Poor Wandering Wonderer -- True Love Built on Lies.

Act II, Scene 1, of the Prodigals of Penance. Act I, Scene 1, is here.

I continue my foray into Comic Lite-Opera Reality. The work is now the attempted merger of Hamlet and Blazing Saddles (with a bit of Pinocchio thrown in), done in the spirit of Gilbert and Sullivan! Below, Sad Poppins mentions the Piltdown Man, an evolutionary "missing link" bone hoax that dragged on for 40 years. Hamlet sings of the Kinsey Report, a human sexuality study so flawed that even Wikipedia has a hard time defending it.

The story so far: The World Leaders and hangers-on have danced offstage. Hamlet Omlet and Sad Poppins are about to further their relationship. Hamlet has uncovered many flaws in the "science" funded by Artful Shortseller, the world's richest man. He senses the real purpose of his grant is to "paper over" the inadequacies he's found. Sad Poppins feels it would be best if he fulfills his role and, what the heck, just cash the check.

ACT II, SCENE 1: Poor Wandering Wonderer.

(Shrotseller's Estate: SAD POPPINS stands alone in the garden. HAMLET OMLET enters, walking in a seeming trance.)

HAMLET OMLET

They've created such a racket,

I can hardly work.

And my work...is hardly...worth it.

SAD POPPINS (watching him, sings)

Poor Wandering Wonderer

Wondering Where to Wan-der!

You don't think like the rest.

Your head is a mess,

So full of thoughts --

They drip out like snot...

(approaches Hamlet)

You are the studier of studies.

Who studies, the studies, in Shortseller's study.

Your task is incomplete--

HAMLET OMLET

Like rain turning to sleet.

(steps towards her)

And you're the activist child.

The bold little scold,

With the winning frown.

SAD

I thought the world would let me down.

The Earth, not be around.

But as I've grown

(shows herself off a bit)

Into my own --

I found it really weird!

The planet, you see, is still here!

HAMLET OMLET

By eliminating the Earth,

With all its dirt,

We could eliminate our fears.

(thoughtfully, strolling)

Or we could simply go extinct,

And no longer have to think.

SAD POPPINS (following)

Poor Wandering Wonderer

Wondering Where to Wan-der.

You don't think like the rest.

Your head is a mess.

So full of thoughts

They drip out like snot.

HAMLET OMLET(distressed)

I simply cannot lie.

It is just too hard to disguise.

When I fabricate,

Right out of the gate,

(indicates his groin area)

It gets hard!

As the tension goes up,

My ha-ha-heart thumps!

(pounds his chest)

The blood in my veins

Feels the added strain.

The blood my heart pumps 

Flows into my consider-able stump!

 

And it grows, grows, grows --

Like some elongated nose,

Or an acorn into an oak.

It happens at a stroke!

It's not just unseemly, you see,

But po-tential-ly!

Most un-semen-ly...

(walks)

Yes, I'm stilted...

By this pilted...

Woody, wood-pecker.

SAD POPPINS (injects)

Like Pinocchio in a pinch.

Or, the Pilt-down Man!

A "find" that was a Scientific Scam -- 

With the wrong bone

In the wrong place:

A most potent -- disgrace. 

HAMLET OMLET

Lying's not a sport,

Like some Kinsey Report.

Whenever I lie,

(indicates his groin, distressed)

It gets hard against my fly!

I can't lie, I can't lie, I can't lie.

(walks)

SAD POPPINS

Oh, Poor Wandering Wonderer,

Woody in a wood of lies!

I am sorry for you!

'Cause your own sorrow won't do.

You don't think like the rest.

Your head's such a mess.

So full of thoughts,

They drip out like snot!

(thinks, taps his shoulder)

If only you were a woman.

The problem with your wood

Would disappear!

If only you could,

Eliminate the wood!

HAMLET OMLET

That sounds fantastic,

but just...a little...drastic.

SAD POPPINS (agrees)

Sub-optimal, yes,

But if you just wore a dress...

You could easily skirt the truth.

Or turn your back,

On in-convenient facts.

But still...

HAMLET OMLET

I'll wear a kilt!

I could present an address...

In a kilt, not a dress.

I could turn my back,

As I speak with great tact,

Over...my...shoulder?

SAD POPPINS

Here's an act -- that's bolder.

(Takes his hand)

Simply lie with me!

If you lie with me,

Your lies will be disguised, by me!

You simply pretend

We're in love, without end!

