"So let us begin anew— remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof.
Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate."
John F Kennedy, Inaugural Address, January 20, 1961
"The man who has never learned to obey knows not how to command, and the man who has never disciplined himself knows not how to be merciful. It is always the selfish who are unkind to others, and those who are hardest on themselves are the kindest to others, as the teacher who knows the least is always the most intolerant to his pupils."
Fulton J. Sheen, Victory Over Vice, 2016
"Psychopaths love chaos and hate rules, so they're comfortable in the fast-moving modern corporation. Dr. Paul Babiak, an industrial-organizational psychologist based near New York City, is in the process of writing a book with Bob Hare called When Psychopaths Go to Work: Cons, Bullies and the Puppetmaster. The subtitle refers to the three broad classes of psychopaths Babiak has encountered in the workplace."
Robert Hercz, Psychopaths Among Us
“The manipulator’s power lies in their ability to exploit vulnerability and manipulate emotions.”
Robert Hare, Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us, 1993
"We are poor indeed if this Nation cannot afford to lift from every recess of American life the dread fear of the unemployed that they are not needed in the world. We cannot afford to accumulate a deficit in the books of human fortitude. In the place of the palace of privilege we seek to build a temple out of faith and hope and charity.
Governments can err, Presidents do make mistakes, but the immortal Dante tells us that divine justice weighs the sins of the cold-blooded and the sins of the warm-hearted in different scales. Better the occasional faults of a Government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a Government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny."
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Nomination Acceptance, Philadelphia, June 27, 1936
It was risk on all the way today, as equities caught their footing and then rose almost relentlessly higher.
If there is anything to spoil the bullish scenario it is the very narrow nature of the advance, with a handful of story stocks providing most of the gains by far.
This has been going on for a while. And historically these things can run on for a while, until something happens to upset the scenario, to disrupt the flow of what is essentially a long con.
As a reminder, there will be a quadruple witch stock option expiration on this Friday.
Gold and silver pulled back a bit along with the Dollar, a sure sign of a risk on impulsive move.
I have been puzzling over the domestic political situation in the US for some time now. It certainly is of consequence to the world at large.
Biden doesn't really seem to be in control of things, in setting policy. He appears more and more of a figurehead. He gets propped up for the occasion and performs his piece, with mixed results.
I think the leading figures on the American political scene have a similar position, but are performing their functions more effectively.
Is former president Jimmy Carter right, in saying that the US is now an oligarchy, or perhaps more precisely a plutocracy?
Who are the true puppetmasters? The ones who are the most difficult to see.
It's something to think about. One wonders if anyone outside of the political duopoly can gain any effective influence on the power that is controlling things these days.
This upcoming election is either going to be rather interesting, or merely pathetic. It all depends on the wild cards.
Have a pleasant evening.
