The Economist 2026 Cover

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Slightly different cover, white background: 

Cover analysis:

The Economist: Tom Standage’s ten trends to watch in 2026. A letter from the editor of The World Ahead.

“We predict the future, and the best way to predict the future is to invent it."

- The Well Manicured Man. From The X-Files Episode: The Blessing Way 

The Well-Manicured Man introduces himself to Scully and warns her that she is about to be killed, either by someone she knows or by two men who will kill her at her home and dump the gun there.  

Oklahoma bank shut down by US Regulators.

Daily HODL: Bank Abruptly Shut Down by US Regulators in Second Bank Failure of 2024.

Financial regulators just shut down a bank in Oklahoma, marking the second US bank failure of 2024.

The First National Bank of Lindsay has been shuttered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The agency says it took action after identifying false and deceptive bank records and other information that suggests fraud depleted the bank’s capital.

“The OCC also found that the bank was in an unsafe or unsound condition to transact business and that the bank’s assets were less than its obligations to its creditors and others.”

The OCC is also forwarding the matter to the US Department of Justice.

Off to the DOJ, eh? Well Merrick Garland will be right on top of it, you betcha! 

But wait, there's more! More banks on the verge of failing:

Cryptopolitician: U.S. banks’ unrealized losses soar to 7 times 2008 crisis levels.

Unsustainable. Awaiting the domino effect. 

$517,000,000,000 in Unrealized Losses Hit US Banking System. 63 lenders on brink of insolvency.

Substack - Gregory Mannarino: $517,000,000,000 in Unrealized Losses Hit US Banking System, FDIC Says.

In its latest Quarterly Banking Profile report, the FDIC notes that banks now face over half a trillion dollars in paper losses on their balance sheets, primarily due to their exposure to the residential real estate market. These unrealized losses, the gap between the purchase price of securities and their current market value, are becoming a significant burden.

DC Patriot: $517,000,000,000 in unrealized losses hits US Banking System as FDIC Warns 63 Lenders on Brink of Insolvency.

“The number of banks on the Problem Bank List, those with a CAMELS composite rating of ‘4’ or ‘5’, rose from 52 in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 63 in the first quarter of 2024. This figure represents 1.4% of all banks, a range considered normal for non-crisis periods, typically between 1% and 2%. The total assets held by problem banks increased by $15.8 billion to $82.1 billion during the quarter,” the FDIC stated.
[.]
Despite these concerning trends, the FDIC assures that the US banking system is not in imminent danger. However, it warns that ongoing inflation, fluctuating market rates, and geopolitical issues continue to exert pressure on the industry.

"...and geopolitical issues..."  Gee, I wonder what those might be?

Does the FDIC's assurance there's no imminent danger put you at ease?

Saturday Night Memes and Videos.

For the faint of heart and Pearl-Clutchers - Disclaimer: Content after the page break may be (mis)interpreted as  "Sensitive", or mature. A few are NSFW. Content isn't intended as gratuitous. In some cases it's the opinion of others, in other cases it's news or dark humor.
 
By clicking on the page break: you acknowledge, you are over 18 years of age, are aware of the Sensitive Content Disclaimer, voluntarily choose to proceed and hold harmless this blog and material contained herein.

If you'd rather not view this, don't go beyond the pagebreak, close this browser window and visit another site.

Wednesday Night Meme Shortstack and 1 Video.

And for the faint of heart and Pearl-Clutchers - Disclaimer: Content after the page break may be (mis)interpreted as  "Sensitive", or mature or NSFW content. Content isn't intended as gratuitous. In some cases it's the opinion of others, in other cases it's news and/or dank/dark humor.
 
By clicking on the page break: you acknowledge, you are over 18 years of age, are aware of the Sensitive Content Disclaimer, voluntarily choose to proceed and hold harmless this blog and material contained herein. 

If you'd rather not view this, don't go beyond the pagebreak, close this browser window and visit another site.

Jacob Rothschild: Financier dies aged 87.

