"The more power a government has the more it can act arbitrarily according to the whims and desires of the elite, and the more it will make war on others and murder its foreign and domestic subjects. Power will achieve its murderous potential. It simply waits for an excuse, an event of some sort, an assassination, a massacre in a neighboring country, an attempted coup, a famine, or a natural disaster, to justify the beginning of murder en masse."
R. J. Rummel, Mass Murder and Genocide, 1994
"I urge you, brothers and sisters, to be wary of those who cause divisions and undermine the faithful, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned. Do not associate with them. For such people do not serve our Lord, but their own appetites. And by clever words and flattery they deceive the hearts of the innocent and naive."
Romans 16:17-18
"Wonderful providence indeed which is so silent, yet so efficacious, so constant, so unerring. This is what baffles the power of Satan. He cannot discern the Hand of God in what goes on; and though he would fain meet it and encounter it, in his mad and blasphemous rebellion against heaven, he cannot find it."
John Henry Newman
“The stars move still, time runs, the clock will strike,
The devil will come, and Faustus must be damned...
Mountains and hills, come, come, and fall on me,
And hide me from the heavy wrath of God!”
Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus
Today the risk cycle was on, and stocks managed to shake off all concerns and rallied higher, with broad gains on light volumes.
The Russell 2000 has risen to its down trending resistance for this trading range.
Yes I was tempted to dip back in on the short side, but this kind of light holiday market, with the wiseguys looking to mark their gains for the year into the books, is a tough trade.
Gold and the Dollar were off a bit with the refreshed taste for risk.
Silver rallied on the positive correlation with stocks and risk.
Today is the first day of Winter.
The first picture below is an early illustration from my old blog, in 2001.
"Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man, for it is the image of God."
Thomas Merton, Raids on the Unspeakable
"One of the primary characteristics of narcissists is their exaggerated sense of entitlement. It's hardly surprising then that so many politicians somehow think they 'deserve' to game the system. After all, from their self-interested perspective, isn't that what the system is for?
In their heavily self-biased opinion, if they want something, by rights it should be theirs. So, nothing if not opportunistic, they take from public and private coffers alike whatever they think they can get away with.
And given their grandiose sense of self, they're inclined to believe they can get away with most anything. Exploiting their privileged position in such a manner hardly leaves them plagued with guilt. In general, guilt isn't an emotion they're prone to. How could they be if they feel entitled to the objects of their desire? In their minds their very ability to attain something must certainly mean it was merited."
Leon F. Seltzer
"Since God has accepted you to be among the holy people that He loves, you must clothe yourselves with tender mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowances for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must also forgive others.
Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which brings us all together in harmony. And let the peace of the Lord rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful."
Col 3:12-15
“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
William Wilberforce
I was out most of the day, running errand and exploring the wonders of the US healthcare system, for man and animals.
But the trading day played out pretty much as expected.
I came in pretty short stocks from the Friday close, and took those positions down for a decent gain in the second hour of trading. And then it was off to the duties of the day.
In quiet trading the markets worked themselves back from the lows to record just a modest loss.
Gold and silver were lower.
The Dollar was lower.
The VIX came in high and then worked its way lower for the rest of the day.
This is a funny week for trading, with low volumes and a bias for accepting paint on the tape.
"There were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.
The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy for all people. Today in the city of David a savior has been born for you, who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace toward men of good will."
Luke 2:8-14
“Only the humble believe him and rejoice that God is so free and so marvelous that he does wonders where people despair, that he takes what is little and lowly and makes it marvelous. And that is the wonder of all wonders, that God loves the lowly.
God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings. God marches right in. He chooses people as his instruments and performs his wonders where one would least expect them. God is near to lowliness; he loves the lost, the neglected, the unseemly, the excluded, the weak and broken.
The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Reflections on Advent
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in your faith, so that in the power of the Holy Spirit you may be rich in hope.”
Romans 15:13
“At this Christmas when Christ comes, will He find a warm heart? Mark the season of Advent by loving and serving the others with God’s own love and concern. It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you.”
Teresa of Calcutta
"For outlandish creatures like us, on our way to a heart, a brain, and courage, Bethlehem is not the end of our journey but only the beginning – not home but the place through which we must pass if ever we are to reach home at last.
Frederick Buechner
“Exiled from the earth, our Lord is born under the earth, for the stable was in a cave, and there he shook the earth to its very foundations. Because he’s born in a cave, all who wish to see him must be bend, must stoop, the stoop is the mark of humility.
The proud refuse to stoop. Therefore they miss divinity. Those, however, who are willing to risk bending their egos to go into that cave, find that they are not in a cave at all; but they are in a universe where sits a babe on his mother’s lap, the babe who made the world.”
Fulton Sheen
“Master of both the light and the darkness, send your Holy Spirit upon our preparations for Christmas. We who have so much to do and seek quiet spaces to hear your voice each day. We who are anxious over many things look forward to your coming among us. We who are blessed in so many ways long for the complete joy of your kingdom. We whose hearts are heavy seek the joy of your presence. We are your people, walking in darkness, yet seeking the light.
To you we say, 'Come Lord Jesus!' The Lord is coming, always coming. When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord.”
Henri Nouwen
"He became what we are that he might make us what he is."
Athanasius of Alexandria
"Give us grace to cast away the works of darkness and put on the armor of light, now in the time of this life, in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; So that, at the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal."
"All the truth of my position came flashing on me; and its disappointments, dangers, disgraces, consequences of all kinds, rushed in in such a multitude that I was borne down by them and had to struggle for every breath I drew."
Charles Dickens
"Jim, lad, there be consequences an' then there be consequences. Devil take 'em all, says I, and pass aft the rum."
Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
"A credibility trap is when the managerial functions of a society have been sufficiently compromised by corruption so that the leadership cannot reform, or even honestly address, the problems of that system without implicating a broad swath of the powerful, including themselves.
The moneyed interests and their servants tolerate the corruption because they have profited from it, and would like to continue to do so. Discipline is maintained by various forms of soft financial rewards and social and organizational privileges."
Jesse
"Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and vengeance, the punisher of pride and hubris, waits impatiently for her meeting with us."
Chalmers Johnson
Stocks were wobbly today, and despite taking back some of their losses in the quieter afternoon trading, they still managed to go out near the lows.
Gold and silver were initially strong, but lost ground as the Dollar rallied in the afternoon.
The markets are signalling many contrary things about risks and rates.
Indeed, the predictive value of the US financial markets is about as reliable as Hunter Thompson on a three day road trip.
Let us pray for those whose hearts are hardened against His grace and loving kindness by greed, fear, and pride, and the seductive illusion and crushing isolation of evil.
We pray that we all may experience the three great gifts of our Lord's suffering and triumph: repentance, forgiveness, and thankfulness. And in so doing, may we obtain abundant life, and with it the peace that surpasses all understanding.
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