"What Are The Facts?"

“What are the facts? Again and again and again – what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what “the stars foretell,” avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the un-guessable “verdict of history” – what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!” 

- Robert A. Heinlein

“It seems to me what is called for is an exquisite balance between two conflicting needs: the most skeptical scrutiny of all hypotheses that are served up to us and at the same time a great openness to new ideas. If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. On the other hand, if you are open to the point of gullibility and have not an ounce of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the useful ideas from the worthless ones.”

- Carl Sagan

And always remember...

"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains,

however improbable, must be the truth."

- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "Sherlock Holmes"

"The Stock Market, Fatally Wounded By The Truth, Will Stumble And Crash"

"The Stock Market, Fatally Wounded By The Truth,

Will Stumble And Crash"

by Charles Hugh Smith

"The stock market has just been punctured by the thin blades of truth. It is fatally wounded but nobody dares notice. The wounds are barely visible, but the internal damage is mortal. The stock market is already stumbling and will soon crash.

The banquet's participants ignore the faltering market because the rules are we never reveal the truth, or acknowledge it, or discuss it, no matter how obvious, because truth is fatal to fraud. So the stock market's vital signs are in free-fall but the conversation remains upbeat and light: stimulus, rapid growth in the second half, etc., all the patter of a carefully constructed illusion that fraud is forever as long as the truth never comes out.

Alas, the truth has emerged from the shadows, despite the silence of the insiders and the financial media. Here are the truths that have emerged like karmic genies:

1. The stock market is nothing but one giant fraud. The entire market is corrupt and rigged from the ground up. The fraud is systemic, designed into every tendril of the market. It was a useful deception to blame it all on "bad players," but now the truth has been revealed: the market is nothing but a rigged game enriching insiders.

2. The Fed is a fraud. All the Federal Reserve has accomplished in 13 years of goosing the stock market is unprecedented wealth and income inequality as the fraud of the Fed has boosted the fraud of the market, which has fatally undermined America's social and economic orders. Please read this short paragraph and let it sink in. Monopoly Versus Democracy (Foreign Affairs): "Ten percent of Americans now control 97 percent of all capital income in the country. Nearly half of the new income generated since the global financial crisis of 2008 has gone to the wealthiest one percent of U.S. citizens. The richest three Americans collectively have more wealth than the poorest 160 million Americans."

Thanks to the tightly bound frauds of the Fed and markets, the bottom 90% of Americans own essentially zero capital that produces income and the vast majority of all income gains since 2008 has been siphoned off by the top 0.1% Three monopolists own more wealth than half the nation's citizens. Yet the fraudsters in the Fed laughably insist their policies haven't created inequality on such a vast scale that is has destabilized the nation. The Fed's credibility is zero, yet the financial media tiptoes around, proclaiming the glory of the Emperor's illusory clothing.

3. America's system of governance is a fraud. What can we say when powerful politicians are worth over $100 million and are active participants in the most speculative excesses of the stock market, Buying More Than $1 Million In Tesla, Disney And Apple Calls In December? Do we even need to ask where their interests lie?

What can we say about a regulatory system that immediately bails out the most corrupt and destructive financiers/speculators but stands aside when the public loses trillions of dollars? The financial regulatory system is a complete fraud, devoted to bailing out the biggest insiders while ignoring the losses of the bottom 99.9%. America's financial regulations protect the corrupt, not the citizenry.

4. The wealth effect is a fraud. The Fed's entire fraudulent policy holds that if the stock market is goosed higher by Fed rigging, the phantom wealth handed to the top 0.1% will magically trickle down and benefit the bottom 90% who own no productive capital.

There is no magic; the wealth effect is a fraud. If one $5 stock (GameStop) can be pushed up to $400 in a week, why not push every $5 stock to $400? This is the essence of the wealth effect: all capital is phantom capital, a fraud balloon awaiting a pin.

The wealth effect failed, the Fed failed, regulations failed, politics failed. But thanks to the Fed and the self-serving political class, the entire U.S. economy is now utterly dependent on this completely corrupt and destabilizing fraud - the stock market. If the stock market stumbles and collapses, the economy - now totally dependent on phantom capital - also stumbles and collapses.

