Ever since I can remember, I have had a basic dislike for loudmouthed bullies, arrogant braggarts and wannabe tough guys. In my experience they tend to be either cowards who abuse those they perceive to be easy targets (women, kids, minorities etc) or those they understand to be perhaps smarter or more accomplished than themselves. By now an observant person might understand that I am profiling the commonplace Trump type and his classic supporter. That is not to say that Mr Trump would not make a successful president. He might. What I am saying is that this type of individual would not darken my family doorstep. Its personal.
In 1982 during the First Lebanon War our IDF unit penetrated far into the Eastern region of Lebanon and faced off against Syrian forces in the area of Lake Qaraoun. Listening to some of the radio chatter it was astounding to hear the arrogance and confidence of some of the unit, and how they were going to rattle the Syrian cage. With a pulsating heart I remember thinking of how tough these guys were. Well to cut a long story short, The Syrians began pounding us that evening with artillery barrages and we dived for any form of cover we could find. Through the cacophony of explosions I heard one tough guy crying out for his mother. Another peed his pants and a third was wailing in fear and and babbling a prayer. Young Harry was taught a major life lesson in those chaotic moments. There is no such thing as a "tough guy", only brave guys and many loudmouthed wannabees. Significantly, the same windbags were heard later on explaining how they had taught the enemy a lesson.
This blog is definitely not for your typical Trump supporter since the majority of these folk don't appear to be interested in the truth, facts or practicality of anything he is saying. Rather he is feeding into their "anger" and therefore they believe anything he says to be possible. To be fair, he did not create the political and economic climate of today (that belongs to Bush and Obama). Like the typical Queens con man ("I know somebody who knows somebody etc") he saw an opportunity and jumped at it. And man....did the fish bite or what! A wild feeding frenzy by the PC commercial media intellectuals on the left and across the board to the white trailer trash in the deep south, ensued. Nobody bothered to fact check the statements coming out of this campaign. This was a reality TV revolution at its best....something most Americans are familiar with. The real world looked on in shock while the liberal media watched gleefully as the hate fest exploded onto our screens.
Anyone who believes a "successful businessman" can run a country is bordering on the delusional. The modern presidents who achieved the most — Franklin Roosevelt, Lyndon Johnson and Ronald Reagan — had virtually no commercial background. Some who did, George W. Bush and Herbert Hoover, fared worse in the White House. Robert Rubin: “In business, the single, overriding purpose is to make a profit,” he wrote. “Government, on the other hand, deals with a vast number of legitimate and often potentially competing objectives — for example, energy production versus environmental protection, or safety regulations versus productivity. This complexity of goals brings a corresponding complexity of process.” He then noted that a big difference between the two realms is that no political leader, not even the president, has the kind of authority every corporate chief does. CEOs can hire and fire based on performance, pay bonuses to incentivize their subordinates, and promote capable people aggressively.
So what will the Donald do when confronted by a hostile senate....after all he doesn't sign the cheques. Trump is using a typical "divide and conquer strategy" which in a diverse America of today is paradoxically playing right into the hands of the Dem strategists. Either way, for this "tough guy" to mutate into a viable leader he will have to unite Americans and America. Not just his own party. I wish him luck with that....but like I said at the outset, the bad taste in my mouth is personal.
“I don't trust society to protect us, I have no intention of placing my fate in the hands of men whose only qualification is that they managed to con a block of people to vote for them.”
― Mario Puzo, The Godfather
Boxing is real easy. Life is much harder - Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Monday, May 9, 2016
Monday, April 25, 2016
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
1.Tony Sagami: "Sadly, roughly 50 million Americans live below the poverty line—the largest number in our nation’s history—and the poorest 40% of all Americans now spend more than 50% of their incomes just on food and housing." Check out these numbers
39% of American workers make less than $20,000 a year.
52% of American workers make less than $30,000 a year.
63% of American workers make less than $40,000 a year.
72% of American workers make less than $50,000 a year.
COMMENT: No wonder Saunders and Trump are doing so well. Nobody is even listening to what they say!
2. Having adopted a negative interest rate on some excess reserves to penalize financial institutions for leaving money idle, the Bank of Japan may consider helping them lend by offering a negative rate on some loans, according to people familiar with talks at the BOJ. COMMENT: Pay the banks to give out loans....?! Somebody has lost their collective minds.
3.Terrrorists blew up a bus in Jerusalem a few days ago:
1.Tony Sagami: "Sadly, roughly 50 million Americans live below the poverty line—the largest number in our nation’s history—and the poorest 40% of all Americans now spend more than 50% of their incomes just on food and housing." Check out these numbers
39% of American workers make less than $20,000 a year.
52% of American workers make less than $30,000 a year.
63% of American workers make less than $40,000 a year.
72% of American workers make less than $50,000 a year.
COMMENT: No wonder Saunders and Trump are doing so well. Nobody is even listening to what they say!
2. Having adopted a negative interest rate on some excess reserves to penalize financial institutions for leaving money idle, the Bank of Japan may consider helping them lend by offering a negative rate on some loans, according to people familiar with talks at the BOJ. COMMENT: Pay the banks to give out loans....?! Somebody has lost their collective minds.
3.Terrrorists blew up a bus in Jerusalem a few days ago:
COMMENT: When the bus filled with real and not imagined innocent people exploded Bernie, did you feel the Bern? And then when the Jews of New York let you have it with both barrels...did you feel the Bern?
