Martin Luther King Day

"And some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak.  We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak."

Martin Luther King, A Time to Break the Silence,  Riverside Church, 4 April 1967



"Take a stand for that which is right, and the world may misunderstand you and criticize you, but you never go alone, for somewhere I read that 'One with God is a majority,' and God has a way of transforming a minority into a majority. Walk with him this morning and believe in him and do what is right and he'll be with you even until the consummation of the ages.

Yes, I've seen the lightning flash, I've heard the thunder roll, I've felt sin's breakers dashing trying to conquer my soul but I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on, he promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone; no, never alone, no, never alone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone.

Wherever you are going this morning, my friends, show the world that you're going with truth. You are going with justice, you are going with goodness, and you will have an eternal companionship.

And the world will look at you and they won't understand you, for your fiery furnace will be around you, but you'll go on anyhow.

But if not, I will not bow, and God grant that we will never bow, before the gods of evil."

Martin Luther King, Ebenezer Baptist Church, 5 November 1967


"And every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself, 'What is it that I would want said?' And I leave the word to you this morning...

If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind."

Martin Luther King, 4 February 1968


“Now the problem is not only unemployment.  Do you know that most of the poor people in our country are working every day?  And they are making wages so low that they cannot begin to function in the mainstream of the economic life of our nation.  These are facts which must be seen, and it is criminal to have people working on a full-time basis and a full-time job getting part-time income...

If America does not use her vast resources of wealth to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life, she too will go to hell.”

Martin Luther King, 18 March 1968


"We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life — longevity has its place.

But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.

So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything, I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Martin Luther King, 3 April 1968

The next day Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered in Memphis, Tennessee, 4 April 1968.

 

Exactly one year to the day after his sermon, A Time To Break the Silence.

 

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who murder your prophets and stone those sent to save you. How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Behold, your house is now yours, but is made desolate." 

 

Matthew 23:37-39 

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - And Because of the Increase in Lawlessness...

 

"When he came to the other side, to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him.  They were so savage that no one could travel by that road.  They cried out, 'What have you to do with us, Son of God?   Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?'  Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding.  The demons pleaded with him, 'If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine.'  And he said to them, 'Go then!'  They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and was drowned." 

Matthew 8:28-32 

 

"And some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak." 

Martin Luther King, A Time to Break the Silence, Riverside Church, 4 April 1967

 

"You are of your father the devil, and your will is to fulfill your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks from his own character— for he is a liar and the father of lies." 

John 8:44

 

"Indeed the safest road to Hell is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts."

C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters 

Stocks fell again today.

The US Dollar rallied.

Gold and silver were bid lower.

US Markets will be closed on Monday for Martin Luther King Day 

And in the end, what does it profit a man, to gain the comforts and advantages and victories of the world, but lose their souls, forever.

"It is here now, the supreme folly.  This is its hour."    Thomas à Becket

 Have a pleasant weekend.

 

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Just Another Day in the Kleptocracy - Stock Option Expiration Tomorrow

 

van Eyck, Fall of Phaeton

"The problem with movies and books is they make evil look glamorous, exciting, when it's no such thing. It's boring and it's depressing and it's stupid. Criminals are all after cheap thrills and easy money, and when they get them, all they want is more of the same, over and over." 

Dean Koontz

 

“The narcissist devours people, consumes their output, and casts the empty, writhing shells aside.” 

Sam Vaknin

 

"For decades the American financial system was stable and safe.  But then something changed.  The financial industry turned it's back on society, corrupted our political system and plunged the world economy into crisis.  At enormous cost, we've avoided disaster and are recovering.  But the men and institutions that caused the crisis are still in power and that needs to change.  They will tell us that we need them and that what they do is too complicated for us to understand.  They will tell us it won't happen again.  They will spend billions fighting reform." 

Charles Ferguson, Inside Job

There will be a stock market option expiration tomorrow.

Have a pleasant evening.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Though the Heavens May Fall - Stock Option Expiration on Friday

 

"Decency, security and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen.  In a government of laws, existence of the government will be imperiled if it fails to observe the law scrupulously.

Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher.  For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example.  Crime is contagious.  If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy." 

Louis Brandeis, dissenting, Olmstead v. United States 

 

“There are two ways to be fooled.  One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.” 

Søren Kierkegaard 

"When a man takes an oath, he is holding his own self in his own hands, like water.  And if he opens his fingers then, he need not hope to find himself again." 

Thomas More 

 

President Trump was impeached this evening, with ten Republican votes in favor. 

It will be interesting to see what evidence and facts are brought out in the investigation and trial in the Senate.

Stocks rallied today.

The Dollar moved back to the 90 handle mid-range.

The miners and metals were hit again.

There will be a stock market option expiration on Friday.

Have a pleasant evening.