Edward W. Said, Orientalism: Preface, 2003
"The tongue of the little one sticks
to the roof of its mouth with thirst;
the children beg for bread,
but no one will feed them."
Lamentations 4:4
"Through his first year in Germany [1933], Dodd had been struck again and again by the strange indifference to atrocity that had settled over the nation, the willingness of the populace and the moderate elements in the government to accept each new oppressive decree, each new act of violence, without protest. Dodd continued to hope that the murders would so outrage the German public that the regime would fall, but as the days passed he saw no evidence of any such outpouring of anger. The controlled press, not surprisingly, praised Hitler for his decisive behaviour."
Erik Larson, In The Garden of Beasts, 2011
"It can only be hoped that American democracy will thoroughly realize, before it is too late, that fascism is not confined to any one nation or any one party; and it is to be hoped that it will succeed in overcoming the tendency toward dictatorial forms in the people themselves. Only time will tell whether the Americans will be able to resist the compulsion of irrationality, or whether they will succumb to it.”
Wilhelm Reich, The Mass Psychology of Fascism, 1933
“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Weep for yourselves and your children."
Luke 23:28
"I am not so optimistic that this reform is possible, because there has in fact been a soft coup d'etat in the US, which now exists in a state of crony corporatism that wields enormous influence over the media and within the government. To be clear about this, the oligarchs are flush with victory, and feel that they are firmly in control, able to subvert and direct any popular movement to the support of their own ends and unslakable will to power.
This is the contempt in which they hold the majority of American people and the political process: the common people are easily led fools, and everyone else who is smart enough to know better has their price. And they would beggar every middle class voter in the US before they will voluntarily give up one dime of their ill gotten gains.
But my model says that the oligarchs will continue to press their advantages, being flushed with victory, until they provoke a strong reaction that frightens everyone, like a wake up call, and the tide then turns to genuine reform."
Jesse, The Fall of the American Republic, 8 August 2010
"You believe in the one God, and that is good. But even the demons believe this, and tremble."
James 2:18-19
"Our addiction make us cling to what the world proclaims as the keys to self-fulfillment: accumulation of wealth and power; attainment of status and admiration; lavish consumption of food and drink, and sexual gratification without distinguishing between lust and love. These addictions create expectations that cannot but fail to satisfy our deepest needs. As long as we live within the world's delusions, our addictions condemn us to futile quests leaving us to face an endless series of disillusionments while our sense of self remains unfulfilled.”
Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son, 1991
“Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory, or one of unthinkable horror.”
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, London 1952
The conflict in the Middle East turned hot last night, and an effort to pump the futures higher in a rather deliberate attempt at the mispricing of risk failed— badly.
The FOMC left interest rates unchanged.
There was a significantly larger drawdown of over 7 million barrels in US oil reserves reported by the EIA this morning.
Stocks flopped badly and went out near the lows.
We have set a series of failed rallies that are putting us on 'crash trak' to see if the rest of the dominoes fall. It is a system I developed some years ago. It was pretty good in calling the 2002 and 2008 declines.
Gold and silver rallied quite a bit, but then were smacked down ruthlessly into the close.
The premiums being paid for physical bullion are becoming rather large in some parts of the world.
The gold and silver 'pool' being used to manipulate the price is going to collapse. It has been a long time coming.
Keep an eye on the bonds. The Dollar not so much because the DXY index is a bit of a joke, since it is primarily the obverse of the Euro and the Pound. No value safe havens there.
No, the canary in the coal mine is gold, and they keep throwing a blanket over its cage. But cutting off the alarm does not put out the fire.
Oil was smacked lower to a ludicrous level by very heavy-handed short selling the other day. It was a screaming buy at 80. Almost shocking.
So I stepped into the oil patch. Years ago I played oil and natural gas quite a bit in the futures. Now I just putter around looking for big fat targets. Voila.
There is a remarkable seasonality in natural gas. I think this year it could be rather pronounced.
Need little, want less, love more. For those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them.
Have a pleasant evening.
