Stock Market and Political Commentary

The Dubai Warning Flag

As we have discussed on this blog through many different commentaries, the debt burden throughout the world in private companies and even sovereign states and nations, cannot be maintained and will likely result in various financial collapses in the coming months.  Some of these will be routine and small while others could be catastrophic for economies around the globe.

Did the Dubai default just send up a warning flag for what is to come for others in the near future?

"Fears of a dangerous new phase in the economic crisis swept around the globe yesterday as traders responded to the shock announcement that a debt-laden Dubai state corporation was unable to meet its interest bill."

"Nervous traders transferred the focus of their anxieties from the risk of companies failing to the risk of nation states defaulting. Investors owed money by Mexico, Russia and Greece saw the price of insuring themselves against default rocket."

Will our young King see the California IOUs, New York saying they will be broke by the end of the year, plus this Dubai warning flag and drop his reckless and insane plans to borrow more money for another "stimulus" and his plans to skyrocket the debt through government health care?  No! 

The federal government is currently spending 1,5 trillion dollars a year ( $30 billion a week)  more than it is taking in through its revenue sources.  That is 30,000,000,000.00 per week!  

Let me put it another way.  We are borrowing about $100.00 per week for every man, woman, and child in the US.  So each week every family of 4 goes into debt another $400.00. Do you think this will not have serious consequences, either in inflation or even, in the worst case, default on this debt?

And this is not enough.  The Airhead wants more debt while again trying to have it both ways by making comments about how this debt burden is unsustainable.

Hey Obama.... if racking up this debt is unsustainable why are you actively working to rack up new debt by job killing programs that will skyrocket the deficit to levels that could result in default by the US Treasury?

At his next press conference see if you hear anything from the King that would satisfactorily answer this question.  I've not heard it yet, and I'm betting we won't hear it in the future either.

You think the economy is bad now?  Just wait until the full consequences of this mountain of debt manifests itself.  Man I hope I'm wrong about this, because if I'm not, it's not going to be pretty.

Dubai Article

J. Cogburn 

The Plan In Action

Did you know there are millions of people who have a plan for your life?

Well they do, and they are called liberals.  Now let's see how their plans actually work.

First, they drum up phony fears about generating electricity through nuclear power.  Next, they fight all efforts to get our own energy through drilling off shore, drilling on shore, drilling in Alaska, etc.  Instead they talk about putting up windmills that are ugly, expensive, and produce zero power when the wind is not blowing.

Then presto!  It is finally time for them to begin controlling your life directly.  

California appears poised to be first to ban power-guzzling big-screen TVs

But don't worry because it is for a good cause.  In exchange for giving up your freedom to watch the type of TV that you want you get the following:

"The payoff could be big for TV owners, said Ken Rider, a commission staff engineer. Average first-year savings from reduced electricity use would be an estimated $30 per set and $912 million statewide, he said."

Yes that's right..... you get to save $30 a year.   What a deal!

This is just another example of how liberals know much more about how you should live your life than you do.  Imagine, if left to your own devices you would be watching one of these big screen high definition TV's that are really nice to watch, especially for sports and nature programs, and wasting $30 per year.  

Fortunately the liberals are going to put a stop to all this wasteful spending... and believe me,  they know about wasteful spending.  Next stop on the complete government control tour;  health care.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bigtvs14-2009oct14,0,4908205.story

J. Cogburn

Fellow Human Beings

Recently my Canadian friend sent me the following message...

"You tell me a young girl shots and kills a man as if it was something that a normal US citizen can do and get a good night sleep after doing a good job killing a fellow human being. Something is very wrong with you." 

My response.....

Here is a story about some of our "fellow human beings" here in the US.  

I say society and this poor girl would have been much better off if the girl or someone else had shot this SOB right between the eyes when he was trying to kidnap her.  What do you say Phil?

