It is all too obvious that if Ms. Casey Marie Anthony returns to Florida for one year probation she is in peril.

In an Orange County courtroom (click here) Judge Stan Strickland sets bond at $500,000 and ordered Casey Anthony to have a GPS device attached. "I don't think I can please anyone," the judge said.

Jul 22, 2008




Administering JUSTICE is not about 'pleasing people,' it is about doing what is best and just to a citizen.  The State of Florida ROYALLY screwed this case up and did it for political reasons.  Enough.  The entire case is a joke as is every Justice affiliated with it.


This case was exploited by the media and they made millions off their harassment of the family and the defendant.  This is not an ordinary case.  The judges involved need to get creative so Ms. Anthony can serve her probation without putting herself in peril.  The threat of her being in danger is enough to break probation.  The Judicial System of Florida is loading the odds against Ms. Anthony's survival over the next year.  She is not suppose to face the 'death penalty' by mob control to satisfy one year probation.


If the court wants her in Florida then they need the media to pay for protection the entire time for the next year while prohibiting them to cover her whereabouts or activities.  What the Florida Judiciary is doing is playing politics with a woman's life.  They should be investigated and charged with "W"rongful Prosecution, or should I say persecution, of a woman found innocent because the state never handled the case properly.  


Ms. Anthony's probation needs to be dismissed and/or given clemency and if anything happens to her as a result of these decisions the judges and governor need to be held accountable.  Putting a human life in harms way to satisfy the state is NOT what probation is all about.


This is outrageous. 

Perry has delayed (click here) releasing jurors names due to THREATS.  By placing Ms. Anthony in harms way he is practicing vigilante justice.  Remanding her to prison for her probation is NOT probation and imperils the integrity of the law.  

Israel's response to "Palestine September" is to ask the Housing Protest Tent Cities to close anticipating violence.

...A few weeks ago, (click title to entry - thank you) the residents were strangers demonstrating against high housing costs in a country where prices for apartments have gone up 55 percent and rents 27 percent in five years. Now the tent city inhabitants are comrades in a cause. A single-issue protest has broadened into a younger generation’s demands for social justice and a fairer distribution of Israel’s resources.


“It started as a housing protest, but now it’s far wider,” said Adi Peled, a 30-year-old special education teacher. “Now there’s a unity in the air, a shared cause and common denominator that’s been missing from our alienated society.”


The housing crisis was a symptom, people said, of how middle-class and young Israelis are suffering despite the country’s booming economy. In a reverse image of the “tea party” movement in America, many Israelis are clamoring for more government involvement in the economy and greater redistribution of income. They say the government’s sell-off of state-owned companies and services in recent decades went too far and left people defenseless against the whims of the free market....


3,383 TENTS

...Three thousand, three hundred and eighty-three tents. (click here) That was the figure national police headquarters compiled from its seven districts around the country. Well in the lead was the Tel Aviv District, with 2,300 tents - 2,000 of them on Rothschild Boulevard; then the Central District, with 410; Jerusalem District, 245; Southern District, 200; Northern District, 130; Coastal District, 98. And finally, with a big round zero - "Nothing to report" - was the Judea and Samaria District.

The authorities' patience with the refugee camp on Rothschild is quickly running out. They have been dealing with complaints of theft and even of a few sexual assaults, some violent brawls, and ongoing requests from desperate neighbors for the removal of various hazardous items and obstacles. If there are many more disturbances of this kind, it is likely that Tel Aviv's municipality will issue eviction orders (even if as of this moment they deny entertaining such a notion ). After giving the residents time to pack up, it will vacate the tent camp by force - without infringing on demands for social justice, which will either be met or not by the powers-that-be, irrespective of what's happening on the boulevard....

The Palestinians and the United Nations have a very long relationship

In a telephone conversation (click title to entry - thank you) with Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby on Thursday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed Arab diplomatic efforts being made to support the Palestinian decision to seek full membership at the United Nations (UN).

In early May, Araby initiated a major shift on Egyptian foreign policy when he revealed that Egypt fully supports Abbas plan to unilaterally declare an independent Palestinian state, and he urged the United States to do the same.

A Palestinian bid for membership in the UN General Assembly as an independent Palestinian state, set within the borders that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and East Jerusalem as its capital, are expected in September.

The Arab Ministerial Subcommittee of the Arab Peace Initiative are following all the necessary legal procedures for this action in accordance with UN regulations.

