...as long as one ignores the reality of the following chart...
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Obama: Who You Going To Believe, Me or Your Lying Eyes?
From ZeroHedge. The whole story on one chart.
Just Tell 'Em, "Pog Mo Thoin!"- The Sunday Collage
In with a gaelic twist today.
In Moonbat Valley this week, the part time County Commissioners who I believe are all liberals of some sort, gave themselves a 33% pay hike. This they did over the objections of nearly every taxpayer who bothered to take notice.
Giving yourself a 33% pay hike is not a horrific event if you are making a few thousand a yr. But if you are already making 61, 500 and then say, "Hey I got a great idea, let's give ourselves a 20,400 dollar a year raise!... well that is almost like slapping your constituents in the face- many of them making 40- or 50k a year at full time jobs. Oddly enough, the measure passed unanimously although I noted that one "departing" commissioner said earlier this year that he was "against" the monster raise.
He was always that gutsy.
It is also worth noting that the commissioners gave themselves a paltry 11% raise the year before. That is a cumulative 44% in two years.
Here's the link to the piece. I always try to sign my name and having been relegated to the pastures of the retirement community, I don't mind spanking people without fear of retribution. http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005148263#.UfMXQxz5knY
The commissioners will not be sending me a meat and cheese tray for Christmas although it appears quite likely, they could afford to do so if they wished.
Can you imagine walking into your job on Monday and demanding a 33% raise or failing that, simply appropriating a like amount from the safe?
Now I don't pretend to know all of the details of what a County Commissioner does- although I have had a few friends who were commissioners. They assured me it was a rather easy gig, but often very time consuming. I knew one commissioner who actually worked his butt off. He was one of those rare people who did this kind of thing to advance his community. In the old days, we called this "public service." He probably worked harder than all of these people and he was a gentleman. Len Harlig was his name.
So commissioners read things like applications after they have been routed and reviewed by various departments. They develop meeting agendas. They usually have a county attorney attending their meetings who interprets and advises them on legal issues. They are quick to delegate work to reviewing departments and the county manager. The county manager is supposed to do this kind of work full time- and in the case of Moonbat Valley- he is like the Yeti. Some say that he exists, yet I have never personally seen him.
So mostly I think, commissioners read, attend meetings, make up their minds, and then pretend to be open minded as a developer or department head pitches some project or budget. They are the budget deciders. They always know how each other is voting and sometimes, they will vote a dissenting opinion although they know it won't cause an application or proposal to fail. Sometimes they will nod approvingly and solemnly while secretly mulling over what type of wine to have with dinner that night or whether they paid their American Express bill on time. They also attend ancillary meetings on additional pet projects and they talk with the press.
A couple of years ago, the Moonbat Valley Commissioners even commissioned a working group to study and compare with other communities-whether their salaries were adequate. Unfortunately, the working group came to the conclusion that the commissioners were adequately paid and said so.
The first job of all committees is to rig them with people who will give you a friendly result. This is not rocket science. If you want to rig a committee, talk to a school district. They are professionals. There is nothing more embarrassing than putting together a committee and receiving some truthful and adversarial result. That is not what committees are designed to do. They are designed to take the heat off of the people who are going to benefit so that they can get re-elected. That way, it makes the whole process look honest and above board.
I worked in government for nearly 25 years and what it taught me- was a horrible disdain for all things political.
I wasn't predisposed to that result, I simply let the truth take me where it would. I suppose I could pretend that all of this does not happen and ignore it. Most do.
On the other hand, my Uncle Lynn tells me- that you must always confront stupid. I have to admit- I like confronting stupid and that's why I write. Which brings me back to the gaelic and one universal truth. You are entitled to your opinion- do not be afraid to utter it if you are culling out stupid and have a well thought out position.
But know this. Some people have no sense of shame and they will send an aircraft carrier full of ridicule your way for having the audacity to point them out. I have a simple solution.
