Code-Head Notes

When we cleaned up the UrbanSurvival.com site back in July, we didn’t realize that some mobile users would not be able to find the “root” directory on small (cheap) smartphones like mine.  Which I discovered my own “GomerPhone” couldn’t read my own site, I decided to fix the site in the root directory.  The Bonus is we may be a little less arcane and not so hard to find on the net.

For long-term users, the extra click (and bookmark) of the new page should be our “final resting place” for a while, but best laid plans and all that.  That said, the www.urbansurvival.com site should be stable for a while.  At least till we get a new hair up ()#$%^Y) and try to keep up with technology….

But to move UrbanSurvival and Peoplenomics with no down time to speak of…well, a libation may be in order.  ‘nog?

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“Two Turkeys” This Week!

There’s much to taste this morning as the headlines seem to indicate a slow cooking of the world’s goose prior to the long weekend, such as it is with storms and such.

For one thing, the Israelis are seriously pissed about the US going off and making what may be a massive mistake in allowing the Iranians to become a nuclear power because that is likely to set off a regional nuclear race.

While that may be grand for some of the US firms which could land big engineering and construction jobs in the future, it also makes the world a much more dangerous place to live since the more bombs there are, the more likely they are to be misused at some point.  And even minus warheads,  are we supposed to be dumb enough not to have noticed Fukushima.  Think Iran will be better plant operators?

While the NY Times is selling this under the headline of “Obama signals shift from military might to diplomacy” the other angle to it is to look up how well Lord Chamberlain would have done with an appeasement policy toward Hitler.

If the answer “Doesn’t seem to work too well…” doesn’t come to mind right away, a refresher on the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, or the  militarization of the Rhineland may help.

Every now and then, a President has to take a stand against countries that have become fixed on expansionist or megalomaniacal objectives.  Truman on Korean, Kennedy on Cuba.

Despite the abject failure of appeasement, which runs from the school yard bully all the way to the Middle East/present-day, not everyone sees the need to draw lines and take hard action.  And some, perhaps even members of congress, I would expect would be appalled at the presidential slack-handedness on Iran sanctions.

Give ‘em an inch and they’ll take what?

Hardly much mention of this, what in the heat of the PR campaign, but you did notice the Washington Institute pointed to what looks like an imperial presidency/rule by decree in their report “Sanctions Relief for Iran without Congressional Approval…”  I know…tisk, tisk…don’t let a little thing like the frigging LAW stand in the way of an agenda, right?

While it is true that former heads of Israeli security outfits (Shin Bet and Mossad) are hesitant to call for an outright attack, the deal with Iran might have included more checks and less opportunity for under the table development.

We’re left to wonder whether media was doing its job.

Our current president is presiding over a messy set of realities.  While Iran, essentially gets to skate with 7-loopholes, our Fearless Leader is busy orchestrating the roll-out of even more Draconian police state tools here at home, such as the FBI’s facial recognition system now set to go national.

And while “locking down America” continues, the long-running battle in Afghanistan to draw a line is ending with what looks like quick capitulation is coming.  So terrorists, those bent on world domination, and heroin poppy growers are a bigger threat than Americans?  I must have misplaced my fluoride treatments and ViceGrips.

Meanwhile, the inept LameStreamMedia haven’t figured out that in a country which already doesn’t have enough jobs, the LAST thing we need is wide open immigration to bring in even more people to take the government doll, which will require more taxes, while existing residents are left to fight over an ever-smaller piece of the pie. 

Fantastically, the Obama crew is still trying to perp this hoax over on the sheep, aided and abetted by media that won’t ask hard questions.  Here’s one: “Where’s the jobs gonna come from?”

Is there an appeasement policy with Mexico and the cartels we haven’t been told about, too? Is there a “right to squander” clause I missed?

Even if ALL of these facts escape you, there’s “Almost 80-million with employer health care plans who could have their coverage cancelled” reports Fox News.  We expect the liberalistas to attack Fox for reporting it, not the ugly facts of the healthcare roll-out disaster itself.

A CNN poll out this morning notes more democrats are fading into the sunset for 2014 thanks to healthcare, which is somehow not surprising.

But the good news – such as it is – is that Americans now live in a “two turkey” nation.  One’s in the oven.  And without prompting, let’s see who can figure out where the other one is, shall we?

Still In the Wings

A fresh round of U.,S, mortgage troubles is about to show up.

And while we’re making the gravy, how about a fresh impasse on the new federal budget, too?  There’s some momentary happy talk here, but we heard that wax and wane before the last shutdown, too, if you’ll recall.

More after this…

Let’s Blame the Shut Down (again)

If you’re on the edge of your seat for my pithy (or pissy?) remarks on Housing Starts, you can keep sitting rather uncomfortably because of this from Census:

The Census Bureau’s monthly New Residential Construction indicator includes statistics on building permits, housing starts and housing completions. On November 26 at 8:30 a.m., the Census Bureau will release estimates of housing units authorized by building permits in September and October.

