Break from Blogging

I'm going to be taking a break from the blog--I'm not sure how long it will be, but I simply have too much other stuff going on in my life right now to focus on the blog. I may post occasional entries here and there, but any posting will be sporadic at best. For the (few) readers that I have, thanks for checking in, and I hope to eventually resume normal posting.

BHG

No solution

The Wall Street bailout package (which contained more pork than all of the world's pig farms combined) hasn't done anything to alleviate the anxiety in the stock markets, which today have plunged to their lowest levels in four years: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/081006/wall_street.html. I could say "I told you so".........so I will. I was against this package from the get-go because it did nothing to address the fundamental problems which underpinned the credit crisis (bad business decisions by mortgage companies, politically correct lending practices by FannieMae and FreddieMac, etc., etc.). So, the market keeps tumbling, and guess what? It's going to continue to fall. It wouldn't surprise me to see us hit lows not seen since the market bottomed out after 9/11. For those of us who have 401(k) plans, the only advice I have is to grit your teeth and repeat "I'm in it for the long haul", because unless you're planning to retire in the next few years (in which case you really are in trouble), there is no point in selling your stocks now.

Why I think that it's (almost) over

The fat lady may not have started to sing for the McCain-Palin Presidential campaign, but it appears as though she has finished warming up and is waiting just offstage. Tracking polls are giving the Obama-Biden campaign a nearly insurmountable delegate lead: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=5. Most of the so-called toss-up states are leaning the Democrats' way. As well, it looks to be more or less certain the Republicans will lose even more seats in the Senate and the House. While it is unlikely that the the Democrats will get to the 60+ seats they need for a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate (they're going to come very close, though), they will add to their majority in the House of Represntatives, probably by at least 10-15 seats.

Republicans will talk for years about this election the same way our grandparents talked about the 1932 election.................

Where our oil money is going

It's not towards anything useful. Nope, the money we send everyday to Saudi Arabia is going to fund terrorism and Wahhabi-oriented schools who teach their students to hate us. The money we send to Dubai goes to palm leaf-shaped islands and constructing buildings that are over half a mile high: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/global/2008/10/06/noindex/dubai.xml&source=EMC-exp_06102008.

Isn't ANYONE troubled by this neverending transfer of wealth? Isn't anyone worried about the money we keep sending to countries that hate us?

Loons of the world, unite!

You have nothing to lose but your straitjackets! Cynthia McKinney never fails to amaze, or amuse for that matter. When she isn't spewing 9/11 conspiracy theories or anti-Semitic tripe, she is claiming that the Department of Defense killed 5,000 "prisoners" and dumped their bodies in the flood waters left by Hurricane Katrina. Yes, I'm serious: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/02/mckinney-accuses-government-slaughtering-prisoners-dumping-bodies-katrina/comments/.

I'm not a big fan of the Green Party, but I do acknowledge that they have as their primary focus a serious issue (environmentalism). So, why would they tie themselves in with a nutcase like McKinney? I don't get it.............

Iran so far away

I wish that I could. Iran is steaming towards becoming a nuclear-armed power, and nobody seems to be willing or able to do anything about it: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122298974853900315.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. Let's be perfectly clear, here. A nuclear-armed Iran is NOT the same thing as a nuclear-armed France, or a nuclear-armed Great Britain, or a nuclear-armed Russia, or a nuclear-armed China (or a nuclear-armed Israel). All of those countries are run by people who are if nothing else fairly pragmatic. They are not apocalyptic religious zealots like the Mullahs running Iran and their puppet, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The concept of nuclear deterrence is that one side doesn't want to attack the other because it will be attacked with nuclear weapons itself. That type of deterrence can't and won't work where the other side doesn't care if it dies.

So, we fiddle. And while we do, Iran pursues its nuclear goals. And, once it obtains them, it will be Israel (and maybe us as well) that burns.................