The other day, some jail work crew was in my alley weed whacking. The crew leader noticed my car and my license plate frames colored with the Irish flag and said, "What does "pog mo thoin" mean? And with a conjunctive word first, I mean to say that he butchered that phrase just like he was sounding through the syllables.
Gaelic with a brogue is tough to pronounce, so I've included a tutorial. You can buy the license plate frames on E Bay for 5 bucks.
In Moonbat Valley this week, the part time County Commissioners who I believe are all liberals of some sort, gave themselves a 33% pay hike. This they did over the objections of nearly every taxpayer who bothered to take notice.
Giving yourself a 33% pay hike is not a horrific event if you are making a few thousand a yr. But if you are already making 61, 500 and then say, "Hey I got a great idea, let's give ourselves a 20,400 dollar a year raise!... well that is almost like slapping your constituents in the face- many of them making 40- or 50k a year at full time jobs. Oddly enough, the measure passed unanimously although I noted that one "departing" commissioner said earlier this year that he was "against" the monster raise.
He was always that gutsy.
It is also worth noting that the commissioners gave themselves a paltry 11% raise the year before. That is a cumulative 44% in two years.
Here's the link to the piece. I always try to sign my name and having been relegated to the pastures of the retirement community, I don't mind spanking people without fear of retribution. http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005148263#.UfMXQxz5knY
The commissioners will not be sending me a meat and cheese tray for Christmas although it appears quite likely, they could afford to do so if they wished.
Can you imagine walking into your job on Monday and demanding a 33% raise or failing that, simply appropriating a like amount from the safe?
Now I don't pretend to know all of the details of what a County Commissioner does- although I have had a few friends who were commissioners. They assured me it was a rather easy gig, but often very time consuming. I knew one commissioner who actually worked his butt off. He was one of those rare people who did this kind of thing to advance his community. In the old days, we called this "public service." He probably worked harder than all of these people and he was a gentleman. Len Harlig was his name.
So commissioners read things like applications after they have been routed and reviewed by various departments. They develop meeting agendas. They usually have a county attorney attending their meetings who interprets and advises them on legal issues. They are quick to delegate work to reviewing departments and the county manager. The county manager is supposed to do this kind of work full time- and in the case of Moonbat Valley- he is like the Yeti. Some say that he exists, yet I have never personally seen him.
So mostly I think, commissioners read, attend meetings, make up their minds, and then pretend to be open minded as a developer or department head pitches some project or budget. They are the budget deciders. They always know how each other is voting and sometimes, they will vote a dissenting opinion although they know it won't cause an application or proposal to fail. Sometimes they will nod approvingly and solemnly while secretly mulling over what type of wine to have with dinner that night or whether they paid their American Express bill on time. They also attend ancillary meetings on additional pet projects and they talk with the press.
A couple of years ago, the Moonbat Valley Commissioners even commissioned a working group to study and compare with other communities-whether their salaries were adequate. Unfortunately, the working group came to the conclusion that the commissioners were adequately paid and said so.
The first job of all committees is to rig them with people who will give you a friendly result. This is not rocket science. If you want to rig a committee, talk to a school district. They are professionals. There is nothing more embarrassing than putting together a committee and receiving some truthful and adversarial result. That is not what committees are designed to do. They are designed to take the heat off of the people who are going to benefit so that they can get re-elected. That way, it makes the whole process look honest and above board.
I worked in government for nearly 25 years and what it taught me- was a horrible disdain for all things political.
I wasn't predisposed to that result, I simply let the truth take me where it would. I suppose I could pretend that all of this does not happen and ignore it. Most do.
On the other hand, my Uncle Lynn tells me- that you must always confront stupid. I have to admit- I like confronting stupid and that's why I write. Which brings me back to the gaelic and one universal truth. You are entitled to your opinion- do not be afraid to utter it if you are culling out stupid and have a well thought out position.
But know this. Some people have no sense of shame and they will send an aircraft carrier full of ridicule your way for having the audacity to point them out. I have a simple solution.
