tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-267433162024-03-06T21:21:52.271-08:00Bert and Ernie's Placeernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1164996830450353802006-12-01T10:10:00.000-08:002006-12-01T10:13:59.666-08:00You Go Girl!<object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/k8x14cLGh5o"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/k8x14cLGh5o" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="350" width="425"></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8x14cLGh5o">YouTube Link</a>:<br /><br />Hat Tip: <a href="http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/2006_11_26_patriotboy_archive.html#116495988070428575">Jesus' General</a>:ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1160251706617285992006-10-07T13:07:00.000-07:002006-10-07T13:08:26.630-07:00Best Song of the Year: "Clinton Got a Blow Job"<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/EpK9LNyht14"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/EpK9LNyht14" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpK9LNyht14">YouTube Link</a>:ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1160155499410163342006-10-06T10:05:00.000-07:002006-10-06T10:24:59.936-07:00Terrible Employment Numbers for SeptemberI can't believe what I just read. For the month of September employers only added <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061006/bs_nm/economy_dc;_ylt=Al4QYTxsAhmv3giud4Mair2yBhIF;_ylu=X3oDMTA0cDJlYmhvBHNlYwM-">51,000</a> new jobs. 51,000! By my estimation that is 150,000 too low, just to keep in pace with population growth.<br /><br />Check this: Lets say we have 300,000,000 folks in the country. Then figure we have a population growth rate of 1.5% annually. That means we create approximately 4,500,000 new residents annually. Now figure that some of that number constitute adult new residents- either new citizens or aliens. Also, figure that every month a certain number of current residents, actual citizens or aliens, turn 18 and are of independent working age- employable. As a rule of thumb, you figure that approximately 50% to 65% of the annual growth rate in population is of employment age. So, to round things off, lets say we need to generate 200,000 new jobs a month in order to just keep up with our population growth and aging population. (4,500,000 / 12 months=375,000 new resident a month) (375,000*50%=187,500 new jobs needed to be created per month) Obviously, this is a rough estimate, but is a fairly conservative look at the whole picture.<br /><br />Now here is the kicker! In September employers created 51,000 new jobs, well below expectations, but at the same time, the unemployment rate actually went down 0.1 percent. How does that make any sense. How can you miss the mark by such a far margin in employment growth, yet still see the unemployment rate go down at the same time. <br /><br />I'll tell ya. After about 6 months an unemployed person is no longer counted in the unemployment numbers. So, now we see a large portion of the unemployed population no longer being counted. And this number is increasing.<br /><br />The economy is not in good shape.ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1160115850332628072006-10-05T23:19:00.000-07:002006-10-05T23:24:10.346-07:00The Words of Howard Beale<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/1600/network166.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/400/network166.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.black-iris.com/?p=76">Image Link</a>:</span><br /><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;"></span><blockquote><a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everybody's out of work or scared of losing their job. The dollar buys a nickel's worth; banks are going bust; shopkeepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street, and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it.</span></a><p align="left"> <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. And we sit watching our TVs while some local newscaster tells us that today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes, as if that's the way it's supposed to be!</span></a></p><p align="left"> <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">We all know things are bad -- worse than bad -- they're crazy. </span></a> </p><p align="left"> <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't go out any more. We sit in the house, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, "Please, at least leave us alone in our living rooms. Let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials, and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone."</span></a></p><p align="left"> <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">Well, I'm not going to leave you alone.</span></a></p><p align="left"> <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">I want you to get mad! </span></a> </p><p align="left"> <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your Congressman, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street.</span></a></p><p align="left"> <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">All I know is that first, you've got to get mad.</span></a></p><p align="left"> <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">You've gotta say, "I'm a human being, goddammit! My life has value!"