Doc Robinson
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every time I click the first link, “AdSense Policy Center”, I get a screen that says: “We apologize for the inconvenience, but we are unable to process your request at this time.
FWIW, a page in AdSense Help gives this advice about that problem:
“Make sure you aren’t using any sort of VPN to access your account and turn off any ad-blockers, security, or privacy plugins when trying to access pages in your AdSense account.”Forgot to include this detail about that hard border between Sweden and Norway:
In addition to the 10 cross-border roads listed with custom control stations,
“There are around 30 more roads crossing the border, without customs station (most notably E16), but they are not allowed to use if having goods needing declaration. Heavy trucks can be allowed to use them by pre-declaration. They are surveilled by video and temporary checks.”…the border between Sweden and Norway, one in the EU, the other out of it but wanting to remain much closer ‘in’ to EU institutional and legal frameworks (Single Market, Schengen) than our [UK] government, is a hard border.
What this existing “hard border” entails:
“Both countries are members of the Schengen Area, and there are therefore no immigration controls.”
“[Customs] checks are sporadic along the Norway–Sweden border. Cars are usually not forced to stop.”
“To combat drug smuggling, the use of CCTV surveillance has recently been increased, with systems using Automatic number plate recognition…”
“For flights and ferries between the two countries, there are no formal passport checks at airport and ferry ports, but identity cards are needed to board.”
On that same map from NASA, spinning the globe a bit shows that Africa and Sumatra have a lot of hotspots:
V. Arnold, I’ve seen the Green Flash under certain conditions. Seems magical whenever it happens. Usually there’s too much haze or slight cloudiness at the horizon that prevents seeing it. The Green Flash had a role in one of the Pirates movies.
Hector Barbossa: “Ever gazed upon the green flash, Master Gibbs?”
Joshamee Gibbs: “I reckon I seen my fair share. Happens on rare occasion. The last glimpse of sunset, a green flash shoots up into the sky. Some go their whole lives without ever seeing it. Some claim to have seen it who ain’t. And some say-”
Pintel: “It signals when a soul comes back to this world from the dead!”
– Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
since 1952, household wealth has averaged 384% of the GDP, so the current bubble’s 535% figure is in rarefied territory.
Meanwhile, looking at the median household wealth (instead of the skewed average mentioned above), the current GDP per household (approx. $165k) is remarkably similar to the median household net worth, but only for the “White, not Hispanic” category ($163K).
Not surprising, the households in the “Hispanic (any race)” and “Black” categories fare much worse for median household wealth ($21K and $16K respectively).
The overall median household wealth is $97K which is only 59% of the GDP per household (a far cry from the 535% figure that results from looking at the average instead of the median).
https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2018/09/income-and-wealth-in-the-united-states-an-overview-of-data
Sickening.
Vietnam Song by Country Joe And The Fish
Well, come on all of you, big strong men,
Uncle Sam needs your help again.
He’s got himself in a terrible jam
Way down yonder in Vietnam
So put down your books and pick up a gun,
We’re gonna have a whole lotta fun.
And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.
Come on Wall Street, don’t be slow,
Why man, this is war a-go-go
There’s plenty good money to be made
By supplying the Army with the tools of its trade,
But just hope and pray that if they drop the bomb,
They drop it on the Viet Cong.
And it’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.
Well, come on generals, let’s move fast;
Your big chance has come at last.
Now you can go out and get those reds
‘Cause the only good commie is the one that’s dead
And you know that peace can only be won
When we’ve blown ’em all to kingdom come.
It’s one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.
Now come on mothers throughout the land,
Pack your boys off to Vietnam.
Come on fathers, and don’t hesitate
To send your sons off before it’s too late.
And you can be the first ones in your block
To have your boy come home in a box.
And it’s one, two, three
What are we fighting for ?
Don’t ask me, I don’t give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam.
And it’s five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain’t no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we’re all gonna die.Dr. D — “that requires a change of the HEART, a change that is a spiritual revival, one willing to die for.”
Aye, and not only “one willing to die for” but one willing to LIVE for, every remaining day of one’s life.
