Mover Mike

Kevin Brockmeier has written a wonderful book The Brief History of the Dead.

The book was a pleasure to pick up and I lost myself in the idea that when we die, we go to an interim place, a city, that looks like the place we left. We stay there until all who knew us have died. It is not exactly like the world we left for there is a knowledge of our death and an appreciation for life itself and the interconectedness of us all.

In this book the city grows rapidly due to wars and a pandemic, a virus called "The Blinks", an itchiness that begins behind the eyes. Then people start disappearing from the city and as more and more die. All that is left of the city are those remembered by Laura Byrd who is marooned in Antartica fighting for her life. Laura has to move from her interior station to a research station on the coast and her trip across the ice is positively harrowing; a testament to the tenacity with which we fight to stay alive.

One scene was particularly poignent, especially after seeing the movie The March of the Penguins.

Most of them were carrying eggs on the flaps of their feet, gripping them beneath the soft rounded bald patches on the undersides of their guts, which insulated the eggs from the cold. The ones that didn't have eggs were balancing egg-sized lumps of ice there, dead little worlds that they protected as avidly as though they were real.

Brockmeier paints some wonderful pictures with words:

Her skin threw off the dry chill of a metal serving tray left outside on a winter night.

dogs that stood over sprinkler heads...lapping at the fans of water like puddles suspended in midair.

The living carry us inside them like pearls.

The book is a warning that we have the power to eliminate all life on this planet and that the one who made us could be deeply saddened if our free will took us down that road.

Brockmeier also posits the theory that alive we are composed of three parts: our physical body, our soul and the spirit that is the cord that connects the two. When the spirit is cut our body dies, and our soul lives on as long as we are remembered.

The Brief History of the Dead is a wonderful book that will fill your hours reading it with introspection.

Kevin Brockmeier Antartica Body spirit soul

Update: Hat tip to Steve Duin

Dr Jeffrey Sachs has an editorial on the NYT Op-Ed page today. He writes:

AMERICANS have a perfect retort to Osama Bin Laden's call for expanding the terrorism war to Sudan. We should respond by showing our abiding concern for the plight of Africans by helping to save millions of children who are at risk of death from disease. In honoring the sanctity of the lives of the least among us we have the best chance to defeat the ideologies of hate.

He wants to team up with world health organizations to fight measles in Africa. A byproduct of the measles initiative are its methods to get vaccines out to remote rural villages which can also serve to fight malaria.

The campaigns — in Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda — urgently need around 20 million (long-lasting insecticide-treated bed) nets, at a cost under $200 million. All of these countries have significant Muslim populations; all urgently need our help. Full coverage in these campaigns would protect 40 million children against malaria and save perhaps 200,000 lives each year.

Back in 2001 Roger Bate wrote about Malaria

Malaria is on the increase in all tropical regions of the planet - especially in Africa. In 2000, the disease killed more than one million people and made 300 million seriously ill.

Given the devastating humanitarian and economic costs of malaria, you might expect the international community to be fighting the disease with all its might. But instead, the world's politicians are trying to force developing countries to abandon their best weapon in the fight against malaria - the pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT). The United Nations (UN) is even promoting a treaty that might completely ban the use of DDT across the globe.

Jeffrey Sachs is director of the Millenium Project, one of the goals of the project according to the book Global Deception by Joseph A. Klein

...wealthy developed countries, particularly the United States, must be either persuaded or forced into transferring vast amounts of wealth to poorer nations in order to supposedly eradicate world poverty and disease.

The cost of spraying DDT to kill mosquitos is miniscule and the rewards large compared to the large cost and miniscule rewards of the Sachs suggestions.

Since 1972, when DDT was banned 50 Million people have died of malaria.

The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) held a conference in New York in January 2004 to address this issue, among others. The conference, titled, 'Eco-Imperialism: The Global Green Movement's War On The Developing World's Poor.' CORE supports the use of DDT in African countries. CORE spokesmen Cyril Boynes and Niger Innis described how the traditional environmental movement is imposing the views of mostly wealthy, Americans and Europeans on mostly poor Africans. Paul Driessen, author of Eco-Imperialism: Green Power, Black Death, described how traditional environmental groups are "preventing needy nations from using the very technologies that developed countries employed to become rich, comfortable and free of disease." Patrick Moore, founder of Greenpeace and Greenspirit also supports these views. Conference moderator Deroy Murdock eloquently described how traditional environmental groups perpetuate poverty and misery in developing countries through 'eco-centric' policies.

Who is Jeffrey Sachs? He is one of the misguided elitists at the UN who by their policies keep people in poverty. Didn't we see the same wrong headed policies from the Democrats using welfare on poor blacks in the US?

Please!

UN Jeffrey Sachs DDT Congress of Racial Equality

Last week I took a physical for my CDL. I failed the eye part of the test. They asked if I wore glasses and I said I have some, but I didn't bring them with me. It has been since 1999 that I had these glasses made that I went ahead and made an eye appointment. The Doc said if I find my glasses check back and he'll get me right in. I found my glasses so I went back to the eye doc and passed the eye test.

I still had the appointment, so I figured what the heck, and went in on the 27th. I was met by a nurse who checked my eyes. We kidded back and forth and then she escorted me to the eye doc's examining room. The room was connected to a long hallway. The nurse had me sit in the chair and told me to wait.

While I'm sitting there, I notice that right next to the entry door, on the same wall, is another door just like the first.

I assumed it opened on the hall. I got to thinking, why would they build an office with two doors the same size, completely framed, abuting each other, opening on the hall. The second door had two of those metal doctor office chairs in front of the door. They were situated in such a way that they blocked the use of the door.

I got to wondering if they blocked the door to keep something from coming into the room or to keep me from going out. But out...where. If I opened the door would I go out into the hall or someplace else? It appeared the wall by the second door was the same thickness as the wall by the door I used to enter the room. One would think, since the doors are next to each other and both on the hall, that the second door would open on the hall. There were only two ways to solve the puzzle. Open the second door to see if it opened on the hall or go through the first door and look to see if there is a door in the wall on the hall side of the office.

I got scared, too scared to move the chairs and open the door. Instead I got up from the chair and poked my head our the first door into the hall and looked to see if there was a hall door next to the first. There was! I can't tell you how relieved I was. Just then I heard footsteps and ducked back and sat back down.

I keep wondering about those chairs. Would I have found the hall on the other side of the door if I had moved the chairs and opened the door?

CDL Physical Doors Observations

The June contract of the USD has broken its last major low and closed below 85.97 set in September of 2005. (see chart) This is the lowest weekly close since May 6, 2005. That is a loss of 7 1/4% in the USD versus a basket of currencies since November 18, 2005.

Gold traded as high as $655.30 and settled at $651.60.

Silver hit a high of $14.52 on May 19, corrected down to $11.70 and today closed at $13.51. Silver appears poised to take out the last high.

Remember the highly paid consultant, Jeffrey Christian at CPM Group. His plan was to sell gold in April and buy it back in November. Since March 31st gold is up from $581.8 to $651.60. His latest advice about silver? Glad you asked. Four months ago he said the range for silver would be a range of $7.50 to $10.50, with an average of $8.66. Wrong! Now he says that the silver market is going to be in surplus next year (I assume therefore, he is predicting falling silver prices.) He will be wrong again. Some people are just overpaid.

USD Gold Silver Jeffrey Christian

How about American Idol last night. The judges appologized for their rude remarks to Katharine McPhee. Simon said it is a mistake to come out here and try to sing a Whitney Houston song. You are no Whitney Houston! He said he viewed the song again and admitted he was wrong. Did he think he was really wrong or did he yield to pressure from calls to FOX? The audience and America disagreed with the judges and made Katharine, singing the opening act, and Chris, singing the closing act, the top two vote getters. Hoo Ah!

Sadly, it was time to say goodbye to Kellie. She admitted she butchered at least one of the last two songs and paid the price (as I predicted).

Next week, I hear that the contestants will sing a song from the year of their birth and possibly one from the current charts. Two songs! We get to hear two songs from Katharine. What a treat! Hoo Ah!