The Independent: Jacob Rothschild: Financier dies aged 87.

The British peer started his career in his family bank in 1963.
[.]
Financier, philanthropist and head of the renowned Rothschild empire, Lord Jacob Rothschild has died aged 87.

"Financier." Of what? World Wars and Conflicts? Profiting off the misery of others?

"Philanthropist." Yeah. Uh huh.

British peer...British. Sure. Whatever.

Britannica: Rothschild family; European family.

"European." O rly?

♫ Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust ♬
And another one gone, and another one gone
🎶 Another one bites the dust 

Burt Reynolds as God, tonight on The X-Files.

Ever wonder how God operates? We really don't know. Our human mind is incapable of grasping or understanding. We just can't. 

I'm pretty sure He's not the cosmic creation that some people seem to think is in Heaven currently sending down rain, floods, fires and earthquakes because "America is the Great Satan or the Whore of Babylon." To imply this is to say that, if America is the Whore of Babylon then there is a pimp. Continuing with this idea or thinking, one must assume IF America is Babylon then there's a pimp - so...that means the pimp is Israel? Right? Hello...Yes? No? 

Why would God now be sending storms and disasters upon America or any other part of the world? He's God - He knew all things before they happened. At best or worst, He's simply watching play out what He already knows. 

He gave us Free Will, the ability to make choices; good, bad or other. And He already knows, before we do, how we will respond and react.

Yes, God may test us. But He already knows the result. He wrote the test and knows the answers - long before we do. 

Which brings me to a rerun of an episode of "The X-Files" airing tonight titled, "Improbable."

The X-Files - Improbable.
COMET TV - Sun Feb 25 @ 9 pm ET/PT, 8 pm CT, and 10 pm MT.

^ LINK

It's an excellent episode with Reynolds perfectly cast in the role. 

Watching the episode closely, you'll notice a consistent theme using the number "3", or triple items. Is this a representation of The Holy Trinity: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit? Viewers can decide this on their own.

God allows things to happen because He already knows the outcome. He may choose to intervene, yet may choose not to. Miracles happen; this is where my tiny human mind pauses to think that if God does intervene, it's for good, not bad. Again, though, He already anticipated this because He knew about it well before it happens.

My personal opinion: He may intervene in a crisis to help and assist someone in danger, to rescue or save someone. But I highly doubt He's throwing lightening bolts down on anyone or any country because of the current political state of the world. Why would He do that when He knows the outcome? There's simply no logic in thinking He's actively punishing any one or any place. HE ALREADY KNOWS. It's already written.

COMET TV is a free channel available Over The Air. All you need is an antenna.

It can also be watched online for free at COMET TV. Click on "Watch Live" tab at the top.

Henry Kissinger dead; age 100.

Henry Kissinger 1923 - 2023

  

CNBC: Henry Kissinger dead.

One less globalist in the world. Huzzah!

Henry Kissinger Song - Monty Python (Eric Idle)

Lyrics:

Henry Kissinger
How I'm missing yer
You're the Doctor of my dreams
With your crinkly hair and your glassy stare

And your machiavellian schemes
I know they say that you are very vain
And short and fat and pushy but at least you're not insane
Henry Kissinger

How I'm missing yer
And wishing you were here

Henry Kissinger
How I'm missing yer
You're so chubby and so neat
With your funny clothes and your squishy nose

You're like a German parakeet
All right so people say that you don't care
But you've got nicer legs than Hitler
And bigger tits than Cher

Henry Kissinger
How I'm missing yer
And wishing you were here

Who did this?

Is this the plan? Anybody know?  🤣

Lake Huron object was a kite?

Click on image to enlarge.

Breitbart: U.S. Military Shoots Down Unidentified Flying Object over Lake Huron, Fourth Shoot-Down in Eight Days.

-

It probably was a kite. The Biden Handlers can't be trusted, at all or on anything, to tell the public the truth.

Except for the first spy balloon that was sent by China (and allowed to gather intel across the USA because Resident Diaper is owned by Xi), the rest of these sighting is, IMO, Psy Ops and distraction. 

