Back before he was president, admitted drug user Barack Obama was known to question the sagacity of the drug war. Now that he's occupying the Oval Office, Obama regularly laughs off the subject of legalizing marijuana when it comes up. Which might be kind of funny if his Justice Department wasn't busy cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries with a ferocity that easily surpasses anything evinced by the Bush or Clinton admins.
1.30.2012
There's a sucker born every minute
...and there were millions of college kids voting for Hopey McChange four years ago.
How's that working out for their now unemployed, stoned-on-the-couch asses?
Not so well:
1.28.2012
Gold keeps doing what it does best as Fed promises three more years of easy money
On Wednesday, the central planners at the Federal Reserve announced that they will continue distorting the markets by manipulating interest rates to near-zero at least through 2014.
Gold took off like a rocket, rising more than $50 intraday.
Chart: Bloomberg
Stocks, the object of Ben Bernanke's obsession, didn't keep up, rising only one percent and then fading the next day.
Chart: Bloomberg
There is a stunning amount of ignorance and misinformation about gold among the public, the financial press, and economists. Remember when banker Richard Wiggins trashed gold at $1200 in Barron's? And witness the ignorance in the comments here, including from economist Barkley Rosser, about gold being in a bubble in 2010 at $1200. Personal finance guru Dave Ramsey, who is otherwise generally outstanding, has been telling people to dump gold for years, including here in October 2009 with gold at $1000.
Many people think of gold as an inflation hedge, and can't understand why gold goes up while the CPI is flat. The truth is that gold is a hedge against currency debasement, which is a very different thing than consumer inflation. The CPI remains contained for two reasons: 1) depressed demand and 2) biased index construction.
After a multi-decade borrowing and spending orgy, consumers are tapped out and are trying to repair their balance sheets. So even as the Fed prints money, consumers don't spend enough to create significant inflation. And while there is inflation in the things consumers need (food, gas, utilities), it is masked by the price drops in discretionary items like flat screens and cheap Chinese crap. Additionally, the BLS makes "quality" (cars now have airbags and ABS brakes, so we're going to pretend prices didn't increase as much) and "substitution" (steak is so expensive that nobody eats it anymore, so we'll take it out of the index and replace it with hamburger) adjustments that systematically reduce reported CPI inflation.
So if CPI inflation doesn't explain the increase in gold prices, what does?
Two things: the national debt and the Federal Reserve balance sheet. Here's a history of gold along with U.S. debt as measured by the IMF's Gross Government Debt. Pretty compelling, huh?
Chart: Bloomberg
We are now in our fourth year of trillion-dollar deficits, and the debt/GDP ratio just passed 100%. The dollar is falling against gold because that debt can't possibly be paid off, or even the interest serviced, in today's dollars. Interest and maturing debt are paid by issuing more debt! And the cowardly Congressional Republicans have folded on the debt ceiling and the budget continuing resolution and agreed to keep spending even more than we did under Reid/Pelosi/Obama. Unless you think Congress is going to reverse course and start running budget surpluses, that white line is headed higher. I'll leave it to you to judge what that implies for the gold line.
As for the Federal Reserve's effect on gold, here's a chart of the Federal Reserve balance sheet (essentially the amount of money it has printed out of thin air) along with gold prices.
Chart: Bloomberg
The Fed's Wednesday declaration of free money for three years is not an explicit promise of further balance sheet expansion, but it's an indication that that is the direction that the Fed is leaning. And with the Treasury still running trillion-dollar deficits, somebody's got to buy all that new debt. The Fed is likely to continue being the Treasury's handmaiden, especially if foreign buyers continue backing away. Remember the old days where everyone was talking about the Fed "exit strategy?" You haven't heard that phrase lately, have you? Funny how that is.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the dollar is a convenient medium of exchange but it is absolutely NOT a store of value. Any financial adviser who doesn't recommend gold as an essential part of a balanced portfolio is recklessly irresponsible.
Gold took off like a rocket, rising more than $50 intraday.
Chart: Bloomberg
Stocks, the object of Ben Bernanke's obsession, didn't keep up, rising only one percent and then fading the next day.
Chart: Bloomberg
There is a stunning amount of ignorance and misinformation about gold among the public, the financial press, and economists. Remember when banker Richard Wiggins trashed gold at $1200 in Barron's? And witness the ignorance in the comments here, including from economist Barkley Rosser, about gold being in a bubble in 2010 at $1200. Personal finance guru Dave Ramsey, who is otherwise generally outstanding, has been telling people to dump gold for years, including here in October 2009 with gold at $1000.
