On this day in 1977, Boston’s self-titled LP debuted on the UK Albums Chart at #35 (February 5)
Here’s the remarkable story of how it happened…
In the late 1960s, Tom Scholz began attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he began writing music.
While attending MIT, he joined the band Freehold, where he met guitarist Barry Goudreau and drummer Jim Masdea, who would later become members of Boston.
After graduating with a master's degree, he then began working for the Polaroid Corporation in the product development division.
With the money he earned from his job at Polaroid, Scholz designed and built his own recording studio in an apartment basement on School St, in Watertown, Massachusetts in the early 1970s, primarily using devices he invented himself.
The basement was described by Scholz as a "tiny little space next to the furnace in this hideous pine-paneled basement of my apartment house, and it flooded from time to time with God knows what."
Scholz began recording demos in his home studio while working at Polaroid, working for hours on end, often re-recording, erasing and discarding tapes in an effort to create "a perfect song".
By that time, Scholz, Goudreau, and Masdea were playing in the band Mother’s Milk when they auditioned a lead vocalist called Brad Delp, a former factory worker at a Danvers electric coil company, who spent much of his weekends singing in cover bands.
By 1973, Scholz had a six-song demo tape ready for mailing, and he and his wife Cindy sent copies to every record company they could find.
The songs on the demo were "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Rock & Roll Band", "Something About You", "San Francisco Day" (later changed and renamed "Hitch a Ride") and "Love" (later changed to "Don't Be Afraid").
They received rejection slips from several labels - RCA, Capitol, Atlantic and Elektra among the most notable - and Epic Records rejected the tape flatly with a "very insulting letter" signed by company head Lennie Petze that opined the band "offered nothing new".
He spent years unsuccessfully submitting demos to record companies…
Eventually Epic reconsidered, contacted Scholz and offered a contract that first required the group to perform in a showcase for CBS representatives, as the label were worried that the "band" was in reality a "mad genius at work in a basement".
In November 1975, the group performed for the executives in a Boston warehouse that doubled as Aerosmith's practice facility, and as a result, Mother's Milk was signed by CBS Records one month later in a contract that required 10 albums over six years.
For their first album, Epic wanted a studio version that sounded identical to the demo tape, but Scholz decided he could not work in a production studio, having adapted to home recording for several years, stating "I work[ed] alone, and that was it."
Scholz took a leave of absence from Polaroid, and was gone for several months to record the band's album. "I would wake up every day and go downstairs and start playing," he recalled.
John Boylan came onboard as producer, and it was him that suggested the band change their name to Boston.
Boylan's own hands-on involvement would center on recording the vocals and mixing, and he took the rest of the band out to the West Coast, where they recorded "Let Me Take You Home Tonight".
“It was a decoy," recalled Scholz, who recorded the bulk of the album back home in Watertown without CBS's knowledge.
Scholz recorded such tracks as "More Than a Feeling" in his basement with a $100 Yamaha acoustic guitar.
That spring, Boylan returned to Watertown to hear the tracks, on which Scholz had recut drums and other percussion and keyboard parts.
He then hired a remote truck from Providence, Rhode Island to come to Watertown, where it ran a snake through the basement window of Scholz's home to transfer his tracks to a 3M-79 2-inch 24-track deck.
The entire recording was completed in the basement, save for Delp's vocals, which were recorded at Capitol Studios.
Scholz wrote or cowrote every song on the first album (with the exception of "Let Me Take You Home Tonight," written by Delp), played virtually all of the instruments and recorded and engineered all the tracks.
The entire album was recorded for a cost of a few thousand dollars, a paltry amount in an industry accustomed to spending hundreds of thousands on a single recording.
The album was released in 1976 and became the biggest-selling debut album by any artist up to that time, and the single "More Than a Feeling" has become a rock classic.
Chart-wise, the album peaked at #3 in the US and Switzerland, #4 in Germany, #7 in Canada, #11 in the UK and the Netherlands, #16 in Australia and Sweden, #24 in Japan, and #26 in New Zealand.
The album's other singles, “Peace of Mind" and "Foreplay/Long Time", also went on to become Top 40 hits, and radio staples.
The album is now the second best-selling debut album of all time in the United States, after Guns N' Roses's “Appetite for Destruction”, and it is the joint eighth best-selling album in US history.