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Coping: With Irregular Turkey

Elaine came home from grocery shopping with about a 10-pound bird Friday afternoon (late) and didn’t have room in the fridge.  We figured that since the temps in East Texas weren’t going to get above 40, things would be fine and we would likely make it to Tuesday before having the turkey thawed completely and ready for the oven.

Wrong.

By 10:30 Monday morning it was apparent that the turkey was going to get cooked right away since we both have read enough experiences of others to know that over-warmed turkey can be dangerous.  In it went. Oven bags are a blessing.

By 3PM it was done and by 4 we sat down to a marvelous meal of turkey, fresh from our own garden veggies which continue putting our squash and zucchinis, stuffing, Yukon Gold baked potatoes, and gravy.  A perfect Thanksgiving dinner except for the calendar which seemed slightly out of phase with the cuisine, but hell, right?

When I was a kid such off-schedule holidays were not unusual.  Firefighter families, like mine, and the kids of cops, docs, nurses, military – heck, there’s a long list of people – take it as a fact of life that Thanksgiving isn’t so much a precise moment like 3:47 PM on Thursday.  The truth is, it’s more like a date range last a week before until the Monday after – and within that – I’ve had friends over the years who have done turkey as early as 7 AM and as late as 2 AM. 

I made a note to ask Oilman2 to send it some snaps of Thanksgiving on an oil rig – there are all kinds of shifty people who will miss “usual time” for your convenience.

The fun part about “irregular turkey” is that I’ve already had a bowl of leftovers and the kitchen is clean.  Well, except for the deboning part, which will come as we make it through more leftovers and then move on to the various turkey dishes that use up whatever remains.

Ode to 13 Coins:  The SST Sandwich

All of which gets me to this point of this morning’s report:  The one best way to use up whatever is left in the way of turkey, based on a “sandwich” which used to be served by 13 Coins, a 24-hour restaurant in Seattle, cattywampus from the Seattle Times building, which serves as a kind of mecca for the broadcasters, writers, and theatrical types who made Seattle a happin’ place in the 1970’s and 80’s.  Still is, come to think of it.

‘Coins is still one of the top 5 late night food joints in the country and with good reason:  If you sit at the counter, you can watch the flaming cooking of your meal on the big gas stoves (and gas fired broiler ) of the sort most people can only dream of having at home.

It was here that the SST Sandwich was developed – at about the same time Boeing was building a mock-up of what might have been an American supersonic transport to complete with the Concorde. I always wondered if the selection of turkey as its main ingredient was so much a matter of taste or an aeronautical or economic assessment…

By far, the SST is the best use of turkey I’ve ever seen – and to my palate it is almost as good as fresh roasted turkey with all the fixin’s.  Maybe better, too, since if you can find precooked turkey in a deli, there’s little kitchen mess. Anyone can make good food in an unlimited kitchen with clean up staff.  When it’s me and/or Elaine and KitchenAid, it’s a different equation.

The inventor of the SST used a Béchamel sauce (white sauce) but for those of us who scored above average in the laziness department, I find a can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup works almost as well as is a lazy-man’s substitute.

Also, in the original SST, if memory serves, the toast points had the crust cut off, but again, this seemed like additional work that could be dispensed with.  I mention this to make sure you get the flavor of the original dish.

Buttering the toast points?  That’s up to you and your cardiologist.

Oh…and fresh Parmesan from the Pike Place Market is nice, too.  But over the years I’ve used everything from Kraft “sprinkle cheese” to hand shaved Parmesan and various mixes and I couldn’t tell much difference.

The Recipe (as I remember it)

You begin with a hot skillet.

Into this, you pour about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and fire (or electric hell) under it until just smoking a bit.

Then you add one cup (roughly) of freshly slice mushrooms. Shake, toss, and worry it a bit.

Sauté and flame a bit for show, too if you care and are cooking over gas, but not so much as to set the room afire.  If you’ve got a range hood, like Coins, a splash of whatever burns good with the oil, adds nicely to the flavor.  I suppose brandy would be a good choice, as I could never get white cooking wine can flame, at least on an electric range.

When the flames die down, (the alcohol burns off  if you use high heat on a range, too) you toss in a cup, or so, of turkey which has been sliced into 3/4-inch cubes.  This is all tossed around so the flavors get acquainted with one-another.  Flame again if using gas.

Next comes the Béchamel sauce, or – if doing this at home – about a can (11 oz) of Campbell’s cream of mushroom.

Reduce heat a simmer while you get:

* Toast points to cover a shallow baking/serving dish,

* Two or three strips (long and lean) of crispy bacon, and

*  A 1/3 cup (or so) of Parmesan (or you could use an Italian three-cheese mix with little difference) and you fire up your broiler.

