Updated: Monday February 23, 2004
"News with a twist of money..."
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Updated: Monday February 23, 2004 "News with a twist of money..."
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A Personal Note
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Weekends: we feature more in depth analysis for subscribers who pony up the modest $30/year subscription fee. This weekend, for example, we're tying together global warming, an unusually cold winter, and suggesting two specific investments almost anyone can make that should pay off bigger than any stock you're likely to pick. If you know what those might be, save the $30. Otherwise, click on over to http://urbansurvival.com/subscribe.htm and consider it!
Subscribers: This weekend, an interview with attorney Matt Savinar, founder of www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net
Today's update was late due to Sprint phone issues...
CPI Report: Energy Costs Going up at 81.7% rate!
OK, not to gloat too much...BUT the CPI report is out this morning, and when we do a little compounding work, here's what the compounded inflation in the cost of living will do this year - if January does nothing more than repeat itself. Ready?
First the shocker: Energy costs were up in January 4.7%. After compounding, this puts the cost of energy by next January up 81.68%.
Next shocker: Transportation costs were up 1.7% for the month. That's a 24.5% annualized rate
The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 0.6 percent in January, prior to seasonal adjustment. If you run this out with compounding, next January will be 8.1% higher than this January. Remember our 13% inflation prediction for this year? I'm starting to fell pretty good about it.
More horrors? Gasoline was up for the month 8.1%. If pulled out to an annual rate, that's a 275% increase. Plug that in to $1.80 gas and we could see gas prices by next January at hmmm... $4.95 a gallon gas? Do you see how the recession is about to resume?
The numbers are being diddled. From the press release: "Please note that the indexes for the post-2002 period are subject to revision. Previously published and revised data for 2002 and 2003 are shown on page 5."
You'll also see that in order to try and contain the huge swelling in the price of energy, the BLS is apparently no longer counting anything but regulated piped natural gas deliveries, because out here in the boonies of Texas we're paying $1.92 a gallon for propane and no, the feds don't want to even think about that price being cranked into the figures.
You can see the official version of the press release at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm and draw your own conclusions. But if I may, let me suggest several things.
If you work for a living, get your employer to agree to a CPI cost of living adjustment for the year. Whatever the CPI does, it seems the balance of risk is to be locked in to a low rate. The trick in getting your income to keep up with a cost of living that's about to spiral up is to have a CPI agreement.
If you're in business, the trick will be to lock in commercial real estate and other long term commitments at what are low rates. And, keep your collateral (advertising materials) vague about pricing and put the price list in as an addendum so it can be easily changed.
Real estate is probably past its low point now
Those Urban Survival gardens I've been preaching about to lower your food costs should be a real high priority for you...even if you live in an apartment, you'd be surprised how much food you can grow on a balcony.
Last, but certainly not least, here's a mailbag item that underscores how deadly right my 13% inflation forecast is:
"I work in the fire sprinkler industry and we just received notice that the 12% percent increase in the price of steel pipe we had been informed of will no longer suffice and that the real increase is going to be "30%". I believe the notice we got cited a large increase in Chinese demand, but I'll have to verify that."
See what I mean? Our 13% annual inflation rate is looking to be spot on. Want to know how I did it? Simple: Look at the debt to GDP ratio, figure how Argentina fell apart, and see how we are tracking. Close enough that 13% this year and a near Weimar 25% next year is probably right.
Scary Arnold
Armageddon Cuts - that's how Gov. Arnold is trying to sell a bond issues to the "We want something for nothing" voters in California. http://www.marinij.com/cda/article/print/0,1674,234%257E26642%257E1958379,00.html The problem Arnold has is simple and you don't need much education to figure it out: The voters of California, who have run up tremendous debts, don't want to pay for the services they get. Instead, as a state of many freeloaders and double-talking, triple-promising pols, not to mention massive numbers of illegals, the place is a disaster waiting to happen. Mark on your calendar: California rioting by July or August as cuts become real.
Troops to Haiti
Reports out of Washington hint the US may send a few troops to help the government of embattled Haiti, but nothing like what we'd send if oil was involved. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3504691.stm. Meantime, France is thinking about sending a peace force too.
Afghan Fight Brewing
headline out of al Jazeera that the Taliban are about to attack U.S. forces http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/1A747519-4231-49E3-97FD-55FA5AA1E7C2.htm The report is made more credible following the Debka report that the train explosion in Iran was headed for the Taliban...
