<https://tinyurl.com/2da6jzmg> zerohedge.com

Americans are being absolutely crushed by inflation .. , and of course
- crippling debt. The signs are obvious .. Banks' charge-offs are
accelerating, and are now above pre-pandemic levels .. And leading this
increase are credit card loans - with delinquencies that haven't been
this high since Q3 2011 .. On top of that, .. residential mortgages
drove the quarterly increase in the share of loans 30-89 days past due
... This presents a difficult reality for millions of consumers .. In
short, the debt burden has made life under President Biden a constant
struggle throughout America ..

....

> <http://alturl.com/jsb7z>
>
> .. Why American capitalism is so rotten ..

<https://tinyurl.com/2677xy8b> seattletimes.com

Boeing's reputation is in free fall .. Profits becoming more important than
safety, bad things started to happen .. that have raised alarm with federal
regulators and made many travelers leery of flying on a Boeing airplane ..

<https://tinyurl.com/2abhh9fp> sfgate.com

Boeing is slowly breaking the airline industry .. The manufacturer's
regulatory and legal problems just keep growing, creating significant delays
in its aircraft production and delivery schedules .. Meanwhile, an FAA audit
of Boeing's 737 Max production facilities uncovered "dozens of problems
throughout the manufacturing process," ..

Finally, a 30-year Boeing quality control manager who most recently oversaw
production of the 787 in Charleston, S.C., was found dead March 9 .. Over
the years, John Barnett had repeatedly raised quality control issues with
management, many of which "were ignored," .. This month, he had been
testifying in a lawsuit he filed against his former employer charging
Boeing with defamation. After failing to appear for a court session, he was
found dead ..

> <https://tinyurl.com/yspdwufq>
>
> .. A developed country undergoing underdevelopment ..

<https://tinyurl.com/5y862bey> cnn.com

Niger ends military agreement with US ..

Niger's military government announced that it has ended an accord
with the US that allowed military personnel .. to operate in Niger ..
"This agreement is not only profoundly unfair in its substance but
it also does not meet the aspirations and interests of the Nigerien
people," ..

Niger was once a key regional partner for the US, but ..

....

> <https://archive.is/Hi7H1>
>
> .. The era of unchallenged dominance of the U.S. ..

<https://tinyurl.com/22vtjn8o> kunstler.com

The rewards of civilization have come to seem rather trashy in these
bleak days of late empire; so, why even bother pretending to be
civilized? This appears to be the ethos driving our politics and
culture now .. A society hostile to truth can't possibly remain
civilized, because it will also be hostile to reality. That appears
to be the disposition of the people running things in the USA .. The
problem, of course, is that this is not a reality-optional world ..

....

> <http://alturl.com/okc9k>
>
> .. Our culture continues to degrade ..

<https://archive.is/0Z8fv> nytimes.com

... The West's Defeat .. American leadership is failing .. American
imperialism has not only endangered the rest of the world but also
corroded American character .. The United States produces fewer
engineers than Russia does, not just per capita but in absolute
numbers. It is experiencing an "internal brain drain .. A lot of the
values Americans are currently spreading are less universal than
Americans think .. The inability to distinguish facts from wishes ..

....

> <https://tinyurl.com/yumwd4j9>
>
> The End of the American Dream ..

On 2024-03-17, Oleg Smirnov <os333@netc.eu> wrote:

> The rewards of civilization have come to seem rather trashy
> in these bleak days of late empire; so, why even bother
> pretending to be civilized?

My guess is because ceasing to pretend provokes a sense of having
to do actual work.

> This appears to be the ethos driving our politics and
> culture now .. A society hostile to truth can't possibly
> remain civilized, because it will also be hostile to
> reality. That appears to be the disposition of the people
> running things in the USA .. The problem, of course,
> is that this is not a reality-optional world ..

A society comprised of selfish individuals couldn't possibly
sum/integrate (mathematics sense) to something greater, any more
than a vat of feces could magically attain gold-hood....

--
oldernow
xyz001 at nym.hush.com

<https://tinyurl.com/23tqe2zc> standardmedia.co.ke

... Amid decline in America's greatness ..

Although Biden, when assuming office in January 2021, had talked of
the US being 'back' and ready to lead the world, he actually had
problems .. Biden is not the first president to invoke or recruit
'history' to justify policies. It is a streak that combines
imperialism with claims of spreading 'democracy', often invoking
supposed divine blessings. It is anchored on a belief that previous
world history was preparation for Jacksonian 'democracy' which was
to be spread elsewhere by force or cajoling. That belief,
inherently racist, led to the civil war over slavery, and
subsequently entrenched racism in every US foreign policy ..
America has lost common sense. Subsequently, history watches [Biden
the Clown] mess up claims to world leadership .. He, and his post-
Cold War predecessors, undercut trust in anything American ..

> <https://archive.is/9XVPd>
>
> America's symptoms of decline are everywhere ..

<https://tinyurl.com/2yuq8noo> techradar.com

Online fraud .. the FBI says things will only get worse in 2024 ..
Compared year-on-year to 2022, .. an increase of nearly 10% in terms
of complaints received, and an overall 22% increase in losses ..

Complaints and losses on the rise ..

> <https://tinyurl.com/yw9tgqd4>
>
> .. The Death of American Liberty ..

<https://tinyurl.com/24k83ebc> themostimportantnews.com

Violence and crime are already completely out of control all over the
United States. In fact, you definitely wouldn't want to be caught in
the streets when hordes of our lawless young people are running wild.
If things are this bad already, what is going to happen if the election
in November does not go the way that leaders on the left want .. The
stage is being set for civil unrest on a scale that we have never seen
before .. We really have reached a point in our societal decline where
the wheels are coming off right in front of our eyes .. We are rapidly
becoming a third world country ..