With the toast points (2-2/12 slices of bread worth) on the bottom of the shallow baking dish, you pour the hot turkey/mushroom sauce (which should be reasonably thick and not runny or you’ve used too much sauce) over the toast points.

If you’re using two pieces of bacon, they are placed in an “X” or, if three pieces, as parallels with a 3/’4” inch between them.

Sprinkle with the cheese and pop it under the broiler long enough for the cheese to melt and just brown to crust-color in a few places.

Serve with 13-Coins fries and a glass of whatever suites you, but to me, this is one of those dishes that does exceptionally well with a white zin, or iced tea.  Here lately, I seem to be doing cranberry juice more, which works just fine, too and is better for the liver and the FAA.

A word bout the fries (and why a 13-Coins visit is usually on our Seattle agenda although we haven’t had time the past couple of visits):  the fries are to die for.

They use good potatoes, which is a given, but they are not those wimpy little things like the “arches” folks turn out.  Instead, a potato is whacked into coarse slices about the size of your thumb (bigger if you’re dainty).  About 3/4’s of an inch.  These are then deep-fried in the usual way (which takes longer because of their size).

But the real fun is they come with 13 of them, stacked up in Lincoln Logs-fashion and then sprinkled with salt. 

It’s a sacrilege to do so, but I do ask for ketchup and the staff doesn’t (usually) seem offended by this epicurean infringement.

No, I don’t get any spiffs or deals for my semi-annual review of the SST.  In fact, I don’t know if it’s even on the menu anymore.  It wasn’t there last time I went.  But the kitchen was able to make one but I don’t know if they still can.  (Reports welcome on this point.)

Weather at this time of the year in the Northwest is usually crappy:  Gray, cold, and rainy more often than not.  Which may have something to do with why Seattle has some really great places to eat.

Other cities do, as well, but even San Francisco (last time we were there) seems to have gone “touristy” and “institutional/commercial” even at Ghirardelli and the wharf last time through.  I keep thinking about going back to see if anything’s at good as the food at Bertolucci’s in South San Francisco.

The main thing about great restaurants is they were usually started (or perfected) by great restaurateurs.  Families who somehow got the balance between hospitality, beverage, taste, performance, and consistency.  For me, the Wards (13 Coins and el Gaucho back in the day), Rossellini’s, and Ivar Haglund (Ivars) were the names in Seattle.  Lemonsakis and Gasparetti, too…there were lots of good hangouts.

Every city has them…it just takes a little looking around to find them. Most people don’t focus on finding them…too much hurry, too little time, yada, yada.  But like investing in stocks, finding a great restaurateur’s prize is the GI tract equivalent of finding Apple or Microsoft stock before everyone else catches on..

Along the way, be sure and ask questions and steal cooking ideas you can bring home, too.  You never know when you’ll have some leftovers that can be turned into real treats.

Tuesday at the Wujo

Coincidence or wujo?  Where is that line?

George, this is not exactly wujo, but it is a kind of coincidence that has occurred often in my life.

A few days ago, for no particular reason, I bought some Neosporin cream with pain relief, and noted that it was recommended for burns.

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T’is the Season to be Rally

Trah-lah-lah-lah-lah…. lah lah lah lah….This ain’t hard to figure:  Gold is down, so the dollar is up, so the number of dollars to buy the market should be down, so the futures should be weak.

But wait!  The Dow is likely to pop up 60 and the NASDAQ and S&P also look like they’re set to gain a third of a percent, or better.  What gives?

Well, for one thing, we know the market is impacted by seasonality.  Out comes the eggnog and up go the markets.  Even more on point (for a while) is that oil prices were down almost a buck and a half a barrel on prospects for Middle East resolution of a few issues like Iran. You’re not supposed to notice the raw sewage in Gaza…which might have something to do with why people toss missiles about.  Ignore the bad!

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Coping: With the Winds of Noumenon

I’m not sure what set it off, but long-time readers will remember that I’ve had occasional dreams that have had what’s seemingly “prophetic content.” 

The last “biggie” I had was before the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, which I wrote up as having aspects of oil/petroleum industry, murder, file, and warehouse which was posted here some 18-hours before the events.  (I’d put it up, but I took down the old site…though if you’re studious, it’s likely in archives on the net somewhere.)

The dream overnight was weird because it involved Elaine and I planning to go somewhere over a holiday (which we are, so nothing special there) but it also involved an Elvis Presley type singer who was belting out…

In the Harriers

Down on the carriers

holding on the deck…

And – making this even stranger – was the presence of a female officer in charge who was making this decision and a sense that something was going very badly and it might somehow impact our flying plans (Elaine and me).  Oh, and where the carrier involved was seemed pretty warm. 

Is this strange, or what?