British Apache helicopters strike Libya

Where Have Libya's Children Gone?  (click here)

BRQ NetworkOf 'growing public and government concern in Western Libya is the whereabouts of 53 female and 52 male children', who were 'part of a government-run home for orphans and abused children that until February was operating in Misrata, now under rebel control,' writes Franklin Lamb.


The quality of life continues to degrade in certain areas of western Libya while public anxiety noticeably rises over missing Libyan children as the first week of an unusually stressful Ramadan passes...

...Walking around the "medina" off Omar Muktar Street near my hotel yesterday afternoon, the angst over deteriorating conditions is apparent. Shops, like homes, are now subject to rolling blackouts and quickly become hot and stuffy, discouraging would be customers from entering. Some food stores have to discard milk and other perishable items given the up to 11 hour power cuts that send temperatures above 100F. One gentleman on Rashid Street in downtown Tripoli said his family had not had power for five days and the pump that supplies water to his apartment building stopped working so they lack two essential utilities....

Libyan rebels capture part of Brega, push north (click title to entry - thank you)

By MICHAEL GEORGY | REUTERS

Published: Aug 12, 2011 12:54 Updated: Aug 12, 2011 12:54

SHALGHOUDA/BENGHAZI, Libya: Libyan rebels said they had captured part of the oil town of Brega on Thursday while their forces in the west pushed toward Zawiyah, trying to get within striking distance of Muammar Qaddafi’s capital.

Qaddafi is clinging to power despite a near five-month-old NATO air campaign, tightening economic sanctions, and a lengthening war with rebels trying to end his 41-year rule.

The rebels have seized large swathes of the North African state, but are deeply divided and lack experience, and Thursday’s gains in the east broke weeks of stalemate.

One rebel spokesman said the opposition had captured the residential districts of Brega but Qaddafi’s forces still hold western parts of the town where the oil facilities are located.

“It is liberated. It is under our control now,” spokesman Mossa Mahmoud Al-Mograbi said of the eastern part of the town.

The residential area where the fighting was taking place is about 15 km (9 miles) east of the oil terminal and sea port....

I don't believe the USA is needed in Iraq anymore.

Iraq bolsters Syria border force (click here)

Page last updated at 21:48 GMT,

Friday, 4 September 2009 


22:48 UK

Iraq has begun stationing thousands of extra police on its border with Syria to stop militants its says are crossing into Iraq to carry out bomb attacks.

Amid a growing row, the two countries have traded insults and recalled their ambassadors in recent weeks.

Baghdad says members of the Baath Party of former leader Saddam Hussein, hiding in Syria, organised two attacks in Iraq on 19 August which killed about 100.

Damascus has dismissed Iraq's claims as immoral and illogical....

It would seem as though Iraq is taking on a very Anti-Western posture.

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Iraqis stir pot in Syria (click title to entry - thank you)

By: Samuel Segev

Posted: 08/9/2011 1:00 AM

TEL AVIV -- While the United States, France and Germany pledged to take more severe measures to punish Syrian President Bashar Assad for his cruel crackdown on his opponents, a new geo-strategic reality is quietly emerging in the Middle East.

Under strong Iranian pressure and without a public announcement, Iraq has reversed its attitude toward Syria and now supports Assad's rejection of Turkish and western pressures. In a public speech on Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had "lost patience" with Assad. He reminded the Syrian dictator of the fate of Saddam Hussein and of "a leader who was brought to court on stretchers and had to listen to his indictment while in bed and inside a steel box."

Erdogan also said Assad should be punished for the crimes he committed against his people.

The Turkish prime minister is sending his foreign minister, Ahmet Davotuglu, to Damascus today to verify the situation.

"Everything will be clear on Tuesday," Erdogan said. "We will know then if Assad honestly means to implement the reforms that he promised to implement so many times."

The Iraqi reversal of its attitude towards Syria also explains the sudden decision of Saudi Arabia to withdraw its ambassador from Damascus and the decision of the Gulf Co-operation Council to harshly criticize the Syrian regime…

AP: Bush Paper Details Iraq Spending Plan  (click here)

Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:35 PM ET 

By ALAN FRAM, Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON - The administration wants $100 million for an Iraqi witness protection program, $290 million to hire, train and house thousands of firefighters, $9 million to modernize the postal service, including establishment of ZIP codes. 

