Squaring the circle of falling bond yields and rising gold.
When 'real' interest rates are stuck at zero, and when 'risk-free' cash pays a guaranteed loss, gold (and silver) are monetized.
It is (was) never inflation alone that drives people to buy or sell a lump of rare, indestructible metal. It is the rate of return offered by cash and bonds (which are better stores of wealth - all things being equal - over and above inflation).
Today's Fed non-event/decision (and beyond) means that:
- Holding cash-on-deposit guarantees a loss of real value.
- The opportunity cost of holding gold (or silver)...the interest you'd otherwise receive on cash...is absent.
Take shelter from the coming storm.
Friday, 25 June 2010
Shelter from the storm...............from RIco
STORMBRINGER INTERVIEWS DAVID FRUM
Dave and I both are very busy people . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . STORMBRINGER
Governor Jan Brewer Letter to President Barack Obama on Border Security
I've posted this viddy before, but considering the ongoing debate, it's even more hilarious.
Check KOLD News 13 Phoenix, "Brewer to Obama: Let's See Specifics on Border Plan":
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer is telling President Barack Obama that she's anxious for details on how his administration's plans to tighten border security will apply toThe letter's at the link above, and from the Governor's office, "Letter from Governor Janice K. Brewer to President Barack Obama."
Arizona.
Brewer tells Obama in a letter released Thursday that she'd like specifics on National Guard deployments and other steps to be taken in Arizona before a planned Monday visit to Phoenix by Obama administration officials to discuss his plans.
The meeting is an outgrowth of Brewer's June 3 visit to the White House where she and Obama discussed border security and immigration.
The Republican governor also renews her invitation to have the Democratic president visit the U.S.-Mexico border to get a firsthand look at conditions. And she says lunch would be on her.
Cross-posted from American Power.
Thomas Ricks on the Tradition of Firing Generals Who Get Out of Line
At NYT, "Lose a General, Win a War." Not enough heads roll at the top level of the military, apparently:
Back in World War II, the Army had no qualms about letting officers go; at least 16 of the 155 generals who commanded divisions in combat during the war were relieved while in combat. George Marshall, the nation’s top general, felt that a willingness to fire subordinates was a requirement of leadership. He once described Gen. Hap Arnold, chief of the Army Air Forces, as a fine man, but one who “didn’t have the nerve to get rid of men not worth a damn.”Cross-posted from American Power.
Marshall had plenty of nerve: in 1940 and ’41, as war loomed, he forced into retirement several hundred officers he deemed too old and slow to be effective. When the commandant at Leavenworth, Brig. Gen. Charles Bundel, told him that updating the complete set of Army training manuals would take 18 months, Marshall offered him three months, and then four months, to do the job. It can’t be done, Bundel twice responded.
“You be very careful about that,” Marshall told him in a telephone conversation.
“No, it can’t be done,” Bundel repeated.
“I’m sorry, then you are relieved,” Marshall said.
Thursday, 24 June 2010
'Tax and Trade' and the fall of Kevin Rudd
Its been a tough week for Kevin Rudd. First his country’s soccer side was bounced unceremoniously out of the world cup. At the same time the non-soccer loving nation of the US not only went through, but topped their group. But for Rudd this was not the worst of the week.
Via: The Examiner
Obama's Statement on McChrystal and Afghanistan
As promised yesterday, here's the clip of the Rose Garden announcement:
Cross-posted from American Power.
News.........
And Obama's choice to replace General Stanley McChrystal is...
Chinese Navy Steaming for Oakland!
Judge Robert Bork Blasts Elena Kagan
Pensions shake-up could see most people working into their seventies
General David Petraeus is the only man who can save the surge strategy in Afghanistan
There is plenty of oil and gas in the world
Iraq power failures trigger fatal riots
European anger as Russia-Belarus 'gas war' hits supplies
Chavez pushes Venezuela into food war
and finally......
Australians shoot each other in backside 'to see if it would hurt'
Real Chance For Afghanistan?
Murders (per capita) (most recent) by country
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Information about Gonorrhea Lectim
The Center for Disease Control has issued a warning about a new virulent strain of this old disease. The disease is called Gonorrhea Lectim. It's pronounced "Gonna re-elect 'em," and it is a terrible obamanation.
The disease is contracted through dangerous and high risk behavior involving putting your cranium up your rectum. Many victims contracted it in 2008...but now most people, after having been infected for the past 1-2 years, are starting to realize how destructive this sickness is.
It's sad because Gonorrhea Lectim is easily cured with a new drug just coming on the market called Votemout. You take the first dose in 2010 and the second dose in 2012 and simply don't engage in such behavior again; otherwise, it could become permanent and eventually wipe out all life as we know it.
Several states are already on top of this, like Virginia, New Jersey and Massachusetts , with many more seeing the writing on the wall.
H/T Paul B
What's it gonna be?........from Rico
I think it will be a combination of things, not just one thing. A "mix" of things lies ahead.
- Default on promises to pay back debt, to pay social entitlements. We cannot pay for everything we have 'promised' to pay for, and will default on some of them.