It didn't have to be this way, but this is the reality we must now face: truth is fatal to fraud, and our entire financial-political system is a fraud. The stock market is pale, and blood is seeping through the tuxedo, but the insiders, politicos and their toadies and apologists are nervously averting their gaze.

The market's bleeding but it can't possibly die, can it? Yes it can, and yes it will: truth is fatal to fraud, and the truth has escaped and is now free. We can't unsee what's behind the curtain."

- https://www.zerohedge.com/

○

An essential must read:

"Hoist with his own petard " is a phrase from a speech in William Shakespeare's play "Hamlet" that has become proverbial. The phrase's meaning is literally that a bomb-maker is blown up ("hoist" off the ground) by his own bomb (a "petard" is a small explosive device), and indicates an ironic reversal, or poetic justice."

- https://en.wikipedia.org/

○

"Melvin Capital Lost A Stunning $7 Billion In January, 

53% Of Its Capital; Here's How Everyone Else Did" 

"Here's the problem: the short squeeze led to massive losses for some funds. It may or may not be over. But now come the redemption requests and funds will see billions cash out, forcing them to liquidate top longs."

○

This may prove interesting, even amusing, as events develop:

CNN Fear And Greed Index:

- https://money.cnn.com/data/fear-and-greed/

"GameStop Short Squeeze Explained - Jeff Carlson: Why Govt Shouldn’t Step In - Epoch Times"

"Insider Intel: I work for a bank whose name I won’t disclose. You fools. You have no idea what you’re doing."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

The sanctimonius hypocrisy is astounding, 

considering this is what THEY do every day, all day long!

"Stipendium peccati mors est..."

○

"GameStop Short Squeeze Explained - Jeff Carlson:

 Why Govt Shouldn’t Step In - Epoch Times"

by Jan Jekielek

"Recently, small investors organized online to buy large amounts of GameStop stock and caused billions in losses to Wall Street hedge funds looking to short that stock and benefit from its declining price. GameStop had been sinking for years. But in January of this year, prices soared to over $300 a share. On January 28, the online stock trading platform, Robinhood, suspended all GameStop buying activities, crashing the price. Investors accused Robinhood of manipulating the market in favor of hedge funds, and a class-action lawsuit was filed. But this is just the surface. To understand what’s really going on, we sit down with Epoch Times contributor Jeff Carlson. He’s worked for 20 years as an analyst and portfolio manager in the high yield bond market. At the center of the Gamestop controversy is one key question: who gets to decide the value of a company?"

- https://choiceclips.whatfinger.com/

○

Related:

"Everyone Is Afraid Ahead Of The Open" - Reddit-Raiders Spark Nationwide

 Physical Silver Shortage" "This is a red pill moment for many, and it's beautiful."

“The #GameStop Drama Just Cost One #ETF Almost 80% of Its Assets"

"How It Really Is"

 

"Life..."

 

"Always Preparing..."

"We do not rest satisfied with the present. We anticipate the future as too slow in coming, as if in order to hasten its course; or we recall the past, to stop its too rapid flight. So imprudent are we that we wander in the times which are not ours, and do not think of the only one which belongs to us; and so idle are we that we dream of those times which are no more, and thoughtlessly overlook that which alone exists. For the present is generally painful to us. We conceal it from our sight, because it troubles us; and if it be delightful to us, we regret to see it pass away. We try to sustain it by the future, and think of arranging matters which are not in our power, for a time which we have no certainty of reaching. Let each one examine his thoughts, and he will find them all occupied with the past and the future. We scarcely ever think of the present; and if we think of it, it is only to take light from it to arrange the future. The present is never our end. The past and the present are our means; the future alone is our end. So we never live, but we hope to live; and, as we are always preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we should never be so."

- Blaise Pascal

○

“6 Steps to Release Your Fear and Feel Peaceful”

“6 Steps to Release Your Fear and Feel Peaceful”

by Nicolas Perrin

“We are not what we know but what we are willing to learn.”
 ~ Mary Catherine Bateson

“It was a balmy spring morning and I started my day as per usual, but I soon realized that my mind was entertaining fearful thoughts about my financial insecurity. With many new ventures within the seedling stage, my income flow was erratic and unpredictable, while my financial responsibilities were consistent and guaranteed. At the time I ignored these thoughts as “petty,” like a parent dismissing a crying child after a mild fall on the pavement.

