I’m dealing with a “second” bout of COVID. This one is slightly different from my one of two weeks ago, and this is from an employee who caught it when he traveled (far) up North. (Mongolia)
This version has a sore throat (slight), tired and soreness. Not too much in the way of headache. It’s different from the earlier COVID. It must be a strain off-shoot.
Ugh.
I shut the office down today. Everyone is at home sick. Including myself.
…
New years came. Meh.
One of the side effects of dealing with Coronavirus is the general lack of motivation afterwards. Ugh! My tasks are starting to mount, but I have no desire to tackle them.
I did respond to some Quora questions. I did make up some movies, and re-posted an important Patreon video titled “Homecoming” that is one of my bests. If you haven’t watched it yet, go ahead and watch it now.
Towards the end, the DC has a message (highlighted in red). I’d suggest you all take heart and note the message. Then finish the video as the music and scenes at the end are all about homecoming and reunification with the triad.
Aside from that…
Sparse post today. Enjoy.
Amazing Obsidian Carved Crystal Tyrannosaurus Skull
This is a Black Obsidian Tyrannosaurus/dinosaur skull. The skull is 6.4 inches long, from front to back.
Obsidian is actually natural glass that is formed when hot lava is submerged in water. This is a strong grounding stone and is known as “the protector”. It is said to “mirror one’s soul. This stone brings about objectivity, dis-attachment and is grounding. It reduces fantasy and escapism. Absorbs and dissolves anger, criticism, fear, and therefore is protective. This unusual black stone absorbs darkness and converts it to white light energy.
Ukrainian Soldiers Execute Prisoners Of War – Admits U.S. Mercenary
“I got blackout drunk and told the truth.” Happens all the time.
The most important question
December 27, 2022 112 Comments
Looks like we will make it to Dec 31, 2022. Will we make it to December 31, 2023?
This question is not hyperbole. I would even argue that this is the single most important question for at least the entire northern hemisphere.
I have been warning that Russia is preparing for a fullscale war since at least 2014. Putin basically said just that in his recent speech before the Russian Defense Ministry Board. If you have not seen this video, you really should watch it, it it will give you a direct insight into how the Kremlin thinks and what it is preparing for. Here is that video again:
I will assume that you have watched that video and that I don’t need to prove to you that Russia is gearing out for a massive war, including a nuclear one.
Foreign Minister Lavrov has publicly declared
that “unnamed officials from the Pentagon actually threatened to conduct a ‘decapitation strike’ on the Kremlin…What we are talking about is the threat of the physical elimination of the head of the Russian state, (…) If such ideas are actually being nourished by someone, this someone should think very carefully about the possible consequences of such plans.”
So, we have the following situation:
- For Russia this war is clearly, undeniably and officially an existential one. To dismiss this reality would be the height of folly. When the strongest nuclear power on the planet declares, repeatedly, that this is an existential war everybody ought to really take it seriously and not go into deep denial.
- For the US Neocons this is also an existential war: if Russia wins, then NATO loses and, therefore, the US loses too. Which means that all those SOBs who for months fed everybody nonsense about Russia loosing the war to the general public will be held responsible for the inevitable disaster.
So much will depend on whether US Americans, especially those in power, are willing to die in solidarity with the “crazies in the basement” or not. Right now it sure looks like they are. Don’t count on the EU, they have long given up any agency. Talking to them simply makes no sense.
Which might explain Medvedev’s recent words
“Alas, there is nobody in the West we could deal with about anything for any reason (..) is the last warning to all nations: there can be no business with the Anglo-Saxon world because it is a thief, a swindler, a card-sharp that could do anything.”
Russia can do many things, but it cannot liberate the USA from the grip of the Neocons. That is something which only US Americans can do.
And here we hit a vicious circle:
The US political system is most unlikely to be effectively challenged from within, big money runs everything, including the most advanced propaganda system in history (aka the “free media”) and the population is kept uninformed and brainwashed. And yes, of course, a major defeat in a war against Russia would shake this system so hard that it would be impossible to conceal the magnitude of the disaster (think “Kabul on steroids”). And that is precisely why the Neocons cannot allow that to happen because this defeat would trigger a domino effect which would quickly involve the truth about 9/11 and, after that, all the myths and lies the US society has been based on for decades (JFK anybody?).
There are, of course, plenty of US Americans who fully understand that. But how many of them are in a real position of power to influence US decision-making and outcomes? The real question is whether there still are enough patriotic forces in the Pentagon, or the letter soup agencies, to send the Neocons back down into the basement they crawled out of after the 9/11 false flag or not?