</span></a></p><p align="left"> <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your chairs. I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell, </span></a> </p><blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <p align="left"> <a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;color:#ff0000;">"I'm as mad as hell,</span></a></p><p align="left"><a href="http://www.americanrhetoric.com/MovieSpeeches/moviespeechnetwork2.html"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;color:#ff0000;">and I'm not going to take this anymore!!"</span></a></p></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><p align="left"><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;color:#ff0000;"></span></p></blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1157746649027136832006-09-08T13:14:00.000-07:002006-09-08T13:20:43.226-07:00BOYCOT DISNEY!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/1600/abcadmickey.2.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/320/abcadmickey.2.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Don't be a "mickey mouse"... Boycoy Disney!!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/1600/MickeyBush.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/320/MickeyBush.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a href="http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_09_03_atrios_archive.html#115773072588106520">Pic via atrios</a>:ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1157670423992728912006-09-07T15:58:00.000-07:002006-09-07T16:07:04.003-07:00A 6 Year Video MontageThis is some crazy stuff. This guy took a picture of himself everyday for over 6 years. On top of that this video is a work in progress. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6B26asyGKDo"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6B26asyGKDo" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B26asyGKDo">YouTube Link</a>:<br /><br />HatTip: <a href="http://www.laist.com/archives/2006/09/07/dude_takes_a_picture_of_himself_every_day_for_six_years.php">Laist</a>.comernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1157505725777316212006-09-05T18:04:00.000-07:002006-09-05T18:22:05.790-07:00What?!! bin Laden Free to Live a Peaceful Life?!!What the hell are you talking about?<br /><br />Via <a href="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/09/bush-ally-pakistan-says-bin-laden-is.html">AmericaBlog </a>I read that Pakistani officials told CBS that mass murderer Osama bin Laden <blockquote><a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/bin_laden_gets_.html">"will not face capture in Pakistan if he agrees to lead a "peaceful life."</a></blockquote><a href="http://americablog.blogspot.com/2006/09/bush-ally-pakistan-says-bin-laden-is.html"></a> Are you kidding me? What the hell is this about?<br /><br />Are the Pakistani's dilussional? And what is this I read about Pakistan making a peace agreement with the Taliban? The Taliban are not suppose to exist anymore! They have no country. Now they make peace with one of our allies who will pull troops from the North Waziristan region- the area bin Laden is believed to be in! And the Taliban gets weapons from the Pakistani's! <blockquote><a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/bin_laden_gets_.html">"In addition to the pullout of Pakistani troops, the "peace agreement" between Pakistan and the Taliban also provides for the Pakistani army to return captured Taliban weapons and prisoners."</a></blockquote>Is Pakistan on our side?<br /><br /><blockquote><a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2006/09/bin_laden_gets_.html">"What this means is that the Taliban and al Qaeda leadership have effectively carved out a sanctuary inside Pakistan," said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke, the former White House counter-terrorism director...<br /><br />"They're throwing the towel," said Alexis Debat, who is a Senior Fellow at the Nixon Center and an ABC News consultant. "They're giving al Qaeda and the Taliban a blank check and saying essentially make yourselves at home in the tribal areas," Debat said."</a></blockquote>What is going on?ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1157043907105379912006-08-31T09:53:00.000-07:002006-08-31T16:03:59.206-07:00Keith Olbermann on FascismLast night Keith Olbermann gave a speech in retort to Don Rumsfeld's speech demonizing political opponents of their war. It was riveting and on the ball. This is a must see.<br /><br /><div adblocktab="true" style="overflow: visible; display: block; position: relative; width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; top: 0px; z-index: 65535; opacity: 0.5;"><div style="border-style: ridge; border-width: 2px 2px 0px; display: block; position: relative; left: -70px; top: -18px; width: 66px; height: 16px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 0px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; direction: ltr;">Adblock</div></div><div adblocktab="true" style="overflow: visible; display: block; position: relative; width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; top: 0px; z-index: 65535; 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-moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 0px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; direction: ltr;">Adblock</div></div><div adblocktab="true" style="overflow: visible; display: block; position: relative; width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; top: 0px; z-index: 65535; opacity: 0.5;"><div style="border-style: ridge; border-width: 2px 2px 0px; display: block; position: relative; left: -70px; top: -18px; width: 66px; height: 16px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 0px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; direction: ltr;">Adblock</div></div><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/mzriv9ffv6w"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/mzriv9ffv6w" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="350" width="425"></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzriv9ffv6w">YouTube Link</a>:<br /><br />Hat Tip to <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/08/30/keith-olbermann-delivers-one-hell-of-a-commentary-on-rumsfeld/">Crooks & Liars</a>:<br /><br />On a side note: it's great to see a commentator willing to use language (BIG WORDS) that requires the avid listener to grab a dictionary. (Which I did) Oftentimes, TV personalities will dumb down their language in fear of making people feel insecure. Olbermann does not bother. His expectations are high and he knows the audience is not intellectually lazy. Besides, Olbermann knows the American public understands his words better than he can speak it.<br /><br />Transcript, courtesy of <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/8/31/25049/6646">DailyKos </a>is below:<br /><br /><p></p><blockquote><p> The man who sees absolutes, where all other men see nuances and shades of meaning, is either a prophet, or a quack.</p><p> Donald H. Rumsfeld is not a prophet.</p><p> Mr. Rumsfeld's remarkable speech to the American Legion yesterday demands the deep analysis--and the sober contemplation--of every American.</p><p> For it did not merely serve to impugn the morality or intelligence -- indeed, the loyalty -- of the majority of Americans who oppose the transient occupants of the highest offices in the land. Worse, still, it credits those same transient occupants -- our employees -- with a total omniscience; a total omniscience which neither common sense, nor this administration's track record at home or abroad, suggests they deserve.</p><p> Dissent and disagreement with government is the life's blood of human freedom; and not merely because it is the first roadblock against the kind of tyranny the men Mr. Rumsfeld likes to think of as "his" troops still fight, this very evening, in Iraq.</p><p> It is also essential. Because just every once in awhile it is right and the power to which it speaks, is wrong.</p><p> In a small irony, however, Mr. Rumsfeld's speechwriter was adroit in invoking the memory of the appeasement of the Nazis. For in their time, there was another government faced with true peril--with a growing evil--powerful and remorseless.</p><p> That government, like Mr. Rumsfeld's, had a monopoly on all the facts. It, too, had the "secret information." It alone had the true picture of the threat. It too dismissed and insulted its critics in terms like Mr. Rumsfeld's -- questioning their intellect and their morality.</p><p> That government was England's, in the 1930's.</p><p> It knew Hitler posed no true threat to Europe, let alone England.</p><p> It knew Germany was not re-arming, in violation of all treaties and accords. </p><p> It knew that the hard evidence it received, which contradicted its own policies, its own conclusions -- its own omniscience -- needed to be dismissed.</p><p> The English government of Neville Chamberlain already knew the truth.</p><p> Most relevant of all -- it "knew" that its staunchest critics needed to be marginalized and isolated. In fact, it portrayed the foremost of them as a blood-thirsty war-monger who was, if not truly senile, at best morally or intellectually confused.</p><p> That critic's name was Winston Churchill.</p><p> Sadly, we have no Winston Churchills evident among us this evening. We have only Donald Rumsfelds, demonizing disagreement, the way Neville Chamberlain demonized Winston Churchill.</p><p> History -- and 163 million pounds of Luftwaffe bombs over England -- have taught us that all Mr. Chamberlain had was his certainty -- and his own confusion. A confusion that suggested that the office can not only make the man, but that the office can also make the facts.</p><p> Thus, did Mr. Rumsfeld make an apt historical analogy.</p><p> Excepting the fact, that he has the battery plugged in backwards.</p><p> His government, absolute -- and exclusive -- in its knowledge, is not the modern version of the one which stood up to the Nazis.</p><p> It is the modern version of the government of Neville Chamberlain.</p><p> But back to today's Omniscient ones.</p><p> That, about which Mr. Rumsfeld is confused is simply this: This is a Democracy. Still. Sometimes just barely.</p><p> And, as such, all voices count -- not just his.</p><p> Had he or his president perhaps proven any of their prior claims of omniscience -- about Osama Bin Laden's plans five years ago, about Saddam Hussein's weapons four years ago, about Hurricane Katrina's impact one year ago -- we all might be able to swallow hard, and accept their "omniscience" as a bearable, even useful recipe, of fact, plus ego.</p><p> But, to date, this government has proved little besides its own arrogance, and its own hubris.</p><p> Mr. Rumsfeld is also personally confused, morally or intellectually, about his own standing in this matter. From Iraq to Katrina, to the entire "Fog of Fear" which continues to envelop this nation, he, Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, and their cronies have -- inadvertently or intentionally -- profited and benefited, both personally, and politically.</p><p> And yet he can stand up, in public, and question the morality and the intellect of those of us who dare ask just for the receipt for the Emporer's New Clothes?</p><p> In what country was Mr. Rumsfeld raised? As a child, of whose heroism did he read? On what side of the battle for freedom did he dream one day to fight? With what country has he confused the United States of America?