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Monday, 7 November 2011

Monday Mopsies...........




CME "clarifies​" things..............from Rico

CME has "clarified" possibly the worst memo it has ever released (the late Fri evening 1:1 margin). They really meant to say they were LOWERING all margins.
No kidding.
They just had a very crappy way of saying it, I guess. The memo sure didn't "read" that way.

So, Monday we'll see every Tom, Dick and Benny able to take on MORE risk for about 30% less cost.

Yeah, in the wake of MF Global's collapse, THAT makes a lot of sense.
Gotta love more of the Chicago way!!


Video: Dream Grid Cars, Goodwood Breakfast Club 5th Anniversary Event.

Why Lindsay Lohan's Posing Nude for Playboy

See: "Explaining the Lindsay Lohan Playboy Photoshoot."

If you were a boy growing up in the late ’50s or early ’60s, the Playboy centerfold pages were a breath-catching revelation: they were the first — and for years, most likely the only — glimpse you were apt to get of an actual naked female. Now we live in an age when nothing is left to the imagination...

Sunday, 6 November 2011

Not Cannes, nor Greece, but CME goes "nuclear".............from Rico

I'm betting that this Lehman Event went pretty much unnoticed and unremarked upon.

No surprise that nothing came out of Cannes Friday, nor from Greece. Those farces continue unabated.
- BUT the CME went "nuclear" (after everyone had gone home and was on their third martini) effective COB on Friday Nov 4th, making the Maintenance Margin (traditionally 26% lower than the Initial Margin for Spec's) equal for EVERYTHING. See attached.

So?

By COB on Monday Nov 7th, millions of options and futures holders will be forced to deposit hundreds of billions with CME to avoid margin calls.
- This is already nothing short of a margin call since it is unlikely that this amount of liquidity can actually be raised in one business day, and forced liquidations of margin accounts in the US and the World can be expected. Systematic interbank liquidity is currently non-existant for Banks in EUrope and the US.

Monday will be an extremely unhappy day for many people. Heads up!


Hidden Wounds: A Soldier's Burden

Fiction!

Confession time - GsGf hardly has time for fakebelieve lit - Wizards, Hoboes and Orcs - whee - so what?

To be fair - some of the make it up as you go chiz hath merit - 007 stuff, the Dorian Gray tale, Animal Farm and Taming American Power can certainly serve to fire up the neurons und nuetrik, and help develop memes and counter memes to boring assetted incorrect handwringing and general doofusness in general or avalanching uber hot brainiac bona fides.

And then Nate Brookshire sent me an autographed copy of Hidden Wounds: A Soldier's Burden.

It's essential reading and ya need to put it on your must read list TODAY

Nate and Marius Tecoana deliver a power dual tale that highlights combat's post trauma syndrone in a way that is compelling and haunting.

Modern day - an ancient Army combat veteran of WWII in Europa, Korea and Viet Namn struggles with more than the VA and his dearest son's repeated deployments in the new millennium - John Dougall keeps a horrific secret sin close to his heart that ravages his mind and body far more than the three predators of time, old wounds and old age.

Flashback to NSDAP time Deutschland's wild wack Drang Nach Osten - the Russian Ost Front campaign - sliding through the ice covered steppe roads into the fir forests, vertical cliffs and snowcapped Elbrus of the Caucasas a crew of knight errants onboard a panzer IV fight their way into Nalchik.


Led by young Rudi Haas, the intrepid panzerwaffe crew survive the double Soviet encirclement of Stalingrad, literally walking out just in time to re sortee into battle with mad ad hoc desperate kampf gruppen to desperately try to stymie the Russian juggernaut and fight at mythical Prokhorovka. Xferred from one end of Das Dritten Reich's shrink shrink shrinking battle frontiers of the East to Westfront.

The Epic Fail of the Ardennes Offensive left Rudi with a massive wartime journal/diary with the love and lives of his comrades and his sweetheart Carla - a Wehrmacht nurse whose overran unit fell into Bolshevik clutches.

 As 3rd Reich dies kicking and screaming in an orgy of blood, pulverized cities and organized violence on a Hitlerian scale, Rudi leads his men in their last mission - to surrender to Patton's 3rd Army. Expecting captivity, interrogation and ultimate release, instead they are machine gunned down in murderous cold blood by the older squad mates of a young PVT John Dougall.

Killing surrendering combatants is unthinkable - shocking that American GI's - who knew Victory was nigh - would commit such atrocities.

Leading the reader on a time scape of six decades, the journal surfaces again and again - taken as booty by PVT Dougall - it's soul crushing weight finally grants him one last chance for redemption and forgiveness.  

