Davespeak

2011-10-19T21:03:00.000-04:00

The Parasite’s Manifesto Now the “Occupy Wall Street” Movement wants to stage a “National Convention” in Philadelphia next summer so they can “air their grievances”. Among them: All elections to be paid for by “the Public”, with no private monies used at all. Any contribution to a political candidate would be illegal. Immediate

2011-10-19T16:41:00.003-04:00

Obama losing Wall Street money I know folks who work on The Street and the word has been for months that President Barack Obama (D- Beltway) has lost their support – not just their votes – but their money as well. In the latest fundraising report, employees at Goldman Sachs (I know, boo hiss) have contributed a mere $45,000 USD to the president’s re-election committee. Those same employees

2011-10-18T16:37:00.005-04:00

Obama Scandal watch v 1.6 The always interesting Ulsterman has an interesting Insider report. The nut: Fast and Furious may well have been designed as a way to advance some gun control legislation AND there might be a memo about it floating around. Straight to the audio tape: Been told there is a memo, or was a memo, tying Fast and Furious directly to some kind of proposed gun control

2011-10-17T17:23:00.001-04:00

Missile Defense for the US. My old man was a rocket scientist, for real. The last thing he told me before he started working on “black projects” was stuff wiped out by the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. He loved telling this story of how the Joint Chiefs of Staff were flown into Burlington, NC (through GSO, now PTI) in the 1960s to view the prototype of the fastest computer in the world.

2011-10-16T15:14:00.008-04:00

When you’ve lost the establishment limousine left, you’re toast. It seems President Obama has lost the that bastion of the Limousine Left, Mort Zuckerman. For those of you folks in Alamance County, Mort Zuckerman is a really rich guy that owns a lot of big buildings in New York City as well as The New York Daily News and US News and World Report. This piece in The Wall Street Journal is a real

2011-05-03T14:17:00.000-04:00

Osama Bin Ladin assassination instigated by CIA, not President Obama http://newsflavor.com/politics/us-politics/did-senior-militaryintelligence-officials-overrule-president-obama-regarding-mission-to-kill-osama-bin-laden/

2011-04-30T14:25:00.001-04:00

Barack Obama's real birth certificate -- interesting if true.

2011-04-30T08:56:00.004-04:00

This week, Donald Trump raised his profile by doing something I personally thought was impossible: he forced President Barack Obama into releasing his "long form" birth certificate. Leaving aside the fact that it was clearly altered, it was an extremely telling moment. The Donald – the butt of jokes for nearly two decades – forced The President of the United States to do something he didn't want

2011-04-29T08:07:00.000-04:00

What's happening to Barry O In my opinion, the calculus is this: In Plan A, The Dems Power Base supports O as long as he is viable. If he should lose liability -- a very real possibility at this point -- then the Dems Power Base fall back to Plan B, which is to let O and his minions crash and burn and take the Chicago / Progressive machine along with it. Feel free to translate the term "Dems

2011-03-25T17:42:00.002-04:00

Maybe there is a glow in the dark lining to Japan nuclear dark cloud If this is true, maybe there is a glow in the dark lining to Japan's nuclear dark cloud, at least for southern California's real estate woes. No doubt, a lot of Japanese folk will need to leave the islands, if only to get away from the ever spreading radiation zone. How can we help them and help ourselves? Easy, drop all the

2011-03-11T18:56:00.001-05:00

On Charlie Sheen: we've been punk'd After watching this: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/bfb12aea47/charlie-sheen-s-winning-recipes I figured we (meaning the large Imperial we) were being punk'd by Charlie Sheen. My guess is that Charlie wants to get out of his CBS contract and has some sort of great idea for a new gig. However, he doesn't want to wait to start his new gig, so he decided to

Dealing with dingbats

2011-02-21T14:10:00.001-05:00

In a way, I sort of feel sorry for Wisconsin's governor, Scott Walker. (R-WI) On the one hand, he sure has hell stirred up a crap-tacular mess in picking a fight with the public employees unions. On the other hands, even the like of Time's Joe Klein (D-Beltline) says he's right to do what he's doing, because, after all, who are the unions standing up to: A big Greedy Business that screws it's