</p><p> The confusion we -- as its citizens-- must now address, is stark and forbidding.</p><p> But variations of it have faced our forefathers, when men like Nixon and McCarthy and Curtis LeMay have darkened our skies and obscured our flag. Note -- with hope in your heart -- that those earlier Americans always found their way to the light, and we can, too.</p><p> The confusion is about whether this Secretary of Defense, and this administration, are in fact now accomplishing what they claim the terrorists seek: The destruction of our freedoms, the very ones for which the same veterans Mr. Rumsfeld addressed yesterday in Salt Lake City, so valiantly fought.</p><p> And about Mr. Rumsfeld's other main assertion, that this country faces a "new type of fascism."</p><p> As he was correct to remind us how a government that knew everything could get everything wrong, so too was he right when he said that -- though probably not in the way he thought he meant it. </p><p> This country faces a new type of fascism - indeed.</p><p> Although I presumptuously use his sign-off each night, in feeble tribute, I have utterly no claim to the words of the exemplary journalist Edward R. Murrow.</p><p> But never in the trial of a thousand years of writing could I come close to matching how he phrased a warning to an earlier generation of us, at a time when other politicians thought they (and they alone) knew everything, and branded those who disagreed: "confused" or "immoral."</p><p> Thus, forgive me, for reading Murrow, in full:</p><p> "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty," he said, in 1954. "We must remember always that accusation is not proof, and that conviction depends upon evidence and due process of law.</p><p> "We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate, and to defend causes that were for the moment unpopular."</p><p> And so good night, and good luck.</p><br /><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Update: </span>As you can imagine MSNBC and Keith Olbermann has been receiving countless number of emails about his show last night. If you are so inclined please email him as well. From the <a href="http://agonist.org/sean_paul_kelley/20060830/true_political_courage">Agonist</a>:</p><blockquote><p>Email MSNBC & support Keith - now!<br /><a href="mailto:KOlbermann@msnbc.com">KOlbermann@msnbc.com</a></p> <p><a href="mailto:letters@msnbc.com">letters@msnbc.com</a></p> <p>You think MSNBC is getting barraged by Rightwingers? Bet on it...please write them and support Keith's courage! </p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p></blockquote><p></p>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1156812733128824172006-08-28T17:06:00.000-07:002006-08-28T17:56:40.466-07:00Oh My!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/1600/27leon_graph2.large.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/320/27leon_graph2.large.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Above is a graphical illustration of housing values going back to 1890. It was produced by Yale economist Robert Shiller. This is scary stuff.<br /><br />On a personal note, this past weekend I was hanging out with Bert for a night of insightful discussions and inebriated revelry. Instead, I was sobered by the economic predicament another old friend of ours currently finds himself in.<br /><br />You see, my friend, I'll call him Big Bird, is currently in a situation many Americans currently find themselves in. He has a mortgage on their family home that has a variable rate component. As interest rates increase his monthly mortgage payments increase.<br /><br />Furthermore, like many Californians, he owns several income producing homes that are currently in the same predicament. Rising interest rates that mean higher monthly payments. To make matters worse, the monthly payments are at a point where he consistently has to "feed" the assets. In other words, his monthly collected rent no longer covers his monthly mortgage payments (this does not include property taxes, insurance fees, etc.). So, Big Bird has to take money out of his salary or savings to cover the remaining expenses.<br /><br />All the while, Big Bird refuses to accept the reality of the situation. He refuses to accept that the market could ever go down. He refuses to accept that he could lose it all. Big Bird rationalizes that "feeding" his assets is good since he is building equity. Afterall, isn't that the ultimate goal?<br /><br />I aint so sure.<br /><br />When I first graduated from College in the mid-90's I went to work for a small boutique commercial brokerage firm who I interned with while in college. Our main business was the sale of apartment complexes in California, and our inventory were foreclosed apartments direct from the banks. As you may recall, this was in the midst of the California real estate recession and apartment foreclosures were everywhere. I remember pitching apartment opportunities in San Diego and Orange County for as low as $20,000.00 to $30,000.00 per apartment unit. In today's' market those same assets could sell from $80,000.00 to $150,000.00, depending on the location.<br /><br />Now, you might be saying, "that sounds like a slam dunk investment!" And you know what, it certainly was in retrospect. Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20. Buyers for foreclosed assets in the mid-90's were difficult to find. A majority of investors, at that time, had been turned off by the market- i.e. had reached a level of market capitulation. No one wanted to buy income producing properties.