Stand Like A Rock

The Sequence

 ENEMIES OF AMERICA  No Responses »
Aug 312009
 

Remember the movie “Blast From the Past” with Brenden Fraser and Alicia Silverstone? Great movie. Anyway, at the end, Fraser’s character is talking with his dad (Christopher Walkin) and explained that there never was a Russian invasion, the Soviet Union fell without a shot being fired, they were a democracy and we were giving them aid. His dad looked at him, nodded and said something like ‘those crafty bastards’. Yep. Makes you wonder.

by J. R. Nyquist
Weekly Column Published: 08.28.2009

The military power with the best tanks, aircraft and ships doesn’t always win a battle. Wars may be decided by many factors, including non-military factors. For example, a military confrontation may be decided beforehand when a society gradually turns to recreational drug use; or when the work ethic collapses; or a significant segment of the society unwittingly adopts the enemy’s ideology; or the political elite of the country shows itself to be corrupt and contemptuous of the public.

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Posted by DagnyTaggart at 9:34 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,

The Bear is Back as Chinese Stocks Plunge

 ECONOMICS  No Responses »
Aug 312009
 

It’s been a month to forget for Chinese investors, and the last day of August was the worst of all. The Shanghai benchmark index plunged 6.7% today, its worst one-day fall in over a year. Since hitting a high of 3478 in early August, the once-torrid Shanghai market has fallen 23%, which means China officially is in a bear market.

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Posted by DagnyTaggart at 3:11 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Stocks: Another Scary September?

 ECONOMICS  1 Response »
Aug 312009
 

The big problem here is that the rally is based on false optimism. The economy is still falling. There are something like twice as many foreclosures as new home sales. New home sales are primarily to 1st time home buyers, lured by the $8,000 tax credit. That will end in November.

September’s reputation for danger is indeed deserved. The 1929 stock market crash began in September. During the subsequent September, in 1930, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 15%. Even worse, the index plunged 30.7% in September 1931, still the worst September in the Dow’s history. More recent Septembers have brought S&P 500 plunges of 12% in 1974 and 11% in 2002.

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Posted by DagnyTaggart at 3:09 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Shipping Rates Fall by 50%

 ECONOMICS  2 Responses »
Aug 312009
 

Shipping data is a ‘leading’ indicator, meaning that it foretells how the economy will do in the near future. The fact that shipping prices are dropping so quickly and so far means that there is no demand for shipping, which means that trade is way, way down.

Shipping rates, which already fell 59 percent from this year’s high, are retreating as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development predicts a 16 percent drop in world trade for all of 2009. China’s State Council called for curbs on steel and cement production last week. A record 146 capesizes will be added this year, equal to 28 percent of the fleet, according to Fearnley Consultants A/S.

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Posted by DagnyTaggart at 3:06 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

The Lobbyists-First Healthcare Reform Bill

 HEALTH CARE*  No Responses »
Aug 312009
 

In the vernacular preferred by most men I know, Obamacare could be called the “Screw-You” plan.  Just about every special interest in this Country will make out like bandits, while you and I will be…well yes, I hate to say it, but here goes:  we taxpayers will be royally screwed.

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Posted by DagnyTaggart at 3:04 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Iran’s Bomb: A Done Deal?

 ENEMIES OF AMERICA  1 Response »
Aug 312009
 

I would really like our government to take this seriously. If someone keeps calling you ‘Satan’ they probably really hate you and would like to destroy you.

Yousri Abu Shadi: “The question should be whether it (Iran) is capable of doing this (making a nuclear bomb). Yes. Technically speaking, it is capable of it. If Iran wants to produce nuclear bombs within a short period of time, it can. It’s over.

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Posted by DagnyTaggart at 3:01 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

U.S. commander: Afghan strategy must change

 ENEMIES OF AMERICA  1 Response »
Aug 312009
 

Just wondering here, thinking out loud: if we continue to deploy more troops overseas, it would be ‘logical’ that we would have a ‘need’ for the Civilian Army, right?

U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal said the situation was “serious” but the 8-year-old war could still be won. He gave no indication as to whether he would ask for more troops but is widely expected to do so in the coming weeks.

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Posted by DagnyTaggart at 2:58 pm  Tagged with: , ,

Cheney: America Unprotected

 SECURITY  No Responses »
Aug 312009
 

Can anyone really make an honest argument that not interrogating terrorists will make Americans safer? It might make the terrorists safer, but that shouldn’t be our goal.

By Bill Sammon
FOXNews.com
Sunday, August 30, 2009

In blunt, unsparing language, former Vice President Dick Cheney accuses President Obama of setting a “terrible precedent” by launching an “intensely partisan, politicized look back at the prior administration,” seeming to question Obama’s fitness as commander-in-chief. Continue reading »

Posted by DagnyTaggart at 2:53 pm  
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