What I didn’t realize was that my mind wanted to entertain these fear-based thoughts like a Hollywood blockbuster, and as you may know, what you focus on expands. Before I knew it, my body was in a state of complete anxiety and fear. I literally felt my cognitive and creative centers shutting down. I felt completely powerless, a hostage to my own mind. My body felt paralyzed, and I felt disconnected from my talents and gifts. I felt separate, isolated, and vulnerable. I became a victim of the fear. In this moment I realized the powerful impact thoughts can have on how we feel, mentally and physically. Here is what unfolded through me, and the lessons I treasured from this experience.

Fear is a closed energy, referred to as inverted faith. Fear exists when we do not trust our connection to the infinite part of who we are and buy into a story about what’s unfolding in our life. The emotions we feel are created from the thoughts that we choose to focus on, consciously or unconsciously. The emotions act as markers to let us know if we are focusing on expansive, empowering thoughts or fearful, limiting thoughts.

If I were to relate this in a story, it may be like a pilot believing he no longer had any guidance or support from the airport control tower in a large storm, and no instruments on board to detect if he was on a collision course with another airplane. If the control tower represents the infinite part of who we are, which always knows what’s best for us, it can be understandable why the pilot with no other guidance except for his own eye sight would be fearful of the situation at hand. An alarm on the plane beeping at the pilot would represent the emotions. The alarm’s purpose is to get the attention of the pilot so he can focus and realize he is off the path. Once our emotions start to take a grip of our physical body, what can we do to move from a state of limitation and fear into an open, tranquil, peaceful state?

1. Come back to the present moment. The first step is to bring your awareness to the present moment. To do this, take three deep breaths through your nose and exhale through your mouth. After the air has filled your lungs and you’ve felt your stomach rise, exhale through your mouth by forcing the air through your teeth, as if you were hissing out loud. This detoxifies your body from the heavy emotions you’re experiencing and brings you back into the present moment. When I do this, I place my awareness into my feet so I am in a feeling space within my body, rather than being in my mind, entertaining the stories that swirl around with vigor, like a dangerous hurricane. Imagine that all your emotions are in a large sludge bucket. This breathing technique will empty the bucket out so you are empty and free.

2. Put things in perspective. Now that you are present, acknowledge the experience and ask yourself this question: “What is the worst case scenario that can happen to me?” Once we can accept this and realize we will be okay if that happens, we are free from the fear. When I realized I’d blown things out of proportion with my fears, I was able to detach from the story and put things into perspective. I like to imagine that in every moment I have two wolves I can feed (per the Native American myth): the fear wolf or the love wolf. The one that gets stronger and wins is the one I feed.

3. Become an observer of your thoughts.  What has served me well in moments like this is to say, “I’m not these thoughts. I’m not these emotions. I’m not this body. I’m an infinite being having a human experience.” In saying this, we immediately detach from the story and allow ourselves the choice of suffering or to become the observer. Imagine that your life is represented in a book, and the story you are living out comes from the words on the page. We can change the words of the story at any point in time.

4. Change your experience. The fourth step is to place your awareness and your right hand on the heart center, which is located near the sternum. Close your eyes, take three deep breaths, and make the following command: “I am now connected to the infinite part of who I am, which already knows how to be whole and complete. I take full responsibility and accountability for this creation, I recognize how it has served me, and I am now ready to let it go. I command that the fear energy be transmuted into unconditional love now. Thank you. It is now done.” This process is incredibly empowering. We allow ourselves the opportunity to experience being our own inner master and a co-creator of our reality.

5. Prevent your mind from sabotaging you. Visualize a stone being thrown into a pond. Observe the ripples it creates when it enters the water. This is to simply distract your mind and allow the process to unfold without doubt or self-sabotage. It is only our mind that can interfere with our own healing.

6. Be grateful. Express gratitude and appreciation for the integration and healing you have received. The key to happiness is awareness. When we become aware that our mind is wandering, we can gently bring it back to the present moment. It’s only in the present moment that we are empowered and can consciously choose the thoughts we engage with. The thoughts we focus on will determine where our energy flows, and thus what is created in our life. Each thought has a vibration, which is reflected by the feeling we experience in our body. To be able to move from a fear-based experience to an open, peaceful experience we must first take full responsibility and accountability that on some level we created the experience, and nobody else is to blame. The choice is truly ours. Do we choose to experience a fearful, limited life or do we choose a happy joyful life?"

