Thursday, 4 June 2009
5 Miles A Day ...............
Don't you think it's time we all became more physically active? Beginning June 15th, a few friends & I will be riding 5 miles every day.
If any of you would like to join our Bike Club, please let me know and we can make arrangements.
I think it would be appropriate to ride somewhere between 4:00 and 7:00 pm. We can call it happy hour, and pick you up on the way. Let me know if this works for you.I have attached a photo of my bike.
H/T Shelly
Wednesday, 3 June 2009
Obama In The Middle East
Here's Alan Caruba's take on the US Presidents trip:
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Obama's Magical Muslim Tour
By Alan Caruba
In life as in international affairs the rule is to never show weakness. It tends to awaken a bloodlust and too often leads to the worst outcomes.
In the Arab culture this is especially true. They are a pretty cowardly bunch as people go. Their weapon of choice these days is the suicide bomber; some dimwit who thinks 72 virgins are awaiting him. As 9/11 demonstrated, they have perfected the sneak attack to perfection and, not surprisingly, the word “assassin” comes from Arabic. Arabs prefer to wage war on the weak and that usually means each other.
They tried destroying Israel in 1948, 1967, and 1973. They failed. They were especially unhappy with the protection and friendship America extended, but now they have less reason to be unhappy. They have, they suspect, a Muslim in the White House. A lot of other people suspect that as well.
They have spent decades using their fellow Arabs, the so-called Palestinians, as a wedge to pry loose land from Israel in exchange for a peace that never occurs.
The Israelis withdrew from southern Lebanon in May 2000. Hezbollah made war on them from southern Lebanon in 2006. The Israelis withdrew from the Gaza strip in 2005. Hamas used it as a platform for 10,000 rockets, an act of war punished in recent months. One wonders how Hamas found the time when they weren’t making war on Fatah, another Palestinian group.
Other acts of Arab “courage” include Iraq’s Saddam Hussein using poison gas against an Iraqi village of Kurds. When not slaughtering other Iraqis, he waged war against Iran for eight fruitless years, settling for a truce. Then he invaded Kuwait. And people keep wondering why, after chasing the Taliban out of Afghanistan, George W. Bush decided that the Middle East would be better off without Saddam Hussein. If you ask the Saudis or the Gulf State sheiks, they would agree.
They would also agree that their next big problem is not the United States, nor Israel, but Iran. Iran is composed mainly of Persians, not Arabs, and of Shiites, the minority sect of Islam where the Sunnis are used to calling the shots. Rumor has it the Persians have a low opinion of Arabs.
As for Muslims in general, ask any nation where they have or begin to gain a majority population status and you will discover a combination of antipathy and fear. Arab Muslims always insist on their rules, not yours. They neither trust, nor like each other much.
Israel knows how essential it is to show no weakness. Bibi Netanyahu did not genuflect to President Obama during his recent visit and dismissed U.S. demands about West Bank settlements. Israeli’s have no intention of withdrawing into six blocks of Jerusalem or Tel Aviv. Lately, they have been practicing nationwide war games in preparation for another attack from Hamas and/or Hezbollah.
The most interesting news out of Israel was Avigdor Lieberman’s statement after a recent three-day visit to Russia. The Foreign Minister said that Israel had no intention of bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities, adding that Arab nations in the region should be even more concerned about a nuclear-armed Iran than Israel. I have met Lieberman and he is a very soft-spoken man, almost inaudible, but his words have sent a very loud message to the United States, the Arab states, and the world.
“We do not intend to bomb Iran, and nobody will solve their problems with our hands. We don’t need that. Israel is a strong country. We can protect ourselves,” said Lieberman.
We shall see now how Israel’s projection of strength contrasts with whatever President Obama has to say in Cairo. If the Arabs hear a message of weakness from Obama, he will have opened the door for more attacks on the homeland and our allies.
You can be sure that President Obama’s failure to say one word thus far about this week’s Muslim jihadist murder of a U.S. Army recruiter in Little Rock, Arkansas, is being examined like the entrails of a chicken or goat for its greater significance, nor is it lost on his Arab hosts that he is not going to visit Israel on this trip.
