Left Vs. Right....

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replied, “I cannot accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.” The florist was pleased and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open his shop, there was a thank you card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door. Later, a cop came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again repeated what he'd said to the florist. The next morning when the barber went to open up there was a thank you card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Later, a Republican came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber repeated to him what he'd said to the florist and the cop. The next morning when the barber went to open, there was a thank you card and a dozen different books, such as “How to Improve Your Business” and “Becoming More Successful.”

Then a Democrat came in for a haircut and when he went to pay his bill, the barber repeated to him what he'd told the florist, the cop and the Republican. The Democrat was very happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Democrats lined up waiting for a free haircut.

And that my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the Left and Right.

Tamar....

I have been meaning to write about this for many many months and have finally decided to do so.

The Hong Kong government is planing to build a gigantic edifice on a Hong Kong waterfront site called Tamar intending to house their governments offices there. This has become a controversial project since the land is prime real estate, maybe better suited to more public space uses and the grossly overpaid civil servants that this complex is intended to house are remarkably unpopular in this city.

The problem with being a city-state is that the government forgets the city and concentrates on being a state. The current Tamar debate is a perfect example of this selective amnesia.

At the moment, Tamar sits as the most expensive piece of concrete in the world.

Many think that this is too much and not appropriate use of the land.

Simply, however, Tamar is the landfill created for the Prince of Wales barracks that replaced the HMS Tamar supply and troop ship that was used as the British base for years and what the shore space was named after...



This land is worth lots of money due to development potential but is also beautifully located for public space. But more interesting to me is that the name Tamar has interesting biblical roots. In Genesis 38, Judah sells his brother into slavery and arranges for his son Er to marry Tamar. Er died and was married to Onan who refused to impregnate her. He died too, apparently God wasn't too pleased with these two and struck them dead. So as was custom, Judah promises his youngest son, Shelah to her when he comes of age but Judah reneged on the promise. Tamar just didn't want to wait any longer, so she dressed up as a prostitute and attracted Judah to her and he impregnated her with 2 sons.

Some nasty story. All kinds of stuff going on here, slavery, death, prostitution, trickery and incestuous relationships, bleech. Messed up family life it was. Messed up government relationship with the people here too.

The other interesting biblical story is that of Tamar (a different one), Amnon and Absalom, the future king of Israel. This nasty story, in 2 Samuel 13, Absalom, the 3rd son of King David, regarded as the most beautiful man in the kingdom ended up killing his step brother Amnon in revenge. He loved his sister Tamar but David's second son, Absalom's step-brother, Amnon, was sexually obsessed with Tamar. He feigned illness and requested a visit by Tamar from his father King David. When she came to feed him, he asked her to join him, but she refused since to be defiled meant to destroy her life. His desire consumed him and he raped Tamar. Afterwards, he hated her since she requested that they marry but she was now tainted goods and therefore undesirable to him.

In the above story there were at least seven evils which took place:

Amnon succumbed to lust.
Amnon lied to his father David.
Amnon practiced deception.
Amnon committed an act of rape.
Amnon committed an act of incest, a crime punishable by death.
Amnon having taken away Tamar's virginity refused to take her as his wife.

These 2 stories illustrate the screwed up relationships in families as they existed thousands of years ago in the Middle East. These stories also remind me of the convoluted arguments that government officials have been using in an attempt to sway public opinion to their narrow aims. Government officials against their own family members here, lust and desire to build a monument and edifice to themselves at Tamar. They have practiced deception to try to move public opinion towards this plan. They are taking property that does not truly belong to them but to the people here for their own obsessive desires. They are trying to ignore the public's needs and desires in order to fulfill their own narrow aims.

Although these stories do not parallel the Tamar building site fiasco, the taint of the Tamar name and the human element of consuming desire and deception are very prominent in this case.

Eating Muhammad...

Rock, Paper, Scizzors...

The Marines....

Funny British Humour....