Needless to say, I’ve asked Grady to add the words “carrier” and “Harrier” to our www.nostracodeus.com  project that’s searching of the internet for rising and falling word use. 

Admittedly,  the odds of a female-in-charge  telling the Harriers on a carrier to remain on the flight deck leading to (some negative outcome) which ripples widely is an incredibly low probability, so ifs something comes of it, well…. 

And if not, it gets me to the other idea that came along with this little IMAX-like mental event:  The idea that as Earth goes hurtling around in space, we run into invisible clouds of thought or expression of how the Universe works.

So, for example, we could be transiting (the last 20,000 years, or so, plus or minus a weekend) through an area of space where people pick-up (sort of like tuning forks) certain kinds of behaviors.  “Resonance of humans.”

As such, you wouldn’t need to actually employ any of your (traditional) five senses.  Your other senses (there may be six, or more additional ones as science keeps finding out more capabilities feeding the mind inside the skin-bag) aren’t even needed to pick up on the Noumenon.  It just is…and we’re all “tuning forks” –like it or not – and it’s an interesting notion around holiday time.

How does this “striking of that which resonates humans work?  Wikipedia’s discussion of the Noumenon is worth a look:

The noumenon /?n?u?m?n?n/ is a posited object or event that is known (if at all) without the use of the senses.[1] The term is generally used in contrast with, or in relation to “phenomenon“, which refers to anything that appears to, or is an object of, the senses. In Ancient philosophy, the noumenal realm was equated with the world of ideas known to the philosophical mind, in contrast to the phenomenal realm, which was equated with the world of sensory reality, known to the uneducated mind.[2] Much of modern philosophy has generally been skeptical of the possibility of knowledge independent of the senses, and Immanuel Kant gave this point of view its classical version, saying that the noumenal world may exist, but it is completely unknowable to humans. In Kantian philosophy the unknowable noumenon is often linked to the unknowable “thing-in-itself” (Ding an sich, which could also be rendered as “thing-as-such” or “thing per se“), although how to characterize the nature of the relationship is a question yet open to some controversy.

Which is where, perhaps, George’s “tuning fork” was pointing this morning – to the idea that we all go through our own assemblage points (thanks, Castaneda) of whatever it is that makes up the sharp pointy of here and now which slides down the wave front of the Eternal Now.

Dreams (and thoughts throughout the day) likely have these little “tuning fork” moments and relationships are perhaps in one sense, just shared mutual tuning fork striking.

Suppose – the End of Worlders are right.  Noumenal world make it possible to simply transit to a different area of space-time where we don’t need to consciously go collectively nuts.  We’re just struck: and in an instant what will seem a mass madness arrives.  Cheery, huh?

End Times Note:  Watch February 22, 2014

A timely headline – which few but the Rune throwers may appreciate – is how we are at a time when a lot of the world’s religions are talking End Times.

While everyone has been standing-by for the return of Jesus, and Muslims are on the lookout for the arrival of the 12th  Imam. we find it a rather bothersome little nit to realize that as many of Nostradamus’ predictions would fit nicely in here too (e.g. Black King, etc) not to mention the fact that we now have yet another big marker coming 89-days from now:

Will the world end in 100 days? Sounding of ancient trumpet in York warns of Viking apocalypse on 22 February 2014

This is when the god Odin gets killed by Fenrir the wolf and things go very badly for humans.

Oh, pay particular attention to the big “noise-makers” due, as well. 

In Biblical texts, Revelations 8:6 says “Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them…”  And in this account linked above of the Norse legend, we are also told to expect some kind of big horn which will call the “sons of Odin” off to the final battle.

In Biblical accounts, Gabriel is the trumpeter but as Wikipedia notices: “In Islamic tradition, though not specified in the Qur’an, the trumpeter sounding the trump of doom[21] is not Gabriel, but Israfil.”

So one questions is whether Israfil has anything to do with the trumpet calling the sons of Odin, too?

There seem to be many points of agreement among major religions pointing to a terrible racket to come at the end of things, along with all their differences, as well.  But, when the points of agreement seem to herald similar kinds of things, it occurs to me to go shopping on the off chance that the noumenal world has given us signs and portents of what’s to come in phenomenal world.

In the interests of science, I’ve made a note this morning to call Bose and ask “Are ya’ll’s Bose® QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones End Times Certified?”

I’m not planning to depart in 2014…or many years there after, but in the meantime, when it comes to trumpet players, have you ever heard of Lee Morgan? 

Here…try some of Morgan’s “Sidewinder”  – it’s the kind of music I grew up with.  Along with tunes like Freddie Hubbard and Art Blakley (Jazz Messengers) doing Moanin’.  I gotta wonder if they can keep out this final trumpet stuff?

I’ll pass on the Big Trumpet for now.  Besides, anyone looking for Tribulations doesn’t need to look further than the alarm clock and calendar.  It’s Monday and pretty damn early.