- http://tinybuddha.com/blog/.

"Today Is The Day..."

"We are fast moving into something, we are fast flung into something like asteroids cast into space by the death of a planet, we the people of earth are cast into space like burning asteroids and if we wish not to disintegrate into nothingness we must begin to now hold onto only the things that matter while letting go of all that doesn't. For when all of our dust and ice deteriorates into the cosmos we will be left only with ourselves and nothing else. So if you want to be there in the end, today is the day to start holding onto your children, holding onto your loved ones; onto those who share your soul. Harbor and anchor into your heart justice, truth, courage, bravery, belief, a firm vision, a steadfast and sound mind. Be the person of meaningful and valuable thoughts. Don't look to the left, don't look to the right; we simply don't have the time. Never be afraid of fear."

- C. JoyBell C.

"GME Soars 75% After-Hours, Erases Losses After Liquidity-Constrained Robinhood Lifts Trading Ban"

"GME Soars 75% After-Hours, Erases Losses

 After Liquidity-Constrained Robinhood Lifts Trading Ban"

by Epic Economist

"In this video, we report the freshest news about the Reddit vs. Wall Street trading chaos, and all the market drama involving the latest developments of the battle between hedge funds and the RobinHood platform. And, of course, we expose why Redditors are howling in rage and taking their discontentment to the streets in demonstrations against the latest trading ban that limited the purchase of stock shares of major companies and sparked a heated debate that even made billionaire Elon Musk and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez question the elite's hypocrisy surrounding the unreasonable and illegitimate prohibitions when it comes to letting other players join their game. After all, this is America, and, isn't the market supposed to be free? Well, that's what something we discuss in this video.

After experiencing a considerable decline as a result of the RobinHood trading ban, when the restrictions were allegedly removed, GameStop stock went up 75%, in that way, erasing all losses witnessed the day before. The new rally appeared to have gained force right after Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev appeared on CNBC. During the interview, Tenev said that in order to protect the firm and protect their customers they had to limit buying in those stocks. Tenev persistently denied there was any existing liquidity issue at the firm and affirmed Robinhood had tapped credit lines as a proactive measure. However, his explanation didn't stop Redditors from angrily reacting to the restrictions on the trading of several stocks, including AMC Entertainment, BlackBerry, Express, Koss, Naked Brand, Nokia, and of course, GameStop. 

The online investors took their discontentment to the streets in several locations to profess their anger surrounding discount brokerage, hedge funds, and the elites. Twitter account NYC Protest Updates reported that a small group of people was spotted outside the New York Stock Exchange, chanting "Robinhood has got to go," and "We want a free market". 

But the popular trading app’s survival might be threatened since investors could question the company's loyalty in preserving their portfolios and also get scared by the prospects of a potential liquidity crisis at the firm Citadel. 

Needless to say, traders, market watchers, and several high-profile figures were not happy with the way the brokerage firm handled the situation. Many online investors pointed out that in spite of what the statement says, the platform has actually removed their freedoms and silenced their voices, and the decision of limiting instead of blocking stocks was merely an attempt to avoid or restrain the damages of a potential liquidity crisis since millions of fees from flow would disappear if they kept these stocks blocked. Immediately after trading was resumed, GameStop stocks spiked 20%, and Koss stocks went up 40% after hours.

In contrast, shortly after several stocks started to soar again, traders began reporting that Robinhood was selling their GameStop shares without further notice. And the widespread constraint in share trading has continued to fuel the fury of several public figures on social media. Amongst them, Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the world's richest man Elon Musk, came together to criticize Robinhood and its peers. Cortez tweeted: "This is unacceptable. We now need to know more about @RobinhoodApp's decision to block retail investors from purchasing stock while hedge funds are freely able to trade the stock as they see fit. As a member of the Financial Services Committee, I'd support a hearing if necessary". Musk agreed with her take and also supported the opinion of another Twitter user who said: "Make shorting illegal".

In retaliation to the Reddit Rebellion and the enormous backlash on social media, Robinhood added more names to its restriction list, including American Airlines - which climbed over 70% at one point in pre-market trading - Alliance Data Systems, Castor Maritime, Sundial Growers, and several others. The most recent twist happened when Interactive Brokers joined Robinhood and put option trading in some names into liquidation.

