Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

[Higgenbotham]

Actor Jeff Daniels laments Kamala Harris’ loss, suggests she would have governed like Abraham Lincoln

https://www.foxnews.com/media/actor-jef ... am-lincoln

No, she would have governed like Lincoln's dog Fido.

[FullMoon]

Actor Jeff Daniels laments Kamala Harris’ loss, suggests she would have governed like Abraham Lincoln

https://www.foxnews.com/media/actor-jef ... am-lincoln

No, she would have governed like Lincoln's dog Fido.

Haha. Perhaps more like a teenager in rebellious phase.

You said once that the use and proliferation of plastics was a mistake and it seems the chemical industry has done well but we and our proginy will surely suffer for several generations. As we will from the massive amount of nuclear materials soon to be spread upon the earth. Sadly the apocalyptic sci-fi films including Mad Max keep seeming more realistic as we descend into chaos. I hope John was wrong about the severity but it's not looking good. I'm still not sure if God is holding back his wrath or that it's coming and it's not something that we can avoid but rather need to accept.

[Higgenbotham]

You said once that the use and proliferation of plastics was a mistake and it seems the chemical industry has done well but we and our proginy will surely suffer for several generations.

Interesting that you are bringing that up. To the best of my recollection, I first mentioned plastics about 10 years ago, saying the degradation of plastics into fine particles is an example of a problem that probably can't be solved by AI. Now AI hype is at a crescendo and I just read yesterday that for the first time a material balance has been done to determine the amount of nanoplastics in the world's oceans and the estimate is 27 million tons. Looking further, I guess that's just the amount estimated to be in the North Atlantic ocean.

[Higgenbotham]

The level of nastiness and vindictiveness seems to be ratcheting up a lot:

Trump vs Powell
Macron vs Candace Owens
Gabbard vs Obama

are the examples I can think of where I said, wow, this is different.

[FullMoon]

The level of nastiness and vindictiveness seems to be ratcheting up a lot:

Trump vs Powell
Macron vs Candace Owens
Gabbard vs Obama

are the examples I can think of where I said, wow, this is different.

It might be a psychological ploy wherein the craziness habituates the general population and when the real SHTF they won't be so shocked. We're just about about there and this could be the forewarning. Ukraine and ME with massive escalations, financial and maybe getting started in the Pacific.

[Higgenbotham]

viewtopic.php?p=18523#p18523

This post from 2013 started a discussion about preparation, timing and depth of the collapse that went on for several pages. I think we're getting a lot more clarity now about timing of the coming collapse.

For example, this hit the wires yesterday (almost universally ignored, of course):

The Social Security trust fund could face insolvency by late 2032, per CRFB estimates.

That would trigger a 24% automatic benefit cut—about $18,000 annually for a dual-earning couple.

LOS ANGELES - Millions of seniors could face devastating cuts to their Social Security benefits in just over seven years, according to a new analysis released Thursday by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB).

The report projects that the Social Security and Medicare trust funds are on track to run out of reserves by late 2032. When that happens, federal law requires that payments be limited to incoming payroll taxes, triggering an automatic 24% benefit cut for retirees unless Congress acts.

The cause, in part, is linked to new tax provisions under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA)—a sweeping piece of legislation that reduced revenue into the trust funds, speeding up depletion.

https://www.livenowfox.com/news/social- ... -2032-crfb

In 2013 it was still kind of theoretical. Most of my time nowadays is being spent preparing for collapse.

[FullMoon]

I think we're in a short calm before a storm next month/into the autumn where we're in for some potential game changing moves in war, financial and political. 2032 is the number Martin Armstrong says his computer gives for the new financial system to start but he's very recently been harping on some immediate dangers and it seems he might consider them game changers. There's so many moving parts and unknowns but we can see it's getting crazier faster. Prepping isn't even a strange thing anymore. Anyone not doing so is definitely a dullard.

[tim]

https://www.oftwominds.com/blogjuly25/w ... d7-25.html

Is the Epstein Affair a Watershed Moment?
July 25, 2025

Perhaps when we look back on the Epstein Affair, we'll understand that it broke the back of Americans' faith in their political and law enforcement institutions.

We're being told the Epstein Affair is old news, nothing to see here, move along--but I'm not so sure. It could be the opposite of old news, a watershed moment in American history.

Watershed moments can be sudden, dramatic events that we all experience as "nothing is the same after this," or long-brewing crises that we only discern were watersheds when looking back.

The Epstein Affair may be the second type of watershed, only recognized in the rear view mirror. In his post Jeff Epstein, MAGA, and Monopolies, Matt Stoller made two noteworthy observations:

1. The MAGA movement--which includes many factions--attached great importance to the Epstein case as the most egregious manifestation of elite abuse of power. To have the files buried yet again only proves the powerful who would be exposed have yet again evaded being held accountable.

2. The scandal isn't what's been hidden, it's that Epstein operated in plain sight.

Naomi Wolf's essay, "The Network" in the Worlds of the Elites, reveals the enormous reach of Epstein's recruitment of elites across the entirety of America's power structure, what I've called since 2007 (see diagram below) Elites Maintaining and Extending Global Dominance.

This structure isn't The Deep State, it's far larger and just as entrenched, for it's "the sum is greater than the parts" assembly of all of America's elites and elite institutions of soft and hard power projection. (Soft power: cultural, institutionalized influence, non-military systems; hard power: military, diplomatic, financial.)

Epstein's operation was an informal hub-and-spoke network of power elites ranging from politics to academia to science to media to Big Tech and beyond.

The French word engrenages comes to mind here: commonly translated as gearing, but more appropriately perhaps it also denotes being caught up in gearing that is irreversible due to the design and mechanics of the system, and then being caught up in an inescapable series of events.

In other words, Epstein's hub-and-spoke network wasn't an aberration, it was the optimization of the status quo system. This is the taboo that cannot be said out loud. Now everyone who is caught up in the gearing is also a participant in an inescapable series of events.

My summary of the Epstein Affair is: the elites aren't above the law; there is no law. This is what's being displayed in plain sight, but we recoil at recognizing it, for it means democracy and rule of law are both convenient fabrications deployed to maintain public compliance.

Recall Smith's Neofeudalism Principle #1: If the citizenry cannot replace a kleptocratic authoritarian government and/or limit the power of the financial Aristocracy at the ballot box, the nation is a democracy in name only.

Donald Trump was elected to "drain the swamp," but the Epstein Affair makes it clear that both of America's political parties are The Swamp. Neither party did anything but cover up, misdirect or pointedly refuse to expose the Epstein Affair to open air.