2010-11-05T09:04:00.019-04:00

Reflections on the elections It's been a long time since I posted anything in this space. But since there has been an election, I felt the urge to comment: 1. The Republicans carried The House in a convincing manner and lost taking the Senate by pushing untested ideologues instead of people who can win. Buckley's Dictum should always henceforth be observed: "vote for the most conservation

2009-10-29T10:06:00.001-04:00

The Sub Conscious alternative to the Sunday BrunchSunday morning is way too intense for a complicated brunch menu. What, with having to recover from the day used to recover from the work week, it’s just not a good time to make serious decisions. The brain can be a bit foggy and incapable of discerning essential adjectives from non-essential ones. A Belgian Waffle? Why can’t we just have an

2009-10-10T09:32:00.000-04:00

From my Friend, Steve Dubner"Maybe it was because I saw the headline early this morning not on the N.Y. Times's website or the Wall Street Journal's, but rather on Google News. I instantly assumed that the Onion had successfully landed a story on the home page of that fine aggregator. "Barack Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize," the headline said. I chuckled, silently congratulated the Onion on its

2009-10-09T16:02:00.003-04:00

And the hits just keep on comingRuth Marcus at WaPoJohn Dickerson at SlateMichael Binyan at the Times of LondonRichard Cohen at WaPo

2009-10-09T09:23:00.002-04:00

Even the Washington Post thinks BHO's Nobel is stoopidFrom the very liberal Richard Cohen:In a stunning announcement, Millard Fillmore Senior High School chose Shawn Rabinowitz, an incoming junior, as next year’s valedictorian. The award was made, the valedictorian committee announced from Norway of all places, on the basis of “Mr. Rabinowitz’s intention to ace every course and graduate number

2009-10-09T07:16:00.002-04:00

An Affirmative Action Nobel Peace PrizeAfter reading this, I can't help but think that the good people at the Nobel Committee are giving their Peace Prize to President Barack Obama as an affirmative Action goodie. As others note, he hasn't really done anything.I think this will be butt of even more jokes about his lack of accomplishment. But hey, he got a nice trophy.

2009-09-14T10:08:00.002-04:00

9/11 as a National Day of Service?Another 9/11 has come and gone. This year was different. Oh sure, grieving relatives still read a list of names of the victims and politicians still lamented the "tragedy". But something else happened to surface this 9/11: A "National Day of Service". Allegedly, everybody is supposed to take the day off from work and go clean up a park somewhere, then pose for

2009-08-26T14:05:00.005-04:00

Are these two stories related?Russia deploys air defence on NKorea missile testsandRussia says it tracked hijacked Arctic Sea all along - but questions grow over cargoPerhaps what was on the boat was more than just timber. I have some sources that tell me that former President Bill Clinton's visit to North Korea was about much more than rescuing a couple of former Vice-President's Al Gore's more

2009-08-26T11:58:00.002-04:00

Kennedy dead at 77Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) died yesterday of brain cancer. I made a great deal of fun of him over the years. Sorry to see him go. I was told by everyone who met him that he was a great guy.

2009-08-21T12:20:00.001-04:00

Boiling the OceanI own a software company. Or, more correctly, I own the other half of a software company. What we do is power gift, rewards, loyalty and customer retention programs for retailers throughout North America. We’ll probably start working in Asia and South America later this year.I’m the public face of the company, working with merchants. Most want simple programs – programs that

2009-08-08T10:30:00.002-04:00

Jonah weighs inThis bit from Jonah Goldberg basically nails the Democrats' problem with their Health Bill. Money quote:The problem is that Americans don't like what they've heard about the plan, and Obama is incapable of selling, or unwilling to sell, it on the merits (perhaps because he knows the plan will lead to the single-payer system he has long sought but now denies wanting). That's why

2009-08-08T08:33:00.005-04:00

The natives are restlessThis health care "debate" is shaping up to be a real mess for the ruling party. My opinions not withstanding (want more affordable health -- increase the supply of doctors), regular people are pissed off at the way the Democrat Party is trying to ram this monstrosity through with zero discussion or debate. When this bill goes down -- and it will -- it will mark the

2009-07-22T15:52:00.002-04:00

Wow, it's been a long time. Now that I've recovered my password, I can write again.More to follow.