Many people think of gold as an inflation hedge, and can't understand why gold goes up while the CPI is flat. The truth is that gold is a hedge against currency debasement, which is a very different thing than consumer inflation. The CPI remains contained for two reasons: 1) depressed demand and 2) biased index construction.
After a multi-decade borrowing and spending orgy, consumers are tapped out and are trying to repair their balance sheets. So even as the Fed prints money, consumers don't spend enough to create significant inflation. And while there is inflation in the things consumers need (food, gas, utilities), it is masked by the price drops in discretionary items like flat screens and cheap Chinese crap. Additionally, the BLS makes "quality" (cars now have airbags and ABS brakes, so we're going to pretend prices didn't increase as much) and "substitution" (steak is so expensive that nobody eats it anymore, so we'll take it out of the index and replace it with hamburger) adjustments that systematically reduce reported CPI inflation.
So if CPI inflation doesn't explain the increase in gold prices, what does?
Two things: the national debt and the Federal Reserve balance sheet. Here's a history of gold along with U.S. debt as measured by the IMF's Gross Government Debt. Pretty compelling, huh?
Chart: Bloomberg
We are now in our fourth year of trillion-dollar deficits, and the debt/GDP ratio just passed 100%. The dollar is falling against gold because that debt can't possibly be paid off, or even the interest serviced, in today's dollars. Interest and maturing debt are paid by issuing more debt! And the cowardly Congressional Republicans have folded on the debt ceiling and the budget continuing resolution and agreed to keep spending even more than we did under Reid/Pelosi/Obama. Unless you think Congress is going to reverse course and start running budget surpluses, that white line is headed higher. I'll leave it to you to judge what that implies for the gold line.
As for the Federal Reserve's effect on gold, here's a chart of the Federal Reserve balance sheet (essentially the amount of money it has printed out of thin air) along with gold prices.
Chart: Bloomberg
The Fed's Wednesday declaration of free money for three years is not an explicit promise of further balance sheet expansion, but it's an indication that that is the direction that the Fed is leaning. And with the Treasury still running trillion-dollar deficits, somebody's got to buy all that new debt. The Fed is likely to continue being the Treasury's handmaiden, especially if foreign buyers continue backing away. Remember the old days where everyone was talking about the Fed "exit strategy?" You haven't heard that phrase lately, have you? Funny how that is.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: the dollar is a convenient medium of exchange but it is absolutely NOT a store of value. Any financial adviser who doesn't recommend gold as an essential part of a balanced portfolio is recklessly irresponsible.
1.24.2012
B-Daddy takes one for the team
I couldn't bear to listen to another State of the Union from that crony capitalist looter.
Fortunately, B-Daddy did, and gives us the Cliff's Notes here.
Fortunately, B-Daddy did, and gives us the Cliff's Notes here.
Remember what the dormouse said...
Feed your head!
Scientists discover how psychedelic mushrooms work.
Scientists discover how psychedelic mushrooms work.
Within a minute after subjects got an infusion of psilocybin, researchers said, scanners that plot blood flow within the brain detected a sudden drop in activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and the posterior cingulate cortex, two areas of the brain that appear to be key in "grounding" us in reality. These areas also are key nodes of the brain's newly identified Default Mode Network, which springs to life when our minds wander.
Thus untethered, the brain's sensory regions are free to soar. Subjects reported unusual changes in their visual experiences, including geometric patterns, distortions of space and size, and dreamlike perceptions. They reported that their thoughts and imaginations wandered, their perceptions of time were changed, and sounds they heard brought on vivid images -- a mingling of sights, sounds and thoughts such as those experienced by people with synaesthesia. And researchers noted that the more suppressed the observed activity in a subject's posterior cingulate cortex and medial prefrontal cortex, the more potent the sensory distortions the subject reported.
Hockey Goalies are Cool
Tim Thomas didn't join his Boston Bruins teammates to meet Premier Obama at the White House yesterday. He released this statement:
"I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.
This is being done at the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial level. This is in direct opposition to the Constitution and the Founding Fathers vision for the Federal government.
Because I believe this, today I exercised my right as a Free Citizen, and did not visit the White House. This was not about politics or party, as in my opinion both parties are responsible for the situation we are in as a country. This was about a choice I had to make as an INDIVIDUAL.
This is the only public statement I will be making on this topic. TT"
1.22.2012
The Silicon T-bill
Bernie Madoff's consistent returns earned him the nickname "the Jewish T-bill." While 10% - 12% annual returns were too good to be true, the market does offer some nice, consistent yields now and then.