The album was also ranked #43 on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Definitive 200" list.
#boston, #tomscholz, #braddelp, #morethanafeeling, #70smusic, #70srock, #classicrock, #classicalbum, #dailyrockhistory, #thisdayinrock, #rockhistory, #thisdayinmusic, #onthisday
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February 4, 2026 Boracay Island,
Philippines 🏝️🇵🇭
All-in-one Watchman
(Dennis Magdich, 1989)
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$70,844
market price of bitcoin in USD.
1,412
value of 1 USD measured in satoshis.
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On this day in 1985, the Foreigner single “I Want To Know What Love Is” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (February 2)
The power ballad was written by Foreigner guitarist (and only current remaining original band member) Mick Jones, and was the lead single from their fifth album, “Agent Provocateur”.
Recalling the inspiration behind the song, Jones revealed:
“I always worked late at night, when everybody left and the phone stopped ringing.
‘I Want to Know What Love Is’ came up at three in the morning sometime in 1984.
I don’t know where it came from. I consider it a gift that was sent through me.
I think there was something bigger than me behind it.
I’d say it was probably written entirely by a higher force.”
Although it’s credited to Jones, an uncredited portion (somewhere between 5% according to Jones and 35% according to Gramm) was contributed by singer Lou Gramm, who recalled:
“[Mick Jones'] home was about 15 minutes from my home, so I would drive over to his house and we would work on that song.
There'd be moments where it was just magic…”.
Gramm wasn’t impressed with Jones claiming all the rights to the song…
When he heard that Jones thought he only contributed to 5% of the song, he was shocked:
“I said, 'Five, Mick?' I said, 'You should just keep it all.' And he did.
He didn't say, 'No, Lou. Please. Let's work it out.'
I said, 'Five percent for me after all the work I did on the song?'
I said, 'You should just keep it all.' And he didn't say anything. He just kept it all.”
"I Want to Know What Love Is" reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart on January 15, 1985, displacing Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?", staying there for three weeks, and knocked Madonna's long-running "Like a Virgin" out of #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on February 2, 1985.
It was Foreigner's first and only chart-topper in either country…
It was also a massive hit all around the world…
The power ballad spent five weeks at #1 in Australia, and hit the top of the charts in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, while peaking at #2 in Switzerland, Portugal and South Africa, #3 in Denmark and Germany, #5 in the Netherlands, #7 in Finland, Austria and Belgium, and #8 in Spain.
#foreigner, #lougramm, #mickjones, #iwanttoknowwhatloveis, #rockballad, #powerballad, #80smusic, #dailyrockhistory, #thisdayinmusic, #onthisday
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Enter Sandman
Metallica ‧ 1991
Take my hand
Take my hand
Say your prayers, little one, don't forget, my son
To include everyone
Tuck you in, warm within, keep you free from sin
'Til the Sandman, he comes
Sleep with one eye open
Gripping your pillow tight
Exit light
Enter night
Take my hand
We're off to never-never land
Whoa-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh (we're off to never-never land)
Whoa-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh (we're off to never-never land)
Something's wrong, shut the light, heavy thoughts tonight
And they aren't of Snow White
Dreams of war, dreams of liars, dreams of dragon's fire
And of things that will bite, yeah
Sleep with one eye open
Gripping your pillow tight
Exit light
Enter night
Take my hand
We're off to never-never land
Whoa-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh (take my hand)
Whoa-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh
Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
If I die before I wake (grain of sand)
Pray the Lord my soul to take
Hush, little baby, don't say a word
And never mind that noise you heard (oh)
It's just the beasts under your bed (oh)
In your closet, in your head
Hush, little baby, don't say a word (oh)
And never mind that noise you heard (oh)
It's just the beasts under your bed (oh)
In your closet, in your head
Hush, little baby, don't say a word (oh)
And never mind that noise you heard (oh)
It's just the beasts under your bed (oh)
In your closet, in your head
Exit light
Enter night
Take my hand
We're off to never-never land
Whoa-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh (we're off to never-never land)
Whoa-oh-oh
Whoa-oh-oh, oh
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On this day in 1990, the Sinéad O’Connor single “Nothing Compares 2 U” went to #1 on the UK Singles Chart (February 3)
The song was written by Prince, and first appeared on funk band The Family’s self-titled debut (and only) album, in 1985.