Right now it sure looks like all the positions of power in the US are held by Neolibs, Neocons, RINOs and other ugly creatures, yet it is also undeniable that people like, say, Tucker Carlson and Tulsi Gabbard
are reaching a lot of people who “get it”. This *has* to include REAL liberals and REAL conservatives whose loyalty is not to a gang of international thugs but to their own country and their own people.
I am also pretty sure that there are many US military commanders who listen to what Col. Macgregor has to say
.
Will that be that enough to break through the wall of lies and propaganda?
I hope so, but I am not very optimistic.
First, Andrei Martyanov is absolutely spot on when he constantly decries the crass incompetence and ignorance of the US ruling class. And I very much share his frustration. We both see where this is all headed and all we can do is warn, warn and warn again. I realize that is is hard to believe in the idea that a nuclear superpower like the US is run by a gang of incompetent and ignorant thugs, but that IS the reality and simply denying it won’t make it go away.
Second, at least so far, the US general public has not (yet) felt the full effects of the collapse of the US-controlled financial and economic system. So flag-waving “morans” can still hope that a war against Russia will look like the turkey shoot “Desert Storm” was.
It won’t.
The real question here is whether the only way to wake up the brainwashed flag-waving “morans” is by means of a nuclear explosion over their heads or not?
“Go USA” is a mental condition which has been injected into the minds of millions of US Americans for many decades and it will take either a lot of time, or some truly dramatic events, to bring these folks back to reality.
Third, the US ruling elites are clearly going into deep denial. All this silly talk about US Patriot missiles or F-16s changing the course of the war in infantile and naive. Frankly this would all be rather comical if it was not so dangerous in its potential consequences. What will happen once the single Patriot missile battery is destroyed and the F-16s shot down?
How soon will the West run out of Wunderwaffen?
On a conceptual “escalation scale” what would be the next step up from Patriots and F-16s?
Tactical nukes?
Considering the rather idiotic notion that a “tactical” nuke is somehow fundamentally different from a “strategic” nuke irrespective of how it is used and where it is used is extremely dangerous.
I submit that the fact that the US ruling class is seriously contemplating both a “limited” use of “tactical” nukes and “decapitating strikes” is a very good indicator of the fact that the US is running out of Wunderwaffen and that the Neocons are desperate.
And to those who might be tempted to accuse me of hyperbole or paranoid delusions I will say the following:
This war is NOT, repeat, NOT about the Ukraine (or Poland or the three Baltic statelets). At its absolute minimum this is a war about the future of Europe. Fundamentally it is a war about the complete reorganization of our planet’s international order. I would even argue that the outcome of this war will have a bigger impact that either WWI or WWII. The Russians clearly understand this (see video above if you doubt that).
And so do the Neocons, even if they don’t speak about it.
The current situation is much more dangerous than even the Cuban missile crisis or the standoff in Berlin. At least then both sides openly admitted that the situation was really dangerous. This time around, however, the ruling elites of the West are using their formidable PSYOP/propaganda capability to conceal the true scope what is really going on. If every citizen of the US (and EU) understood that there is a nuclear and conventional cross-hairs painted on his/her head things might be different. Alas, this is clearly not the case, hence the non-existent peace movement and the quasi consensus about pouring tens of BILLIONS of dollars into the Ukrainian black hole.
Right now, the crazies are playing around with all sorts of silly ideas, including booting Russia off the UNSC (not gonna happen, since both Russia and China have veto power) or even creating a “peace conference” about the Ukraine without Russia’s participation
(in a remake of the “friends of Syria” and “friends of Venezuela” thingie). Well, good luck with that! Apparently Guaido and Tikhanovskaia are not enough to discourage the Neocons and they are now repeating the exact same nonsense with “Ze”.
So, will we make it to December 31, 2023?
Maybe, but this is by no means sure. Clearly, this is not an assumption the Kremlin makes, hence the truly immense strengthening of all of Russia’s strategic deterrence capabilities (both nuclear and conventional).
God willing, the old adage “si vis pacem, para bellum” will save the day, as Russia is very clearly prepared for any time of conflict, including a nuclear one. China will also get there soon, but it is likely that 2023 will see some kind of end to the Ukrainian war: either a Russian victory in the Ukraine or a full-scale continental war which Russia will also win, (albeit at a much higher cost!). So by the time the Chinese will be truly ready (they probably need another 2-5 years) the world will be a very different place.
For all these reasons I submit that 2023 might well be one of the most important years in human history. How many of us will actually survive it is an open question.
The Saker
Bloodthirsty War “Experts” Say Ukraine War Is A Bargain
English Muffins (Bread Machine Method).