Back on Thanksgiving 2008, we pointed out that you could buy a very well-known semiconductor stock with a rock-solid balance sheet with a dividend yield of 4.5%, paying more than long-term Treasuries. That stock is now up 91% since then, and the dividend has increased three times and is now 50% higher. If you'd bought then, you'd be earning 6.75% on your cost in addition to nearly doubling your principal. Even at the current price, the stock still yields more than 30-year Treasuries, and dividends look set to continue increasing while Treasury coupons remain fixed at anemic levels. (Note: the balance sheet is no longer as rock-solid due to an acquisition and the opportunistic issuance of a modest amount of long-term debt at attractive yields to fund stock buybacks.)
While the hyperinflation we feared back then has yet to materialize, the U.S. fiscal and monetary situation has continued to deteriorate. We recently crossed 100% debt/GDP (even excluding off-balance-sheet liabilities like Medicare, Fannie/Freddie, and state and local pension obligations). To put that in perspective, here is a historical chart.
The only other time in history we had these debt levels was at the end of World War II, where we'd sent millions of people and machines halfway around the world to fight global fascism. How did we get out of it then? Two ways: 1) immediately stopping the deficit, and 2) serious inflation. As soon as WWII ended, the US cut the deficit to zero and actually ran surpluses in the late 1940's and early 1950's.
In contrast, four years after the financial crisis, we are still running trillion-dollar deficits, and both Obama and the cowardly Congressional Republicans plan to run deficits at least in the high hundreds of billions as far as the eye can see.
As for inflation, did your high school history teacher tell you about the inflation the US used to erode the value of the debt?
That's a cumulative devaluation of 34% in three years! Patriotic investors who had bought war bonds yielding low single digits had their faces ripped off.
It took large doses of both fiscal austerity and inflation to get us out of 100% debt/GDP in the 1940s. Given that neither political party is proposing even modest fiscal responsibility now, eventual inflation is the closest thing to a sure bet I can imagine.
As we said back in 2008:
Back on Thanksgiving 2008, we pointed out that you could buy a very well-known semiconductor stock with a rock-solid balance sheet with a dividend yield of 4.5%, paying more than long-term Treasuries. That stock is now up 91% since then, and the dividend has increased three times and is now 50% higher. If you'd bought then, you'd be earning 6.75% on your cost in addition to nearly doubling your principal. Even at the current price, the stock still yields more than 30-year Treasuries, and dividends look set to continue increasing while Treasury coupons remain fixed at anemic levels. (Note: the balance sheet is no longer as rock-solid due to an acquisition and the opportunistic issuance of a modest amount of long-term debt at attractive yields to fund stock buybacks.)
While the hyperinflation we feared back then has yet to materialize, the U.S. fiscal and monetary situation has continued to deteriorate. We recently crossed 100% debt/GDP (even excluding off-balance-sheet liabilities like Medicare, Fannie/Freddie, and state and local pension obligations). To put that in perspective, here is a historical chart.
The only other time in history we had these debt levels was at the end of World War II, where we'd sent millions of people and machines halfway around the world to fight global fascism. How did we get out of it then? Two ways: 1) immediately stopping the deficit, and 2) serious inflation. As soon as WWII ended, the US cut the deficit to zero and actually ran surpluses in the late 1940's and early 1950's.
In contrast, four years after the financial crisis, we are still running trillion-dollar deficits, and both Obama and the cowardly Congressional Republicans plan to run deficits at least in the high hundreds of billions as far as the eye can see.
As for inflation, did your high school history teacher tell you about the inflation the US used to erode the value of the debt?
Year | Inflation |
1946 | 8.43% |
1947 | 14.65% |
1948 | 7.74% |
That's a cumulative devaluation of 34% in three years! Patriotic investors who had bought war bonds yielding low single digits had their faces ripped off.
It took large doses of both fiscal austerity and inflation to get us out of 100% debt/GDP in the 1940s. Given that neither political party is proposing even modest fiscal responsibility now, eventual inflation is the closest thing to a sure bet I can imagine.
As we said back in 2008:
Do you buy the Treasury bond that will be destroyed with inflation, or do you buy the chip stock whose products, assets, and dividends will rise with inflation? We at the W.C. Varones Blog would buy the chip stock all day long.WWII war bond buyers lost money to help their country fight fascism. Are you willing to lose money to prop up the Obama regime?