PLACERVILLE, Calif. – Joyous, miraculous news that a little girl kidnapped nearly two decades ago was found alive gave way Thursday to the horrifying details of how police say she has lived all those years: kept in captivity by a convicted rapist in his backyard and forced to bear two of his children.

Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was 11 in 1991 when she was snatched from her school bus stop, was locked away from the outside world behind a series of fences, sheds and tents in the back of a suburban home.

Her abductor, investigators said, raped her and fathered two children with her, the first when Jaycee was about 14. Those children, both girls now 11 and 15, also were kept hidden away in the backyard compound.

"None of the children have ever been to school, they've never been to a doctor," El Dorado County Undersheriff Fred Kollar said. "They were kept in complete isolation in this compound."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090828/ap_on_re_us/us_kidnapped_girl_found

J. Cogburn

The Airhead Strikes Again

It's comical but also deadly serious..... the man is an absolute empty skull if I've ever seen one... and I've seen more than one in my time.
 
He is the President of the United States and yet doesn't know basic facts about this country.  Either that or he thinks he can tell any kind of lie he wants even to the foreign press and get away with it.  The world is snickering now, but  soon will be belly laughing every time this clown opens his ignorant mouth if they are not already.
 
In a French interview without his teleprompter he said,
"And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslim Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world.  And so there's got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples."

Obama said in Turkey that Americans "do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation". 
 
I repeat... the man is a complete and utter airhead!
 
Since he knows nothing, can he not at least get his staff to do some research before he makes factually incorrect statements that can be shown to be false in 2 minutes flat?  Worse yet he makes these type of idiotic statements while overseas talking to the foreign press.
 
Yes there are a few muslims in America and their numbers are growing. We may even have one for President even though he denies it. 
 
But suppose he said Saudia Arabia is a Christian nation because there are a few Christians in the country (probably in hiding because over there Christians are often killed when discovered by these enlightened people that Obama wants to praise).  Of course everyone would know the guy is a few bricks shy of a full load.
 
Denying America's heritage because we allow others who have different religions to live in this country is just as asinine.  But that's what airheads do; they make asinine statements on a regular basis.
 
Let's see if "we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world" based on a few facts that can be quickly obtained. These basic facts would be understood by anyone holding a high position before making statements on the subject if they had a lick of sense, but that's not how Obama operates.  It's absolutely stunning to hear raw ignorance in the man's own voice even though I identified him as an airhead in February of 2008 after the first time I heard him speak without a teleprompter.
 
Here is the breakdown of religions in the United States by percentage:

Christian: (78.4%)
Protestant (51.3%)
Roman Catholic (23.9%)
LDS (1.7%)
Jehovah’s Witness (0.7%)
Orthodox (0.6%)
other Christian (0.3%)
no religion (16.1%)
Jewish (1.7%)
Buddhist (0.7%)
Muslim (0.6%)
Hindu (0.4%)
other (1.2%)

In 2007 wikipedia ranked the US 39th in the world for Muslim population - is this wishful thinking on Obama’s part?  Let’s see the numbers of some of the most heavily populated Muslim countries:

Saudi Arabia: 27,601,038
Yemen: 23,013,376
Iran: 70,472,846
Egypt: 76M

http://www.stoptheliberalsnow.com/archives/3259
 
For good measure he is snubbing Israel on this trip which will speak louder than any speech he will make I assure you.  This too shows where his real loyalties lie.... and he is planting seeds that will yield bitter fruit.
 
J. Cogburn

This Just In on the Pirate Story

Earlier today I revealed to a few close friends and family what really happened yesterday regarding the pirates who were holding the US citizen hostage (see below).
 
Now it has been learned that on the hopes his cover has not been blown Obama intends to continue acting like an absolute airhead by increasing the federal budget so much it may literally bankrupt the country while at the same time cutting the defense budget. 
 
In a super airhead move to continue concealing his true identity if possible, Obama is not only cutting the defense budget, but more specifically he is reducing the funding for our missile defense programs which are the only hope of keeping millions from dying should a rogue nation launch an ICBM with a nuclear warhead into the United States or into the country of one of our allies.
 