“When I landed on this recipe while surfing the web, I had to try it. I’m so glad it did. They are delicious. Tip I: The dough should be soft but not sticky. It took me two attempts to get that just right. Tip II: I posted the recipe as written. After, several batches, I don’t press the dough into a rectangle anymore. I divide it into eight equal pieces and pat each piece into a 1/2″ thick round. Then, turn each round in dish of cornmeal.”
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 egg
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (or more)
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons dry yeast
- cornmeal
Directions
- Put ingredients in the machine in the order listed.
- Start the dough cycle.
- When the cycle is finished.
- Sprinkle corn meal over your work area.
- Use your hands to pat the dough into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle.
- Turn the dough so that each side gets lightly coated with cornmeal.
- Cut into 8 to 10 rounds.
- An empty large tuna can works well When you run out of dough gather up the trimmings and cut more rounds.
- Place the rounds on a baking sheet, cover and let rise for 20- 30 minutes–until not quite double.
- Heat a dry cast iron skillet or griddle over a low flame.
- (I do spray mine with Pam).
- Cook the muffins about 5 to 7 minutes on each side.
- They should be golden brown when you turn them.
- Split the muffins with a fork or serrated knife and serve warm.
- These freeze well and can be reheated in the microwave or toasted.
How deadly serious is this competition between the U.S-China at this point? What needed changes should the respective parties/allies make/start making now?
That the whole point, THERE IS NO COMPETITION, it’s all just a fantasy from the USA by the USA, China is not competing with anyone, all they are doing is improving their own citizens living standards and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it’s driving the US CRRRAAAzyyyy, simply because they may not be number one any more, as if that will make any difference, the thing is NOTHING will change, the US will not be any different, but what the Us is doing is FORCING China to retaliate and that could even lead to the USs own downfall, the US is already down the gurgler just check out the actual worth of the top ten countries, so it doesn’t really matter what the US does, it’s already to late.
Do urban Chinese parents nowadays give equal shares of the inheritance to all of their children, instead of giving more to the sons?
In the West, marriage is a personal matter.
In China, marriage is a matter for the whole family.
There is an idiom in China: build a net to attract phoenix. It means that the male bird must first build a nest and then attract the female. If the male does not build a nest, no female will want to be homeless with him.
The custom in China is that the husband’s family is responsible for all the necessities of the wedding.
Having a daughter is attract investment, and all you need to do is to wait for her to be married away by the person she loves.
Having a son requires self-financing, and a house and private car needed to be prepared in advance for him to marry back his wife.
Women are born to be cared for and protected by men. Men are born to take care of and protect women. This is the division of roles in the chinese family.
Therefore, even if the daughter has no money, she still has her husband to take care of and protect her. But if the son has no money, the wife does not necessarily take care of and protect him.
Chinese family values and marriage values have been developed over thousands of years of history.
Hegel said “All that is real is rational; and all that is rational is real”
In the West, such values may be sexist, but Chinese values are such that each gender has a social role for each gender, unlike Western values that confuse the social roles of the genders.
We often see that in the West, bulls milking and cows jousting; roosters laying eggs and hens crowing.…This is very interesting, but will undoubtedly prevent society from moving forward. We support and commend the West for doing so, but do not intend to follow suit.
China has a Taoist culture, and the Taoist culture is characterized by going with the flow of nature and following the laws, not against the laws of nature.
This idea first appeared in the Classic of the Way and Virtue.
Dao, or the Way creates and nurtures everything, yet it does not command anything, but follows and accommodates the natural conditions of all things. This is the Daoist interpretation of the common feature of the entire universe: All things between heaven and earth must follow and operate in accordance with their natural conditions.
If mankind has no fear of the laws of nature, it will only bring disaster and even “genocide” to mankind.
《Tao-Te Ching》Chapter 25
There was something undefined and complete, coming into existence before Heaven and Earth. How still it was and formless, standing alone, and undergoing no change, reaching everywhere and in no danger (of being exhausted)! It may be regarded as the Mother of all things. I do not know its name, and I give it the designation of the Tao (the Way or Course). Making an effort (further) to give it a name I call it The Great. Great, it passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it becomes remote. Having become remote，it returns. Therefore the Tao is great; Heaven is great; Earth is great; and the (sage) king is also great. In the universe there are four that are great, and the (sage) king is one of them. Man takes his law from the Earth; the Earth takes its law from Heaven; Heaven takes its law from the Tao. The law of the Tao is its being what it is.
2023 Will Be Economic Hell – 6 Things We Must Watch
The pace of change certainly seems to be accelerating. 2023 shaping up to be a very interesting year.