<br /><br />I remember calling prospective future owners about a great 45 unit opportunity in Santa Ana or Huntington Beach only to hear story after story about how they had lost their buildings to foreclosure. Each person had a different twist to their situation, but they all seemed to have similar components. All of the owners hurt by the market had, at one time, to "feed" their assets. Furthermore, they all reasoned that the market would never crash and that the extra money they put in would benefit them since it was building their equity. <br /><br />Of course, this is all hog wash. When an investment no longer cash flows it is incumbent on the owner to make changes to alleviate the problem. If those changes are not effective it is important for an investor to learn to walk away or sell. In other words, when the signs become obvious it is time to reevaluate, reposition and run. <br /><br />My early days of phone solicitation was a very early lesson in how I should approach my future investments. I have not forgotten those early lessons. I am hopeful that my friend Big Bird follows my advice, takes it in the gut and learns to walk away.<br /><br />Hat Tip: Atrios: <a href="http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_08_27_atrios_archive.html#115680771453879068">Link Here</a>:ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1156559976241140122006-08-25T19:32:00.000-07:002006-08-25T19:39:36.256-07:00Congressman Asked to Have a Program Written to Secretly Fix ElectionsThis is breathtaking testimony <a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/">before the U.S. House Judiciary Members in Ohio (back in 2004)</a>. <br /><br /><p><blockquote><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/">A partial transcript:</a></blockquote></p> <p><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/"><b></b></a></p><blockquote><p><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/"><b>Are there computer programs that can be used to secretly fix elections?</b></a></p> <p><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/">Yes.</a></p> <p><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/"><b>How do you know that to be the case?</b></a></p> <p><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/">Because in October of 2000, I wrote a prototype for Congressman Tom Feeney [R-FL]...</a></p> <p><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/"><b>It would rig an election?</b></a></p> <p><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/">It would flip the vote, 51-49. Whoever you wanted it to go to and whichever race you wanted to win.</a></p> <p><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/"><b>And would that program that you designed, be something that elections officials... could detect?</b></a></p> <p><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/">They'd never see it.</a></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://alternet.org/blogs/video/40755/">Go here</a> and check out the video!<br /></p>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1156540065447547222006-08-25T14:00:00.000-07:002006-08-25T16:43:07.716-07:00Bubbles, Bubbles, BubblesOh My!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.billcara.com/archives/2006/08/block_downgrade.html#more">UBS downgrades H&R Block</a> due to rising loan defaults concerns. Is this an opening salvo in a tidal wave of mortgage lender downgrades to come?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.billcara.com/archives/2006/08/maybe_us_housin.html#more">Why is the Fed hedging</a>?<br /><br /><a href="http://www.danielgross.net/archives/2006/08/20-week/index.html#a001080">Is consumer retail in for some down quarters</a>? <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=65380&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=898294&highlight=">Border's press release</a>.<br /><br /><a href="http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2006/08/newhome_sales_d.html">New Home Sales Down</a>.ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1156538984428810332006-08-25T13:46:00.000-07:002006-08-25T13:49:44.440-07:00It's time as a Christian to put our pride behind usGreg Sargent of the <a href="http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/aug/25/war_widow_to_bush_youre_here_to_serve_the_people_and_the_people_are_not_being_served_with_this_war">TPM Cafe</a> writes a story about a Maine Widow who recently had an opportunity to directly confront the President.<br /><p></p><blockquote><p>Halley says that while Bush was personable and receptive to her, she was very direct and critical of Bush's policies and insisted that the right thing to do was to end the war.</p> <p>"We literally sat knee to knee...I looked deep into his eyes and talked to him about love and losing people and that he was responsible for this. I said, `I didn't vote for you, but you are my President. And you're not serving me.'"</p> <p>"I said I believed it was time to put an end to this. His job is to find solutions. I said, `You yourself have said you had erroneous information going into this.'"</p> <p>She continued: "I said, `As a Christian man, you realize that when you've made a mistake it's your responsibility to end this. And it's time to end the bleeding and it's time to end the war.'"</p> <p>"I said, `what would truly bring healing is to start working on changing your policy towards the Middle East...as President, you're here to serve the people. And the people are not being served with this war.'"