2009-01-04T10:39:00.002-05:00

In the four months or so since my last post, several things happened:Barack Obama was elected president;Oil cratered;Credit froze, sending the economy into:A recession that has just manifested itself in Q4 of 2008.While some are singing a siren's song of doom and gloom, I beg to differ, and I differ for a few very specific reasons. These are, in no real order:Oil cratered -- this is like a

2008-09-09T08:52:00.003-04:00

Hurricane SarahSen. John McCain's (R-AZ) vice-presidential pick of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) a little more than two weeks ago and has mattered in this election cycle more than any in my memory. What was initially seen as a cheap trick designed to lure Sen. Hillary Clinton's (D-NY) voters away from the Democrats and to the Republicans, is now being viewed as as stroke of genius that caught the

2008-08-31T16:19:00.001-04:00

Sarah Palin is Big Mac's Veep pickAny academic arguments regarding Gov. Sarah Palin's (R-AK) miss the essential genius of this pick. She is a very "real" person, unlike the phony that Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) seems to be. Americans love real people -- as opposed to Ivy educated career politicians. As long as she doesn’t act like a lightweight, the electorate would see her as one.Besides that, the

2008-08-19T11:27:00.002-04:00

Oil skids along in the $110sAs King Dollar recovers it's luster, oil prices continue to beat a retreat. Look for crude future in the $100 range during September when demand falls even more and the summer driving season ends.

2008-08-08T08:54:00.002-04:00

Oil rose yesterday on reports of a fire at a Turkish pipelineOil spiked up about $2.00 yesterday on reports that a there was fire at a Turkish oil pipeline. However, today the fire is out and crude futures are down below $118. Next stop, $100.

2008-08-06T14:20:00.001-04:00

Crude is trying to build a base at $118If the bulls are successful, we'll skid for a while at these levels. If not, watch out $100.

2008-08-06T08:43:00.002-04:00

The laws of supply and demand are axiomatic Irwin Kellner’s piece at Marketwatch yesterday underscores the “bubblicious-ness” (to paraphrase Fox’s Cody Willard) of the crude futures market. Power grafs: What is even more interesting is the reason for this plunge. It is not so much due to increased supplies of crude as to decreased demand for the black stuff. This is indicative of a major

2008-08-05T07:36:00.002-04:00

I guess we didn’t build the base yesterday Oil futures closed below $122.50 yesterday for the first time in a long time. Oil prices are down overseas as of this writing (7:15 am EDT) and show no sign of stopping. The ruckus that Sen. John McCain (D-AZ) is raising about drilling offshore coupled with the feckless response from Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) have combined to put pressure on crude

2008-08-04T08:15:00.002-04:00

We appear to be skidding sidewaysPrices for crude appears to be skidding sideways, trapped in a narrow trading range. Whether this is the $122.50 base awaits to be seen. Still, there does appear to be support here. Maybe it will hold or maybe it won't.

2008-07-30T13:45:00.003-04:00

Oil appears to building a base at $122.50Oil futures are up a bit as of this posting -- nearly $3.00 a barrel. NOt sure it will hold, but we'll see.There's an old adage: amateurs open the market and pros close it. We'll see if this the start of something or another dead cat bounce.

2008-07-29T17:06:00.001-04:00

I'll let somebody else say itFrom the AP via Yahoo:More concerns that crude's run-up over the past year has pushed prices to unsustainable levels fed Tuesday's decline. The U.S. Transportation Department said Monday that U.S. drivers logged 9.6 billion fewer vehicle miles in May -- or 3.7 percent -- compared to the same period last year, the biggest drop ever for the historically busy summer

2008-07-27T09:46:00.004-04:00

Michael Barone agrees with meOne of the reason I started blogging to begin with is that I sometime have the ability to see around corners and by blogging I could document my prescience. Last Friday, I made an observation that would clearly establish me as a True Master of the Obvious: $4 a gallon gas made a "tectonic shift" in public perception about energy in general and oil in specific.Now,

2008-07-26T07:55:00.006-04:00

Oil drops againWe're about to test the $122 barrier for crude futures, having settled at $123 and some change on Friday. Like I said last week, if it doesn't and build a base here, there's nothing to stop it until it hits $98 a barrel.This is all demand driven and demand is contracting all over the world. Two major points from Bloomberg underscore this:U.S. fuel demand averaged 19.9 million

