Really Random
Whew. January 31st. We made it. Of course, I heard someone say that February is the longest month of the year. It begins in January and ends some time in April.
This article says Jim Rogers is investing in agricultural commodities. "'The agriculture sector has been a disaster for 35 years. Things are so bad. The average age of an American farmer is 58, the average age in Japan is 68. And do you know that the highest suicide rate in the UK is in the agricultural sector?' As a result, he argues, there will be
a shortage of agricultural products in the coming years." Here's the problem with that: When you're positing such a long-term lead-up to the bull condition, that tells me the bull can still be many years away. Timing is everything and no one can time.
But I respect Jim Rogers. He likes precious metals but cautioned readers once silver went over $30 an ounce (prompting me to get out of that market, thank goodness). Of course, Rogers owns his own commodities fund, so you have to take anything he says about commodities with a grain of salt. It's also worth noting that, as far as I know, he completely missed the China meltdown a few years ago.
This is fascinating stuff: "Eric Kurlander wants us to understand Nazi ideology as an outgrowth of occultism, characterized by endemic beliefs in
parascience, magic, Âastrology, Âcrackpot theories of racial origin, and other weird notions. There exists an extensive literature on Hitler and the occult, but Kurlander's new book is the most ambitious offering to date. It is likely to be the standard work for some time to come on a bizarre but revealing facet of Nazi ideology." Link. I first read about Nazi occultism in James Webb's The Occult Establishment, which must be a pretty good book. It's 500 pages and my notes in the margin tell me that I actually finished it.
I read the book in connection with a book I was writing about magic. The main thrust of my book: Progressivism and the pursuit of magic are twins in the same crib. They both seek control over earthly affairs and subjugate the spiritual to do it: progressives sacrifice the soul, magicians yoke the demons. I condensed the book into a 4,000-word essay, which I'll plan on running in installments later this year. Here's an excerpt about Nazi occultism:
The Nazi movement in Germany, possibly the most unabashed progressive movement in history, was heavily influenced by the occult. The leader of the notorious SS, Heinrich Himmler, was a devout occultist who regarded the SS as a religious order devoted to fighting the ancient diabolical enemy, Jewry, in its most-recent manifestation, Bolshevism.
Man, that Webb book goes for $100. I wish I hadn't written in my copy. But based on the used prices for "acceptable" condition, it looks like I can still get at least $50 for it.
