Max Keiser is obnoxious and sort of crude and rude. But then I guess a lot of TV presenters are.
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He is smart though, and he has thought out the economic crisis quite well from the perspective of someone living outside of America. He may not be 100% right, but a lot of what he says hits the nail on the head.
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You really need to watch this YouTube clip you Americans. It is Max Keiser from Paris on the BBC news. Even if he is completely wrong and is just a tool of the weirdo, lunatic conspiracy theorists and the hyper-religious, suicide-loving Muslims, this is fun theater to watch!
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LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMA19SBB7EQ
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ItC_nT4rS8
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When I was in my teen years I took outrageous risks. I was reckless. Much of the time I didn’t even realize how dangerous my behavior was. This was based upon the energy and enthusiasm of youth rather that a clear understanding of the situation.
Really fast and dangerous hot rod cars, drag racing, drinking, smoking cigarettes and marijuana, and having unprotected sex at every opportunity. I was absolutely clueless. I had no idea at all what the potential consequences of my behavior were. Some of my friends died along the way. I got lucky and made it to old age. Along the way I got a little smarter and a good bit more cautious.
And now that I am elderly and nearing the end of the journey, I find that once again I am willing to take risks. But now they are based upon a good understanding what is really going on, and sound judgment.
I am very lucky to have learned both Spanish and English as a young boy. English is my primary language, but I am still at least 90% fluent in Spanish. So I feel completely comfortable travelling in Mexico and Spain. I have travelled to Spain several times, and I have seen much of the country.
The book entitled "The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" was written by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra from 1605 to 1615. It is written in a very funny and easy to read style. The story is still contemporary today. Don Quixote is a very polite and pleasant middle aged man. He is comfortable financially, very nearsighted, and frequently a bit out of touch with reality. Along with his trusty helper Sancho Panza he goes on lots of completely unrealistic and unachievable journeys (quests) all over the part of Spain that is called La Mancha.
La Mancha is a beautiful and fertile, but somewhat arid, elevated plateau around 610 m or 2,000 feet above sea level in central Spain south of Madrid. I have visited this area at length, and I love it. In many ways the topography is similar to what one sees in central and northern New Mexico in the United States.
Sancho Panza was fully grounded and very much in touch with reality, but just a little dull witted. On one of Don Quixote’s early quests he sees what he thinks in his myopia are evil, ferocious giants. He does the gallant thing which would be expected of any gentleman or knight, and he attacks them. This turns out to be an attack on windmills rather than evil giants. So the famous phrase, tilting at windmills.
I have a nice collection of various Don Quixotes that I have picked up all over the world. Many I bought cheaply in flea markets, and some I got in upscale galleries where I had to pay far too much money. This one, which is made from gold leaf, I bought at just such a nice gallery in Barcelona. Across the street from Gaudi's famous cathedral Sagrada Familia.
My whole life seems to have been one impractical quest after another. Of course with long periods in between where I was forced to be stable, had a successful career, raised a family, etc. From fighting against the Vietnam war and various environmental causes, to near the end of my career intentionally falling on my sword actively supporting the hourly employees of our company (I was General Manager) after it was bought out by vulture capitalists.
Now I am at the point where I see clearly what an evil and destructive course America has been on since the early 1960’s. And if I get the chance I will certainly tilt against this windmill too. There are lots of elderly, ex-hippie types just like me who are ready to do the same. We just need a strong leader and some guidance. Maybe Obama is the man. Time will tell.
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Without any question there are many things which more than 50% of voters would like to have happen; and which the Congress and the Senate intentionally do not do even though they know that the citizens of America which they represent want them to do.
This is not a pure democracy that we have here in America. Not even close to it. In fact I’m getting to the point where I’m beginning to question whether we even live in a democracy.
For example, most voters are in favor of severely limiting executive compensation. Like the executives who earn millions of dollars each year, even when their companies are losing money and laying off people.
Most voters would like for the rich to pay MUCH higher taxes than the middle class.
Most voters would like for the government to make certain that every citizen in America has access to health care. And most voters think that no one in America should be so poor that they or their kids starve; and the voters in America would overwhelmingly like for the government to assure that every citizen receives a modest but adequate pension when he gets too old to work.
So why don’t the elected officials do what the citizens and the voters want? The answer is cold and hard but it is easy.
Elected officials do what their large campaign contributors want them to do. What the voters want is not even of secondary importance. What the citizens of this democracy want is really quite far down the list of priorities.
So what is the answer? Change the rules to where no elected official at any level (city, country, state, federal government) can take ANY campaign contribution, gift, or gratuity of any kind. At all. Period. Hard line.
Until this is accomplished, it is just an ugly and cruel joke to think that our elected officials are going to represent the voters. Get real. Our representatives do what the rich people who make the big campaign contributions want them to.