- Raise taxes. Even if we taxed everyone and everything at 100% it would not be enough to cover the bill that's coming due. Be assured of one thing, however. Your taxes are gonna go up, and keep going up.
- Sell-off assets. Remember the failed Dubai Port deal? Selling land, ports, resources, toll roads, etc to foreign entities and corporations will have to happen to raise cash.
- Inflate away the debt. Yeah, we'll keep the nominal Dollar, but devalue it to fractions in order to pay back all of our debt with Monopoly money.
- Innovation. Whatever it is, nanotechnology, whatever, we are a very creative and inventive species. We will innovate, which is good news. It will NOT be enough to pull our chestnuts out of this debt fire, which is the bad news.
Americans Sour on Obama, Incumbents, Poll Finds
At WSJ:
Americans are more pessimistic about the state of the country and less confident in President Barack Obama's leadership than at any point since Mr. Obama entered the White House, according to a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.RTWT.
The survey also shows grave and growing concerns about the Gulf oil spill, with overwhelming majorities of adults favoring stronger regulation of the oil industry and believing that the spill will affect the nation's economy and environment.
Sixty-two percent of adults in the survey feel the country is on the wrong track, the highest level since before the 2008 election. Just one-third think the economy will get better over the next year, a 7-point drop from a month ago and the low point of Mr. Obama's tenure.
Amid anxiety over the nation's course, support for Mr. Obama and other incumbents is eroding. For the first time, more people disapprove of Mr. Obama's job performance than approve. And 57% of voters would prefer to elect a new person to Congress than re-elect their local representatives, the highest share in 18 years.
The results show "a really ugly mood and an unhappy electorate," said Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who conducts the Journal/NBC poll with GOP pollster Bill McInturff. "The voters, I think, are just looking for change, and that means bad news for incumbents and in particular for the Democrats."
Cross-posted from American Power.
Discrimination Based on Social Condition?
That title? Yeah, it's kinda off, I know.
But consider the source: Libby Davies, Canadian Member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party. Davies was caught in a recent controversy in which she denied Israel's right to exist. At the American Spectator, Aaron Goldstein calls her "Canada's Helen Thomas." Prime Minister Stephen Harper "demanded that her boss, NDP Leader Jack Layton, fire Ms. Davies."
All of this is pretty emblematic of today's radical left, and what actually got me interested in Ms. Davies is Blazing Cat Fur's post, "Libby Davies ...even more stupid than first thought possible!"
It turns out that Ms. Davies has "introduced two bills in the House of Commons to change the Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to prohibit discrimination against a person based on their social condition."
This bill would amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination on the grounds of social condition. In doing so it would protect from discrimination people who are experiencing social or economic disadvantage, such as adequate housing, homelessness, source of income, occupation, level of education, poverty, or any similar circumstance. As the Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation and many other organizations have pointed out, a person's standing in society is often determined by his or her occupation, income, education level or family background.Pretty unreal, eh?
Check this comment at Roy Eappen's:
Legislation such as this is a grave danger to a free society, grave danger to morals, ethics and commonsense ... they want to eradicate personal reponsibility and place the burden on the fabric of society.All in a day's blogging, I guess.
RELATED: From Darleen Click, "'It is a terrible price society will pay for all the entitlement we have given over to people'":
Cross-posted from American Power.
Obama Fires McChrystal
At NYT, "Obama Relieves McChrystal of Command":
President Obama removed Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal as commander of American forces in Afghanistan on Wednesday, and tapped as his replacement the general’s boss, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the architect of the 2007 surge in Iraq.More at Memeorandum and USA Today. Related updates at The Other McCain.
Mr. Obama, standing with General Petraeus and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the White House Rose Garden to underline the continuity and solidity of his Afghan policy, said that he had regretfully accepted General McChrystal’s resignation.
He said he had done so not out of personal insult, but because a magazine article featuring contemptuous quotes from the general and his staff about senior administration officials had not met standards of behavior for a commanding general, and threatened to undermine civilian control of the military.
“War is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private, a general or president,” Mr. Obama said. “As difficult as it is to lose General McChrystal, I believe it is the right decision for national security.”
RELATED: "McChrystal Apologizes for Rolling Stone Interview."
Cross-posted from American Power.
Wednesday, 23 June 2010
SUPPORT ISRAEL!
London, England
Article in The Times 17 June 2010 by José MarÃa Aznar
Support Israel: if it goes down, we all go down
Anger over Gaza is a distraction. We cannot forget that Israel is the Wests best
ally in a turbulent region
For far too long now it has been unfashionable in Europe to speak up for Israel.
In the wake of the recent incident on board a ship full of anti-Israeli activists in
the Mediterranean, it is hard to think of a more unpopular cause to champion.
In an ideal world, the assault by Israeli commandos on the Mavi Marmara
would not have ended up with nine dead and a score wounded. In an ideal
world, the soldiers would have been peacefully welcomed on to the ship. In an
ideal world, no state, let alone a recent ally of Israel such as Turkey, would
have sponsored and organised a flotilla whose sole purpose was to create an
impossible situation for Israel: making it choose between giving up its security
policy and the naval blockade, or risking the wrath of the world.
