Category: General Interest

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“I’ve Never Seen Anything Like This”: One Bullion Dealer Sees A Rupture In Gold And Silver Markets

When silver surged to multi-year highs, veteran bullion dealer Andy Schectman didn’t see just another price move—he saw a rupture in the foundation of the global metals market.

In a wide-ranging interview last week, Schectman argued that what’s happening now represents the physical market finally “calling the bluff” of decades of paper manipulation.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” he began, emphasizing that this was not mere volatility. “Backwardation… shows extreme delivery stress… It’s the market exposing the shortages of physical silver, the frailty of the paper promises.”

For Schectman, “backwardation”—when spot prices exceed futures prices—isn’t just a technical quirk. It’s the alarm bell that the supply of real metal is running thin. He believes the era when investors could comfortably rely on “paper silver” derivatives is ending.

“People have accepted paper promises for a very long time and I think that’s coming to an end,” he said. “This is decisively bullish for silver and other precious metals.”

When asked what’s actually driving this rupture, Schectman pointed to signs of stress that only appear when market structures break down. Spot prices are now higher than future delivery prices—something, he said, “very rare” in silver and “a signal of desperate demand.” Lease rates in London, normally a fraction of a percent, “jumped up over 39%.” The picture he painted was one of panic beneath the surface.

“In London they have a 140 million ounce float, yet they’re trading 600 million ounces a day… There’s over two billion ounces in paper claims out there on a float of 140 million.”

In Schectman’s view, London is the epicenter of a quiet crisis, where years of “rehypothecation”—multiple claims on the same bars—are being exposed. “It’s being called under the carpet,” he warned.

Pressed on what happens when this paper structure breaks, he compared it to a run on a bank. When short sellers can’t find metal to deliver, and borrowing costs soar, margin calls start hitting.

“You’re beginning to see margin calls… they’re not able to get the silver to cover their position,” he said. “That’s when things begin to get very, very, very interesting.”

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/ive-never-seen-anything-one-bullion-dealer-sees-rupture-gold-and-silver-markets

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Laughter, The Best Medicine

Laughter The Best Medicine

  • Laughter therapy reduces anxiety and increases life satisfaction, giving you a natural way to calm your mind and feel more fulfilled
  • Spontaneous laughter lowers cortisol, your main stress hormone, by about one-third, protecting you from stress-related problems like weight gain, weakened immunity, and heart disease
  • Studies show laughter therapy improves sleep, mood, and even reduces inflammation, making it a powerful tool for both mental and physical health
  • Older adults who laugh more often are less likely to develop disability, depression, or insomnia, helping them stay independent and resilient
  • You can use laughter like medicine by scheduling daily laughter sessions, sharing humor with others, and mixing structured approaches like laughter yoga with spontaneous laughter

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/10/18/laughter-therapy-health-benefits.aspx

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Doctors

When I went to the scientific doctor. I realised what a lust there was in him to wreak his so-called science on me and reduce me to the level of a thing. So I said: “Good-morning!” and left him. – D. H. Lawrence

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Quote of the Day

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin – Philosopher (1881 – 1955)

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What Is Your Seat 13?

Hank At Seat 13

At 5:45 a.m. on Route 12, Hank Carter noticed something that changed everything: wet footprints trailing from seat thirteen.

The 57-year-old bus driver had just returned from winter break when a boy climbed aboard late, hoodie up, backpack sagging. The smell hit Hank immediately—yesterday’s shirt, unwashed. He knew it from his own childhood. When the boy stood at school, his socks had bled snowmelt through broken sneakers, leaving a dark stain on the vinyl.

The next morning, Hank arrived early with a brown paper bag: granola bar, milk box, hand warmers, dollar-store socks. He taped a note to it—”For whoever needs it. No questions”—and left it on seat thirteen.

By the final stop, the bag was gone. Folded neat under the seat.

That January morning became a daily ritual. Some days the bag sat untouched. Other days it vanished by the third stop, replaced with notes pressed so hard the pencil nearly tore through: “You saved my morning.” “These socks hug my feet.”

Then something unexpected happened. A girl with perfect hair left chapstick in the bag. A quiet kid added colored pencils. The depot custodian started bringing Ziplocs of cereal. “I remember being fifteen and hungry enough to eat paper,” he told Hank.