4.(CNN): An experimental plane flying around the world without a single drop of fuel landed in California after a two-and-a-half day flight across the Pacific. Piloted by Swiss explorer and psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse 2 touched down in Mountain View just before midnight (3 a.m. ET). "It's a new era. It's not science fiction. It's today," Piccard told CNN from California after his successful voyage. "It exists and clean technologies can do the impossible." COMMENT:
5.The Jewish Press: Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday announced a new technological breakthrough in Israel’s effort to locate Hamas underground terror tunnels. Speaking after the announcement of the discovery of a terror tunnel reaching 90 feet into Israel from the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu boasted that the breakthrough had occurred only days earlier, making it a light-speed pace between pointing out the need for the technology, in August 2014, and the delivery. The new technology has been dubbed “Iron Dome for Tunnels,” COMMENT: Thje media is already dubbing it "The Iron Mole".
6. In South Africa the ANC government is slowly (slowly?) losing its racist mind.
Four national sporting bodies have had their "privileges" revoked, because they have not met their own "transformation" targets. In other words they have not reached the amount of black players in teams based on a percentage of the population. The sports are rugby, cricket, athletics and netball. The South African football federation qualify since 99% of the players are black. Bottom line, players are chosen on the basis of colour and not merit. COMMENT: In the US African Americans are 12% of the population. They make up 70% of NFL football teams.
7. CNBC:China’s total debt rose to a record 237 percent of gross domestic product in the first quarter, far above emerging-market counterparts, raising the risk of a financial crisis or a prolonged slowdown in growth, economists warn. Beijing has turned to massive lending to boost economic growth, bringing total net debt to $25 trillion at the end of March, including both domestic and foreign borrowing, according to Financial Times calculations. COMMENT: By comparison, Greece is at about 170% and Italy 130%. The US is about 100%
“Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.” ― Mark Twain
“Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.” ― C.G. Jung
"Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere" - Glenn Turner
4.(CNN): An experimental plane flying around the world without a single drop of fuel landed in California after a two-and-a-half day flight across the Pacific. Piloted by Swiss explorer and psychiatrist Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse 2 touched down in Mountain View just before midnight (3 a.m. ET). "It's a new era. It's not science fiction. It's today," Piccard told CNN from California after his successful voyage. "It exists and clean technologies can do the impossible." COMMENT:
5.The Jewish Press: Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday announced a new technological breakthrough in Israel’s effort to locate Hamas underground terror tunnels. Speaking after the announcement of the discovery of a terror tunnel reaching 90 feet into Israel from the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu boasted that the breakthrough had occurred only days earlier, making it a light-speed pace between pointing out the need for the technology, in August 2014, and the delivery. The new technology has been dubbed “Iron Dome for Tunnels,” COMMENT: Thje media is already dubbing it "The Iron Mole".
6. In South Africa the ANC government is slowly (slowly?) losing its racist mind.
Four national sporting bodies have had their "privileges" revoked, because they have not met their own "transformation" targets. In other words they have not reached the amount of black players in teams based on a percentage of the population. The sports are rugby, cricket, athletics and netball. The South African football federation qualify since 99% of the players are black. Bottom line, players are chosen on the basis of colour and not merit. COMMENT: In the US African Americans are 12% of the population. They make up 70% of NFL football teams.
7. CNBC:China’s total debt rose to a record 237 percent of gross domestic product in the first quarter, far above emerging-market counterparts, raising the risk of a financial crisis or a prolonged slowdown in growth, economists warn. Beijing has turned to massive lending to boost economic growth, bringing total net debt to $25 trillion at the end of March, including both domestic and foreign borrowing, according to Financial Times calculations. COMMENT: By comparison, Greece is at about 170% and Italy 130%. The US is about 100%
“Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination.” ― Mark Twain
“Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.” ― C.G. Jung
"Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere" - Glenn Turner
Thursday, April 14, 2016
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
1.Israel’s foreign exchange reserves stood at a record $94.775 billion at the end of March 2016, up $4.156 billion from their level at the end of the previous month, which was itself a new record, the Bank of Israel reports. The foreign currency reserves at the end of 2015 stood at $88.9 billion. Comment: In the early eighties the balance stood at $6 billion. When the bank shares collapsed in 1983 the balance dropped to zero and Israel was forced to take loans to pay its creditors. Comment: GO ISRAEL!
2. Bernie Sanders announced that he believes in a two state solution for Israel and arab Palestinians. Now after claiming the IDF murdered 10,000 innocent Palestinians in Gaza he has corrected that to "more than two thousand innocents according to the UN"...another mistaken figure. Official UN figures put the number at 1,423. Other estimates are much lower. This type of rhetoric place Sanders directly in the Obama-Kerry camp. COMMENT: The instant one hears the word "innocent" in this context, its easy to understand who and what he is. The agenda is to continue the Obama trend of creating a division between US Jewry and Israel.
3. Stratasys Ltd (Nasdaq:SSYS), the 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company, today introduced another industry first with its market-disruptive 3D printer, the J750. The new solution breaks restrictive technology barriers, enabling customers for the first time to mix-and-match full color gradients alongside an unprecedented range of materials to achieve one-stop realism without post-processing. Read more about this Israeli company: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160403005061/en/ COMMENT: Compare this to the "productivity" produced by the "Religion of Peace".