In Love with a fire,

Of burning -- lustful desire.

And: 

No one will be the wiser.

We could lie, lie, lie, together.

No one would know any better.

 

HAMLET OMLET(confused)

In truth, I am getting woody.

I should return to my studies.

I could be me-too'ed

Because I am woody for you...

I really can't lie...

As I look into your -- lovely, eyes...

(turns)

But I fear my career --

Could dissolve in your tears.

(walks away)

SAD POPPINS (follows him)

Poor wandering woody one!

What wonderous lies lie ahead!

Don't fear for your career.

You'll be a believable steer, 

If you lie, lie, lie -- with me.

(Sounds from off stages)

DANCING BANKERS

Hrumph, Hrumph -- Hrumph, Hrumph, Hrumph.

SAD POPPINS

You cannot stay.

Artful Shortseller

Is on his way.

We'll meet after dark.

HAMLET OMLET

And wonderful lies

We can con-cock!

Con-con, concoct. 

(As Hamlet Omlet leaves, Artful Shortseller enters).

ART SHORTSELLER (to the audience)

He's such a poor liar.

He needs to retire.

My estate is built

On a house of cards.

One jilt from that joker...

And...

 

Oh, forsooth and forsaken!

My empire shaken!

Imagine, a jerk like that,

Bringing about my total collapse!

I suppose he would say,

He means well, OK.

Well, I have a "mean well"

For him.

(maniacal laugh, steps to the side for...)

DANCING BANKERS (Marching on stage)

Hrumph, Hrumph -- Hrumph, Hrumph, Hrumph.

ART

Now the Bankers want their say.

They mean well, too,

It should be a tattoo. 

Let them implore.

I'll ignore.

ACT II SCENE 2

(The Central Banker leads The Dancing Bankers on stage. They are dressed for the Beach. The Central Banker gets a little rough treatment from the others. He's shoved to center stage.)

CENTRAL BANKER (addresses the audience)

This is The World Conference...

That will Solve...

Your Problems...

In One Foul Swipe.

(speaks clearly)

You see, all your problems are ours;

All our problems are yours.

And you are our problem.

(Indicates the surroundings) 

We're at the home 

Of the World's Richest man.

Artful Shortseller's estate, Eden!

 

DANCING BANKERS (An echoing murmur)

Eden, Eden, Eden...

 

CENTRAL BANKER 

It's his own state!

An island all its own.

An island that he owns. Eden.

 

DANCING BANKERS

Eden, Eden, Eden...

 

CENTRAL BANKER

I'm the Central Banker,
I don't get many thanks
When the other banks

(indicates the others)

Need a spank:
That Great Current of Currency,
Upon which they depend --
Is Currently Curtailed!
If not totally at an end. 
It flowed through their vaults
And its lack, now felt, is my fault

  

(The band picks up with a thumping, almost pounding, beat. The Dancing Bankers surround the Central Banker. They sing to the tune of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band)

World Class Dancing, Banker Band

THE DANCING BANKERS (To the central banker, with loud reproach)

It was a hundred years ago!

When you really did steal the show!

People's money was never the same,

As you played your curren-cy game.

When interest rates you amend

To bring easy money to an end... 

After we've done so much good,

By gutting their neighborhoods!

We're the World Class Dancing, Banker Band!

CENTRAL BANKER (to the audience)

Their Animal Spirits were on a lark,

But the funny-money, once in "drive,"

Is now in "park."

THE DANCING BANKERS (Explaining)

We're good citizens of the World!

With finances in a swirl.

Speculators cause much pain,

As their loans go down the drain.

So now we're il-liquid.

Lacking the reserves, we should...

(to the central banker)

So we want you to understand,

We'd like you to give a hand...

To the Empty Pockets, Bankster, Bah-an-d!

 

CENTRAL BANKER

They want to restart the game.

With me providing the gains...

a-gain.

The losses we'll spread about,

Like lots of vacant shops. 

(The Dancing Bankers push the Central Banker out of the way.)

CENTRAL BANKER

Don't Panic at the Picnic!

(The orchestra is back to horn tooting)

DANCING BANKERS (Pace quickens, to the Audience, upset)

With those problems, you're on your own!

So kindly get off the phone!

We're awfully short of cash!

We're bankers who've lost their stash!

Our institution's got the runs!

It's playing havoc with the sums!

...um...um...um-m-m.

 

 (A female banker sweetly changes the tune)

You're such love-ly depositors --

You really are our kind --

You're such love-ly depositors,

Sit back and watch your fortune grow!