The jurors on the Grand Jury surely didn’t hear the full story, their indictments against Assange only required a simple majority, and they were only voting on whether there was “probable cause” or not. Getting convictions at an actual trial will be much more difficult, since the jurors get to hear both sides of the story, and a guilty verdict requires a unanimous verdict and the more stringent criteria of “beyond reasonable doubt”.
I hope that the Assange fights each and every charge, and prevails in front of a jury (if the prosecutors dare take it that far).
Ilargi wrote yesterday, “Sweden is a country full of very sick people. I haven’t seen even one raise their voice.”
There’s not a huge amount of Swedish support found online for Assange, but there is a Swedish magazine and organization “Folket i Bild Kulturfront” that recently demanded the Swedish government defends Assange’s right to freedom of speech. Article title translates to “Release Julian Assange!”
Manning Could Delay US Superseding Indictment Against Assange
“They clearly need something from her, or they wouldn’t be throwing her back in jail, effectively, because she refuses to testify,” Lauria said.Unfortunately, they’ll be able to get another indictment against Assange with or without Manning’s further testimony. Prosecutors are trying to use the tools at their disposal (including coerced testimony in front of a grand jury, while they have the opportunity) to build as strong a case as they can.
Facebook is problematic because it’s a quasi-monopoly, etc., but an argument can be made that users agreed in advance to Facebook’s terms and conditions — something I couldn’t bring myself to do. Too big a power imbalance.
And if you actually think you know what you’ve agreed to, remember that Facebook maintains the right to change its mind about user conditions at any time.
Basically, if you’re still using Facebook, you’re agreeing.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/facebook-terms-condition_n_5551965
Wouldn’t it be better if the critics of fake news were careful to avoid exaggerations and misconceptions in what they themselves write?
Some of the arguments above are neglecting to consider the distinctions regarding “protected groups” in the USA. Can the owner of the only bar and restaurant in town legally refuse to serve people he doesn’t like? As long as they aren’t members of a protected group, then it seems they can be discriminated against without legal repercussions.
Look for a sign of the tensions, and you’ll find it on the front door of the one bar and restaurant in town, La Gitana Cantina. The owners have grown so fed up with the militias that they’ve posted a sign saying “UNWANTED: Members of any vigilante border militia group, including, but not limited to AZ Border Recon. Do Not Enter our establishment.”
“We’ve had confrontations with them about bringing their guns in here, or harassing people that work here,” says co-owner Maggie Milinovitch. “And so, we just put the sign up. You cannot come in.https://www.npr.org/2019/04/15/712264789/militias-test-the-civility-of-an-arizona-border-town
“A protected group or protected class is a group of people qualified for special protection by a law, policy, or similar authority.
U.S. federal law protects individuals from discrimination or harassment based on the following nine protected classes: sex, race, age, disability, color, creed, national origin, religion, or genetic information (added in 2008).
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission interprets ‘sex’ to include discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_groupSome welcome coverage, from USAToday:
They will punish Assange for their sins
The key to the prosecution of Assange has always been to punish him without again embarrassing the powerful figures made mockeries by his disclosures. That means to keep him from discussing how the U.S. government launched an unprecedented surveillance program that scooped up the emails and communications of citizens without a warrant or probable cause. He cannot discuss how Democratic and Republican members either were complicit or incompetent in their oversight. He cannot discuss how the public was lied to about the program.
A glimpse of that artificial scope was seen within minutes of the arrest. CNN brought on its national security analyst, James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence. CNN never mentioned that Clapper was accused of perjury in denying the existence of the surveillance program and was personally implicated in the scandal that Wikileaks triggered. He was asked directly before Congress “Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?” Clapper responded, “No, sir. … Not wittingly.” Later, Clapper said that his testimony was “the least untruthful” statement he could make. That would still make it a lie, of course, but this is Washington and people like Clapper are untouchable. In the view of the establishment, Assange is the problem.
Washington needs to silence Assange
So, on CNN, Clapper was allowed to explain (without any hint of self-awareness or contradiction) that Assange has “caused us all kinds of grief in the intelligence community.” Indeed, few people seriously believe that the government is aggrieved about password protection. The grief was the disclosure of an abusive surveillance program and a long record of lies to the American people. Assange will be convicted of the felony of causing embarrassment in the first degree.