This is being done at the time when this type of technology is nearing operational status in countries like Iran and North Korea and when the President of Iran has threatned to wipe one of our allies off the map time and time again plus makes no bones about openly calling us "the great Satan" and says the end is near for us too.
 
Will his effort to conceal his true identity succeed by convincing everyone he is a liberal lightweight who is trying to disarm America thereby encouraging rogue nations to launch an attack that will get thousands or even millions of innocent people killed?
 
Or will this pirate incident blow his cover and expose him as a hawk even though the force used was already authorized by the Law of the Sea Treaty on Piracy and anyone with an ounce of common sense knows deadly force is authorized even by policemen, but especially by military personnel, when someones life is in imminent danger?  Time will tell.
 
And now for the UNTOLD STORY of what really happened to the poor pirates..
 
What you don't know is that our 44th President is a real hero, even more so than President Bush.  I have it on good authority that what actually happened was this....
 
Obama had a chef flown in from 1/2 way across the country to make pizza for a party of 140 people, because he liked the crust this guy makes, as a diversionary tactic.
 
While everyone was focused on this King like summons (fly in a chef from the midwest to make pizza for a party...at taxpayers expense?), he snuck out of the White House and flew himself directly to the Navy ship in his own private jet that he bought from the royalties of his inventions while in the private sector.  Of course he got his flight training as a military officer and honed his skills while flying secret combat missions over enemy terroritory for many years.
 
Since he is also a weapons expert from his special ops training, and a world class swimmer from his days in a Navy Seals unit, he carefully selected his weapon of choice after landing his small jet on a destroyer (never been done before, but he did it in this emergency situation).  This is why even today he is a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment.
 
He carefully lowered himself into the water, despite swells up to 10 feet at the time, with his hi-powered sniper rifle firmly gripped between his teeth as he had to keep his hands free to complete the 5 mile swim required to get him within range of the pirate's vessel.
 
One man, while swimming in rough waters, being able to take out all 3 pirates before they could harm the Captain would be the tough part. But he was sure his confidence and warfare skills, plus an adrenaline rush at the prospect of taking down the bad guys, would be sufficient to accomplish the task.
 
Well you know the rest of what happened.... our superhero President, the smartest and most accomplished man in the world, completed his mission.  His cunning and bravery will be talked about and taught in military tactics classes for years to come.
 
What the most important and amzaing thing to know is that this was in the planning stages for years just in case something like this might come up.
 
To make sure he could keep his cover and strike the enemy by total surprise he had to create an image of being a complete airhead who had no real accomplishments before becoming President and make it look like he had spent his whole life listening to and learning from radicals who hate the US and all it stands for, especially those freedom and capitalism parts.
 
Well done Mr. President, mission accomplished!
 
J. Cogburn
 

--
Making Money Fast is Fun
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Australian PR on Torture

A friend sends me the following solution which was apparently proposed by an Australian to the torture issue... it looks like a good plan to me so I'm posting it here on the blog.

One thing about blokes from Oz is that their hearts and humour are always in the right
place! 

 T. B.  Bechtel, a  City Councillor from Newcastle, Australia, was asked on a local live
radio talk show, just what he thought about the allegations of torture of suspected terrorists.
His reply prompted his ejection from the studio, but to thunderous applause
from the audience.

HIS STATEMENT:
'If hooking up one raghead terrorist prisoner's testicles to a car battery to get the truth
out of the lying little camelshagger will save just one Australian life, then I have only three things to say,'

'Red is positive,
Black is negative, and
Make sure his nuts are wet.' 

See... solutions to real world problems can sometimes be fairly simple with modern technology.

J. Cogburn

How to Deal With Pirates

My friend writes....

