer’s Almanac, wrote in a statement.

Geiger added, “The ‘brrr’ is coming back! We expect more snow and low temperatures nationwide.”

For winter, the Farmer’s Almanac factors in a strengthening of El Niño, which should result in more moisture and storms across the southern US.

Last year’s weather prediction forecasted a chilly and snowy winter for the East and arid conditions for the West. However, that only partially panned out. 

Farmers’ Almanac’s method of forecasting weather is the same as it was two centuries ago:

“The Almanac first started in 1818, so back in that time period, our editor wanted to predict the weather for farmers. So, he developed a mathematical formula that gets applied to sunspot activity, planet position, the effect the moon has on the Earth, and all of those things. The formula allows us to do our weather two years in advance. There are times when there’s a very strong El Niño, or La Niña that’s very strong, that could make things a little different than what we’re calling for, but basically, we have a good track record.”

Summer in the Northern Hemisphere has peaked. 

Others are forecasting cold weather. 

We put our first winter forecast out on Weatherbell. Here is the temperature and snow forecast. You can read it on our premium site. Just so happens the latest CFSV2 CONTROL run went nuts pic.twitter.com/dWva8PVH8T

— The American Storm (@BigJoeBastardi) August 18, 2023

If the Farmers’ Almanac’s winter predictions prove accurate, brace yourselves for another wave of the very same climate alarmists who warned of a melting Earth this summer due to cow farts and gas-powered cars. They will likely pivot and claim cold weather is yet another sign of ‘climate change’ induced by humans. Has anyone told these hopeless, fearmongering folks there are seasons?

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,

Do you remember what happened in 2008?  Many people believe that another historic financial disaster is coming and that it will absolutely devastate the U.S. economy.  Earlier this week, I wrote about an investor named Michael Burry that has actually bet 1.6 billion dollars that the stock market is going to crash.  He made all the right moves in 2008, and he fully intends to be proven right once again in 2023.  Of course current conditions definitely resemble 2008 in so many ways.  The residential housing market is so dead right now, and commercial real estate prices are plummeting at a very frightening pace.  Unfortunately, officials at the Federal Reserve are making it quite clear that they are not done strangling the economy.

This week, mortgage rates jumped above the 7 percent mark to the highest level that we have seen in more than 20 years…

Mortgage rates surpassed 7% this week, hitting the highest level in more than two decades.

The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage increased to 7.09% this week, up from 6.96% the week prior, according to Freddie Mac’s release on Thursday. That’s the highest point since the first week of April 2002 and marks just the third time rates have exceeded 7% since then. The last times were in October and November of last year, when the rate reached 7.08%.

Needless to say, high mortgage rates have been crippling the housing market in recent months.

At the midpoint of this year, existing home sales were down a whopping 18.9 percent from the same time in 2022…

Total existing-home sales1 – completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – receded 3.3% from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.16 million in June. Year-over-year, sales fell 18.9% (down from 5.13 million in June 2022).

There are certainly lots of people out there that would like to buy homes, but thanks to how high mortgage rates have become they simply cannot afford to do so.

Housing has become extremely unaffordable in this country.  According to Redfin, the percentage of teachers that can afford to buy a home close to the school where they work has fallen to just 12 percent…

The number of teachers who can afford a reasonably priced home in their school district nationwide has collapsed to just 12%, down from 17% last summer and 30% in 2019, amid the worst housing affordability crisis in a generation, according to data from Redfin.

Redfin’s analysis of median teacher salaries for 2022 across 50 major cities for over 70,000 PreK-12 public and private schools revealed no teacher in San Jose and San Diego could afford homes within “commuting distances” to their respective school, which means home and work are 20 minutes during typical rush hour conditions.

So much damage has already been done.

But apparently officials at the Federal Reserve believe that even more carnage is necessary, because they are indicating that more rate hikes are on the table…

Most Federal Reserve officials signaled during their July policy-setting meeting that high inflation still poses an ongoing threat that could necessitate additional interest rate hikes this year.