According to his sound engineer, Susan Rogers, Prince wrote it at his rehearsal space in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, where he vanished for an hour and emerged with the lyrics on a notebook.
He recorded the song on the spot, playing the instruments himself with St. Paul and Susannah Melvoin of The Family on backing vocals.
Five years later, Sinéad O’Connor’s striking arrangement of the song from her second studio album, “I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got”, was also a breakthrough #1 hit in countries all around the world, including the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and Germany.
The song stayed in the top spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks…
It was ranked #184 by Rolling Stone in its 2021 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and listed at #77 on Billboard's "Greatest Songs of All Time".
It also made O’Connor the first woman ever to win the MTV “Best Video” Award for the stunning video clip of this emotional song....and in case you were wondering, the tear is real.
In the Rolling Stone Top 500 songs issue, she said, "I didn't intend for that moment to happen, but when it did, I thought, 'I should let this happen.'"
#sineadoconnor, #nothingcompares2u, #prince, #80smusic, #dailyrockhistory, #thisdayinmusic, #onthisday
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This week in 1979, the Bob Seger single “We’ve Got Tonite” debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #64 (February 3)
Seger wrote the song after seeing the movie “The Sting”, starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman.
In the film, there's scene where Redford puts the moves on a waitress, who says, "I don't even know you." He replies: "You know me. I'm the same as you. It's two in the morning and I don't know nobody."
"That just hit me real hard," Seger told the Detroit Free Press in 1994. "The next day I wrote 'We've Got Tonight,' this song about two people who say 'I'm tired. It's late at night. I know you don't really dig me, and I don't really dig you, but this is all we've got, so let's do it.'
The sexual revolution was still going strong then."
Seger lifted the chords (and slightly changed the melody) from a song he released in 1974 called "This Old House," which was the B-side to his single "UMC (Upper Middle Class)."
The song from Seger’s “Stranger in Town” LP eventually peaked at #9 in Canada, #11 in South Africa, #12 in New Zealand, #13 in the US, #31 in Australia, and #41 in the UK.
#bobseger, #silverbulletband, #wevegottonite, #rockballad, #70smusic, #dailyrockhistory, #thisdayinmusic, #strangerintown, #onthisday, #thisdayinrock, #rockhistory
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How to Stockpile Emergency Food on a Budget.
Inflation is having numerous impacts on society and people’s ability to buy the things they need. That includes prepping.
Being able to afford extra food for a stockpile is challenging enough as it is, and it keeps many potential preppers from taking the plunge. With people’s budgets stretched more than ever by rising costs, even those of us who are committed to being prepared are wondering how to make it all work.
One obvious answer is to change our buying habits, readjusting how we use the money we have and finding ways of cutting unnecessary expenses. That’s challenging and can cause family members to resent your prepping efforts.
While I’m all in favor of living on less and having more money available for the more important things in life, there are other things we can do to make our prepping budget go further. Before cutting things out of the prepping budget, it’s a good idea to try and find ways of spending less on prepping.
There are things we can do to continue stockpiling, even when money is tight. It’s just a matter of using our imagination, the resources available to us and a bit of patience.
12 Ways to Stockpile Emergency Food on a Budget
Use Windfalls
Even in tough financial times, there are still opportunities where you might receive a windfall, whether that be your income tax return or a bonus at work. When you do, working on your survival stockpile should be high up on your list, rather than buying that new television set. Of the two, the food is going to ultimately be a bigger blessing for your family.
Avoid “Survival Food”
I’ve got nothing against the companies which package food for survival. Nevertheless, when I look at the prices they charge, one thing is imminently clear – I can do it cheaper myself.
Much of what you’re paying for isn’t the food itself, as what they provide is actually rather inexpensive food, but rather the labor required to turn those ingredients into “one pan meals.” That’s something that any of us can do, and we can probably make taste better than they do.
One pan meals are great for survival and basically consist of a combination of ingredients that can be cooked together, essentially turning them into a soup or casserole. Think of Rice-a-Roni, which isn’t sold as survival food, but is great for it.
Any variety of Rice-A-Roni you buy will have rice, cut up spaghetti and spices in the package. You cook them together in water and you’ve got your dish. Take that idea and repeat, using different ingredients to make soup mixes, casserole mixes and side dishes.