A Bush administration document, distributed to members of Congress and obtained by The Associated Press, goes far beyond the details officials have publicly provided for how they would spend the $20.3 billion they have requested for Iraqi reconstruction. 
The 53 pages of justifications flesh out the size of the task of rebuilding the country, almost literally brick by brick. It also paints a painstaking picture of the damage Iraq has suffered. 

"The war and subsequent looting destroyed over 165 firehouses throughout the country. There are no tools or equipment in any firehouse," according to the report, written by the Coalition Provisional Authority, the U.S.-led organization now running Iraq. 

The report's estimated cost of rebuilding Iraq's fire service, including hiring and training 5,000 firefighters: $290 million. 

At another point, the report says the headquarters and three regional offices of the border police "will require complete renovation." Two thousand new recruits must be trained because the agency previously used conscripts, "almost all of whom deserted." 

Reviving that and other border protection agencies should cost $150 million, the report said. 

The proposal was part of the $87 billion plan that President Bush sent Congress on Sept. 7 for Iraq and Afghanistan. The biggest piece of that package was $66 billion to finance U.S. military operations in both countries and elsewhere....

Post-Saddam Iraq 'in a nutshell" (click here)

The reason Iraq is siding up to Syria is because they share something in common.  


What you might say?  


What indeed.  


How about Iranian Gas Pipeline?  


So much for economic sanctions.  After all, Europe simply doesn't like fueling with the Russian gas pipeline.

Investors Considering Iran-Iraq-Syria-Europe Pipeline (click here)

Written by Joao Peixe

Wednesday, 10 August 2011 02:46

Iranian Deputy Oil Minister Javad Owji told reporters in Tehran, "Seven international investors have announced their readiness tofinance, design, and construct the pipeline that will transport 110 million cubic meters of Iranian natural gas to Iraq, Syria, and European countries per day."Owji added that talks are underway to begin construction of the multi-billion-dollar project by March 2012, Mehr News Agency reported.

In July Iran, Iraq, and Syria signed a $10 billion contract for transiting Iranian natural gas from Iran's massive offshore South Pars gas field in the Persian Gulf to Europe via a 3,100-mile pipeline crossing Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and subsequently submerging beneath the Mediterranean before surfacing in Greece, the EU’s first transit country. The pipeline is estimated to take 3-5 years to build….

Foreclosures for Soldiers. What a warm welcome home from JP Morgan Chase.

Army Spc. Aaron Collette is greeted upon his arrival at his father's Bend, Ore., home, which had been signed over to the bank two hours earlier. (Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times / August 11, 2011)

Could it be the 'timing' was no coincidence?

Just a guess.

...That Collette would lose his house and celebrate a homecoming on the same day was dismal coincidence. But the 59-year-old kitchen-and-flooring contractor, who has become an expert at testifying before legislative committees, giving television interviews and mobilizing public ire at the banking industry, is determined that, unlike the thousands of foreclosure stories playing out in quiet misery across America, this one will not end quietly....


Imagine that, an American soldier that actually isn't fighting to save banks, but, sincerely interested in the American Dream.  I'll be darn.

There was no profound attention by Republican politicians to the wars the USA continues to pay for.

Now this is more like it? Karzai isn't complaining about civilian casualities, now is he?

Let the damn ideologues of Paksitan and Afghanistan find out EXACTLY what happens when peace is not their agenda !!!!!

The tenth anniversary of September 11, 2001 is nearly upon us. Somehow, closing the theater in a meaningful way in this region of the world seems right.

Evidently, al Qaeda, the Taliban and Pakistan thought they would teach the USA a lesson in regard to bin Laden. Really?

There is a second helicopter that experienced a 'hard landing' as well.  The USA military isn't being smart about the number of soldiers in a helicopter at any given time.  In emergency there may be no other choice, but, if this is common practice in Afghanistan, it isn't a good one.

Unless, an in depth investigation by the USA proves otherwise, this was a retaliatory strike against the USA over the death of bin Laden.  This is bin Laden's replacement.  What's his name?  Aimen or whatever.  Zwaheri.  Whatever.

This was an inside job.  My guess is that someone with knowledge as to whom was in that helicopter passed on that information to make an impression on the USA about their aggressive nature in the world.  I mean it was an incredible operation.  Every leader, regardless of terrorist network, is checking and rechecking their security.  That's a given. 