If anything, this entire market battle has clearly exposed how the markets are structured to keep benefiting the establishment and crushing the average Americans' prospects of profiting in the financial system even when they play by the rules of the market. As this whole narrative seems far from ending, it seems that the only thing we can do is hope that regulating agencies finally find ways to reverse the outrageous restrictions on the free market. If they don't - we might be entering very dark times, where censorship and institutionalized crimes become the new normal." 

- https://www.epiceconomist.com

Musical Interlude: 2002, "We Meet Again"

2002, "We Meet Again"

Incredibly beautiful, full screen, please.

"A Look to the Heavens"

“What makes this spiral galaxy so long? Measuring over 700,000 light years across from top to bottom, NGC 6872, also known as the Condor galaxy, is one of the most elongated barred spiral galaxies known. 

The galaxy's protracted shape likely results from its continuing collision with the smaller galaxy IC 4970, visible just above center. Of particular interest is NGC 6872's spiral arm on the upper left, as pictured here, which exhibits an unusually high amount of blue star forming regions. The light we see today left these colliding giants before the days of the dinosaurs, about 300 million years ago. NGC 6872 is visible with a small telescope toward the constellation of the Peacock (Pavo).”

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap160426.html

The Universe

“Believe me, I know all about it. I know the stress. I know the frustration. I know the temptations of time and space. We worked this out ahead of time. They're part of the plan. We knew this stuff might happen. Actually, you insisted they be triggered whenever you were ready to begin thinking thoughts you've never thought before. New thinking is always the answer.”

“Good on you,”

The Universe

“Thoughts become things... choose the good ones!”

- http://www.tut.com/

Chet Raymo, “The (Unattainable) Thing Itself”

“The (Unattainable) Thing Itself”

by Chet Raymo

“Clear water in a brilliant bowl,

Pink and white carnations. The light

In the room more like a snowy air,

Reflecting snow. A newly-fallen snow

At the end of winter when afternoons return.

Pink and white carnations- one desires

So much more than that. The day itself

Is simplified: a bowl of white, 

Cold, a cold porcelain, low and round,

With nothing more than the carnations there.”

"Simplicity. Morning. Forty minutes till sunrise. Coffee. An English muffin. Sit on the terrace. The sky a deep violet. Then rose. Then gold. Simplicity. The senses fill to overbrimming, displacing thought. The moment is sweet and pure. Distilled. The shackles of conscience fall away. One simply is.

“Say even that this complete simplicity

Stripped one of all one's torments, concealed

The evilly compounded, vital I

And made it fresh in a world of white,

A world of clear water, brilliant-edged,

Still one would want more, one would need more,

More than a world of white and snowy scents.”

Now I wait with my eyes fixed on that place along the horizon where the Sun will rise. The sky itself holds its breath, anticipates the flash of green. I try, I try to empty myself, Zenlike, to become an empty vessel for nature to fill. A gathering vessel, brilliant edged. To exist entirely in the moment, outside of time, this moment, just now, now, as the disk of the Sun bubbles up on the sea horizon, that orb of of molten gold.

“There would still remain the never-resting mind,

So that one would want to escape, come back

To what had been so long composed.

The imperfect is our paradise.

Note that, in this bitterness, delight,

Since the imperfect is so hot in us,

Lies in flawed words and stubborn sounds.”

It's no use, of course. No way to obviate the conscious mind. Perhaps a Zen master might do it, a mystic in transport, a drunken sailor who walks into a lamppost. Even as the Sun's disk inflates, swells, unaccountably huge, the mind parses, frames, construes. I close my eyes to shut out thought and the words fill up the space behind my eyelids. The thing itself is out of reach, the moment adulterated by mind. The blessing of consciousness. And the curse."

- http://blog.sciencemusings.com/

(The three stanzas are Wallace Stevens' "The Poems of Our Climate.")

"Above All..."

"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love. " 

- Fyodor Dostoevsky, "The Brothers Karamazov"

The Daily "Near You?"

Oakes, N. Dakota, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

The Poet: Mary Oliver, “October”

“October”

"There’s this shape, black as the entrance to a cave.

A longing wells up in its throat

like a blossom

as it breathes slowly.