One US citizen is being held and no US ships are being held hostage and they are not terrorist they are pirates(4). What would you do if you were in charge of the US forces? Blow the boat out of the water? What do you do with the ships of other countries(with hostages non US) that are coming to rescue the 4 pirates? This is a delicate situation and the answer is not a military response but more a diplomatic response. They have the FBI doing negotiations but it seems the pirates are reluctant to release the Captain for fear of being blow out of the water (they read your Blog LOL).

Pay the ransoms and all ships in the future using that area should be armed with some big guns and military trained personnel manning the guns. I know, I know some countries do not allow armed civilian ships into their harbours. Boycott those harbour or get the UN to straighten them out(this solution will not appear in your Blog LOL).

My response.....

Had people read and headed the advice I gave in my blog on two occasions in 2008 regarding pirates we would not have the situation we have now. See the links and commentaries below.
 
You have clearly demonstrated what the liberal mind never comprehends.  People like me are interested in dealing with the bad eggs of this world early on before they escalate their activities that unnecessarily get a lot of innocent people killed (over 50 million in WWII and who knows how many will die if Iran completes its mission of building nukes and gets a delivery system, from N. Korea perhaps?).
 
Liberals on the other hand want to talk, talk, talk, dialogue, sit down and talk with leaders of rogue nations, at the Presidential level, without preconditions, negotiate, argue over whether these people should be called terrorists or pirates, etc. while the evil men do whatever they please including stealing, raping, and murdering innocent people.
 
You asked what I would do.  First let's look at what I would have done previously that I documented in my blog.  What I would have done is made sure this didn't happen in the first place by doing what I said last year.  I said,

"Will the shipping industry wise up and start sinking any vessel that approaches without authorization and killing anyone, with no questions asked, who dares to come aboard without permission?  Or will they simply allow this to escalate until these shipping industries are brought to their knees?"  

What I would do now is try to save the life of the Captain, but not at any cost. Snipers, Navy Seals, or other means would be used to deal with these guys unless they surrendered the hostage in fairly short order.
 
Here is the real point.  Whether the Captain lives or dies, I would make sure that there would be a hell of a lot more than 4 dead pirates before this is all over.    
 
We have a little pay back due anyway because of the Mogadishu incident in 1993 when another democratic president, Bill Clinton, didn't have the stomach to complete the mission over there after we got our nose bloodied.  It is a documented fact that Osama Bin Laden concluded from this very incident that America was a paper tiger and would run at the first sign of bloodshed.  From this he concluded they should escalate their attacks on the US and this evenutually led to 9/11.
 
Since you asked let me summarize what would happen if I were the Commander in Chief at this time in history.
 
     a.  The 4 pirates would be dead men for sure before Monday morning.  There would be no capture, no reading of rights, and no trial for these guys.  Am I clear so far?
 
     b.  It would be full speed ahead for a very large group of special forces and marines headed to the area.  On my order there would be mass raids on the pirate strongholds with no chance of halting the operation until at least several thousand of these guys were worm food.
 
This is what Thomas Jefferson did and the lesson stuck for over 200 years.  But it didn't take them long to figure out that we now have a limp biscuit in the White House who is to be tested and so they no longer feared hijacking a ship flying the US Flag.
 
     c.  We would make the policy I outlined previously known to the entire world.  That is, anyone approaching a US ship without authorization is in danger of being sunk and anyone who tries to board a US ship without permission will be shot on sight... no questions asked.
 
As to other ships in the area, do you think our weapons in 2009 are that inprecise?  In any case, my advice to all others is that we mean business and they had better be prepared to assist or get out of the way because their is going to be trouble and weapons fire in the very near future.  So if they get in between us and those who have launched an attack on our nation by attacking our vessel they may well get some of what we are going to dish out.
 
One thing though Phil.  I am encouraged you have advocated my earlier position on this by making sure the ships are armed and ready to deal with those who would attempt to hijack the ship.
 
But I would not pay ransoms for any reason... none.  This is what fuels this activity.  If they knew they could not get any money out of these attacks the pirates would look for another line of work, which is what they should do anyway.
 
