Out With the Old, In With the New

The years seem to fly by, and this one is no exception. However this may be a seminal year, and next year points to a major shift in world power and alliances. Will the future bode better or worse? We will see. What do you see as the big stories of the year, and the likelihood of our collective future? I make my prognostications below the fold and hope you'll add yours in the comments. No matter our views, I wish us all the happiest of the new year!

Merry Christmas

Christmastide
by H. P. Lovecraft

The cottage hearth beams warm and bright,
The candles gaily glow;
The stars emit a kinder light
Above the drifted snow.

Down from the sky a magic steals
To glad the passing year,
And belfries sing with joyous peals,
For Christmastide is here!

Light and Dark

This Wednesday is the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year. The sun has made it's march south, and now pauses before it climbs back up in the sky. Days will grow longer in the endless cycle of light and dark. Tonight is the start of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights that lasts for eight days and nights in honor of a 2,000-year-old miracle in which light won out over darkness.

News and Views

It's been another busy news cycle this week: Drone strikes in Russia, war grinding on in the Donbass, a supposed coup attempt in Germany, a definite presidential coup in Peru, China meets with Saudi and Qatar adding another blow against the petrodollar, Egypt joins the BRICS+ bank, Twitter files reveal FBI involvement, 'elensky is Time magazine and The Financial Times "Man of the Year", Dutch farms seized, and more. Jump in below the fold for details...

Every Empire Falls

It is a long litanty of fallen empires including Greek, Roman, Mongol, Spanish, Dutch, and British. Now, it is the US turn to experience the loss of it primacy. It is easy to see the decline of America in the last couple of decades. Some historians point to patterns of decline. This author suggest seven common signs: fixation on their ideology, absorption in amusement and entertainment, government corruption, degrading public health, nutritional stratification and food challenges, over expansion, and constant war.

Homecoming?

After missing the posting of this column last week, it feels like homecoming to publish today's musings. Last week we managed to avoid WWIII, as the missile that hit Poland was confirmed to be Ukrainian. Gonzalo said (5 min) thank God for the Polish potato farmer and his posted photograph of the missile, without which the war mongers might have called on article 4 of the NATO alliance. Both Gonzalo and Scott Ritter speculate the missile was fired as a false flag to escalate the current conflict. And so the NATO proxy war with Russia continues...

Empires rise and empires fall. We're living during one of those transitions which have occurred many times before. The loss of the dominance of the US dollar is happening before our eyes as American arrogance, aggression, and bullying has turned much of the world away from the US/west and toward the evolving "fair world" multipolar order. There are many signals flashing, giving warning, and it is time to think ahead and prepare for the coming storm.
This chart looks back 1400 years and charts the estimated relative supremacy of the great empires. Of note: the blue American A-frame with a peak around 1955, and the meteoric rise of red China.

Recently, the country’s Senate approved a bill to end the seasonal time change and establish a fixed one. However, this still continues as a proposal since the bill has not been approved by the House of Representatives, which means that the mandate must continue to be fulfilled. Two states, Hawaii and Arizona do not make the change because they have their own state laws to keep their hours fixed.

I live on the time cusp between Eastern and Central time, so I convert from fast time to slow time and back on the regular. None the less I wish they would leave time alone.
Now as to the "time of change", we are experiencing the biggest swing in the balance of power in my lifetime, from western hegemony to a multipolar fair and balanced world order centered around the BRICS+ alliance.

Spooks and Scary Stories

We often talk about the "deep state" which I call the mafia branch of our government, but perhaps the "dark state" is a more appropriate descriptor. I've speculated before that Wallace was removed and Truman inserted as FDR's veep in order to insure the creation of the CIA. Of course the FBI has existed longer, starting in 1908 with J. Edgar Hoover joining in 1917. Theoretically the FBI is domestic and the CIA international, but the lines have blurred. I find both organizations rogue agencies ignoring law and promoting their own power and control. I think they are both scary.

Looking for the Exit

As we've discussed many times, the US system is broken. The government has been captured and the pols are owned by corporate oligarchs and do their bidding, not the people's business. Is there a way out of this situation? Similarly, the US is creating endless war with arms manufacturing in about every district in America to insure compliance. Is there even a way off the war treadmill? I've been looking, but I can't find the exit.