The one place where those survival food companies are great is when it comes to food items that you just can’t get most places, like freeze-dried meats, shelf-stable butter, TVP (textured vegetable protein) and dehydrated eggs.
Buy in Bulk
Shopping Cart in Wholesale Store
It’s always a good idea to buy in bulk whenever you can. Sam’s Club and Costco make this easy, as they basically sell things in larger packages. But don’t just assume their prices are the best on everything. While they usually have the best price, I’ve found better prices on several items.
If you happen to live in an area with a sizeable Amish or Mennonite population, look around for one of their grocery stores. These small, simple operations operate like a co-op, buying in bulk and repackaging it for their community. Usually, the doors are open to anyone, so you can get a fairly decent variety of food at really incredible prices.
Some grocery stores, like Sprouts, offer bulk foods, stocked in barrels and sold by the pound. The savings here comes from the fact that you’re not paying for packaging. Considering that you’ll probably want to repackage the food for long-term storage anyway, that’s a savings worth grabbing.
One of the really great things to buy in bulk are spices. I firmly believe in having a good stock of spices on hand. You’re going to be eating a lot of unfamiliar food in a survival situation, and the best way to make that food palatable for your family is to season it, so that it tastes like something they’re familiar with.
You can buy restaurant-sized containers of spices from Sam’s Club, much cheaper than the little ones at the grocery store. If you live in an area with a large Mexican-American population, buy the Mexican spice brand; it’s a whole lot cheaper.
Go Out in the Country
There are a number of farmers who sell their produce directly from their farms or at farmer’s markets. You don’t have to limit your buying to the grocery store. Not only will the produce you buy from them be cheaper, but it will be fresher as well.
Much of what is picked for the grocery store is picked early, so that the produce doesn’t go bad. What these farmers sell directly is usually left to grow a bit longer, allowing for much better flavor.
You can also get meat the same way. You might not save a bunch of money buying meat that way, but you will generally get a better cut of meat. Considering that you’re going to be preserving the meat, the better cut will result in better preserved foods.
Restaurant Supply
Another good source for bulk food is any restaurant supply. Most will require that you set up an account with them, but it’s worth the hassle. The money you’ll save on buying large quantities of foodstuffs will pay for the time you have to invest in setting up that account.
A lot of the food that restaurant supplies sell these days is premade frozen food that restaurants only need to heat and plate. But they still sell more basic things, like flour and butter. They’re also a great place to buy things like aluminum foil and food wrap, which comes in restaurant-sized rolls.
It’s not a food item, but you might want to consider buying at least one restaurant-sized stock pot. When it comes to living off of what you can grow, gather, and hunt, there will probably be times when you need to cook a large amount of something.
Start Couponing
Couponing seems to be becoming a lost art, but food manufacturers are still sending coupons out by the truckload. Not only that, but you can find them online, where they are much easier to collect. That’s not to say you shouldn’t gather them from your newspaper if you’re already getting the Sunday paper, just that doing it online is faster.
Catch the Sales
Sale Signs at Supermarket
Food goes on sale, just like anything else. Sometimes on really good sales. That’s a real boon for preppers, who might want to buy more of an item than the store will be comfortable with. But there are ways around those limits they put on your purchases, like having the whole family go in and each buy the limit. I’ve picked up mac & cheese for a dime a box, canned chicken for a buck, and a host of other great buys.
These sales follow a pattern, so it is worthwhile to learn when things are normally on sale, not just for the sake of building your stockpile, but also for your family’s regular food budget. Anything you can save on your grocery bill will allow you to buy a little more for your stockpile.
One of the best food deals you can grab in the grocery store is frozen turkey, just before Thanksgiving. It seems that every grocery chain puts turkey on sale then, usually for less than half the normal price. Buy several and cut them up as they thaw, to make jerky out of.
Can Your Own
While canned foods are reasonably cheap, you can still save money if you are already growing the food in your garden. For canning purposes, you’re best off growing a lot of the same thing, so that you can do your food preservation in batches, rather than just a few jars full of each veggie. The more you can do at one time, the more cost- and labor-effective it is.
One of the big advantages to home canning is that you don’t have to go with the same dull food that you find in the grocery store. If you’re going to can beans, go ahead and add the ham to them now, so that the flavors can mix. The same idea can extend to mixing some bacon bits into your sting beans or pimentos into your corn.
