Mark 1:24
"Seneca had made the bargain that many good men have made when agreeing to aid bad regimes. On the one hand, their presence strengthens the regime and helps it endure. But their moral influence may also improve the regime's behavior or save the lives of its enemies. For many, this has been a bargain worth making, even if it has cost them—as it may have cost Seneca—their immortal soul.”
James Romm, Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero
"All tyrannies are virtuoso displays, over many years, of cunning, risk-taking, terror, delusion, narcissism, showmanship, and charm, distilled into a spectacle of total personal control."
Simon Sebag Montefiore
"There was enslavement of men whose tribes came not from Rome, disdain for those who did not have the familiar visage. And most of all, there was everywhere a contempt for human life. What, to the strong, was one man more or less in a crowded world?
Then, of a sudden, there was a light in the world, and a man from Galilee. So the light came into the world and the men who lived in darkness were afraid, and they tried to lower a curtain so that man would still believe salvation lay with the leaders. But it came to pass for a while in divers places that the truth did set man free, although the men of darkness were offended and they tried to put out the light.
Then might it come to pass that darkness would settle again over the lands and there would be a burning of books and men would think only of what they should eat and what they should wear, and would give heed only to new Caesars and to false prophets. Then might it come to pass that men would not look upward to see even a winter's star in the East, and once more, there would be no light at all in the darkness."
Vermont C. Royster, In Hoc Anno Domini, WSJ, December 24, 1949
Fresh regional bank troubles and a poor outlook for iPhones had the markets reeling this morning.
Stocks trading lower most of the day, and only managed to bounce off the bottom into the close.
VIX rose.
Gold and silver put in notable rallies, alhough only silver was able to hold on to most of the breakout attempt.
It had all the appearance of a 'flight to safety.'
Unusual for silver to lead that effort.
Non-Farm Payrolls tomorrow. We may then see what is what.
Have a pleasant evening.