In our dealings with Israel, we must blow away the red mists of anger that too
often cloud our judgment. A reasonable and balanced approach should
encapsulate the following realities: first, the state of Israel was created by a
decision of the UN. Its legitimacy, therefore, should not be in question. Israel is
a nation with deeply rooted democratic institutions. It is a dynamic and open
society that has repeatedly excelled in culture, science and technology.
Second, owing to its roots, history, and values, Israel is a fully fledged Western
nation. Indeed, it is a normal Western nation, but one confronted by abnormal
circumstances.
Uniquely in the West, it is the only democracy whose very existence has been
questioned since its inception. In the first instance, it was attacked by its
neighbours using the conventional weapons of war. Then it faced terrorism
culminating in wave after wave of suicide attacks. Now, at the behest of radical
Islamists and their sympathisers, it faces a campaign of delegitimisation
through international law and diplomacy.
Sixty-two years after its creation, Israel is still fighting for its very survival.
Punished with missiles raining from north and south, threatened with
destruction by an Iran aiming to acquire nuclear weapons and pressed upon by
friend and foe, Israel, it seems, is never to have a moments peace.
For years, the focus of Western attention has understandably been on the
peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. But if Israel is in danger today
and the whole region is slipping towards a worryingly problematic future, it is
not due to the lack of understanding between the parties on how to solve this
conflict. The parameters of any prospective peace agreement are clear,
however difficult it may seem for the two sides to make the final push for a
settlement.
The real threats to regional stability, however, are to be found in the rise of a
radical Islamism which sees Israels destruction as the fulfilment of its religious
destiny and, simultaneously in the case of Iran, as an expression of its
ambitions for regional hegemony. Both phenomena are threats that affect not
only Israel, but also the wider West and the world at large.
The core of the problem lies in the ambiguous and often erroneous manner in
which too many Western countries are now reacting to this situation. It is easy
to blame Israel for all the evils in the Middle East. Some even act and talk as if
a new understanding with the Muslim world could be achieved if only we were
prepared to sacrifice the Jewish state on the altar. This would be folly.
Israel is our first line of defence in a turbulent region that is constantly at risk
of descending into chaos; a region vital to our energy security owing to our
overdependence on Middle Eastern oil; a region that forms the front line in the
fight against extremism. If Israel goes down, we all go down
To defend Israels right to exist in peace, within secure borders, requires a
degree of moral and strategic clarity that too often seems to have disappeared
in Europe. The United States shows worrying signs of heading in the same
direction.
The West is going through a period of confusion over the shape of the worlds
future. To a great extent, this confusion is caused by a kind of masochistic selfdoubt
over our own identity; by the rule of political correctness; by a
multiculturalism that forces us to our knees before others; and by a secularism
which, irony of ironies, blinds us even when we are confronted by jihadis
promoting the most fanatical incarnation of their faith. To abandon Israel to its
fate, at this moment of all moments, would merely serve to illustrate how far
we have sunk and how inexorable our decline now appears.
This cannot be allowed to happen. Motivated by the need to rebuild our own
Western values, expressing deep concern about the wave of aggression against
Israel, and mindful that Israels strength is our strength and Israels weakness is
our weakness, I have decided to promote a new Friends of Israel initiative with
the help of some prominent people, including David Trimble, Andrew Roberts,
John Bolton, Alejandro Toledo (the former President of Peru), Marcello Pera
(philosopher and former President of the Italian Senate), Fiamma Nirenstein
(the Italian author and politician), the financier Robert Agostinelli and the
Catholic intellectual George Weigel.
It is not our intention to defend any specific policy or any particular Israeli
government. The sponsors of this initiative are certain to disagree at times
with decisions taken by Jerusalem. We are democrats, and we believe in
diversity.
What binds us, however, is our unyielding support for Israels right to exist and
to defend itself. For Western countries to side with those who question Israels
legitimacy, for them to play games in international bodies with Israels vital
security issues, for them to appease those who oppose Western values rather
than robustly to stand up in defence of those values, is not only a grave moral
mistake, but a strategic error of the first magnitude.
Israel is a fundamental part of the West. The West is what it is thanks to its
Judeo-Christian roots. If the Jewish element of those roots is upturned and
Israel is lost, then we are lost too. Whether we like it or not, our fate is
inextricably intertwined.
José MarÃa Aznar was Prime Minister of Spain, 1996-2004
Video: DEEP & STEEP POWDER RUNS BLACKCOMB OPENING DAY 2009 WHISTLER, BC, CANADA
I really miss skiing.......
Am I the only person to still have a couple of pairs of Hexcels?
Video: Football is For Girls
I hope someone puts together a collection of the best dives of the World Cup.
H/T Filippo
VBS TV: TOXIC: Gulf 1 of 3
As someone’s hopefully told you, for the last month and a half a 2-foot-wide pipe in the Gulf of Mexico has been ejaculating oil to the tune of half a million gallons a day. They went down to Louisiana over Memorial Day to see some of the damage for themselves.
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