Harold Pinter's 2005 Nobel Prize Speech - It Never Happened. Even While It Was Happening It Never Happened

"To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed.

Direct invasion of a sovereign state has never in fact been America’s favoured method. In the main, it has preferred what it has described as ‘low intensity conflict’. Low intensity conflict means that thousands of people die but slower than if you dropped a bomb on them in one fell swoop.

It means that you infect the heart of the country, that you establish a malignant growth and watch the gangrene bloom. When the populace has been subdued – or beaten to death – the same thing – and your own friends, the military and the great corporations, sit comfortably in power, you go before the camera and say that democracy has prevailed.

The United States supported and in many cases engendered every right wing military dictatorship in the world after the end of the Second World War. I refer to Indonesia, Greece, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Haiti, Turkey, the Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador, and, of course, Chile. The horror the United States inflicted upon Chile in 1973 can never be purged and can never be forgiven.

Hundreds of thousands of deaths took place throughout these countries. Did they take place? And are they in all cases attributable to US foreign policy? The answer is yes they did take place and they are attributable to American foreign policy. But you wouldn’t know it.

It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America.  It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It’s a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.

I put to you that the United States is without doubt the greatest show on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless it may be but it is also very clever. As a salesman it is out on its own and its most saleable commodity is self love. It’s a winner."

Harold Pinter, Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

This is a hard speech to hear.  And yet, it is worth hearing.

You may not agree with everything that he says.  I do not.

And yet, it is worth hearing.  If for no other reason than to put aside the vain delusion that we are somehow perfect, benevolent to all, naturally good in all that we undertake, pure and above reproach in our motives, ruled by wise and kindly leaders who give all and ask nothing in return, a paragon of virtue at home and abroad—  exceptional.

Lest We Forget: The Progress of the Dreaded Caravan

Note the forward progress (kind of more like sideways) that has been taken by the caravan of at least a thousand or so immigrant families seeking asylum from gangs and violence fostered and sustained by the US in Central America.

Yes, the war of words and media hysteria was able to slow them down through constant interviews and photo ops, and prevent them from reaching the border in time to vote in our elections.

But the threat is not yet over, even though the elections, which were the reason for all the baseless hysteria, are. 

Now the vigilant conservative media is focusing on the GOPs off-the-cuff and hyper-inflated charges of fraud in elections that they may not win in certain states that they assumed were theirs.

Well of course.   No one can be allowed to steal the election in Florida except for the GOP.  They called 'dibs' in 2000.

But let us not be glum.  It's time for a 'Mission Accomplished' march down Pennsylvania Avenue.  Perhaps we can redeploy the 15,000 troops on the border to DC.  There are plenty of threats to our government there.

Ah, sweet, sweet victory for the United States of Amnesia.  Our freedoms are once again preserved.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Hell Hath No Fury - Stock Option Expiration Next Friday

“Hate is the complement of fear and narcissists like being feared.  It imbues them with an intoxicating sensation of omnipotence.

The narcissist has to condition his human environment [other people] to refrain from expressing criticism and disapproval of him, or of his actions and decisions.  He has to teach people around him that any form of disagreement, however mild and minor, throws him into frightful fits of temper and rage attacks and turn him into a constantly cantankerous and irascible person.

If you wish to sever your relationship with the narcissist, stop providing him with what he needs.  Do not adore, admire, approve, applaud, or confirm anything he does or says.

Disagree with his views, belittle him, reduce him to size, compare him to others, tell him he is not unique, criticize him, give unsolicited advice, and offer him help.  In short, deprive him of the grandiose and fantastic illusions, which holds his personality together.

The narcissist is a delicately attuned piece of equipment.  At the first sign of danger to his inflated false self, he will quit and disappear on you.”

Sam Vaknin, Malignant Self-Love


"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become an adult, I have put away childish things."

1 Corinthians 13:11

Stocks were weak today, certainly digesting their recent gains at least. Next week we will find out if this is just the beginning of another leg down, or not.

Bully is hoping that the seasonality will swing to his favor in November for stocks, and that October was just a passing thing.

Look for the selling to increase dramatically IF this hope for a November Thanksgiving rally start to fade. But it does have some odds behind it, so we'll have to see.

Gold and silver were weak on a slightly stronger dollar, and the day after the FOMC shenanigans and forex-rigging razzle dazzle.

Next week we will be seeing the CPI and a few regional economic snapshots from the northeast.

The weather has gotten markedly colder here, raw and rainy.  My sister-in-law sent me a video showing the snow  falling in Cleveland, Ohio this afternoon. Yikes!   Well, it's hard to believe but Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away.

Please remember the bird and the least of God's creatures at this time of relative scarcity.

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

Have a pleasant weekend.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - When The Darkness Fell - Kristallnacht 80th Anniversary

"Take a stand for that which is right, and the world may misunderstand you, and criticize you, but you never go alone.  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.

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, but you'll go on anyhow.

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

Martin Luther King, But If Not, 5 November 1967


"Isn't it a riddle and awe-inspiring that things can be so beautiful, despite the horror?  I've seen something wondrous peering through my joy in the beautiful, a sense of its creator. 

Only people can be truly ugly, because they have free will to separate themselves from this song of praise.

It often seems they will drown out this hymn with cannon thunder, curses, and blasphemy.  But I have realized they will not succeed.  And so I want to throw myself on the side of the victor.”

Sophie Scholl


"Hatred can be nurtured anywhere, idealism can be perverted into sadism anywhere. The inferno could erupt anew anywhere.  The history of man is the history of crimes, and history can repeat. So information is a defense.  Through this we can build, we must build, a defense against repetition. 

There is no denying that Hitler and Stalin are waiting for us to forget, because this is what makes possible the resurrection of these two monsters."

Simon Wiesenthal


"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Ephesians 6:12

We remember when the darkness fell and the madness was unleashed, on this 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, November 9-10.

And we remember that the madness serves none but itself.

We remember, so that we will not forget to be human, and to choose life.

The FOMC meeting was a snoozer as expected.

They will likely raise 25 bp in December. And the meetings in 2019 will be rife with speculation about how far the Fed will go in raising rates to get off the zero bound, and give themselves some policy room to cut rates when their latest financial asset bubble implodes.

Oh yeah, this is just that kind of cynical exercise. Why should it be any different from the last two or three asset bubbles.

A lot of this depends on how 'real' and 'sustainable' this wonderfully strong economy will be. The financial talking heads are gushing. Me, not so much.

Gold and silver were a lower on a strong Dollar. Don't look for simple reasons in short term forex moves. They are worse than equities.

Stocks were off a bit after the big gains of the last few days.

Have a pleasant evening.