Seriously vs Literally

On this day:

1879
Anglo-Zulu War: Battle of Rorke’s Drift – 139 British soldiers successfully defend their garrison against an intense assault by four to five thousand Zulu warriors.
1917
World War I: President Woodrow Wilson of the still-neutral United States calls for “peace without victory” in Europe.
1968
Apollo 5 lifts off carrying the first Lunar module into space.
1973
The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decision in Roe v. Wade, legalizing elective abortion in all fifty states.
1987
Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself during a televised press conference, leading to debates on boundaries in journalism.

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“They say it is better to be poor and happy than rich and miserable, but how about a compromise like moderately rich and just moody?”--Diana

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There’s been an ongoing general diversification away from US assets, especially by global central banks, according to Ray Dalio, the founder of hedge fund firm Bridgewater Associates.
“When you look at gold being up 67%, it’s not a precious metal that goes up 60%,” Dalio told Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua in Davos on Thursday. “It was bought by central banks particularly, but others, and in order to diversify fiat currencies, not just dollars.” 

This is indicative of serious anxiety among big money. Maybe this is the reason European leaders cry during interviews.

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"lilliputian hallucinations" – the psychiatric term for the perception of tiny human, animal or fantasy figures. It is so named after the small people who inhabit the fictional Lilliput Island in the novel Gulliver's Travels. It is specific — and consistent — to certain mushrooms. Or looking at Congress.

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Is this excitement over the Minnesota fraud 'news'? Is there something unique here? Suddenly, this is taken seriously? Does this imply that we can no longer afford this voracious abuse?

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Lutnick's speech at Davos was clarifying. It would be interesting to hear how the Carney insight translates into a future of debased currency, exporting manufacturing, and importing people who hate you. 

No wonder the European leaders cry.

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Seriously vs Literally

Trump publicly boasted that “drug prices are falling at levels never seen before, 500%, 600%, 700%, and more” in a Truth Social post. The greatest anyone has ever seen. ...no one has ever seen before...bad things will happen, very bad...not seen since...

Exaggeration on the edge of nonsense.

These are all from Trump's "seriously but not literally" file, a peculiar style that might be a way of calling attention to things he knows will not be treated fairly in the press. He certainly spends a lot of time and effort trying to put the question to the harassment and slander of the past. And he adopts the language of his enemies. People call him a nazi, he returns with 'moron' and "the worst in history."

In fairness, it is hard to believe his presidency is always a source of ridicule and criticism while the Biden Regency, its enablers, and the party responsible for the fraud are rarely even mentioned.

Transparency can be just foolishness. Hyperbole might focus attention, but at some point, it becomes engulfed in the same political exaggerated insincerity that makes people turn their minds off and retreat into cynicism. 

And, of course, there is the risk of misunderstanding. Or it can morph into uncertain symbolism. Sometimes forthrightness can be a ploy. Remember, the U.S. sending a female ambassador to Iraq-- a curious decision--was said to be understood by Hussein as the U.S. turning a blind diplomatic eye toward his ambitions in Kuwait.

And what happens if his audience does not remember? Or hates him so much they don't care? Does that turn him into a blowhard? Is his harping on the Nobel instructive or petty?