So.  To believe that Pakistan ISI wasn't involved in this HAS TO BE PROVEN to be a bad assessment.  Unless the actual person responsible for this can be clearly identified, then the operations there are in danger and it has to include a sovereign entity from somewhere.  Someone who doesn't consider the FBI Most Wanted List a worry.

I look forward to a complete report from the USA military. 

It is a mistake to simply disregard the downgrade by S&P.

The S&P downgrade is a reaction to 'the politics' behind the spectacle of the USA House over the President's request for a "Grand Plan."  There was an unthinkable approach to the Debt Ceiling in believing it is okay to play politics with a sovereign debt.  There were 'elements' of the Tea Party stating it didn't believe Secretary Geithner in that August 2nd was a cut off date to the Debt Ceiling increase.  Those members of the House were willing to impale the USA's sovereign debt without knowing what they were doing and denying the authority of the Secretary of the Treasury.

Secretary Geithner took an oath of office no different than any other member of the cabinet and to believe he was 'fudging' his math and making political projections is hideous and ridiculous.  The entire episode which required the involvment of the USA citizens to bring pressure on these legislators was a clear demonstration of how the power of the USA, in the wrong hands, can be hideously played with while there is a global economy attempting to recover.

I strongly believe the rating agency, Standards and Poors was very rattled by the entire circus that lasted far too long.  The House never took the reassessment of Secretary Geithner seriously to finally end any and all debate in a three month window to ensure the nation's credit worthiness.  It was completely ridiculous.  Why should anyone believe this 'arm' of the Republican Party would not do exactly what is claims it will do after this clear demonstration of abuse of power.  S&P is correct to some extent.  While the Treasury Secretary is confident of the ability of the USA to pay its debt, the fact of the matter is he can't speak to any of that beyond his term.  There are issues here and S&P decided to act on those issues while other agencies decided the American people are more powerful than the bozos at the center of the main ring of the Republican circus.

I believe it is a very big mistake to see this downgrade by S&P as a fear of the USA politics that does repeat itself from its history.  It was a logical step for them.  The math was not the focus with S&P so much as the unbelievably hideous actions and statements of House members.  This agency felt 'threatened.'  That can't be completely dismissed as a math error.

By Randall Forsyth (click title to entry - thank you)

The market relevance of S&P’s stripping of the U.S.’s AAA rating is plain in the rise in price and fall in yields on U.S. Treasury securities. That is, nil.

The benchmark 10-year note yield is back below 2.5%, down 10 basis points from Friday at 2.46%, as investors continue to seek U.S. government securities as the safest haven in a turbulent world, notwithstanding S&P’s protestations. At the same time, the two-year note yield is at “two bits” again, or 0.25%, down four basis points. And the long end, which did sell off initially Sunday evening, has come roaring back with the 30-year bond yield off seven basis points, at 3.77%. (Newbies note: prices and yields of bonds move inversely.)

The market is behind the move in U.S. Treasuries, unlike those of the sovereign debt of Italy and Spain. Those truly impaired credits have been bolstered by the decision of the European Central Bank to buy those bonds, which are rated not far below those of the U.S. Italian 10-year yields plunged more than 60 basis points, to below 5.5%, while the Italian equivalent yield is down about three-quarters of a percentage point (74 basis points), to 5.30%. Italy and Spain are not assured of being able to refinance or repay their debts, which are issued in euros, a currency not under their direct control. By contrast, the U.S. can pay its bonds in the world’s reserve currency which it uniquely can print....

It looks like Republicans can't do math well enough to rebuke Grover Norquist.

According to Speaker Boner last week he "...got 98% of what he wanted."  The problem was that he wasn't the President and would not ADMIT the "Grand Plan" including tax increases on the wealthy was NECESSARY.  I'll be darn!

What's next Boner, now that 'the math' you did would impale the USA rating? 

Dissolution of SSI, Medicare and Medicaid?

...Something didn’t look right to John Bellows, (click title to entry - thank you) the Treasury’s acting assistant secretary for economic policy. He found what he later called a $2 trillion “basic math error” in the e-mail, a preliminary press release announcing S&P’s first-ever downgrade of U.S. creditworthiness.

Over the next 5 1/2 hours, the two sides argued over issues ranging from so-called baseline calculations to deficits, according to a person familiar with the matter. In the end, the ratings firm stuck with its decision, citing the level of government debt and the contentious political climate in Washington.

