“You have two settings-no decision and bad decision. I wouldn’t let you run a bath without having the Coast Guard and the fire department standing by, but yet here you are running America. You are the worst thing that has happened to this country since food in buckets and maybe slavery!” – Veep
I had made a mistake and bought too many art supplies. That was my excess stencil crisis.
Cui bono. That’s Latin for “who benefits,” and in this case doesn’t have anything to do with the singer for the band U2©, who have been benefiting from everything. Even my GPS is branded by U2™, and it sucks. The streets have no name, and I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.
Cui bono.
That quote being in Latin is especially appropriate for today’s post. Marcus Licinius Crassus (115 B.C. – 53 B.C. – they aged backwards then) goes down in history for creating the first fire department that Rome had. At his own expense, he recruited and trained a brigade of 500 men who, at the first sign of a fire, would speed toward the smoke and flames.
Crassus would rush to the fire with them. Once the fire department was on site, Crassus would find the building owner and offer to buy the burning building at an obvious discount. I am not making this up. Obviously, the longer the fire went on, the lower Crassus’ offer would go. Once the property owner had sold, Crassus would give the signal and his fire department would save his newly purchased building.
I’m sure that sometimes the fire got away from him, but most of the time Crassus profited from the deal. It was a fire sale, right?
When I was working as a firefighter, in one building all that was left was the bottom of a shoe – it must have been the sole survivor.
Often, Crassus would then rebuild the building using his army of slave architects and artisans (not making that up, either), and then lease the building back to the original owner. So, Crassus even had a way to get his money back. Crassus was wealthy not only by ancient standards, but by any standards. He’d be worth at least $11 billion in today’s money.
Cui bono? Crassus. I looked for a name I could call Crassus, but it was hard to find one, this being a family-friendly blog. I’ll settle on cullion.
This is an early example of economic plunder. Legal, yes. Honorable? No.
It didn’t stop with Crassus.
I once paid $20 to meet the Prince, but I partied like it was only $19.99.
When you search the Internet for tales of Nathan Rothschild back in 1815, you’ll find a host of stories that from the scholarship of 2020, don’t seem to be supported. But what generally seems to be agreed with (even by the Rothschild Archives – LINK) is that during the Napoleonic Era, Rothschild and his brothers across the European continent had a fairly sophisticated system to transfer news and information to each other.
Information is just like a building fire in Rome: the sooner you catch it, the more it is worth.
What had been vexing everyone in London during June of 1815 was the return of Napoleon from exile and his resumption of power in France. Since Europe had been fighting alongside Napoleon or with Napoleon for nearly 20 years, people in the United Kingdom were scared to death that a victory by Napoleon could lead to another 20 years of war. And just like today, no one wanted to watch a re-run.
Napoleon broke out of exile because he needed more Elba room.
Lord Wellington had been put in charge of a coalition of armies from across Europe, 68,000 total troops. Joined by 50,000 Prussians under Blücher (cue obligatory whinny), Wellington met Bonaparte at the small village of Waterloo. Napoleon wasn’t alone. He had 73,000 French soldiers, and Wellington had left his panzers in his other coat, so the French fought back like they’d have to shower and give up cigarettes if they lost.
Spoiler alert: Napoleon lost, but barely. I think it had to go into at least one overtime, and there were some controversial instant replays.
The story goes that with the Rothschild information network, Nathan was notified about Wellington’s victory before anyone in London. By knowing that, Nathan could make a killing in the stock market. How well did he do? We don’t know. His courier wrote him: “I am informed by Commissary White that you have done well by the early information which you had of the Victory gained at Waterloo.” It is reported (LINK) that the Rothschild fortunes went from £500,000 to £1,000,000 in that year. So probably pretty well, since I assume a £ is a metric $ or something.