 

Roll out the UFOs...again...because we're on the verge of WW3 and everything else is turning to shit at breakneck speed due the manipulation of senile Biden by his handlers and the globalists. They need to deflect, so...Aliens.

^ This guy knows what's really going on. ^

Eat a Bug Burger. Save the planet!

Rebel News: European Union begins adding bug additives to food.

This week, a new food additive made from bugs began appearing in foods from pizza to pasta to cereals across the European Union, to the surprise of many Europeans.

According to the European Commission ruling that went into effect this month, a cricket powder additive is now approved for use in a wide range of food products, including cereal bars, biscuits, pizza, pasta-based products, and whey powder. The additive could find its way into a variety of confectionaries, soups, and meat preparations.

In order to prepare the crickets for human consumption, they are first checked to make sure their “bowel content” is removed, then frozen. [ Oh, well - as long as their bowel content is removed and they're frozen. Delish! - DD ]

    CONTEXT - From today powder of the house cricket is allowed in a variety of food products in the European Union.https://t.co/I6Tb3fyt5K
    — Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) January 24, 2023

Though many have suggested that the consumption of bugs could become normalized if used as a food additive, some argue that this could be a way for climate change activists to impose their ideologies on people.

The move to include the powdered additive could be used to convince people that bugs have already been in their food, as the European Union recently approved the use of the lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus, for human consumption.

In November, the Washington Post suggested that Americans forgo their traditional Thanksgiving dinners and instead look to eating bugs as a cheaper alternative.

Are Vegans okay with this, since they don't eat anything with a face or had parents?

I'd prefer a governing system derived from a Farcical Aquatic Ceremony to that of Resident Biden.

Some of the finest movie dialogue ever written:

 "Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony."

"...just because some moistened bint lobbed a scimitar at me..."

Nikkei ends lower on fears U.S. rate hikes will hurt global economy.

People's Daily: Nikkei ends lower on fears U.S. rate hikes will hurt global economy.

09:20, September 06, 2022

TOKYO, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index closed lower for a fourth successive day Monday, following Wall Street's weak lead late last week amid ongoing concerns the U.S. Federal Reserve's aggressive rate hikes will impact the global economy.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average lost 31.23 points, or 0.11 percent, from Friday to close the day at 27,619.61.

The broader Topix index, meanwhile, shed 1.38 points, or 0.07 percent, to finish at 1,928.79.

Local dealers said the market mood was dented following Wall Street's poor showing on Friday, owing to solid U.S. jobs data for August supporting the median market consensus the Fed will continue with its aggressive rate hikes to combat inflation.

"The Fed will likely push ahead with a 0.75 point basis rate hike to be announced later this month, with the central bank also signaling its aggressive monetary policy will continue into the future despite the impact it will have on its own and the global economy," a Tokyo-based investment analyst was quoted as saying.

Market strategists also noted that U.S. markets being closed for the Labor Day holiday on Monday added to a risk-off mood, amid a lack of fresh trading cues.

We'll see how U.S. markets react on Tuesday's Opening Bell.

Clown President Zelensky wants more money from the West (aka USA).

Breitbart: Send Money: Ukraine Calls Again for More Funds, Arms, Munitions, Fighter Jets, to ‘Stop Russia’.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday renewed his almost weekly call for Western nations to do more to help his besieged nation in its fight against invading Russian forces.

Financial donations remain a top priority closely followed by a call for advanced fighter jets and associated trainers.

“The sooner we stop Russia, the sooner we can feel safe,” Zelensky said while meeting defense leaders at a Denmark conference aimed at ensuring foreign supplies continue delivering weapons, training, and demining work in his country.

“We need armaments, munitions for our defense,” the leader added, speaking via a live link from Ukraine.
[.]
As part of those millions in funds, Ukrainians will be provided with medical services, housing money, and “culturally and linguistically appropriate services.”

Oh, yeah, well...medical services and housing money. Since the U.S. is overflowing in those areas we have so much extra to fund a war that we have no business being involved in.