What does the world

mean to you if you can’t trust it

to go on shining when you’re

not there? and there’s

a tree, long-fallen; once

the bees flew to it, like a procession

of messengers, and filled it

with honey.

I said to the chickadee, singing his heart out in the

green pine tree:

little dazzler

little song,

little mouthful.

The shape climbs up out of the curled grass. It

grunts into view. There is no measure

for the confidence at the bottom of its eyes-

there is no telling

the suppleness of its shoulders as it turns

and yawns.

Near the fallen tree

something- a leaf snapped loose

from the branch and fluttering down- tries to pull me

into its trap of attention.

It pulls me

into its trap of attention,

And when I turn again, the bear is gone.

Look, hasn’t my body already felt

like the body of a flower?

Look, I want to love this world

as thought it’s the last chance I’m ever going to get

to be alive

and know it.

Sometimes in late summer I won’t touch anything, not

the flowers, not the blackberries

brimming in the thickets; I won’t drink

from the pond; I won’t name the birds or the trees;

I won’t whisper my own name.

One morning

the fox came down the hill, glittering and confident,

and didn’t see me- and I thought:

so this is the world.

I’m not in it.

It is beautiful."

- Mary Oliver

"The Motive..."

"All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves."

- Blaise Pascal

"Is The Reddit Rebellion About To Descend On The Precious Metals Market?"

"Is The Reddit Rebellion About To Descend 

On The Precious Metals Market?"

by Epic Economist

"Redditors seem to be at war against Wall Street traders. Analysts are pointing out that the young tech-savvy traders have just started a generational conflict that will likely spread across the globe, as European stock markets are already experiencing unusual fluctuations and, apparently, GameStop stocks were just the beginning. According to market watchers, the Reddit rebellion is about to descend on the precious metal markets, which could undoubtedly disrupt one of the most speculative markets of all and crush investors' gains while destroying some of the U.S. major banks. That's what we're going to investigate in this video. 

When the Reddit investors embarked on a stock-buying frenzy, leading demand to the roof and, consequently, pushing the price of stocks up, hedge fund investors were left in a really tight spot. Although numerous big Wall Street investors are rushing back to the market to limit their losses, the damages caused already led to the bankruptcy of Melvin Capital Management, which allegedly had to be bailed out with more than $ 2 billion to cover losses on some shares, including those of Gamestop.

For many online investors, it's not just about making money. They want blood. According to market analyst Neil Wilson, by reading the group's conversations on Reddit, it is clear that the battle of the Reddit traders with Wall Street is clearly personal. "It is a generational, redistributive battle. It is about stealing from the rich to give to the 'poor'," says Wilson.

Recent publications have been arguing that the Reddit Rebellion is migrating to one of the most manipulated markets of all: the precious metals market. Considering precious metals ETFs and mining stocks suddenly went up yesterday, the predictions appear to be accurate. A recent ZeroHedge article has exposed what one of the WallStreetBets users posted on the message board a couple of days ago. 

The message reads: "Silver Bullion Market is one of the most manipulated on earth. Any short squeeze in silver paper shorts would be epic. We know billion banks are manipulating gold and silver to cover real inflation. Both the industrial case and monetary case, debt printing has never been more favorable for the No. 1 inflation hedge Silver. Inflation-adjusted Silver should be at 1000$ instead of 25$. Why not squeeze $SLV to real physical price. Think about the gains. If you don't care about the gains, think about the banks like JP Morgan you'd be destroying along the way."

 ZeroHedge has also posted some charts showing that Silver is already spiking, and Gold is on an upward path too. But Argentum is the one that is going through the sharpest rise, which means that that the hedge fund investors' nightmare is far from being over. Meanwhile, a heated debate over the legitimacy of the Reddit Rebellion is taking over the mainstream media as well as social media as both the RobinHood platform and Reddit limited the actions of the group.

WallStreetBet’s discord was shut down allegedly for “hate speech”, and Robinhood has suspended new long positions in Gamestop, AMC and a few other junk stocks hedge funds were shorting. But many have been calling out the hypocrisy of the measures. Economy scholar Tom Woods noted that if the average American suffers a loss, that’s a darn shame. But if big players suffer a loss, everything is shut down. 