1.21.2012
Internet: 1, Congressional Rats: 0
Ed. note: I wrote this last night. Normally I'd just cross-promote with a link but WCV suggested I repost in full here for your reading pleasure. Enjoy. WCV, I know how you feel about the excessive swearing on your site but A) you told me to do this and B) if anything warrants cussing people out, it's this. Remember, kids, the Internet never forgets. - JDA
Hey, listen to me and listen good. NEVER FORGET. Never forget the assholes in Washington who wanted to build a Great Wall of America across the Internet. Never forget the proposed Cybersecurity Act of 2009. NEVER EVER WHATEVER YOU DO, don't you dare forget. That's all I ask.
Ding dong, the witch is dead (for now):
Here is a convenient list of 60 companies that supported SOPA (remember these names, people):
List of Supporters: H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act
60 Plus Association
Of course, the dickheads lobbying to gain control over the Internet at large would rather they weren't called "supporters," and demanded a correction and explanation from the Judiciary Committee. “The listing of the law firms was a mistake made at the staff level of the committee,” the committee said in a statement to POLITICO. “Once we were made aware of the mistake, we immediately removed the list of supporters from the website and revised the document. Our staff has been in contact with several of the firms and made them aware of our efforts to remedy the mistake.”
As of last time I checked, the Judiciary Committee had an updated list of SOPA "supporters" free of these law firms' names. Sorry, my name didn't show up as a supporter, how exactly did these firms end up there if they didn't - in one way or another - support SOPA? Nice work, you Judiciary Committee morons, you revealed the scam!
Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), John Conyers (D-Mich.), Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), and Howard Berman (D-Calif.) should ALL be out of a job come November, period.
Especially Lamar Smith, who is a moronic copyright thief in his own right.
Vice tracked down a pre-SOPA view of Smith's website and discovered that the asshole was using a non-credited, STOLEN image lifted from photographer DJ Schulte:
Here's the original (credit, obviously, goes to DJ Schulte, who has licensed his work under a Creative Commons license, so all Lamar's dumbass team had to do was throw the dude a credit - WAS IT THAT FUCKING HARD, LAMAR?):
The cowardly pricks have retreated for now thanks to the overwhelming response by the Internet. Not any one of us or some of us or certain ones of us, just "the Internet." There will be no taking credit (there will be giving it, however, because what assholes like Lamar don't get is that we, as the Internet, do shit like that for each other), there will be no celebrating. It isn't over.
I'm a threat for writing this. You are a threat for reading it. The Internet is a threat for breaking through the bureaucratic bullshit and offering FREE knowledge to every American. Not Sallie Mae loans and failed hood colleges but real knowledge; and the fruit of the Tree of Life has taught us that the (capital G) government has but one goal: self preservation. It is not the Government's job to do anything for you, it is its job to keep you suppressed enough to continue feeding it and stupid enough not to figure out what its real job is.
The Internet is a direct threat to the Government's single mandate. It has nothing to do with copyright violators or even the chickenshit movie companies delusional enough to think movie downloading is eating into its profits when it's really SHITTY ASS MOVIES. It's that we are all a threat for disseminating this information amongst ourselves freely, openly, politely and often, 24 hours a day. No longer are we tethered to the Government-controlled media (remember when CNN used to show news?), and are instead allowed to roam free and share as much information as we like to anyone who wants it. It isn't always correct, a lot of it is opinion and some (OK, a lot) is LOLcats but it is a constant conversation the world is having with itself and that scares the shit out of the Government. Not just ours, everywhere.
I hope we, the Internet, have effectively made our point. We will not stand for it. We know what the Government is trying and we aren't going to sit here quietly and allow them to do it. This is not China, it's the United States of America (in case anyone forgot). I'm sorry a bunch of assholes we pay to represent us in Washington think it's OK to fuck us like this and we're too stupid to notice but we're not going to take it.
Get it yet? They will be back. And we'll be ready.
Here is some recommended reading: Green Czar Resigns, Creepy White House Internet Tactics Still Creepy
Hey, listen to me and listen good. NEVER FORGET. Never forget the assholes in Washington who wanted to build a Great Wall of America across the Internet. Never forget the proposed Cybersecurity Act of 2009. NEVER EVER WHATEVER YOU DO, don't you dare forget. That's all I ask.
Ding dong, the witch is dead (for now):
After getting panned on the Web, Hollywood’s blockbuster anti-piracy bill imploded like a box-office bomb this week — and Washington realized the Internet’s “series of tubes” now may have more clout than the vaunted motion picture and music industries.