The other day, some jail work crew was in my alley weed whacking. The crew leader noticed my car and my license plate frames colored with the Irish flag and said, "What does "pog mo thoin" mean? And with a conjunctive word first, I mean to say that he butchered that phrase just like he was sounding through the syllables.
Gaelic with a brogue is tough to pronounce, so I've included a tutorial. You can buy the license plate frames on E Bay for 5 bucks.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
The Power and Credibility of Citizen Bloggers
Years ago, as a Police Chief who dealt with local media, I have to tell you that I never disclosed all the details of any given case. In fact, I spoon fed reporters the softball answers to the softball questions that they asked.
Rarely, if ever, did a reporter probe any deeper than the fluff I turned over. Could they have? Sure- so why didn't they?
First off, reporters and journalists in general, make next to nothing. In communities all over this nation, they attend mundane meetings and try to cull out enough information to publish a decent account of what happened. It's really a pretty boring job.
Reporters make their living from their sources. They don't want to piss those sources off by sending in a few hardball questions. Because the sources, like police agencies and local government, have clout. They will simply call the owners and editors of local newspaper and television outlets and tell them that any given reporter is off limits. Or they find "spokes people" who filter information and deflect questions while often misleading reporters or outright lying.
Jay Carney is a professional liar. He does this on behalf of the President. I can't stand to watch Carney deflect and lie anymore than I can stand to watch Obama do the same thing.
I used to have a friend, a fellow Police Chief, who kicked a number of reporters out of his office.
So the problem is that media at it's very best, has a garbage in- garbage out mentality that only delivers the superficial parts of a story.
In the worst case, the media simply ignores and obstructs facts and creates it's own agenda. This is the narrative going on in this country. That's why we have this golfing buffoon as a President. I don't care what President Obama does, what crooked things he does or how many innocent drone victims there are, this media will find a way to hide and obstruct those facts. They have crawled into bed with him, I suspect, for no other reason than he is a black liberal. Thus they can claim, that they are truly above the chains that bind the rest of us "racists." Judged strictly on performance, Obama is a worthless, banker shill, installed to prevent the prosecution of the banker cartel. This despite the leftist agenda that would have you believe that Obama is the second coming of Abraham Lincoln, JFK, and Martin Luther King all wrapped into one.
The rise of citizen journalism, or blogging has been a wonderful thing. We stole the printing press from those bastards who had been abusing it. Bloggers are like amplifiers. We find stories, we pick away at them, prove or disprove the facts, and we write. Because we can. Nobody can fire us. We are the pent-ultimate carriers of the first amendment.
As a blogger, I am not beholden to anyone for what I write. Nobody is going to can me. I am not co-opted or paid. In fact, I have every incentive to tell the truth and I can usually find sources to verify what I write. And usually, I cite those sources. Occasionally, I catch a ridiculous story on someone else's blog and more than once, had it removed it with a quick thank you.
The people telling the truth right now- are mostly bloggers. Quite simply, we have no incentive or motive to lie. That doesn't mean that all bloggers are credible but the ones on my blogroll certainly are.
Here is the best 10 minutes you'll see today on why the mainstream media sucks. Most of the facts in the Zimmerman case were uncovered by citizen bloggers. Mainstream media obstructed the truth so that they could offer up their race baiting version, trying to lynch Zimmerman despite the facts. What they did was irresponsible and sick. It's a shame that NBC can't be charged criminally.
Rarely, if ever, did a reporter probe any deeper than the fluff I turned over. Could they have? Sure- so why didn't they?
First off, reporters and journalists in general, make next to nothing. In communities all over this nation, they attend mundane meetings and try to cull out enough information to publish a decent account of what happened. It's really a pretty boring job.
Reporters make their living from their sources. They don't want to piss those sources off by sending in a few hardball questions. Because the sources, like police agencies and local government, have clout. They will simply call the owners and editors of local newspaper and television outlets and tell them that any given reporter is off limits. Or they find "spokes people" who filter information and deflect questions while often misleading reporters or outright lying.