Overall, this whole narrative is indicative of how the financial system is rigged. When profits stayed inside the accounts of wealthy traders, no one complained about the fact they were betting and profiting on the decay of our businesses, but when a bunch of young rebels dare to question this manipulation, they're practically seen as criminals. The system is structured so that the public always loses, and the Establishment always wins, even if they have to change the rules or endlessly move the goalposts to do so. 

But one of the things WallStreetBets has done that might spark a change of winds inside the markets was exposing how investors' insanity and manic euphoria are completely unsustainable no matter on what side they are on. In a time when the U.S. economy keeps crumbling every day it passes, unemployment rates continue to climb, and 24 million Americans told Census Bureau interviewers that they’re having trouble getting enough to eat, keeping all eyes on a market play is clearly deviating the attention from our real problems. And we can't afford to do that." 

- https://www.epiceconomist.com

How It, Gleefully, Really Is"

 

"All There Is..."

"Angel: Well, I guess I kinda worked it out. If there's no great glorious end to all this, if nothing we do matters... then all that matters is what we do. 'Cause that's all there is. What we do. Now. Today. I fought for so long, for redemption, for a reward, and finally just to beat the other guy, but I never got it.

Kate Lockley: And now you do?

Angel: Not all of it. All I wanna do is help. I wanna help because, I don't think people should suffer as they do. Because, if there's no bigger meaning, then the smallest act of kindness is the greatest thing in the world.

Kate Lockley: Yikes. It sounds like you've had an epiphany.

Angel: I keep saying that, but nobody's listening."

"Angel", 2001

- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0512846/quotes

"Huxley vs. Orwell"

"Huxley vs. Orwell"

by Neil Postman

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one...

Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism... 

Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. 

Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance...

Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy...

As Huxley remarked in 'Brave New World Revisited', the civil libertarians and the rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” In '1984,' Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In 'Brave New World,' they are controlled by inflicting pleasure...In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us."

Huxley was quite obviously correct...

"The Web Gallery of Art"

"The Web Gallery of Art"

"The Web Gallery of Art is a virtual museum and searchable database of European painting and sculpture of the Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassicism, Romanticism and Realism periods (1100-1850), currently containing over 50,500 reproductions. It was started in 1996 as a topical site of the Renaissance art, originated in the Italian city-states of the 14th century and spread to other countries in the 15th and 16th centuries. Intending to present Renaissance art as comprehensively as possible, the scope of the collection was later extended to show its Medieval roots as well as its evolution to Baroque and Rococo via Mannerism. More recently the periods of Neoclassicism and Romanticism were also included.

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The collection has some of the characteristics of a virtual museum. The experience of the visitors is enhanced by guided tours helping to understand the artistic and historical relationship between different works and artists, by period music of choice in the background and a free postcard service. At the same time the collection serves the visitors' need for a site where various information on art, artists and history can be found together with corresponding pictorial illustrations. Although not a conventional one, the collection is a searchable database supplemented by a glossary containing articles on art terms, relevant historical events, personages, cities, museums and churches.

The Web Gallery of Art is intended to be a free resource of art history primarily for students and teachers. It is a private initiative not related to any museums or art institutions, and not supported financially by any state or corporate sponsors. However, we do our utmost, using authentic literature and advice from professionals, to ensure the quality and authenticity of the content.

We are convinced that such a collection of digital reproductions, containing a balanced mixture of interlinked visual and textual information, can serve multiple purposes. On one hand it can simply be a source of artistic enjoyment; a convenient alternative to visiting a distant museum, or an incentive to do just that. On the other hand, it can serve as a tool for public education both in schools and at home."

- https://www.wga.hu/index.html
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For those so inclined, this is a treasure trove of material. Enjoy!

"Never More Frightening...:

"Human beings are perhaps never more frightening than 

when they are convinced beyond doubt that they are right." 

~ Laurens van der Post

"Two Shocking Headlines That Sum Up Covid: Billionaires MADE $3.9 Trillion During The Pandemic, While Workers LOST $3.7 Trillion"

"Two Shocking Headlines That Sum Up Covid: Billionaires MADE $3.9 

Trillion During The Pandemic, While Workers LOST $3.7 Trillion"

by Damian Wilson

"The economic impact of Covid-19 on regular folk across the globe is as devastating as the physical toll it has taken, but we can’t just blame the super rich(er) for our woes – the true villains are much closer to home.