The debate in Congress over raising the debt limit “highlighted a degree of uncertainty around the political policymaking process which we think is incompatible with a AAA rating,” David Beers, S&P’s managing director of sovereign ratings, said later on a conference call with reporters. ...

Sort of unrelated, but abuse is noted here. Do violent surroundings, such as some inner city children experience, become a self-fulling prophesy?

Looking (click title to entry - thank  you) at over 18,000 adults from 10 countries, the study found that those who said they'd faced childhood adversities like abuse, the death of a parent, or a parent's alcohol or drug abuse, had higher risks of heart disease, arthritis, asthma, diabetes and other conditions....

..."Early adverse experiences can shape people's behavior and lifestyle," she told Reuters Health by email, noting that some people may end up smoking, drinking or over-eating as a way of dealing with the stresses of those childhood experiences, and the memories of them....

..."When the stress is ongoing, such as in long-term childhood maltreatment, then there can be health consequences of those (stress hormones) being consistently elevated," she added....

"Happy Birthday, President Obama"

I hope I am not the first to mention this is a half century now since the first day in Hawaii.


It isn't horrible from here, but, I can't honestly say it gets better.


The "Basketball Lip" should be your first clue.


Hope you Birthday has been wonderful.  

In 1896 the DOW wasn't as much an economic focus as it is today.

When the global community gets a good look at the worst the USA has to offer in leadership as was witnessed with the House of Representatives and their complete and unquestionable willingness to default the USA obligations, things change.


Besides the other topics of conversation today around Wall Street, the first inkling of a downward trend, everyone will head for the hills.

By David K. Randall, Associated Press / August 4, 2011

NEW YORK

The stock market is finishing its worst day since the financial crisis.(click title to entry - thank you) 

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged more than 500 points Thursday. Investors are concerned that the U.S. economy will enter another recession and that Europe's debt problems are not closed to being solved.

Major stock indexes fell more than 4 percent.

The Dow is closing with a loss of 513 points, or 4.3 percent, to 11,384. It was the worst day for the Dow since October 22, 2008.

The S&P 500 is down 60, or 4.8 percent, to 1,200. The Nasdaq is down 137, or 5.1 percent, to 2,556.

Twenty stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was very heavy at 7.5 billion shares.

I don't blame them.  But, they are also self defeating.  There isn't much to say.  The USA House of Representatives are proving everyday how unable they are to govern.  They reworded the language in the FAA authorization and caused an implosion of the entire industry resulting in furloughs and layoffs.  

A government the size of the USA, we are not Greece by a long shot, or anyone else for that matter, cannot simply change a few words here and a few words there and yank monies out from under the industry, small airports or not without catastrophe striking.  It doesn't work that way.

There needed to be a short term reauthorization of the FAA until all the details could be worked out in the new patchwork quilt presented to the Senate from the House.  Basically, the House does not accept leadership from anyone, including their own Speaker.

Senator Harry Reid: COMPROMISE on hand to end FAA shutdown (click here)

by EYDER PERALTA

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says there is bipartisan compromise to end the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration that has left 74,000 transportation and construction workers idled," writes the AP.

The AP adds that Reid did not specify details in his statement, but other officials say the Senate could approve a House bill as soon as Friday.

This story is still developing. We'll update as we hear more.

The minority party in the House, namely the Tea Party, is working at the federal level where change occurs slowly.  The small airports that exist for the successful travel of many Americans can't be abandoned without NOTICE.

Understand notice?  If the USA government is going to stop subsidies it rewrites the law so that a given time in the future the subsidies will be stopped.  It gives the enterprises enough time to reorganize or merg or accommodates their customers and employees in a different way.

It is no different with the DOW.  The 'instability' the USA federal government is exhibiting is more than a worry; it is a huge amount of trouble for investors.  There is nothing worst for global markets than instability and the federal government in the USA is the last place where this should be occurring when it has been the USA that was leading the recovery.

Now, the idea that companies within the USA were starting to be more optimistic about adding jobs and expanding their profits will stop.  Rather than expanding the economy and the tax base to improve market activity, now there is a fair to good chance there will be more contraction because of ever increasing uncertainty coming from the one place where it should never exist and that is the USA Federal government.  So, while Mitch McConnell believes he is being a wise man to make “Obama a one term president” he is actually causing more problems than he will ever solve.

