Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,
In that mercifully quiet week between Christmas and New Years, I re-watched Ken Burns’ documentary of the first Civil War, in contemplation of a possible second. What an almighty bloodbath that was. Thousands butchered in minutes in one battle after another, heads and limbs flying, men turned inside-out, and horses, too. The blue and the gray were hostage to their battlefield tactics and didn’t seem to learn from the insane extravagance of souls wasted in massed assaults against massed artillery again and again and again. The population of the whole nation (Confederacy included) was 31 million in 1860 and the war killed two percent of that, almost entirely young men.



Another impression left by that documentary was the startling beauty of the countryside in that day, and of the little towns that dotted that landscape where all the carnage and horror played out. Not a strip-mall in the whole gorgeous panorama. The rolling fields neatly fenced in the stillness of a summer’s day. A peaceful tranquility we today cannot even imagine. Everything human-scaled and so many buildings graced with beauty deliberately made: pediments, steeples, cupolas, columns, and swags. Walt Disney could not have imagined a more tender and appealing place. The lyrical names of those towns are linked to rivers of blood: Shiloh, Spotsylvania, Missionary Ridge, Cold Harbor….
And the last impression accumulated over each installment was that this we did it to ourselves, and couldn’t seem to stop, just as today various parties to current events can’t seem to stop their provocations to a new episode of national domestic violence. This time it is the very government at war with itself, and so far the war is merely legalistic, the battles of lawyers — of which, one senses, we have far too many for our own good. The Department of Justice in particular is at war with itself, one faction in it refusing to cooperate with the other, hiding documents, trafficking in political muck, kluging up the works with deceptions, and still at it in the yet-unresolved case of General Flynn, which should have been thrown out of court months ago based on obvious prosecutorial malice.
Likewise, The New York Times, NBC News, and many other companies can’t seem to give up on their mendacious retailing of obvious falsehoods, in league with rogue government agencies. Their readers and followers learned nothing from the stunning failure of Robert Mueller’s long investigation to find any crimes, and most don’t even understand that the purpose of it was simply to antagonize the president while trying desperately to come up with ammunition against him for the next election — using all the resources of federal machinery. In other words, it was just a government-sponsored elaboration of the “opposition research” conjured up by Hillary Clinton’s Fusion GPS hirelings in 2016.


The bigger picture of all this chicanery is right out there to see for anyone really paying attention.
Mr. Obama and Hillary hijacked the most pernicious instruments of government — the CIA and FBI — to win the election, and then to overthrow the actual winner. Slowly slowly, they were found out, despite all the smoke they were blowing and hiding in. Barr & Durham have hardly said a thing about their efforts to unwind the massive hairball of subterfuge and ass-covering that is their purview. Yet, the particulars of what went on, and who did what, are now pinned to the wall. We know exactly what Christopher Steele was and how that all worked. We know how John Brennan played it and how James Clapper and Jim Comey went along with it, and took it further and deeper, and where Rod Rosenstein and Andrew McCabe stepped in, and exactly how Mr. Mueller got roped in to front his operation — despite his mental incapacity. And we also know that Barack Obama approved of all that activity through 2016 into January 20, 2017.
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When it comes into the courts some months from now, Brennan, Comey, and the rest will surely cop a plea that they were following Mr. Obama’s presidential instructions. The impeachment hysteria is an exact index of the rising fear of that coming finger-pointing. Mr. Obama has been drawn into the heart of this matter. His reputation will be destroyed — and with it, the Progressive agenda that he represented for two terms, and which still holds his party hostage as much as the battlefield tactics of 1864 held the armies of North and South hostage.
We have heard very little from Mr. Obama in recent months, and only a few squawks out of Hillary. The Lawfare shock troops are working feverishly in the background to invent new congressional chicanes to trap Mr. Trump, but their legal cleverness can’t overcome the weakness of their cause, just as the soldiering of Robert E. Lee and his generals could not overcome the tragic wrongfulness of fighting for slavery. A century and half from now, people in this land (whatever it is called by then) will say that coup against Mr. Trump was a valiant endeavor, just as people today will say that the Civil War of 1861 – 1865 was about some metaphysical truths above and beyond slavery.
Hillary is still on the loose and she still has many partisans in the ranks of government, and they are scheming desperately now to save their skins. I don’t believe that Mr. Obama actually commands any troops in this fight. He remains the mere symbol that he was from the very start, when the Democratic Party hoisted him out of obscurity as the grand prize for post-war liberalism. After the election, I think Mr. Trump was prepared to drop his wish to “lock her up.” But he has had three years to discover just how much malice was arrayed against him, and now he going to run her to ground.

