US Healthcare: Beyond the Ability of Cosmetics To Hide Its Ugliness

This is worth watching if you wish to obtain a better understanding of the dimension and sources of problems in US healthcare.

This may be surprising if all you have been given is the usual misdirection and scapegoating of victims that is the mainstay of the moneyed interest in defending their abusive privileges.   And unfortunately,  people fed on their steady stream of well crafted slogans presented by impressive but phony experts, and media figures, and bought and paid for politicians, will absorb and repeat these slogans without thinking all too often.

If you have recently had a major encounter with the US healthcare system you will understand this implicitly.  After seven years of fighting a major illness in the family, I have gained a great deal of insight into what is going on, from almost every aspect including financial and logistic and structural.

And for the most part Steven Brill is correct in his diagnosis.  Unfortunately he is not quite there in his prescription for change.  Change is difficult, especially for those who are deeply immersed in things as they are.

If not, and you do not get it yet, if you cannot get past all the misdirection and spin put forward by the Big Pharma and Big Healthcare and Big Insurance monopolists, then you have something in store that may shock and surprise you, when you finally encounter it close up.   It is ugly, resembling a carny game or control fraud.

I am no fan of Obamacare. Yes it did do one or two things right, but on the whole it is a bastard child of the Heritage Foundation, and a 'shifting of the deck chairs on the Titanic' that was crafted and promoted by the perpetrators of the problem itself.

At the core of the US healthcare system is the corrupting power of big money, unrestrained by law and in too few hands.  It's corrupting influence has been spreading like a virus through almost every system that we have.

And too many people have thrown up their hands, for a variety of good and not so good reasons, and said that change is impossible.

Like any broken system there are many 'angels' who work tirelessly in it, trying to do good with compassion and dedication.   We were lucky to have found quite a few, and we treasured what they did, and thanked God for them. 

But there were too many who went along to get along, and the worst, those toxic few, those ghouls, who just wallowed in it for their own advantage without regard for their patients as human beings.

It is wrong to demand that anyone make a martyr of themselves.  That is too much to require.  But many do without thinking.  People need support and protection to speak out for these kinds of big changes, since the stakes are so high, and the darkness at the top is so powerful, and vindictive.   And most profound organizational corruption flows from the top down.

Like too many corrupt organizations, what well-intentioned participants can say and do to right wrongs and expose injustice is strictly limited, bound by a career destroying rule of omerta about as unforgiving as in a proper criminal organization.

Since this video was made, Charlie Rose was exposed for what he is, and some of the abuses of power, and was fired.   He was a child of and mouthpiece for a thoroughly rotten, amoral system of money and power above all.

Physical Gold Is Moving Steadily From West to East

Physical gold is moving from West to East.

New York has become a highly leveraged, largely 'paper trading' market, whereas 'the New Silk Road' is the center of physical gold accumulation.

This may resolve via a major short squeeze on paper claims unable to be fulfilled by physical gold at anywhere near today's prices.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - All Along the Watchtower - Option Expiration Tomorrow on the Comex

"'What dost thou see, lone watcher on the tower
Is the day breaking? comes the wish'd-for hour?
Tell us the signs, and stretch abroad thy hand
If the bright morning dawns upon the land.'

'The stars are clear above me, scarcely one
Has dimm'd its rays in reverence to the sun;
But yet I see, on the horizon's verge,
Some fair, faint streaks, as if the light would surge.'"

Charles Mackay, The Watcher On The Tower


“Whatever has been hidden will be revealed, and what is concealed will be uncovered and brought to light."

Luke 8:17


"I think caution in US equities is advisable, and it may be time to take some profits off the table, especially if we get the kind of initial drop and breakdown with a failure to recover that I had been discussing with examples from history yesterday. I'll let you know if I see a major tsunami warning, but even now caution is advisable."

Jesse, Wednesday 20 June 2018

It was a risk off day in the US markets, which were roiled by new prohibitions against Chinese investment in key technologies companies in the US. The concern here is the propensity for China to 'borrow' US intellectual property. And a valid concern it is.

Stocks dropped down to key support, and then bounced back weakly in the last half hour. These support levels reached today need to hold especially on a retest after a modest rally. If not, then we have some support at markedly lower levels.

The markets are favored in the sense that a market break or crash in June is not likely.

Gold and silver participated in no flight to safety. And tomorrow is an option expiration for the precious metals on the Comex. What a surprise.

Gold inventories showed a slight decline.

Need little want less and love more. For those who abide in love abide in God, and God in them.

Have a pleasant evening.

Snakes In Suits - Psychopaths and Cunning Predators in Positions of Power

“They often make use of the fact that for many people the content of the message is less important than the way it is delivered.

A confident, aggressive delivery style - often larded with jargon, clichés, and flowery phrases - makes up for the lack of substance and sincerity in their interactions with others ... they are masters of impression management; their insight into the psyche of others combined with a superficial - but convincing - verbal fluency allows them to change their personas skillfully as it suits the situation and their game plan.

They are known for their ability to don many masks, change 'who they are' depending upon the person with whom they are interacting, and make themselves appear likable to their intended victim.

Psychopathic workers very often were identified as the source of departmental conflicts, in many cases, purposely setting people up in conflict with each other.  The most debilitating characteristic of even the most well-behaved psychopath is the inability to form a workable team."