Make Your Own
Don’t just stop with canning, though. The real money savers come in when you make other kinds of food and preserve them. Dried meat and fruit are expensive, but it’s much less costly to dehydrate your own, especially if you get the foods to dehydrate on sale or directly from the farm.
I regularly make my own jerky, including the turkey jerky I just talked about, as well as apple butter, pumpkin butter, nut butters, fruit roll-ups, and various other things.
Keep in mind that any time you’re buying something that’s already done, you’re paying for someone else’s labor. While commercial food processing is largely automated, there is still some labor involved. That’s especially true when it comes to foods that are made in small batches.
Take Advantage of the Food Pantry
You can find a food bank in pretty much any city in the country. These non-profit organizations receive excess stock, damaged shipments, government surplus, food that isn’t selling quickly enough, and any other food that commercial sellers need to get rid of. It is offered to local food pantries for pennies on the dollar, so that they can use it to feed the community.
The question is: Can you get that food? If you’re already on the lower end of the income scale, you likely can; but even if you’re not, there’s a chance that you can still get food from the local food pantry. That’s a moral question that you will have to decide for yourself.
Woman Holding Food Donation Box
Another way to take advantage of this is if you’re part of a small church that has a food pantry. Befriend whoever is in charge of that food pantry and ask if you can piggyback on their order, adding a case or two of different things that they’re already buying.
Sweetening the deal by offering to buy some food for the pantry will go a long way towards making that idea palatable to them, and you’ll still get the food much cheaper than you can anywhere else.
Gifts
Christmas and birthday gifts can often be a disappointment, especially when family members are buying us gifts that we really don’t want. The solution to this problem is to drop a few hints in the form of a “wish list” for them to use.
While it might be tempting to put a new gun or pair of binoculars on that list, you can also put food for your stockpile on it. That might not seem like an exciting gift to them, but it will probably be much more exciting to you than a new tie or a bottle of after-shave.
Cut Your Own Wood
It’s not food, but you need it for food, so I’m going to include it here. I’m talking about firewood. Heating the average home through the winter with wood takes four to six cords of good hardwood firewood. That comes to quite a chunk of money, if you pay someone else to cut and haul it for you. But you can do it yourself a whole lot cheaper.
Actually, if you’ve got a chainsaw and a pickup, you shouldn’t have to pay more than gas and time to get all the firewood you can use. Just drive around your community and look at how many dead trees there are, which are still standing.
Another option is to drive around after a big storm and look for tree limbs that are down. In either case, offer to cut that up and haul it off. Most homeowners will not only let you, but will probably offer to pay you something for it, even if you tell them you’ll do it for free.
You can extend this to other areas as well. Keep your eyes open for opportunities, like trees in public places which need to come down or which have limbs down after a storm. Talk to your city works department and get their permission to cut up any down limbs you see. They’ll probably appreciate the help.
But don’t just go and cut them without making that contact first; you don’t want to get hassled for being a public-spirited citizen.
Another good source for wood is construction sites. You really don’t want construction scrap, but if you find some land that’s being cleared for a housing development, shopping center, or school, chances are that there will be trees that need to come down.
Talk to the contractor first to find what trees need to be cut. He may be planning on taking them down with a bulldozer (that’s common), but they’ll still need to be cut up and hauled off. That’s where you come in.
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GM 🌄
Proof of walk this morning with Amigo and Cypher to Whitesand and Bulabog Beach ⛱️
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Financial Planning for the Collapse.
When it comes to planning for a total financial collapse it’s a good bet that you can throw the conventional financial advice out the window.
Most of the data on surviving a financial collapse is based on the Great Depression back in the 1930’s and some significant financial events that have occurred since including 1970’s stagflation, the 1981 recession, the 1989 Savings and Loan Crisis, the 2008 great recession, and the market crash during the COVID pandemic.
Lessons Learned?
Somehow, and in spite of continuing failures of decision making and policies, economic calamities continue to occur always relying on government bailouts funded by everyday taxpayers.
In the meantime, financial advisers glibly recommend the same boilerplate advice for surviving economic “downturns.”
What’s alarming are the events affecting global markets and global economies right now. The U.S. seems to be in somewhat of a recovery as inflation has moderated a bit, but based on a recent verdict in Washington State where the chicken and tuna industry monopoly was found guilty of price fixing, corporate greed still rules the lives and the budgets of everyday people.
