“Pity the nation that raises not its voice, except to praise conquerors and acclaim the bully as hero and aims to rule the world with force and by torture."
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, New Poems, City Lights
"Financial Predators, on the other hand, are usually narcissistic and audacious criminals. They regularly have an extreme sense of entitlement coupled with high self-efficacy. Many of them have a charismatic quality and are preternaturally persuasive. Financial Predators are commonly shameless and quite adept serial liars. They perceive themselves having near unlimited guile and resourcefulness to extricate themselves out of any compromising situations."
Russ Alan Prince, Unmasking Financial Predators, Forbes 2017
"At the root of America's economic crisis lies a moral crisis: the decline of civic virtue among America's political and economic elite. A society of markets, laws, and elections is not enough if the rich and powerful fail to behave with respect, honesty, and compassion toward the rest of society and toward the world."
Jeffrey Sachs, The Price of Civilization, 2011
"For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."
Hosea 8:7
Stocks were slumping today, but managed to gather themselves and push higher into the close.
In this grand game of force and fraud, perception management is everything.
Gold and silver are holding their own, even as the Dollar moved higher.
Non-Farm Payroll report coming at the end of this week.
The dogs of war are unleashed and playing havoc in the Mideast and eastern Europe.
History will not absolve us.
Have a pleasant evening.