Planet XVI?
Another new KBO by the sound of it, has been discovered far beyond Pluto (the planet, not the Disney character) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3506329.stm
Birthday
Yes, I am now officially a senior citizen. 55. Other: Yes, the shed (now finished) does have a concrete pad (6" thick) - just didn't show in the night shot below.
Thursday
Special Update
Debka Reports Iran Explosion Weapons Related
Here's an important update to the Iran train wreck. The Israeli-intelligence connected www.debka.com says its sources report that the huge Iran train wreck which leveled five villages and killed more than 300 was due to sabotage of a train headed toward the Taliban in Afghanistan. A couple of points here: If true, this could be a smoking gun if the administration seizes it as an excuse to take aim at Iran for "supporting America's enemies" although it's a harder pitch because there's no telling how deeply the administration has climbed the rack with the Taliban over things like controlling heroin out of Smackghanistan in return for pipeline right of ways...
Another interesting arms story: Israel sending nuclear capable missile boats to Mexico for use by their Navy - probably to defend oil platforms in the Gulf of Mexico: http://www.rense.com/general48/missle.htm.
Scientists Claim Bush Diddles Numbers
The prestigious Union of Concerned Scientists is reported today to have taken on the Bush Administration over their obvious skewing of statistics in order to further their political agenda. The whole story in the Globe and Mail: http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040218.wscie0218/BNStory/Front/ but not getting much air over America's "clear channels." CNN story just moved at http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/02/19/scientists.bush.ap/index.html
Some highlights:
"Russell Train, a Republican who served as EPA administrator under both Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, said that he never once felt any pressure from either of those presidents. But on Wednesday he told a conference call: "how times have changed.""
""To appoint people who have clear conflicts of interest, because of their association with the paint industry, to panels that have to make difficult judgments on the scientific basis for limiting the amount of lead that is available in the environment, you could in fact do harm to hundreds of thousands of young people."
The open letter from 60 leading scientists including 4 Nobel Prize winners has been dismissed by the Bushites. We shouldn't have to remind you of our analysis of various economic conjectures and wishes, see story below, but the real problem may well be mid-level. With enough mid-level zealots owing favors to industry, it's possible the people higher up including the CIC may not know they're being manipulated. Still, we're going to label this "science versus Bushence."
Earth Changes Coming?
My colleague Cliff noted something very curious in a conversation yesterday: ":Did you notice about the train derailment [which killed 309 so far, details of the investigation at http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8C148725-BEBF-4F26-B8C2-CEC795A1F1C5.htm ] that it was not caused by terrorism? Cliff went on to note that in the preceding 48-hours or so, two large cranes here in the U.S. toppled killing several. What do two falling cranes here and a killer train derailment there have in common?
Earth movement. According to the foreign language press, the train involved in yesterday's disaster was coming around a corner and the track simply parted by several inches, enough to force the derailment. In the case of the toppled cranes in the U.S., the same type of phenomena was reported - separated rails. "You know since the first of the year, there have been something like 31-train derailments?" That's sizeable. And, what it means is earth movements are happening on a scale that's apparently heretofore not occurred.
We noticed some settling of our house in Texas, which although it may have been fire-related, certainly causes us to consider the idea. In fact, it's all so hard to instrument at the individual level that I wasn't even going to mention it, until the web bots that are still running spied this article in Pravda and sent it our way: http://english.pravda.ru/accidents/21/97/385/11705_nature.html. "Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry predicts natural cataclysms in several Russians regions in the upcoming year. 2004 is promising an increase of various natural processes in such regions of the Russian Federation as Northern Osetiya, Dagestan and Buryatiya, states the report of long-term forecast for 2004."
We're not quite sure what to make of it, it's an interesting vortex in the midst of the run-of-the-news and perhaps worth watching.
Poll Results:
Bush has the Red states, while Kerry has the Blue according to the latest Zogby Poll:
http://www.zogby.com/features/features.dbm?ID=210
Manufacturer's Resource Wars - Japan Inks Iran Oil Deal
I think the headline pretty much says it all: Japan knows that the world is running out of oil double-time and so they're out signing up oil suppliers as fast as their bloated bankfuls of U.S. dollars will let them. Latest is $2-billion worth of Iranian oil: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EB569B11-FD6E-450F-BB76-EC38D43CB400.htm But that's just the beginning. Makes the invasion of Iran (* It'll be cute seeing what the excuse is...) more and more necessary, but perhaps a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia would be a good proxy: Lot's of oil - and a terrorism outbreak in the Kingdom would let the U.S. come in - "invited by the legal government" will be the sales job. You and I will know better, but at least it will hold a bit more water than the WMD hoax in Iraq.