President Kiss-Up needed to go to Turkey to tell Muslims that America is “not a Christian nation” and one can only wonder what other absurd thing he will say in Cairo, Egypt. If he sounds weak and apologetic, we shall all pay the price for his Magical Muslim Tour.
Jonathan Gabay on Bing
Soultraders author, Jonathan Gabay on British TV's Channel 4 talking about Bing.
Surf's UP - 3 waves.........from Rico
By now we are all aware of the 1st wave...the housing speculators going "bust" and very well aware of the 2nd wave...the subprime borrowers going tango-uniform in such grand style.
Anyone watching the 3rd wave yet? These are the main-stream homeowners. "Safe" borrowers with sound credit and boring/conservative fixed-rate mortgages. HUH?
- For the first time these homeowners account for the largest share of NEW foreclosures.*
WHY? Job losses are the major reason once safe borrowers are now in trouble. With unemployment continuing to rise (I expect it won't peak until after 2010) the prolem is only gpoing to get worse...and the bad housing market, banks, and the whole credit system is not going to be "fixed" anytime soon as a result.
This=BAD NEWS for the equities markets and our economy.
Homeowners who are "underwater" cannot borrow against their houses, and with a growing number of people unable to borrow because of impaired credit means the economic "consumption spending engine" known as the American consumer will be kept on "idle" for a long time to come. Perhaps long enough for the Weimar-cum-Zimbabwe hyperinflation whammy to hit us full-force.
Am I over-reacting? Here is some perspective (* see above):
- From 2000-2006 PRIME borrowers accounted for 2.7% of distressed mortgages.
- The number of PRIME mortgages in default (or behind by 30 days, read: distressed) was 9.1% last quarter and should go over 9.2% this quarter. Most of 2010 will be similarly ugly.
I'm largely ignoring the "Money Honeys" (you know, Maria B and the rest) at this point, as well as Jim Cramer. There are no 'green shoots' of recovery, and I'm awfully tired of seeing market news containing words like "markets rise on HOPES of recovery" and similar drivel. They can whistle past the graveyard, but I'm not buying into any of this "we're about to turn the corner" baloney and walking with them.
We are still in the house of pain, and everything the Government has done to date has assured that we will remain there much longer than we otherwise would have had to and that the pain wil be deeper for all.
I'm now looking to see if the surf is going to break both left-and-right simultaneously while watching for the NEXT wave which I expect to be rising defaults in business loans and commercial real estate loans.
Movie Review: 'Star Trek'
Short Review: Anything that can possibility offend Trekkies and get them hyperventilating through their retainers is okay by me.
Read Scott's full review HERE
News....
Poll: Most oppose closing Gitmo. No s**t.
Cemetery squirrels nuts about U.S. flags. Patriots!!
Gorged and Dangerous from Washington Rebel.
Breaking Auto News! from Three Beers Later
The Biggest Mystery in American History. The Decline in Education.
Rats desert sinking ship: Shamed Jacqui Smith leads ministers scrambling for the exit. Brown is finished.
Victory! Prince Charles demands - and gets - a D-Day invitation from the French. A bit bloody late!
Government's £285m Mortgage Rescue Scheme helps just TWO families. More failure.
British troops kill Taliban bomb mastermind. Nice one.
600ft jellyfish crop circle found in Oxfordshire field. That took some doing.
This D-Day fiasco was made at No 10. Send Brown to the Tower.
Taliban targeting vulnerable vehicle as another two killed. As predicted when it was first announced.
China begins internet 'blackout' ahead of Tiananmen anniversary. Won't work.
US to sell 'bunker buster' bombs to South Korea. Now find the right bunker!
Pakistan to release 'terrorist' linked to Mumbai attacks. Any space at Gitmo?
Hot dog diplomacy: US woos Iranian diplomats with July 4 barbecues. What are hot dogs made from!!!!
Final British mission in Iraq in disarray without training pact. Blame the government not the troops.
Kim Jong Il formally names youngest son as successor. A bit of sibling rivalry is needed.
Britain sold weapons to help Sri Lankan army defeat Tamil Tigers. Good. Can't have people buying French crap.
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What We Learn From the Movies........
-- It is always possible to park directly in front of any building you are visiting.
-- A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.
-- If you start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.
