Caring Corrupted

"The perpetrators were scholars, doctors, nurses, justice officials, the police and the health and workers’ administration.

The victims were poor, desperate, rebellious or in need of help. They came from psychiatric clinics and childrens hospitals, from old age homes and welfare institutions, from military hospitals and internment camps.

The number of victims is huge, the number of offenders who were sentenced, small."

Commemorative Tablet, Tiergartenstraße 4, Berlin


"But as Solomon said, wisdom enters not into a malicious mind, and science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul."

François Rabelais


"The inability to identify with others was unquestionably the most important psychological condition for the fact that something like Auschwitz could have occurred in the midst of more or less civilized and innocent people.

What is called 'fellow traveling' (collaboration) was primarily business interest: one pursues one’s own advantage before all else and, simply not to endanger oneself, does not talk too much. That is a general law of the status quo."

Theodor Adorno


"The U.S. has the most dysfunctional healthcare system in the industrial world, has about twice the per capita costs, and some of the worst outcomes."

Noam Chomsky


"The system continues unchanged since what dominates are the dynamics of an economy and a finance that are lacking in ethics.  It is no longer man who commands, but money, money, cash commands.  Men and women are sacrificed to the idols of profit and consumption...In this way people are thrown aside as if they were trash."

Francis I

Power and money have been the two great corrupting influences on mankind throughout history.  We are not immune to this, although we like to think that we are just that much different, and better.

Competency without conscience is especially pernicious in the professional classes, which can come to consider themselves above the conventional restraints suitable only for the common people.

They thereby become more vulnerable to pride, and privileged judgement, and greed made virulent by indifference, and all the evils that thereby follow.

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Quiet Stock Option Expiration

It was a bit of a 'risk off' day today, as stocks were showing weakness from the open.

AAPL was leading equities lower, based on reports of slowing orders from their supply chain.

The 10 Year Treasury Yield climbed again today finishing up around 2.96.

The US Dollar Index finished higher at 90.30.

The stronger dollar contributed to weaker prices for gold and silver priced in dollars.

Silver did manage to hang on to the 17 handle.

I have included the economic calendar for next week.

Have a pleasant weekend.

How Good Is the Corporate Establishment Media

"He [Robert McNamara] believed in what he did, and thus the morality of it was assured, and everything else fell into place.   It was all right to lie and dissemble for the right causes.  It was part of service, loyalty to the President, not to the nation, not to colleagues, it was a very special bureaucratic-corporate definition of integrity; you could do almost anything you wanted as long as it served your superior.”

David Halberstam


“How little do the lips and heart agree!
How joyfully do people break their word!
We both are strangers in a strange land.”

Jean Racine

Pretty strong commentary in this video.

I doubt that MSNBC is any worse than Fox News or Sinclair. They are all pretty bad these days, servile to money and power.

Remember the 'chair throwing' incident at the Nevada convention that was widely reported?

It is too bad that much of the establishment media is no longer a reliable source of information.

This may be the result of the concentration of the ownership of media and the overturning of the 'fairness doctrine' along with the gutting of the FCC.

'What is truth?'  asked Pilate, and then turned and washed his hands of it.

And so do we.  And that may be why we are where we are today.   Winning....

Stocks and Precious Metals Charts - Stock Option Expiration on Friday

“Peace I leave you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world gives, do I give it to you. Let not your heart be troubled, and do not let it be afraid."

John 14:27

Stocks were a bit soft for most of the day, which is understandable given how far and how fast they have risen lately.

There will be a stock option expiration this Friday. I have included that calendar below.

April is not a particularly robust expiration, but it is sufficient to provide a little incentive for some shenanigans.

Gold was off a bit, while silver held on to its most recent gains.

Some think that there is a 'squeeze' going on with physical silver. Perhaps there is, but we will have to see some further price appreciation before that becomes more than a possibility.

Have a pleasant evening.