Notably, no one went to jail or was fired for the surveillance programs. Those in charge of failed Congressional oversight were reelected. Clapper was never charged with perjury. Even figures shown to have lied in the Clinton emails, like former CNN commentator Donna Brazile (who lied about giving Clinton’s campaign questions in advance of the presidential debates), are now back on television. However, Assange could well do time.
With Assange’s extradition, all will be well again in Washington. As Manchin declared, he is their “property” and will be punished for his sins. Once he is hoisted as a wretch, few will again entertain such hubris in the future.
Jonathan Turley, a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors, is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University.
From that Wolf Street article:
But who, outside of corporations buying back their own shares, was buying shares?
Foreign investors shed $234 billion.
Pension funds shed $901 billion, possibly to keep asset-class allocations on target as share prices soared.
Stock mutual funds shed $217 billion.
Life insurers added 61 billion
Households added $223 billion.The net effect of these investor groups is that they together shed $1.1 trillion of shares (included in these categories, and spread over them, are ETFs). But the $1.1 trillion of shares that these investor groups shed over those five years was overpowered by $2.95 trillion of share buybacks over those five years.
Wow, the only (net) buyers are households (by a large majority) and life insurers. Looks like the households could be left holding the bag.
Question: With $2.95 trillion of share buybacks, but only $1.1 trillion sold by those investor groups during the same period, then from whom did the corporations acquire the remaining $1.85 trillion of shares for their buybacks?
• Remain Would Win Second Brexit Referendum Clearly, Poll Indicates (Ind.)
Ilargi: But it would be undemocratic?!It would be undemocratic to ignore the current majority opinion, especially since 3 years have passes and the public has much more information now (including information about how inept their government is). A new referendum could honor the results of the prior referendum, and ask a different question, such as…
“Should the United Kingdom remain outside the European Union or rejoin the European Union?”
To honor the 2016 Brexit referendum, while allowing the UK to rejoin the EU (under all previous terms), the EU could make a special deal whereby the Brexit date is extended until the day before the results of this new referendum take effect, with the EU agreeing to keep all the EU membership treaties and agreements in place temporarily for the UK, for one day only after the UK officially leaves the EU.
If the new referendum result is “Rejoin” then the UK officially rejoins the next day, with renewal of all treaties and agreements.
If the new referendum result is “Remain” (remain outside the EU), then the EU membership treaties and agreements are not renewed.On the lighter side, look at who the Guardian says is running for President, from the article quoted above:
Several of the Democratic candidates for US president in the 2020 election, including Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have proposed new taxes on the super-rich to address inequality.
Share of population with mental health and substance use disorders, 2016
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/share-with-mental-and-substance-disorders
The slider at the bottom of the graph shows how Russia has made significant improvements in recent years, but USA, Australia and New Zealand remain among the worst.
No matter which generation you’re in (Boomer, X, Millennial…),
If you have just $4,210 to your name, you’re still richer than half of the world’s residents.
Someone in the richest half of humanity is probably consuming more of the Earth than someone in the poorest half.
By the way, the chart in the comments above shows that Millennial households have a median net worth of $12,300.
So it looks like most Millennials are still richer (and probably consuming more) than at least half of the world’s population.Such apologies seem commendably humble. But regarding the state of the world, a more fitting apology would be from the 1% to the 99%. But what difference does an apology make, in either case, if it’s not followed by a change in behavior, and a renunciation and redistribution of ill-gotten gains?
By the way, you’re in the top 1% worldwide, judging by income, if you make more than US$ 32,400 per year.
That’s little more than minimum wage in some places in the USA.
If you rank by “wealth”, you’re in the top 1% if your “net worth” is at least US$ 770,000.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/050615/are-you-top-one-percent-world.aspYes, the label “Conservative” is now a misnomer, as is the “Labour” party. But one can be anti-Trump without swallowing the media spin.
Donald Trump reminds me of Silvio Berlusconi, there are many similarities. Berlusconi’s “antics”, from the distance of another country, didn’t seem so personally alarming to this reader in Trump’s USA. But when Trump’s actions and policies affect the environmental quality in my home state, I’m alarmed. When Trump’s actions and policies affect the perceived safety of family members and friends, I’m alarmed. And so on.
I imagine that the Automatic Earth posts are written from a distance that allows a certain amount of detachment, like my detachment as I read about Berlusconi’s “antics”.