The End of Globalization
Yogi Berra said it best, “The world is getting more global.” But what makes all economies more vulnerable in today’s environment is the economic interdependence of countries around the world. The world marketplace drives the economies of many countries as they export their available resources and manufactured goods, and import needed resources and products in return.
It works assuming that everything runs smoothly if not perfectly, but a threat has emerged to global commerce: the “Polycrisis.” It’s a compound failure of multiple critical systems leading to energy and food supply crises; rising inflation, cyberattacks, failure to meet net-zero targets, weaponization of economic policy, and the weakening of human rights. And in the midst of the polycrisis, a new threat has emerged.
The AI Factor
Artificial intelligence or “AI” continues to show up as a new promise and a new threat. The most immediate threat is to jobs that were traditionally fulfilled by clerical workers.
As AI grows and improves, more and more jobs will be displaced not only by the continuing robotic automation of manufacturing tasks, but more clerical and intellectual tasks from accounting to creative fields and many other jobs traditionally performed at a desk.
The potential job loss as a result of failing economies and the emergence of AI is staggering and it won’t take a depression to put more and more people out of work. And as for commercial real-estate – kiss it goodbye as more and more people continue to work from home, and the sea of cubicles in office buildings are replaced by AI with one computer in a cubicle.
Eventual Economic Recovery is Always the Big “IF”
In spite of the continuing crises that plague economies there’s always the assumption that things will get better. Even the great depression finally ended although it took a decade and World War II to do it. But the assumption of recovery may not happen next time.
The combination of a global marketplace; the emerging polycrisis, a recently noted decline in population, and AI permanently displacing jobs could simply mean the end of the economic model as we know it. As a result, a wise approach to financial planning for the collapse may best be done across 3 stages of collapse.
3 Stages of Preparation for Financial Collapse
We need to think beyond the usual economic downturns we’ve seen in the past and think about the possibility of total, global economic collapse. It’s never happened before in modern times but the fragile complexity of modern economics make it a distinct possibility. That requires a new set of planning steps across a continuing collapse.
1. Recession
Many of us have been here before. It’s the standard set of recommendations for a recession. These are the common factors that occur and the investments that are most often affected.
Job loss resulting in loss of income making it increasingly difficult to pay down debt while incurring more debt.
Market failure of commercial real-estate. This is happening today as more and more people continue to work from home leaving many office buildings empty and un-leased.
Failure of stocks related to non-essential goods and services and even basic and most luxury items most people can’t afford.
Currencies as inflation continues to erode the value of money.
The Best Financial Preparations for Recession.
This gets back to some of the standard recommendations that always assumed an economic recovery. They’re still wise moves but only a first step.
Reduce debt as much as possible. This means reducing spending and paying down credit cards and other debt beyond major loans like a mortgage or vehicle. Most people can’t pay off their mortgage or auto loans but any other debt should be reduced as much as possible.
Sell off any stocks in non-core industries. These are the highly speculative stocks, or stocks in vulnerable industries like luxury products or other discretionary purchases that people will find harder and harder to afford.
If you choose to remain in the stock market, invest in core industries like healthcare, utilities and consumer goods. Regardless of an economic recession, people will still get sick, need electricity and food and clothing.
Shift any real estate investments into homes or lots. Get out of those REIT’s (Real-Estate Investment Trust) that are often heavily invested in commercial real-estate.
Start investing in precious metals either as physical gold and silver or sector mutual funds invested in mining operations.
Invest in high-dividend yielding stocks. These also tend to be utility stocks and some consumer goods in addition to energy companies. They’re still safe sectors for investment and pay a high dividend.
Get out of corporate bonds and into government bonds that are relatively more secure.
Start thinking about new skills you could acquire or master to generate income on the side or in case you lose your current job.
Develop a plan and behaviors that allow for strict budgeting. Now’s not the time to buy luxury items, new cars or a lot of new furniture. Make do and try to spend less.
How many of these things anybody can do depends on their financial condition, but most are standard recommendations from financial planners. What financial planners don’t seem to recommend occurs in the next category.
2. Economic Depression
Any Internet search for how to survive an economic depression usually defaults to the word “recession.” For some reason financial companies simply don’t seem to want to admit that another depression would be possible. Here’s what could happen and thoughts on what to do.
From inflation to deflation. The value of a currency starts to become less and less as inflation makes everything more expensive and deflation reduces the buying power of currency.