-- Most laptops are powerful enough to override the communication systems of any invading alien civilization.
-- It does not matter if you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts -- your enemies will wait patiently to attack you one by one, dancing around in a threatening manner until you have knocked out their predecessors.
-- After a person suffers a massive blow to the head, they will still be surprisingly good looking.
-- No one involved in a car chase, hijacking, explosion, volcanic eruption or alien invasion will ever go into shock.
-- Partnering police officers with their total opposites will always, eventually, lead to buddy teams who share unbreakable bonds and gruff affection.
H/T DML
Tuesday, 2 June 2009
Film Review: 'Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father'
A filmmaker begins to make a documentary memorializing his murdered friend. During the process the film maker discovers that his friend's ex-girlfriend, the woman who murdered him, is pregnant with his baby. This of course changes the tone of the film from being a private memorial to being a document of a father's life so his orphaned son can get to know the man.
continue reading....
Escape from Gitmo: aka terrorist recruiting game for Xbox
Game company lionises jihadists and makes a game where you get to kill American soldiers as you escape Gitmo. The company who makes it claims its getting hate-mail because of the game, especially from Americans. By hate-mail one assumes that a game about terrorists escaping a prison might not exactly be welcome when we are at war with those terrorists.
Oh yes, the game company is based in some Middle Eastern country right? Nope, try Scotland to be more accurate. Then again the name of the head of the company is called Zarrar Chishti. He thinks it will sell well in the Middle East. I wonder where the profits of the game are going?
In their next game they plan to put the gamer in the role of an SS guard in a concentration camp putting down a rebellion...
You notice it hasn't got any game play, but just a bloke sitting in a cell.
The PEOPLE'S car cometh...............from Rico
There are, I suppose, dinosaurs like me who still consider the GTO and cars from that era as "real" cars.
- I won't launch into what happened to global chrome exports from Rhodesia once it became Marxist Zimbabwe here.
Otherwise, only someone who has been huffing the Obama glue could confuse one of the attached with anything resembling a car.
- For my money Tata motors of India already has one of these beat hands-down.
Under Obameinfuhrer everybody should expect to see the People's Car unveiled soon...produced in colors nobody wants, with fewer features, at a higher cost (gotta make up for all those bailout-cum-bankruptcy costs) and with a warranty backed by the USPS!
- Let's hear it for GM=Government Motors.
Oh, and somehow overlooked in all the media fawning and hype...all of the common stock holders of GM have been completely wiped-out.
I'm at a loss here. Which one do you think works best here?
- For the common good.
- It's only fair.
- We're all in this together.
- We're all socialists now.
- You ain't seen nothing yet.
The economy is so bad-that you have to laugh at it
1. I went to buy a toaster oven and they gave me a bank.
2. I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
3. CEO’s are now playing miniature golf.
4. Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars are now trading higher than GM.
5. Obama met with small businesses - GE, Pfizer, Chrysler, Citigroup and GM, to discuss the Stimulus Package.
6. McDonalds is selling the 1/4 ouncer.
7. People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and learned their children’s names.
8. The most highly-paid job is now jury duty.
9. People in Africa are donating money to Americans.. Mothers in Ethiopia are telling their kids, “finish your plate; do you know how many kids are starving in the US?”
10. Motel Six won’t leave the lights on.
11. The Mafia is laying off judges.
12. If the bank returns your check marked “insufficient funds,” you have to call them and ask if they meant you or them.
H/T DML
Politically Incorrect News......
Police in London have found a bomb outside a mosque. They've told the public not to panic as they've managed to push it inside.
Two Asian heroin addicts have injected themselves with curry powder by mistake - both are in intensive care... One has a dodgy tikka and the other one is in a korma.
During last night's high winds an African family were killed by a falling tree. A spokesman for the Birmingham Council said 'We didn't even know they were living up there'.
Asian Minorities in the UK have complained that there is not enough television shows with minorities in mind, so Crimewatch is being shown 5 times a week now.
H/T James M
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Monday, 1 June 2009
Repost: Richard Hammond presents Bloody Omaha (the graphics)
It's amazing what you can do....
H/T Scotty
Site of the Day...
Toby Winteringham Furniture. Hand made contemporary furniture made locally in Norfolk.
