"Such unsustainable arrangements are backed by force and fraud. And as the fraud loses its power over time, force must increase, until there is an end in genuine reform, or eventual self-destruction."
Jesse, Credibility Trap, 24 August 2012
"Those who have force on loan from fate count on it too much and are destroyed. But at the time their own destruction seems impossible to them. For they do not see that the force in their possession is only a limited quantity; nor do they see their relations with other human beings as a kind of balance between unequal amounts of force.
Since other people do not impose on their movements that halt, that interval of hesitation, wherein lies all our consideration for our brothers in humanity, they conclude that destiny has given complete license to them, and none at all to their inferiors.
And at this point they exceed the measure of the force that is actually at their disposal. Inevitably they exceed it, since they are not aware that it is limited. And now we see them committed irretrievably to chance; suddenly things cease to obey them. Sometimes chance is kind to them, sometimes cruel. But in any case there they are, exposed, open to misfortune; gone is the armor of power that formerly protected their naked souls; nothing, no shield, stands between them and tears."
Simone Weil, L'Iliade ou le poème de la force, 1939
"The lie is comfortable, an illusion easy to live with, familiar, and safe."
Jesse, Elite in the Grip of Fear, Fraud, and Denial, 16 May 2010
“Prepare for great battles. Know that you are now on a great stage where all heaven and earth are watching you. Before I come as a just Judge, I will first open wide the door of My mercy.”
Maria Faustina Kowalska, Divine Mercy in My Soul, Kraków 1938
Stock futures were jammed higher in the quiet overnight trading once again.
This is all a part of the 'public relations' campaign being spun by the Trump Administration.
His minions have pointed to the "50,000 Dow" often enough to know this is one of their fig leafs covering a failing economy and administration.
Gold and silver bounced around, gaining quite a bit in the overseas, overnight trading, and then being whittled down in the NY trading hours.
All is well, don't you know.
The economic data was inflationary.
VIX ticked lower, because all is well, you know.
Bitcoin is stuck on the wash and rinse cycle.
If the smart money is not slowly exiting from this 'asset' I will be surprised.
Despite the circuses and illusions, nothing has changed in the fundamentals of risk and the markets.
Not one thing. Stocks and the economy are cooked, and the rest of the world is finding a refuge in non-Dollar dependent assets.
Trump is moving troops towards Iran every day. This talk of peace seems to be the usual scam.
Netanyahu will not countenance anything but the reduction of Iran to a broken state. And Iran is rather keen for eliminating what they now perceive as an existential threat.
And everyone has forgotten all about Ukraine, and the horrendous Epstein scandals.
We are coming up on an option expiration on the Comex this Thursday, more for gold than silver.
And next week is Holy Week.
I still remember a Palm Sunday, many years ago in Zermatt. We woke up early, as the low hanging, dense cloud cover from the night we arrived had dissipated. And we watched the sun lighting the top of the Matterhorn.
The air was crisp and very cold, and there was singing as people were exiting the local church, carrying the branches of evergreens.
Some are happy that Trump's approval rating is 'down' to only 35%. All things considered, after all that has been revealed, I am shocked that it is so high.
There is a sickness in the body politic that has been growing steadily for some time.
"Pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.” C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
What are we becoming.
Have a pleasant evening.