4. And still on the subject of 3D printing the IAF has turned this technology into a major refurbishing tool. Start-Up Israel: "3D printers make 30-year-old Air Force planes ‘better than new'. The conversion of old and damaged equipment into first-class defense systems takes place at a base in central Israel. This is fascinating. Please read http://www.timesofisrael.com/3d-printers-make-30-year-old-air-force-planes-better-than-new/?utm_source=Start-Up+Daily&utm_campaign=4109a46c96-2016_04_12_SUI4_12_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fb879fad58-4109a46c96-54596809
5.More and more figures in the Arab world are calling on the Arab states to recognize Israel. United With Israel: In a true sign of change in the Arab world, Kuwaiti media personality Yousuf ‘Abd Al-Karim Al-Zinkawi called on all Arab and Muslim states to recognize Israel, openly and without delay, and stop calling it “the Zionist Entity” or “the Israeli occupation,” terms which undermine Israel’s legitimacy. Al-Zinkawi writes that the vast majority of the world effectively supports Israel’s existence, and the Arab states have begun to move in that direction and should complete the process. COMMENT: As Islam implodes economically, there appear to be symptoms of distress on the horizon.
6.U.S. troops and military equipment would be sent on regular rotations in the Philippines, and said the two countries had started joint patrols in disputed waters of the South China Sea, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said April 14 during a visit to Manila, Reuters reported. The first U.S.-Philippines joint patrol occurred in March, and took place earlier this month, according to the Pentagon. Comment: The prime priority (and the one that governs all US foreign and military policy) for the US is to keep all trade routes open and at the same time prevent a potential military foe from reaching US shores. Antagonizing America's allies and threatening trade wars is counter productive...to say the least.
7. The USD index (a basket of currencies reflecting USD strength or weakness) strengthened from 73 to 100 in 2014 almost causing the collapse of a global debt bubble created in 2008 to "save" the world from recession - most international debt is denominated in USD. Since then the index continues to hover between 93 and 100. The 0.25% interest rate rise in Dec last year and the expectation of further rate rises was close to one of the worst mistakes by the Fed in its history, almost throwing the planet into depression mode. It also exposed a mistaken mindset in the US that they could go it alone and ignore the global economy. Since then The Fed has walked back the expectations of further rises. We can expect the "managed global economy" to move sideways in the hopes that the boat rights itself. COMMENT: The US population's backlash against trade agreements once again shows the American mindset that they can do and say whatever they like with impunity. That would be a huge mistake.
“Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
“He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.” ― George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara
“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."― Edmund Burke,
1.Israel’s foreign exchange reserves stood at a record $94.775 billion at the end of March 2016, up $4.156 billion from their level at the end of the previous month, which was itself a new record, the Bank of Israel reports. The foreign currency reserves at the end of 2015 stood at $88.9 billion. Comment: In the early eighties the balance stood at $6 billion. When the bank shares collapsed in 1983 the balance dropped to zero and Israel was forced to take loans to pay its creditors. Comment: GO ISRAEL!
2. Bernie Sanders announced that he believes in a two state solution for Israel and arab Palestinians. Now after claiming the IDF murdered 10,000 innocent Palestinians in Gaza he has corrected that to "more than two thousand innocents according to the UN"...another mistaken figure. Official UN figures put the number at 1,423. Other estimates are much lower. This type of rhetoric place Sanders directly in the Obama-Kerry camp. COMMENT: The instant one hears the word "innocent" in this context, its easy to understand who and what he is. The agenda is to continue the Obama trend of creating a division between US Jewry and Israel.
3. Stratasys Ltd (Nasdaq:SSYS), the 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company, today introduced another industry first with its market-disruptive 3D printer, the J750. The new solution breaks restrictive technology barriers, enabling customers for the first time to mix-and-match full color gradients alongside an unprecedented range of materials to achieve one-stop realism without post-processing. Read more about this Israeli company: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160403005061/en/ COMMENT: Compare this to the "productivity" produced by the "Religion of Peace".
4. And still on the subject of 3D printing the IAF has turned this technology into a major refurbishing tool. Start-Up Israel: "3D printers make 30-year-old Air Force planes ‘better than new'. The conversion of old and damaged equipment into first-class defense systems takes place at a base in central Israel. This is fascinating. Please read http://www.timesofisrael.com/3d-printers-make-30-year-old-air-force-planes-better-than-new/?utm_source=Start-Up+Daily&utm_campaign=4109a46c96-2016_04_12_SUI4_12_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fb879fad58-4109a46c96-54596809
5.More and more figures in the Arab world are calling on the Arab states to recognize Israel. United With Israel: In a true sign of change in the Arab world, Kuwaiti media personality Yousuf ‘Abd Al-Karim Al-Zinkawi called on all Arab and Muslim states to recognize Israel, openly and without delay, and stop calling it “the Zionist Entity” or “the Israeli occupation,” terms which undermine Israel’s legitimacy. Al-Zinkawi writes that the vast majority of the world effectively supports Israel’s existence, and the Arab states have begun to move in that direction and should complete the process. COMMENT: As Islam implodes economically, there appear to be symptoms of distress on the horizon.
6.U.S. troops and military equipment would be sent on regular rotations in the Philippines, and said the two countries had started joint patrols in disputed waters of the South China Sea, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said April 14 during a visit to Manila, Reuters reported. The first U.S.-Philippines joint patrol occurred in March, and took place earlier this month, according to the Pentagon. Comment: The prime priority (and the one that governs all US foreign and military policy) for the US is to keep all trade routes open and at the same time prevent a potential military foe from reaching US shores. Antagonizing America's allies and threatening trade wars is counter productive...to say the least.