</p> <p>She added: "I told him, `It's time as a Christian to put our pride behind us."</p></blockquote><p></p>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1156376911595570772006-08-23T16:43:00.000-07:002006-08-23T16:48:31.613-07:00Bill Gets Emails<a href="http://www.billcara.com/">Bill Cara</a> gets a email from a reader that hits the proverbial nail with the hammer.<br /><br /><blockquote><p><a href="http://www.billcara.com/archives/2006/08/the_geopolitics.html#more">We live in interesting times (as the Chinese curse has it), and in order to maneuvre and survive the shoals and rapids that lie in front of us, we have to understand them as they actually are. The prince, says Machiavelli (I paraphrase here; you can add bull and bear in substitution), is neither bold nor diffident simpliciter; rather, he is bold when boldness is required, and diffident when diffidence is called for. He sees reality as it is, without sentiment, without illusion, and he simply rides the waves -- he doesn't try to bully the wind, and he does not cower in the face of placid lakes. And this, of course, means seeing the world for what it is, rationally, objectively, dispassionately. </a></p> <p><a href="http://www.billcara.com/archives/2006/08/the_geopolitics.html#more">This is the reason most of us gather at your site -- to trade insights and analysis. Very little is accomplished by giving vent to one's political passions -- even if you think you're 'right' -- because such discussions are inevitably shallow, superficial, resting upon unexamined and unacknowledged premises -- so that even if you've got (or think you've got) Truth 'by the balls', it's like throwing mud and sludge into the water you plan to drink. It does a great disservice to the community we're trying hard to build here.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.billcara.com/archives/2006/08/the_geopolitics.html#more">The rhetoric emerging from Teheran is certainly frightening. But the rhetoric coming out of Washington -- and I speak as a political independent, with no discernible partisan leanings that I can detect -- and the chorus of its supporters in the media, is equally hard for me to fathom. There are profound risks afoot in the world; but current breathless attempts among certain individuals to fan yet another war hysteria (WWIII is already here, says Newt Gingrich?) corresponds to nothing in the objective reality that I can see -- Iran, whatever dangers it may ultimately pose, is not about to bomb Topeka in the next few days, or even years. And there are many disinterested, and fairly well informed and intelligent observers who find the arguments currently being made in Washington to be disingenuous -- to say the least.</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.billcara.com/archives/2006/08/the_geopolitics.html#more">But those are my views, and even these are matters that can and should be discussed in rational and measured tones. Ultimately, the greatest danger facing the world today is a certain rabid and rancid irrationalism that is sweeping the globe -- and that is armed to the teeth -- and that I find very frightening. I -- no, we here together -- may not be able to do much to stem the tides of history. But history itself will condemn us nonetheless, if we allow ourselves to get reduced, both as individuals and as a group (like the blinded chorus in an Ancient tragedy), to being merely cheering sections for the catastrophes that may lie before us.”</a></p><a href="http://www.billcara.com/archives/2006/08/the_geopolitics.html#more"> </a></blockquote>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1156365602690442902006-08-23T13:36:00.000-07:002006-08-23T13:41:18.270-07:00Immigrant Bashing From the Past<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2006/08/23/buchanan-nativism/">Think Progress </a>makes note of some immigrant bashing from America's not too distant past:<br /><br /><blockquote>Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and <strong>will never adopt our Languages or Customs</strong>, any more than they can acquire our Complexion. [Benjamin Franklin, <a href="http://www.cjd.org/paper/truth.html">1751</a>]<br /><br />"The Irish fill our prisons, our poor houses. ... Scratch a convict or a pauper, and the chances are that you tickle the skin of an Irish Catholic. <strong>Putting them on a boat and sending them home would end crime in this country</strong>." [Chicago Post, <a href="http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?isbn=0-595-22730-9">1868</a>]<br /><br />[A] set of citizens, German and Irish, wanted to <strong>get the Constitution of the U. S. into their own hands and sell it to a foreign power</strong>. [Theme of an American Nativist Party rally, <a href="http://www.irish-society.org/Hedgemaster%20Archives/philadelphia.htm">1844</a>]<br /><br />Today, instead of a nation descended from generations of freemen bred to a knowledge of principles and practice of self government, of liberty under the law, we have a heterogeneous population, no small proportion of which is <strong>sprung from races that throughout the centuries have known no liberty at all... In other words our capacity to maintain our cherished institutions stands diluted by a stream of alien blood</strong>, with all of its misconceptions respecting the relationships of the governing power to the governed. [Rep. Albert Johnson, 1927, justifying the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924">1924 National Origins Act</a>]<br /><br /><strong>The number of purely white People in the World is proportionally very small</strong> ...in Europe, the Spaniards, Italians, French, Russians and Swedes, are generally of what we call a swarthy Complexion; as are Germans also, the Saxons only accepted, who with the English, make the principal Body of White People on the Face of the Earth. [Benjamin Franklin, <a href="http://www.cjd.org/paper/truth.html">1751</a>]</blockquote>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1156363489344889392006-08-23T13:01:00.000-07:002006-08-23T13:04:49.356-07:00"You're either for us or against your country."