What up "Z"...ya need a new pair of high heels and latex slacks?

(no audio)

Fuck off, Tiny Dancer. Find another way to fund your forever war. 

NDTV: Zelensky Says Ukraine Needs $750 Billion To Rebuild Country.

NDTV: Zelensky Says Ukraine Needs $750 Billion To Rebuild Country.

Kyiv: Ukraine told an international conference Monday that it will cost an estimated $750 billion to rebuild the war-shattered country, a task President Volodymyr Zelensky said was the shared duty of the democratic world.

Speaking at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Switzerland, the Ukrainian president and a long line of government ministers described the massive destruction and towering needs since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24.

"Reconstruction of Ukraine is not a local task of a single nation," Zelesnky said via video message.

"It is a common task of the whole democratic world," he said, insisting that "reconstruction of Ukraine is the biggest contribution to the support of global peace".

No, this is not the "task of the whole democratic word," Mister non-funny comedian prancer dancer.

RT: Nearly half of Germans believe Ukraine should cede territory to Russia.

Ukraine needs to surrender before it's turned into a vast wasteland and frankly, I don't care if Ukraine exists or not. After re-taking Ukraine, Putin can then move on and conquer all of Western Europe which has been nothing but a financial and political drain on the United States for far, far, far too fucking long.

-

UPDATE:

RT: Pentagon plans ‘years’ of military aid to Ukraine.

The US has revealed $400 million in new weapons shipments to Kiev and intends to keep the aid flowing for “months and years”.

President Joe Biden’s administration has announced $400 million in new weapons aid to Ukraine, including four additional HIMARS rocket systems, and is making plans to keep supplying such hardware to Kiev for “months and years ahead.”

A Pentagon official spoke of planning efforts to meet Kiev’s short- and long-term weaponry needs in a briefing to reporters on Friday. The latest round of aid will be provided under Biden’s drawdown authority, meaning it won’t require congressional approval, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The new batch of HIMARS units follows previous deliveries of eight such rocket systems. HIMARS stands for High Mobility Aircraft Rocket System, a precision artillery launcher that can hit targets 80 kilometers away. The new shipments, which represent Washington’s 15th military aid package for Ukraine since last August, will also include 1,000 rounds of advanced 155mm Howitzer shells. The new ammunition has greater precision than standard artillery rounds and will enhance Ukraine’s ability to target Russian assets, the Pentagon said.

Just keep shoveling money to Ukraine, Joe. Anyone with the slightest critical thinking skills understands this democrat "forever war" is only to keep paying off the Ukraine Politburo gravy train trough that feeds the families of Biden, Pelosi, Romney, Kerry, Graham, Cheney, Clinton and God only know who the other UniParty families are on this cash cow.

This "war" of Ukraine is so serious and of such vital importance, that Zelensky has time to meet with celebrities like Sean Penn and Ben Stiller.

Nuke Ukraine, Vlad - do it sooner than later.

Can you spot the president of Ukraine in this video?

(No audio)

Highly qualified to be the president of a country...yes?

When does Biden's video drop with back-up dancers Fauci, Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders?

Belgium busts drug lab on air base housing US nuclear weapons.

Nukes and ecstasy...Oh Boy!

The Straits Times: Belgium busts drug lab on air base housing US nuclear weapons.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Belgian police raided an illegal laboratory producing the rave drug ecstasy on an air base that reputedly houses part of the US nuclear arsenal in Europe, investigators said on Tuesday (June 28).

Two suspects - not military personnel - were arrested during the raid, according to a spokesman for the prosecutor's office in the Belgian province of Limburg.

The Kleine-Brogel base in north-east Belgium is best known for housing a stock of US nuclear weapons.

There is minimal coverage by the MSM on this story.

RT is reporting it.

The National (MSN) is reporting it.

But The Guardian pulled their story.

Removed: article
Tue 28 Jun 2022 18.40 EDT

This article has been taken down on 29/06/22 pending review.

