“Say what?”
Oh, just took my “clever writing” pill this morning and that means we will have a split personality report. Part of it will be deadly serious when the housing report comes out from Case/Shiller/S&P here, so do check back.
Meantime, most of the activity both in markets and on the net seems to be an exciting game of “Which straw will break the camel’s back?”
While “the camel” put on 22 points and was up another 33 when I looked earlier, it’s really the balance of the week that will tell the tale.
In a few minutes, we get the housing data, later this morning consumer confidence, then advance GDP tomorrow along with a Fed Rate decision. But the capper will be the unemployment rate on Friday and we’ll do our usual hatchet job on that Friday morning. So do put it on your calendars and bring some QuikClot…
Not for me, of course, but for the markets which could get hammered, depending on how much the caterwauling bond holders can whip up the fear-levels because of Argentina’s which, as of this morning, is a fine dance that’s still pending.
War Dimes
Yes, we could be disparaging “war crimes” in Israel’s invasion of Gaza, but it’s all about the usual suspects: Power and Money.
While Israel steps up attacks against Hamas, which has a habit of moving arms into schools and residential areas and then telling its residents they can’t flee when the obvious happens, the real problem for the Washington Cartel is what to do about it?
Washington’s caught in a terrible economic conundrum: Israel gets $3.1-billion of year of foreign aid, so you’re personal out of pocket contribution is only something like $10 per year per capita.
There are some folks on the net who get really worked up over this, yet I’d ask every one of them if they voted in the last primary and to show the check stubs for their contributions to campaigns offering an alternative.
Besides, Afghanistan was costing us $41+ per capita and we didn’t even get a cut of the illegal poppy crop cash. What’cha gonna do?
The problem is the whole Middle East is that our nation is the largest death merchant in the world with a 36.6% market share.
China, who’s our buddy-buddy pals since they buy our Treasury paper does 10.8% of the world arms exporting.
And Russia? Try 5%..
And our other buds, the Saudis, French, Germans, and Brits? Combined they account for 13/4% of world arms sales.
So this morning’s Reality Check is really pretty simple: The whole Western economic paradigm would collapse tomorrow if peace broke out.
The world cannot afford peace. There’s no money in peace.
And and abhorrent as it is to write this, you do realize that without proxy wars going on all over the world, the whole global economic system would collapse in a heap.
Consequently, instead of getting upset, instead of becoming a partisan, try to step back (one again to that off-planet view of things) and ask yourself: What’s the alternative?
(Partisanship is the HUGE business model: People get their blood pressure up, and while watching TV down at the Chinese buffet Monday, I was prompted no less than three times to “Send money to Israel…” You see? It’s about money! On the web, Palestinians are raising cash as fast as they can with another Turkish boat on the way…money…money…money!!!)
Without war? We have too many people, not enough jobs, and nowhere near enough resource.’
Sure, it’s a stupid dance, but when the whole global tribe is dancing, who’s really got the balls to stop the music?
No one, of course!
Of course, you already knew this, which is why you visit this economics website just to make sure you’re not crazy.
You’re not. World is. Sit on your wallet. If you don’t, you’re just putting money into war. If wars didn’t make money, would we still do them?
Or, would Glock be reportedly considering pink and blue guns?
Teargas to terrorism, death is the one growth industry we can still exploit. Once all of Central America moves here, of course.. The Washington Cartel knows a business model when it sees one.
More after this…
Call Me Suspicious, But…
I just find it terribly coincidental that a country with large oil resources, like Nigeria, comes down with Ebola virus.
The folks in Washington have been briefed and a hospital in country has been isolated.
But you know, with more than 220,000 a year dying of AIDS in Nigeria, and an infant mortality rate of (corrected when the coffee kicked inm decimal points are too hard to find at oh-dark-thirty) 7.4%, one could sure look at that part of the world as a kind of test-bed for resource-driven genocide.
I mean, if a person was oriented toward conspiratorial thinking, of that is. But it does get me to thinking about some Peoplenomics research on correlatives between resource, disposable incomes, and total mortality rates.
Whether the results would be coincidental or a business model? Well, we just run numbers around here.
China’s Playing the Trade Game
The headline says it all: “Microsoft faces anti-monopoly probe in china over Windows, Office.”
I may be a lone nutter out in the woods, but WTF? Hasn’t China heard about Linux, OpenOffice, Ubuntu Server? I mean what is it that they want? Other than to boink the West and hold us up for even more resources.
Am I the only guy who remembers what happened to those super computers the Clintonista cartel sold them?
Want to read a book that will make you want to puke? Try Deception: How Clinton Sold America Out to the Chinese Military.
And people think his wife would be a suitable encore? Is someone putting Sominex in America’s water supplies?
Equality is NOT Equal Anymore
Has a dandy email from my tax counsel/consigliere up in Columbus (OH) Monday advising me of the signs that are being posted around the old town part of the city…
“Posters appearing all over town … but alas it is a JOKE since no one has applied for a Permit for use of the park.
Getting lots of international publicity … and the usual suspects are up in arms (about something not really happening), which of course shows their Hypocrisy,
Enjoy!! lol(btw …. this is the same park where the “Gay Pride” festival is held as well as Comfest (celebrating counterculture types) though the Black Pride festival, Latino festival, and other ethnic festivals are held elsewhere (some right down the street)
Like my egalitarian compatriot, I have to admit to confusion: How can Blacks, Gays, Latinos, and whoever else have their festival and yet a Straight White Guy Festival would be racist?
Ah, but that’s how the language game is played on poor, drugged-down, hapless Americans. Racial pride is fine, so long as it’s not from a European background. You did catch that in the Constitution, didn’t you?
Realistically (are you sure?) we note that one of the realities of business models is that they institutionalize racism. Any performer who might have been invited to such a (in this case spoof) event would obviously be forced to assess long-term revenue impacts from headlining such an event.
And when that happens, racial differences become what they’ve always been: Economic exploitation decisions…but just dressed up in a new “do” and with lipstick for prime time.
(I’ve asked my consigliore to let me know if a permit gets pulled to actually hold the event. I might actually go…as a reporter, of course.
I want to interview both of them.