That’s punishment enough.

Still, Time Flows Oddly (Wu)

I was asking last week if anyone else has noticed time flowing strangely.  Either getting incredible amounts of stuff done in “no time” or getting nothing done in large time blocks?  Reader “am” sees it:

I too have noticed a great variability in the subjective nature of time over the last few years. It has been more pronounced lately. I forget where, but I remember some philosopher opining that time was like water. Yes, it flows,( but more or less can flow down the river depending on the weather, snow melt, etc.)
Not sure what time weather is, but it has been a bit tempestuous of late.
Like regular water, you can surf it.

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Peoplenomics: A Gathering of Trends

Every year about this time, while most other people are out shopping for do-dad an thingamajigs to buy the affections of others, Ures truly starts looking at the “big picture” stuff in preparation for our Annual Forecast, which is unusually issued just after the turkey leftovers run out. This is become the accompanying tryptophan-induced mental snoozing is done by then and we can look a little more forward into the future. It’s at this time of year we decide what to do next in personal strategies. But enough foreplay…let’s have a few headlines to scrape some of the frost off the brain cells before going on “the deep end” of looking ahead.

Knock-Out Game: a Predictor or a Short?

Oh, sure, there will be plenty of sites this morning which will wax on about how a would be player of the game of “knock-out” was shot by a would-be victim who was packing a .40, but there could be something else going on here, something below the radar perhaps indicative of the potential for inter-generational warfare. Let’s back up: Kids on the east coast, who run in packs (ala wild dogs) have recently been pointing out people at random, and then knocking them out – while an assistant perp shoots vido and then posts it online at places like YouTube…and in the latest, the CBS affil in Philly points to three recent knock-out attacks. What concerns me is the inconvenient arrival of the attacks at a time of growing tension between various parts of the population.

Coping: Life on the Artillery Range

I’d like to begin this morning with a highly condensed version of the implicates of Global cooling which are stacking up all over the place. 

For one, we have to admit that when the Sun is down to the lowest output level in what, 200 years? Something may be up!

And, since there isn’t much to do on an oil rig in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico, Oilman2 has been counting the “Popov’s” (volcanoes) and his simple advice is what?  Bundle up and buy and overcoat because this winter could be a beast…

Etna   Sinabung   Merapi   Colima   Nishino-shima   Popocatepetl   Fuego

Not even counting the standard issue Pagan, Cleveland, Kilauea, Shiveluch, etc…

Just FYI old buddy.

Oilman2

Pappy didn’t raise no fool, and the pilot in me – the part of my personality that does weight and balance and performance deviations from aeronautical “standard days” – is extremely worried about the likely amount of snowfall this winter and the amount of flooding like to arrive in 2014 as a result of global cooling.

There’s some ugly math to be done about the amount of water that the atmosphere can hold at given temperature.

If you sniff around the net, you can come up with handy-dandy charts, like this one, from which you can look up the “hard physics” of what we’re looking at:  Air at 77F holds one-third more water than air at 68F.

Now close your eyes (unless you’re driving while reading this, lol) and image that the decades of high Sun output have raised temps X-degrees.

Apply double-sourced cooling:  The major increase in S02, not to mention the suspended particulates from the “popov’s” and the major decline in solar output.

Let’s then also appreciate that the mixing if the air masses will note be even and that while we’re in this window, we could experience more massive flooding, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the 1931 flooding in China which killed 3.7 million people.

I’m not saying the body count will be that high.  But, I will go out on a limb and note that the typhoon which just wrecked the Philippines made a decent start, and things are still recovering up in the Denver area.

The only question left is the matter of “Who’s next?” 

We had a little taste of unusual weather right here in the East Texas Outback overnight.  The forecasts resolutely predicted only a 60% chance of precipitation.

Instead, we’ve had massively heavy rains (driven by an Arctic cold front) which slammed temps from the mid 70’s yesterday to the low 40’s this morning.

The lightning which went along with the violent “vertical mixing” was – I kid you not – like trying to sleep on an artillery range during a live-fire drill. 

Wading through the soggy grass, out to the rain gauge, I discovered that what had been empty when I went to bed last night, and since the rain hadn’t started when I got up for some personal recycling around midnight, showed at 5:23 AM (with me standing out in the rain wondering how to turn the damn flash on) somewhere north of 2 1/2” which – in five hours – pencils out to a foot in 24-hours if the pace keeps up.

This has tremendous implications for America’s food supplies.

You’ll see that this week’s US Drought Monitor has changed from its usual (lots of brown) look to something with only patchy yellow and the whole area from mid-Texas east has been in “catch up” mode.

