Sign of the Times

A woman is apparently attempting to lay the blame for her investment losses with Madoff on the SEC (and thus the taxpayers). Uh, yeah. Even though I left my homework with your dog, and your dog ate my homework, the teacher should now flunk you, not me. I bet she bought her house with no money down and an adjustable interest-only balloon loan, too.

Much More Than Meets the Eye

The most interesting thing for me regarding the Obama election win last night was Jesse Jackson. Yes, the numero uno race-baiter was at the Obama victory celebration in Chicago, crying his eyes out over the historic win...

Was he crying due to happiness that racism is defeated? Was it more likely that he has much less to complain about now that a black man has been elevated to the highest office in the land and will be considered the most powerful man in the world? Call me cynical, but I believe it's more that latter than the former.

So there is your immediate positive effect of an Obama victory- go figure; I knew that if I thought about it long enough, I might find one- a solid nail in the coffin of Jackson's race-baiting business. Time to find a new line of work, Jesse.

My name is Dennis and I approved this message...

I am SO ready for this election to be over. I feel like I will explode if I see one more political ad. Johnrak McBama keeps asserting the HE will be the one to single-handedly get us out of an economic mess that Congress started for us back in the 90's... Uh, yeah. (Don't get me wrong, Congress and Wall Street then fanned the flames back in the early 2000s, then every knucklehead in America spent what they saved and then way more- so there's plenty of blame to go around!)

I am not really happy with either major party candidate, and Bob Barr (Libertarian) has no shot at winning. Regardless who wins, rest assured that we will get what we deserve for putting either of these two in the White House. I just hope that we can maintain our identity as a free people through some potentially difficult financial times immediately ahead! We've survived idiots in the White House before, and my guess is that we'll do it again. I say it somewhat jokingly: God save the Constitution!

Moral Hazard

Today is a 'good' day for the markets, but a bad one for capitalism in general. Apparently, we taxpayers are bailing out the entire financial system. What does this mean? The same mistakes in mortgage finance and credit will be repeated. This is akin to a short-term fix for a drug user, but no re-hab. Shame on the government. As Jim Rogers often says of both Democrats and Republicans, "a pox on both their houses."

I Better Ramp Up My Travel Budget

At least I should within the U.S. :


Current Visited States:

Current Visited States by Motorcycle:

That Pesky Road-side Johnson Grass Problem

in Pemiscot County, Missouri has apparently been remedied by the imposition of a "johnson grass" tax! Yet another example of the fact that throwing money at a problem doesn't necessarily fix it. Thanks for that little addition on my personal property taxes. Good work, Pemiscot County! (photos HWY U)

Random Quote of the Week

The great secret both of health and successful industry is the absolute yielding up of one's consciousness to the business and diversion of the hour--never permitting the one to infringe in the least degree upon the other. --SISMONDI.

Great Beer, and a Great Car

Be Careful Who You Shoot in Caruthersville

Early Sunday morning, the Caruthersville Police had to shoot a man who was apparently brandishing a weapon after stealing a car and being caught... (story here)

This alone is big news for our little town, but the reason that this story is so explosive is that the Police officers are white, and the 'suspect' was black. You can see all the speculation and racism on both sides HERE on the Topix thread. The title alone starts it off: "the murder by the police."

I've said it before- no matter your race, creed, religion, or sexual preference, IF YOU DRAW A WEAPON ON THE POLICE, THEY WILL SHOOT YOU. 'Protect and Serve' doesn't just mean protect the suspect. It also means that police should protect themselves as well in the line of duty. Seems like a simple, understandable fact of life, but apparently not to some of the citizens of Caruthersville. One of the people interviewed by the local TV station said something to the effect of this: 'if the police were close enough to use a Taser, they were close enough to arrest the man without shooting him.' Uh, yeah. Let's see YOU arrest someone while looking at the business end of a .45 auto. See how fast you look for a weapon yourself. Before all you anti-gun nuts start chiming in, please realize that someone who would steal a car would also obtain a gun illegally if they chose to be armed...

While I've been around long enough to know that corruption does exist among police, particularly in some of the larger cities, I can't imagine that the Caruthersville police would make a 'bad shoot' and try to cover it up. If the police version of the story is true, it sounds to me like they did their job well. It's too bad the 'suspect' had to lose his life, and it's too bad the officers in question will have to live with the fact that they have killed someone... In my opinion, the police have 'protected and served' the City of Caruthersville and society in general by doing what had to be done in the situation and removing a dangerous criminal from the streets, no matter his color.

The Fabric of Society is Thinner Than You Think

A statement clearly backed up by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and to a lesser extent (although the ramifications are really more far-reaching), the recent bailout of Bear Stearns by the Federal Reserve.

Now I know that Bernanke makes a solid point when he says that the fate of Bear Stearns is not a desirable one by any means. I agree. Nobody but the short-sellers have come out well in this situation. However, the apparent fact that our financial system turns out to be a confidence game and that the failure of one large broker/banker cannot be tolerated makes me think that I'm watching the Wizard of Oz, and the little man behind the curtain has just been exposed...

Don't misunderstand- I'm neither a doom-and-gloomer, nor a gold bug. I am convinced more than ever that the importance of diversification among several asset classes cannot be over-emphasized.

Random Update

Spitzer is gone. Good riddance. I'll give him credit for fixing a couple of Wall Street issues that needed reform, but his strong-arm extortion tactics against mostly innocent people like Grasso made me sick. Hey, anything for political gain, right? What an ass. He got what he deserved.

Unfortunately, Spitzer laid the groundwork for new strong-arm tactics among the politically-up-and-coming states attorneys general. I can't wait to see who the next Spitzer turns out to be...

A Great Day for Cuba

Finally. Fidel is gone, at least politically. I was hoping that Fidel Castro would have been dead by now, but the world doesn't always work like you want it to sometimes. Brother Raul gets the keys to the country for now- I've said it before- Cuba will likely become Communist in name only, like China. Great news for the Cuban people. It may take a while for significant political freedoms like free speech and fair elections, but I bet the island takes a definite capitalist turn...

Since I Haven't Been Political in a While...

All this bullshit rhetoric bouncing around in political talk about sovereign wealth funds (pools of investment money owned by foreign governments) is really starting to get on my nerves. The politicians are constantly talking about changing the rules for, or putting onerous restrictions on sovereign wealth funds, often citing 'national security' concerns.

If a foreign government takes a large stake in a U.S. company, even one that's involved in our national security, they can't possibly get technical information from that investment. It's a financial transaction. Even if they managed to get a seat on the board of directors, that's only one vote, never mind the fact that directors are generally just concerned with big-picture business issues. Now I'm no detective, but it would look rather strange to me if a corporate director representing a foreign government started poking around asking questions about our latest military toys and other sensitive technology. There's an FBI office near you! Pick up the phone and call them.

People get so pissed about foreigners buying U.S. real estate and making investments in our publicly-traded companies. BIG DEAL. Before our Yankee lira (dollar) fell off the proverbial cliff, our mutual funds and hedge funds were buying huge stakes in foreign companies all the time, if not buying them outright. Free trade is free trade. It's not like the foreigners can take the companies or real estate back home with them...

Now THAT Would be Your Rigid Frame...

The ABS system makes up for the bumpy ride!

What a Way to Start the Year

With a Missouri Tiger victory in the Cotton Bowl vs. the Arkansas Razorbacks....

(insert Dr. Evil laugh here)

Happy New Year to all.