As to looking for the UN to provide a solution to anything.... of course you've got to be kidding.  If not, just consider they had a resolution which forbade the North Koreans from launching their ICBM.
 
But did it stop them?  Of course not because they know the UN is all talk....just like liberals, real diplomats you know.
 
So let's stop talking and negotiating with these type people unless we think it's funny, as our Secretary of State does, and want the game to continue.
 
08/25/08 Pirates on the High Seas
http://stocks-politics.typepad.com/stock_market_and_politica/2008/10/pirates-on-the.html
 
12/02/08 Pirates Now Attacking Cruise Ships
http://stocks-politics.typepad.com/stock_market_and_politica/2008/12/pirates-now-attacking-cruise-ships.html

J. Cogburn

A Terrible Misunderstanding

It is now apparent there has been a terrible misunderstanding regarding the election held last November.  Barack Obama thought he was running to be the Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary and believes this is the position he holds at this time.  It may also explain why he is seldom in the Oval Office.

He obviously has no clue that he is actually the President who's primary duty is to be the Commander in Chief of the military and has an obligation to answer questions from the press when American ships are being hijacked and Americans are being held hostage. 

This terrible misunderstanding came to light this week when Obama was asked about the hijacking and hostage situation during a press conference. 

When reporters asked the president directly about the incident on Thursday, he demurred. Instead, he stayed on his message of the day, saying: "Guys, we're talking about housing right now."

Amazing!  Can you imagine President Bush getting away without making any statement at all about a situation like this?

Of course you can't blame him for not wanting to talk about foreign policy issues after his recent apology and appeasement tour overseas.

Consider the following from the April 10, 2009 article from Charles Krauthammer:

In his major foreign policy address in Prague committing the United States to a world without nuclear weapons, President Obama took note of North Korea's missile launch just hours earlier and then grandiloquently proclaimed:

"Rules must be binding. Violations must be punished. Words must mean something. The world must stand together to prevent the spread of these weapons. Now is the time for a strong international response."

A more fatuous presidential call to arms is hard to conceive. What "strong international response" did Obama muster to North Korea's brazen defiance of a Chapter 7 --"binding," as it were -- U.N. resolution prohibiting such a launch?

The obligatory emergency Security Council session produced nothing. No sanctions. No resolution. Not even a statement. China and Russia professed to find no violation whatsoever. They would not even permit a U.N. statement that dared express "concern," let alone condemnation.

Having thus bravely rallied the international community and summoned the U.N. -- a fiction and a farce, respectively -- what was Obama's further response? The very next day, his defense secretary announced drastic cuts in missile defense, including halting further deployment of Alaska-based interceptors designed precisely to shoot down North Korean ICBMs. Such is the "realism" Obama promised to restore to U.S. foreign policy.

And what about the goals of his trip overseas that was so important he needed 500 people to go along... did he accomplish any of them?

Our president came bearing a basketful of mea culpas. With varying degrees of directness or obliqueness, Obama indicted his own people for arrogance, for dismissiveness and derisiveness, for genocide, for torture, for Hiroshima, for Guantanamo and for insufficient respect for the Muslim world.

And what did he get for this obsessive denigration of his own country? He wanted more NATO combat troops in Afghanistan to match the surge of 17,000 Americans. He was rudely rebuffed.

He wanted more stimulus spending from Europe. He got nothing.

From Russia, he got no help on Iran. From China, he got the blocking of any action on North Korea.

And what did he get for Guantanamo? France, pop. 64 million, will take one prisoner. One! (Sadly, he'll have to leave his swim buddy behind.) The Austrians said they would take none. As Interior Minister Maria Fekter explained with impeccable Germanic logic, if they're not dangerous, why not just keep them in America?

When Austria is mocking you, you're having a bad week. Yet who can blame Frau Fekter, considering the disdain Obama showed his own country while on foreign soil, acting the philosopher-king who hovers above the fray mediating between his renegade homeland and an otherwise warm and welcoming world?