World Famous Carl Prine thinks out loud about "Hidden Wounds: A Soldier's Burden" this way:  

"A timeless study of pain, loss and regret, readers should think of it as a testament to an American military suffering through nearly a decade at war. There's an abiding decency to this novel, animated by the authors' shared strength of character and commitment to help others."

Bedtime Totty..............

Israel's "Mr. Peace" Warns of War.................by Dan Friedman

Telling, coming as it does from the dean of Israel’s doves (and a key player in the development of Israel’s nuclear weapons program.

Strike on Iran more likely than diplomatic solution, Peres says

Dan Friedman
NYC

Time to Rid the Streets of the "Occupy" Movement



By Alan Caruba

Is there any doubt left in the minds of observers of the Occupy Wall Street movement tends toward violence and is in need of control? The mayors of the cities—some seventy at last count—that are being occupied need to crack down on it.

Not all agree, of course. Among the list of the Occupy movement are the following organizations and individuals that have expressed support or sympathy:

Communist Party, USA
American Nazi Party
Revolutionary Communist Party
Industrial Workers of the World
International Bolshevik Tendency
International Socialist Organization
Marxist Student Union
Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Party for Socialism and Liberation
President Barack Obama
Vice President Joe Biden
Former House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi
The Revolutionary Guards of Iran
Communist Party of China
Louis Farrakhan, National of Islam
Black Panthers

There are others but they all have commonalities, not the least of which is a belief in Communism, they are representative of the American Far Left, and have an affinity for class and racial warfare.

There is nothing to recommend its supporters and considerable reason to take action against the movement that claims to be leaderless, but which has already been granted a tax-exempt status as it continues to collect a large bankroll.

As Lincoln pointed out, ‘The Constitution is not a suicide pact” and this nation fought a Civil War to ensure that the Union would remain intact. Thus, appeals to freedom of speech have their limits when it comes to efforts to undermine and destroy the nation. The free speech argument has been the initial fall-back position of some mayors, but it is rapidly wearing thin.

No doubt, Mayor Bloomberg of New York has been hoping that the dropping temperature as we advance toward winter will have the salutary affect of causing the occupiers of Zuccotti Park to leave. In a cash-strapped city, the millions in overtime and other costs do not justify his forbearance, but the Mayor is a liberal so his inaction is understandable. Mayors of other cities under siege have responded timidly for the most part.

As a student of history, I recall the hippie movement of the 1960s, the famed Haight-Ashbury refuge in San Francisco, and other places where a disaffected and unhappy youth gathered to “tune out” and listen to speeches about the Vietnam War and other grievances. In general, they did not engage in violence because their focus was on drugs and “free love.”


The Occupy movement is a different animal. The object of its anger is Wall Street, banks, capitalism, and the current  economic distress. One group, OurTime.org, “a non-profit organization standing up for Americans under 30”, noted that the October jobs report “reveals that young Americans hold a 15.4% unemployment rate, which marks the eighth straight month that the 18-24 demographic…”

Their anger would be better directed against a federal government that is responsible for the 2008 collapse of the housing market and major banking, investment and insurance companies, many of which were bailed out by Congress using the funds of taxpayers, the real 99%.

The youth have cause to be unhappy, but they would be better informed if they understood how poorly they have been served by a debased national educational system and indebtedness brought about by universities that thrive off the student-loan system underwritten by the federal government. Their ignorance of this and so much more is both understandable and deplorable.

You don't solve unemployment by embracing tyranny.

Further back in history, one recalls the mobs that brought down the Weimar Republic in Germany and opened the doors to the Nazi movement. Earlier, mobs led by Bolsheviks deposed the Russian czar and imposed some seventy years of Communist control there. It is not surprising, therefore, that so many communist organizations and nations support the Occupy movement or that Wall Street is its target.

In time we shall learn who the organizers of this “spontaneous” movement truly have been, but for now public safety must be asserted to rid Zuccotti Park of this gang of “useful idiots” and wherever else they show up.

There no longer is any excuse to tolerate them and plenty of communist groups who will welcome them or, if the message of “change” put forth by Barack Obama is more closely examined, they can join the Democratic Party and continue its long history of destroying the nation’s economy.

© Alan Caruba, 2011

Song:

Kelly McFarling @ Chasing The Moon 02.28.10 from Scott McDowell on Vimeo.



H/T Canis 61

Bonus Babe..............

Pic Dump.................
















Sunday Brunch: How-To Make French Toast With Savannah

Cartoon Round Up....