Plus, thing’s aren’t looking too bad (at least improving a bit) in most of the “square states”

I’d like to suggest one change, which I think might help people a lot in 2014:  Change the title of the Drought Monitor to “Precip Monitor” and toss in some green-to-blue hues.  Not only would it be appealing from a graphic arts standpoint, but I think it could be useful.

Mr. Ure’s “news nose knows news” and with all the dead people floating about, the idea of massive flooding ahead in 2014 just sort of came to me.  While we were trying to sleep through Life on the Artillery Range.

Friday at the Wujo – Pet Theory Edition: 

Self-Fueling Power Equipment

Heeee’s baaack!  Remember the guy (Warren, actually) who had that lawnmower that just wouldn’t run out of gas?  Well his “problem” has returned…

A few weeks ago, I shared the story about the unexpected efficiency of our lawn mower and line trimmer. (The gas tanks were full when I tried to fill them, when they should’ve been almost empty.) The most recent such event happened just a few days ago, when I mulched the downed leaves in my yard. The gas tank was low by a capful, when, according to the laws of conservation and energy, it should’ve been half empty.

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Producer Prices and Deflation Notes

I know people don’t like to think about it, but if yesterday’s incredibly tame Consumer Prices weren’t bad enough, even with the Retail Sales numbers (which were saved from total disaster by auto sales), this morning’s report on Producer Prices is further evidence that we’d skirting the edges right now of a deflationary disaster:

The Producer Price Index for finished goods declined 0.2 percent in October, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Prices for finished goods fell 0.1 percent in September and rose 0.3 percent in August. At the earlier stages of processing, prices received by producers of intermediate goods declined 0.4 percent, and the crude goods index decreased 0.9 percent. On an unadjusted basis, prices for finished goods advanced 0.3 percent for the 12 months ended October 2013.

Finished Goods deserve some discussion:

Finished goods In October, the 0.2-percent decrease in the finished goods index is attributable to prices for finished energy goods, which fell 1.5 percent. By contrast, the indexes for finished consumer foods and for finished goods less foods and energy moved up 0.8 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. Finished energy: Prices for finished energy goods moved down 1.5 percent in October, the first decline since a 2.5-percent drop in April 2013. Nearly all of the October decrease can be traced to the index for gasoline, which fell 3.8 percent. Lower prices for diesel fuel and residential natural gas also contributed to the decline in the index for finished energy goods.

The continuation of deflation means several things, not the least of which is people on Social Security will likely see little, or no, increase next year.  And, it also means that when the budget time out is over, we will be back in crap soup as both political parties seem more prone to have testosterone disease rather than deal with the fact that in a period of deflation, falling tax revenues might result, and that’s a very, very unhappy prospect to consider.

Still, the Happy Talk Choir down on Wall St.

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Coping: Thanksgiving For What?

It’s only a week now until we get down to the serious business of having the annual gout-encounter with the high-purine dinners that invariably spring from National Gluttony, Exploitation and Denial Day, but we’ve some not yet come to terms with the reality of next Thursday’s holiday.

Oh, sure, modern school curricula has associated the date with the Mayflower and pilgrims, trading with the Indians (one of the all-time screw jobs) and horns o’ plenty and yada yah.

But the reality is that Thanksgiving happened for the first time during the Civil War, 1863, and worse, it was a national religious holiday.  Yes, dear victim of wrongful education, the day was, per Wikipedia, the day that…

President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens”, to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.[1] As a federal and public holiday in the U.S., Thanksgiving is one of the major holidays of the year. Together with Christmas and New Year, Thanksgiving is a part of the broader holiday season.

As for the Pilgrims, oh sure, they broken bread with the Indians, but the Indians were given to feasting and partying at the drop of a hat.  And why not? 

They had no budget battles, no central government, they walked with a light environmental footprint, and seemed to be able to live in harmony with Nature, which was doing a fine job of supporting the 20-million, or so, that populated North America at the time the white dudes showed up with genocidal disease (small pox) and crooked land deals backed up with a gun.  Check in with George Custer in the afterlife on this point.

The Pilgrims, on the other hand, had plenty of reason to celebrate (all three days worth according to the Edward Winslow account).  They had a new scam in “proclaiming” property ownership, lots of cheap labor to help them out, and an unspoilt landscape to the west.  How does it get better for religious zealots running from a King?

National Gluttony & Exploitation Day is, to my way of reckoning, a far more honest label to hang on the event.  And – what the hell – I’ll even admit that we’ve gone the Pilgrims one-better in that we now extend the holiday by an additional day.

Whereas they were done in three days, we’re now done in four:  Gluttony/Exploitation Day, the attendant Black Friday, and then two days which I’ve dubbed “Credit Card Burn days; so named for the frenzied pace of credit card use.