In other words,  he accomplished nothing of substance on this trip which is eerily similar to what he has accomplished in his entire life other than getting elected to office.

To make sure I'm not mistaken on this let me double check....

Military Officer with Distinguished Career?  NO

Military Service at All?  NO

Inventor?  NO

Founded a Company?  NO

Executive in Money Making Business?  NO

Executive in Government?  NO

The question now is, who will be willing to tell the man he is President, not the HUD Secretary,  and may have to actually at least answer some questions when American ships are being hijacked in international waters and Americans are being held hostage?

My guess is that once they load the teleprompter with some focus group approved phrases in this regard perhaps he will have something to say.

And of course if the ship Captain is released unharmed Obama will be praised as having "handled" the situation in a heroic fashion.  If not, it was somebody else's fault...... who knows, maybe he just inherited this situation from the Bush administration.... yeah that's it, he inherited this awful situation and it was not his fault, there was nothing any human being could have done, even the smartest hero in the world, Barack Obama, in this situation.

J. Cogburn

Airhead Gifts

What type of gift would an an absolute amateur not ready for prime time and an airhead to boot exchange with Britain's Prime Minister?  Well let's find out, shall we?

First, let's see what the Prime Minister gave to our inexperienced President who is quickly moving the country toward financial ruin with every passing day.....

"The president also thanked the prime minister for the gifts he presented to him: a pen holder carved from the timbers of the HMS Gannet, which was a sister ship of the HMS Resolute, and first edition biography of Winston Churchill. The president noted that the pen set is being displayed on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office and the books are in the president’s personal study adjoining the Oval Office."  Article 1

Now let's see what the empty suit that now occupies the Oval Office of this once great land gave to the Prime Minister....

"President Obama has been rudeness personified towards Britain this week. His handling of the visit of the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to Washington was appalling. First Brown wasn't granted a press conference with flags, then one was hastily arranged in the Oval office after the Brits had to beg. Obama looked like he would rather have been anywhere else than welcoming the British leader to his office and topped it all with his choice of present (*) for the PM. A box of 25 DVDS including ET, the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars? Oh, give me strength."  Article 2.

So embarrasing its laughable... and I assure you other world leaders are taking notice.  Soon those with evil intentions will have enough evidence to know for sure the guy is a "useful idiot" ala Jimmy Carter, but with no experience in the real world.  At least Jimmy had a family business and had been a Naval Officer for a few years. 

This will encourage them to "test" him which will likely lead to an over reaction or an under reaction from Obama.  Neither the test or the response will be good for the US.

J. Cogburn

Rod Blagojevich vs. Harry Reid

Does everyone deserve their day in court here in America in 2009 or should we now just conclude a person is guilty of a crime and must step down from his position based on an aggressive prosecutor press conference?  The prosecutor supposedly has taped conversations indicating the governor wanted to sell the Obama Senate seat; does that mean he must be found guilty of felony offenses without the benfit of a trial? 

I think everyone deserves their day in court and have been saying so since this Governor story broke (another Chicago Politician.... actually nothing here unusual I don't think except the seat in question is being vacated by the President-elect).

However, once they make you a part of the daily news cycle it is hard to ever get a fair trial, but the question here is, what exactly is the crime?  He had not even appointed a Senator when this became national news much less accepted a bribe for an appointment.

So, they will have to prove he was truly trying to sell the seat for personal gain above the norm political horse trading in these cases.  Maybe he was.  But politicians are always angling for a better political position somewhere and often show favoritism to those who contributed to their campaigns or did some other favor for them.

If he is guilty of a serious crime then a jury needs to say so.  Until this happens the man is still legally the governor and in a contest between him and Reid I will be rooting for Blago every time because Reid has repeatedly demonstrated he is all about partisan politics and could care less about the law.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=30118

J. Cogburn