7. The USD index (a basket of currencies reflecting USD strength or weakness) strengthened from 73 to 100 in 2014 almost causing the collapse of a global debt bubble created in 2008 to "save" the world from recession - most international debt is denominated in USD. Since then the index continues to hover between 93 and 100. The 0.25% interest rate rise in Dec last year and the expectation of further rate rises was close to one of the worst mistakes by the Fed in its history, almost throwing the planet into depression mode. It also exposed a mistaken mindset in the US that they could go it alone and ignore the global economy. Since then The Fed has walked back the expectations of further rises. We can expect the "managed global economy" to move sideways in the hopes that the boat rights itself. COMMENT: The US population's backlash against trade agreements once again shows the American mindset that they can do and say whatever they like with impunity. That would be a huge mistake.
“Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own
“He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.” ― George Bernard Shaw, Major Barbara
“Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."― Edmund Burke,
Thursday, April 7, 2016
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
1. A look into the future: The dawn of next industrial revolution is on the horizon. 3-D printing using metal additives will once again re-shape economic priorities, reduce outsourcing and bring jobs back to America and developed nations. Stratfor: Additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3-D printing, as well as intelligent industrial robotics and other software-based manufacturing technologies, are reducing the advantage of low labor costs. Eventually, they will fundamentally change how goods are made by enabling manufacturing to move closer to consumer markets and eliminating the need to search for cheap labor or produce and assemble parts in different locations away from the assembly plant. These changes will decrease trade in intermediate goods and components and lessen the need for physical inventories, shortening and simplifying global supply chains in the long run. COMMENT: Thats how one brings jobs back to America... Innovation!
2.The Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of 11.5m files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. Some of the largest banks in the world are involved and despite the minimal media coverage, sooner or later this event will rattle the political and economic world to the core. The world's biggest mafioso, corruption and politics inc. is about to be exposed. This will happen slowly as investigators dig in...but happen it will. COMMENT: An atmosphere of disquiet might just turn into a cold sweat as markets absorb the drizzle of info.
3.An opposition bid to impeach South African President Jacob Zuma was defeated in an April 5 parliamentary vote, Times Live reported. Lawmakers from Zuma's African National Congress party voted down the proposal 233 to 143. The move to impeach Zuma sprung from a March 31 ruling by the country's Constitutional Court in which the president was found guilty of not paying back public funds he used to renovate his private home. In 2014, an independent South African watchdog group found that Zuma had spent around $15 million to upgrade his home in Nkandla with expensive additions, including an amphitheater and a swimming pool. COMMENT: He needs a bigger home for his five wives and twenty something mistresses.
4.(Reuters) - Top Zika investigators now believe that the birth defect microcephaly and the paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome may be just the most obvious maladies caused by the mosquito-borne virus. Fueling that suspicion are recent discoveries of serious brain and spinal cord infections - including encephalitis, meningitis and myelitis - in people exposed to Zika. The newly suspected disorders can cause paralysis and permanent disability - a clinical outlook that adds urgency to vaccine development efforts. COMMENT: It looks like this virus is evolving.
5.According to Ray Bokhara senior adviser and director of the Center for Household Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The wealth and income divide in the US is not 1%-99% but more like 25%-75%. The whole them versus us theme, which is infecting the current political conversation, needs to be a little bit better grounded in the actual data. The Federal Reserve of San Francisco published a book on the subject - What its Worth - http://www.strongfinancialfuture.org COMMENT: Compared to the run of the mill, manufactured from old foreskins type of establishment politicians - its unbelievable how much crap Bernie Saunders and Donald Trump sprout.
6.So when will Bernie Sanders apologize for stating that 10,000 "innocent Palestinians" were murdered by the IDF in the Gaza War? Jewish history is sprinkled with the Kapo type Jew who will say or do anything to justify their actions. Anybody remember Bruno Kreisky, Austrian Chancellor in the seventies?
7.Shurat Hadin: “We were surprised and shocked to read in the NY Daily News about the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s support for so many organizations involved in the anti-Semitic boycott movement. It’s hard to understand how the children of such a distinguished father could allow their foundation's name to be involved in such racist and discriminatory activities,” said Shurat HaDin founder Nitsana Darshan-Leitner. Apparently these folk are making large donations to BDO and other hateful organizations. "Accordingly, we strongly advise you to consider whether RBF should continue to provide financial backing to these hate groups who promote BDS against Israel and Israeli companies, individuals, and products,” states the letter. COMMENT: Go Nitsana!
Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Even the longest con was never more than an assortment of moments that were in themselves very very short.” ― Ally Carter, Uncommon Criminals
1. A look into the future: The dawn of next industrial revolution is on the horizon. 3-D printing using metal additives will once again re-shape economic priorities, reduce outsourcing and bring jobs back to America and developed nations. Stratfor: Additive manufacturing, more commonly known as 3-D printing, as well as intelligent industrial robotics and other software-based manufacturing technologies, are reducing the advantage of low labor costs. Eventually, they will fundamentally change how goods are made by enabling manufacturing to move closer to consumer markets and eliminating the need to search for cheap labor or produce and assemble parts in different locations away from the assembly plant. These changes will decrease trade in intermediate goods and components and lessen the need for physical inventories, shortening and simplifying global supply chains in the long run. COMMENT: Thats how one brings jobs back to America... Innovation!
2.The Panama Papers are an unprecedented leak of 11.5m files from the database of the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm, Mossack Fonseca. Some of the largest banks in the world are involved and despite the minimal media coverage, sooner or later this event will rattle the political and economic world to the core. The world's biggest mafioso, corruption and politics inc. is about to be exposed. This will happen slowly as investigators dig in...but happen it will. COMMENT: An atmosphere of disquiet might just turn into a cold sweat as markets absorb the drizzle of info.