At the moment this is not a democracy that we are living in. If it is treasonous to say this, well, then so be it.
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ADDENDUM: Several people have e-mailed me saying that "they have always thought that too" but that what I am suggesting is completely unrealistic. "It will never happen."
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Yes, I think that may well be an accurate view of the situation. But by admitting that we are also finally opening our eyes to the fact that what we have evolved to in America is not a Democracy. Far from it. It is just one big con job. Another system where a very few, extremely rich people control all of us serfs. We work hard and pay our taxes, but it never seems to be enough. The company store owns us.
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Both David Bowie and Elvis Presley were Capricorns. They both were born on January 8.
When Elvis was serving in the U.S. Army he was stationed with the 3d Armored Division in Germany. Me too, just a few years later.
I slept in the same bed as David Bowie one time. In Glastonbury, England. Just a few years later. When I checked into the hotel they asked me if I wanted the room that King Henry the whatever had stayed in, or the room that David Bowie had slept in. Naturally I chose David Bowie’s room.
I once heard that most of the really successful people over the entire recorded history of mankind had been Capricorns. Maybe so. I used to claim the Carpenter from Nazareth too, but several people have corrected me and said that he wasn't really born on 25 December.
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Either way, I am still a proud Capricorn!
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Paul Krugman is a Nobel prize wining economist who teaches at Princeton University, and also a columnist for the New York Times.
A few days ago in his newspaper column he said:
“The fact is that recent economic numbers have been terrifying, not just in the United States but around the world. Manufacturing, in particular, is plunging everywhere. Banks aren’t lending; businesses and consumers aren’t spending. Let’s not mince words: This looks an awful lot like the beginning of a second Great Depression.”
These are pretty strong words. In fact for a Nobel prize winning economist to even dare openly to utter the words “second Great Depression” is amazing and more than a little frightening.
Economists thought that another great depression was no longer even possible. The Federal Reserve has been doing all the right things. They have not been at all timid. But the American economy, and world wide the economies of all major players, continue in freefall. The policy tools that the Fed has at its command are near the end.
Less than two weeks before the inauguration of President Obama, the Republican politicians in Washington have already begun setting up roadblocks and are getting ready to lead a major revolt against him. Even the Democrats have already started their business as usual bickering. Before the guy is even inaugurated!
Quoting Paul Krugman again: “Here’s my nightmare scenario: It takes Congress months to pass a stimulus plan, and the legislation that actually emerges is too cautious. As a result, the economy plunges for most of 2009, and when the plan finally starts to kick in, it’s only enough to slow the descent, not stop it. Meanwhile, deflation is setting in, while businesses and consumers start to base their spending plans on the expectation of a permanently depressed economy — well, you can see where this is going.
So this is our moment of truth. Will we in fact do what’s necessary to prevent Great Depression II?”
On most major issues I am basically an optimist. For example, I really believe that most people are honest and fair. But at this point I’m pretty pessimistic about the worldwide economy. It looks to me like we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. I think that there are some real tough times ahead.
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LINK: http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,600382,00.html
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--------------------------------------------------------------- (click on the weather forecast and it will enlarge)
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This sounds like something one might have heard back during the cold war.
Right now there is a very hard cold spell going on in Europe, where I spent almost 20 years of my life. - A very nice part of my life I should add. I still have a number of close friends living there in Europe.
Howdy to Jean, Hein, Mad Dog, Axel, Henk, Theo and a great many others.
For the Russians to cut off the natural gas supplies to so many people right at this time is absolutely unforgivable!
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The city council of the sleepy west Texas town of El Paso broke some new territory yesterday. El Paso is on the border with Mexico and daily witnesses the violence and criminality in Mexico, much of which is financed by the illegal drugs trade. Sort of like the Muslim tribal criminals in Afganistan do.
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The El Paso City Council voted unanimously for a non-binding resolution asking the federal government of the United States of America to put on the table an honest and open discussion about the possibility of legalizing drugs. They suggested that this might greatly reduce the killings and criminality that are associated with the illegal drugs trade. Kind of like back when alcohol was illegal in America, and then was suddenly made legal again.
Personally I am strongly opposed to the use of alcohol, drugs, or tobacco. Also sugar, but that is a different story. When I was in college I certainly used my share of illegal drugs, and for much of my adult life I drank a little too much alcohol and was terribly addicted to tobacco. I now am pure as the driven snow having quit all of the above years ago. But at age 60 my body is suffering the permanent effects of years of abuse by these stupid substances.
I am anti-drug. I haven’t smoked pot or done any other illegal substances in the last 30 years. --BUT… -- I lived in The Netherlands (Holland) for 15 years.