Jay Carney is a professional liar. He does this on behalf of the President. I can't stand to watch Carney deflect and lie anymore than I can stand to watch Obama do the same thing.
I used to have a friend, a fellow Police Chief, who kicked a number of reporters out of his office.
So the problem is that media at it's very best, has a garbage in- garbage out mentality that only delivers the superficial parts of a story.
In the worst case, the media simply ignores and obstructs facts and creates it's own agenda. This is the narrative going on in this country. That's why we have this golfing buffoon as a President. I don't care what President Obama does, what crooked things he does or how many innocent drone victims there are, this media will find a way to hide and obstruct those facts. They have crawled into bed with him, I suspect, for no other reason than he is a black liberal. Thus they can claim, that they are truly above the chains that bind the rest of us "racists." Judged strictly on performance, Obama is a worthless, banker shill, installed to prevent the prosecution of the banker cartel. This despite the leftist agenda that would have you believe that Obama is the second coming of Abraham Lincoln, JFK, and Martin Luther King all wrapped into one.
The rise of citizen journalism, or blogging has been a wonderful thing. We stole the printing press from those bastards who had been abusing it. Bloggers are like amplifiers. We find stories, we pick away at them, prove or disprove the facts, and we write. Because we can. Nobody can fire us. We are the pent-ultimate carriers of the first amendment.
As a blogger, I am not beholden to anyone for what I write. Nobody is going to can me. I am not co-opted or paid. In fact, I have every incentive to tell the truth and I can usually find sources to verify what I write. And usually, I cite those sources. Occasionally, I catch a ridiculous story on someone else's blog and more than once, had it removed it with a quick thank you.
The people telling the truth right now- are mostly bloggers. Quite simply, we have no incentive or motive to lie. That doesn't mean that all bloggers are credible but the ones on my blogroll certainly are.
Here is the best 10 minutes you'll see today on why the mainstream media sucks. Most of the facts in the Zimmerman case were uncovered by citizen bloggers. Mainstream media obstructed the truth so that they could offer up their race baiting version, trying to lynch Zimmerman despite the facts. What they did was irresponsible and sick. It's a shame that NBC can't be charged criminally.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Bernanke Admits Obvious Truth, He Has No QE Exit Plan
Welcome to the great lie. Healthy markets.
Markets don't react to fundamental economics anymore.
This morning, amidst McDonald's revenue miss, a slump and huge miss in home sales just prior to interest rates backing up, the DJIA is up 31 points as I write this to 15, 574.
Why? The FED cannot stop QE. There is no exit plan. Just the hint of tapering QE down a couple of weeks ago sent stocks plummeting. Obama's administration would be in ruins- right at that moment in time when Obamacare is set to begin.
Here's a clip I first viewed at the Daily Paul. Bernanke admits the economy would "tank" without QE. It now appears QE is here to stay at least until the 2016 elections where politics might dictate hamstringing the new administration.
The great lie continues. For at least a couple more years.
Markets don't react to fundamental economics anymore.
This morning, amidst McDonald's revenue miss, a slump and huge miss in home sales just prior to interest rates backing up, the DJIA is up 31 points as I write this to 15, 574.
Why? The FED cannot stop QE. There is no exit plan. Just the hint of tapering QE down a couple of weeks ago sent stocks plummeting. Obama's administration would be in ruins- right at that moment in time when Obamacare is set to begin.
Here's a clip I first viewed at the Daily Paul. Bernanke admits the economy would "tank" without QE. It now appears QE is here to stay at least until the 2016 elections where politics might dictate hamstringing the new administration.
The great lie continues. For at least a couple more years.
Sunday, July 21, 2013
The Gold War Has Begun In Earnest* Updated- The Sunday Collage
*Gold is up nearly 20 bucks as of 5 PM MST. http://www.barchart.com/commodityfutures/Metals
In mid April of this year, unknown forces began driving the price of gold down in dramatic fashion. At the end of the slaughter, or nadir, gold rested at 1200 an ounce. A price it had not seen in 3 years.