I have to wonder why more people aren’t honest about the event.  Like Halloween’s victimization of witches (and their allegorical “flying” drug use ), American Denial is all-pervasive.  We haven’t evolved very far from the Salem Witch Trials:  Puritanical drug laws and then throwing people in jails to rot, instead of burning at a stake directly. That’sa some progress…but we’ve had to build a prison industry so that we can publicly trade in shares of misery.  Aren’t we clever?

As we sit around on NGED, consuming too much of everything, I wonder if anyone besides Ures truly will see the parallel between the original Thanksgiving period and the present blow-off top?  Or, what’s more, the parallel between the Salem Witch Trials and the current operation of the modem security state apparatchik?

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Peoplenomics: Straight Talk About the Future and Futuring

The title of this morning’s discussion is pretty straight forward – as we have a number of items to mull over as we continue plodding along our methodical path into a future which, to many, is terribly uncertain. But such high-powered thinking can’t be done on an empty stomach, so a few crumpets and coffees while we dash through a few headlines including retail and CPI, and then this morning’s chart pack before we get down to the serious business of making the “great bank-shots” of Life…those personal financial decisions which grow the nest egg. More for Subscribers ||| SUBSCRIBE NOW! ||| Subscriber Help Center If you’re not a subscriber, be sure to read this morning’s update at www.

Peeking Behind Some Headlines

As we assemble, once again, to watch the sun rise over the cuckoo’s nest (it’s clear in Washington DC this morning), we can’t help but be somewhat bored with the lack of substance to the day’s headlines.

Why, you’d think in a world full of terrorism, nuclear weapons, climate change, pandemics at every turn, not to mention Planet X, that something more than an unfortunately ‘routine’ bombing outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut killed 23, and there’s no winner yet in Mass Media’s current contest to see who can report the earliest date that the Obama administration knew their website wasn’t going to end happily.

Both stories, however, are worthy of some elucidation while we wait for markets to do more than noise trade pending data later this week.  We can start with the more pleasant of the two:

Fox snooze is leading the “early warning” pack at the moment, revealing HHS warned about the website issues in March, but please!

Are you and I the only humans left who understand the difference between “information” and data?  Data is just that – a fact or factoid – as opposed to information which has some actionable aspect to it.

Suppose for a moment that I could produce a document dates June 26, 1953 which warned that The Obamacare website is not going to work out of the box.  Fine.  So what?  Would there be any other way of seeing the present clusterf*ck revealed by the next earlier date?

Congress, in case you haven’t noticed, is sitting on its thumb (changing hands now and then) on most matters – and the odds of them doing anything other than buttering their own bread is (how to break this to you?) incredibly small.  Other than give you a reason to absorb 18-minutes per hour of commercial content, is there a point?  Ha ha ha!  Hardly .

Now this Iranian Embassy bombing deal?  That’s a different kettle of fish.  Let me ‘splain you, Lucy.

We know that the Israelis and Saudis were starting to work together in preparation for war with Iran, specifically to wipe out the Shi’ite’s chance of getting a nuclear weapon, while the Sunni/Saudis already have theirs and more on order from Pakistan.

A half-way reasonable guess is that the most militant Sunni groups (Wahabi/ al Queda sound familiar?) may have supplied the human material to pull off this morning’s suicide bombing, and thus, in the great chess game of camel countries, try to goad the Iranians into some kind of major attack or response which could be punishable by what?  Why, an attack on their nuke plants of course!

Hey! Since it’s Tuesday, let’s toss in the heavy water plant, too!

With our web-scanning software colleague Grady over at www.nostracodeus.com has put up this morning’s data and the hot word of this morning is “Israel” and the surrounding word mix has increased the “spicing” of the words “rapid” and “protocol” which seem to be a broad hint to be looking for more goads and tweaks (a “protocol”) designed to elicit a [“rapid”] repose at some knee-jerk level from the Iranians.

it’s always useful – when marketing a war – to have some marketing tools at hand.  So an expectation-setting this morning would be that we’re now into what might be considered the goad and tweak protocol looking for a marketable justification for what would otherwise be counter-sold as a vile first-strike.  Particularly vile if first-use of nukes is employed which then blows back on the Israelis and falls out on the Russian’s southern tier.

Key lesson:  Apparently, you don’t need to be a gringo to be an Infidel.  Although we’d suspected as much, that, of the morning’s headlines, may be as close to actionable, as we’ll get on the first cup of coffee.

So we’re back where we started yesterday, distinguishing our efforts here at thinking the unthinkable, while the mainstream media continues unthinking the thinkable.

More after this…

(which is also actionable, since the software is usually out before the first of December so you can start working on your taxes over the holidays which is really a nice add-on to a Yule log – a Yule owe, lol….)

Market Records and Obamacare Weighs

OK, it’s nine days early, but the turkey so far this week – playing the old game of “Close, but no cigar” – is the Dow which failed to hang on to a momentary spike over the 16,000 level yesterday.  And the gravy was the S&P which spikes briefly to 1,802.33 and failed to hold.