Video: The European Air Arms Race 1935 - 1939 part 1 of 2



Part 2

H/T Nebraska Bob


H/T Pete H

A single picture that explains "Occupy Wall Street"


H/T Shelly

Video: The Democratic Progressive Party Sees "Blacks" as "Useful Idiots"



H/T Shelly

Fresh look at the 99%..............from Rico

I liked this "fresh look" at the 99%.

I think it may be very representative, and it is NOT mutually exclusive with membership in the Communist Party USA, ACORN, or any of the other anti-American loser entities ( including Hugo Chavez & Obama-Soetoro) that have thrown their support behind what they 'claim' to be the 99% in their "progressive" wet-dreams, but if they were in REALITY it would call for immediate and repeated 'snake & nape' strikes within our perimeter to disinfect the place...

I can hear the radio crackling now:
"Red leg, red leg! Commies inside the wire! All available tubes unload on my position now!"


The Sunday Best.........

We are not in a depression .... we are on the edge of a faithfully pursued leftist oblivion ...

“Wake Up and Smell the Latte” « Neptunus Lex

Mapping Violence in Iraq

Hell on Wheels

The Gingrich / Cain Debate

Blue at heart: Blue Angels lead solo Lt. Cmdr. Ben Walborn

OWS: Return of the Useful Idiots

‘Red Dragons’ deliver humanitari​an supplies: Battery commanders strengthen internatio​nal relationsh​ips

Rule 5 Saturday Night: Adriana Lima

Saudi King Abdullah names Prince Salman new defense chief

PressTV - Obama using wars as election strategy

THE SEDUCTIVE BEAUTY AND HORROR OF WASHINGTON

Obama went to France while in college?

The Euro elite are totally out of touch with the modern world

Europe's democratic deficit grows wider by the day

Britain faces new isolation threat from eurozone 'caucus'

Greece at 'point of no return', says key politician

American Way: A funny thing happened on the way to the Herman Cain lynching

British woman sues Portuguese after being wrongly strip-searched and jailed under EU arrest warrant

Village for sale - yours for £6.5 million

China's huge leap forward into space threatens US ascendancy over heavens

Libya dispatch: as lawlessness spreads, are the rebel 'good guys' turning bad?

Gun and bomb attacks in Nigeria kill 30

'The Common Currency Endgame Has Begun'

Corporate Collaborators

Benghazi: A Sea of Al-Qaeda Flags

A Terrorist Released

Christian Churches Read Quran from Pulpits across America

finally...........

Constitutional Power in Wartime

CDR Salamander​: Sunday Funnies

Managing MOPE..............from Rico

One positively needs wings to stay above the official bullsh*t.

One way to manage MOPE [management of perception economics] in addition to 'cooking' the books, is to simply LIE.

Unemployment near 9.1%? Both a lie, and utter BS.

www.ShadowStats.com (SGS) balances the MOPE. using the 'old' way of calculating the 'offishul' statistics versus the 'new' way, here is what you get:

Oct unemployment (U) is 9.1% officially, but 22.9% @ SGS.

Who is 'full' of it?

Sunday Totty.............




Saturday, 5 November 2011

Occupy Boston Occupies Israeli Consulate: VIDEO

But of course, it's not anti-Semitic or anything.

See: "Israeli Consulate Occupied in Boston."

Swing States Poll: Obama's Path to Second Term an Uphill Climb

It's uphill, but perhaps the economy's getting better. Unemployment declined just a bit in the latest report, so you never know. I still think Obama's toast.

See: "Swing States Pose Obstacles to Obama's Reelection."

Occupy DC Goons Storm Koch Brothers 'American Dream' Summit: VIDEO

See: "Violent Occupy DC Protests at Koch Brothers Americans for Prosperity Summit."

PREVIOUSLY: "Goons From 'Occupy Wall Street' Storm Americans for Prosperity 'Dream Summit'."

Additional video at those links.

Victoria's Secret Hotties: Holiday Angels 2011

Cross-posted: "Holiday Angels 2011 — Victoria's Secret":

Saturday Night is Bath Night.............

Weekend @ Wings Over Iraq

 Starbuck is GsGf's Vertical Envelopment Advisor (he also sometimes gigs on the Board of Directors) is the world famous Starbuck from Wings Over Iraq. Often nom d'voyage'd Army Major Burke - he's written choice mindcandy in Small Wars Journal, Wired.com's "Danger Room", FoPo Online, the Guardian, DOD's "Early Bird", Army's "Stand-to" and GsGf, while providing clear, timely communications and clarifications to New York Times not to mention hanging out with lesser mortals at times via the Best Blog on Earth.

Major B graciously consented to consort with Uncle Theo via his fangrrls with Weekend @ WoI - here's a few teazes...