In Holland you can go down to one of your neighborhood coffee shops. The waiter gives you a menu with all the kinds of pot and hashish they serve. You order and then proceed to get wasted. Sort of like in an American bar, but with marijuana instead of alcohol. Then when you leave if you wish you can “take out” some of the products they sell, much like at a Chinese take-out. And it is all completely legal. The Dutch even give free needles to the Heroin addicts!
The really strange part is that in Holland they have a much lower rate of drug addiction that we do in America. Also a much lower rate of AIDS, and coincidentally a lower rate of teenage pregnancy.
So the idea of at least openly and honestly talking about the subject does merit some genuine consideration. The idea of legalizing (and regulating and taxing) drugs is not as off-the-wall and crazy as it sounds.
The driving force behind the resolution was a young man named Beto O'Rourke, who is an El Paso City Council member. I don’t know Beto, but I knew his (deceased) father Pat very well. Pat was also into politics. Pat held various elected positions including the County Judge. He was really smart and was a lot of fun to hang around with. Pat was killed when a car ran over him and his bicycle.
This article is from the Austin-American Statesman newspaper in the Texas state capitol of Austin:
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“ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
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EL PASO — Concerns about the bloody drug war being fought just across the Mexican border led to a short-lived resolution Tuesday asking the federal government to consider legalizing drugs.
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Mayor John Cook vetoed the resolution hours after it was unanimously approved by the City Council.
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Beto O'Rourke, an El Paso City Council member, pushed the resolution that asked the U.S. government to start an "open, honest, national dialogue on ending the prohibition of narcotics."
"We think it should at least be on the table, and so far it hasn't," O'Rourke said.
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Cook called the request to look at legalizing drugs "unrealistic" and urged the council to adopt a broader resolution with other solutions.
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The council, which oversees a city of more than 600,000 people that is considered one of the safest U.S. cities of its size, had unanimously approved the request.
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The nonbinding resolution suggested that legalizing drugs in the United States could help curb a volatile and bloody drug war that claimed nearly 1,600 lives in Ciudad Juarez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso, in 2008.”
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LINK: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/07/0107drugs.html
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----------------------------- (click on the picture and it will enlarge)
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Russia has cut off the natural gas flow to several countries right during the very coldest part of the winter. Again. They did this to achieve a contract which gets them significantly more revenue, but also to increase their political power over some of their neighbors.
This sort of geopolitical game is very normal. During the last 40 years we have seen this trick pulled time after time.
And the big-mouth, dumbass American politicians keep mouthing the words “energy independence.” But the number one priority of most politicians is fund raising. They sort of have to sell their souls to get this money to stay in power. Everything else is way down the scale of importance.
So they continue to mouth the platitudes of energy conservation, but refuse to vote to greatly increase the taxes on motor fuel. They do not vote to provide large government subsidies to anyone buying a vehicle which gets excellent fuel economy or vote for laws which provide tax penalties to those still choosing to buy a gas hog.
So it is all just talk. Sometimes I almost feel ashamed to call myself an American.
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LINK: http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,599796,00.html
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The dictionary says that wisdom is defined as: “the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight.”
After having occupied space on this planet for sixty years, spent many years getting educated, having worked hard in various jobs for more than 40 years, and having travelled extensively all over the world you would think that maybe I have achieved a bit of wisdom. Well maybe. Just a little.
My observation is that wisdom and dignity normally emerge by the time one is about 30 or 40. Certainly by the time one turns 50, if you don’t have it yet then it is pretty clear that you aren’t going to get it.
I guess my top piece of advice is: -Try not to hurt other people.
After that, sort of in random order would be:
Work real hard. Diligence and just showing up every day is more important than intelligence or good looks in almost every case.
Be honest. Lying is very destructive…especially to yourself.
Figure out when to say No. Sometimes you just shouldn’t go along with the group. Knowing when to go off onto one’s own path is one of the best signs of maturity and judgment.
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Plan your life out so that you are completely out of debt by the time you turn age 60.
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Get some regular exercise, and eat healthy food.
Ricky Nelson sure got it right in his song called Garden Party:
“it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.--You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself”
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The New York Times has a good article today on blood glucose levels. The article says that by the 3d or 4th decade of one’s life, the human body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels begins gradually to decline.
And the article shows that high spikes in blood sugar are associated with memory loss in us old farts.
Sugar is really bad stuff. And it is addictive as hell.
You only have to look around at all the young, morbidly obese, lard asses to see that the industrialized parts of the world have a big health problem facing them. The sugar in sodas, cookies, pies, candy, gum, and a great many other foods have a big part to play in this.
Sugar/corn syrup kills. It is right up there with tobacco and alcohol as far as the physical harm it does to our citizens. It doesn't just make you fat. It makes you demented.