Looking at the headline this morning we are not totally surprised.

For one thing, the president “stuck his foot in it” by claiming that 100-MILLION Americans have enrolled in Obamacare.

If nothing else, this alone should scare the markets into retreat this morning because this guy’s handling of math might have some bearing on how he looks at the economy.  You think?

Another sector to watch in the coming week or three might be the prescription drug boyz since the epic fail of Obamacare signups “…May Shave 30% from US Drug Sales…” reports Gloomberg.  I’m pondering that as a possible short in my own account.

Oh, and another nightmare for the markets may be found in the “80 is the new 60 when it comes to retirement” story in the NY Post this morning.  Here’s why:  We are already in a collapsing jobs market, right? 

One of the traditional ways for young people to move up the corporate food chain has been for the “old flux” to retire.  So what follows is if the geezers don’t pack it in, the young pups becoming limited by the “gray ceiling” and guess what?  No family formation, big home sales fall and the Millenials who are New Minimalists anyway simply stack cash in safe places but not the market ‘cuz they’ve seen how that screw turns already.  That ought to scare the hell out of the street, but they are still wired direct into IRAs and pension funds, but there again, retirement plans are drying up among the working class…..

President Obama’s job approval rating is now down to a career low.  If his track record doesn’t start to improve, he’ll end up ‘stealing defeat from the jaws of victory.”

Now heap on top of that the report that US banks had to take extraordinary steps when the US default loomed a month and a half back and – in case you’ve forgotten – there was really nothing solved other than a ‘kick the can down the road’ and that road ends in January, so that would be the logical time for the markets to sober up about how F/U’ed the countries finances really are.

I made a note tomorrow morning to see if I could figure out where comet Ison is, since its passing could mark a kind of starters gun for things to really hit the fan.  Holiday cheer and joy may hold the markets up for a while longer, but this whole economy and our approach to it, needs a couple of months in rehab.  We have to wonder if that might not help some policymakers, too.

Actual Data

Enough opinionating!  How about some facts…like this on the Employment Cost Index just out:

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 0.4 percent, seasonally adjusted, for the 3-month period ending September 2013, following a 0.5 percent increase in June, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Wages and salaries (which make up about 70 percent of compensation costs) increased 0.3 percent in the September quarter, similar to the 0.4 percent increase for the previous period. Benefits (which make up the remaining 30 percent of compensation) increased 0.7 percent, compared to a 0.4 percent increase for the 3-month period ending in June. Civilian Workers

Compensation costs for civilian workers increased 1.9 percent for the 12-month period ending September 2013, unchanged from the 12-month period ending in September 2012. Wages and salaries increased 1.6 percent for the current 12-month period. In September 2012, the 12-month increase was 1.7 percent.

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Coping: Regulating Ourselves to Death: A Primer

It’s axiomatic “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help…”  How many times this has been passed around in “joke form” lies beyond count, but as Peoplenomics subscribers have been reading of late, Ures truly has been trying to write a book about how we really can turn America around and gain back some of the leadership roles we used to hold.

For now, however, as noted:

    • We have the most people in jail of any other large country in the world
    • We tolerate government lying to use in uncountable ways.  The most recent little “stretch” came in the report that the Census faked a jobs report which was touted in the last election.  Hats off to John Crudele of the NY Post for reporting what the rest of the press-sycophants, many of which land gov’t jobs, seem unable to bring themselves to reveal.
    • And, even when we do (occasionally) figure out we’ve been lied to (Mideast war premises make the case here) we just can’t seem to get up the gumption to a) reassert Congressional  authority for war-making and b) we can’t seem to impeach anyone, no matter how grave the moral missteps.

    This is just some of our national problem.  Other aspects (political  correctness disease, not to mention a gourmand’s appetite for the Free Lunch) also figure in to things.

    Then there are mornings like this one where a logical framework or design pattern jumps out at me, demanding to be given voice, so people can adjudge for themselves, the correctness of our mental framing constructs.

    Case #1 – Regulating Energy Scarcity

    I mentioned the other morning that Oilman2 if out on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico presently, where he’s trying to bring in a new well.  But he’s got a problem – common to all exploration types – trying to find “up and coming rock stars” in the oil industry…

    You remember me talking to you about the “missing generation” in the oilfield?

    Recap: The last downturn was in the mid 1980’s. Several colleges eliminated their Petroleum Engineering programs due to lack of enrollment. The tech bubble ate many prospective oilfield entrants in the early 1990’s. Our business did not really rebound until about 1997. The issue is that there are not enough experienced personnel. Drilling is not taught in college, engineering basics are. Drilling Engineers are made via on-the-job training as entry level apprentices….

    I am 56, last year of the boomer generation, The other supervisor is 61. The guy managing the rig is 63.

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