Most people do not care. The vast majority of folks do not understand commodity markets nor do they own gold. Historically speaking, gold has HUGE significance. It is real money. It is rare and it is coveted and it has remained that way for 6000 years. The bankers have never been able to counterfeit gold. So they do the next best thing. They use paper markets to manipulate the price. The bullion banks loan gold in amounts well beyond that which they actually possess. Because there has never been a run on gold in a worldwide sense, bankers have always gotten away with leasing gold they do not have. A world wide run has begun.
In short, bullion banks are going to have to produce the physical commodity in amounts they do not have. They have written a check that their collective asses can't cash.
The gold war has begun. Make no mistake about it. It is ON.
The first story I read on Tuesday completely blew my mind. I mulled it over the entire week. In short, Grant Williams graphed the gold price following two dates. The date Hugo Chavez and Venezuela said they wanted their 100 tons of gold back from England and the date Germany demanded 300 tons of gold from New York.
With all of that supply gone, unavailable for lease, you would think that the price of gold would go up. Not so. In fact, gold traded down almost two hundred dollars after the Venezuela announcement. After the German announcement, the price of gold was pounded clear down to 1200. A loss of 400 dollars per oz. The law of supply and demand had apparently been repealed.
That happened three months ago. I have always believed bullion banks manipulated the price. Banks and their commodity trading desks have driven down the paper price of gold in order to purchase the actual metal for future delivery at a much cheaper price. They don't dare wait for a few years or they might be paying 5000.00 an oz. for it then. In the case of New York, the U.S. told the Germans they couldn't deliver for SEVEN YEARS! Here is Grant Williams and his fantastic take on what happened. http://www.mauldineconomics.com/ttmygh/what-if
On Tuesday, I began buying gold miners in earnest. I am 100% cash invested in 5 junior miners with some long term options in Kinross. I also bought into SLV. I am fully cash invested at this point.
I believe that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. But you have to see it and act before the rest of the herd sees it. For the past 5 years, the price of mining stocks have been annihilated. You will never buy miners cheaper, ever, on a relative basis. I bought a couple of junior producers at price to earnings multiples of 4.
What if the world is out of gold? What if all of the existing gold was re-hypothecated and leased just like the bankers do with fiat deposits? Some think bullion banks have leased gold fractionally in amounts of 100 ounces for every one ounce on deposit. If that's the case, as existing gold evaporates, banks will claim force majeur and just settle accounts in cash, or go bankrupt, after all of the gold is claimed. Of course the price will skyrocket. And the only place to get gold will be- gold mines.
For weeks I have been reading about shortages everywhere. Harvey Organ's blog runs a daily total on the disappearing gold in the bullion bankers' vaults. JP Morgan only has one ton left with claims to settle far more. This is going to get real interesting- real fast. Maybe it begins this week. Here's a piece from one of my favorite blogs. http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/07/21/gold-backwardation-gofo-goes-mainstream/
If all of this has still not convinced you that the gold war has begun- I have saved the coup de grace' for last.
Ben Bernanke is a genius by just about every measuring tool we have. He has perfect SAT scores, he graduated at the top of his class at M.I.T. He is a financial genius who has studied economics his whole life. He is, for all practical purposes, the Federal Reserve.
This is what he said, just the other day, when questioned about gold.
Mr. Bernanke also offered a major caveat to his assertions about gold: “Nobody really understands gold prices and I don’t pretend to understand them either,” he said.
If Bernanke doesn't understand how gold is priced- just who the hell does? Think he is trying to act stupid and transmit an uncertainty about gold? I do. Calculated and intelligent stupidity. With a motive.
I will rest my case right there. When the world's smartest man says stupid shit like that- it's time to get real nervous. I think the gold war has begun.