Meantime a Putin aid says that Russia is losing its own War on Terror: http://interestalert.com/brand/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/02180000aaa00e5c.upi&Sys=siteia&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
In fact, I'll step out on a limb here: I will predict a major terrorist event in Saudi Arabian before the U.S. elections - and the first U.S. occupation troops going in to protect our oil & gas needs. How's that for a limb huh? Not that I wouldn't do the same thing, mind you. But, when the "event" happens, just don't be taken too far aback by it. It's part of the resource wars.
Speaking of the Middle East: Check out the rising number of U.S. soldier suicides: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A52735-2004Feb18?language=printer
$7 Trillion Debt
Sounds like a lot of money, but it's only the tip of the iceberg when compared to what's coming: http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/breaking/breakingnewsarticle.asp?feed=OBR&Date=20040218&ID=3408316 Ah, the joys of living in Weimar America, huh? Remember, I've made the prediction for subscribers some time back that we would see 13% inflation for the year 2004, and I see nothing to moderate that prediction. Especially when the gang that can't count straight in Washington is bidding for more time to figure out what has been a monthly report for years (story below).
Then, of course, we have the continuing unemployment issues. From the mail bag:
New claims are down.
255K workers drop off the back end of continuing claims....
Yet continuing claims up by far greater than new claims.....
Must be the new math....
And "dumb-as-sticks" financial media who haven't caught it....
Well, off to check on the contractors at the "big house" while I slap some siding on my # 2 storage shed:
Not bad for a kid with a table saw, huh?
Wednesday
BLS - More time to Cook?
I'm back at the ranch in Texas already - had a good interview with a prospective employer down in Baton Rouge, although the job would be elsewhere. On the way back here, I had plenty of time to cogitate and poke around the radio dial. The FCC's ownership laws have resulted in my being able to hear Rush Limbaugh at almost every place on the AM dial except for the religious stations. What a cruel hoax the FCC's ownership rules have become. I couldn't hear reasonable news or market info anywhere on the dial - and couldn't find a clear channel for a right thinking person to save my soul (which was the only other thing on.) But I had a lot of time to wile away the hours contemplating big questions of life: "How does BLS cook the books?" was one of the them.
Well, here's the answer: They're still working on it:
http://www.bls.gov/ppi/delaynotice.htm
DELAY OF RELEASE OF PRODUCER PRICE INDEX FOR JANUARY 2004
The release of the Producer Price Index (PPI) for January 2004 has been delayed from the originally scheduled date of February 19, 2004. The delay is caused by unexpected difficulties in the conversion of PPI data from the Standard Industrial Classification system to the North American Industry Classification System. The Bureau of Labor Statistics will announce a revised date for the release as soon as possible.
Here's what's gone wrong with the book-cooking: As we told subscribers to Inside Report in last week's report, the Import/Export prices showed that import prices were running well ahead of expectations. You may recall from our annual forecast, we predicted an annual inflation rate of something in the neighborhood of 13% this year, which would take everyone by surprise. Guess what? It's here. Now BLS is stuck with softening the news. The problem with the PPI is that it needs to dovetail with the other numbers downstream, or even the room temperature IQ financial media will say "Huh?"
So while I hustled to get home thinking I would be knee-deep in analysis for this weekend's subscriber update, I won't be. This notice is also a tip off on where the government's next round of cooking will be. Hedonics was the last one - which gave us, in part, those fictitious "productivity" gains which were really layoffs and jobs going to India... This time it will be in how SIC's are arranged. This little gem of a device will allow prices to "slip between categories" In other words, if the price of a commodity (like pipeline for moving oil & gas) goes up, a judgment call will be made as to whether it will show up as an "energy" cost, or if it will be lumped in somewhere else. The task - which is a daunting one - is to decide objectively first, what should fall into what PPI categories. The next step is to project how various "weightings" of items from one category to another will work out in order to best hide inflation, deflate the real costs of rising energy and all the rest. Of course, with no gun at anyone's head to make the conversion to the North American Industry Classification System, it would be far too simple to merely release the old numbers. Hell, especially if they could make a smooth transition including a couple of side-by-side comparison months so we could get a feel for the effects of the change.