Minutes from the U.S. central bank’s July 25-26 meeting released Wednesday showed that central bank officials observed that inflation remains well above the Fed’s 2% target — and that policymakers need to see “further signs that aggregate demand and aggregate supply were moving into better balance to be confident that inflation pressures were abating.”

No.

Don’t do it.

Even if rates stay at current levels, we are headed for extreme pain.

Raising rates even higher would just be suicidal.

But it looks like they are going to do it anyway, and that could push mortgage rates up to the 8 percent level…

Economists have predicted mortgage rates could go above 8 percent if the economy continues to show signs of strength and the US Federal Reserve decides to raise interest rates again.

Mortgage Rates have not hit such levels since 2000, according to data compiled by Freddie Mac.

Do officials at the Fed actually believe that our system can handle such high rates?

Unless the Fed changes course, the housing market is going to absolutely implode.

And of course the commercial real estate market is already imploding.

The chaos that is already transpiring is putting an enormous amount of strain on our financial institutions, and Fitch is warning that we could soon see sweeping rating downgrades in the banking industry…

A Fitch Ratings analyst warned that the U.S. banking industry has inched closer to another source of turbulence — the risk of sweeping rating downgrades on dozens of U.S. banks that could even include the likes of JPMorgan Chase
.
The ratings agency cut its assessment of the industry’s health in June, a move that analyst Chris Wolfe said went largely unnoticed because it didn’t trigger downgrades on banks.

In many ways, I feel like I am watching a repeat of 2008.

Officials at the Fed can clearly see everything that is happening, but they just keep insisting on making things even worse.

So I hope that you have been preparing for turbulent times, because things are going to get crazy.

Sadly, the truth is that most Americans are not prepared for tougher times.  In fact, one recent survey discovered that 72 percent of Americans are not financially secure…

For many Americans, payday can’t come soon enough. As of June, 61% of adults are living paycheck to paycheck, according to a LendingClub report. In other words, they rely on those regular paychecks to meet essential living expenses, with little to no money left over.

Almost three-quarters, 72%, of Americans say they aren’t financially secure given their current financial standing, and more than a quarter said they will likely never be financially secure, according to a survey by Bankrate.

Many of those people will lose their jobs during this new economic crisis, and because they don’t have any sort of a financial cushion to fall back on many of them will also end up losing their homes.

Delinquency rates are already starting to move higher, and that should deeply alarm all of us.

But what we have experienced so far is just the tip of the iceberg.

So brace yourselves for what is ahead, because this ride is only going to get bumpier from here.

*  *  *

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

The distribution of wealth is an important measure of the economic power of each generation.

In the U.S., for example, baby boomers own half of the nation’s $156 trillion in assets despite making up 21% of the country’s population.

To learn more about U.S. wealth by generation, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Lu and Joyce Ma created two visualizations using Q4 2022 data from the Federal Reserve that break down both the assets and liabilities held by each American generation.

Assets by Generation

Assets by generation are listed in the table below. All figures are as of Q4 2022 and in USD trillions.

Baby boomers’ biggest category of assets is Equities & Mutual Funds, where they own 56% of the national total. Millennials, on the other hand, represent just 2%.

Where millennials do have more wealth is Real Estate, with 12% of the national total. This suggests that millennials have, for the most part, foregone investing in financial assets in order to purchase a home.

Liabilities by Generation

The following charts show a breakdown of liabilities by generation. Not surprisingly, Mortgages make up the largest component of liabilities for all generations.

Something to highlight is that millennials are carrying the largest amount of Consumer Credit, at $2 trillion (representing about 43% of total consumer credit). As of 2022, millennials accounted for 22% of the U.S. population.

U.S. Wealth by Generation

Finally, we subtract liabilities from assets to arrive at total wealth by generation in the United States. Figures again are USD and in trillions.

As a final note, it’s worth highlighting that Gen Z is still too young to be included as a separate demographic in datasets like these. Born between 1997 and 2012, these individuals are currently between 11 and 26 years old. Interestingly, the Federal Reserve currently considers all U.S. adults born after 1981 as millennials.