What does Italy’s Berlusconi like about Trump? His wife (Reuters)
While the center-right leader was ejected from parliament after being convicted of tax fraud four years ago, he has remained the undisputed leader of his party, the country’s third or fourth most popular, depending on the poll.
The flamboyant former prime minister has a history of making politically incorrect comments, many of which seemed to fuel his popularity.
Last month he praised newly elected French President Emmanuel Macron as a “nice lad with a good-looking mother” — widely taken to be a reference to the 39-year-old French leader’s 64-year-old wife, Brigitte Trogneux.
He also raised eyebrows in 2008 for calling U.S. President Barrack Obama “suntanned”. A year later he repeated the quip when talking about the First Lady, Michelle. “They went together to the beach to get a tan because even his wife is suntanned.”
During his last stint in office, Berlusconi was embroiled in a sex scandal involving a teenage nightclub dancer, Karima El Mahroug, who went by the name “Ruby the Heartstealer” and attended “bunga bunga” parties at his mansion near Milan.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-berlusconi-trump-idUSKBN19E1T3
“Berlusconi was Prime Minister for nine years in total, making him the longest-serving post-war Prime Minister of Italy… he was convicted of tax-fraud by the court of final instance, Court of Cassation, confirming his four-year prison sentence (of which three years are automatically pardoned) along with a public office ban for two years. As his age exceeded 70 years, he was exempted from direct imprisonment, and instead served his sentence by doing unpaid social community work. … Berlusconi was the first person to assume the premiership without prior government or administrative offices. He is known for his populist political style and brash, overbearing personality. In his long-time tenure, he was often accused of being an authoritarian leader and a strongman… critics accused him of having pursued only his personal interests, allowing his companies to grow thanks to the policies promoted by his governments, of having mismanaged the state budget, increasing the Italian government debt, of having a huge conflict of interests due to his media empire with which he restricted freedom of information and of being a blackmail leader because of his turbulent private life.”
WikipediaSome interesting details about the Brexit process, from an article that’s almost three years old.
The process is designed to give the EU the upper hand over the departing state, according to Andrew Duff, a former Liberal Democrat MEP, who helped devise article 50. “We could not allow a seceding state to spin things out for too long. The clause puts most of the cards in the hands of those that stay in.”
The full scale of the task facing Whitehall will become clear. The UK will have to renegotiate 80,000 pages of EU agreements, deciding those to be kept in UK law and those to jettison. British officials have said privately that nobody knows how long this would take, but some ministers say it would clog up parliament for years.
As has been wryly noted already, there is only one precedent to refer to here. Greenland left the EU in 1985 after two years of negotiation. It has a population of 55,000, and only one product: fish.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/25/article-50-brexit-debate-britain-eu
Sounds less like ‘financial alchemy’ and more like an example of money being a ‘medium of exchange’, allowing people to settle their IOUs. The hotel owner didn’t really come out ahead, since his $100 debt to the butcher was extinguished along with his $100 ‘loan’ to the hooker, leaving his balance sheet unchanged.
I tried to post the link but it automatically embedded the video. To see the full screen on a PC, I suggest right-clicking the video’s start arrow to “Copy Video URL”, then paste it to another window or tab.
“the Gilets Jaunes are saying…that there is too much liberalism.”
Neoliberalism or neo-liberalism is the 20th-century resurgence of 19th-century ideas associated with laissez-faire economic liberalism and free market capitalism. Those ideas include economic liberalization policies such as privatization, austerity, deregulation, free trade and reductions in government spending in order to increase the role of the private sector in the economy and society. These market-based ideas and the policies they inspired constitute a paradigm shift away from the post-war Keynesian consensus which lasted from 1945 to 1980.
“Privatization” as it’s actually practiced involves privatization of profits and socialization of losses. “Austerity” doesn’t eliminate corporate welfare benefits. “Deregulation” is similarly skewed to benefit large corporations. “Free trade” doesn’t exist without functioning free markets that enable price discovery and allow failing banks to fail. “Reductions in government spending” somehow exempts military spending and corporate welfare.
René Magritte Morning star 1938
Looks like it could represent Janus, the two-faced god of the morning, looking both to the future and the past.
