Errrrrrratta

Autoblinda 41 - this Italian armored car could go up to 49 mph with a 20 mm cannon and 8mm machine guns fore and aft to help clear any traffic. A fully-stocked gelato and cappucino service station in the rear made this a popular vehicle with Italian troops.

Estonia has a GDP per capita of about US$ 14,000 and is the richest of the 3 Baltic states, and one of the richest nations in Eastern Europe. While Latveria has Dr. Doom, Estonia is sadly lacking in supervillians. Just think how much capital investment you could get by attracting a supervillian to relocate his secret base to your country!

GREAT NEWS!

There has been a major fire in a Nippon Steel factory making coke. This will cause a huge drop in steel production, which may mean MORE steel price increases. And just today my customer told me not to raise any more prices because, you know, oil is down, so steel should be next. (Pretty falacious reasoning and even if steel was going to come down in 30 days how does that help me buy material NOW for orders he wants NOW?)

p.s. Oil is now at 125 or so, but it was at 100 in January, so its still up 25%...

Yahoo Headlines

L.A. poised to vote on fast-food ban in low-income areas

http://www.yahoo.com/s/925151

I am not a libertarian, but stuff like this makes me re-consider.

Sometimes you have to read your spam...

Message subject:

Both Obama And Mccain Claim That They Will Deport Elton John

Body:

[audio] Church Group Offers Homosexual New Life In Closet

plus some link which I won't even touch with Chaon's network connection.

Yahoo News Headlines

Mystery of who, when and why for McCain VP deepens

Seriously. I don't even click this story because of the headline.

They actually included 3 of the "Five W's" of journalism in the headline.

Okay, maybe its me. Maybe some people are deeply interested in the VP selection horse race. Its probably full of insights and analysis, but I''d rather read a story about Rye and Pimp's fantasy baseball trades.

I call this McCain exploiting MSM guilt to disrupt Obama's overseas trip.

Sort of like a "Balance of Fluff."

You learn something everyday

Frenemy (from wikipedia)

Frenemy or frienemy is a portmanteau of friend and enemy which can refer to either an enemy disguised as a friend or to a partner that is simultaneously a competitor.

In personal relationships, the use of the term 'frenemy' has become increasingly used to describe two (or more) people who are apparently friends but are actually enemies. Such relationships may occur due to the desire (of either) to keep a close eye on the actions of their close rival (i.e. keep your friends close, keep your enemies even closer).

Alternatively, two people who are apparently enemies may actually be friends in private, with the apparently hostile relationship portrayed in order to deceive or for other forms of gain. Such an arrangement may even be used to cover up a secret relationship between the two parties. Or, the two people might actually like and hate each other simultaneously.

It can also apply to international relations, such as US-Pakistan, US-Saudi Arabia, US-China, and of course US-France relations. Are these friends masquerading as enemies or the other way 'round?

Bonus thought:

While thinking about the word "frenemy", you may have the word "frenema" somehow pop into your head. If that happens, just know that a google search shows that you are not alone in this.

Hope and Change

57 states and 8-10 years. Looks like for in for big, big changes. Here's the math:

57 states means that Texas will indeed take their option to split into five states, while DC, Puerto Rico, and Guam get statehood. Or maybe California finally splits into two states. I am betting Southern California's new capital would be Chula Vista, to make sure they are safe from invasion from any unificationist threat from the North.

Or wait, maybe we're talking a 54' 40" scenario. The Coalition of the Swilling would be the US, France, Britain, and Denmark. France gets Quebec, Britain some of the Atlantic , Denmark gets the coveted Nunavut and Hans Island, while the US scoops up the 7 border provinces. And the best part of a Canadian war is that you don't really need to juice up the intel to sell the public on it. Pretty much just needs a show of hands.

8-10 years simply means that close to the end of the most successful presidency in history, there will be a movement to allow a two-year bonus extension to presidency if your approval numbers are above 50% in your last year. Or maybe an extra year if you get the ball to go up the ramp and into that hole that lights up. That's quite tricky to do once let alone twice, but the O-man has such a supple wrist. Keep in mind a tilt means you lose control of Congress for 2 years, though.

A lesson for Taiwan?

The Winter War.

There is a great movie about this war...also called Winter War.

Keep in mind that Finland did not have a large strait separating them from the Soviets, and they also did not depend on a superpower's guarantee.

Of course, the Finns did technically lose.

I would also suggest Taiwan could seriously prepare for an amphibious invasion by China using low tech solutions without reliance on the USA. Are they doing so? I have no idea.

My real point is that many Taiwanese I know are far too ready to believe that China could take them over in 15 minutes....its almost like they wouldn't mind it.

Econonmic Times

I am listening to a podcast This American Life about the mortgage crisis and they do a pretty good job of explaining the situation, especially the global causes. Basically, the global pool of money doubled from 36 trillion dollars to over 70 trillion in just 6 years as China, India, oil exporters etc. started taking off. This money has to be parked somewhere, and it was going into US Treasuries until Greenspan cut interest rates to 1% which caused a wild scramble to find other investments that would yield higher than 1%. Apparently the mortgage backed securities were very popular. "Safe as houses" and with a nice, juicy yield.

Now that bubble has popped and I have to wonder if maybe this same huge surge of money is still wandering around the globe searching for new places to be parked. Say, in commodities?

I'd also say that a lot of that money was invested within China in the form of the kazillion factories that went up, and that are now going down.

Let me re-post a quote from a June 2007 post.

Chinese billionaire Yin Mingshan (尹明善) on liquidity:

"We live in a world of over-abundant liquidity. We live in a China of over-abundant liquidity. Even relatively backward Chongqing is blessed with over-abundant liquidity."

Now, if we have too much liquidity, does that mean the inflation we are seeing is because of that, as inflation is "always monetary" or is that pool of money hard money, i.e. not printed, and thus wouldn't necessarily cause the inflation, but because its seemed to move on from housing to commodities (just a theory) it caused raw material prices to go up beyond "normal" demand, making the appearance of inflation? Note that "normal" demand is rising with China, India, etc., so I am talking about the pool of money acting as starter fluid being dumped on an already raging fire. IANAE, and this is speculation so don't get all up on me here.

So, what should we be investing in? If you could ride the tide of money and time your departures that would make you a lot of money. So what's next after commodities come down?

Yahoo Headlines

Now THIS is a headline!

Iran condemns John McCain for cigarette joke

You don't click that and read this article?

The joke was pretty bad - not very tactful, but it reminds us that John McCain, too, is a dirty, filthy quitter. Not very American if you ask me.

Yahoo Headlines

• Poll: Obama leads McCain among people who don't have pets

But what about those with Chia Pets?

72 Hour Countdown Begins Now!

Yahoo Headlines

Study: Drug in 'magic mushrooms' provides long-term benefit

This is one headline I am not even going to read, (mis) analyze, or debunk. I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the glow it gives me.