3.An opposition bid to impeach South African President Jacob Zuma was defeated in an April 5 parliamentary vote, Times Live reported. Lawmakers from Zuma's African National Congress party voted down the proposal 233 to 143. The move to impeach Zuma sprung from a March 31 ruling by the country's Constitutional Court in which the president was found guilty of not paying back public funds he used to renovate his private home. In 2014, an independent South African watchdog group found that Zuma had spent around $15 million to upgrade his home in Nkandla with expensive additions, including an amphitheater and a swimming pool. COMMENT: He needs a bigger home for his five wives and twenty something mistresses.
4.(Reuters) - Top Zika investigators now believe that the birth defect microcephaly and the paralyzing Guillain-Barre syndrome may be just the most obvious maladies caused by the mosquito-borne virus. Fueling that suspicion are recent discoveries of serious brain and spinal cord infections - including encephalitis, meningitis and myelitis - in people exposed to Zika. The newly suspected disorders can cause paralysis and permanent disability - a clinical outlook that adds urgency to vaccine development efforts. COMMENT: It looks like this virus is evolving.
5.According to Ray Bokhara senior adviser and director of the Center for Household Financial Stability at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The wealth and income divide in the US is not 1%-99% but more like 25%-75%. The whole them versus us theme, which is infecting the current political conversation, needs to be a little bit better grounded in the actual data. The Federal Reserve of San Francisco published a book on the subject - What its Worth - http://www.strongfinancialfuture.org COMMENT: Compared to the run of the mill, manufactured from old foreskins type of establishment politicians - its unbelievable how much crap Bernie Saunders and Donald Trump sprout.
6.So when will Bernie Sanders apologize for stating that 10,000 "innocent Palestinians" were murdered by the IDF in the Gaza War? Jewish history is sprinkled with the Kapo type Jew who will say or do anything to justify their actions. Anybody remember Bruno Kreisky, Austrian Chancellor in the seventies?
7.Shurat Hadin: “We were surprised and shocked to read in the NY Daily News about the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s support for so many organizations involved in the anti-Semitic boycott movement. It’s hard to understand how the children of such a distinguished father could allow their foundation's name to be involved in such racist and discriminatory activities,” said Shurat HaDin founder Nitsana Darshan-Leitner. Apparently these folk are making large donations to BDO and other hateful organizations. "Accordingly, we strongly advise you to consider whether RBF should continue to provide financial backing to these hate groups who promote BDS against Israel and Israeli companies, individuals, and products,” states the letter. COMMENT: Go Nitsana!
Beware when the great God lets loose a thinker on this planet - Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Even the longest con was never more than an assortment of moments that were in themselves very very short.” ― Ally Carter, Uncommon Criminals
Thursday, March 24, 2016
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
1.Addicting Info: "Donald Trump is a liar. Not the kind of lies that qualify as little white lies or harmless little fibs. He doesn’t just exaggerate a little or embellish his stories. No, Donald Trump qualifies for full pants on fire status. A recent study of nearly 40 hours of campaign footage by Politico found that The Donald lies on average every five minutes. Go ahead and read that again and take it in for all it’s worth: Donald Trump tells a bald-faced lie every five minutes he’s at a podium. His followers eat it up. Whether he’s inventing numbers about trade deficits, creating success stories that definitely never actually happened to him or defending his bankruptcies, out-of-court settlements and failed business ventures, Donald Trump truly personifies the old adage that you can tell if he’s lying if his lips are moving." COMMENT: Some might say this is a brilliant strategy. What does it say about Americans who believe this?
2.The Economist Intelligence Unit, a forecasting and analysis firm within the Economist Group, says that a victory by U.S. Republican Party front-runner Donald Trump is one of the top 10 risks facing the world today, BBC reported March 17. The research firm, which uses a scale of one to 25 to rate potential international threats, gave such a scenario a 12 rating, which is the same it has awarded the threat of terrorism destabilizing the global economy. The firm also rated a Trump presidency as being riskier to the world than a British exit from the European Union or armed clashes in the South China Sea. COMMENT: Yesterday he threatened to nuke ISIS. Madman or strategical genius with a finger on the button?
3.The Head of General Security for the Dubai Emirate, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, has stated that Palestinians should abandon their aspiration for an independent state and merge with Israeli Jews in a united, bi-national state instead. In a series of remarks published on his Twitter account Monday afternoon, Tamim attempted to garner support for his idea, claiming that a Palestinian state led by Arabs would join the list of failed states in the Arab world. Tamim controversially stated: "I suggest relinquishing the idea of a Palestinian state and being satisfied with an Israeli state that would include both Israelis and Palestinians and join the Arab League." COMMENT: Now That's telling it like it is!
4.Stratfor: Over the course of history, society relied first on wood and wind for its energy before moving to coal, oil and natural gas. The next transition — conceivably, to batteries — is just getting started. With it will come the rise of a whole new set of commodities, best reflected by lithium's recent success and predicted growth. However, in all likelihood, lithium will eventually be replaced by something cheaper, more abundant and more universally accessible. Lithium's prospects in the near future are exciting, but the duration of its success will be limited. COMMENT: As cheap energy continues to flood the planet, some will benefit and others will unravel.