In ancient Roman religion and myth, Janus is the god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. He is usually depicted as having two faces, since he looks to the future and to the past.
Janus presided over the beginning and ending of conflict, and hence war and peace.
As a god of transitions, he had functions pertaining to birth and to journeys and exchange
Morning belonged to Janus: men started their daily activities and business. Horace calls him Matutine Pater, morning father. G. Dumézil believes this custom is at the origin of the learned interpretations of Janus as a solar deity.
René Magritte L’éternité 1935
Looked up some history and interpretations after being puzzled about the middle object. Spoiler: it’s said to be a slab of butter, between the busts of Christ and Dante.
Notes: L’éternité expresses the full force of Magritte’s alien yet authoritative visual power. Unlike many of his other works, however, L’éternité was not the result of an immediate inspiration, a vision or conception, but instead evolved from an idea given to Magritte by his friend Claude Spaak, the first owner of the painting. Spaak claimed that his original notion was the sight of a gallery wall hung with paintings, and between them stood a large ham. However, by December 1935, this idea had already evolved significantly in Magritte’s mind:
I am busy at the moment on a rather amusing picture: in a museum, there are three stands against a wall, with statues of Dante and Hercules to the left and right while the one in the centre supports a magnificent pig’s head with parsley in its ears and a lemon in its mouth’ (Magritte, letter to Paul Eluard, December 1935, quoted in D. Sylvester and S. Whitfield, René Magritte Catalogue Raisonné, Vol. II: Oil Paintings and Objects, 1931-1948, London, 1993, p. 212).
In the final state of his conception, Margritte employed busts of Christ and Dante with a slab of butter placed in the middle. These epic busts give the impression of being relics that have survived–if only as fragments–through centuries of turmoil representing the idea of ‘eternity’ in the title. However, between them, monumental in its own way, is the fresh but perishable butter, a jarring contrast that assaults the viewer’s rational sensibilities. Time, and the authority of the museum, have been turned on their heads, as Magritte forces his museum-goer to look beyond his preconceptions and to contemplate the internal and external reality of this painted world in all its paradoxical wonder.
Matteson Art
http://www.mattesonart.com/1931-1942-brussels–pre-war-years.aspx“there were questions even concerning McCain, who was born on a military base in Panama, to say nothing of Cruz and Rubio, both probably not “natural”, born in Canada and having dual citizenship.”
Regarding Kamala Harris:
“Under the 14th Amendment’s Naturalization Clause and the Supreme Court case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 US. 649, anyone born on U.S. soil and subject to its jurisdiction is a natural born citizen, regardless of parental citizenship.”Regarding McCain, Cruz, and Rubio:
“There is some debate over whether or not one may also be a natural born citizen if, despite a birth on foreign soil, U.S. citizenship immediately passes from the person’s parents.”https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/natural_born_citizen
Natural born citizen
Overview
A natural-born citizen refers to someone who was a U.S. citizen at birth, and did not need to go through a naturalization proceeding later in life.Political Office Requirement
The phrase “natural-born citizen” appears in the U.S. Constitution. In order to become the President or Vice President of the United States, a person must be a natural-born citizen. This “Natural-Born Citizen Clause” is located in Section 1 of Article 2 of the United States Constitution.The constitution does not expressly define “natural born” nor has the Supreme Court ever ruled precisely upon its meaning. One can be a citizen while not being a “natural born” citizen if, for example, that person gained citizenship through the process of naturalization.
Under the 14th Amendment’s Naturalization Clause and the Supreme Court case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 US. 649, anyone born on U.S. soil and subject to its jurisdiction is a natural born citizen, regardless of parental citizenship. This type of citizenship is referred to as birthright citizenship.
There is some debate over whether or not one may also be a natural born citizen if, despite a birth on foreign soil, U.S. citizenship immediately passes from the person’s parents.
Today, 8 U.S.C. § 1101 defines naturalization as “conferring of nationality of a state upon a person after birth, by any means whatsoever.” In contrast, § 1401 lists eight categories of peoples who are “nationals and citizens of the United States at birth,” including those born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction, as well as children of one or more U.S. citizens abroad as long as the parent(s) meet certain requirements. This means that foreign-born citizens falling under a provision in 1401 are, by statutory definition, not naturalized. The term “natural born” is not used, however.
