Every Candidate Failed a Basic Test

I could not believe my ears when I heard the democratic candidates on stage say that the president is sworn to protect the USA from aggressors as well as the constitution. This is patently false.

Here is the oath that the president swears:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Note that this is not abridged.

If given the choice between defending the constitution or defending against conflict, the president is sworn to defend the constitution.

The framers of the great experiment that is the USA were very clear, the constitution is worth the lives of some of its people. (I recommend giving Thomas Paine a quick read)

Have these people never heard the phrase, "Give me liberty or give me death"?

Almost every candidate failed the test (to be fair, they didn't know they were taking a test --too bad)

Arrgghhhhhh...

Where's that Plymouth.

Ever Seen a Solar Flare

Very Cool.
Click here for the NASA video.

Loonie breaks through $1.10 US

And Kudlow still insists it is healthy and that inflation will NOT follow. He's either smokin' something, dumb as a box of rocks or a shill for someone...

Too early for a Plymouth. Or is it?

Today's Toles

Check it out:
Click here.

And Fox News is Playing the Violin

On a partisan press

Let me begin by stating my position clearly.

I hate the partisan press.

In the political world the press needs to hold the government's collective feet to the fire. It is a staple of democracy and a tradition that goes back at least a couple of millennia.

Fox news drives me crazy.

In totalitarian regimes the first thing any dictator does is take control of the media. It is no co-incidence that we believe that the Russian people are completely behind Putin. Putin controls the media.

Why would any newsman in a free society blindly tow the party line?

There is no good answer.

Some results of this in no particular order:

1. People in general do not believe the press,
2. People with partisan viewpoints only watch the news that espouses their point of view giving them a very narrow view of the country,
3. People are more comfortable with the info the get from the Daily Show than from the evening news, and
4. The government gets away with untold evils.

(Send me your additions and I will repost a more complete list next week)

One of my favorite anecdotes

A local and recently elected politician could not wait to deal with the press. You see, the incumbent who was thrashed in the election was vicerated by the media during his entire term. The new representative took this to mean that the press was clearly on his side and would be a great asset during his term.

He was wrong. His vivisection by the local press began with his first decision and he openly wondered where all his friends had gone.

Integral part of the democratic process

The press is an integral part of the democratic process, that is why it has a special place in the bill of rights.

When an administration runs amok and rips up the constitution it is the press that is supposed to step in (remember watergate?) and expose the crimes.

Why?

Well, those under the command of the administration cannot always be counted upon to act in the interest of the people. The press is NOT under the command of the administration and must, yes must, hold the governments collective feet to the fire. If they don't the system fails.

They haven't, and the system has failed.

Disagree?

Don't think the system has failed?

The USA is actively engaging in torture. By doing so they are collecting flawed intelligence and making unilateral decisions based on it. The green back has fallen 50 percent. Inflation is about to grip the nation.

And Fox News is playing the Violin.

Time for a Plymouth... er make it a double.

Only One of the Men Running has Balls

Finally someone is standing up in the house and taking the administration to task.

Note: this is important, there is a big difference between speaking to the press and standing up in the house and making such a declaration.

"In all of this, Vice-President Richard B. Cheney has acted in a manner contrary to his trust as vice-president and subversive of constitutional government, to the prejudice of the cause of law and justice and the manifest jury of the people -- injury of the people of the United States. Wherefore Richard B. Cheney, by such conduct, warrants impeachment and trial and removal from office."

Breitbart.tv video here.

Added Note: The Republicans actually got on side with sending this to debate --they must have seen a way to embarrass the dems. But, the dems decided to send it off to the judicial review graveyard. To bad the party doesn't have Kucinich's balls.

Thanks to Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish for this:

Animator vs. Animation

by alanbecker

The definition of time well wasted (that is a compliment)

Can Massive US Inflation Be Avoided?

Can massive inflation be avoided?

Yes.

Will it be?

I doubt it.

What does Massive mean? I predict that the US will see a total of 30-35 percent inflation over the next 24-30 months.

Am I crazy?

You be the judge. Take the sum of the following points:

1. The Fed is printing more money that it has in a very long time (here). How can this not be inflationary?

2. The Greenback is at record lows against the currencies of ALL of it's major trade partners (here is a chart vs the Canadian loonie).

3. A very large percentage of the products purchased in the US are at least in part manufactured overseas.

4. China has been artificially keeping its currency low (this could change at a moment's notice)

5. The price of oil has tripled in just a few years and shows no sign bouncing back --of course, with the devaluation of the greenback on the world stage it cannot bounce back.