<a href="http://billmon.org/archives/002706.html">Billmon </a>does it again. Read him, you just should: <br /><br /><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote>Reminds me of a scene from an even better black comedy:<br /><br />"Won't you fight for your country?" Colonel Korn demanded, emulating Colonel Cathcart's harsh, self-righteous tone. "Won't you give up your life for Colonel Cathcart and me?"<p>Yossarian tensed with alert astonishment when he heard Colonel Korn's concluding words. "What's that?" he exclaimed. "What have you and Colonel Cathcart got to do with my country? You're not the same."</p><p>"How can you separate us?" Colonel Korn inquired with ironical tranquility . . . "You're either <i>for</i> us or against your country. It's as simple as that."</p></blockquote><p align="right"><b>Joseph Heller</b><br /><i>Catch-22</i><br />1961</p></blockquote><p align="right"></p>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1156357488329408112006-08-23T11:20:00.000-07:002006-08-23T11:24:48.393-07:00Housing Troubles<a href="http://agonist.org/sean_paul_kelley/20060823/not_really_a_surprise">The Agonist</a> does a brief round-up of national housing news. It ain't good. <blockquote><br /><a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9cd19164-32a0-11db-87ac-0000779e2340.html">From the Financial Times: </a> <blockquote><p>Sales of existing homes in the US slumped a sharper-than-expected 4.1 per cent in July, the National Association of Realtors reported on Wednesday.</p> <p>The data underlined the rapid pace of the slowdown in the property market and sent stocks lower amid fears over the health of the broader economy.</p></blockquote> <p>Of course, it's only the 'hot' regions that are cooling down, right? </p> <p>Wrong: </p> <blockquote><p>“No region was spared from July’s softness,” said Omair Sharif, analyst at RBS Greenwich Capital. “The headline figure was well below our forecast and that of the consensus, and corroborates recent builders’ statements that the housing market cooled substantially at the start of the summer.”</p></blockquote></blockquote>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1156283477560133242006-08-22T14:31:00.000-07:002006-08-22T14:51:17.576-07:00How Smart Money Toys Around with Dumb MoneyOne of the most disturbing facets of the cable TV investment channels are the amount of influence they can wield on a uninformed public. <br /><br />Some CNBC journalist will tout a stock, or sector, on television. Then, it suddenly jumps a few percentage points in value based on that pundits recommendation. Oftentimes, this recommendation is based on nothing but heresy or an opinion that can neither be proved or disproved. It's just "push marketing."<br /><br />My cynical self tells me that this is ultimately a game of "hide the ball". Smart money is influencing their brokers to come on network investment shows to push a investment. The smart money investor then takes this opportunity to sell as the market heats up. This investor will reposition their holdings without losing market valuation that would typically follow a major selling spree by smart money investor. Dumb money, who where persuaded to buy a stock or sector, is left holding the bag when the investment eventually drops. The smart money man is happy with his earnings, the TV pundit/ broker is happy to help a long time client and the common man investor is left scratching their heads wondering, "how did I make such a bad decision." It's a cycle that happens more than you can imagine.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.billcara.com/archives/2006/08/a_bubblepopping.html#more">Bill Cara</a> points to a time when it recently happened to the home builders. <br /><br /><a href="Throughout%20the%20cycle%20top,%20CNBC%20encouraged%20traders%20to%20buy%20these%20home-builders.%20They%20went%20on%20a%20cross-country%20tour;%20they%20hosted%20receptions;%20and%20they%20interviewed%20ad%20nauseum%20the%20leading%20CEO%27s%20of%20these%20home-builders%20and%20the%20money-grubbing%20real%20estate%20agents%20in%20the%20hottest%20markets%20who%20seemed%20intent%20on%20proving%20the%20notion%20that%20pigs%20can%20fly%20over%20and%20above%20the%20slaughterhouse."></a><blockquote><a href="Throughout%20the%20cycle%20top,%20CNBC%20encouraged%20traders%20to%20buy%20these%20home-builders.%20They%20went%20on%20a%20cross-country%20tour;%20they%20hosted%20receptions;%20and%20they%20interviewed%20ad%20nauseum%20the%20leading%20CEO%27s%20of%20these%20home-builders%20and%20the%20money-grubbing%20real%20estate%20agents%20in%20the%20hottest%20markets%20who%20seemed%20intent%20on%20proving%20the%20notion%20that%20pigs%20can%20fly%20over%20and%20above%20the%20slaughterhouse.">"Throughout the cycle top, CNBC encouraged traders to buy these home-builders. They went on a cross-country tour; they hosted receptions; and they interviewed ad nauseum the leading CEO's of these home-builders and the money-grubbing real estate agents in the hottest markets who seemed intent on proving the notion that pigs can fly over and above the slaughterhouse.