5.US Interest rates: The Fed is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, If they keep rates low there is a distinct possibility of a falling dollar creating a rise in commodities and thus a rise in inflation. On the other hand, the possibility of a further interest rate hike might strengthen the USD to the point of puncturing a world debt bubble and thus creating economic chaos. (International debt is about 80% dollar denominated).Their solution is to keep the USD in a trading range of 94 to 100 measured against a basket of currencies known as the USD dollar index. It can be found on a website by name Kitco.com under "indicators". At the moment it stands at 96.2. COMMENT: Never mind all the "analysts" and "experts". A break above 100 will burst the debt bubble and a fall below 93-4 will signal a renewal of inflation. Keeping it simple....
6.Israeli software firm Cellebrite is helping the FBI break into an encrypted smartphone to help uncover details about the December 2015 shooting in San Bernardino, California, Reuters reported March 23, citing Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. Apple Inc. previously refused to decrypt the phone, which belonged to San Bernardino attacker Syed Farook, despite requests for help from the U.S. government. FBI and Apple were set to go to court over the disagreement on March 22, but the U.S. government asked to postpone the hearing after prosecutors found a third party to help the FBI access Farook's data. If Cellebrite can unlock the phone, the U.S. government may have found a way to sidestep the legal conundrums presented by its standoff with Apple. COMMENT: Those Israeli's!
7.Electric cars will be cheaper to own than conventional cars by 2022, according to a new report. The plummeting cost of batteries is key in leading to the tipping point, which would kickstart a mass market for electric vehicles, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) analysts predict. COMMENT: Sooner, rather than later, Coca Cola and Pepsi will be more valuable than oil.
8.Global use of the yuan for payments dropped in February, a sign of stagnation in the internationalisation of the Chinese currency, according to Swift, the payments services provider, the Financial Times reported March 24. COMMENT: It will be many years before the Chinese currency becomes an important reserve currency.
“Bravado may stir the crowd, but courage needs no audience.” ― T.F. Hodge
No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar - Abraham Lincoln
1.Addicting Info: "Donald Trump is a liar. Not the kind of lies that qualify as little white lies or harmless little fibs. He doesn’t just exaggerate a little or embellish his stories. No, Donald Trump qualifies for full pants on fire status. A recent study of nearly 40 hours of campaign footage by Politico found that The Donald lies on average every five minutes. Go ahead and read that again and take it in for all it’s worth: Donald Trump tells a bald-faced lie every five minutes he’s at a podium. His followers eat it up. Whether he’s inventing numbers about trade deficits, creating success stories that definitely never actually happened to him or defending his bankruptcies, out-of-court settlements and failed business ventures, Donald Trump truly personifies the old adage that you can tell if he’s lying if his lips are moving." COMMENT: Some might say this is a brilliant strategy. What does it say about Americans who believe this?
2.The Economist Intelligence Unit, a forecasting and analysis firm within the Economist Group, says that a victory by U.S. Republican Party front-runner Donald Trump is one of the top 10 risks facing the world today, BBC reported March 17. The research firm, which uses a scale of one to 25 to rate potential international threats, gave such a scenario a 12 rating, which is the same it has awarded the threat of terrorism destabilizing the global economy. The firm also rated a Trump presidency as being riskier to the world than a British exit from the European Union or armed clashes in the South China Sea. COMMENT: Yesterday he threatened to nuke ISIS. Madman or strategical genius with a finger on the button?
3.The Head of General Security for the Dubai Emirate, Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, has stated that Palestinians should abandon their aspiration for an independent state and merge with Israeli Jews in a united, bi-national state instead. In a series of remarks published on his Twitter account Monday afternoon, Tamim attempted to garner support for his idea, claiming that a Palestinian state led by Arabs would join the list of failed states in the Arab world. Tamim controversially stated: "I suggest relinquishing the idea of a Palestinian state and being satisfied with an Israeli state that would include both Israelis and Palestinians and join the Arab League." COMMENT: Now That's telling it like it is!
4.Stratfor: Over the course of history, society relied first on wood and wind for its energy before moving to coal, oil and natural gas. The next transition — conceivably, to batteries — is just getting started. With it will come the rise of a whole new set of commodities, best reflected by lithium's recent success and predicted growth. However, in all likelihood, lithium will eventually be replaced by something cheaper, more abundant and more universally accessible. Lithium's prospects in the near future are exciting, but the duration of its success will be limited. COMMENT: As cheap energy continues to flood the planet, some will benefit and others will unravel.
5.US Interest rates: The Fed is caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, If they keep rates low there is a distinct possibility of a falling dollar creating a rise in commodities and thus a rise in inflation. On the other hand, the possibility of a further interest rate hike might strengthen the USD to the point of puncturing a world debt bubble and thus creating economic chaos. (International debt is about 80% dollar denominated).Their solution is to keep the USD in a trading range of 94 to 100 measured against a basket of currencies known as the USD dollar index. It can be found on a website by name Kitco.com under "indicators". At the moment it stands at 96.2. COMMENT: Never mind all the "analysts" and "experts". A break above 100 will burst the debt bubble and a fall below 93-4 will signal a renewal of inflation. Keeping it simple....
6.Israeli software firm Cellebrite is helping the FBI break into an encrypted smartphone to help uncover details about the December 2015 shooting in San Bernardino, California, Reuters reported March 23, citing Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth. Apple Inc. previously refused to decrypt the phone, which belonged to San Bernardino attacker Syed Farook, despite requests for help from the U.S. government. FBI and Apple were set to go to court over the disagreement on March 22, but the U.S. government asked to postpone the hearing after prosecutors found a third party to help the FBI access Farook's data. If Cellebrite can unlock the phone, the U.S. government may have found a way to sidestep the legal conundrums presented by its standoff with Apple. COMMENT: Those Israeli's!