Massive job loss and reduced wages are another fact of any depression. It’s not only about losing a job, but even people who are still employed see a reduction in wages and overall compensation. Companies become indifferent in an economy when so many people are out of work, and simply say that to stay in business wages must be cut.
The supply chain collapse spreads and becomes a thing of the past. Especially the just-in-time manufacturing processes that allowed companies to avoid the costs of storing excess inventories. The result is a shortage of many common products and empty store shelves.
The collapse of the Real Estate market goes beyond commercial real estate to all properties. People abandon homes that are worth far less than the mortgages they can hardly afford and widespread foreclosures become common.
Bank failures begin to occur with increasing frequency. The government again tries to salvage many of them but a form of economic triage emerges with only the most critical banking institutions being preserved and supported.
Growing civil unrest emerges as both crime and violence begin to emerge in a desperate and enraged public.
The Best Financial Preparations for an Economic Depression.
There are still some traditional recommendations that show up for preparing for an economic depression in addition to non-traditional recommendations. To some degree these moves still assume an eventual recovery.
Government bonds become the only reliable bond investment although their rates are subject to the strain the government is enduring as they continue to salvage a failing banking industry.
Fixed Income bonds are another possibility that offers a guarantee of a fixed and steady stream of interest either from the government or corporations.
Precious metals continue to show up but their cost during a depression will increase significantly. One possibility is to look at traditional coinage minted in or before 1964.
Most have varying degrees of silver content with increasing bullion value simply because of the silver they contain. Jewelry is another source of precious metal that should be located and isolated for potential sale.
Cash is not as simple or obvious as it sounds. As banks fail it can be harder and harder to withdraw significant amounts of cash, but as the value of currencies decline the cash under the mattress will be worth less and less.
Entrepreneurship will emerge as the new source of income as people continue to hone and expand their skills to a gig economy where they either find side jobs that require a unique skill set, or sell home manufactured goods.
If possible, an investment in a property that is in a rural location may be a wise step and prep for what could be a continuing economic spiral. Property values will be in a steep decline and if someone has the cash on hand or can manage to get a loan, a rural or wilderness property could be a lifeboat to a new lifestyle necessary for the final stage of economic collapse.
3. Global Economic Collapse
The collapse of the global economy is not only a possibility but it appears to be happening as more and more countries and societies continue to fail. Here are some of the current results and more to come.
Worldwide Inflation/Deflation/Hyperinflation devastates currencies and the ability to engage in basic commerce and buy goods.
Global stock and bond markets collapse as corporations go bankrupt and even governments begin to struggle to maintain interest payments on things as simple as bonds.
The global supply chain ceases to exist and only the most precious commodities like oil and grain still manage to dock in an occasional port.
Collapse of the banking system spreads and a new and precarious federal bank emerges.
Growing civil unrest and civil wars begin to take countries beyond economic collapse to the total collapse of their societies.
Interstate wars occur with greater frequency.
Total economic disparity (0.1% versus 99.9%) as a small fraction of society still manages to protect their wealth and status much like the societies defined by the middle ages.
The Best Financial Preparations for Global Economic Collapse...
There’s no modern precedent for a total collapse of a global economy. One thing that seems inevitable is chaos as civil unrest turns to civil war in many nations and in some instances, interstate wars as countries find new and desperate reasons to invade and attack neighboring countries and perceived rivals.
Financial planning may be a thing of the past but new and smaller economies will continue as long as people continue to eat, wear clothing and require medical attention. What will obviously emerge is a new lifestyle and a new and sometimes old set of commodities will emerge as the new currency driving local economies.
Precious metals will continue to have value and old coinage with silver content may become the only currency with accepted value in everyday purchases. The days of credit cards and ATM’s will either be long gone or highly questionable and a barter economy will emerge as the new standard for trade.
Assembling, creating or stockpiling key goods for barter will become a reliable source of currency including homegrown and canned foods, medical supplies and medicines, and basic commodities like handmade furniture, clothing, boots and other basic necessities.
The development of barter skills will emerge with new value especially construction and repair skills as the ability to fix anything will be the only way to keep things going.
Rural and wilderness real estate will soar in value as many people return to pioneer lifestyles self-supported by their ability to live with and off the land.