By the time Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) called a time of death on the PROTECT IP Act on Friday, it already had been trampled by a stampede of one-time supporters anxious to distance themselves from the political threat of a Web-driven uprising against the bill. Lying alongside it: The House’s Stop Online Piracy Act.
Here is a convenient list of 60 companies that supported SOPA (remember these names, people):
List of Supporters: H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act
60 Plus Association
ABC
Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP)
American Bankers Association (ABA)
American Federation of Musicians (AFM)
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
Americans for Tax Reform
Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States
Association of American Publishers (AAP)
Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies
Association of Talent Agents (ATA)
Beachbody, LLC
BMI
BMG Chrysalis
Building and Construction Trades Department
Capitol Records Nashville
CBS
Cengage Learning
Christian Music Trade Association
Church Music Publishers’ Association
Coalition Against Online Video Piracy (CAOVP)
Comcast/NBCUniversal
Concerned Women for America (CWA)
Congressional Fire Services Institute
Copyhype
Copyright Alliance
Coty, Inc.
Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)
Council of State Governments
Country Music Association
Country Music Television
Creative America
Deluxe
Directors Guild of America (DGA)
Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc.
Elsevier
EMI Christian Music Group
EMI Music Publishing
Entertainment Software Association (ESA)
ESPN
Estée Lauder Companies
Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)
Gospel Music Association
Graphic Artists Guild
Hachette Book Group
HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, Inc.
Hyperion
Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA)
International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE)
International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC)
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
International Trademark Association (INTA)
International Union of Police Associations
L’Oreal
Lost Highway Records
Macmillan
Major County Sheriffs
Major League Baseball
Majority City Chiefs
Marvel Entertainment, LLC
MasterCard Worldwide
MCA Records
McGraw-Hill Education
Mercury Nashville
Minor League Baseball (MiLB)
Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC)
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
Moving Picture Technicians
MPA – The Association of Magazine Media
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA)
National Center for Victims of Crime
National Crime Justice Association
National District Attorneys Association
National Domestic Preparedness Coalition
National Football League
National Governors Association, Economic Development and Commerce Committee
National League of Cities
National Narcotics Offers’ Associations’ Coalition
National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA)
National Songwriters Association
National Troopers Coalition
News Corporation
Pearson Education
Penguin Group (USA), Inc.
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
Pfizer, Inc.
Provident Music Group
Random House
Raulet Property Partners
Republic Nashville
Revlon
Scholastic, Inc.
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
Showdog Universal Music
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Nashville
State International Development Organization (SIDO)
The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO)
The Perseus Books Groups
The United States Conference of Mayors
Tiffany & Co.
Time Warner
True Religion Brand Jeans
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
UMG Publishing Group Nashville
United States Chamber of Commerce
United States Olympic Committee
United States Tennis Association
Universal Music
Universal Music Publishing Group
Viacom
Visa Inc.
W.W. Norton & Company
Wallace Bajjali Development Partners, L.P.
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Nashville
Wolters Kluewer Health
Word Entertainment
Of course, the dickheads lobbying to gain control over the Internet at large would rather they weren't called "supporters," and demanded a correction and explanation from the Judiciary Committee. “The listing of the law firms was a mistake made at the staff level of the committee,” the committee said in a statement to POLITICO. “Once we were made aware of the mistake, we immediately removed the list of supporters from the website and revised the document. Our staff has been in contact with several of the firms and made them aware of our efforts to remedy the mistake.”
As of last time I checked, the Judiciary Committee had an updated list of SOPA "supporters" free of these law firms' names. Sorry, my name didn't show up as a supporter, how exactly did these firms end up there if they didn't - in one way or another - support SOPA? Nice work, you Judiciary Committee morons, you revealed the scam!
Reps. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.), John Conyers (D-Mich.), Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), and Howard Berman (D-Calif.) should ALL be out of a job come November, period.
Especially Lamar Smith, who is a moronic copyright thief in his own right.
Vice tracked down a pre-SOPA view of Smith's website and discovered that the asshole was using a non-credited, STOLEN image lifted from photographer DJ Schulte:
Here's the original (credit, obviously, goes to DJ Schulte, who has licensed his work under a Creative Commons license, so all Lamar's dumbass team had to do was throw the dude a credit - WAS IT THAT FUCKING HARD, LAMAR?):
The cowardly pricks have retreated for now thanks to the overwhelming response by the Internet. Not any one of us or some of us or certain ones of us, just "the Internet." There will be no taking credit (there will be giving it, however, because what assholes like Lamar don't get is that we, as the Internet, do shit like that for each other), there will be no celebrating. It isn't over.