American Idol Katharine McPhee Entertainment Chris+Daughtry

Hat tip to Jim Sinclair: Haaretz.com writes that a 250 page classified document addressing strategic issues for the next decade, declares that if Iran gets the nuclear weapon, other countries in the Middle East will want the weapon.

A substantial chapter addresses the nuclear threat to Israel. Iran is capable of kindling the entire Middle East and constitutes an existential threat to Israel. The committee finds that if Iran gets nuclear arms, other Muslim, Middle Eastern countries will try to follow suit.

And that is the problem. The NPT that has worked since 1968 when it was signed, now is threatened. That's why President Bush has been so forceful on the issue. Tomorrow the UN's 30 days ultimatum comes to an end. Will the UN extend the deadline and talk some more, giving the nation of Iran more time to perfect its bomb? Will Bush recognize the UN for what it is, a toothless bureaucracy, and take action on his own? Will Israel continue to sit back and wait? I suspect the UN will dither and dump the whole mess in Bush's lap.

UN Iran NPT

At about 7:24 AM: 2006/04/26 14:24:06

MAP----3.0 magnitude earthquake 6 mile ESE of Scotts Mills, OR 45.024 -122.555 19.1 Km deep

Tonight was a night for love songs with Andrea Bocelli and David Foster as American Idol's coaches.

Katharine led off with Whitney Houston song. She was gorgeous in the low cut yellow dress and the split up the front.

(the girl looks like she has a little junk in the trunk.) I thought she nailed the Whitney song and she showed the most life of any week. Yet it did not go over well with the judges. They said if you are going to do a Whitney song, you had better sing it better. "They know Whitney and she is no Whitney!" I thought she was and, have you seen Whitney lately, even she could not sing that song today.

Eliott keeps getting better and he was great, even bringing Paula to tears.

Kellie was next singing Unchained Melody and it was slow and boring. She hit the big note, but quickly fell off of it. She is in over her head.

Paris sang a Barbara Streisand song. She looks great, but I just do not connect with her.

Taylor sang well, but I don't think he has grown for the last few weeks.

Chris, after being in the bottom three last week, needed a big song tonight or he might have been out. He absolutely nailed it. He and Eliott brought down the house.

Bottom three: Kellie, Paris and Taylor. Kellie should have gone last week, this is her week to go!

American Idol Katharine McPhee Entertainment

Update:

Back on October 30th of 2004, I found some analysis by Bridgewater warning us of $100 to $120 oil.

How does Bridgewater arrive at $100 to $120 per barrel? It seems that the demand for oil is inelastic. It causes big increases in price to get consumers to change their behavior. Oil consumption today is about 2.7% of GDP. At its peak in the 1980's it took consumption at 8% of GDP to curb demand and interest rates were 16% briefly. It would take oil at $120 for consumption to equal 8% which would curtail demand (and slow economic activity).

I was reminded of their spot on report when I saw this article on Financial Sense Online,

Whatever Happened to Oil Price Elasticity? by Andrew McKillop. He writes

Getting back to the narrow question of why oil demand (and world gas demand now growing at around 5%-per-year) are much less than unaffected by rising prices, but are directly increased by higher oil and gas prices, we finally call on facts.

Price elasticity of anything has an underlying notion, hard to quantify, of ‘satisfaction’, and another of ‘substitution’. Neither of these have much place for the vast majority of oil and gas users. Nobody uses oil and gas ‘for the fun of it’, or at least very few persons. Equally, the famous ‘hi-tech emerging new energy’ substitutes and alternatives simply don’t exist. They may exist on the Nasdaq or in people’s heads and PCs, and in cute business video presentations, but not in the real economy.

Mckillop believes

When we go back to economic theory notions of ‘elasticity’, as mentioned above, we soon see that they don’t apply in large measure, or any convincing way to explaining what is happening.

McKillop thinks that until and unless interest rates are sharply raised to double-digit rates, oil and gas prices can go on crawling ever up.

Bridgewater thinks the market will take care of itself, thank you very much, if you let the market take its course. My money is on Bridgewater. It would be too bad if politicians short circuited the process with the unintended consequences of delaying alternatives that develop as a result of the high oil prices.

Andrew McKillop Bridgewater Oil+Inelasticity

From Tammy Bruce, US Approves Second Dubai Deal. British owned Doncasters has been approved to be sold to Dubai firm.

Doncasters makes engines for our military aircraft and parts for tanks. Their projects include the Stealth Joint Fight Striker.

In buying Doncasters, the Arab Islamist country, which also does business with Iran, takes possession of operations in nine U.S. locations and manufactures precision parts for defense contractors such as Boeing, Honeywell, Pratt & Whitney and General Electric.

I still say we are nuts to allow these things to happen.

Doncasters Dubai Finance

You know how to muck up the market, get politicians involved.

Sen Arlen Specter (RINO) suggested the government should consider a windfall profits tax on oil companies if they make excessive profits amid rising gasoline prices. Who defines "excessive"? If in good times oil companies don't make above average profits, how does anyone expect them to take risks to replenish their reserves, especially when it takes new discoveries about ten years to be brought on line? When we had bad times for oil companies and oil service companies, in the middle 80's, I didn't hear any politician suggest government help for their excessive losses.

Sen. Carl Levin, (D-MI),

said he thinks gas prices "would come down within a matter of days" if President Bush told oil companies that he was going to support a windfall-profits tax.

Note to Levin: higher prices lead to conservation or less demand, less demand lowers prices; Econ 101.

Kuwait's oil minister, Sheik Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah, yesterday urged members to offer all their idle oil production capacity to the market as soon as possible to try to lower prices.

"We must do what we can to help the market even if there will be no customers for the extra oil"

That is a rediculous statement. There are always customers for the oil, it is just a question of price. If you produce more oil, you lower the price and that price clears the market. Sheik al-Sabah goes on to say

Current oil prices aren't related to the fundamentals of supply and demand, he said. The standoff between Iran and Western nations over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program had added $10 to the oil price, he said.

Scratch the surface of a man who knows more than the market or thinks he can maniipulate the market and I'll show you a socialist. In reality it could be $5 or $9 or $15. No one knows for sure. Think of the unintended consequences. Suppose OPEC can increase production of oil by some significant amount. Who knows if that only depletes reservoirs faster and output falls further faster. Then prices go higher than normally would.

Update: Betsy's Page has two posts, here and here, about gas prices that echo my misgivings about politicians. Hat tip to Maxedoutmama.

Update:

By Heidi at Euphoric Reality

Facts are a funny thing. They are conveniently forgotten if they don't uphold one's point-of-view, and they're easily overlooked if they are randomly scattered about. But when solid facts are brought together in one place, the pattern is difficult to ignore. The facts I'm about to provide below are just such a case. People may be able to overlook a single fact, but the weight of their significance cannot be denied when they come together in one place. That is the purpose of this week's Blogburst - to look at some hard facts.

I think it's important to study the problems of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas as instructive for the rest of the states. It may be that others can write off the doom of California by saying, "Well, that's just California, a loony state of fruits and nuts - that would never happen here." But while California is tipping head-first into ruin, it is highly indicative of the chain of events the rest of us are blindly bumbling through. Arizona and New Mexico have declared official states of emergency because they are completely unable to handle the burden of the influx of illegals into their communities. Texas is not far behind with mass hospital closings, an overwhelmed and declining school system, and a climbing crime rate. Just because one lives in Idaho or Nebraska or Maine does not mean that it won't happen to you! You're just a few years behind the curve.

The following 10 facts have been pulled from the LA Times. We've posted them all at one time or another at ER or in the Blogburst.

1. L.A. County has 10 million people. 40% of all workers in L.A. County are working for cash and not paying taxes. This is because they are predominantly illegal immigrants, working without a green card.

2. Of the 10 million people in L.A. County, 5.1 million people speak English. 3.9 million speak only primarily Spanish. Of the 14 million people in California, 5.6 million primarily speak other than English.

3. 95% of warrants for murder in Los Angeles are for illegal aliens.

4. 75% of people on the most wanted list in Los Angeles are illegal aliens.

5. Over two-thirds of all births in Los Angeles County are to illegal alien Mexicans on Medi-Cal whose births were paid for by taxpayers.