Paul Babiak and Robert Hare, Snakes in Suits

First, let me say that I am aware of the recent paper that seeks to 'measure' the level of psychopathy in various cities and put forward a list.   I read it, and found the methodology used to be wanting in anything like objective rigor.

I also have a bias against specifically diagnosing individuals or groups at a distance, especially by using anecdotes and non-quantified impressions, which are often just selective experience and bias.

This can be 'fun' to read and share, especially when they are used to confirm popular cultural or group bias.  And there is rarely a lack of people who are willing to engage in such faux analysis for paychecks or clicks.

I am also not hinting around that Trumpolini or any other particular popular figure is a psychopath.  It might be feasible to spot a sociopath at a distance, by the kinds and qualities of their behaviours.  But I could not presume to make such a specific diagnosis like psychopathy at a distance.

Although it does seem fairly evident that Trump himself is a narcissist— many politicians and popular figures who did not become famous by accident may be.  I mean, the guy is a flamboyant New York real estate developer and reality TV star.   The key question in this regard is 'what kind?'

A psychopath is someone who has an organic brain disorder that causes them to lack empathy and what we call conscience.  A sociopath is someone who knows what is right and wrong, but have learned to ignore their feelings and turn off conscience for their own purposes.  They may have been desensitized by childhood abuse, or a prolonged series of traumatic experiences.

So why bring this topic up at all?   

Because it strikes at the heart of all those Utopian schemes that assume that people are naturally good and rational.   Many people are.  But there is a significant portion of the population that is not.  And in order to curtail their destructive tendencies laws and regulations are created and enforced.  And when those laws and justice itself is under assault, which is almost always, the answer is to reform the system of law, not to abolish it.

Cunning predators are not afraid of chaos and lawlessness.  They count on it.  It serves their needs.  And so they foment it as a part of their overall assault on society, and the social fabric.  All that matters to them are their own lusts and powers. 

And the average person is at a disadvantage at the hands of a demagogue, because they cannot even imagine someone who they think are like themselves being that coarse, that out of proportion, that evil.  But over time they can be desensitized and lied to long enough so that they too can become less than human, compartmentalized, and tolerate monstrous things that would ordinarily horrify them.





This is from sources on the web, and is based on Robert Hare's psychopathy checklist.

1. Look for glib and superficial charm. A psychopath will also put on what professionals refer to as a 'mask of sanity' that is likable and pleasant.   It is a thin veneer.

2. Look for a grandiose self perception. Psychopaths will often believe they are smarter or more powerful than they actually are.

3. Watch for a constant need for stimulation. Stillness, quiet and reflection are not things embraced by psychopaths. They need constant entertainment and activity.

4. Determine if there is pathological lying. A psychopath will tell all sorts of lies; little white lies as well as huge stories intended to mislead. Psychopaths are gifted or dull, high functioning or low performing like other people. An untalented psychopath may harm a few; a highly talented psychopath may lay waste to nations. The difference between the psychopath and others lies in their organic lack of conscience and empathy for others. The sociopath is trained to lack empathy and conscience. The psychopath is a natural.

5. Evaluate the level of manipulation. All psychopaths are identified as cunning and able to get people to do things they might not normally do. They can use guilt, force and other methods to manipulate.

6. Look for any feelings of guilt. An absence of any guilt or remorse is a sign of psychopathy.  They will often blame the victim.  They will rarely admit that they were even wrong.

7. Consider the level of emotional response a person has. Psychopaths demonstrate shallow emotional reactions to deaths, injuries, trauma or other events that would otherwise cause a deeper response. Other people are satisfaction suppliers, nothing more.

8. A lack of empathy. Psychopaths are callous and have no way of relating to others in non-exploitative ways. They may find a temporary kinship with other psychopaths and sociopaths that is strictly utilitarian and goal-oriented.

9. Psychopaths are often parasitic. They live off other people, emotionally, physically, and financially. Their modus operandi is domination and control.  They will claim to be maligned or misunderstood to gain your sympathy.

10. Look for obsessive risk taking and lack of self-control. The Hare Checklist includes three behavior indicators; poor behavior control, sexual promiscuity, and behavioral problems.

11. Psychopaths have unrealistic goals or none at all for the long term. Either there are no goals at all, or they are unattainable and based on the exaggerated sense of one's own accomplishments and abilities.

12. Psychopaths will often be shockingly impulsive or irresponsible. Their shamelessness knows no bounds. You will ask, what were they thinking? And the answer was, they weren't because they did not care.

13. A psychopath will not genuinely accept personal responsibility. A psychopath will never admit to being wrong or owning up to mistakes and errors in judgment, except as part of a manipulative ploy.   They will despise and denigrate their victims once they are done with them.  If they have any regret it is that their source of satisfaction supply has ended and they must seek another.

14. Psychopaths lack long term personal relationships. If there have been many short term marriages, broken friendships, purely transactional relationships, the chances the person is a psychopath increase. Watch especially how they treat other people in weaker positions and even animals.

15. Psychopaths are often versatile in their criminality. Psychopaths are able to get away with a lot, and while they might sometimes get caught, the ability to be flexible and adaptable when committing crimes is indicative.