"So, what do I suggest probably will happen? I think we will stagger along under a facade of constitutional government, as we are now, until we’re overcome by bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would not mean the literal end of the United States, any more than it did for Germany in 1923, or China in 1948, or Argentina just a few years ago. But it would certainly mean a catastrophic recession, the collapse of our stock exchange, the end of our level of living, and a vast series of new attitudes that would now be appropriate to a much poorer country."
Harvey Kreisler, Talking with Chalmers Johnson, Counterpunch, May 6, 2010
"Shanghai Gold will change the current gold market with its 'consumed in the East but priced in the West' arrangement. When China has the right to speak in the international gold market, the true price of gold will be revealed."
Xu Luode, Chairman, Shanghai Gold Exchange, 15 May 2014
"The problem with choosing the lesser of two evils that are distasteful enough is that one has to numb their conscience to do it. This is what is known as a 'Faustian bargain.'
But the individual will find that if they choose to make this kind of rotten deal with their own conscience enough times, and put their inner voice aside to make an expedient, practical choice rather than a moral one, and pile lie upon lie to ease the pain of their betrayal, eventually their conscience will fail them when it matters the most. Or they may simply find themselves too compromised to do anything but overtly choose what is objectively wrong or suffer serious personal consequences. They have intertwined their fingers with the power of darkness so deeply that now they are his.
The road to hell is paved, not with one climactic choice, but a long series of increasingly bad choices and lies, that eventually grow into a complete betrayal of duty, and our honour, and our sacred oaths of service."
Jesse, The Lesser of Two Evils, 24 July 2016
"Now you live in a world of hate and fear. Now you live in a system which rules without responsibility even to God. The system itself could not have intended this in the beginning, but in order to sustain itself it was compelled to go all the way. You have accepted things you would not have accepted five years ago, a year ago, things that your father, even in Germany, could not have imagined.
Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven’t done (for that was all that was required of most of us: that we do nothing). You remember everything now, and your heart breaks. Too late. You are compromised beyond repair."
Milton Mayer, They Thought They Were Free: The Germans, 1933-45, 1955
Stocks did a risk on rally that ended a bit flat.
There is little doubt in my mind that these market 'saves' are being conducted by Bessent and the ESF team at the behest of Trump who watches the stock markets as an indicator of his performance.
When the leveraged mispricing of risk collapses we may see something historic.
Gold and silver were under pressure of course. Trump and crew are crypto people. It's easier to make money that way.
Bitcoin bounced back a bit. As I have long believed I think even more strongly that crypto is a thinly disguised control fraud.
VIX dropped sharply as the Feds came in to pour oil on the troubled waters of Donald's rants in Davos. I was in Davos many years ago about this time of the year for a pan-European business meeting. It was damp, and I had an awful head cold. But the Swiss train service is exceptional. I love Switzerland, as pricey as it may be.
If you are still a supporter of this latest escalation of constitutional abuse and lawlessness, and murder en masse in the most sadistic manner abroad, that is your choice. Prior administrations were in a similar vein, but to a lesser degree. We seem to have reached the breaking point where overreach breaks the system.
But more importantly you have placed yourself outside of the fellowship of the mind and of the Spirit, and become particularly vulnerable to wickedness in high places. Have no illusions about that.
Have a pleasant evening.