2008-07-25T08:38:00.003-04:00

Dead cat bounceDespite yesterday's dead cat bounce, I see no reversal in the downward trend for oil futures prices. Yesterday $1+ increase came on the heels of horrible jobless numbers. The just released durable goods numbers came as a complete surprise to those who think we're spiraling down into recession (clue: we're not). Housing is still going to suck for sellers in the short term although

2008-07-25T07:41:00.003-04:00

From The Times of LondonBarack Obama's (D-IL) anti-messiah blowback has started in earnest, with Gerald Baker the first to weigh in. It's funny and literate Here's a piece:And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores of the Great Lakes had been laid barren, that a Child appeared in the

2008-07-22T09:45:00.001-04:00

Oil down againDespite yesterday's dead cat bounce, as of this posting, oil futures continue to decline. Next stop $122. If it fails to build a base at that level, there is nothing to stop it before it hits $100.

2008-07-18T15:50:00.003-04:00

Oil down againI guess the Iranians have nothing left up their collective sleeves. Today close under $129 may be significant as there some folks (me included) predicting a bigger sell off next week.

2008-07-17T14:28:00.002-04:00

Oil under $130As of right now(apx. 2:30 EDT), oil futures are down under $130. Osama Bin Laden once said he wanted oil at $144 a barrel.Theory: If Iran does something crazy before tomorrow's NYMex opening, does it mean that Osama Bin Laden is in Iran?My guess is yes, something will happen overnight to roil the markets.

2008-07-16T11:04:00.002-04:00

Oil down againIt's down more that 5 bucks as of this writing (11 am EDT).PredictionIf oil can't build a base around $130 and starts selling in the $120s, watch the Iranians panic and either:a) do something crazy to create "turmoil in the region", which may NOT work this time; and if it doesn't, thenb) dump their 15 VLCCs worth of their sour crude on the markets.Then watch the price of oil

2008-07-16T07:09:00.003-04:00

Greetings to a fellow BurlThe staff and management of Davespeak would like to welcome back our intrepid European correspondent Sgt. Ralph after a long hiatus. We are happy to view his smiling mug and look forward to hearing his observations on the other side of the pond.Three Burltown cheers for his return.PredictionThe Iranians will time their next crazy stunt to take advantage of the MSM

2008-07-15T14:21:00.003-04:00

Iran, Oil Prices and The Bomb The basic premise of this blog is and has always been that money is always the bottom line. It is as true today as it was when I started it all those years ago. Today (15 Jul 08), the price of a barrel of oil fell below $140. The last time this happened, the Iranians started shooting off missiles and frightening the women and children. Almost immediately, the

2008-01-17T15:47:00.000-05:00

5 points to those who guessed where this picture was taken. Send me an e-mail to ralphlion2002@yahoo.com to see if you're right. I'll answer each e-mail I receive.I guess the question to ask is "Where's Dave"? I can honestly say I don't know. We haven't been in contact for some time now. He's been busy growing a business while I have been busy growing a new "post-military" skill set. That

2007-11-18T15:28:00.000-05:00

Jesus! Has it been more than a year?Yeppers. My little business has 300 merchants on the system with another hundred coming later this year.More later....

2006-08-13T09:25:00.000-04:00

If I could have lunch -- just lunch -- with any alive, who would it be?I'd put my money on Michael Barone for his extraordinary insights into all thing political. Check this out from today OpinionJournal:The working class Democrats of the mid-20th century voted their interests, andknew that one of their interests was protecting the nation in which they wereproud to live. The professional class

2006-08-10T10:51:00.000-04:00

Is Iran behind the terror plot in the UK?Am checking my sources and will get back to you...