6. The record budget deficits that the current administration has (and continues to) run up is (are) not going towards investment in the country's future. (remember Iraq was only going to cost a total of 60 billion, tops.)

7. The effect of the change in the cost of imports has not been passed on to the consumer. (This has to be corrected. Do you think that Toyota is happy selling cars to the US for 40 percent less than it did 3 years ago? By accepting US currency this is what they are doing)

8. The message from the pundits is that the economy is good, that unemployment is low, etc. They always fail to mention that the international purchasing power of their post tax income has been almost cut in half in the last 5 years. By lying to the people the pundits are setting them up to be blindsided. You are going to hear, "who could have seen it coming" repeated as a mantra. Folks, this is basic economics.

If you combine just a few of the above points you have a recipe for disaster.

The most ominous point to me is number 7. There has been a bit of a consumer price honeymoon largely because of stockpiled and pre-purchased assets: from toys to steel to oil.

Look around your home and tally up everything that is made overseas (including items with foreign made parts). Now understand this. Because of the devaluation of the almighty buck all of those items cost someone 40-50 percent more than they did when you purchased them. Do you think overseas producers are happy to absorb that added cost without passing it on to the American consumer?

Back to number 7. Once the increase price of goods starts to be passed on to the consumer inflation will be unstoppable. It is not rocket science.

Can US Manufacturers take up the slack?

I can hear the naysayers saying that as assets become more expensive overseas the domestic manufacturing sector will take up the slack. This is true. But is it a good thing? In order to take up the slack US manufacturers will have to make products less expensively and of similar quality to those made in China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Canada, etc.

Can the US make cheaper products than China? Yes, but only by lowering the standard of living of its people.

An example of the incongruity of stable US prices

There is a controversy brewing in the land to the north of the US. Right now the average price of a new car in Canada is 30 percent higher than in the US. Do you think Toyota is happy with Canadians paying them 30 percent less simply by driving a few miles south? No, Toyota has countered by prohibiting their American dealers from selling cars to Canadians. Naturally a class action lawsuit has followed. But the real problem is not that cars are too expensive in Canada, the problem is that they are way to cheap in the good old US of A. Toyota will not be able to keep Canadians from legally purchasing cars in The States (remember NAFTA?).

The incongruity of cross border pricing can only be resolved by rationalization. Once the price of that Toyota has been rationalized it will cost 30 percent more in the US. This will happen in the next 24-30 months and will be typical of the increase in the cost of goods nationwide.

A 30 percent increase in the cost of goods equals 30 percent inflation, no matter how it is spun by Fox News.

Don't believe me?

Run the following test:

Click on the American Toyota website (here) and price any vehicle, then click on the Canadian Toyota website (here) and price the exact same vehicle. Then go to a currency converter such as the one at Oanda (here) and marvel at the difference as little as a mile can make.

Still don't believe me?

Why is Warren Buffett keeping his cash reserves in foreign currency (and for the first time looking overseas for investment)?

Time for a Plymouth.

Cheers

Surprising Study on How We Read

Thanks to Slashdot for this gem from the BBC News:

...the eyes often focussed on different letters in the same word, about two characters apart, he said.

"They could be uncrossed, in the sense that the two lines of sight are not crossed when you look at a word, or alternatively the two lines of sight may be crossed," he added.

The team's results demonstrated that both eyes lock on to the same letter 53% of the time; for 39% of the time they see different letters with uncrossed eyes; and for 8% of the time the eyes are crossing to focus on different letters.

Perhaps this is the process behind this meme that has been making the rounds of the net for several years now:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Having trouble reading it? Just relax and let your eyes scan it.

More info on this meme here. (Don't be a victim, the "Cambridge research" part is misleading)

The BBC News article is here.

Cool Stuff

CNN Spins Dollar News

The greenback has slid to the value of the Canadian dollar. Yes, it is true. Parity was reached today. And how did CNN spin it?

Canadian dollar catches up to U.S. dollar

Value of 'loonie' reaches that of American dollar for the first time in over 30 years.

September 20 2007: 2:39 PM EDT

TORONTO (AP) -- The Canadian dollar reached parity with the U.S. dollar on Thursday for the first time since November 1976.

(More here)

Please do not be fooled. The loonie did not climb to the value of the U.S. dollar; The U.S. dollar has plummeted to the value of the Canadian dollar.

Still not convinced? Check this out:

NOTE: Recent events do not show on this graph. Today the blue line slid off the bottom of the chart.
(here)

This is not a symptom of a strong US economy

More gin might be in order.