But why do that? It's more fun cooking in the dark.
Gold Stompers
OK, the price of gold this morning is down a tad, but the real number to watch is the US WalBuck which touched under 0.7740 Euros today. That's the key number to watch because as goes the buck, in the opposite direction goes gold. Our earlier comments about Intervention Wars (Japan propping the dollar up, and Europe pushing it down) still hold as a likely - and almost comical - scenario. Buffoons at the helm, to be sure.
If you're a tax lawyer, here's an interesting theory: If a person bought gold at $250 and sold it at $400, but the price of gold in a foreign currency stayed the same, would there really be a gain? All gold would have done was preserve the purchasing power of a foreign good (like a Porsche, for example) denominated in the foreign currency.
It would be interesting to see if a case could be made that there's no gain if there's been no change in absolute value of an underlying investment, but just the effects of the government "watering down the money." I know, stick to economics and leave the tax lawyering to the pros... But if I get to the point of buying goods with my gold (some day) I reckon there won't be any gain - just deflation of the underlying item I buy.
Put differently, if a person buys an item for one ounce of gold - and the gold was purchased at $250 - who's to say the item was worth more than $250? Government can't enforce "spot" price equivalencies can they? I don't think so...
Mail Bag
Here are some current comments from our mail bag which are of interest:
George;
I was just rereading your last July web bot out put: http://www.urbansurvival.com/newbots.htm and thinking about the Wahabi entity in light of the recent British Alert of an imminent terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3494415.stm and then this article http://www.intellectualconservative.com/article3140.html on the Wahabi sect in Saudi.... The royals and the Wahabi in the bot run.... Just wondering... as the bot run says the attackers would wait until all was in place and not to rush the attack...
Yeah, as I mentioned earlier this week ("Gang War in the Oil Patch - below) the Saudi's are a lot like warring factions in Chicago during Prohibition. You've got the upstarts and you've got the establishment. The current Saudi Government is "establishment" from the Western perspective, and the militant Wahabi are something akin to the upstarts, with 9/11 being something like the Valentine's Day Massacre. It's a gang war over oil. Say, speaking of oil. You gotta check out this new site - and I will tell you why in a minute:
George,
You used to have a link called http://www.runningonempty.org .
Check out this new website at http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net
Very interesting well documented with questions and answers.
I hope you inform everyone.
Sure - you bet. Here's why this is so important. I was sitting in the bar having a couple of Bacardis while waiting for my daughter and her fiance to drop by for dinner in Baton Rouge and I end up chatting briefly with a fellow who is in sales for values - makes valves for the oil and gas business. I casually say "Wonder how many people realize the energy peak has passed..." and the fellow answers to the effect "Not many..." He then went on to explain how there's something like $90 million worth of new electricity generation capacity that is just sitting idle because of no gas to fire it. Also mentioned that HRGS has been going great - heat recovery generation systems...
Also in the Mail Bag - about our notes on the UN Slamming Patriot Act-like reactionary legislation:
Hi George
I'm anti UN, but it is nice to see them get something right for a change. It say alot about our main stream media that even the UN recognizes what's happened but they refuse to.
Keep up the good fight.
Putin's Putzin
Oh, poor Vlad. His big "We're still the Mighty Mother Russia" power flex of nuclear prowess went over about as well as saltpeter in a cat house: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/18/wrus18.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/02/18/ixworld.html. By the look of things, the Russians not only aren't ready for WW III, then may not be ready for WW II.
Dutch Slam Jobjackers
While our incumbent prez keeps his arms open to millions of illegals, and his global corporatist bankrollers keep sending what should be U.S. jobs overseas, it's refreshing to see the Dutch are kicking 26,000 would-be jobjackers out: (load slowly, needs Flash) http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/71536/1/.html I'm impressed.
Edwards Surprises
Interesting results in Wisconsin: http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040218/D80PHCK00.html Would Kerry-Edwards, Kerry-Dean, or Kerry-Clarke make it different? GWB will wrap himself up in some crisis and a "withdrawal" of troops for show - and will win. Remember that last year, we were the first media to call the Bush win and announce him as the projected winner. I don't necessarily like it, but I call's 'em like I sees 'em. I'm probably one of fewer than a dozen people who respects the Presidency but not necessarily the president. Misleading on WMD's and our thirst for oil is little different from Clinton's follies - and then there's his immigration stance which will further drive down wages.