Why did The Guardian spike their story? What's there to review?

The Straits Times Archived

The National (MSN) Archived 

The Guardian Archived

Time to feed the woodchipper with Globalists.

LINK

Food Navigator (Archived): Aspire Food Group unveils world’s first automated cricket farm.

When it comes to edible insects, there is still something of a disconnect between the rhetoric (insects can help us feed the world) and the reality, in the US., at least (they’re still niche and expensive). But that’s about to change, predicts the company behind what it claims is the world’s first automated cricket farm.

"Food Navigator" has some incredibly sphincter-tight copyright "issues", which is why I Archived their story and cite Fair Use Section 107 for reproduction of their material used in the post. Why? BFYTW.

Hungry? Eat some insect bread and a bowl of ground crickets or mealworms.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) continues to permanently push its insect-eating message:

“In Finland,bread was made from crushed insects. There are 70 dried and ground crickets in each loaf.Crickets make the bread a good source of protein."

 

Link 

Forbes: Eating Insects Could Cut Your Environmental Impact By More Than 80%, Finnish Study Says.

You may have read that eating meat contributes to climate change. And eating less meat is one the best ways to help the planet.

But are you willing to go as far as eating insects? Or mostly insects, with some meat as a treat? (NOPE!-DD)

iNews: Scientists hope to feed primary school children edible insects to make the UK greener.

Edible insects are highly nutritious and have a much smaller carbon footprint than conventional meat, scientists says.

Children are to be fed bugs as part of a plan to get a new generation to switch from meat to insects – and potentially persuade their parents to follow their lead.

Pupils at four primary schools in Wales are to be offered insects to eat as part of a project to gauge children’s appetite for “alternative protein” such as crickets, grasshoppers, and mealworms.

Turkey’s inflation soars to 73%, a 23-year high, as food and energy costs skyrocket.

CNBC (Archived): Turkey’s inflation soars to 73%, a 23-year high, as food and energy costs skyrocket.

Turkey’s inflation for the month of May rose by an eye-watering 73.5% year on year, its highest in 23 years, as the country grapples with soaring food and energy costs and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s long-running unorthodox strategy on monetary policy.

Food prices in the country of 84 million rose 91.6% year on year, the country’s statistics agency reported, bringing into sharp view the pain that regular consumers face as supply chain problems, rising energy costs and Russia’s war in Ukraine feed into global inflation.

Economic analysts expect the trajectory for Turkey’s inflation will only get worse.

Turkey’s inflation for the month of May rose by an eye-watering 73.5% year on year, its highest in 23 years, as the country grapples with soaring food and energy costs and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s long-running unorthodox strategy on monetary policy.

Food prices in the country of 84 million rose 91.6% year on year, the country’s statistics agency reported, bringing into sharp view the pain that regular consumers face as supply chain problems, rising energy costs and Russia’s war in Ukraine feed into global inflation.
[.]
Economic analysts expect the trajectory for Turkey’s inflation will only get worse.
[.]
“Turkey back in the inflation age of the 1990s. Looks as if Erdogan has lost his last econ credibility,” Holger Zschapitz, finance editor at German daily Die Welt, wrote on Twitter. “Erdogan’s unorthodox strategy for managing the country’s $790bn econ continued to backfire,” he wrote in another tweet.

CNS News: Trump in 2020: 'If Biden' Becomes President, You'll Pay $7 For a Gallon of Gas.

During a campaign stop on Nov. 2, 2020, then-President Donald Trump touted the low gasoline prices of the time and warned that if Joe Biden became president, Americans would end up paying $7, $8, even $9 a gallon.

Trump also said that, in response to those high gas prices, the Biden administration would tell people to get rid of their cars.
[.]
On Sunday, ABC7 reported that a gas station in Los Angeles was selling regular gasoline for $6.99  per gallon.  The "plus" grade of gasoline was selling for $7.19 a gallon.

Turkey's economy coming soon to the U.S.? Welcome to Biden's Build Back Better.