Welcome To The World Of 'Wag The Dog': The Tale Of The Digitally Rendered Drone

OS had the joy of seeing a broadcast of the wickedly funny movie 'Wag The Dog' last week. Dustin Hoffman is simply brilliant as the Hollywood producer hired to save a US President's political career (a thinly disguised reference to Bill Clinton) by staging an imaginary war, which of course was won by us, the Good Guys. 

The movie has always been a favorite, but oddly comforting in its way, because after all, it's fiction.

Right?

Fast forward about fifteen years, and we have this insightful bit from The Atlantic, recounting how the iconic image of a drone firing a missile that we see everywhere is actually a piece of fiction, rendered by a clever designer in digital domain, in complete innocence.

The article is a good read. There is no skulduggery attached, no conspiracy here, nothing of that sort.

But just like 'Wag The Dog', it is an object lesson: We so often see what we think we see. We glance, come to a conclusion about what we have viewed, and move on along to the next item of business in our day.  We are all pressed for time, and can end up making momentous decisions in just moments, based upon what may or may not be accurate information.

In a world saturated with images and sounds, with little bits of news and info here and there, it is very easy to get 'snookered'. There are people (not the graphic designer Mr. Hahn) with malice in their hearts who know this fact, and make use of it. The deceptively edited audio of recording of the 911 call of George Zimmerman that figures so heavily in the Travon Martin tragedy is one small example.

A warning is wrapped in every Object Lesson: Be aware, be prudent, this could very easily happen to you. Why is this person or organization attempting to push or pull you in one direction or another?

Is what you are looking at/hearing/being told, actually true?

The Great Cyprus Haircut: Going After Depositers To 'Save The System'

Reuters carries a polite account of what is about to happen to the citizenry:

In a radical departure from previous aid packages, euro zone finance ministers want Cyprus savers to forfeit a portion of their deposits in return for a 10 billion euro ($13 billion) bailout for the island, which has been financially crippled by its exposure to neighboring Greece.

The decision, announced on Saturday morning, stunned Cypriots and caused a run on cash points, most of which were depleted within hours. Electronic transfers were stopped.

The originally proposed levies on deposits are 9.9 percent for those exceeding 100,000 euros and 6.7 percent on anything below that.


Say what? The proposal is to keep the stockholders and bondholders of the banks and sovereign debt 
intact by administering a haircut to small depositors. This will not go over well...

To be noted: As always, news like this is announced after the end of business hours on Friday. And Monday is a bank holiday. If you live on Cyprus and have a bank account there, well, it sucks to be you.  Of course, if you were among those privy to the news ahead of time, there was plenty of time to get out of Dodge, get your funds tucked away in Switzerland, and wait for things to come unwound around you while you have a wad of cash in your pocket. Distressed people end up selling distressed assets for a couple of dimes on the dollar. In that case, it's sweet to be you.

Of course, all those folks in places like Greece, Spain, Italy, France, Ireland, Protugal--they're watching this like a hawk. They know if the central bankers get away with this, they're next.

Therefore, short-term, OS expects the T-bill to go to a negative rate of interest, as people will actually pay Uncle Sam a fee to hold their cash for them.

The US stock market will get a new influx of hot money, as those who can get their money out will park it there as well.

Gold and silver will move a leg up, and...

there will be unrest on a lot of high streets in a lot of towns all over Europe.

Chin-straps on.