“There is a rot at the heart of our democracy, rooted in a nagging mystery that has yet to be unraveled. It gnaws at people, occupies their thoughts, leaves them searching for answers in the chill of the night. Americans want to know why no high-ranking Wall Street executive has gone to jail for the conduct that precipitated the financial crisis.
The oddest thing about the predominance of the question is that everyone already assumes they know the answer. They believe that too many politicians, regulators, and law enforcement officials, bought off with campaign contributions or the promise of a future job, simply allowed banker miscreants to annihilate the law in pursuit of profit.”
David Dayen
There will be a long holiday weekend in the US for Memorial Day, a day in which we remember all those who have served, and especially those who have given that 'last full measure of devotion.'
Stocks are reaching for a high note, once again.
Gold has been smacked down for the June contract option expiration and the management of perception, and little else.
Silver had declined as well but seems to be holding the 16 handle.
The Fed is engaged in some fairly self-serving actions as always, in this case to raise rates so they can lower them again when their latest bubble collapses. There has been no sustainable recovery.
How fitting that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump epitomize the age.
I am very busy with doctors and all the things associated with a return home of a patient under care. We had our first look at the MRIs yesterday, from before and after. The size of the tumour was astonishing, somewhat between a golf ball and a tennis ball in the bottom center of the brain. It is no wonder they would not even let her leave the hospital when they found it. They said that most neurosurgical teams would not have even attempted its removal because of the risks. We were lucky in this, moreso than we had known. Well, it is gone now.
The news is very good and the recovery proceeds at an amazing pace. I just called the company to come and retrieve the wheelchair rental as we clearly will not be needing it any longer. We are reducing the medications she takes daily from ten to seven, and some of those remain are on a course to be reduced and removed. There is targeted radiation ahead, and as always, the tests and surveillance which will be widened now. This could have been much, much worse.
The darkest night serves to make us more aware of the bright lights of God's tender mercies which are many, but easily overlooked in our fears and the pursuit of fruitless passions and illusions.
And at the darkest hour, when things appeared to be most dire, in the extremity of my fears, this is the prayer I finally had said, and which I had promised to acknowledge publicly if her recovery was granted.
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help, or sought your intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence,
I fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother.
To you do I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy, hear and answer me. Amen.
Make of this what you will, but this is what I had done, and what I had promised to do.
In a time like this one is struck by the number of good and dedicated people simply trying to live their lives and raise their children in the best way possible, within a system that has once again become corrupt. They are a tonic, an antidote to the cynicism with which this disordered society may poison us. It is too bad that a selfish few can create such perilous situations, and unnecessarily so except for their greed, their lust for power, and a pathological need to feel more than human and above the law.
And yet, even their wickedness may serve.
Have a pleasant weekend.