Stockpiling for sustainability will be the new normal and hoarding will be commonplace as new and rare products show up from time to time.
Homesteading as a new lifestyle will emerge as even people in cities and suburbs learn new skills to make what they need and repair what they can.
Can It Happen?
Based on what we’ve covered, it already happening. Given this progression of events to a radical shift in lifestyle, it may be wise to look past the conventional wisdom for surviving those economic “downturns,” and think about where this all may end.
That may be a good enough reason to think about buying some rural land; learning how to build your own home or cabin, acquire new skills, stockpile for a future without most stores, and think about all the ways to live sustainably. And while you’re at it, maybe now’s a good time to start collecting some of those old silver coins minted before 1964.
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"We’ve been sharing some especially beautiful ocean photography lately, much of it from Noemi Merz (@noemivisuals).
Noemi is a marine biologist, underwater photographer, filmmaker, and conservation storyteller. Her work highlights both the ocean and the people working hard to protect it.
Dive in and explore Noemi’s full collection on the Ocean Image Bank.
📷 @noemivisuals / Ocean Image Bank
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This week in 1969, the Beatles LP “Yellow Submarine” debuted on the UK Albums Chart at #37 (February 1)
The album was the soundtrack to the animated film of the same name, contained six songs by the Beatles, including four new songs and the previously released "Yellow Submarine" and "All You Need Is Love".
The remainder of the album is a re-recording of the film's orchestral soundtrack by the band's producer, George Martin.
The project was regarded as a contractual obligation as part of a three-picture deal with United Artists by the Beatles, who were asked to supply four new songs for the film.
Some were written and recorded specifically for the soundtrack, while others were unreleased tracks from other projects.
The album went to #1 in Canada and Norway, #2 in the US, #3 in the UK, #4 in Australia and Finland, and #5 in Germany.
The cover artwork created by Heinz Edelman is one of the best…
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Snow in the desert is not something you see every day.
Ten animals with abilities that science still struggles to fully explain.
Here is a detailed explanation of each ability:
• Bombardier Beetle: This insect can spray boiling chemicals at $100^\circ$ Celsius (212$^\circ$ Fahrenheit) at a rate of 500 pulses per second without burning itself.
• Immortal Jellyfish: It possesses biological immortality by reverting its cells back to their earliest form, effectively restarting its life cycle when conditions are unfavorable or it is injured.
• Axolotl: This amphibian can regenerate entire limbs, its spinal cord, heart tissue, and even parts of its brain. It rebuilds the tissue perfectly without scarring.
• Electric Eel: It generates a powerful 860 volts of electricity, enough to stun a horse. The mechanism by which it insulates itself from its own lethal discharge remains a mystery.
• Pistol Shrimp: By snapping its tiny claw, it creates a cavitation bubble that reaches an astonishing $4,700^\circ$ Celsius (8,500$^\circ$ Fahrenheit), which is hotter than the surface of the sun.
• Tardigrade (Water Bear): These micro-animals can survive extreme conditions, including absolute zero, boiling temperatures, intense radiation, and the vacuum of space. Specimens have been found alive after being frozen for 30 years.
• Platypus: A mammal that hunts using electrical field detection (electroreception) with its eyes, ears, and nose closed. It uses this sense much like a shark does.
• Leafy Sea Dragon: This creature has evolved to look exactly like floating seaweed, allowing it to camouflage perfectly and avoid predators who swim past without noticing it.
• Octopus: Known for having three hearts, blue blood, and nine brains, an octopus can change color in milliseconds and uniquely, can edit its own RNA to adapt to environmental changes.
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On this day in 1978, the Bee Gees single “Stayin’ Alive” debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #34 (February 4)
The iconic opening scene of the hit film “Saturday Night Fever” where John Travolta (as Tony Manero) struts down the street swinging his paint can to the sounds of The Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” is one of the most memorable scenes of the movie.
In fact, in 2004, it ranked #9 on AFI's “100 Years...100 Songs” survey of top tunes in American cinema.
It went all the way to #1 in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, Mexico, and South Africa, and Top 5 in France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK.
In the US, it would become the second of six consecutive #1 singles for the Bee Gees, tying the record with the Beatles for most consecutive number ones in the United States at the time.
In 2021, "Stayin' Alive" was ranked #99 on the list of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
In 1995 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame named “Stayin’ Alive” one of the “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll".
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