Who would MLK Jr hate?
“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love
Just thinking out loud here…
A new referendum could determine whether the UK should re-join the EU. This would be starting from a position which honours the Leave result of the earlier referendum. The EU could be so kind as to offer all the same treaty provisions as before, perhaps with an extension to the Brexit date until the results of the second referendum are in.
56% Majority Of Britons Now Want To Remain In The EU
The rules are made by the rulers and apparently depend on the outcome the rulers want. To get into the EU, repeated referendums could be held to undo an earlier No vote. But now, it’s somehow undemocratic to hold an updated referendum?
Asking the public twice: why do voters change their minds in second referendums on EU treaties?
With all the talk of “fake news”, this bar graph from above is what I’d call a “fake chart”:
The Remain bar is almost twice as big as the Leave bar. The difference would be even more impressive (and more misleading) if the chosen baseline was 40%. But then the deception would me more obvious.
“The entire US economy today is about the quick buck.”
Even the stock market these days seems to be about the quick buck. In the US, the average holding period for stocks has dropped from 8 years (1960), to 5 years (1970), to 2 years (1990), to 4 months (in the past few years).
https://www.politifact.com/virginia/statements/2016/jul/06/mark-warner/mark-warner-says-average-holding-time-stocks-has-f/The policies of the Fed (as well as the Board of Directors of the companies) are evidently geared towards the short-term benefits of the owners who will be leaving in a few months. The long-term health of the companies, the economy, and the overall society (mostly non-owners) is evidently not so important to the Fed and the CEOs.
“…When market tumbled in 2015 and 2016, global central banks embarked on the largest combined intervention effort in history… giving us a grand total of over $15 trillion.”
Those $15 trillion in assets being held by the central banks propped the global stock market capitalization up to around $75 trillion. Short term thinking that gives short-term benefits. Take away the props and of course that sucker is going to fall. What were they thinking, the overweight patient with all of those systemic problems is going to be able to walk just fine when the crutches are taken away?
“In the new scheme, rather than a council deciding, a final decision will rest on a local referendum.
Waste… includes around 112 tonnes – the world’s biggest stockpile – of plutonium, the most poisonous substance ever created.”A decision of such magnitude being decided by a local referendum, where votes are anonymous and a “put the nuclear waste here” outcome could still be opposed by a near-majority of locals? Bad politicians can be voted out of office, but there’s no option for taking the nuclear waste back out of the ground if the locals don’t want it anymore.
Another perspective…
The US stock markets (S&P 500, Nasdaq) fell further this past quarter than the FTSE 100 or the pan-European Stoxx 600 fell during the entire past year (or any year this past decade)..
“Some data from the articles: Dow, S&P down about 5-6% for the year, when in 2008 they lost 30-40%. Perspective. The FTSE 100 tumbled by 12.5% during 2018, The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended the year down 13%..”
Looking at the Q4 drops shows a somewhat different picture, with the American stock markets (S&P500, Nasdaq) falling more than the European (FTSE, STOXX).
“US Stocks Post Worst Year In A Decade, S&P Falls More Than 6% In 2018 (CNBC)”
Of course the sidebar for that CNBC article shows a trending article titled,
“Why 2019 could be very good for stocks, after the worst year in a decade”
with this quote from an equities strategist at a big bank:
“Based on fundamentals, I don’t think the pullback we had in this market was ever justified. Markets will do what they’ll do. I think you have significant upside here. Therefore, we would think that the bottom has been put in this market.”‘”Sometimes I think that if all my friends are leaving, why would I stay behind?”
Some friends are still here.Bellini’s John the Baptist looks more like a wilderness dweller than Caravaggio’s from two days ago. Yet, “The most ancient pictures represent him as meagre and wasted, with unshorn beard and hair. This would seem the true way; but often in later times he is made beautiful, and even dressed in rich mantles which cover the garment of camel’s hair.”
https://archive.org/details/handbookofchrist00waterich/page/158
Francisco Goya Witches’ Sabbath 1797-98
“Goya’s depictions of such scenes mocked what he saw as medieval fears exploited by the established order for political and capital gain.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witches%27_Sabbath_(Goya,_1798)