A Message from John Cleese - British comedian:

To the citizens of the United States of America:

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

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2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour', 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise'.

Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

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3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell- checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.

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4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

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5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent.

Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

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6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

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7. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

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8. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline)-roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.

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9. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

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10. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting Nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

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11. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

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12. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don't try Rugby - the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.

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13. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

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14. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

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15. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

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16. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.


God save the Queen.

Harkening Bank To The Innocent 90's....

Bill Gates Should Stick To Computers....

What is the better path to prosperity? Economic freedom or some other system?

Taking hallucinogenic drugs in the World Economic forum in Davos, Bill Gates has opened his $35 billion mouth and let slip out some astonishing stupidity...

Mr. Gates says he’s grown impatient with the shortcomings of capitalism. He thinks it’s failing much of the world, and he’s slated to say as much in a speech later today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

So lets just look at our neighbor China. During their communist/socialist days, they were not burning up the world with their innovations but where constantly fighting starvation and mired in desperate poverty. As this sad state of economic affairs transformed from state decision making towards more freedom for human and monetary capital, 100's of millions were lifted out of poverty and there has developed a middle-class.

So how has capitalism failed them? It hasn't. What has happened, is that there are no longer singular decision makers in china but millions that make judgements and in aggregate that allows capital and labor find its most productive and highest return uses. Lets be clear, things in China are still far from ideal, but they have unshackled the people to make the best of their lives and create a better world for their children and families. The unresolved shortcomings in China still revolve around self-interested government officials and their desire to do what is best for them and not necessarily the people that they supposedly represent.

If one looks at other failures, like most African countries, its not the economic system that has failed, but the political system and its inability to support a vibrant capitalistic system that frees up human and monetary capital to its most productive uses. Furthermore, evidence to the contrary can be found in failed economic states such as Cuba, the declining Venezuela and teetering Iran.

It is important to keep in mind, that sports stars that may be good at playing with a ball, may not be the most intelligent commenters on physics. The same holds true with billionaires, that have been lucky enough to create something that the world holds valuable but may not have realized the complicated market forces that made the product so valuable. also, keep in mind the many many people like him that worked hard, with vision and diligence that didn't make it. As important to his success, is the failure of others, where we learn valuable lessons and provide the competition to the successful ones to improve and make their offering better.

Why Does Swiftboating Work?

As I have written about here, Swiftboating has proven to be an effective campaign tactic. But my question is, why does this differ from being called a smear? Probably because a smear is a dishonest attack on an opponent and a Swiftboating has embedded in it, not falsities but truths. Recent smearings of Clinton opponent Barak Obama do not rise to the level of Swiftboating.

More Japanerse Head Tricks...

Japanese Sneeze Prank....

Don't Be Fooled....

The Heng Send index fell by 13.7% on Friday and Monday. Its only up 5% or so at mid-day today (Wednesday) but percentages for large moves like this can be misleading. Assume that a index or stock trades at 100 and it falls by 13.7%. Its price is now 86.3. Assume that the price then rises by 13.7% and you will see that the stock or index has not recovered all of its losses:

86.3*1.137= 98.123

So, as you can see, despite falling 13.7% and subsequently rising by the same percentage, the position has still lost 2% of its value!

Turmoil In The Stock Markets....

With all of the turmoil and uncertainty about the stock market, here six good quotes from Warren Buffet that should clear the road to healthier investment life:

1. The future is never clear, and you pay a very high price in the stock market for a cheery consensus. Uncertainty is the friend of the buyer of long-term values.

2. The most common cause of low prices is pessimism - sometimes pervasive, some times specific to a company or industry. We want to do business in such an environment, not because we like pessimism but because we like the prices it produces. It's optimism that is the enemy of the rational buyer.

3. Most people get interested in stocks when everyone else is. The time to get interested is when no one else is. You can't buy what is popular and do well.

4. Investors should remember that excitement and expenses are their enemies. And if they insist on trying to time their participation in equities, they should try to be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.