In mid April of this year, unknown forces began driving the price of gold down in dramatic fashion. At the end of the slaughter, or nadir, gold rested at 1200 an ounce. A price it had not seen in 3 years.
Most people do not care. The vast majority of folks do not understand commodity markets nor do they own gold. Historically speaking, gold has HUGE significance. It is real money. It is rare and it is coveted and it has remained that way for 6000 years. The bankers have never been able to counterfeit gold. So they do the next best thing. They use paper markets to manipulate the price. The bullion banks loan gold in amounts well beyond that which they actually possess. Because there has never been a run on gold in a worldwide sense, bankers have always gotten away with leasing gold they do not have. A world wide run has begun.
In short, bullion banks are going to have to produce the physical commodity in amounts they do not have. They have written a check that their collective asses can't cash.
The gold war has begun. Make no mistake about it. It is ON.
The first story I read on Tuesday completely blew my mind. I mulled it over the entire week. In short, Grant Williams graphed the gold price following two dates. The date Hugo Chavez and Venezuela said they wanted their 100 tons of gold back from England and the date Germany demanded 300 tons of gold from New York.
With all of that supply gone, unavailable for lease, you would think that the price of gold would go up. Not so. In fact, gold traded down almost two hundred dollars after the Venezuela announcement. After the German announcement, the price of gold was pounded clear down to 1200. A loss of 400 dollars per oz. The law of supply and demand had apparently been repealed.
That happened three months ago. I have always believed bullion banks manipulated the price. Banks and their commodity trading desks have driven down the paper price of gold in order to purchase the actual metal for future delivery at a much cheaper price. They don't dare wait for a few years or they might be paying 5000.00 an oz. for it then. In the case of New York, the U.S. told the Germans they couldn't deliver for SEVEN YEARS! Here is Grant Williams and his fantastic take on what happened. http://www.mauldineconomics.com/ttmygh/what-if
On Tuesday, I began buying gold miners in earnest. I am 100% cash invested in 5 junior miners with some long term options in Kinross. I also bought into SLV. I am fully cash invested at this point.
I believe that this is the opportunity of a lifetime. But you have to see it and act before the rest of the herd sees it. For the past 5 years, the price of mining stocks have been annihilated. You will never buy miners cheaper, ever, on a relative basis. I bought a couple of junior producers at price to earnings multiples of 4.
What if the world is out of gold? What if all of the existing gold was re-hypothecated and leased just like the bankers do with fiat deposits? Some think bullion banks have leased gold fractionally in amounts of 100 ounces for every one ounce on deposit. If that's the case, as existing gold evaporates, banks will claim force majeur and just settle accounts in cash, or go bankrupt, after all of the gold is claimed. Of course the price will skyrocket. And the only place to get gold will be- gold mines.
For weeks I have been reading about shortages everywhere. Harvey Organ's blog runs a daily total on the disappearing gold in the bullion bankers' vaults. JP Morgan only has one ton left with claims to settle far more. This is going to get real interesting- real fast. Maybe it begins this week. Here's a piece from one of my favorite blogs. http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/07/21/gold-backwardation-gofo-goes-mainstream/
If all of this has still not convinced you that the gold war has begun- I have saved the coup de grace' for last.
Ben Bernanke is a genius by just about every measuring tool we have. He has perfect SAT scores, he graduated at the top of his class at M.I.T. He is a financial genius who has studied economics his whole life. He is, for all practical purposes, the Federal Reserve.
This is what he said, just the other day, when questioned about gold.
Mr. Bernanke also offered a major caveat to his assertions about gold: “Nobody really understands gold prices and I don’t pretend to understand them either,” he said.
If Bernanke doesn't understand how gold is priced- just who the hell does? Think he is trying to act stupid and transmit an uncertainty about gold? I do. Calculated and intelligent stupidity. With a motive.
I will rest my case right there. When the world's smartest man says stupid shit like that- it's time to get real nervous. I think the gold war has begun.
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