​#4 The US Election will dominate the newswires in 2020. Everyday Donald Trump will be on the front page as the Democrats pull every crazy stunt they can to try and stop him..... they will fail and they will fail badly! They will suffer the same kind of loss Labour did in the UK... why? Because they are peddling the same line, it did`nt work in the UK and it wont fly in the US either. Firstly the Democrats have no exceptional Candidates for President and they have no platform other than Orange Man Bad! Increasing taxes, exporting more jobs out of the US and letting in any Tom, Dick or Harry to compete with me for my minimum wage job..... Let me know how that`s working out for you!!! Look for a Massive Donald Trump Republican win in the US. I would`nt be surprised to see them take the House and the Senate. Wake up Democrats!!! #5 Battle for the Internet. This is shaping up to be another big issue. There will be the roll out on You Tube of it`s new Terms of Use which are so broad that it is hard to interpret and as if that were`nt enough they have introduced a term "Borderline Content" which of course they decide. This is demonetizing or taking down your video because it got too close to one of our rules... You know I`d like to see the faces of these people when I introduced into their Work Description "Borderline Behavior" You know, you did`nt actually do something wrong but you came close we get to end your contract. all I can say is Pffft! WTF! This kind of thing is going on all over Social Media and it is a betrayal of the people who use these platforms. Have rules, yes, but be clear and understandable. COPPA will also have a huge effect. the Childrens Online Privacy and Protection Act. The trouble being you have to declare if you YT video is for children or not. If it is YT will not circulate it, the video goes virtually dark and you lose about 90% of your income....the problem is that there are so many grey areas of what is appealing to a child under 13 years of age. If you have a Crafts channel or Cars, Collectibles, Fishing etc how do you decide? There is a middle choice on YT ie For adults and Kids, however the penalty from YT is the same so it`s no choice at all. Governments want more censorship because they have realized that we can communicate very quickly, start successful memes and change the direction of elections, out lousy candidates on Twitter and that has scared these lazy bunch of circle thinkers... Of course they are trying to shut it down and have successfully done so in India, Iran and Russia. A complete internet shutdown during demonstrations. However, because these systems are integrated with commerce, it also shuts that down too. However we must be ever vigilant to the curtailing of the freedom of expression. It is because we use Freedom of Speech to negotiate all our other Rights that makes it so special and unique... Without it We the People Have no Freedom! Be well!

Happy New Year! I hope you had a Good Christmas and that this finds you well! I was going over my predictions for 2019 and of the top 5 only 3 made the grade. The #1 was the Yellow Vest Protests, #2 A Debt reset, #3 Climate Change #4 Scientific Breakthroughs and  #5 A Hard Brexit. So Obviously the Hard Brexit did`nt happen nor did the Debt Reset but the other 3 were right on....... The Yellow Vest Movement has been going all year, slowed in the Summer but has now gained strength as they have been joined by the Unions about pension Reform and Farmers unable to earn a wage because of high input costs and cheap subsidized competition from China. Climate change has also been a front page story with Extinction Rebellion, Greta Thunberg and many weather related crop failures all over the World. Scientific Breakthroughs have also been news with Using Flu Viruses to attack Cancer also the development of sound and frequency technology for the treatment of many illnesses. Robot prostitutes or sex partners have been in the news. New understanding of the Climate and Climate Forcing are some of the few breakthroughs last year. I am call that 3 hits out of 5 or about 65% accuracy........... So my 5 Top Predictions for 2020 are #1 Yellow vest protests........ This movement will seriously grow this year across the globe, mostly because the underlying conditions that caused the protests in the first place are still unaddressed, more over, in many cases have become more intense and the fact that we are looking at food prices increasing in the coming year. There is a lack of democracy about the actions being taken by the leaders of the World, more surveillance, more censorship which is adding to the general feeling of discontent. Look out for that in the news! #2 Climate Change. We had a disastrous year last year as far as farming is concerned........ China especially. The Fall and Spring Army worm decimated crops and African Swine Fever killed about half of the hogs. At one point the Chinese Government had to open up strategic food supplies of Pork to meet demand. This is putting tremendous pressure on Corn, Soya Bean and Pork prices around the world. Flooding or drought hampered a large swath of farmland in Europe, US and the UK. Late Spring and early snows in Canada. These weather patterns will persist into the far future..... it`s not just a matter of extremes, or heating or cooling, wet or dry it is the inconsistency of events... you just don`t know if it`s an early Spring, will there be frosts if you plant too early, or if you`re too late  will the Fall close in early. This is the year I had in my garden.... Planted June 10th (3 weeks late) because it was cold and wet, the 3rd week of June the rain stopped and we had only localized rain for the next 3 months! That is literally the worst case scenario. Total Uncertainty! You bet Climate Change will be front and center this year! #3 A Hard Brexit...... yes, yes, I know, but things have changed dramatically in the last 2 months... the election that was also a Second Referendum absolutely slammed Jeremy Corbyn in particular but also the Labour Party in general. This may take a decade for the Labour Party to rebuild itself and gain the broken trust with their core supporters! Boris Johnson has now a strong mandate to act and a lot of pressure to act quickly. I think that negotiations will go South very quickly and Boris will lose his patience. He will do what I suspect he has wanted to do all along (as I have) which is to kick sand in the face of these arrogant unelected bureaucrats and walk away with a hard Brexit! We`ve already seen the bad faith in which the EU has negotiated and the ruthlessness and the undemocratic spirit they have shown the world. I ask you is this the kind of leadership you want to live under? Undemocratic  Unaccountable? and Unelected????? 