5. The stock market is designed to transfer money from the active to the patient.

6. If you don't feel comfortable owning something for 10 years, then don't own it for 10 minutes.

Markets that are ebullient are rarely a good long-term investment. This holds true for Hong Kong stocks and its perennially over-priced real-estate market.

Caveat Emptor, Moral Hazards And A long Diatribe On The Function Of Government In Transctions....

Caveat Emptor was the principle that the buyer of a piece of property is responsible for determining the fitfullness for use or habitation of that property. But it does not mean that the seller can try to 'hide' problems and not be responsible for conveying the property that has unknown defects that were purposefully hidden or unrevealed in the normal buyer review process. The principle of Caveat Emptor, was used in an 1817 Supreme Court decision in the US but has been largely replaced by the Implied Warranty of Fitness.

The value to Caveat Emptor is to compel the buyer to take a great care when entering into a contract, agreement or purchase. If in fact, Caveat Emptor was not supported, then buyers could seek to revise these after the fact through courts or coercion and this would impede the ability to enter into these contracts.

Implied Warranty of Fitness, creates the responsibility of the seller to the value of property being conveyed is useful of fit for the purpose that it is being conveyed for and that this implied warranty does not have to be supported by verbal or contractual commitments. In other words, if one goes out and purchases a bicycle, then one expects that when one hops on it, that it doesn't fall apart and actually works.

So, there is plenty of case law and one can expect that given both sellers and buyers meet their obligations, that transactions should be consummated and the aftermath enjoyed by both parties.

Moral Hazard is the prospect that a party insulated from risk may behave differently from the way it would behave if it were fully exposed to the risk. This assumes that the costs of loss are borne by another party that may not have perfect information or may not be a witting participant in a transaction. An unwitting participant in a transaction, where warranty of performance is implied in transactions, are prevalent when governments intervene in protecting participants from losses.

For example, if a government intervenes, when markets fall, and socialize the cost of these falls, then markets have a tendency to behave by accepting more risk or volatility since some of the downside of losses is born by a third party. Banks are a great example for potential moral hazards since they are regulated by governments but are still subject to losses in time of stress. If governments always intervene to protect these institutions from losses, they will continue to behave with a riskier profile than if they had to bear the full brunt of the losses.

So therefore, if in the course of a normal transaction one still has all of the upside but some of the downside is borne by the third-party in the form of a government, then the expected return of this transaction increases. If the government was not expected to intervene, then the over the course of all the potential outcomes, heavier losses could be expected therefore lowering the expected return.

So, if one rewards certain behaviors, then one can expect more of it. So by governments protecting the downside of certain commercial transactions, they increase the chances of these things happening since market participants will be compelled to take the course that provides them with the highest potential return.

These moral hazards reach beyond just commercial transactions but also all kinds of behaviors. If one expects the government to step in during retirement years and provide cash and medical care, then there is less incentive to save today for the risk down the road that one does not have enough money in old age. If a government provides a portfolio of social services, then there is little compelling reason for a member of a community to compete by providing alternate assistance when it is already expected from the third party. This has destroyed the sense of community and self reliance and responsibility that was prevalent in the US for most of its history. Why not live as profligate as one can today and not worry about tomorrow since one expects that there needs will be taken care of tomorrow if they need it. And there is no reason to invest in community since one is no longer relying on community but on a faceless 3rd party.

So, why all the stuff before on Caveat Emptor and moral hazards? Because the US is entering a period of time where people and businesses are going to rely upon the socializing of risk. Let deal with each of these one-by-one:

1. The sub-prime mortgage and associated problems: Some people purchased houses that they could not afford to buy. But they did it anyway. Some people provided financing to these people that will prove to be a loss making transaction but they did it anyway. Additionally, prices of homes rose much higher, in general, then is actually affordable by the population of people living there and prices are dutifully declining so that people who could not afford before, now can afford to buy a home at a more reasonable price. This is how markets work. the price of an asset finds its equilibrium level. Now, if the government intervenes to support the buyers of these houses with subsidies, we are rewarding risky behavior. This kind of risky behavior is being encouraged and there will be further incidents of this kind of risky behaviors in the future. If the government support homeowners by coercing banks to subsidize these borrowers, this will mean that the banks will have less funds to lend to other customers. So they will tie up their funds in the bad lending instead of making new lending to good customers. Does not seem like a very smart thing to do.