Sit back and watch it grow!

 

 (The rest return to firm declarations)

Your bankruptcy's on us!

But our Bankruptcy's on you!

We're whales too big to fail!

So you have to cover our tail!

 

( Pause, as the female banket again changes the tune)

You're such lovely homeowners,

With mortgages to fill.

We'd like to take your homes with us.

We'd love to take your homes!

 

 (The rest)

Yes, we'd rather issue demands

But really do need a hand!

So we'll issue our appeal,

To the man who really steals...

The show, when you have to show!

The assets that cover your ass!

We've come to find him here!

Our savior of the year --

(slowly, with begging hands)

Art...ful...Short...sell-er...

(They trail off...as the orchestra changes tempo to blues/jazz, with snare drums. The Central Banker moves to center stage. He puts his sunglasses on and snaps his fingers. Sings to the tune of Mack the Knife.)

The Shortseller Song

CENTRAL BANKER (His best Bobby Darin Blues)

Oh, Financial sharks,

Prowl the seas, babes.

And they'll feed in --

Market waves.

They have such teeth -- dear!

If you could see them!

They're ru-by, ruby-red.

 

When red ink's spilled

By Cor-po-rate shills--

My-little-darlings don't-you-know!

So much gore is,

On the market floor.

But on Shortseller, there's not the stink, babe

Of all...your -- all your red ink!

Your pension fund --

So you think, dears --

Bought juicy steaks,

With your stake!

Till Artful wields his -- skillful scalpel.

Leaving bare bones, upon your plate.

(Art enters and marches to center stage. Exudes calm as the Central Banker slinks off)

DANCING BANKERS

Artful, Artful, Artful...

The Mean Well Song

ART (he brings the tempo down)

There's no reason for alarm.

Every reason, to be calm.

We're in the eye of every storm,

And here, calm is the norm.

Your problem is but a pimple.

The solution is -- quite simple! 

 (Sways as he sings)

Just mean well, if you mean well,
Then everything will seem well!
If you mean well, then you'll be well,
No one will be mean to you!
If you mean well in all that you do.
They'll never blame you--
When they've been royally screwed...

If you're mean, mean, mean,

You want to be seen as -- well meaning.

 

DANCING BANKERS (With relief)

They can't attack good intentions.

Even when these intentions are...

An...invention.

(swaying while figuring it out) 

If it seems...well,

Like we mean well,

Then the middling mean...that's sits inbetween,

The well-off...and the off-well...

Will think that we're just swell.

(as they dance off-stage)

When we're mean-mean-mean,

No matter how mean we may seem...

If we're all called well-meaning,

Well meaning is how we'll be seeming!

 

ART (calls after them)

Mean-well in all your deeds!

(laughs, to the audience)

For the mean-well

Is a deep well, indeed!

(laughs maniacally)

END OF SCENE

 

Knowing Gnosticism

 TIK History: The REAL Religion Behind National Socialism is Gnosticism. TIK explains what that is.

To understand politics progressive politics you need to understand Gnosticism and what I call "the deeper truth" that only a select group can perceive and is unavailable to the ignorant masses.  It's OK to lie and distort when talking to the rubes, as long as those lies conform to "the deeper truth" and move events in the right direction. Framing Donald Trump as a Russian spy was not a lie, it was just a way of conveying the deeper truth that Donald Trump was a threat to the progressive movement that is "moving" to a better future. The frame job was a way of conveying that truth to the superstitious rabble, who suffer from false patriotism.  True American Patriots are not loyal to the flawed status quo but to a future America washed clean of the sins of the past and present.

The left will often champion people who are guilty of crimes.  This confused me for a time. Then I would learn that their reasoning for why the person should be set free was, well, esoteric. Finally, it occurred to me that anyone can rally around an innocent person but it will take a potential convert to the movement to promote the cause of the esoterically innocent -- in other words, when he really did shoot the deputy.

Inflatable Nation

Even a Recession Might Not Tame Inflation

Is it really that bad? Nah, it's worse. It's that "slowly, slowly all at once" problem.

Dealing with US inflation needs to account for the foreign entities that hold so many dollars for purposes that don't often align with our own (our declared enemies have a lot of it). Basically, the dollars will be used in a mercantilist manner to further the interest of these rulers -- often at the expense of the average American worker.