 Even companies near and dear to the American people of which we helped recover, namely auto manufacturers, will give the 'market place' a second and third look before expanding their operations.  THAT is a tragedy, not just a set back.  Why?  Because some of the most cutting edge technology within the automotive industry is right here in the USA.  That means it would lead to greater exports and a better trade balance. 

The current House leadership is not sufficient to rein in their most extremist elements and that is going to cause problems over and over.  The second option in leadership will only make it worse.  It is for that reason alone there cannot be repeated debates about the deficit, the debt, the budget, the tax structure.  Every time the opportunity arises the Tea Baggers reek holy hell with everything and they don't care if the ship sinks.  They just don't.

What the Tea Baggers CAN'T get their minds around is that markets like the DOW aren't $12,000 and falling.  It is about millions and billions and falling.  That dynamic seems to escape them and they certainly are NOT preoccupied with REASSURING anyone, especially the people dependent on small airports among other things.

What are ya gonna do?  

Maybe Secretary Geithner needs to run a few seminars for the Republicans in the House.  I am serious.  These House members are a disaster.  And make it mandatory.  Don't shoot yourselves in the foot folks.  You either McConnell.  You aren't immune either!  

I am going to be traveling.

Take care.

It is winter in Australia and they are having fun looking for warmer climate.

...TTF chief executive John Lee said Australians were bargain hunting in the shopping hot spots.

"It's about bars, beaches and boutiques, with the number of Aussies going to Indonesia up by 153,000, the US up 116,000 and Thailand up 54,000 in just 12 months," he said.

"People are leaving with empty bags and returning with bulging suitcases, putting the increased buying power of the Australian dollar to good use."

Mr Lee said only two of our top 20 overseas destinations had had a drop in travel by Australians....

This POLITICAL INSTABILITY being witnessed in the USA is nothing new.

As a matter of fact it is NORMAL for this democracy.


I don't believe any of the Tea Party or the Republicans are going to go haywire and decide to attempt to change the standard of USA currency.


What has occurred in the USA by The Fed, however, has caused its damage.  Some might think it was a good thing, but, in my opinion it made things more difficult for the recovery.  The theory is that a 'weak' dollar provides an incentive to purchase American goods.  That is not exactly the case this time.  The USA Dollar is the global measure of currency value and it has a global penetration, so to devalue the dollar during a recession to encourage USA economic growth when the entire world economy is volatile only adds fuel to the fire.


That said, the markets need to find their 'stability' in reassurances by governments to THE  VISION of their future in the world.  I could provide some kind of vision, but, it isn't really my place.  China and India best look to increasing their quality of life and to the extent the USA outsourcing provided its beginnings we can all take pride in it, but, the Honey Moon is over.  China and India cannot still rely on the USA economy for its PRIMARY market place.  They have to raise their standard of living and quality of life to build their stability WITHIN their boundaries and sovereign nation.  That isn't easy with a billion people, but, it can happen and if done well it can happen quickly. 


If China and India 'find the guts' to build their own economies the demands for goods globally will go up and their people will become travelers and consumers no different than that of Europe and North America.  Russia is already under going that dynamic in its major cities, but, there are other problems in Russia and the climate is causing havoc within Russia.  The climate is also a huge issue in the USA, but, Republicans are DENIERS and won't deal with it effectively.  Why do down that road now, but, the states need to adopt policies that work for them in conjunction with The Clean Air Act and The Clean Water Act.  Those two legislative miracles 'link' the states in a unique way that if applied well will require all states to be concerned about their contribution to climate instability.

August 3, 2011
0100 gmt
USA Temperature Map


There is another 'heat bubble' forming.  The heat from the land actually contributes to the enlarging of the expanse of the air mass.


There is somewhat of a disturbing assessment in the Atlantic this hurricane season.  The storms in the Atlantic are encountering a lot of 'dry air' and not able to sustain their velocity because they loss their water vapor component.  That is why there isn't more high velocity storms to absorb some of this extraordinary heat into the oceans.  Not that it won't happen yet in a couple of weeks or so as the sun continues its southward movement, but, to realize the intensity of the heat of the planet in relation to the hurricanes in the Atlantic is to realize the severe heat stress it is under because of greenhouse gases.


This single fact is a global concern, not just the USA and must be addressed.  There is complete irrational behavior in the Republican Party in the USA so some kind of sanctions may have to be impressed if the USA does not come up with a climate policy at least at the 'state and local' level to stop this incredibly stupid manmade disaster.  