2. Fiscal Stimulus: This is always the stupidest thing to do. Governments have very very little control over the ability to stimulate an economy even in the short-term. This is pure form over substance. I saw George bush and Nancy Pelosi sitting there with their smiles saying we are doing something for you. The thing that they are doing is like taking buckets of water out of the deep end of a pool pouring them in the shallow end and expecting the level of the shallow end of the pool to rise. It won't happen. The economy will rebound with-or-without fiscal stimulus. All that will be created is a set of winners, those getting the fiscal stimulus benefit vs. the losers, those that pay for it or have their capacity to benefit from a normal market economy reduced. In order for the government to give funds to certain individuals, funds will be borrowed to give them the money. This reduces the amount of money available to lend to other people that the market determines to worthy as customers. These people will be denied funds for their interests and will be the losers.

3. Monetary Easing: The central bank, The Federal Reserve, has the responsibility to manage the money supply in the US so that there are enough funds so that normal commerce can be conducted but not so much that there is excess money floating around causing inflation. We saw that when the Fed lowered interest rates to only 1% and kept them there, that the economy expanded and created price pressures in the housing market. However, the role of the Fed is not to support asset prices but to maintain stable prices and adequate supply of money. The risk that the Fed takes in lowering of the funds rate by 3/4% last night is to create moral hazards where asset deflation is averted through Fed action. Maybe asset values should go lower so that new buyers enter the market and take the benefit. The owners of stocks and other financial assets are not owed anything from the Fed and need to consider all the risks and not expect the Fed to support prices over the short-term at the risk of potential inflation later on.

4. Tax Policy: Not withstanding the infantile class-warfare argument by the Democrats on tax policy, taxes in the US are on balance fairly good. Most working people in the US have very little tax liability other than their wasted contributions into the social security and medicare systems. Working people, therefore largely consume all of their income and unlike people I have observed here in Asia, do not feel compelled to save for retirement or healthcare instead of consume immediately. This is not ideal since these people should also be paying for their government and it leads to shortfalls in capital formation and forces Americans to borrow from overseas. High income people, on the other hand, pay a disproportionate share of income taxes in a heavily progressive income tax code. Taxes on capital, though, in the US are too high, particularly compared with other countries. Corporate taxes in the US are among the highest in the world, forcing companies to move offshore and discouraging companies that may want to relocate here to go elsewhere. Tax policy in the US should encourage savings and investment over consumption and that is exactly what the Bush tax cuts sought to achieve. It did not go as far as it could have but was a step in the right direction. These taxes that are set to expire in 2010 have to be made permanent. Permanent cuts in taxes are a much more powerful tool to stimulate long-term investment than temporary cuts that stimulate consumption. Capital formation and saving should be rewarded not penalized since we do not create enough of it internally. Consumption is what should be penalized since we get more of it than is supported by the nation's income as indicated by the large current account deficit. Its actually quite simple. Save more and consume less. And that is what is going on right now. Its a natural market reaction to reality.

I am sure that i will write alot more on this in the very near future.

Ms. Dewey.....

Maybe Miss Dewey can help you with anything that you need.

Testicles Face Snip.....

A controversial Virginia lawmaker is trying to introduce new legislation to ban rubber testicles from being fitted to the back of trucks. Lionel Spruill, known for his failed attempt in 2005 to ban baggy pants, says the motivation for his latest idea came from a constituent.