2006-08-10T07:36:00.000-04:00

I was right === there are Iranian Revolutionary Guard In LebanonThe news that Iranian Revolutionary Guard were engaged in combat with the Israeli Defense Force in Lebabon last week was confirm today by Israeli media. The power graf:JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard have been foundamong Hizbollah guerrillas slain by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, Israel'sChannel 10

2006-08-01T15:01:00.000-04:00

Iranian Troops on the Ground in LebanonMy sources tell me that Iranian Revolutionary Guards are on the ground and fighting in Lebabnon. My sources also tell me that the estimated strength is at the brigade level.Initial observations:1) If this is the case, it would go a long way to explaining why pitched battles are being fought to hold territory. This is something that guerilla forces don't

2006-07-26T08:02:00.000-04:00

Maybe this Israeli attack on Hizbollah is having unintended consequencesDoes this much comment, from The Guardian:Iran warned the west yesterday that attempts to broker a Lebanon peace deal attoday's Rome summit are destined to fail and it predicted a backlash across theMuslim world unless Israel's military forces were immediately reined in.Senior government officials said the exclusion from the

2006-07-24T08:26:00.000-04:00

The mess in the Middle East will smolder along until...The Israelis capture an Iranian Revolutionary Guard with his papers or some other damning ID, then Iran find it has no friends in the world.Then the ass-whooping can begin. And it will come from all sides. Even the Russians will get involved? (Who funded the Chechen rebels? Iran). And the Chinese will stand aside as they hate $100 a barrel

2006-07-23T08:38:00.000-04:00

Hizbollah on the ropes?The latest news is that Syria wants to talk about a cease-fire. two questions arise:1. Whay would Syria ask for a cease-fire if they were not in charge of the operations?2. Would this indicate that Syria's / Hizbollah's are suffuciently degraded for them to cry "uncle"? If the could still fight? why would they stop?

2006-07-22T11:47:00.000-04:00

Some thoughts on Israel and the mess in the Middle EastAn injured finger limits my ability to comment today. However, here's a few thoughts:1. The Iranians and the Syrians started mess and everybody knows it. Even the Arabs are pissed and have called the Hizbollah action "irresponsible".2. There is no reason for America to make Israel stop. Thy are serving our purposes in attacking the

2006-04-28T18:51:00.000-04:00

Boycott Mexico and MexicansIt's time to back these illegals into a corner and show them what we citizens think. It's time to boycott all of the industries that they inhabit for one day and show them that without us, they would starve. And that we could and should send them back from whence they came.It's time to boycott for one day:All landscape businesses that employs Hispanic employees, some of

2006-04-10T10:39:00.000-04:00

Global warming is overFrom the UK Telegraph:For many years now, human-caused climate change has been viewed as a large and urgent problem. In truth, however, the biggest part of the problem is neither environmental nor scientific, but a self-created political fiasco. Consider the simple fact, drawn from the official temperature records of the Climate Research Unit at the University of East Anglia

2006-04-07T11:42:00.000-04:00

So it's NOT my SUVFrom the BBC:Climate changes such as global warming may be due to changes in the sun rather than to the release of greenhouse gases on Earth. Climatologists and astronomers speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Philadelphia say the present warming may be unusual - but a mini ice age could soon follow. The sun provides all the energy

2006-04-02T09:18:00.000-04:00

Illegal immigrants protesting new lawsIllegal immigrants all over the country are protesting new laws pending in Congress changing the staus quo. Some are even chanting "Today we march, tomorrow we vote", in an attempt to intimidate those lawmakers and their supporters who stand against illegal immigration and any program of amnesty that rewards their lawlessness.A quick heads up: Illegal

2006-04-02T09:08:00.000-04:00

Charles Taylor to stand trialIt is a very good thing that Charles Taylor, that notorious scumbag of sub-Sahara Africa is going on trial for his crimes. For those that don't know, Charles Taylor is the former president of Liberia and a war criminal of the highest order. Seeing him at the end of a rope would be a very good thing, at almost the same level as seeing Saddam Hussein slowing twisting

2006-04-01T08:16:00.000-05:00

I'm back from a long working vacationWe're re-organizing the company and life is good. On to Serious subjectsGet this from David Ignatious in the WaPo. In this piece, the author unwittingly gives you all you need to know regarding the oppressively negative coverage of the Iraq War in the second paragraph (ital mine):Yesterday's release of American journalist Jill Carroll makes this a good moment