For the moment the dollar won't be replaced in international trade because it's backed by US real estate. We don't like the CCP buying American farmland in "State of Rode Island" sized batches, but the possibility of doing that in a pinch is a big attraction for the dollar (and land is an excellent inflation hedge). If we say, "No more of that, you'll have to buy Fords instead," then their dollars will flood back into the US to buy land and other assets while they still can. At this point, the world will stop trading its goods for our debt.

As international trade collapses, there's less need for US debt as "good" collateral for trade among third-party nations. With foreigners less willing to swap their goods for our debt, the supply of goods drys up just as more dollars race into the domestic market, sparking more asset inflation but not job creation. This likely results in high-interest rates to encourage foreigners to hold onto their bonds. Meanwhile, the Fed funds the government through the printing press and further fuels inflation.

Inflation could be used to lower the burden of the $31 trillion National Debt -- if we balanced the budget. But why do that if you can sell more and more debt at near-zero rates with foreigners willing to buy a lot of it? Well, things that can't go on forever, won't -- and we are heading for a wall of won't (so prepare a bolthole in New Zealand).

The Winner of the 2024 US Presidential Election Is...

Peter Zeihan makes his prediction for 2024 and he sees a rematch between Trump and Biden with a Biden win because swing voters such as Peter will go for the Democrats.

In 2016 I did not want Trump to get the nomination (I thought he was a moderate Democrat) but I told friends that the media did. By attacking Trump they could raise his numbers among the Republican base that hates the left-leaning media.  Meanwhile, their attacks would turn Peter Zeihan against Trump for the general election, ushering in large Democratic majorities. There weren't enough Peters, so it didn't quite work out that way.

There is an insider/outsider dynamic in presidential races -- which is why governors often make good candidates. In 2016 Trump was an outsider. In 2020 he stood onstage with a bunch of Washington insiders while the nation closed down -- plus it's hard for any president to escape responsibility for things that go wrong, even if it's caused by his political enemies (ie, mostly peaceful riots, etc).

For 2024 we see the media and the Democrats running the 2016 strategy. They've turned the race into the quintessential outsider running against the quintessential insider. The American people face only one political question: do you want everything in the nation run by a selected group of people in Washington D.C., plus their partners on  Wallstreet, in Silicon Valley, and that whole Hollywood/Davos globalist "you will own nothing and be happy or else" community.  I call this result "feudalism with the right people in charge." All the other issues are there to disguise that central issue. If Trump and the Republicans stay focused on that one question, they stand an excellent chance.

Scratch a Socialist and you'll likely find...

TIK has an interesting video on why Oswald Mosley turned to Fascism. 

You don't need to know much about Mosley or British history to get a better understanding of politics -- pretty much everywhere -- by watching it. For someone raised in the Midwest, I know a lot of British history. However, I didn't realize that pre-industrialization three-fourths of the children died before they were five -- I thought it was more like two-thirds.

Interestingly, Mosley could drift through the British ruling class with a rather consistent set of beliefs and still be a Conservative, a Liberal, a Socialist, a Keynesian, and a Fascist, without much of a change in his basic outlook.

They Are Delicious (but with too much bad fat)

 Over at Sp!ked, Joel Kotkin says:

The rich are eating themselves

The oligarchs are playing a dangerous game by pouring trillions into woke causes.

Beware of plutocrats bearing gifts. The annual clown show at Davos epitomises how today, the global elites have embraced an unholy trinity of ‘progressive’ doctrines: climate-change apocalypticism, a belief in systemic racism and racial ‘equity’, and radical gender ideology. The super-rich hope that by genuflecting to these causes, they can buy themselves political protection and fend off the activists lurking in the ranks of their own companies. Yet, in the long run, this could end up fuelling their demise.

The Reel Dancing Bankers

I find Comic Lite-Opera provides the best means of commentary on our various Global Financial Crisis-see, Crisis-sis...Crisis-eye. Anyways, in 2009 I started work on The Prodigals of Penance.

With banks collapsing I'm back at it. The opening number uses "The Dancing Bankers and Contortionists" as the chorus line for Artful Shortseller's production number. So, imagine my surprise when I discover our current GFC features videos of real dancing bankers and contortionists! SVB mimics <i>Glee</i>. I was trying to be a satirist, not a bank examiner! I'm currently struggling with the lyrics for the following song: You will own nothing. You will be happy. Or else. Wait, I think I just finished it. The Dancing Bankers will have their own number, "When the Short Seller Starts his Steal," which will look something like this, only with bankers.