6. Nearly 25% of all inmates in California detention centers are Mexican nationals here illegally.

7. Over 300,000 illegal aliens in Los Angeles County are living in garages.

8. The FBI reports half of all gang members in Los Angeles are most likely illegal aliens from south of the border.

9. Nearly 60% of all occupants of HUD properties are illegal.

10. 21 radio stations in L.A. are Spanish language only.

We need to look at the experience of California as inevitable for the rest of us - if we don't, we're only burying our heads in the sand and bequeathing that future to our children! After all, if we keep merrily careening down the road to California, we can't be dumbfounded when we actually end up in California, can we?!

Here are a few more facts on a national scale:

1. Less than 2% of illegal aliens are picking our crops but 36% are on assistance/welfare. More on welfare provided to immigrants.

2. Over 70% of the United States annual population growth (and over 90% of California, Florida, and New York) results from immigration. More on immigration as the primary contributor to our population explosion.

3. The United States receives more immigrants every year than the rest of the world combined.

4. The cost of immigration to the American taxpayer in 1997 was a NET (after subtracting taxes immigrants pay) $70 BILLION a year [Professor Donald Huddle, Rice University].

5. The lifetime fiscal impact (taxes paid minus services used) for the average adult Mexican immigrant is a NEGATIVE.

6. 29% of inmates in federal prisons are illegal aliens.

The problems of illegal immigration are not solely "border state" problems. They impact everyone. California and Texas are the two biggest economic engines in the United States - and they are teetering on bankruptcy on a catastrophic scale. If they go bust, guess who picks up the pieces? Indiana, New Hampshire, South Dakota, West Virginia, and all the rest. Illegal immigration is not - I repeat, NOT - a border state problem. It's a burden we're all bearing and a risk we're all sharing.

We are way past the point of half-way measures and temporary fixes. As a nation, we must demand a definitive, decisive, no-nonsense solution. We cannot be placated by smarmy speeches from self-interested politicians, or fooled by spin semantics ("it's a guest worker program - not amnesty"), or lulled into apathy by the drone of our everyday lives.

We cannot leave this crisis to our children. Do something! Get out of your comfort zone and get involved. There are bigger issues at stake than the price of lettuce! The time is critical. And it's NOW.

_________________________________

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It was started by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we’re going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration facing our country, join our Blogburst! Just send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

Update: Two changes have been made to the original post:

"only" has been changed to "primarily" and

links have been added to the sources for statistics quoted in the blogburst.

A couple of thoughts:

Whether you admit it or not, we are at war and most of the American people don't admit it.The idea that we import over 60% of our oil from countries like these

February, 2006, Crude Oil Imports (Top 15 Countries) (Thousand Barrels per Day)

MEXICO--------------1,774
SAUDI ARABIA------1,418
NIGERIA--------------1,342
VENEZUELA----------1,175
ANGOLA--------------464
IRAQ-------------------444
ECUADOR-------------222
BRAZIL----------------164
ALGERIA--------------163
KUWAIT--------------152
COLOMBIA-----------108
CHAD------------------77
EQUATORIAL GUINEA--73

makes us extremly vulnerable to cutoffs of oil. Why we allow environmentalists to dictate where we can drill for oil is beyond me. We currently make parts of Montana and Wtoming and Utah off limits, offshore California and the Gulf og Mexico offlimits and the North Alaskan coast, where you and I will never go, offlimits. Imagine the money that our enemies or countries with opposing interests are accumilating. That gives them leverage over our interests. China, for example, currently owns over $850 Billion of our treasuries.

2004 UPDATE: US Imports total about 61% of consumption: 13.12 million barrels per day in July 2004, out of total consumption of 21.4 million barrels per day. At the end of 2005, US production was at the lowest point since the late 1940s (4.86 million b/d) and imports accounted for 67% of total consumption.

During WWI, I quoted Steve Forbes who wrote

To help mobilize for the war effort, Washington seized railroads, as well as the telephone and telegraph industries. War boards were established that gave Washington huge powers over the private sector - allocating raw materials, setting prices and wages, closing and opening plants, and controlling the prices, production, and distribution of food - all in the name of boosting wartime production.

Bernard Lewis wrote in The Crisis of Islam

Islamic tradition maintains a double standard when it comes to matters of war and peace. “It was perfectly legitimate for Muslims to conquer and rule Europe,” noted Lewis. “It was a crime and a sin for Europeans to conquer and rule Muslims.” In other words, international moral norms do not apply to Islamic states because it is lawful for Muslims to begin an aggressive war against infidels. From a Western point of view, Islamic notions of war and peace are unsettling.

That means all our talk and diplomacy is not a solution. Jeffrey R. Nyquist asks what is the solution and answers:

There is no solution. There is only a problem that worsens over time. Everything the U.S. and Israel might do would only deepen the crisis. Those in the Islamic world who hate the U.S. will grow in strength. The threat to Western energy supplies will increase day to day. The intractability of the Iranians and others will blossom. Given all this, an economically damaging outcome is assured. The parties to this dispute aren’t going to kiss and make up.

Again, it is time to wake up!

Islam Iran oil

Update:

I got a note from Donald J. Hagen asking me if I would publicize his SATIRICAL POLITICAL BELIEFS ASSESSMENT TEST. Based on your answers you can decide (or help your friends decide)

if You're an Archconservative, Leftwing Wacko, Antigovernment Libertine or a Commie Sympathizer

I took a look at many of the question and my answers put me in either the Archconservative or Antigovernment Libertine category.

It's a long test that you may find humorous, so here goes:
http://www.geocities.com/donaldjhagen/humoroustest.html

Update:

For the USD there were some ominous developments.

First, the weekly close of the USD against a basket of currencies is the lowest close in 2006. The USD closed the week at 87.77. Next support occurs at the Sept. 2005 low of 86.25. We are breaking down out of a weekly head and shoulder chart pattern, so I expect the September low to be broken, and a target of 83.00 would be the result.(see chart)

Second, the precious metals were on fire this week, with Gold gaining $35.70 to $632.20 and Oil gaining $5.85 to $75.17. It is interesting to note that the first Oil high of $70.85 came in the week of Sept. 2nd, 2005, the week that the USD bottomed and Gold broke out and began it run from $450 to its high this week. That could mean that both Oil and Gold are now in gear for much higher price as the USD moves lower. Its like passengers on the Titanic seeking the safety of the lifeboats.

Third, Le Metropole Cafe, the best source for news about gold, reported Friday

Sweden's central bank said it had slashed its dollar holdings almost in half.

The Riksbank revealed that it had cut the proportion of dollars in its reserves from 37 to 20 per cent, as well as selling off all its holdings of yen, which previously amounted to 8 per cent of its reserves

The choice to replace the USD is

the most liquid alternative, the euro," said Chris Turner, head of FX strategy research at ING Financial Markets, who reiterated its view that the euro will return to $1.35 by the end of the year.

Fourth, from Reuters

The overall message that markets will take away from finance officials from the Group of Seven rich nations who met on Friday is quite simple: The dollar will decline.

The G7 also said

greater flexibility in China's yuan is needed to allow "necessary appreciations." (emphasis added)

Do you remember Meg Richards? Here's what she said again:

Usually investors buy gold when they're worried - about inflation, the value of the dollar, the stability of the markets or geopolitical events. But in the face of low inflation, stable bond yields and a stronger-than-expected dollar, gold has surged to 25-year highs, closing at $595.30 Thursday before retreating to $588.85 on Friday.

Where's the strong dollar now? It wasn't there and investors outside the US know it and we've been getting Spin!

USD Gold Oil Finance

The WSJ has a poll,

If you had $10,000 to invest, what would you buy?

At this time there have been 6462 votes cast and this is how it breaks down:

Stocks - 3919 votes (61%)
Bonds - 607 votes (9%)
Gold - 558 votes (9%)
Real Estate - 425 votes (7%)
Savings - 953 votes (15%)

Yesterday Gold made a high of $644 and fell during the day to $606 and closed at $619.60. Today Gold closed at $632.50 +$12.90. I don't worry about the volatility and won't be concerned about my investment in Gold until the majority of the people in a WSJ poll are putting that extra $10,000 into Gold. Meanwhile, sit back and enjoy the ride. Someday the price of gold and the DJIA will trade places with gold selling higher.