The man complained that he had been left speechless when his six-year-old daughter spotted a pair and asked him what they were. Mr Spruill agreed to act: "I said, 'Sir, I'm going to be the laughing stock, but I'm going to do it'," he told the Virginian-Pilot. Truck drivers who sport fake testicles on the back of their vehicles would risk a $250 fine under his proposal.

"They're offensive to some folks," said Mr Spruill, a Chesapeake Democrat. "It's OK to express yourself, but citizens have the right not to be subjected to something vulgar." Spruill said he became concerned when he learned that the truck accessories had got larger as their popularity had increased.

"How big are they going to go?" he said. "When will it stop?"

But John Saller, owner of bullsballs.com, laughed off Mr Spruill's campaign. He said he sold several hundred thousand last year, ranging in size from two-and-a-half to 10 inches. "It's a novelty. It's funny. It doesn't have anything to do with being macho," he insisted

What Concerns You The Most?

A recent poll of investment advisers asked what concerns them the most these days? If you think that these are the greatest concerns..... global unrest, U.S. economic growth, a terrorist attack and a recession.... Then you would be wrong. The biggest concern by these individuals issssss.......

"Democrat in the White House"

Increasing taxes, particularly on dividends and capital gains, lowers the returns on capital and will cause general declines in the price of investment assets in the US.

And who is the worst? And the best?

a poll that Brinker conducted last summer in which 60% of advisers said that Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., would be the worst choice in terms of the economy and investing.

On the flip side of that poll, 36% of advisers said they thought that Republican presidential candidate Rudolph W. Giuliani would have the most positive effect on the U.S. economy and investing.

No surprise the Hillary would be a disaster for investors. Maybe that is why stock prices are falling now, since the uncertainty surrounding tax policy will cause people to reduce risk on the margin until prices decline to where the risk.reward trade off is less unfavorable.

From The "I Hate Men" Website....

Here’s 30 harsh things a woman can say to a naked man.

1. I’ve smoked fatter joints than that.
2. Ahhhh, it’s cute.
3. Why don’t we just cuddle?
4. You know they have surgery to fix that.
5. Make it dance.
6. Can I paint a smiley face on it?
7. Wow, and your feet are so big.
8. It’s okay, we’ll work around it.
9. Will it squeak if I squeeze it?
10. Oh no… I just got a flash headache.
11. (Giggling and pointing)
12. Can I be honest with you?
13. How sweet, you brought incense.
14. This explains your car.
15. Maybe if we water it, it’ll grow.
16. Why is God punishing me?
17. At least this won’t take long.
18. I never saw one like that before.
19. But it still works, right?
20. It looks so unused.
21. Maybe it looks better in natural light.
22. Why don’t we skip right to the cigarettes?
23. Are you cold?
24. If you get me real drunk first.
25. Is that an optical illusion?
26. What is that?
27. It’s a good thing you have so many other talents.
28. Does it come with an air pump?
29. So this is why you’re supposed to judge people on personality.
30. I guess this makes me the early bird.

Just Found This One Today....

You probably are familiar with Wikipedia and use it regularly, but I just found this one...

Welcome to Uncyclopedia,
the content-free encyclopedia that anyone can edit
23,094 articles in English

One can find a plethora of high quality articles available for research or just general interest learning....

Alien vs. Predator
From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia.
Jump to: navigation, search

The Predator legal team was second to none.Alien v. Predator, 666 U.S. 1337 (2004) was a landmark Supreme Court case on abortion rights. The court ruled, in par with federal law's precedence over state law, that abortion for Xenomorph Queens was a right that conditionally adhered to the right of privacy as granted by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Alien v. Predator decision prompted national debate that continues to this day over whether and to what extent abortion should be illegal, who should decide whether or not abortion is illegal, what methods the Supreme Court should use in constitutional adjudication, and what rights (if any) parasitoid extraterrestrial species have by the Constitution.

Hillary Dies....

That is New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary, famous for being the first person to scale the heights of Mount Everest and live to tell about it passed on.

