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The tyrant "has desires which he is utterly unable to satisfy, and has more wants than any one, and is truly poor, if you know how to inspect the whole soul of him: all his life long he is beset with fear and is full of convulsions, and distractions, even as the State which he resembles."
... Spot gold, which hit a record high of $4,059.05 on Wednesday, was up
0.5% to $3,992.97 per ounce as of 0919 GMT - a gain of 2.7% so far this
week. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.8% to $4,005.30. ... Silver rose 3.7% to $50.95 per ounce a day after touching a record high of $51.22. It has gained 76% so far this year. ...
With dividend reinvestment SPX returned approximately 712% over the period, not just the 359% increase in the price level.
$279 invested in SPX in 1999 would yield approximately $2,267 by now vs. $4,038 for gold, which yields nothing over time beyond the increase in its price. Plus you have to pay to protect your gold from thieves.
Still, the gold outcome has been about 78% better, but that's only thanks to the recent dramatic rise in the gold price since 2023 when gold was still in the neighborhood of $1,940 an ounce, after averaging just a little over $1,800 in 2022.
Although I expect gold to continue to rise, a stock market reset would most likely trigger a big self-off in gold as stock and other speculators raise cash to cover their debts.
As always, diversification is key to surviving as an investor. And more important than that is being able to cover your debts if you won't live without debt.
... Coal, a major contributor to global
warming, was still the world's largest individual source of energy
generation in 2024, a position it has held for more than 50 years,
according to the IEA. ... in the EU, months of weak wind and hydropower performance led to a rise in coal and gas generation. ... winter wind lulls can last for weeks, requiring backup power sources
that batteries alone can't provide - making the system more expensive to
build and run. ...
... Authorities said the Palisades
Fire was a “holdover” fire or a continuation of the Lachman Fire that
Rinderknecht allegedly started on New Year’s Day.
Firefighters were able to
suppress the Lachman Fire, but did not know that it continued to smolder
and burn underground, a criminal complaint states.
On Jan. 7, as heavy winds swept through the area, the fire began to surface and spread, becoming the Palisades Fire. ...
Investigators said other
possible factors, including fireworks, lightning and power lines, were
determined not to be the cause of the fire.
H.R. 1 passed in July allocates $170 billion to DHS for immigration and border enforcement over four years.
In September DHS said over 400,000 had been deported since January 20th.
So in eight months that's 50,000 deported per month at a cost of $3.542 billion per month, or $70,833 per person deported.
It would have been far cheaper to cut illegals off at the source, by going after their employers instead of going after each and every illegal employee.
But that would have been a really bad look, in a country where the employer can do no wrong and the full time job is the summumbonum.
The red meat of the current deportation theatre is far more useful to Trump as politics. It must be thrown daily to keep the base energized, the warriors busy, and the emperor in the spotlight.
"Boy, that Trump is really doing a great job! Look at that! He got another one!".
Nevermind that the best he'll ever do like this is 2.4 million deportees, when we've got many millions more than that. The easy pickings are soon to be exhausted, if they aren't already. And it will only get harder from here.
Remember that just a few months ago the goal was 3,000 deportees per day, or 4.38 million in four years. The goalposts have already been moved, and they'll no doubt be moved again. We're down to 1,666 per day on their own accounting.
"... And I said, ‘that’s insane.’ But he firmly believed that if you removed
qualified immunity, that police officers would act differently, and I
firmly believe that it would not result in good public policy, and it
would put police officers and the public’s lives at risk if they have to
second-guess themselves on a decision they’re making in a moment where
someone is doing something violent.” ...
... The texts come days after the Richmond Times-Dispatch reported
that Jones was caught going 116 miles per hour in a 70mph zone in 2022
and did 500 hours of community service at his own political action
committee. ...