2006-02-11T08:14:00.000-05:00

Snow?So, it's supposed to snow in the northeast this weekend. How long do anyone think it will take to blame President Bush and Federal Government for the "disaster"? And after one of the mildest winters on record, how long will it take ebfore the eco-crazies pin this on "global warming" (meaning of course, your consumptive patterns in general and your SUV in particular)?When global cooling

2006-01-13T09:53:00.000-05:00

Trees cause global warmingThis is a bit above my pay grade. Perhaps Dr. S will opine. The graf that stopped me cold:In a discovery that has left climate scientists gasping, researchers have found that the earth's vegetation is churning out vast quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent even than CO2. This is not a product of trees and plants rotting, which everyone already knew was

2006-01-09T13:47:00.000-05:00

Dow at 11,000Yahoo!I said so here. So does that mean I get my own TV show?

2006-01-09T10:49:00.000-05:00

So, how come you couldn't tell us face to faceOsama Bin Ladin's behind the the rocket attacks on Israel, or so says his number two. Question: how come he couldn't tell us himself?My guess: he's probably dead. Or at least deader than Ariel Sharon....

2006-01-09T10:23:00.000-05:00

Dr. Dean and his own dementiaFrom CNN, Wolf Blitzer interviews DNC Chairman Howard Dean (D-VT):BLITZER: Should Democrats who took money from Jack Abramoff, who has now pleaded guilty to bribery charges, among other charges, a Republican lobbyist in Washington, should the Democrat who took money from him give that money to charity or give it back? DEAN: There are no Democrats who took money from

2006-01-06T14:27:00.000-05:00

Tracing cell phone use legal in the USAnd if this is legal, then the NSA can do it too.Power sentence:Dozens of online services are selling lists of cell phone calls, raising security concerns among law enforcement and privacy experts.Any wacko liberals / Democrats who try to impeach President Bush on this will have their heads handed to them.

2006-01-06T07:42:00.000-05:00

Just a random thought:Ariel Sharon as the Andrew Jackson (D-TN) of his country and his era. Discuss amongst yourselves.

2006-01-06T07:12:00.000-05:00

The difference between Jihadi Islam and other major religionsRead this from the AP and answer the questions at the bottom:An eight-story building collapsed here yesterday, killing at least 20 people in the latest tragedy to mar the annual gathering of millions of Muslims in Islam's holiest city. The Interior Ministry said 59 people were injured, but nobody would say — or knew — how many more

2006-01-06T06:57:00.000-05:00

Sharon's legacyCharles Krauthammer opines with specificity: Sharon's genius was to seize upon and begin implementing a third way. With a negotiated peace illusory and a Greater Israel untenable, he argued that the only way to security was a unilateral redrawing of Israel's boundaries by building a fence around a new Israel and

2006-01-05T20:44:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day II:It is Democrats like Sen. Barbara Boxer who are leading the charge to have Bush impeached for spying on people with Osama's cell phone number.The always amusing Ann Coulter, on liberal Democrat's strategy to exploit the revelations that the NSA spied on terrorists, both within and without the US.

2006-01-05T20:39:00.000-05:00

Quote of the Day I:"The plain fact is that rap is "the most overtly and consistently misogynistic music ever produced in human history."John McWhorter, quoted in the Wall Street Journal.

2006-01-05T20:35:00.000-05:00

The Hitch on SharonGood stuff. It deserves to be read in its entirety.

2006-01-05T18:42:00.000-05:00

From the unsurprising news departmentIran's president hopes for Ariel Sharon's death. As we hope for his, I suppose.Can some please tell me the essential difference between what Iran's president said and what Pat Robertson said below?

2006-01-05T17:52:00.000-05:00

Pat Robertson again shows why a he's foolI have long been on the record saying that Pat Robertson is a dangerous whack job, whose belief matrix has more in common with al Qaida than your run of the mill born-again Christian. That stated, get a load of this nonsense: The Reverend Pat Robertson says Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's massive stroke could be God's punishment for giving up Israeli

2006-01-05T13:07:00.000-05:00

More problems in FranceFrom the AFP via The Washington Times:PARIS -- A gang of more than 20 youths -- thought to be North African immigrants -- terrorized hundreds of train passengers in a rampage of violence, robbery and sexual assault on New Year's Day, French officials said yesterday. The five-hour-long criminal frenzy was "totally unacceptable," French President Jacques Chirac told