Gold Finance

If you pay attention to anyone, choose Newmont President Pierre Lassonde. He runs one of the largest gold mining companies in the world and over time has been the most tuned in gold mining executives. Lassonde predicted Thursday that $850 gold price of the 1980s could be challenged during the next 18 months. From MineWeb, during a conference call discussing Newmont's first quarter results, Lassonde not only predicted where gold would trade, but he said

...he wouldn't even consider hedging because he anticipates "an exponential increase in the gold price."

...new investment products, such as the Gold ETF, commodity funds with gold components and the Kilo Bar market in India and Europe are "all growing at double-digit rates."

told analysts that in 16 months the gold ETF has shot up from a value of zero dollars to $9 billion. Commodity funds, which were valued at a total of $10 billion two years ago, are forecast to hit the $140 billion mark at the end of this year.

he does not see geopolitical factors, such as the controversy stemming from Iran's possible development of nuclear weapons, ultimately having a long-term effect on gold price

worries about the U.S. and the economy play "a much bigger role" in sending gold prices higher.

the dollar is forecast to fall 30% on a Trade-Exchange basis because of the current account deficit. (emphasis added)

Pierre Lassonde Gold USD

My sister-in-law says the "majority" of scientists agree that we are experiencing global warming and that man and his CO2 production are responsible. I argue, and it gets quite heated, that there may or may not be global warming and if there is, then it would be taking place even if there were no humans on the planet. You can see there is not much room for compromise.

I argue for every scientist you come up with that "proves" global warming, I can come up with a scientist that "proves" the opposite. Then, we are left with my scientist is better than your scientist, yada, yada, yada.

"My scientist" has just come up with some news that may be startling to some, but not to me: Scientists cool outlook on global warming

Using temperature readings from the past 100 years, 1,000 computer simulations and the evidence left in ancient tree rings, Duke University scientists announced yesterday that "the magnitude of future global warming will likely fall well short of current highest predictions."

[...]

"Our reconstruction supports a lot of variability in the past," said research director Gabriele Hegerl of Duke's Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences.

If my sister-in-law were to read my blog, she would most likely say, "I see you are now quoting a story from the Washington Times. You know that's a Moonie paper don't you? Hmmmm! Is this Hegerl a PhD? I don't see any mention of doctor. You know, she is only looking at the past 100 years, how can you make any forecasts based just on the last 100 years?"

Duke University Global Warming Environment

BTW, I deliberately decided on the headline. I want to infuriate as many people as possible, including my sister-in-law.

Update: After I posted this piece I came across a column from Accuracy in Media that takes 60 Minutes to task for their biased reporting about global warming in the story regarding James Hansen, a top NASA scientist who claimed he was being censored by the Bush Administration.

From KOIN TV, Legislators

...designated $42.2 million in excess lottery revenues to K-12 schools statewide for the 2006-2007 school year and gave the Portland school board authority to exercise a gap authority and raise about $48 million for Portland Public Schools by raising its district operating tax rate up to $5.27 per $1,000 of assessed value over the next three years

From KGW TV and KATU TV Legislators voted to

-- Allow Portland Public Schools to restore an expired property tax, expected to raise $15 million for the district.

Multnomah County voters passed a tax to raise money for schools. The tax expires this year leaving a $50 Million hole in the budget. Oregon political leaders would not authorize a vote to either extend the law or ask for new taxing authority. Why? Because this liberal county would not pass a measure to cover the gap. More than 55% of the liberals in the county would not vote for it, a county that went for Kerry by 73%. The residents of Multnomah County voted for the tax in 2003, because we were told it was a stop gap measure and it would give the school board time to solve the funding problem.

How dare the Legislature vote to extend this expiring law, specifically ignoring the vote in 2003.

Blogging has been a little light the past two weeks. I have decided to get my Class B, CDL to drive a school bus.

I first had to go to the DMV after two days of study and pass four tests totaling over 100 questions. I passed! Then I had to get a physical. I passed! Then I had to go back to DMV and get my permit to drive 84 passenger school buses. This week I am learning to drive these big things.

To drive a bus, you first need to pre-check your bus. Before it ever leaves the yard it must meet certain standards. For example, when I sit down in the driver's seat, I turn the engine on and make sure all the gauges are in their normal zones, that the battery is holding a charge, that oil pressure is normal and the airbrake tanks are fully charged and the the governor on air pressure is working. Then, I turn off the engine and check the air brakes again, I see if the pressure falls and when it falls to about 60 PSI, does the alarm sound? Then when the pressure falls to about 20 PSI does the emergency brake pop on. Assuming that all is ok, then the engine is started and I need to see if pressure in the tanks builds back up to between 85 and 100 in 45 seconds. Then, I put the bus in drive, foot on the service brake, release the emergency brake and step on the gas. The bus should not move forward. Then we do a rolling 5 MPH start and press on the brake. Does the bus stop? There are many more things to check. It is like a pilot going through his checklist with his copilot.

Then I need to find my reference points, so I know where my bus is in relation to the center line, the fog line, six inches from the curb, a foot from the curb and three feet from the curb. Then I find my reference point for backing. I cannot see anthing directly behind my bus for about 100 feet. If I have to back up to a wall, or a fence, or your Mercedes, I need to have a reference point that tells me to stop when I'm a foot away.

Because the bus is long, and 1/3 of the bus is past the rear wheels, I need to know how to make right and left turns, keeping my rear tires a certain distance from the curb. If I start out at three feet from the curb, when I make the turn I want to stay three feet away with my rear wheels. If I am a foot from the curb, more of my bus must pass the point of the curve before I start turning. I am continuously checking my mirrors. I have seven mirrors to monitor; a flat rear view mirror, two flat side view mirrors, two convex side view mirrors, and two convex crossover mirrors that show me what is directly in my blind spot in front of my bumper.

What has been the hardest thing? I haven't been able to remember the sequence of moving forward. It's close the door, foot on the brake, shift to drive and then release the emergency brake. When I stop it's foot on the brake, shift to neutral, pull the emergency brake, open the door. I hope I got that last sequence right.

So far, all the driving has been in a parking lot and in the yard. Tomorrow we take to the streets!

This has given me a whole new appreciation for those professional drivers driving big rigs and big buses. With everything going on, there are still the passengers to get to and from school safely. I thought I was an excellent driver. Not! In just two weeks I am a better driver.

What has been the best thing? My instructor laid out a slalom in front of the bus. I had to maneuver the bus around the cones, right turns and left turns to the end of the course. Then, I had to back-it, back through the same course and park it back between a gate of two cones. I thought no way! My instructor showed me it was possible and then I did it. Wahooo!

Update:

Crude Oil has been in a steady climb from $61.25 just a month ago to $73 and it is starting to hurt at the gas pumps and at the diesel pump. The MercuryNews has a story, Soaring diesel prices ripple across local, state economy, that tells what it means to big rig divers and transporetation companies:

• Roadstar Trucking in Hayward pays $17,000 more for each truckload of fuel it buys to operate its 45 trucks. ``That costs our small firm almost a quarter of a million dollars annually,'' company President Bob Ramorino said.

• The Valley Transportation Authority this month set aside an extra $1.5 million for fuel costs for buses, but that doesn't mean riders will see an increase in fares or drop in service, spokeswoman Jayme Kunz said. The transit agency was able to absorb the effect because sales tax receipts jumped $1.9 million for the first quarter of the year, she said.

• The diesel budget for the Altamont Commuter Express train has nearly doubled, from $500,000 last year to $900,000 this year.

• Fuel expenses have gone from about $5,700 a month to about $10,000 at Mountain View Towing. ``Serious ouch!'' driver Ray Elliott said.

My analysis of the oil market based on the weekly chart of Light Crude, seen here, indicates an upside objective of $80 to $85 per barrel. That means even more pressure at the pumps. Those higher prices are going to be reflected in the price of food, new housing, etc.; anything that is delivered by truck.

diesel Oil Finance

In Gold for April! on Feb. 28th, I wrote

I believe we have broken out of a small head and shoulders bottom. If this move acts like the previous two our next high should be between 625.40 and 640.00, sometime in the first two weeks of April.