In a simple comparison, two headlines seem to say it all about the economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis: the first, from Business Insider, reads “Billionaires made $3.9 trillion during the pandemic” while the second, from The Guardian, shouts “Covid-19 has cost global workers $3.7 trillion in lost earnings.”

A classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul, it would appear at first glance but of course, the world doesn’t work that way and the two ideas behind the headlines are not directly related, no matter what your bicycle-riding, woolly-sweater wearing, craft-beer-quaffing socialist pals might say.

But that doesn’t make the news any easier to swallow. Frankly, I couldn’t care less about the world’s billionaires, and maybe one day soon I won’t have to. They seem intent on moving to Mars in their big rockets where their whacked-out ideas and dreams of a super-race can become a problem for the little green men to deal with.

However, their surging wealth has become a headline writer’s dream. Added to those already cited, the BBC trumpets that the increase in wealth of the 10 richest men in the world during the pandemic would cover the cost of vaccinating every single person on the planet. It’s not fair! It’s just not fair!

But it is no use bleating about this. It’s our fault. Stuck at home while riding out this damned virus, we’ve been online around the clock, buying stuff we don’t need to have it delivered by Amazon, streaming hours and hours of online entertainment, addictively watching Tiktok and furiously messaging on social media, all activities that are unwittingly causing a boom in stock prices for all those global tech giants and their oddball owners – people like Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and Bill Gates.

Not everyone is cashing in our boredom. Nope, there are serial investors out there who pre-pandemic already suffered from the condition of having way too much money at their disposal. People who share the outlook of 19th century American robber baron, John D. Rockefeller who admitted, “I always tried to turn every disaster into an opportunity.” Men like Warren Buffet, the so-called Sage of Omaha, who has made more than $20 billion since last March. Unfortunately, his good fortune comes not by selling anything the rest of the world can use – like free care homes for the elderly and vulnerable or a reliable Covid-19 vaccine that everyone clamors to buy – it’s through smart investment of his existing billions.

All this would be easy to shrug off – oh well, that’s just the way it is – if it wasn’t for the incredible tsunami-like impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on our national economies and our everyday lives that can be seen with a cursory glance at the graphs and tables that chart such effects.

While we each come to terms with our own new normal, the collective overview is alarming. Every major economy is struggling with rising unemployment. Up 11 percent in Italy in 2020 compared with 2019. Nearly nine percent in the US and France. Some 5.4 per cent in the UK and 4.3 in the European powerhouse, Germany.

Across the globe, shoppers have vanished with retail footfall down 97 percent in Germany, 78 percent in the UK, 65 percent in France and Canada, and 20 percent in the USA, the biggest economy on the planet.

Global tourism has been crushed, with 2020 a total washout for everywhere from Thailand to Brazil to Italy and France. The airline industry? Devastated. This means millions of jobs lost, many of which may never return.

There is no need to go on. Unless you’re a billionaire, let’s face it, the figures suck. You can believe that as a result of the collapse in our economies, and the jobs that have followed down that big black hole, lost earnings from workers could quite easily total that estimated $3.7 trillion figure. You’d have to bet it will be even higher once the various government-backed furlough schemes and income support grants inevitably come to an end in countries like the UK.

It would be fun to paint the world’s billionaires as evil puppet masters bent on global domination and the development of a Mars-bound master race, sucking up the wages of the world’s workers so they can buy more rocket fuel and mansions built into mountains, but sadly the reality is far more prosaic.

All governments were caught criminally flat-footed by this pandemic and everyone has subsequently paid a terrible price. Years of complacency, cuts to public health budgets and dismissive approaches to warnings of a global pandemic are what got us where we are. The shambolic handling of the Covid-19 crisis cannot be blamed on crooked billionaires scheming away in their secret island hideaways, but can be laid at the feet of the very politicians that we ourselves elected, operating in plain sight. It is essential that we remember this the next time these true villains want something from us – like votes – or we risk this all happening again."

- https://www.rt.com/op-ed/

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Related:

"Mega-investors Punished With $70 BILLION LOSSES as 

GameStop And Other Shorted Firms See Stock Surge – Data Analysts"

Musical Interlude: Peder B. Helland, "Warm Light"

Peder B. Helland, "Warm Light"

Please savor this exquisite work in full screen.