2006-01-05T07:59:00.000-05:00

Ariel Sharon Dead?Probably not, although one can not carry that much weight around for any prolonged period of time without bad things happening to one's body. He's the poster boy for what happens to you if you eat lots of bad food and never exercise. For decades.And, of course, Palestinians are ready to dance in the streets. Not that their situation will improve one iota should Mr. Sharon pass

2006-01-05T07:07:00.000-05:00

NSA eavesdropping and impeachmentI just love when the hysterical left loses control of their hatred of President Bush and does something wacky. Of Late, the talk is of impeachment over the NSA monitoring overseas communications between suspected al Qaida operatives and people in the US. From Debra Saunders of the San Francisco Chronicle -- hardly a right wing rag -- a nice synopsis of what the

2006-01-04T17:51:00.000-05:00

Organic foolishnessEverytime I hear someone say that "organic" food is healthier to eat or better for the environment, I automatically thinkthat they either a) "left"-over hippies ot they're punaciously ignorant. So, when I read an article somewhere that doesn't automatically assume that "organic" is better than "non-organic", I'm pleasantly surprised.That stated, I essentially concur with the

2006-01-04T07:19:00.000-05:00

Yield Curve inversionI read three pieces in three different online publications discussing bond rate "yield inversion", usually called a harbinger for recession (or economic slowdown). While the Fed has signalled that it's not going to tighten credit any more, there are those in the MSM who desparately want bad economic times, else, President Bush will get undo credit that an "unelected"

2006-01-03T17:50:00.000-05:00

This is good newsHeadline reads: Fed sought to signal rate cycle near endRead it here. Stocks spiked on this and should have. The economy is growing at a robust pace. Inflation is virtually non-existent. Unemployment is at historic lows.Yeppers! We're off to the races. Watch for business expenditures to cycle into the mix during the balance of '06.

2006-01-03T14:22:00.000-05:00

Happy New YearJeez -- has it been since 18 Nov since I posted? Yes, apparently. Closing the books on the Business year end is a job or work. Not to mention all the holiday crap.But I'm back -- more later.

2005-11-18T13:09:00.000-05:00

This deserves the widest possible audience:From NRO:The British are feeling the pinch in relation to recent bombings and have raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved." Soon though, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." Londoners have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940 when tea supplies all but ran out. Terrorists have been

2005-11-17T07:57:00.000-05:00

Crude Oil futures fall again:From Reuters:LONDON (Reuters) - OPEC's own oil price fell below $50 a barrel for the first time since the start of June on Thursday, touching a level that may trigger calls from some producers for the cartel to cut output.The value of OPEC's basket of crudes fell to $49.73 a barrel on Wednesday, the group said on Thursday, down from $50.01 the previous day.A mild

2005-11-16T09:57:00.000-05:00

Iraq torture:St. Andrew the Sactimonious scolds his lessors about virtue:"The alleged mistreatment of detainees and the inhumane conditions at an Iraqi Ministry of Interior detention facility is very serious, and totally unacceptable," - from the U.S. commanders who have uncovered torture by the Iraqi army. We led by example, didn't we?We lead by example? Why on earth are you holding the Iraqi

2005-11-16T09:34:00.000-05:00

Crude Oil Futures fall againFrom Bloomberg:Crude oil for December fell 28 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $56.70 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 12:31 p.m. London time, the lowest price since July 21. Brent crude for January fell 19 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $54.99 on London's ICE Futures exchange.I may revise my target prices down if they continue to fall at this rate. When I do,

2005-11-15T14:05:00.000-05:00

Jordan explodes: the resignationsHow come this didn't happen after 9/11: Eleven top Jordanian officials, including the kingdom's national security adviser, resigned Tuesday in the wake of last week's triple hotel bombings, state-run TV announced. Also, a fourth American died from wounds suffered in the attacks, a U.S. Embassy official said. Jordan also introduced strict security

2005-11-15T13:43:00.000-05:00

Oil prices: supply,demand and price gougingFor those new to this space, I'm a capitalist. I run a small consultancy / boutique software shop that caters to retailers. This is what I essentially do: I buy and sell money.That's it. Nothing fancy. Arcane, perhaps. But not complicated.Merchants want instant payment for what they sell. Instead of having a credit plan that they would have to administer

