Ephesians 2:10
"There's been a lot of talk in this race about what it means to be a real man. Recently on the campaign trail I told the story of my adoptive dad, Mark Talarico. Every Saturday morning, he would mow our lawn, and then without anyone asking him to, he would go next door and mow our neighbor's lawn because she was a widow. My dad never talked about it — he just did it, because that's what a man does.
A man takes responsibility. A man upholds his commitments to his family and his neighbors. A man does what's right, even when no one is watching. Here's what real men don't do. They don't lie and cheat their way through life, sell their soul to the highest bidder, or steal from other people in order to enrich themselves.
Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves. I welcome this debate about what it means to be a man, and I don't think Ken Paxton or Ted Cruz are in a position to tell anybody what a real man is."
James Talarico, Candidate for Senator from Texas, June 12, 2026
"The government is intervening in the various markets. There is little or no question about it, if you accept that actively changing, with intent, the rules, money supply, short term liquidity, interest rates, methods by which key statistics are tallied, spin and other information that might impolitely be called 'propaganda' is manipulating the markets. (With gold now at $912 and silver at $17.48.)
And often it is. They admit it. The evidence is there. If you don't know about it you have not been keeping up with current events. Those who are in-the-know are in denial and hiding, trying to line their pockets and curry favor with whomever they think will be in power next. Those who don't know are running around waving their hands, shouting slogans and hearing only their own voices, or just ignoring it all getting distracted by whatever happens to be handy.
One's best recourse is essere umano, to be human throughout it, perhaps giving the bastards a swift little kick from time to time just to let them know you're still there.
In the meanwhile there are important and interesting questions to investigate as best we can. Its not clear yet exactly which way this thing goes, and the variables interact with one another, and are many more than can listed here:
- Will our government become a better democratic Republic, Fascist, or Socialist, and the related broader question of the Individual vs. the State.
- When and how the dollar will be valued and how fiat currencies can be sustained without being destroyed by inflation? (in all history none have succeeded}.
- How will the world's reserve currency evolve? Can a greater centralization of power and control be avoided gracefully? Can freedoms be maintained if it cannot?
- Will there be a 'moment of clarity' when the failure becomes evident and things move with alarming speed, or will this be a damp fizzling decline into an ignoble whimper.
Jesse, Of Government Intervention, and Why I Write This Blog, 11 July 2008
"I do not ask for your performance and pretense,
the hypocrisy of festivals and solemn ceremonies.
I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain.
I do not even notice your finest peace offerings.
Spare me the noise of your hymns and praise,
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Instead, let justice flow from you like a river,
and righteousness in an ever-flowing stream."
Amos 5:21-24
"He became as we are, so we might become what he is."
Athanasius of Alexandria, On the Incarnation of the Word, 335 AD
"You have been told what is good, and what the Lord requires of you. Only do what is right, and love goodness and mercy, and walk humbly with your God."
Micah 6:8
Stocks rallied up on the back of yet another big, beautiful peace deal.
I don't think the 'deal is real' but the Street wanted to launch a pig into space, and so they did, lipstick and all. Elon Musk just became the world’s first trillionaire. Let’s make sure he’s the last.
Gold and silver gained a little, coming off their recent lows earlier this week.
VIX fell down again.
The Dollar is chopping around in a trading range. Nothing could be more clear.
Bitcoin failed to take off, and is still stuck at overhead resistance.
There will be a triple with option expiration next Friday.
Let's see what new deals are announce over the weekend to prop the markets up on Monday.
"The rules are simple: they lie to us, we know they're lying, they know we know they're lying, but they keep lying to us, and we keep pretending to believe them." Elena Gorokhova, A Mountain of Crumbs, 12 January 2010
The US is sliding into the kind of country we used to hold up as an example of what we were not, and were so much better and freer.
It's the new tradition. And Trump is just hatching the egg that the imperial presidents before him have laid.
Have a pleasant weekend.