....

> <https://archive.is/40c5R>
>
> The shoplifting epidemic taking over America .. Rampant ..

<https://tinyurl.com/2cjr7t9y> thecradle.co

Across the Global South, countries are lining up to join the multipolar
BRICS and the Hegemon-free future it promises .. Indonesia and Nigeria
are among the top tiers of candidates likely to join. The same applies
to Pakistan and Vietnam. Mexico is in a very complex bind .. The BRICS
at the forefront of bypassing the US dollar in international finance ..
Talk about a clash of paradigms: western robbery versus a Global South-
based equitable trade and finance settlement system ..

....

> <https://tinyurl.com/2568ylvx>
>
> .. Russian economy is doing well ..

On 2024-03-18, Oleg Smirnov <os333@netc.eu> wrote:

> Violence and crime are already completely out of control all over the
> United States. In fact, you definitely wouldn't want to be caught in
> the streets when hordes of our lawless young people are running wild.
> If things are this bad already, what is going to happen if the election
> in November does not go the way that leaders on the left want .. The
> stage is being set for civil unrest on a scale that we have never seen
> before .. We really have reached a point in our societal decline where
> the wheels are coming off right in front of our eyes .. We are rapidly
> becoming a third world country ..

It's easy to believe. And yet I think we're well past "fool me
once" with respect to so-called news media/sources. I've avoided
"The News" as best as I can the last several years, because it came
to seem so obviously manufactured aka "produced" for profit. Sure,
there's talent behind it, or we'd not feel moved by it. But we're
demonstrably moved by utter lies as well, so "being moved" is
hardly useful criteria for veracity....

--
oldernow
xyz001 at nym.hush.com

<https://tinyurl.com/27zyotn2> washingtontimes.com

U.S. suicide rates reach highest level since 1941 ..

America is experiencing its highest number of suicide deaths in
history .. The report .. revealed more than 49,000 suicide deaths
in 2022, overshadowing previous national records ..

> <https://tinyurl.com/2n5at7bt>
>
> US Homelessness Hits Highest Reported Level ..

<https://tinyurl.com/25aflcer> johnmenadue.com

China's falling exports to EU, US signals West's economic decline

... Global economy is now changing - for most of China's modern economic
growth history .. the largest markets for China were the developed
nations such as the USA which reduced this year by -7%, The European
Union, another reduction of 6.8% and Japan which fell 2.5%. Much of the
EU and Japan, as well as the UK are experiencing downturns in their
economies and that includes what they can (or can't) afford to buy from
China. The US reports slight growth in its economy but has [certain]
problems .. China's largest trading partners now are all members of
either ASEAN or BRICS ..

In fact, China's trade to the places we knew as the Third World or the
Under-developed World has surpassed that of its trade to the Developed
World and this .. is an epoch changing moment in history ..

....

> <https://archive.is/fZI7A>
>
> .. The Diminishing Global Influence Of U.S. ..

<https://tinyurl.com/24hn66b5> unherd.com

While it's all well and good for Biden to tell Americans that inflation
is coming back down, his basic problem is that ordinary people don't
measure it the way economists do. To an economist, inflation is the rate
of change in prices. To a typical consumer, it's the level that matters.
And what American consumers know for a fact is that prices today are
much higher than they were two or three years ago, raising their cost of
living ..

....

> <https://archive.is/b08PE>
>
> .. Their misguided reporting could not be further from the truth ..

<https://tinyurl.com/22besbkz> dailycaller.com

The Decline Of American Industry ..

America's manufacturers, its workers and its communities are fighting for
their survival and China represents the single biggest threat .. It's
because many Chinese companies steal .. The forced closure of American
factories and the elimination of well-paying, blue-collar jobs nationwide
... The U.S. must vigorously fight back against any underhanded dealings ..

....

One could say the greedy American capitalists sold China the rope which
China will use to hang the US. America can isolate itself from Chinese
products. It can not isolate the world from Chinese products.

> <https://archive.is/Hi7H1>
>
> New Chinese submarines and sensors to catch U.S. subs ..

<https://tinyurl.com/2ccgq8ff> johnmenadue.com

The end of the ball can be dated to the imperial overreach of the Bush
administration in launching simultaneous wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
that drained the U.S. treasury and irrevocably damaged America's
international reputation as a beacon of "freedom" and democracy." That
reputation has further been sullied .. by a) failed U.S. military
interventions in Libya and Syria .. b) U.S. weapons supplies to Israel
... c) the domestic implosion of U.S. society ..

That the U.S. was no longer a model for anyone was reflected in the
fact that the top 0.1% in the country owned as many assets as the
bottom 90%, an obscene inequality ratio accompanied by a dramatic rise
in poverty .. This 0.1% not only had rigged the U.S. economy but also
its political system, buying off politicians in both major parties ..

> <http://alturl.com/9y7nz>
>
> Today's federal government is almost entirely unconstitutional ..

<https://tinyurl.com/yox4mlcm> partnersinfire.com

American workers see their buying power decrease and their standard
of living plummet but feel powerless to change their situations ..
Many can't afford a home and must spend most of their paychecks on
mediocre apartments. High housing costs prevent discretionary spending,
so people cut back on things that make life worthwhile, like vacations
and toys. Retirement is a pipe dream for many, while healthcare costs
rise constantly. "What has North America become?" they asked ..

Many people are powerless to change the system .. Politicians promote
policies that benefit corporations, the common people get left behind
... Our politicians are bought and paid for ..

> <https://tinyurl.com/ynmbfg7b>
>
> There's a very, very small group of people who run the country ..