Wow it`s hard to believe that we have just passed Canada Day (July 1st) and so far it has been an incredible year..... a year of extremes in weather and extremes in human behavior.... there may be a connection, pay attention to that. Elections World wide have swung to the Right as Globalism and the Radical Left truly show themselves to be on a very dangerous and violent path giving rise to the Radical Right. The general public, the silent majority and the group that bears a large portion of taxation have picked up the only tool available to them which is Populism and I mean the only tool. This is unfortunate because life is never just a matter of Left and Right. Life is nuanced! That`s what makes it interesting. By and large the Silent majority have basically been working out in society either volunteering or initiating projects, working side by side, working through our differences and generally trying to get along. This can be evidenced by the tremendous amount of things that have been accomplished in the last Century by selfless dedication by individuals and groups of volunteers! I know this village, Bobcaygeon, would die on the vine were it not for volunteers. I see the media everywhere whipping up dissension, driving people and families against each other, fueling every grip and complaint. Talking with open disgust about people who think differently from themselves. Watching CNN and FOX TV might lead you to believe that you were on 2 different planets! My point is that regardless of our differences in belief or opinion at the end of the day we all have to meet in the street and cooperate. This is because life is a cooperative affair and actually simply cannot function with out the majority of us getting along and thinking well of our neighbor. I am hoping that saner heads will prevail because the last thing we need right now is civil unrest! We have several burgeoning financial and weather related on the horizon.  

Well Good Afternoon to you all from a damp and cool Sunday afternoon...in my part of the World anyway. Spring plants are trying to look brave!
             I have just done a Web Bot Summary video and it looks like a volatile year ahead. One of the subject was the change of language away from Political Correctness (Thank God!) I cannot thing of of more dangerous way to shut down free speech in the guise of defending free speech. This mechanism is now responsible in a total polarization of our Society. Setting Women against Men, Brother against Sister, Ideology against Ideology with no sway given by either. When we stop listening to each other, when we stop talking to each other, when we feel there is no common connection between us we are heading toward a precipice over which we all tumble blissfully locked in our hatred of our individual or collective ideology unaware of the danger ahead. What is most dangerous is that this is a no win scenario that feeds itself once it`s started. Like a forest fire big enough to draw in it`s own supercharged  air supply allowing further unchecked growth.

Here we are on the eve of Maundy Thursday and all is well on the road to oblivion, oblivion that is for the Status Quo. We are in a New World now baby the Fake News outlets are still pumping out their demonstrably, well Fake News! By the way of Fake GDP and Inflation figures, Fake Unemployment figures and the "Everything is Rosy" meme. A case in point is the recent bombing of Syria by Donald Trump. Prior to that event CNN, MSNBC etc had nothing good to say about The Donald but now, een Hillary Clinton is praising Trump ........Huh? What the heck just happened.

Who could possible forget that we are into day 14 of the Donald Trump Presidency, what the heck will it look like on day 1460??? These micro minds will self destruct long before then! They are actually the picture of chaos itself. It`s like a Black Hole of narcissism and self pity pulling in all the all the puerile nonsense SJW`s who are so disorganized it really is laughable. I mean there is no real substance here really just a case of hate and anger looking for a vehicle to justify the personal rage these people carry around inside them. We used to call it having a chip on one`s shoulder, an axe to grind...is it outrageous to say that? I don`t think so, when you look at these groups and their demands they seem to be demanding their own Rights, whilst suppressing or ignoring other individuals. I was recently accused of being a White Supremacist Male, coming from a Privileged position because I dared to suggest that, going forward, the only system that would work is a uniform recognition of everyone's Rights. To suppress anyone`s Rights is what got us here in the first place. The way forward is to recognize that for what it is, we will never move forward until we all have the same (full!) Rights! Speaking of which I see that Donald Trump has agreed to keep Obama`s Employment Policy not to Discriminate against any member of the LBGTQ community, he`s also not banning abortions! Once we realize that this hatred is Media driven is suspect that the Main stream, Legacy Media will, if not disappear entirely will be great ly diminished after the Debacle, the Specter, the Great Undoing, the Fatal Blunder of these idiots! It is no wonder Democratic Senators and Congressmen are taking lessons  in "How to talk to Ordinary People" I kid you not! These so called leaders have drunk their own coolade, believed their own crappy excuses and explanations without understanding the underpinnings and the nuances that govern the World as we know it. either that or deliberately ignored all of the many warning signs that the "system" was coming undone    at the seems. Of course Donald Trump will be a shock to the system but the more the Media hit on him the more it will backfire, the more the Media and anti-Trump supporters shut down the conversation the more polarized we will become.....This is not a good situation. I am prepared to give Donald Trump 100 days before I re assess the situation. I like the employment equity, I like the Order to Agencies that if you want an new Regulation implemented you have to get rid of 2 other Regulations. I most definitely do not agree with his position on torture and Water Boarding. Torture never works in the long run, in the end you`re in so much pain that you will say anything, surely we can all see that. Luckily his Secretary of Defense James madis does not believe in Torture and Donald Trump has said he will defer to his wisdom! That`s about all. HS