Today, two and half weeks into April, Gold traded as high as $628.70 $642! Three of our highly paid "bubble heads", Don Luskin, Timothy Middleton and now Jeffrey Christian have missed this gold market, and really the whole precious metals market. They have gotten investors out of the market and never recommended getting back in.

While some have predicted $40 oil, we have broken into new highs and at $71 are closer than ever to $80 oil.On October 28th, 2005, I wrote a piece about Palladium in which I said

My guess, it (Palladium at $221) has made a huge base and if it breaks out, $340 would be the first target

Today, it is $366.

If you don't follow the analysis out of GATA, you would be making predictions like the "bubble heads". There has been a "rig" and it has resulted in massive shorts in gold and silver with no way to settle those trades at these prices.

Gold Silver precious metals

Update:

Rolling Stone says Bush Worst President ever!

Let's not forget who that title really goes to: William Jefferson Clinton! Not only was he corrupt, gave secret weapons' technology to the Chinese for money, may have allowed the CIA to give to Iran plans for building nuclear weapons, allowed Osama bin Laden (OBL) to escape, yada, yada, yada. In addition, NewsMax and Carl Limbacher today write today that Clinton may have indirectly been responsible for the bombing of the U.S.S Cole:

Gen. (Anthony) Zinni said that cutbacks in the size of the Navy's fleet during the Clinton years made it necessary to use regional ports for refueling, noting: "Ten years ago, we did all refueling at sea" using Navy oilers.

Still, prior to the Cole attack, there's no record that Gen. Zinni ever complained about Clinton era defense cuts.

Gen. Zinni is one of the six generals complaining about Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld.

Limbacher also nails Gen Zinni for leaking information to OBL that his camp was about to be "cruise-missiled"

In what may be an even more troubling development, a report indicates that the leading Rumsfeld critic may have inadvertently played a role in tipping off Osama bin Laden to an impending U.S. cruise missile attack two years before the Cole episode.

Bill Clinton Gen. Anthony Zinni Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld

Now that was quite a Rod Stewart night on Americamn Idol!

Chris showed a softer side and to me, it was boring.

Paris best job she's done yet. She looked fabulous. Her breeding showed tonight.

Taylor was boring until the end and he really nailed it. I prefer the "Joe Cocker" Taylor.

Elliot "the soul man" really was in his element. He reminds me of the "Boss", the way he looks and he sings like Tony Bennett.

Ace, this was his best night. He should be the new George Michael.

Kellie Pickler butchered the song and she knew it. Based on that performance, she should be going home. She was closing in on Katharine in Vegas, but not after that performance.

And speaking of Katharine, Wow! She steals the screen, the camera loves her, she shows a vulnerable side. Is she as good as Kelly Clarkson? Not yet in a big voice way, but man she connects with this audience.

Bottom three: Kellie, Ace and Elliot (it should be Chris). It should be Kellie, but it will be Ace.

American Idol Katharine McPhee Entertainment

AccuWeather has just released their weather forecast for the summer in the US. In part

A dire weather forecast issued Monday calls for a hot, dry summer across the Plains reminiscent of the 1930s — the era of the devastating Dust Bowl drought.

For the NorthWest AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Joe Bastardi’s

Bastardi admits he faced a tough task forecasting the summer weather pattern in the Pacific Northwest. The back and forth nature of the West Coast ridge and trough will result in larger-than-normal temperature swings as heat from the interior Northwest tries to push west to the coast.

Bastardi offers the reminder that the combination of a trough close to the West Coast and major heat on the southern Plains will often push the trough back and forth, resulting in large temperature swings in coastal areas.

We had a taste of sun today after a cold morning. Wasn't this a great day!

Weather forecast Summer Forecast Drought

This week's Carnival of the Capitalists is up at Free Money Finance and Mover Mike is included.

A Welfare State With Illegal Immigration Offers Businesses a Better Deal Than Slavery by Darnell MaGavock at Indpendent Conservative

Let me start by saying I don’t endorse either slavery or illegal immigration. But looking at things from the economic standpoint of a company that hires illegals today versus the use of slave labor in the 18th and 19th centuries, illegal immigration offers companies a better deal than any slave owner ever had. The reason is the modern day welfare state that is known as America.

During American slavery, the slave owner was responsible for the total care of the slave. Although slave masters did this “on the cheap” they had to provide housing, food, clothing and medical care for the slave and their entire family. This resulted in the institution of slavery being more of a loss than gain over time. The only other option was to grant freedom to slaves who were a great expense, but that involved the strain of possibly breaking a family. Separating families often resulted in the other slaves trying harder to escape to be with loved ones. Non-profitable slaves were not sellable, because nobody else wanted the burden. This was the slave master’s dilemma, that people like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin figured out. They realized that slavery was not financially good over time - because the “free labor” was not really “free”, given the need to provide full care to the slave labor force. This was in addition to the expense of buying a slave in the first place.

Today’s employer of illegal immigrants does not have any of the hassles experienced by slave owners. The employer of illegals offers them a very small salary and no benefits. Which means such an employer never runs the risk of going cash-flow-negative on labor costs. They can adjust wages at will, because they will always find an illegal that is willing to accept the rate. This is the reason Cesar Chavez once disliked illegal immigration. If one set of illegals tried to “strike” for better wages, the company would simply replace them with new illegals that were willing to accept the pay rate offered to them.

So the employer of illegals has no direct issues with having to fund housing, medical or the expense of educating the children of illegal immigrants. These are expenses that American taxpayers have been funding. Government (funded by taxpayers) helps illegals secure home loans and encourages banks to give them out. Government (funded by taxpayers) is picking up the medical expenses of illegals. Government (funded by taxpayers) is educating the children of illegal aliens.

You may have seen the CNN Special “Immigrant Nation: Divided Nation”. If you did, you saw profiles of illegals that live in my county of Gwinnett Georgia. The show often tried to make granting amnesty to illegals look like a good thing, but like the slave master’s dilemma, even the tax paying illegals do not come close to covering the expenses involved in caring for them.

Excerpts from, Transcript of CNN Special Report - Immigrant Nation: Divided Nation

… HINOJOSA: Ten years ago when I first came to Georgia, I asked people if there was a Latino neighborhood, or barrio. I got a lot of strange looks.

Now I’m here in the heart of just one of the many Latino barrios in Georgia. I can get some of the best tacos outside of Mexico right here 24 hours a day. The home of Martin Luther King, the state that gave us the civil rights movement, is now home to half a million Latinos, a 300 percent increase in a decade.

… HINOJOSA: Estimates vary, but somewhere between 7 and 20 million people are living in this country illegally, one of the largest populations of undocumented immigrants in the world. Most of them come across this border. According to the U.S. government, over 1 million were caught last year alone.

This latest wave of immigrants has spread far beyond the southwest and the West Coast. Latino immigrant communities are now fixtures across the nation, especially in the south, in places like Gwinnett County, Georgia.

… HINOJOSA: Rosa first came to Georgia two years ago, all alone.

Last year, unable to bear the separation any longer, Rosa paid a smuggler $5,000 to wade her children across the river at night, but they were caught at a checkpoint and immediately deported. Rosa faced a difficult decision.

ROSA (through translator): I told my daughter, you have two options. I either stay in Mexico with you, or I will leave for the States for another year in preparation to bring the two of you. Then my daughter told me to return to the States so I could bring them eventually.

… HERCHEK: I’m afraid that America could become a third world country. We’re importing poverty by millions every year.

… HINOJOSA (on camera): The numbers say it all. Ten years ago, these schools served very few Spanish-speaking students. In 2003, one out of 10 students listed Spanish as their primary language, $26 million will be spent in Gwinnett County in English language services.

… HINOJOSA: Federal law says people are entitled to emergency medical care, whether or not they’re in this country legally. In one year Georgia paid $58 million in emergency Medicaid reimbursement for undocumented immigrants.

… The smugglers will be paid almost $6,000 by Rosa if they were successful, would show border agents false papers for the children. They didn’t make it.

Despite their fake papers, Junior and Rosita were detained. The smugglers were arrested. The children were returned to Mexico and reunited with their grandmother. Despite the set back, Rosa vows to try again.