I'm a threat for writing this. You are a threat for reading it. The Internet is a threat for breaking through the bureaucratic bullshit and offering FREE knowledge to every American. Not Sallie Mae loans and failed hood colleges but real knowledge; and the fruit of the Tree of Life has taught us that the (capital G) government has but one goal: self preservation. It is not the Government's job to do anything for you, it is its job to keep you suppressed enough to continue feeding it and stupid enough not to figure out what its real job is.
The Internet is a direct threat to the Government's single mandate. It has nothing to do with copyright violators or even the chickenshit movie companies delusional enough to think movie downloading is eating into its profits when it's really SHITTY ASS MOVIES. It's that we are all a threat for disseminating this information amongst ourselves freely, openly, politely and often, 24 hours a day. No longer are we tethered to the Government-controlled media (remember when CNN used to show news?), and are instead allowed to roam free and share as much information as we like to anyone who wants it. It isn't always correct, a lot of it is opinion and some (OK, a lot) is LOLcats but it is a constant conversation the world is having with itself and that scares the shit out of the Government. Not just ours, everywhere.
I hope we, the Internet, have effectively made our point. We will not stand for it. We know what the Government is trying and we aren't going to sit here quietly and allow them to do it. This is not China, it's the United States of America (in case anyone forgot). I'm sorry a bunch of assholes we pay to represent us in Washington think it's OK to fuck us like this and we're too stupid to notice but we're not going to take it.
Get it yet? They will be back. And we'll be ready.
Here is some recommended reading: Green Czar Resigns, Creepy White House Internet Tactics Still Creepy
1.20.2012
Obama Supporter-Like Quotes
I've heard most of these for reals:
People don't want to be part of democracies; they want to be part of religions. The Democrat and Republican parties are super religions but they are becoming destroyers of democracy.
HT: Daily Bail
People don't want to be part of democracies; they want to be part of religions. The Democrat and Republican parties are super religions but they are becoming destroyers of democracy.
HT: Daily Bail
1.19.2012
1.17.2012
More bang for your buck
In between QE2 and QE3, we're getting quite a lull in inflation.
Indeed, there are increasing signs of deflation.
Consider, for example, what you can get for a few bucks worth of Chicken McNuggets in Burbank:
Indeed, there are increasing signs of deflation.
Consider, for example, what you can get for a few bucks worth of Chicken McNuggets in Burbank:
A Los Angeles woman was arrested after she offered sexual favors in exchange for chicken McNuggets, Burbank police said.Prostitution? So the 1% can take a girl to Spago and woo her with a $300 bottle of wine but the rest of us aren't allowed to buy a girl some chicken nuggets?
Khadijah Baseer of Los Angeles reportedly opened customers’ car doors in the drive-thru of McDonald’s on the 1700 block of Olive Avenue about 11 p.m. Wednesday, asking for free chicken McNuggets in exchange for sexual favors, Officer Joshua Kendrick said.
A man told police Baseer approached him but he refused the offer Baseer was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of prostitution.
1.15.2012
QE3!!!
The Fed voting rotation has just ejected all the hawks and brought in a bunch of doves. The only voting hawk will now be Jeffy Lacker, who is sure to have a series of lone dissents this year.
Get ready for QE3!
CNBC:
Get ready for QE3!
CNBC:
Federal Reserve officials are seriously considering giving the US economy—and especially the housing market—an added jolt with more quantitative easing.Hurry up, Fedsters! Those trillion-dollar deficits aren't going to monetize themselves!
Fed officials are likely to discuss such a move at their Jan. 24-25 meeting, when the central bank will issue its first quarterly forecast on interest rates under the new communication policy.
Two of the new voting members this year on the Federal Open Market Committee, which sets interest-rate policy, have recently suggested they would support more assets purchases.
San Francisco Fed President John Williams said that sustained high levels of unemployment, as forecast by many Fed members, "does make an argument that we should have more stimulus."
1.13.2012
Federal Reserve exposed as a pack of giggling morons as economic collapse loomed
Just the facts here. From their own meeting transcripts, in the New York Times:
Then check out the reactions from around the web: ZeroHedge, Kenny Bing, and soon I hope from the Dirty Fed's tormentor-in-chief Jr. Deputy Accountant.
UPDATE: Randall Forsyth weighs in at Barron's:
“We think the fundamentals of the expansion going forward still look good,” Timothy F. Geithner, then president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, told his colleagues when they gathered in Washington in December 2006.... and this:
Some officials, including Susan Bies, a Fed governor, suggested that a housing downturn actually could bolster the economy by redirecting money to other kinds of investments.