LINK: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/01/health/31memory.html?_r=1&em
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Sir Isaac Newton was born today 4 January in the year 1643. So 376 years ago as I figure it. A mad Englishman. He lived to be 84 years old, and he is buried in Westminster Abbey. In later life he got pretty eccentric, and after his death it was found that his remains contained massive amounts of mercury. This may have been from his experiments in alchemy.
He is credited with a lot of things, but probably designing and building the first reflector telescope (as opposed to a refractor, as in eyeglasses or a pair of binoculars) is his most famous accomplishment. His first really usable and practical reflector telescope had a six inch reflector. There are significant advantages and disadvantages to each type, but the small size and its inherent ability to overcome chromatic aberration are two of the greatest advantages of using a reflector in a telescope. 
In photography the same advantages hold true in using a reflector, but the disadvantages are immense. Very unattractive bokeh (the portions of the picture which are out of focus) a flat appearance, and washed out colors.
Today I have an eight inch reflector telescope. The science of optics has greatly improved during the last couple of hundred years, and today the clarity and resolution one gets from a light bucket like an eight inch reflector is really amazing. I can spend hours peering through this telescope.
But if I want to use the telescope to take photographs, I prefer a refractor. I took this picture of the moon (and later filled in the names of some of the things that are visible). I used a 60 mm (just slightly more than 2 inches) refractor telescope as the camera lens to take this picture. I took the lens off the camera, removed the eyepiece from the telescope, and directly connected the camera to the telescope. So in this type of setup the front lens (objective) of the telescope becomes the actual camera lens. I used a Nikon D40 camera.
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Newton was also an excellent mathematician and physicist. In later years he was head of the Royal Mint, viciously going after counterfeiters and also served in Parliament. His only recorded comments as a member of Parliament were to complain about the cold draft and ask that the window be closed.
Back then science was all tied up with religion, so it was risky for a scientist to claim that the earth rotated around the sun. The Christian holy men said that everything rotated around the earth, and if you disagreed with them you could be sent to jail or worse.
This is sort of like the fundamentalist Islamic clerics of today. Of course George Bush got religion and politics all tied together too, despite the fact that one of the very most basic foundations of America is separation of church and state.
So today although living in the past is clearly more identified with the Muslim religion, the Christians also are guilty. I guess the Jews and Buddhists are probably guilty too.
Happy Birthday Sir Isaac.
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This year the Dakar Rally was moved from North Africa to South America because of all the problems there with the Muslim religious fanatics and the general lawlessness in Africa.
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The race is roughly 10,000 kilometers (6,000 miles) long. It is considered to be the primo endurance race in off-road conditions in the entire world.
Their website is cool to look at: http://www.dakar.com/2009/DAK/presentation/us/r3_5-le-parcours.html
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Nearly all of the prognostic indicators point towards the global financial crisis getting a good bit worse before it begins to turn around.
In 2008 we already almost matched the stock market decline in the Great Depression. Even with the cretin George Bush slinking away and Obama taking over the helm in America, there appear to be more tough times ahead.
I still forecast that this current “recession” will not begin to turn around during 2009.
The German magazine Der Spiegel published a chart showing the global market capitalization of all stock markets worldwide. Almost exactly one-half of all the wealth worldwide that was invested in corporate stocks has just gone poof and vanished.
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This chart makes one realize just how big and how international this situation has become.
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It is coming more and more out into the open. Out of the closet so to speak.
Now suddenly not only the wild-eyed, tree-hugging, environmentalist fringe, but normal rational politicians are seeing that as a country the USA must begin to gradually increase taxes on motor fuels.
And some of the revenue from these taxes needs to be used to subsidize the purchase price of extremely high fuel economy vehicles like the Toyota Prius. Some of the revenue also needs to help pay for wind turbines and various forms of real-life (not theoretical research grade) solar energy to electric projects. Both on large industrial scales and at the individual household level.
LINK: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090102/ap_on_go_ot/gas_tax
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Trust Is So Easily Lost
I live together with my partner. We sleep together, and when it is cold we snuggle up to keep warm. My partner is black, very athletic, and kind of hairy. We openly show our affection to each other.
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We have a nice partnership that is built on trust, respect, and affection.
His mother was a Shiba Inu and his dad was just some unknown dude who wandered into the neighborhood.
In the middle of the night last night my friend was feeling affectionate. He kept kissing me, and 
he clearly wanted me to reciprocate. It was not an especially good night for me….I was not feeling up to par; and I did not want to be bothered. Without yelling or using any form of physical violence, I communicated my displeasure to my partner. He got his feelings hurt.
Now we are well into the following day and everything is much brighter, sunnier, and better in the day light. But I can see from the way he is acting that it will take a little time for me to earn back his full trust.
Trust and faith are very hard to earn and so quickly and easily lost.
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