The “Mega-Bubbles” Have Started To Burst, And That Could Mean Unprecedented Financial Chaos Is Ahead
The Federal Reserve giveth, and the Federal Reserve taketh away. In a desperate attempt to help the U.S. economy recover from the horrific economic crisis of 2008 and 2009, the Federal Reserve pushed interest rates all the way to the floor and kept them at or near the floor until 2022. During that same time period, the Fed also created trillions of dollars out of thin air and pumped it into the financial system. All of this new money had to go somewhere, and it created colossal financial bubbles that were unlike anything we had ever seen before. There were a few voices that were warning that all of this foolishness would end very badly, but those voices were mostly drowned out by those that were super happy that asset values were absolutely exploding. The Fed had essentially created the ultimate “get rich quick scheme”, and countless Americans were more than happy to take advantage of it.
But in 2022 inflation started to become exceedingly painful, and the Federal Reserve went into panic mode. The flow of free money stopped, and the Federal Reserve began to aggressively hike interest rates.
Everyone knew that this sudden change of course by the Fed would crash the housing market, and that is precisely what is happening. In fact, even the Wall Street Journal is now admitting that we are facing “a housing slump as severe, by some metrics, as that of 2007-09”…
The Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases have brought on a housing slump as severe, by some metrics, as that of 2007-09, inflicting pain on prospective buyers, homeowners, builders and other industries linked to real estate. For the Fed, this is a feature, not a bug: Slumping housing could help deliver the lower economic activity and inflation that the Fed wants in the coming year.
Home sales have been falling month after month, and it is being projected that they could soon fall below the levels that we witnessed during the last housing crash…
Sales of existing homes fell in November for a record 10th straight month. Economists at Fannie Mae and Goldman Sachs forecast they will drop below 4 million in 2023, lower than during the 2006-11 housing bust.
On Wednesday, we got some more bad news.
Pending home sales are one of the best leading indicators for where the housing market is going next, and at this point pending home sales have dropped to the lowest level ever recorded…
Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes fell far more than expected in November, diving for a sixth straight month in the latest indication of the hefty toll the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes are taking on the housing market as the central bank seeks to curb inflation. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday its Pending Home Sales Index, based on signed contracts, fell 4% to 73.9 last month from October’s downwardly revised 77.0. November’s was the lowest reading — aside from the short-lived drop in the early months of the pandemic — since NAR launched the index in 2001.
With interest rates so high, very few people want to buy homes right now.
So home prices are going to have to come down.
A lot.
In fact, George Gammon has demonstrated that we will need a crash in housing prices even larger than we witnessed during the last housing crash just to get back to the long-term trend line.
Of course not.
Meanwhile, the absurd cryptocurrency bubble that was created by the Fed’s easy money policies has already imploded.
I really like how Wolf Richter described what we have been witnessing over the past year in one of his most recent articles…
And then come the copycats since anyone can issue a crypto currency. Suddenly there were a dozen of them, and then there were 100 of them then a 1,000, and suddenly 10,000 cryptos, and now there are over 22,000 cryptos, and everyone and their dog is creating them, and trading them, and lending them, and using them as collateral, and all kinds of businesses sprang up around this scheme, crypto miners, crypto exchanges, crypto lending platforms, and some of them went public via IPO or via merger with a SPAC. And the market capitalization of these cryptos reached $3 trillion, trillion with a T, about a year ago, and then when the Fed started raising its interest rates and started doing QT, the whole thing just blows up. Companies go like POOF, and the money is gone, and whatever is left is stuck in bankruptcy courts globally possibly for years. Cryptos themselves have imploded. Many have gone to essentially zero and have been abandoned for dead. The granddaddy, bitcoin, has plunged by something like 73% from the peak. The whole crypto market is also down about 73%.
More than two trillion dollars of “crypto wealth” has already been wiped out.
Less than a trillion is left.
But the party was fun while it lasted, right?
Sadly, all of the bubbles are starting to burst, and 2023 is going to be a really painful year.
Normally, major economic downturns take just about everyone by surprise. But this time around, almost everyone can feel that really bad times are coming. The following is what Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics recently had to say about this…
“Usually recessions sneak up on us. CEOs never talk about recessions,” said Zandi. “Now it seems CEOs are falling over themselves to say we’re falling into a recession. … Every person on TV says recession. Every economist says recession. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
He is right.
We’ve never seen anything like this before, and that is because the coming crisis is going to be really bad.