And there was general acclaim for Alan Greenspan, who stepped down as chairman at the beginning of the year, for presiding over one of the longest economic expansions in the nation’s history. Mr. Geithner suggested that Mr. Greenspan’s greatness still was not fully appreciated, an opinion now held by a much smaller number of people.
Ms. Yellen said: “It’s fitting for Chairman Greenspan to leave office with the economy in such solid shape. The situation you’re handing off to your successor is a lot like a tennis racquet with a gigantic sweet spot.”Click on over and read the whole sickening thing, exposing plainly that the puppetmasters pulling the strings of our economy are driveling idiots.
Then check out the reactions from around the web: ZeroHedge, Kenny Bing, and soon I hope from the Dirty Fed's tormentor-in-chief Jr. Deputy Accountant.
UPDATE: Randall Forsyth weighs in at Barron's:
just-released transcripts of its deliberations from 2006 shows the central bankers at the time to be relatively unconcerned about impending decline in the housing market, which touched off the worst financial crisis and economic downturn since the Great Depression.
Which raises the question: if the Fed can't accurately assess the present, how well will policy makers be able to forecast [or centrally plan! - ed.] the future?
And while some of the Fed officials from five years ago have moved on -- notably former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, whose term was up at the end of January 2006 -- the main players are still in power. That would include the two most important U.S. economic officials -- the present Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, who took over after the erstwhile Maestro's departure, and Tim Geithner, then the head of the New York Fed (which makes him vice chairman of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee) and now the Secretary of the Treasury.
1.12.2012
Foreign Treasury holders requesting three steps toward the door
Like any bubble, the Treasury bubble will be immensely profitable for holders who get out in time.
... which is what an increasing number of foreign holders look like they are trying to do.
Anyone buying a long-term Treasury at 2% or 3% is a martyr for the regime. Sane people do not lend at 3% to governments with 100% debt/GDP adding on annual 7% GDP deficits, not to mention the gargantuan off-balance-sheet Medicare, Social Security, and state liabilities.
Got gold?
... which is what an increasing number of foreign holders look like they are trying to do.
[...] as of today's H.4.1 update, the outflow has increased by yet another $8 billion to a new all time record of $85 billion, in 6 consecutive weeks, which is also tied for the longest consecutive period of outflows from the Fed's Custody account ever. This week's sale brings the total notional of Treasurys in the Custody account to just $2.66 trillion (down from a record $2.75 trillion) and the same as April of last year. And since the sellers are countries who have traditionally constantly recycled their trade surplus into US paper, this is quite a disturbing development.Obama just asked for another trillion dollars in borrowing, and the cowardly Republicans have already agreed to give it to him. And then after the election, we'll need another trillion, which will again be approved without any spending cut concessions. And within a year, another trillion. The U.S. is spending more than a trillion dollars a year that it doesn't have, and no one other than Ron Paul is proposing to change course.
Anyone buying a long-term Treasury at 2% or 3% is a martyr for the regime. Sane people do not lend at 3% to governments with 100% debt/GDP adding on annual 7% GDP deficits, not to mention the gargantuan off-balance-sheet Medicare, Social Security, and state liabilities.
Got gold?
1.10.2012
Ron Paul stunning 24% second place in New Hampshire
Please donate to carry the message of freedom to South Carolina.
Your US-taxpayer-funded IMF dollars and US Federal Reserve swap lines at work
In the welfare state of the absurd:
Now excuse me while I go to Greece, strip naked and start a fire, and retire on two disabilities. HT: T-Dub.
Greece’s Categorization of Pedophilia as ‘Disability’ Sparks Outrage
Disabled people in Greece are furious over a plan by the Athens government to categorize pedophiles, pyromaniacs, fetishists, exhibitionists, compulsive gamblers, kleptomaniacs, sado-masochists, among others, as “disabled,” suggesting such groups may also be eligible to receive state benefits.
The country’s Labor Ministry explained that it consulted with a panel of medical experts to include people with behavioral disorders to widen the definition of “disability.” However, it added that the categorization does not necessarily mean they will all be entitled to state benefits.
Now excuse me while I go to Greece, strip naked and start a fire, and retire on two disabilities. HT: T-Dub.
1.06.2012
Not Illegal Obama?
