"We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor.
The shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep's throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as his liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as the destroyer of liberty. Plainly the sheep and the wolf are not agreed upon a definition of the word liberty; and precisely the same difference prevails today among us human creatures."
Abraham Lincoln, Baltimore Maryland, April 18, 1864
"What is a proper disposition towards life?
It is to accept God as a loving father, who is full of tenderness and forgiveness for us, despite our willful blunders and hardened hearts. He yearns for us, as a father and mother yearn for the return of their most beloved child.
It is to accept that we are not lost, we are not abandoned. We are wandering like a wayward child, full of our own headstrong delusions. And our father waits expectantly, calling out for us through the darkness. He sends the spirit out to find us, a light to find our way home to him out of the gloom of the night."
Jesse, Acceptance and Forgiveness, 2 January 2018
Stocks were trading weakly for the start of the second half.
The Dollar finished slightly higher.
Gold and silver were under pressure after an early rally attempt.
There will be a Non-Farm Payrolls report on Friday.
To take a solemn oath to uphold justice, and protect the innocent under the law, and then to break that oath, especially for personal preference or gain of money or power, is a terrible offense against the spirit.
It spawns a legion of lies and self-deceptions.
Unresolved and unrepentant, it is a sickness unto death, a form of slow spiritual suicide.
And in our exceptional land it is gradually becoming a pandemic of malfeasance and misery.
Have a pleasant evening.