 Iran Pushes Mideast Into Crisis - Nat'l Post

Why Cause Hawks Care About Iran Now? - FoPo Online

China Needs a New Foreign Policy - East Asia Forum

What Does China's Aircraft Carrier Tell Us?  - SSI

Check the rest with Misty (here too) and Courtney (here too) from GsGf

EFF YOU JESSE VENTURA

"I will never stand for national anthem again. I will turn my back and I will raise fist . . ." - Jesse Ventura







You know what you are, Jesse Ventura? You're a Whiner, a Cry Baby, and worse . . .



. . . . . . . . . . . . STORMBRINGER calls out the former Governor of Minnesota.

WoW!

WoW - the Watchers Council - it's the oldest, longest running cyber comte d'guere ensembe in existence - an eclective collective of cats both cruel and benign with their ability to put steel on target (figuratively - natch) on a wide variety of topictry across American, Allied, Frenemy and Enemy concerns, memes, delights and discourse.

Every week these cats hook up each other with hot hits and big phazed cookies to peruse and then vote on their individual fancy catchers.

And now - without further adieu or a don't

Council Winners

Non-Council Winners

See you next week! And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter

This is how Ice Ages begin



By Robert W. Felix
November 4, 2011
http://iceagenow.info/

Look at this weekend’s Halloween snowstorm. Headlines across the U.S.A. called it “historic.” Historic because it dumped record snowfall on at least 20 cities from Maryland to Maine. Historic because it was the most snow – and the earliest – in many areas since the end of the Civil War.

And we’re not talking mere tenths-of-an-inch here. This snowfall shattered the old records, it obliterated them.

The 14.6 inches of snow that fell in Worcester, Mass., almost doubled its previous single-day October record of 7.5 inches set in 1979, while Hartford’s 12.3 inches crushed the previous single-day October record of 1.7 inches, seven times more than its earlier record.

But with 32 inches (81 cm) of snow, Peru, Massachusetts, won the prize. Two-and-a-half feet! Waist deep! Before Halloween!

This is how ice ages begin.

Not by huge glaciers slowly grinding out of the north, not by temperatures plunging to Siberian levels, but by more and more snow.

Unfortunately, we’re getting that snow.

According to Rutgers University Global Snow Lab, three of the four snowiest winters in the Northern Hemisphere have occurred in the last four years.

Three of the four snowiest Northern Hemisphere winters have occurred since 2008. http://climate.rutgers.edu/snowcover/chart_seasonal.php?ui_set=nhland&ui_season=1

Look at last winter.

Last year’s blizzard-filled winter and unusually cold, wet spring left record snowpack at more than 90 measuring sites across the western United States.

By Memorial Day, epic snowpack had been reported in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and California.

On California’s Mammoth Mountain, the snowpack measured an incredible 728 percent of normal.

At Oregon’s Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort, snow totals reached 650 inches, far eclipsing the previous record of 606 inches.

In Washington, Crystal Mountain broke its all-time snowfall record for the second time in only 11 years.

And the snow kept coming. In early June, Utah’s Snowbird ski resort reported snowpack at 525 percent of normal

“There are places on the mountain that will probably retain snow all summer long,” said Emily Moench, Sunbird’s communications manager.

Read that again. “There are places on the mountain that will probably retain snow all summer long”!

This is how ice ages begin!

And lest we forget, just a few months ago the Missouri River suffered its second 500-year flood in 15 years. Why? Because of heavy rains and melting record snowpack.

But the news gets even worse.

Glaciers are growing in the United States.

Even though last winter’s historic snowpack has not yet melted, new snow is already piling up in the Rocky Mountains.

In Montana’s Glacier National Park, in Colorado’s Front Range, in Wyoming’s Grand Tetons, the glaciers and snowfields are actually gaining volume.

When Bob Comey, director of the Bridger-Teton National Forest Avalanche Center, compared photographs of Wyoming mountain peaks, he found “significantly” more ice in the Teton Range compared with two years ago.

“I’ve never seen a season with a gain like we’ve seen this summer,” said Comey.

And when scientist Nel Caine checked on Arikaree Glacier 20 miles west of Boulder, Colorado, he measured between 2 and 3 feet of snow from last winter and spring still remaining in late September.

Meanwhile, scientists have measured a “very modest” increase on Sperry Glacier in Montana’s Glacier National Park.

Mind you, these are not the only glaciers growing in the United States. Glaciers are also growing in California, Alaska and Washington state.

This is how ice ages begin.

And our leaders keep screaming about global warming.

# # # # #

Editor's Note: This applies to the UK as well and, of course, the entire northern hemisphere.
-- Alan Caruba

Cartoon Round Up....





Bonus Babe............