Iran Train Wreck Fatals >200
A huge explosion from what is reported as a runaway train today in Iran: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8C148725-BEBF-4F26-B8C2-CEC795A1F1C5.htm Our question is simple: Accidental or deliberate? Test of tactics? Heaven forbid...
Tuesday
Mergers, Yes & No
As we predicted the Comcast bid for Disney has been properly judged "Mickey Mouse" and Eisner won't have it. Details at http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/040216/media_disney_5.html. On the other hand, in the wireless wars, we see Cingular/AT&T Wireless moving ahead at http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/040217/telecoms_attwireless_5.html.
Forbes Meets Jerry McGuire?
Check this out: Forbes is looking to license its name to pick up additional revenues: http://www.nypost.com/business/18090.htm An interesting move - and frankly a good way to bump up revenue. I'll be looking for a special Forbes calculator (won't handle negative numbers), the special edition Forbes Cadillac (just a Caddie, but it merges extremely well) and Forbes garden seeds - which would grow by 50% per quarter. Maybe a coffee cup, then?
Saddam - Two Years to Trial
Yup. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1149035,00.html for details. You need to have read the UN report slamming terror laws (below). All kinds of issues getting him to trial...starting with the country of trial.
Lacking Oil, Who Cares?
Harsh, but that's how we see the devolving troubles of Haiti. Now, France is suggesting the world do something about it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3494447.stm Our take continues to be that the Bush administration will stay clear of such entanglements without a measureable (marketable) outcome like oil or some other critical resource.
EO File
Environmental Oddities: Summer ain't what it's supposed to be in New Zealand this year. Major storm with 100+ MPH winds and much damage at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/3495617.stm. Elaine & I are still recovering from the once-in-30-years snow that hit our part of Texas last weekend.
Diabetes-Alzheimers Linked
Good article in Pravda this morning worth a read, especially if you have blood sugar issues and came remember...er...remember....ah... well go click: http://newsfromrussia.com/science/2004/02/17/52348.html
Bush & Kerry Kin
Yeah - not only are they frat bro's from Skull & Bones, but a couple of Hawaiian genealogists figure they're 16th cousins: http://starbulletin.com/2004/02/16/news/story3.html
On the road in Baton Rouge today - back to the ranch tomorrow morning...look for a huge Fed pump today as gold is bumping $415 in early trade, and remember any rally today (like 66 points or so) will just bring us back to Thursday's levels.
SPECIAL UPDATE
UN Slams Patriot Act (& its evil offspring...)
Here's a "wowzer" for you. A UN group today has lashed out at countries that arbitrarily pushed through "vague" anti-terrorism laws in the wake of 9/11 and other event - laws which in many cases ignore some basic human rights. To quote the quote: "States do not have the right to controvert principles as fundamental as the presumption of innocence ... and the right to be judged within a reasonable period of time by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal," the report read." Full details at: http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E37BDC93-8DE2-4551-9840-264A15AF1FFA.htm Let's see if this makes prime time in our "free" press here at home.
To us, the difference between a conservative and the administration's neo-cons is that us real conservatives are strict constitutionalists. There are no exceptions...
Meantime, the Tony Blair's war-hyping cronies are about to torpedo the 80-years of independence for the BBC! I mention this because I've mentioned before that quite paradoxically, al Jazeera has become as reliable a source for what's really going on in the world as the venerable BBC is falling under Balir's control. Now thanks to that Davide Kay story, following which a commission essentially blamed the BBC in part for Kay's "suicide" (that we're not convinced of) the BBC is - according to one British source - about to be dismantled into something vastly different than the reliable media standard it had long been. I call it "Gunboat democracy - you're either on the gunboat or you get tossed overboard. Details at http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1537&ncid=1537&e=3&u=/afp/20040215/wl_uk_afp/britain_politics_media_040215090138
Just because I'm out of town doesn't mean I'm out of touch... Fighting for our Constitution is a wonderful radical cause. The administration ought to try it some day. Maybe even starting with letting Congress declare wars, not guys with oil company execs all over the place in house.
*****
Intervention Wars?