This from 60 Minutes:
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: You know, I can't, as President of the United States, comment on the decisions about particular prosecutions. That's the job of the Justice Department. And we keep those things separate, so that there's no political influence on decisions made by professional prosecutors. I can tell you, just from 40,000 feet, that some of the most damaging behavior on Wall Street, in some cases, some of the least ethical behavior on Wall Street, wasn't illegal. That's exactly why we had to change the laws. And that's why we put in place the toughest financial reform package since F.D.R. and the Great Depression.William K. Black disagrees:
1.05.2012
US Debt for Dummies
This is fun.
Of course my econ prof always says debt doesn't matter. I must be a dummy.
Of course my econ prof always says debt doesn't matter. I must be a dummy.
Santorum's ruling-class sellout problem
You know about this blog's long-held disdain for Rick Santorum's religious nuttiness.
But I've never had a reason to question his blue-collar, humble origins shtick until now.
Like Gingrich before him, he got rich selling his Washington connections after leaving Congress.
HT: JF.
I should note that veteran newsman The Lazy Paperboy had this side of Santorum covered before the Bloomberg story.
But I've never had a reason to question his blue-collar, humble origins shtick until now.
Like Gingrich before him, he got rich selling his Washington connections after leaving Congress.
Since his 2006 re-election defeat, the former Pennsylvania lawmaker has gone from being one of the poorer members of the U.S. Senate to earning $1.3 million between January 2010 and August 2011. In 2007, he spent $2 million to buy a 5,000-square foot home in Great Falls, Virginia, according to property records.
Santorum’s financial rise was powered by consulting contracts with fuel producer Consol Energy Inc., faith advocacy group Clapham Group and American Continental Group, a Washington consultancy, as well as media engagements.
“If he’s claiming he’s not an insider, this is the thing that insiders do -- after public office they cash in,” said Kent Cooper, a campaign finance expert and former Federal Elections Commission assistant staff director.
Outside of his employment contracts, Santorum’s greatest financial gain came from $395,414 in director fees and stock options he listed in a recent financial disclosure.
The fees and options came from King of Prussia-based Universal Health Services Inc. (UHS), a publicly traded health-care management company that was sued in 2010 by the federal government for alleged Medicaid fraud.
HT: JF.
I should note that veteran newsman The Lazy Paperboy had this side of Santorum covered before the Bloomberg story.
1.03.2012
Ice Cream, You Scream.....
The Bernanke's dirty deeds are showing up in the most unhappy places, in this case in the form of my beloved Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. I remember buying half gallons of my fav cold treat but for obviously transitory reason Breyers is now pushing it's product in 1.5 quart containers. That's a half quart short a half gallon for those metrically inclined.
You aren't even going to let us eat cake are you Ben???
You aren't even going to let us eat cake are you Ben???
1.02.2012
Stephanie Edwards back covering the Rose Parade
We're getting lots of blog traffic this morning from people googling "Stephanie Edwards."
I didn't watch it this year, but I hope she equaled her epic 2011 performance.
I didn't watch it this year, but I hope she equaled her epic 2011 performance.
Senator Rick "Man-on-dog" Santorum gives Ron Paul and Romney a challenge for Iowa
... sez PPP:
Lest we forget, some of Rick Santorum's Greatest Hits:
* The problem with Social Security is there are too many abortions.
* Homosexuals are like child molesters and dog rapists.
* God plays with light switches to send signals to me.
* Priests rape children because society is too tolerant of homosexuals.
* The Founding Fathers opposed the pursuit of happiness.
* Freedom is only for people who do what I think they should do.
* Dang, I still haven't found anyone who can fix that little SEO problem.
An Obama-Santorum race would have results remarkably similar to Casey-Santorum. Maybe bigger.
Ron Paul is at 20%, Mitt Romney at 19%, and Rick Santorum at 18%. Rounding out the field are Newt Gingrich at 14%, Rick Perry at 10%, Michele Bachmann at 8%, Jon Huntsman at 4%, and Buddy Roemer at 2%.This blog has been following Rick Santorum since long before he was a has-been and a 17-point loser in his most recent election.
Lest we forget, some of Rick Santorum's Greatest Hits:
* The problem with Social Security is there are too many abortions.
* Homosexuals are like child molesters and dog rapists.
* God plays with light switches to send signals to me.
* Priests rape children because society is too tolerant of homosexuals.
* The Founding Fathers opposed the pursuit of happiness.
* Freedom is only for people who do what I think they should do.
* Dang, I still haven't found anyone who can fix that little SEO problem.
An Obama-Santorum race would have results remarkably similar to Casey-Santorum. Maybe bigger.
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