The famous ascent in 1953 and Hillary's recent death leads to my descent now into Hillary bashing. That is Clinton not Sir Edmund. Hillary Clinton claimed that see was named after Sir Edmund....

For years, Hillary Clinton was going around claiming that she was named after the first person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary. This has been reported as "fact" as late as a week ago in the New York Times

Well, actually it was family legend since Hillary wasn't really named after Hillary since Hillary's 1947 arrival preceded Hillary's 1953 ascent by around 6 years. But lets not let facts get in the way of an all too important fantasy....

For more than a decade, Sen. Clinton's informal biography repeated the story, and it was recounted in former President Bill Clinton's 2004 autobiography, "My Life."

So the story has been oft repeated? Its OK, its just a simple lie....

What's the explanation? You can almost smell the apple pie cooling on the window sill of the asylum as Hillary's spokeswoman explains:

"It was a sweet family story her mother shared to inspire greatness in her daughter, to great results I might add."

Good Lord, even her parents were liars. Nah, what's even more pathetic is that Hillary gets caught doing what she does best and then blames her parents for lying to her. She'll stop at nothing. If this explanation doesn't work it'll be the Pope's fault, then Bullwinkle, then the boogie man, then brother Hugh

Sorry Mama Rodham is a uncontrollable liar too. Like mother like daughter. Like husband, Bill too. Its actually so very very sad. Why are these people even close to being the first family of the United States instead of back in Arkansas selling used cars? Actually, I know whose fault it really is, its Barak Obama. Queen Hillary and the fantasy surrounding this Queen of Hearts, up is down, down is up. Depends upon what 'is' is. The vast right wing conspiracy. My Lord what are we doing with these people?

Clinton's Great Conspiracy.....

The wine and cheese crowd are supporting Obama whereas beer swilling white trash support Clinton. I think that I should switch to Jack Daniels.

But conspiracy oriented Democrats are angry that exit polling showed Obama ahead in New Hampshire and Clinton actually won the vote. Its amazing that anyone actually pays attention to this crap anyway. But New Yorkers being angry about this 'conspiracy' is quite entertaining. But its no surprise that wine sipping yuppies are all upset about the Clinton gains against the empty-headed pretty boy Obama. I find New Yorkers politically the most vacuous and idiotic people on the planet. The only sensible electoral move I have seen from these hyper-partisan hard-left liberals was the election of Rudy Giuliani as a replacement to the awful one-term mayor, David Dinkins.

The Horrors Of Inflation....

Is this inflation or just marketing?

First, what is inflation?

Inflation is defined as the increase in the price of some set of goods and services in a given economy over a period of time. It is measured as the percentage rate of change of a price index.

Mainstream economists overwhelmingly agree that high rates of inflation are caused by high rates of growth of the money supply.

What happens to an economy is when the supply of money grows faster than the amount of goods available, causing prices generally rise. This is a hard fact of economics and has been observed and measured even in ancient times such as Rome when emperors debased their currency by creating money by fiat to try to pay off debts greater than the taxes that they could collect.

So, what about inflation in Hong Kong? There are many instances of price increases, from food to housing.

However, one insidious inflation is one that promises to destroy the fabric of civil society here. My wife and her friends went to a store that specializes in underwear, observed and dutifully reported back to me that inflation has taken hold in bra sizes. Her friends, that are B cups, were now C cups in this new inflated world, and they quickly snapped up several examples of the inflated bras at the steep prices that this shop offers. What geniuses. Inflate the sizes and women fall over themselves to buy these new increased sizes!

China's Information Age...

It seems such as waste to try to control what people chat about on the Internet. 30-50,000 people do this? Or maybe its just the threat that they are doing this that keeps the pliant individuals in China in check.

Post Mortem Blog Posting....

Major Andrew Olmsted, who posted a blog since May 2007, was killed in Iraq on Jan. 3, 2008. Olmsted, who had been based at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, began blogging after his unit was sent to Iraq with the mission of helping train the Iraqi Army. A sniper killed Olmsted as he was trying to talk three suspected insurgents into surrendering. A sniper's bullet also cut down Capt. Thomas J. Casey. They were in Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad.