While I would have written off the possibility are far-fetched foolishness as recently as a week or two back, when I look at how Europe is being threatened by Bank of Japan interventions, I can almost make the business case for the world's first-ever "Intervention War." It would go something like this: The European Central Bank allows the Euro to rise because it a) makes their currency more powerful and as a result b) the prices paid for oil from the Middle East (and other large-scale imports) effectively drop in price. Oh yes, the Euro also shoulders it way toward being the world's new reserve currency now that the whole financial world knows the U.S. is technically insolvent, but let's keep the musical chairs going as long as we can because the second major leg down of the worldwide Greater Depression will put even the 1930's to shame. You with me?
OK, now look at the position that Japan is in. If the U.S. dollar falls too far, it will bump up the price of Japanese cars in a major way, effectively killing Japan's biggest market. Lest you think I've completely lost my sense of economic perspective, go check the article at http://www.thisismoney.com/20040216/nm74365.html and I think you'll see the possibilities yourself.
Meantime, there are two other articles out of Asia that are interesting to watch. One is the word that bank rates may drop a bit in Korea, http://www.yonhapnews.net/Engnews/20040216/300600000020040216160920E3.html, while the other is a report on China's dream economy. How would you like to preside over a 10% annual growth rate and an unemployment rate of 1.43%? Read http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200402/16/eng20040216_134913.shtml. That's serious economic growth!
Gang War in the Oil Patch Update
"Oh my, what a troubled web we weave, economics to deceive..." So muttered my brother-in-law, Panama Bates the other day. Yet, it's more than a phrase down in the oil patch these days, where the gangland style of resource management looks more prevalent than ever. A few examples:
It's interesting to watch the factions in this great resource war work through their differences. Russia is behaving like an upstart New York crime family - cozying up to the well-established dons of OPEC, in true "love of convenience" Luciano-like fashion.
Of course, a few folks in law enforcement know that this really is a gangland war, and the attack on the World Trade Center was no doubt something akin to a hired "hit". So, the best of the blue in places like New York City are preparing for the next round of gangland fallout byt preparing for worst-case nuclear, chemical, or biological attacks: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/nyregion/15THRE.html?ei=5062&en=2834af4d42a5384a&ex=1077426000&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=print&position=
It's fascinating to watch the delicate dance being led by Kuwait at the moment. That country, which touched off the whole Iraq Gulf War One with its "Gang that couldn't drill straight" approach to oil rustling, is today trying to figure how to criticize Boss Tweed's company (Played by Oil Veep Dick and Halliburton) over price gouging charges. http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGA65ASEQQD.html It falls to Sheik Ahmed to play the role of "fixer." As every gangster student of the last Depression knows, customers talk - and Kuwait wouldn't have been so upset, had Turkey not gotten a sweeter deal.
I suppose IO could go on endlessly about how we're seeing gangsterism play out as the Greater Depression unfolds. Like Prohibition lost its appeal, so too the War on Drugs has lost its flashiness. And like prohibition's ending days, the big drug companies are replaying the role of the big liquor companies in how they have "better product". Recent talk that the FDA might take vitamins under its control shows just how callous the drug lords - the multinational pharmaceutical houses - really are. They're trying to set up a protection racket by stealing what people start with - their health - and then selling it back to them. But I suppose that outlaw vitamins movement is a whole other chapter about how Washington's crime families - lobbyists and their bought & paid for lackey politicos - are shredding the beloved Constitution.
Back on point, when you read stories that tie-in China to nuclear programs in "outlaw states" like Libya, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3491329.stm, recall that weapons of mass destruction are never used over personal issues (with the possible exception of the Bush family vendetta against Saddam Hussein). They are used for economic means. Thus to know when a weapon will be used, we need only look at the underlying economics and gauge correctly when use of a weapons will have the largest economic impact in favor of the gang pulling the trigger.
As Congressman Ron Paul has noted, there's a fine line between a Constitutional Republic and out of control corporate democracy. Which would all be fine, except as Paul recently noted, Congress has forgotten its job: http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2004/tst020904.htm .
On the Road
Off to a job interview in Baton Rouge this morning, so tomorrow morning's update may be abbreviated. If you're a ham radio operator, I figure to be chatting for about 5-hours of the drive. Look for me around 14.250 MHz, USB, +/- QRM - AC7x is the call sign. Also will be on the air from about 7 AM Wednesday till I get back...
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All contents (c) 1998-2003 by George A. Ure, MBA, except authors as linked or noted