7.Electric cars will be cheaper to own than conventional cars by 2022, according to a new report. The plummeting cost of batteries is key in leading to the tipping point, which would kickstart a mass market for electric vehicles, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) analysts predict. COMMENT: Sooner, rather than later, Coca Cola and Pepsi will be more valuable than oil.
8.Global use of the yuan for payments dropped in February, a sign of stagnation in the internationalisation of the Chinese currency, according to Swift, the payments services provider, the Financial Times reported March 24. COMMENT: It will be many years before the Chinese currency becomes an important reserve currency.
“Bravado may stir the crowd, but courage needs no audience.” ― T.F. Hodge
No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar - Abraham Lincoln
Friday, March 11, 2016
The Peanut Gallery
Statements, comments and forecasts that have no substance, but just might turn out to be relevant.
1. Netanyahu cancels a meeting with Obama at the same time Biden arrives in Israel. This is only a symptom of a cooling relationship between these two allies. It, however is not the cause. Where once the US needed Israel as a strategic buffer in the cold war against Russia it now regards Israel only as one of three powers in the Mid-East...Turkey, Iran and Israel (all non-arab) countries. To be frank, Israel's kinship with the Pentagon remains strong, business interests between the two countries are flourishing and US aid to Israel is less than one percent of Israeli GDP. Israel relies only upon US political support at the UN and other forums and even that is unlikely to change much in a US election year. COMMENT: The world has and is changing. Israel is quietly preparing for the change.
2.Start-Up Israel: When a huge company like Sony buys an Israeli start-up for a rumored $220 million, the Israeli and Japanese governments — even if they had been reluctant in the past to do so — can no longer keep trade between the two countries a secret. Unable to beat ’em, then, the two governments are joining in the new trading relationship. And this week, officials from the Kansai region of Japan signed a memorandum of understanding on increasing trade and economic ties. COMMENT: BDO who? Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-israel-japan-agreement-follows-in-wake-of-sony-deal/?utm_source=Start-Up+Daily&utm_campaign=39368f5537-2016_03_11_SUI3_11_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fb879fad58-39368f5537-54596809
3.The European Union announced today that it was lowering their negative interest rates to an even more negative interest rate (obviously the first time did not work as expected). They have also decided to create more debt to improve liquidity. A short while ago Japan implemented the same policy with little result. Clearly someone has pushed a panic button as Central Banks manoeuvre to negotiate the rough waters of slowing economies. COMMENT: At the end of the day the markets will take over and create order out of the confusion of these central bank manipulations.
4.Russia's defense budget will be cut by 5 percent in 2016, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Tatiana Shevtsova said, Reuters reported March 6. However, the decision to cut shows that even the armed forces are not immune to a slowing Russian economy, which has been hit by falling oil prices and Western sanctions. The 5 percent cut, if approved, would be the biggest reduction in defense spending since 2000, even as military interventions in Ukraine and Syria have made strengthening the military a greater priority for the Kremlin.
2.Start-Up Israel: When a huge company like Sony buys an Israeli start-up for a rumored $220 million, the Israeli and Japanese governments — even if they had been reluctant in the past to do so — can no longer keep trade between the two countries a secret. Unable to beat ’em, then, the two governments are joining in the new trading relationship. And this week, officials from the Kansai region of Japan signed a memorandum of understanding on increasing trade and economic ties. COMMENT: BDO who? Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/new-israel-japan-agreement-follows-in-wake-of-sony-deal/?utm_source=Start-Up+Daily&utm_campaign=39368f5537-2016_03_11_SUI3_11_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_fb879fad58-39368f5537-54596809
3.The European Union announced today that it was lowering their negative interest rates to an even more negative interest rate (obviously the first time did not work as expected). They have also decided to create more debt to improve liquidity. A short while ago Japan implemented the same policy with little result. Clearly someone has pushed a panic button as Central Banks manoeuvre to negotiate the rough waters of slowing economies. COMMENT: At the end of the day the markets will take over and create order out of the confusion of these central bank manipulations.
4.Russia's defense budget will be cut by 5 percent in 2016, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Tatiana Shevtsova said, Reuters reported March 6. However, the decision to cut shows that even the armed forces are not immune to a slowing Russian economy, which has been hit by falling oil prices and Western sanctions. The 5 percent cut, if approved, would be the biggest reduction in defense spending since 2000, even as military interventions in Ukraine and Syria have made strengthening the military a greater priority for the Kremlin.
5. Zeev Elkin Israeli MP: "The two-state solution has officially died and the future government of a Palestinian state, the Palestinian Authority, is on the verge of collapse." As the arab world continues to implode, hand in hand with the loss of their economic and political power, Israel needs to prepare for "the day after". One can only assume that Israel is prepared for the new reality and challenges facing her. As for the "Palestinian question"...that is no longer a question. The two state solution is dead in the water. The civilized world has more important matters to consider as the threat of political and extreme Islam infiltrates their societies.
6.China will be able to project substantial offensive military power from artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea's disputed Spratly Islands within months, the director of U.S. national intelligence, James Clapper, said in a letter written to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in February, Reuters reported March 10. COMMENT: Regardless of increased Chinese activity in the South China sea, the US and its allies in the area have at least ten times the maritime fire power in that area and it will take the Chinese many years to catch up.