ROSA (through translator): I will keep trying to bring them. The sooner the better. If in 15 days I find someone to bring them here, then we will try again with them. …

Unlike slavery, with illegal immigration the burden of expenses is carried by the entire nation. So instead of individual plantation owners having to endure the expenses of supposedly cheap labor, it is a burden carried by taxpaying Americans.

It is my family that endures pain, while waiting behind illegals for medical care. It is my tax dollars that pay for education of illegals, that by school rules have 6 years to learn English and many drop out before ever finishing school. So they take up much space and expense, while not even learning much during the process. While school time is spent on illegals, it diverts resources and teaching time away from children in a legal family. And I’m not even going to get into the issues with gangs. (That would require its own post.)

The issues I see here in Gwinnett County, Georgia will only get worse with anything that encourages illegal immigration or makes them feel they will be rewarded. And the issues will get worse for America. The nation will not be able to sustain the expense of this dilemma for much longer. It is causing the nation to engage in a race to the bottom and then we all lose.

America’s borders need to be secured and the only means made for immigration should be via the current legalization process. What employers of illegals see as a “resource” is really a great expense. Immigration requires regulation to prevent this nation’s collapse.

__________________________________________

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It is syndicated by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as we’re going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration in our country, join the Blogburst! Send an email with your blog name and url to euphoricrealitynet at gmail dot com.

Dan Walters of the SacBee writes until a month ago Ron Burkle was a supermarket tycoon that liked being pals with Bill Clinton, Gray Davis and former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. If you recall his name gained prominence when Burkle became involved in a bizarre confrontation with Jared Paul Stern, a New York Post gossip writer. The Post's Page Six gossip column.

Burkle contends that Stern was trying to extort tens of thousands of dollars to protect him from adverse Page Six gossip.

What caught my eye in the Dan Walters story is the mention of Yucaipa.

Burkle, through his Yucaipa Cos., teamed up with newspaper unions to bid for the 12 Knight Ridder newspapers that The McClatchy Co. wants to sell after acquiring the entire Knight Ridder chain.

I saw Yucaipa Cos. mentioned elsewhere this weekend in the same paragraph as Refco. Back in October 2005, Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. LLC, was one of three parties interested in all or part of Refco Inc.'s business. DIGL Inc., a Delaware corporation formed by Yucaipa and Dubai Investment Group LLC ...stated in filings that they are potential bidders for Refco assets. Turns out that Bill Clinton serves as a senior adviser to the Yucaipa Companies.

The author of a new book on the newspapers run by America's Founding Fathers, "Infamous Scribblers," said he was not aware of any leading American politicians who then went into publishing. "I just don't remember anything like this having happened," the author, Eric Burns, said.

"Frankly, there is a long tradition of people who own newspapers and newspaper chains using the muscle of those chains to be active politically,"

It is interesting that the president of the Newspaper Guild, Linda Foley, complained about unfair treatment and threatened to involve unnamed powerful allies if McClatchy refused to turn over financial data (of the 12 newspapers) given to other bidders.

Do we want powerful politicians to have an ownership interest in newspapers?

When Bill Clinton joined Yucaipa he had already

made corporate reform one of his top causes since leaving the White House. He calls for more "socially responsible" investing, better protection of workers and greater diversity in corporate management. At the same time, he condemns cronyism, excessive pay for top management and an alleged emphasis on short-term profits at the expense of workers.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton — a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee — has bashed corporations for their failure to live up to their pension obligations.

So how are the Clintons living up to those high standards?

Burkle and Yucaipa are backing a $100 million deal to take over the Aloha Airlines — but it has attached some very tight strings: It's making the deal contingent upon terminating the pilots' pension plan and contract.

As far as "cronyism"

...one of the few significant minority-owned businesses that the funds have invested in is Sean John, the clothing enterprise run by that struggling representative of the "lower-income urban community," rap mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs. (A contributor to Hillary Clinton's campaigns with the potential of raising enormous sums for Democrats, Combs is likely to play a prominent role in supporting a Hillary run for the White House in '08.)

Why does the smell of corruption seem to waft through the air whenever the Clintons show up?

Ron Burkle Yucaipa Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton Sean "Puffy" Combs Aloha Airlines

Book Review: Global Deception, The UN’s Stealth Assault on America’s Freedom

Global Deception… written by Joseph A. Klein, a practicing attorney, who earned a J.D. with honors from Harvard law school where he studied Constitutional law under the late Professor Archibald Cox, is a book that postulates that the UN has strayed meaningfully from its original founding principles. In a particularly good, written debate between the author and Keith Porter, director of communication and outreach and executive radio producer for an international affairs policy and educational group in the American Midwest, Klein outlines the original mission of the UN

The United Nations was founded to bring sovereign nations together for the purpose of cooperating to solve common problems while taking collective action where warranted against threats to international peace and security.

Klein says the mission of the UN today has evolved:

The globalists (as I refer to them in Global Deception) had a different concept of what the UN should be. In their view, which has increasingly prevailed over the years within the UN bureaucracy from Kofi Annan down and among its most ardent supporters including most of the developing countries (many of which are autocratic) and European leaders such as Jacques Chirac, they want the UN to serve as an instrument of global governance funded by a variety of global taxes.

Porter's argument with the book seems to be:

American critics of the United Nations on the left feel the U.N. is well-intentioned but ineffective. Critics on the right amplify the ineffectiveness theme - and they mix in a note of danger about how the U.N. is part of a conspiracy to erode American liberties and supersede national sovereignty in an attempt to take over the world.

Porter may be right. The UN may be both ineffective and thus no threat, but Klein lays out his opinion of their threat that is heavily documented about people who thrive on their anti-Americanism.

Take the Kyoto Protocol. Klein argues this protocol

is part and parcel of the ritualized "dance of the globalists," seeking to shift blame for all the world's problems to the United States.

[...]

The European Union, led by France, saw the Kyoto Protocol as a means of indirectly taxing the United States for its energy consumption through a formula that overwhelmingly penalized the U.S. vis-a'-vis the EU.

[...]

Had Kypto not been rejected, the U.S. would have been financially crippled. The global cost of the Kyoto Protocol was estimated at $716 Billion (as of 1999.) The United States would have borne almost two-thirds of the global cost had rationaality not prevailed, carrying nearly 66%of the economic burden of carbon reduction for the whole world even though it produces a little under 22% of the world's GDP and accounts for no more than 25% of the global emissions of carbon dioxide!

Who are the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide? China and India and they would not be penalized under this protocol. But, the important thing about the Kyoto Protocol is the tax; $716 Billion that could be split among the "dictators and the kleptocracy".

Klein makes a good case for the threat he sees to our sovereignty. It is not an easy book to read as it is filled with PC speak, the organizations use to say nothing in as many meaningless words as possible. Take the group Association for Progressive Communications.

Its purpose is to "empower and support organizations, social movements and individuals in and through the uses of information and communication technologies to build strategic communities and initiatives for the purpose of making meaningful contributions to equitable human development, social justice, participatory political processes and environmental sustainability."

Now how can you make something like that accountable? How do you define "meaningful", what is "equitable", what is social justice? This group wants to define and judge this country. They want power and that's what Klein writes about.

I see the threat that Porter does not see, because these groups are like pirranas, they get their way a nibble at a time either by compromise or through our stupidity in elections.

If you are unfamiliar with the goals of the globalists, this is a great book that will open your eyes. It should give knowledgeable people ammunition to fight the creep!

Global Deception Joseph A. Klein globalists UN

Update:

Update:

I have just reviewed the songs that Katharine McPhee has sung over the last few weeks and think she has been consistently great each and every week.

This song, Since I fell for you, I could listen to over and over again. I downloaded Michael Boton's version and Barbara Streisand's and McPhee's version compares extremely well. In fact my favorite of the three. You can hear it again at rickey.org.

Katharine McPhee American Idol Entertainment

Update:

For all you libs who hate Bush for the tax cuts, let's read through this paragraph from the Prudent Bear, together

The federal government ran a record $85.5 billion deficit during March, with spending up 14% from March 2005 and Receipts up 11%. (Record deficit, spending ip 14%, receipts up 11%.)

Fiscal year-to-date (6 months), Total Receipts are running 10.5% ahead of the year ago level. Year-to-date Individual Income Tax Receipts are 8.5% above comparable 2005, and Corporate Tax Receipts are 30.5% ahead.(Despite the tax cuts or because of the tax cuts, total receipts up 10.5%, those bad corporations paid 30.5% more and individuals paid in 8.5% more. this year versus last year.)