The Drought in the USA is now feeding itself.  The heat bubbles are self growth phenomena REINFORCED by its own physics 'over time' that then contributes to the next week of increased depth and range.


This is completely ridiculous.


At any rate, the global markets have to find a 'focus' that dictates stability in order to 'settle down' to a dull roar.  How that is going to happen might be dictated by 'minor economies' that rely on stable sources of support from the IMF.  I know that sounds counter intuitive, but, smaller economies IMPROVE as there is little else for them to do and their currencies begin to increase.  The more the currencies are viewed as 'stable' and 'a good place to hide' the sooner the rest of the economic dynamics of other countries can be MEASURED.  


What is the Rand doing?  I haven't look in a while.


The South African Rand is doing quite well.  Diamonds among other things the country mines continues to provide stability.  It is an amazing currency.  It took a little bit of a hit in 2008 simply because its economy is volatile by the assets it has.  In other words, when the global economy dropped, the diamonds became to risky an investment as they would not be purchased by consumers and therefore the Rand became more unstable.  But, that 'lack of confidence' in the Rand didn't last long (click here).  Cool.


It is that 'type' of stability the global markets should be seeking 'AS A MEASURE' to the success of recovering economies such as that of the USA and Europe.  History of a currency isn't necessarily the best measure to current conditions.


But, to find a 'point of reference' that provides insight to current conditions and potential for increased stability should prove to be a solace of one type or another.


It is easy to find comfort in metals as a 'safe haven.'  It is quite something else to find 'a personal quality' to lead in challenging times.  The current markets should not be concerned about the political nonsense existing in a populous party that may last a few election cycles.  It is normal for the USA.  I am confident President Obama and his cabinet have already had this discussion among themselves and 'the man' in the White House did exceptionally well in his negotiations and the Treasury Secretary learned never to change a 'date of decision' for the 'quality of the opposing political' leadership.


Good night and good luck.  


Be a bear. 


But.


Be a heroic bear.  


Please.

The Long Depression lasted from 1873 to 1896.

NPR did an audio about Jennings.  (click title to entry - thank you)


His proposed policy for STABILIZING the USA economy, once and for all, was to change the monetary standard from Gold to Silver.


That is how distraught the citizens of the USA had become.  They wanted a solution and they wanted it now.  Many were convinced Jennings had the answer, but, when it came to the actual vote, the Gold Standard won out at the ballot box.


Silver and Gold: Better baits for Investments ? (click here)

March 20, 2011

Silver gained nearly 2% and hovered near USD 35 an ounce ever since crisis crippled world’s third largest economy, Japan. During the same time Nikkei had tanked almost 10% and most other countries indices were affected.

Fundamentally, there are three main reasons which has been the price driver for silver: higher industrial demand, safe heaven for investment and supply dynamics. The industrial demand for previous year for silver was 48%. Peru, Mexico and China are the three main producers of silver. The total mine production has increased by 4% or 709.6 Moz (Million ounces) this year.  On the other hand the gold demand has risen by 3% this year.

The return of gold for a 4 year average period is 22.00% while that of silver is 25.44%. This has made silver more attractive as an investment than the gold. The retail investment in silver is increasing at a faster rate than the retail investment in gold. The truth is silver has certainly out shined gold.

Inflation in China as well as in India, who are the major consumers of precious metal, has been high. With such inflationary pressure, investor find their solace in Gold and Silver. Importantly, investment in silver has been high for the simple reason that silver is affordable as compared to gold....

Now there is a reason I referred to all this and I'll get to it in the next entry.

The Recession of 1893 was not completely dissimilar to that which we are facing today.

The Recession of 1893 was considered The Great Depression right up to the actual Great Depression that history now paints previous to WWII.


The recession of 1893, still today is called "The Long Depression" and resulted from a Railroad Bubble.


But, the Long Depression was sort of the 'last straw' for many Americans.  They had grown tired of impoverishment and the agricultural sector (the primary backbone of the USA economy at the time) was growing restless.


William Jennings Bryan came out as a result of "The Panic of 1893."  Twenty years after a previous severe recession.  People remembered the panic of 1873 and to face a long and lingering depression yet again was more than the agricultural sector could tolerate.  They wanted relief and 'by damn it' they were going to have it.  They wanted off the roller coaster.