Vice-Presidential Debate Recap

I watched the debate last night between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden from beginning to end, and then flipped channels watching the various pundits and talking heads babble about who they thought had "won" the debate. Surprisingly, there was a consensus, albeit a weak one, that Sarah Palin may have won. I didn't see it that way at all--in my mind, the floundering McCain campaign needed a sharp boost from a strong Palin performance, and that's not what I saw last night. Rather, I thought that she was evasive, to the point of occasionally being stubborn in her refusal to answer the questions which were put to her. Now, Joe Biden had the same problem at times, but let's not forget, Barack Obama and he are in the lead. They didn't need a great showing last night. Coming out of the debate where they were when they went in was good enough for them, and that's exactly what happened.

The only explanation I have for the perception that Sarah Palin may have won might be that expectations of her were so low that she couldn't help but exceed them. Ultimately, I think that she needed to clean Biden's clock last night for John McCain's campaign to regain the momentum, and she didn't accomplish that.

Go away

Some nutcase religious leader in Pakistan has issued a "fatwa" against Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari because Zardari apparently had the temerity to comment on Sarah Palin's actrativeness: http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/02/pakistani-religious-leader-issues-fatwa-president-complimenting-palin/. Apparently, this was "immoral and shameful".

Now, this particular "fatwa" didn't carry with it a death sentence, but how far down the road do you think that is?

Where's Kim Jong-Il?

Hanging out with Waldo? Who knows? What we do know is that he has been completely invisible of late, including at the recent Sixtieth Anniversary celebrations for North Koea, leading to widespread speculation that he is either in poor health or even deceased: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122291070711596789.html?mod=djemEditorialPage. Instability, especially in a paranoid, nuclear-armed regime such as that running North Korea, can be a very frightening thing, but as John Bolton notes, it doesn't have to be. Rather, it can also be seen as an opportunity (to hasten the passing of one of the world's most odious regimes).

The key to me would be China. Any actions we take, be they overt or covert, would draw the attention of the economic and military behemoth to the north of the Korean Peninsula, so whatever we do, the Chinese had better be kept "in the loop", or better yet, involved. I don't doubt that Chinese leaders wouldn't sanction military action against a headless North Korean state, but given that they crave stability, they also don't want anarchy on their border. The key for us will be to find that middle ground..........

Update on Flash

My thanks again to everyone who has continued to e-mail, post on the blog or send me messages on Facebook asking about Flash. He is recovering well from the surgery, and now that the vet has given him a clean bill of health--the tumour was benign and surgery is generally 100% curative--he should have no problems from this point forward. In fact, he's acting like his old, cantankerous and mischievous self, so I'd say that he's completely back to normal!

Once again, thank you to all.

This ought to scare everyone

It sure scares me. There are reports that at least some of the pirates who commandeered that Iranian arms ship have become ill with what seems to be signs of radiation poisoning: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,430681,00.html. If so, that means that the Iranians are apparently in the business of exporting things that could clearly be used in terrorist attacks (likely against us or our allies). If so, the Iranians have gone way over the line from just being a hostile adversary. They are now bordering on something much more ominous and dangerous, not only for us but for the world at large. Maybe someone should pass this information on to Barack Obama, seeing as he wants to sit down and sing kumbaya with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad......

Trashing Sarah Palin, part 2,398,050,572,375

The MSM is nothing if not relentless, so I guess that the latest attack on Sarah Palin shouldn't be a surprise. Now, it's going after her foreign policy experience, screeching that she has only negotiated with one country, Canada: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081001/ap_on_el_pr/palin_foreign_policy. Well, first of all, given that Canada is by far the largest trading partner for the United States, that's kind of a big deal. Second, I don't recall seeing similar attacks on Bill Clinton when he ran for the Presidency, and I am fairly certain that President Peanut Farmer's credentials weren't scrutinized this way in 1976. Third, she's NOT at the top of her party's Presidential ticket; John McCain is. Fourth, what is Barack Obama's experience in this area? Other than his "world tour" this past summer, it's not too impressive.

Nope, no bias at all, just keep moving along, nothing to see here................