In March, fifth-grader Jayden boarded with red eyes, reached for the bag, then stopped. At the last stop, he grabbed it and tapped a smaller kid wearing a cast and a coat two sizes too thin.

“Here,” Jayden said. “It’s for you.”

Hank’s knuckles went white on the steering wheel.

By April, the offerings multiplied. Hot cocoa packets. A bus pass. One note in cursive read: “My son used this seat last month. He’s sleeping better now. Thank you for seeing him.”

On the last day of school, Hank stood and faced the rowdy bus. “Seat thirteen belongs to all of us,” he said, voice shaking. “In the fall, if you need it, it’s yours. If you don’t, help me keep it full.”

They nodded like they understood the rules.

Every August since, Hank packs that bag before dawn. New faces board. The same seat waits. At 6:12 a.m., small hands pass brown paper bags without words. A seat no one owns becomes a promise everyone keeps.

When asked why he does it, Hank shrugs. “You don’t need a program to change a life. You just need a place, a habit, and courage to leave something behind.”

Seat thirteen stays full. So do the kids who need it.

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Tylenol/Panadol: From Painkiller to Empathy Killer

(Tom:
1. Paracetamol and acetaminophen are the same medication: Known as paracetamol in Australia and acetaminophen overseas.
2. In Australia the equivalent to Tylenol is Panadol.)

Empathy-Numbing Drugs

Last week’s historic announcement from HHS and President Trump connecting Tylenol use with the autism epidemic reignited longstanding concerns over Tylenol’s toxicity. For decades, the focus has been on liver damage and accidental overdoses. But the deeper story—the one still hiding in plain sight—is more disturbing: even a single dose of acetaminophen (Tylenol’s active ingredient) measurably blunts human empathy, dulls positive emotions, and increases risk-taking behavior.

This isn’t just a matter of personal health. It’s a social and spiritual crisis. If one-quarter of U.S. adults are taking Tylenol weekly, we may be medicating away our collective capacity for compassion.

Tylenol Blunts Emotions—Good and Bad

In a landmark 2015 Psychological Science study, titled “Over-the-Counter Relief From Pains and Pleasures Alike,” researchers at Ohio State University gave healthy adults a single standard 1,000 mg dose of acetaminophen (Tylenol) and then exposed them to emotionally charged images—ranging from disturbing to uplifting.

The outcome was unambiguous:

  • Disturbing images were rated less negatively.
  • Uplifting images were rated less positively.
  • Across the board, participants reported feeling less emotional arousal, even when viewing the most extreme stimuli.

Brain research helps explain why: acetaminophen dampens activity in the anterior insula and anterior cingulate cortex—regions responsible for processing both physical pain and emotional resonance. These are the same circuits that allow us to feel empathy and to be moved by joy, awe, or sorrownihms703262.

The authors concluded:

“Acetaminophen attenuates individuals’ evaluations and emotional reactions to negative and positive stimuli alike… Rather than being labeled merely a pain reliever, acetaminophen might be better described as an all-purpose emotion reliever.”

https://open.substack.com/pub/sayerji/p/tylenol-from-painkiller-to-empathy

(Tom: I can personally attest to the emotion numbing effects of common medications. In 1995 I was prescribed asthma medication and thereafter felt a noticeably reduced ability to experience emotions. It wasn’t until I did a detox in 2010 that I felt the lid had been lifted off my universe.)

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It’s Your Life- How Will You Use It Well?

Great Jazz Musos

In the summer of 1958, a young photographer named Art Kane had an idea that seemed almost impossible: gather the greatest jazz musicians in the world for one picture. Somehow, he did it.
Fifty-seven legends—Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, and so many more—stood together on a Harlem sidewalk. They weren’t posing stiffly. They were laughing, chatting, leaning on each other. It was just a morning, just a photograph. But it became known as A Great Day in Harlem.
Decades later, in 1996, a handful of survivors gathered again on that same block. The brownstone was still there. The spirit was still there. But most of the faces were missing—gone to time, remembered only in music and memory.
When you see those two photographs side by side, it’s more than history. It’s a reminder. Life moves fast. People slip away. But the love we give, the art we create, the joy we share—those echoes last far longer than we do.
Fifty years from now, most of us won’t be here. But today, we are.
So let’s use it well. Let’s forgive. Let’s laugh. Let’s love—before the moment fades.