2005-11-15T13:23:00.000-05:00

John Edwards in a GooberheadA thorough Fisking by Tod Lindberg of the Washington Times: "I was wrong," wrote John Edwards in The Washington Post Sunday, repudiating his vote to authorize military action against the Saddam Hussein regime in September 2002. Well, yes, he was wrong. Then, a prudent political calculation for a Democrat with national political aspirations was to support the Bush

2005-11-15T09:53:00.000-05:00

Crude Oil Futures under $58.00From Bloomberg:Crude oil for December delivery fell 9 cents to $57.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange at 2:31 p.m. London time, after falling as low as $57.18. Last week it dropped to $56.93, the lowest since July 21. Brent crude for December earlier today tumbled as much as 73 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $54 on the ICE Futures exchange, the lowest price

2005-11-15T06:59:00.000-05:00

Zarqawi backs GOP call to unveil war-ending planScott Ott at Scrappleface has all the details.

2005-11-15T06:30:00.000-05:00

Jordan explodes: nice bookendsThese grafs, lifted from Dennis Prager and Khaled Duzdar serve as near perfect bookends to the aftermath of the Amman, Jordan bombings. First, Mr. Duzdar, speaking from a position of authority as the Palestinian co-director of the strategic affairs unit at the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information in Jerusalem, begins to rally Muslims against these

2005-11-15T06:15:00.000-05:00

Mark Steyn is a genius: Part 2From today's Telegraph:Three years ago -December 2002 - I was asked to take part in a symposium on Europe and began with the observation: "I find it easier to be optimistic about the futures of Iraq and Pakistan than, say, Holland or Denmark." At the time, this was taken as confirmation of my descent into insanity. I can't see why. Compare, for example, the Iraqi

2005-11-14T06:07:00.000-05:00

Bush Lied: the meme diesFrom Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit:I think the "Bush lied us into war" meme is in trouble, and the GOP pushback seems to be a general effort, not a one-off. And I also think that the reason that so many antiwar people want to move from discussion of whether specific behavior is unpatriotic, to the strawman question of whether any criticism of the war is unpatriotic (note

2005-11-13T12:45:00.000-05:00

Jordan explodes: Suspect caught -- waterboarding to followB. Austin Higgins over at A Certain Slant of Light hammers Andrew Sullivan and his ilk over the treatment of "detainees"Now then, and lest the delicate sensibilities of Andrew Sullivan be ruffled, we must pray that this woman is not "waterboarded" or subjected to any other interrogation techniques that might elicit from her important

2005-11-13T12:03:00.000-05:00

Iraq and WMDs: John Edwards lies like a lawyerIt comes as no surprise to regular Davespeakers that I really don't like former Sen. John Edwards (D-xNC). He's plaintive's attorney and exactly the wrong sort of person to send either to the Senate or to The White House. But get this from today's Washington Post:Almost three years ago we went into Iraq to remove what we were told -- and what many of

2005-11-13T11:59:00.000-05:00

Jordan explodes: the lady sings Apparently, the story of the husband and wife homicide bomber team was true. And she has spoken to Jordanian television. From the AP: An Iraqi woman confessed on state television Sunday to trying to detonate explosives strapped around her waist while she was in one of three Amman hotels bombed by al-Qaida in Iraq. "My husband wore an (explosives-packed)

2005-11-13T08:20:00.000-05:00

Jordan explodes: the fourth bomber in custodyThere were various reports yesterday that the homicide bombings in Jordan featured a husband and wife team. Al Jazeera reports:[Marwan] Moasher [of the Jordanian Government] identified the woman as Sajida Mubarak al-Rishai and said she was the sister of a key aide to al-Qaida's Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a fugitive Jordanian who is Iraq's most

2005-11-13T08:08:00.000-05:00

Al Qaida and the QueenOkay, now that they're sounding like Lyndon LaRouche, will the American Left start taking al Qaida seriously. From the Times of London:AL-QAEDA has threatened the Queen by naming her as “one of the severest enemies of Islam” in a video message to justify the July bombings in London. The warning has been passed by MI5 to the Queen’s protection team after it obtained the