Fiscal year-to-date (6 months), Total Spending is running 8.7% above comparable 2005, with Defense spending up 8.9%, Medicare 15.5%, Social Security 5.7%, and Interest Expense 25.2%.(Total spending is up 8.7%, Medicare spending up 15.5%, and interest expense up 25.2%)

The problem has never been the tax cuts. The problem starts and ends with a government that spends too much of our money and will never have enough of our money to spend.

Tax Cuts Bush Liberals

I agree with PA Pundits. There is too much bad information "out there" about global warming. If an article doesn't mention the role of the sun then the article is trashed.

That’s it. That’s all I ask. If a scientist can admit that first, we have a sun, and second, that it may or may not have something to do with how warm the planet gets, I’ll take them more seriously.

The arguments all come down to my scientist versus your scientist. Sure, there is evidence of global warming, but the argument has to do with the premise that it's human caused. Personally, I believe there would be global warming on this planet if there were no humans.

If I get howls of protest and angry letters, I will just delete them, so save your fingers. You've been warmed!

Global Warming Environment

From the International Herald Tribune,

Refco's financial advisers are investigating the movement of $38 billion between two of the futures trader's affiliates in the five years before its bankruptcy filing.

AlixPartners is reviewing transfers of $20 billion to Refco Global Finance from Refco Capital Markets, and the shift of $18 billion in the opposite direction, according to papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

That's Billion with a "B"!

Refco Finance

Welcome to Mover Mike. Here's a recap of my most recent posts. Please stop back tomorrow.

May Light Crude closed the week at $69.32. That is the highest weekly close since this bull market in oil began in December of 1998 (H=12.62 L=10.35) at $12.05.

May Silver closed the week at $12.855. That is the highest weekly close since this bull market began in November of 2001 (H=4.240 L=4.015) at $4.157. Silver also closed at a 22 year high.

April Copper closed the week at $2.8680. That is the highest weely close since this bull market began in October of 2001 (H=0.6540 L=0.6205) at $0.6250.

April Gold closed at $596.50. That is the highest weekly close since this bull market began in March of 2001 (H=271.6 L=256.6) at $257.9. That is the highest weekly close in 25 years!

BTW, the June 10 year Treasury bond contract closed at 106 13/32. That is the lowest since May of 2002 at 105.28125, meaning the interest rates are the highest since May of 2002. The 10 year is the bond on which mortgages are based.

But there is no inflation!

Update: Chart of the Day just came out with this chart of the Ten year Treasury. You can see by the chart that we are at a critical point.

Due to the immigration rallies going on this week, Guard the Borders wanted to give you, our readers, some in-person coverage. This is a follow up to Monday's Blogburst and includes photos,

audio files of on-the-spot interviews, and personal observations from Heidi at ER (Houston), Greg at DeMediacratic Nation (Phoenix), and Jake and MJ at Freedom Folks (Chicago). Guard The Borders Blogburst - Part 2 continued...

Immigration Illegal Aliens

Update:

People complain about President Bush snooping on calls from overseas, and complain about the Patriot Act, and about airport security, and the reporting standards of depositing $10,000 or more in your bank. What else can we throw in to this mix.

Well, just read The Daily Reckoning in THE BIRTH OF THE TAX BEAST, PART I by Steve Forbes. This paragraph about World War 1 (WWI) stood out .

Before the war was over, the top tax rate had risen from 7 percent to an astounding 77 percent. World War I not only saw the growth of the beast but also an unprecedented accumulation of power by the federal government. To help mobilize for the war effort, Washington seized railroads, as well as the telephone and telegraph industries. War boards were established that gave Washington huge powers over the private sector - allocating raw materials, setting prices and wages, closing and opening plants, and controlling the prices, production, and distribution of food - all in the name of boosting wartime production. This immense power was intoxicating to those who worked in and around government, including Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. Not surprisingly, Roosevelt and others were entranced by the notion of the supposedly great things that could be achieved in peacetime by a federal government whose powers were expanded as in war.

Here we are, since 9/11 at war, and most in this country have not been affected in any way.

I am more concerned that Oregon officials think they can restore an expiring Multnomah County Tax without a vote of the people. We specifically authorized the tax and specifically said it would expire in three years, the end of 2006. Now, because "the ends justify the means", the Governor and the legislature think they can restore the tax without a vote.

It's time for all of us to say, "NO, you can't do that!"

Update:

I downloaded the complete book How and Why Lisa's Dad Got to Be Famous by Michael Allen, read the first 12 pages and was hooked. One reason, allen writes about a man named Con and I instantly pictured Michael Caine as Con:

‘Fancy a drink, Harry?’ he said. ‘I could do with one myself. I’ve been in the clinic too, like you.’

It never occurred to me to ask how he knew my name. As I said, I was a bit worried at the time, so I just assumed that he’d heard a nurse mention my name or something. Or perhaps we’d played darts and he remembered me from that.

Anyway, I certainly didn’t want a drink. ‘No thanks,’ I said. And kept walking.

Con, of course, didn’t give up. He never does. He just trotted along, keeping up with me, and went on prattling away. Can’t remember now what he said. But eventually he said, ‘Hard to take it all in really, isn’t it Harry?’

So I stopped and looked at him. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well,’ he said, ‘I was in the clinic too, you know. Been there lots of times. And when you’ve had bad news it’s a good idea to stop and have a drink. Let your mind settle for a bit – especially before you drive. That’s what I always think.’

And before I knew where I was he’d wheeled me into a pub.

And in the short span of 12 pages, Michael Allen had me hooked.

How and Why Lisa's Dad Got to Be Famous is about Harry, a divorced man who has not been able to see his daughter Lisa since she was five years old.

But Harry still loves Lisa more than anyone else in the world; and he worries about her future because she was born without a left foot. When Harry is offered the chance to win a million pounds for Lisa, by taking part in a reality TV show, he immediately accepts. All he has to do is find a woman who is willing to risk her life for him - and he has just three months to do it.

On one level, this is a satire on the ultimate "reality show". Find a person in three months who will risk her life for you and film it all, including the unprotected act itself complete with "fireworks", all for the TV Audience. Told in simple sentences, at times profane, but with morality. Can you really ask a woman you have come to love to potentially sacrifice herself and what does that do to you when it's for your daughters financial security?

There's a very touching scene when Harry sits in church with his friend the Vicar, Mr Redmond, who hears Harry's confessions regarding the show, Lisa, Debbie and the contract with the studio. The minister prays a sermon for Harry and lays his hands on Harry's shoulders. To Harry, it feels like God's warmth and love flows through the Vicar's hands and Harry breaks down.

How and Why Lisa's Dad Got to Be Famous is a book that you can wheel through like a semi-driver or savor like the finest steak from the midwest.

Michael Allen Book Review Reality TV

My thanks for this information to JackLewis.net: Suppose the populist Republicans passed this immigration law:

New regulations for immigrants!

Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country. This ban applies, among other things, to participation in demonstrations and the expression of opinions in public about domestic politics.

Equal employment rights are denied to immigrants, even legal ones, even those with green cards.

Only citizens may serve in the military as officers, on airline crews, and chiefs of seaports and airports.

Members of both houses of Congress as well as the Supreme Court must be a citizen by birth.

Immigrants — even legal ones — may not become members of the clergy.

Foreigners, legal or illegal, may not own land.

Any citizen may arrest illegal immigrants and their accomplices, turning them over without delay to the nearest authorities.

Foreigners, legal or otherwise, may be expelled for any reason and without due process.

Sounds pretty radical doesn't it. Surely the people waving the Mexican flag at that last protest would have a cow if such were the law, wouldn't they.

Except it is the law...in Mexico!

Immigration Illegal_Aliens H-1Bs

Update:

Here's another BIG SPIN from Yahoo and BusinessWeek Online Why Business Could Get Burned By Richard S. Dunham.

Politicians in both parties are seizing on public concern about 12 million illegal immigrants living in the U.S. to craft legislation limiting cross-border mobility for (BIG SPIN) skilled and unskilled workers alike.