Yes, I know that there are other stories about Nathan’s Big Day Out® that are much more exaggerated, but this one does fine in proving my point: the best time to make money is in an uncertain market. Or, as has been attributed to Nathan: “The time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets.” Especially if, like Nathan and Marcus, you can remove the uncertainty and make your bet a sure thing.
I did invest in an Asian/Middle East fusion restaurant called, “Wok Like an Egyptian.”
This went on during Roman times, and it went on during Napoleonic times. Is it going on today?
It certainly is. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine the other week, and he works for a company that was funded by a private equity firm. Per my conversation, they deals that just his company is looking at are in the range of one hundred million to one billion dollars. Sure, that’s a pretty big range. But the kicker was this:
“There are pools of billions of dollars waiting for deals.”
What kind of deals? Deals on great assets in a collapsing economy.
As we look at the wreck that we’re seeing in the economy due to the WuFlu and now the great #BLM (Burning Looting Marxists), what sort of reaction are we seeing? Does it surprise anyone that 269 companies (LINK, H/T to CA at Western Rifle Shooters) are supporting the (actual, really founded by Marxists, look it up) BLM?
Does it surprise anyone that hundreds of millions of dollars are flooding in to BLM and affiliated organizations? And I’m not exaggerating the amount – the fund just for bailing out rioters and looters in Minneapolis was over $90 million dollars. Some people can loot a whole week and not make that much!
The support for BLM could be from one of the following sources, and I suspect that one or more is in play depending on the company donating:
- Genuine support for civil rights. Sure, I believe that from companies that import goods made by overseas labor treated more poorly than the Wilder family treats our outdoor cat.
- A cynical ploy signaling corporate virtue to get people to buy burgers. Think of it like an advertisement, but instead of featuring the social justice flavor of the week, it’s BLM this week.
- Coordinated donations with full knowledge that the money will go toward a Marxist transformation of the United States.
- Selected by the CEO’s secretary executive assistant at random.
I never let BLM members into my basement – I don’t want a whine cellar.
Amazon® has really been impacted by COVID-19. I’m betting that every facet of Bezos’ business has been helped, from their online shopping to their web infrastructure to their movie rental business. Coronachan has been good to Jeff. But I don’t blame Bezos for that – I don’t think it was his plan to infect the United States with a virus and convince everyone to stay in the basement for three months and then have seven pages of BLM merch to sell.
Because if he did? That’s some real Bond villain stuff and I’ve got to say, that’s the most anyone has ever done to try to convince me to buy a Prime® subscription.
Cui bono? I mean, besides Bezos?
Someone is going to profit from BLM, even beyond the hundreds of millions of dollars donated recently to it, and even beyond the billions of dollars that will go to purchase assets during the crisis. And it may not be money, or burger sales. It might be measured in raw power, the power to turn a society towards the Marxist goals of the founders of BLM.
But even Crassus knew that once a fire got started, it just might get away from you.
If you read the Wikipedia page for Black Lives Matter, there’s a section on Timeline of Notable Events and Demonstrations. Just looking at the page space, we can see that 2014 and 2015 were busy, but 2016 was very busy. Then 2017 and 2018 were quiet, and nothing noteworthy happened in 2019. But 2020 is, of course, VERY busy again. Hmmm. What do 2016 and 2020 have in common?
Then, the question is, do the Democrats benefit more by energizing their base, or do the Republicans benefit from promising a “law and order” response?
As seen in the Babylon Bee: https://babylonbee.com/news/black-lives-predicted-to-matter-until-november
[satire]”We have to pander to them to see if they will matter,” said Nancy Pelosi. “We stand committed to elevating black voices when we need their votes and not a moment after.”[/satire]
Ha! Babylon Bee has the goods.
Brilliant, brilliant article today, John. Since we have forgotten the history of Crassus, we are doomed to repeat it.