7.Stratfor: Extreme drought and low commodity prices are crippling economies across southern Africa. Because of their heavy dependence on commodities-based revenue, southern African governments have been among the hardest hit by low prices. As if this were not bad enough, the worst drought in more than three decades is threatening the region's food security. Together, the forces of nature and market have given southern Africa a particularly bleak economic outlook over the coming year. On its own, water scarcity is rarely the driving force behind social, political and economic crises. But within the perfect storm of drought, low commodity prices and historical poverty that southern Africa is now seeing, it can easily aggravate the problems already burdening the region.
8. Soccer: Leicester fans celebrated a late winner against Norwich so frenetically that they caused a small earthquake. And the Leicester fans, who have become renowned for their enthusiastic support, caused a mini-quake which registered 0.3 on the Richter scale. The activity was recorded by students who are studying geological science at the University of Leicester, and who placed some earthquake-detecting equipment at a primary school near Leicester's King Power Stadium.
If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you - Calvin Coolidge
Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn't play poker - Amarillo Slim
6.China will be able to project substantial offensive military power from artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea's disputed Spratly Islands within months, the director of U.S. national intelligence, James Clapper, said in a letter written to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in February, Reuters reported March 10. COMMENT: Regardless of increased Chinese activity in the South China sea, the US and its allies in the area have at least ten times the maritime fire power in that area and it will take the Chinese many years to catch up.
7.Stratfor: Extreme drought and low commodity prices are crippling economies across southern Africa. Because of their heavy dependence on commodities-based revenue, southern African governments have been among the hardest hit by low prices. As if this were not bad enough, the worst drought in more than three decades is threatening the region's food security. Together, the forces of nature and market have given southern Africa a particularly bleak economic outlook over the coming year. On its own, water scarcity is rarely the driving force behind social, political and economic crises. But within the perfect storm of drought, low commodity prices and historical poverty that southern Africa is now seeing, it can easily aggravate the problems already burdening the region.
8. Soccer: Leicester fans celebrated a late winner against Norwich so frenetically that they caused a small earthquake. And the Leicester fans, who have become renowned for their enthusiastic support, caused a mini-quake which registered 0.3 on the Richter scale. The activity was recorded by students who are studying geological science at the University of Leicester, and who placed some earthquake-detecting equipment at a primary school near Leicester's King Power Stadium.
If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you - Calvin Coolidge
Nobody is always a winner, and anybody who says he is, is either a liar or doesn't play poker - Amarillo Slim
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
A Tale of Trump
Mauldin Economics: "Whether Donald Trump planned this brilliantly or was simply extraordinarily lucky doesn’t matter. He has found the third rail in American society. The lower-middle class doesn’t make enough to live a decent American life, and the middle class is only a little better off. Whether supporting or opposing Trump, it is essential to understand the foundations of his power and its limits. Trump makes no sense until his appeal to the lower-income white demographic is understood."
Barack Obama and Republican elite gave birth to the inevitable accident (some would call it a natural disaster) known as Donald Trump. The 2008 real estate crash in the US gave rise to a sweet talking liberal democrat perfectly scripted by Hollywood as the first African American president in history. He arrived on a platform whereby main street would take priority over Wall Street. The big banks would pay the price of this collapse and Robin Hood was going to tax the rich and spread the wealth. The Republican elite and the Wall Street bankers quietly licked their lips. Out came the Obama chequebook and he basically doubled the national debt. Wall Street trebled, the big banks struck it rich and Main Street turned into Ferguson and Baltimore. The rich got richer, the poor even poorer and the middle class all but disappeared. Herein lies the political roots of a group of new/old Americans...the White Lower-middle class.
Fact :According to the Census Bureau, the US homeownership rate dropped to 63.7% in 2015—that’s a whopping 5.3% fall from the 2004 peak of 69%.
At the same time, the renter rate has increased in every one of the 50 largest US cities since 2006, according to American Community Survey. Here’s what should shock you most about this: The homeownership rate has declined DESPITE the fact that interest rates have been at or near ZERO PERCENT for the past seven years... and that mortgage rates are at historic lows. (Thank You Tony Sagami). While all this was happening, Mr Obama was progressing with his favourite agendas...The LGBT community, The legalization of Marijuana, police brutality against African Americans, Hispanic immigration and politically correct discourse on Islam and all religion in general.
With this scenario in mind, consider how the forgotten White Middle-lower Class community was viewing this over a period of close on eight years. The hard working white blue collar worker could not make ends meet. Their religion and flag were under attack. The Republican elite were making a fortune out of the greenhorn Obama regime, so who cared about these communities. Their issues were being ignored, not only ignored but implicit in this PC behaviour was an underlying contempt for their beliefs.
What is even more amazing is the shock and disbelief portrayed by the media every time Trump says something controversial. Even more shocking to them is the solid support from about 30% of Republicans and crossover Democrats. He is not talking to them. He is talking to a community that understands what he is saying simply because that is who they are. He speaks their language. When he shocked the PC media by referring to a journalist having her monthly...they laughed. When he hesitated over the KKK, they understood since many have racist tendencies. His aggressive and blunt attitude to others reflects a way of life in white blue collar America. His attacks on Mexico and Islam resonate with them. Even if he flip flops on immigration and torture, he is one of them. So when he tweets and quotes Mussolini "It is better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.” they love it. I repeat...that is who they are.
Whether he succeeds or not, and I somehow doubt whether he represents the majority of Americans, we are witnessing the birth of a new force in American politics. Some might call it a revolution...other might consider it to be quite revolting.
Be careful what you wish for - you might get it - Tom Lauga.
You have to be careful of people who like to talk a big game but can't back it up - Ray Lewis
In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on - Robert Frost
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