Basically, the article is spin and fear-mongering about the threat to our competiveness if we don't solve the immigration problem, but not the way of those

angry populist Republicans who want to seal the border and punish companies that employ illegals.

BIG SPIN says that would keep out those skilled workers that America needs to remain competitive. It would also impose undue hardship on businesses:

Legislation approved by the House (under Republican leadership) in late 2005 would make it a felony for businesses to hire illegal workers: Companies that incorrectly fill out certain paperwork on employees could be fined up to $25,000. (BIG SPIN)"It doesn't take too many of those (fines) to drive a small business out of business," says John Gay of the National Restaurant Assn.

If the (BIG SPIN) House gets its way in a Senate/House compromise, the law would require companies to confirm the legal status of all employees and prospective hires.

(BIG SPIN) Angelo I. Amador, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's immigration policy director, says that plan would be a bureaucratic nightmare costing employers at least $12 billion for compliance.

Now really, this is not about keeping out skilled workers. We limit skilled workers to 65,000 per year. Skilled workers can come here and geta three year green card that can be renewed for another three years. If this were an issue of skilled workers and a competitiveness problem. we could increase the 65,000 number.

We passed laws that make it illegal to hire aliens and we put teeth in the law with fines if you are caught. The theory being, if you can't get hired, you won't come here. No, this is an unskilled labor problem and a social problem. Politicians that benefit from bigger government want a guest worker (amnesty) program rather than enforcing the laws:

Secure the border
Require citizenship for social services
Businesses may not hire illegals

(BIG SPIN) Democrats, says independent political analyst Charlie Cook, "have settled into their seats with popcorn to enjoy the spectacle of Republicans ripping themselves apart." That's a lot easier than coming up with a solution to this divisive issue.

There are many Republicans that are reflecting the genuine concern with illegal immigration. The Kennedy Democrats have come up with a solution: make them all legal, leave the border as is, and give hope to future illegals that if they can make it across the border, Democrats will make you legal in due course.

Yahoo and Business Week should be ashamed of themselves for such a biased article!

What is an H-1B?

The H-1B is a nonimmigrant classification used by an alien who will be employed temporarily in a specialty occupation or as a fashion model of distinguished merit and ability.

What is a specialty occupation?

A specialty occupation requires theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge along with at least a bachelor�s degree or its equivalent. For example, architecture, engineering, mathematics, physical sciences, social sciences, medicine and health, education, business specialties, accounting, law, theology, and the arts are specialty occupations.

Is there an annual limit on the number of H-1B aliens?

Yes. The current law limits to 65,000 the number of aliens who may be issued a visa or otherwise provided H-1B status in FY2004. (The numerical limitation was temporarily raised to 195,000 in FY2001, FY2002 and FY2003.)

illegal aliens immigration H-1Bs

From The Oregonian, Schools to tap $42 million from lottery

Flanked by five school superintendents, Gov. Ted Kulongoski and legislative leaders Wednesday detailed plans to pump $42 million in lottery money into Oregon schools and restore a Portland school tax that would help the district get through next year without layoffs.

This law is expiring this year leaving a $50 Million budgetary hole. Who gave them the authority to impose a tax without a vote of the people?

In addition, they agreed to allow Portland to collect its full property tax rate of $5.27 per $1,000 of assessed valuation starting next year.

[...]

Some House Republicans balked when the idea was floated during the regular legislative session last year. The taxing authority expired, along with Portland's local option tax.

[...]

Rep. Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point, said he probably will vote against the Portland tax next week.

"Having the Legislature impose the tax, without a vote of the people -- I have a philosophical problem with that," Richardson said.

Good for you Rep. Richardson! This is not going to go down well with the people in Multnomah county. Polls have shown this liberal county is opposed to a renewal of this tax. It would not have passed if brought up for a renewal vote and now this expiring tax is going to be imposed on us without a vote? No it's not! NO it's not!

Here's what the WSJ said, Trade Deficit Narrows by 4.2% As Imbalance With China Eases

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed 4.2% in February to $65.74 billion (The February total deficit in goods and services trade was lower than the $67.0 billion widely expected by market players and analysts.) as the closely watched imbalance with China eased and the volume of imported oil fell.

The WSJ tries to lull you by saying the trade deficit eased from a revised $68.58 billion in January. But what was February of last year? The article doesn't say. There is this chart, though.

I finally found this from Brad Setser's Web Log dated Jul 13 2005

Has the US trade deficit peaked?

A $55.35 billion monthly deficit is smaller than a $60 billion deficit (February),or even a $59 billion deficit (November). The three monthly rolling average of the monthly trade deficit peaked in February at $57.6 billion and is now -- gasp -- heading down. It was $55.3 billion in May.

So the news of the deficit narrowing 4.2% is really just spin. Compared to February 2005, the US trade deficit is up in February, 2006 year over year by almost 10%!

Now lets look at the second piece of spin:

the closely watched imbalance with China eased.

No it didn't.

China disclosed Tuesday that its trade surplus surged to $11.19 billion in March, its second-highest monthly surplus ever and a level that could feed trade frictions in advance of President Hu Jintao's visit to the United States next week.

The surplus more than doubled over March of last year on soaring exports and slowing growth in imports, and nearly matched China's record monthly trade surplus of $12.02 billion, set last October.

[...]

The March figures were especially significant because China usually runs only modest surpluses or even deficits in the first quarter. In the second quarter, factories step up their shipments to the United States and Europe of things like toys and DVD players, in preparation for the holiday retail season. (emphasis added)

Nobody I know measures progress one month against the last. We measure progress versus this time last year, otherwise the comparison is like apples vs oranges; meaningless!

The truth is, according to the London Irvine Report

For China, already stuffed to the eyeballs with increasingly dodgy dollars, converting them into something useful is a top priority. But most of America’s now off limits.

Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher speaking at a Dallas Friday Group luncheon

Answering audience questions, said the U.S. dollar is a "faith-based currency"

The Fed can try to spin us, but the rest of the world is seriously concerned. They are saying

The U.S. trade deficit has spiraled out of control. Compared to its economic base, the accumulated debt in U.S. dollars has become too high to be effectively repaid; it will either default or will more likely be inflated to such an extent that it won't hurt to "pay" it back.

US Trade Deficit USD China

From the Washington Post, Associate professor at Oregon State University, Robert Dziak, says Tectonic Plates Slowly Moving.

Using hand-me-down technology from the Cold War, scientists have discovered that the seafloor off the Pacific Northwest is a jumping kind of place, with thousands of small, swarming earthquakes and tectonic plates that are slowly rearranging themselves.

[...]

Dziak says the evidence is that multiple tectonic plates off the Pacific Northwest appear to be rearranging themselves.

The plates have been slowly jamming into each other. Dziak said one boundary among them appears to be turning into a fault that's more like the San Andreas Fault to the south in California. Instead of ramming together, the plates are rubbing past each other, he said.

Emphasizing that the conclusions are tentative, Dziak said the consequence could be a shortening of the fault along the Pacific Northwest, so a major earthquake wouldn't be so extensive or severe.

[...]

Dziak also said that the hydrophone project has turned up evidence of intense earthquake activity, intense clusters of quakes that previously had gone undetected. These are associated with underwater volcanic activity and are like the swarms of earthquakes that can precede volcanic eruptions such as that at Mount St. Helens.

The quakes were small, on the order of magnitudes 2-4, but numerous, Dziak said, with as many as a thousand of them in a three-week period.

A Thousand 2-4 magnitude quakes in a three week period??? That's a lot!

geology Oregon Earthquakes

American Idol sings Queen, one of my favorite bands! So check it out. Randy - "Yo, blah, blah, blah." Paula - "Oh, love, love, love.

Bucky Covington starts things off with “Fat Bottomed Girls.” Simon Cowell says “I think the song was bigger than you. Overall I would classify that as quite mediocre.” I agree with Cowell.

Ace Young sings “We Will Rock You.” Simon Cowell says “I really, really hated that.” I agree with Cowell.

Kellie Pickler sings “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Simon Cowell says “I think it worked, you did good.” I agree with Cowell, plus she looked hot!

Chris Daughtry sings “Innuendo.” Simon Cowell says “They don’t perform that song l