"Many will become addicted to hateful and malicious thoughts and hateful words. Slaves to their desires, they will be ferocious, angry despisers of what is good and right. With brutal treachery they will act without restraint, bigoted and blinded by clouds of conceit. They will demand and find their delight in the pleasures of this world, and ignore their need to serve God. They may act religious, but they want to serve themselves."
2 Timothy 3:1-5
"Long ago I broke the yoke that oppressed you
and tore away the chains of your slavery,
but still you said,
‘I will not serve.’
On every hill and under every green tree,
you have become corrupt, bowing down to idols."
Jeremiah 2:20
"Narcissists are unstable and go through repeated cycles of self-destruction, with other people usually paying the heft of the price. They are aware of what they are doing to others — but they do not care. Narcissists tend to be divisive, vindictive, confrontational, aggressive, hate-filled, raging, incoherent, judgment-impaired, and irrational."
Sam Vaknin, Malignant Self-Love, 2003
"I see dead people. Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know that they're dead."
Cole Sear: The Sixth Sense
"The most urgent problem facing the US and the Western nations is the pernicious corruption in the financial system that has captured the politicians of both parties. This corruption distorts the public conversation by buying influence in the media and 'experts' through the power of big money. The people are held hostage in a Bastille of deceit. What a condemnation it is that so few love the truth, and willfully turn from it, being led by the lies that favor their particular flavor of greed, and rotten self-interest."
Jesse, A Bastille of Deceit, 21 November 2012
"In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, traitors, heady, high-minded having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."
John Henry Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons II 20, 1836
"If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness. And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve."
Martin Luther King, The Drum Major Instinct, February 4, 1968
The markets tried to shrug off the growing risks of war in multiple locations around the world, although equities were off a bit from their new all time highs.
VIX ticked up a bit, but still remains subdued. Until it is not.
The Dollar continued to gain some strength after Chairman Powell and the FOMC seemed to waffle about future rate cuts.
The US government remains closed by an intractable GOP in Congress and the Executive.
Gold and silver were under pressure most of the day. It's a 'denial of risks for the exceptional' thing.
Trump is acting in a rather erratic, and some would say bizarre, manner. I don't think this is as much of a departure from his past performance as some of his apologists may offer.
It's important to remember how strongly his priorities are centered around what he most wants at the moment.
He is intellectually lazy to a fault, and intolerant of any information that does not suit his preconceived notions which are remarkably uninformed. He makes things up as naturally as the average person breathes, and his sycophants imitate him.
His respect for the Constitution and the rule of law is almost nil. And he appeals to others with the same sort of limited perspective.
A recipe for disaster to be sure. And that's what makes it significant for us as investors. Ignore it if you wish, but at some point Cloud Cuckoo-land is going to come crashing down with severe real world consequences for the people are just trying to get by and make a living.
But a significant portion of the American public is caught up in their rebellious fit, and seems determined to bring a wreckage of devices to fruition. This is what motivates a defiance of a reality they reject, preferring to substitute their own.
There is plenty of blame to go around on both sides of the aisle. Make no mistake. But the impulse to reform is being strangled in a fog of engineered distractions and adversarial deceits.
For a 250 year old, America has been acting like a petulant brat, for some time.
Have a pleasant weekend.