“There are pools of billions of dollars waiting for deals.” What kind of deals? Deals on great assets in a collapsing economy. That’s some real Bond villain stuff … Cui bono? I mean, besides Bezos?”
https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/buffett-stays-on-the-sidelines-amid-market-tumble-as-cash-climbs
Revolutions change societies. In the current Second American Revolution there are no guillotines, only cutsie slogans like CHOP. Scattered random guys wandering around with masks and AR-15s will give the occasional ER intern some practice and have absolutely no effect on what is really going down. Instead we’ve got a amorphous shadowy psy-op that is a slick magician’s trick – don’t look behind the curtain, pay attention to this sound and fury over here in Wuhan or Minneapolis, which signified nothing. Ben Franklin is getting his wish about our national bird – Shady Deals behind the scenes are carving this country up like a turkey.
John, last week I compared you to Frank Worsley. You’re more like Nero. Thanks for the wickedly funny jokes to enjoy here that are like penetrating fiddle notes amid the flames. Cue obligatory whinny, indeed.
Heh! Nero! And I don’t even play an instrument!
Still need to watch that Shackleton video.
BLM donations go to ACT BLUE…then onto the DNC.
I wouldn’t claim that this is true (and not some sophisticated disinformation) if I didn’t know actual local politicians who use ActBlue for their campaigns. It saves them the trouble of building their own web sites and payment processing. ActBlue is, in effect, a financial services company. Money for BLM goes in. Money for the DNC goes in. All kinds of money go in. And money comes out, to BLM, the DNC, and lots of little local efforts. But that doesn’t mean that money designated for BLM goes to the DNC instead.
https://www.factcheck.org/2020/06/donations-to-black-lives-matter-group-dont-go-to-dnc/
The Republicans have “winred.com”. If you go there, you’ll see a menu of campaigns to support. If you go to actblue.com, you’ll be offered help setting up your campaign’s fund-raising program. So, I guess actBlue relies more on their campaigns for the donor-facing interfaces.
Don’t think they need to move ’em. The money is going into the street. These folks are organized.
The streets have no names because that be…wayciss!
The looting is almost down to the bedrock now and the divide and conquer worked as it always does (ENTRY DELETED – JW) .
Be of good cheer because all of the people here know that The Great Leap Forward Fundamental Transformation is in progress.
The external attack will come when the CCP builds up enough strength in the next four years. They are putting the final touches on the EMP weapon right now.
A fifth column of traitors will welcome the new management believing in that egalitarian we’re all in this together horsesh1t and then the iron fist of communism will get to smashing the clueless useful idiots.
“Even as we push the envelope and we are bold in our vision, we also have to be rooted in reality. The average American doesn’t think we have to completely tear down the system and remake it.”
— Barack Obama
I looked up the deleted entry on Urban Dictionary, and the definition wasn’t what I thought it would be, which was not at all an offensive one.
HOWEVER, in order to not detract from the really good points you make I deleted it so someone wouldn’t get the wrong impression.
A couple-three points:
a)
I just finished INTO THE CANNIBALS POT by Mercer.
The book describes the collapse of Afrika from marx believers.
b)
Now, onto Napoleon and the French defeat by Wellington.
Waterloo, as the name implies, was a swamp.
French artillery could not maneuver effectively.
Why was Waterloo extra swampy that season?
In the South Pacific, a decade of volcanic eruptions created a longer, and therefore wetter, rainy season.
Some records indicate Europe had no summer for several years, with snow and freezes during the usual hot spells.
c)
Speculation abounds about the intriguing timing of simultaneous volcanic eruptions.
Some historians claim a major contributing factor was an extended Solar Minimum.
Our star is expected to exhibit an extended Solar Minimum starting July 2020.
Ol’ Remus and his WoodPileReport disappeared just prior to this latest Solar Minimum… right after an extra helping of his standard warning to ‘avoid crowds’.
Coincidence?
I think not!
Yes. I find the cult of climate stasis hilarious.
Yes! If we do this, that, and the other thing to human and our livestock’s carbon-emissions, we can thwart the sun itself.
Riggggggghhhhhht.