Major Olmstead wrote this post in the event that he was killed in Iraq and posted a day after his death by his friend. Interesting and somewhat entertaining read....

The ability to put my thoughts on (virtual) paper and put them where people can read and respond to them has been marvelous, even if most people who have read my writings haven't agreed with them. If there is any hope for the long term success of democracy, it will be if people agree to listen to and try to understand their political opponents rather than simply seeking to crush them.

I have faced this over-and-over where many writers just seek to crush their commenters and not truly engage them.

His blog can be read on Rocky Mountain News, here.

Ron Paul, Fox News And Adolf Hitler....

This is hilarious.

Brazil....

A few years ago, I traveled to Brazil with my friend Mark. A couple of days in Rio, then to Bahia, an old slave port and home of the song Macarena, and then to some island and another place somewhat north of Bahia on the ocean.

The first day, in the seaside village north of Bahia, Mark and I met this fellow....



I started to call him Dennis Hopper since he was a war photographer and crazy as a loon.

This fellow, I called Jerry Garcia....



He was a traveling salesman and sold trinkets all over Brazil. He was in town with around 5 of his kids and I purchased a handmade incense burner from him. He told me that he had 7 wives and over 20 children.

Typical Democrat....

John Edwards will fight for you, the common man..... if he has time between getting his hair fixed. Democrats are all form over substance.

Tax Policy......

What this illustrates is that lower taxes have increased global wealth and investment.

Liberalism Is Laziness (Continued).....

Modern liberalism, that I think is in reality, laziness, does not have it roots in the traditional idea of American independence and self reliance. Traditionally, Americans and their communities solved their own social and economic problems. But since the New Deal, where the central government has become increasingly more involved in economic issues, Washington has been getting more-and-more involved in the fabric of everyday American life.

European style socialism has been a fiasco as witnessed by the collapse of the Soviet Union and of the de-socialization of China. Retirement and healthcare obligatgions in Europe will never be delivered as promised to the people there as the costs of these programs will far outstrip the economies to deliver these seemingly 'free' services.

And what do American Democrats do? They promise more 'free' services such as universal healthcare. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton even proposed to give each newborn baby a bond for $5,000 to pay for college or a new home. How stupid is this? These babies Will have to pay taxes to pay off their own bonds. It is just a simple illustration of the insidious Washington proclivity to tax and then redistribute those funds for what is considered to be useful purposes. Why do we need government to do this for us? Because the redistribution of wealth is what gives politicos in Washington their power.

So, I have been considering the Modern Liberal's approach to life and I have come up with this easy to follow process:

1. Liberals see themselves as intellectuals, many of them have important degrees and other higher level credentials that give them the authority to consider today problems.

2. The Modern Liberal is adept at identifying problems. Uninsured Americans, high drug and healthcare costs, global warming (now called climate change since this would also include global cooling or global weather redistribution)and a host of other 'problems' facing Americans that they think need government intervention.

3. The Modern Liberal is also adept at figuring out solutions to problems particularly after having a conference or some brain dead celebrity spew some nonsense on the issue.

4. The modern Liberal also knows how to pay for all of this largess. Its so very very easy. Tax the rich. Yessssssssssssss. A simple solution to the problem of how pay for all of these problems. Do not tax the people that actually need this stuff, but a small proportion of the population. So the receiver of the benefit thinks that they are getting something for nothing. Easier to sell the idea then.

So the Modern Liberal defines the problem, formulates a solution, makes someone else pay for it and gets the Federal Government to administer it. See, they don't do the hard work themselves, they get others to do the heavy lifting for them. I see this as laziness. That is why when I lived in Africa I rarely came across any of these Modern Liberals there doing the actual work. They were too busy figuring out big government solutions to be bothered with actually doing anything constructive.