Many among the elite can sense that what is approaching will be truly nightmarish, and so they have been feverishly preparing for the worst…
Though a recent poll found that four-in-ten Americans believe we are ‘living in the end of times,’ it’s not just the everyman who is fearing the apocalypse these days – billionaires have been prepping themselves for the apocalypse with elaborate doomsday bunkers for years. As the world still reels from the scars of the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change-driven storms lash American coastlines and flood inland cities, and Russian President Vladimir Putin continues to talk of using nuclear weapons to devastate Ukraine, a Pew Research Center survey of more than US 10,000 adults found that 39 percent called these the ‘end times.’ The world’s wealthiest are among those cautious of a coming calamity, including billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sam Altman, who have famously laid down routes in remote New Zealand with the express purpose of riding out the end of days.
Yes, things will soon get really crazy as global events spiral completely out of control.
But that doesn’t mean that you should curl up into a fetal position and throw a pity party for yourself.
When I was growing up, I was told that when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
So get prepared for some really rough years ahead.
The clock is ticking, and just about everything that can be shaken will be shaken in 2023 and beyond.
Artist Illustrates How Doing Anything Is Much Better When There Are Animals Around
Chilling alone is fine, but chilling with animals is the best. There’s nothing better than vibing with your furry friends; you get the best of both worlds. You still can feel like you have company without the unnecessary noise that comes from hanging around with other people. Let us introduce you to an artist who portrayed it perfectly in her mini illustration series.
Peijin (previously here) is a self-taught freelance artist based in Munich, Germany. Just a little bit more than two years ago, she gave up her engineering career and fully committed herself to art. Her decision was supported by her fans and clients alike, so she never looked back. Besides her illustrations, she also makes tutorials, process videos and studies, as she believes that if she can be an artist, everyone can! Drawing is her true love, and she feels many people feel the same way.
Cream Cheese Almond Coffee Cake
“An adopted recipe, I have made this ahead when having company over for and easy breakfast. Original Intro: A great moist coffee cake.”
Ingredients
- 1⁄2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1⁄4 cups sugar
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 1⁄3 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 cup milk, room temperature
- 3⁄4 cup dried cherries (or other dried fruit)
TOPPING
- 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1⁄3 cup flour
- 1⁄3 cup brown sugar
- 3⁄8 cup sliced almonds
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Spray a 9 x 13 cake pan.
- Cream butter, sugar and cream cheese very well until smooth.
- Add eggs, one at a time, scraping down as needed add vanilla and mix inches.
- Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with milk.
- Stir in cherries.
- Spread into cake pan, smooth top Mix topping ingredients (excluding almonds) together.
- Sprinkle almonds then topping over batter.
- Press lightly.
- Bake until tests done.
When Teen Killers Realize They’ve Been Caught
It’s long, but very interesting.
https://youtu.be/xrCmFutB1Uc
Mate thank you so much for todays efforts NOW GO AND REST UP AND RECOVER you silly bugger. We can all hold for a few day one would think man. I am banning you from posting for two days, so there lol. Mate please please get yourself well. All our love to you.
Hey MM,
All the best to you and happy new year everyone!
Concerning your sore throat:
Get yourself a lemon, a fresh root of ginger the size of your thumb, and honey.
Chop lemon and ginger finely, put all in a jar,
And pour in honey until everything is covered.
Add cinnamon and a little salt.
Place jar in the fridge over night .
Then have a spoonful of this,
Devour slowly.
Or add it to tea, or hot water.
Additionally, in the evening, prepare a glas of really salty water, and deep gargle that for ~20-30 seconds.
I just had and did that too, worked wonders.
All the best and get well soon,
MT
MM, don’t forget these days, everything is “Covid” or “Corona”. A well chosen name by the mainstream media. “Corona” can be any kind of virus. A Alpha, or Beta, or Gamma or Delta coronavirus. A name well chosen. Four years ago, if you had the same symptoms, you would not even think about it and if possible continuing with your daily task. “Zombies” are real.
Thank you very much for revisiting the Homecoming video that you made earlier. I needed to hear that again. I obviously missed some elements of it the first go around, so to experience it again was very beneficial to me. What I know now, because of your hard work and the information you and The Commander have put out, the thing I fear most is not being mentally ready for this reunion. The thought of missing this opportunity and having to recycle even one more time is frightening. So, thank you for this. I’m sure that I will review this material again just to make sure it is solidified in my mind. I am so grateful that I somehow found you on the interwebs. I’m sure it was no accident. Get your health back up to par, my friend. Many still need you. You are of great importance to us.
Geez, MM, so sorry to hear you’re sick again. Take care of yourself and get some rest till you’re better. Watch some comedies and laugh yourself to better health. Japan did a study years ago and the laughing group did much better than the control group. Take care!