Ms. Mercer and I follow each other on GAB. I read that book several years ago – The Mrs. then followed. Very interesting from someone who lived it.
Yes, I think Solar Minimum will be coming, and that always leads to . . . more wars. I miss seeing Remus. I hope he’s doing well.
…that time in the day when you’ve finished work, and can kick back with WW&W.
Cheers!
Why, thank you! I feel the same way about getting time to visit the Tempest!!!!
“Immediately after the Napoleonic wars, the Illuminati assumed that all the nations were so destitute and so weary of wars that they’d be glad for any solution, so the Rothschild stooges set up what they called the Congress in Vienna and at that meeting they tried to create the first League of Nations, their first attempted one-world government, on the theory that all the crowned heads of European governments were so deeply in debt to them that they would willingly or unwillingly serve as their stooges. But the Czar of Russia caught the stench of the plot and completely torpedoed it. The enraged Nathan Rothschild, then the head of the dynasty, vowed that some day he or his descendants would destroy the Czar and his entire family, and his descendants did accomplish that very threat in 1917. “
The Rothschild family hasn’t had to look under the couch for spare change in a long, long time.
Really, Mr. Wilder, you should like that Limey money. (The old-time version, anyway.) Pounds, pence, ha’pence, shillings, guineas, half-crowns, crowns … all related by weird conversion factors. Like inches, feet, yards, rods, furlongs, fathoms, and ells. Real patriotic red-white-and-blue USA money, by contrast, is mostly decimal in character. The penny is a centi-dollar, the dime a deci-dollar … it has a, uhhh, what’s the word? Yes, a metric flavor, no? Oui, oui!
Sorry … couldn’t resist!
You’re right! I stand corrected.
It’s not always easy to find out who benefits. For instance, a month or so ago I wanted to find out who benefited from the various drugs being pushed by the elite as to coronavirus. One of the companies being heavily pushed as having a potential vaccine is Novavax (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8357497/Novavax-launches-coronavirus-vaccine-test-humans.html). Novavax has benefited from a cash infusion from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovation founded by billionaire Bill Gates. But who owns Novavax? According to one source, it is owned by a company called Avenir Corp (https://formthirteen.com/holdings/novavax-inc-670002104). Avenir is an investment management company. (http://www.avenircorp.com). And there the trail goes cold for me because the company is privately held by its principal managers.
Another drug that was pushed heavily was remdesivir. U.S. taxpayers funded much of the development of this drug, but the federal government does not own the patents. (https://www.chron.com/business/article/Taxpayers-paid-to-develop-remdesivir-but-will-15296173.php). The company that owns the patents is Gilead Sciences Inc., which is, in turn, owned by RA Capital Management, according to one source. (https://formthirteen.com/holdings/gilead-sciences-inc-375558103). So, another investment management firm. But, interestingly, it has only 4 clients. (https://whalewisdom.com/filer/ra-capital-management-llc#tabadv_ownership_tab_link). However, per CNN, Gilead is owned by a variety of institutional investors, but the most active in purchasing shares was Capital Research and Management Co., another investment management firm. (https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=GILD&subView=institutional). Capital is part of a closely held group of investment companies, and is one of the oldest and well financed of such companies. (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_Group_Companies) (see also https://sec.report/CIK/0000017283 and https://sec.report/Document/0000732812-20-000016/). [As a side note, one of the big-wigs at Capital is Robert W. Lovelace, who also sits on the board of the California Community Foundation–one of the many groups pushing the current “systemic racism” trope. (https://www.calfund.org/about-ccf/board-of-directors/robert-lovelace/)].
There is an interesting connection between Novavax and Gilead: George Soros briefly owned a large number of shares of both companies in 2016. (https://www.biospace.com/article/2-biotech-stocks-billionaire-investor-b-george-soros-b-dumped-should-you-/).
To me, it’s shocking how hard it is to find out who owns what and who funds what. The webs are deep.