</a> <p><a href="Throughout%20the%20cycle%20top,%20CNBC%20encouraged%20traders%20to%20buy%20these%20home-builders.%20They%20went%20on%20a%20cross-country%20tour;%20they%20hosted%20receptions;%20and%20they%20interviewed%20ad%20nauseum%20the%20leading%20CEO%27s%20of%20these%20home-builders%20and%20the%20money-grubbing%20real%20estate%20agents%20in%20the%20hottest%20markets%20who%20seemed%20intent%20on%20proving%20the%20notion%20that%20pigs%20can%20fly%20over%20and%20above%20the%20slaughterhouse.">In a word, it was journalism at its worst.</a></p> <p><a href="Throughout%20the%20cycle%20top,%20CNBC%20encouraged%20traders%20to%20buy%20these%20home-builders.%20They%20went%20on%20a%20cross-country%20tour;%20they%20hosted%20receptions;%20and%20they%20interviewed%20ad%20nauseum%20the%20leading%20CEO%27s%20of%20these%20home-builders%20and%20the%20money-grubbing%20real%20estate%20agents%20in%20the%20hottest%20markets%20who%20seemed%20intent%20on%20proving%20the%20notion%20that%20pigs%20can%20fly%20over%20and%20above%20the%20slaughterhouse.">I even remember Kudlow on Nov-16-2005 telling us how stupid we were to be buying the goldminers because commodities were going to hell in a handbasket, but, he said, the better play was in the home-builders, which his guest Neil Hennessy echoed. </a></p> <p><a href="Throughout%20the%20cycle%20top,%20CNBC%20encouraged%20traders%20to%20buy%20these%20home-builders.%20They%20went%20on%20a%20cross-country%20tour;%20they%20hosted%20receptions;%20and%20they%20interviewed%20ad%20nauseum%20the%20leading%20CEO%27s%20of%20these%20home-builders%20and%20the%20money-grubbing%20real%20estate%20agents%20in%20the%20hottest%20markets%20who%20seemed%20intent%20on%20proving%20the%20notion%20that%20pigs%20can%20fly%20over%20and%20above%20the%20slaughterhouse.">From the </a><a href="Throughout%20the%20cycle%20top,%20CNBC%20encouraged%20traders%20to%20buy%20these%20home-builders.%20They%20went%20on%20a%20cross-country%20tour;%20they%20hosted%20receptions;%20and%20they%20interviewed%20ad%20nauseum%20the%20leading%20CEO%27s%20of%20these%20home-builders%20and%20the%20money-grubbing%20real%20estate%20agents%20in%20the%20hottest%20markets%20who%20seemed%20intent%20on%20proving%20the%20notion%20that%20pigs%20can%20fly%20over%20and%20above%20the%20slaughterhouse.">chart I published that day</a><a href="Throughout%20the%20cycle%20top,%20CNBC%20encouraged%20traders%20to%20buy%20these%20home-builders.%20They%20went%20on%20a%20cross-country%20tour;%20they%20hosted%20receptions;%20and%20they%20interviewed%20ad%20nauseum%20the%20leading%20CEO%27s%20of%20these%20home-builders%20and%20the%20money-grubbing%20real%20estate%20agents%20in%20the%20hottest%20markets%20who%20seemed%20intent%20on%20proving%20the%20notion%20that%20pigs%20can%20fly%20over%20and%20above%20the%20slaughterhouse."> and the ones above, just look at the prices of the stocks in those two groups since mid-November.</a></p> <p><a href="Throughout%20the%20cycle%20top,%20CNBC%20encouraged%20traders%20to%20buy%20these%20home-builders.%20They%20went%20on%20a%20cross-country%20tour;%20they%20hosted%20receptions;%20and%20they%20interviewed%20ad%20nauseum%20the%20leading%20CEO%27s%20of%20these%20home-builders%20and%20the%20money-grubbing%20real%20estate%20agents%20in%20the%20hottest%20markets%20who%20seemed%20intent%20on%20proving%20the%20notion%20that%20pigs%20can%20fly%20over%20and%20above%20the%20slaughterhouse.">What in fact was happening was that BIG MONEY (aka the gnomes) was selling real estate and buying gold, and the "Help" was telling you to do the opposite.</a></p> <p><a href="Throughout%20the%20cycle%20top,%20CNBC%20encouraged%20traders%20to%20buy%20these%20home-builders.%20They%20went%20on%20a%20cross-country%20tour;%20they%20hosted%20receptions;%20and%20they%20interviewed%20ad%20nauseum%20the%20leading%20CEO%27s%20of%20these%20home-builders%20and%20the%20money-grubbing%20real%20estate%20agents%20in%20the%20hottest%20markets%20who%20seemed%20intent%20on%20proving%20the%20notion%20that%20pigs%20can%20fly%20over%20and%20above%20the%20slaughterhouse.">That's how the rich get richer and the rest..."</a></p></blockquote><p><a href="Throughout%20the%20cycle%20top,%20CNBC%20encouraged%20traders%20to%20buy%20these%20home-builders.%20They%20went%20on%20a%20cross-country%20tour;%20they%20hosted%20receptions;%20and%20they%20interviewed%20ad%20nauseum%20the%20leading%20CEO%27s%20of%20these%20home-builders%20and%20the%20money-grubbing%20real%20estate%20agents%20in%20the%20hottest%20markets%20who%20seemed%20intent%20on%20proving%20the%20notion%20that%20pigs%20can%20fly%20over%20and%20above%20the%20slaughterhouse."></a></p>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1156215906898912972006-08-21T20:03:00.000-07:002006-08-21T20:05:06.910-07:00A Perfect Circle: annihilationThis song blows me away.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/n-j0dk_AkIU"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/n-j0dk_AkIU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-j0dk_AkIU">YouTube Link</a>:ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1155325459217366212006-08-11T12:41:00.000-07:002006-08-11T12:44:19.226-07:00Friday Funnies: This Modern World<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/1600/bush_AENewman_Tom_Tomorrow.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/320/bush_AENewman_Tom_Tomorrow.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Hat Tip: <a href="http://tbogg.blogspot.com/2006/08/interviews-with-hideous-men-buy-book.html">TBogg</a><br /><br />I wish this was more farce than non-fiction.ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1155162529847268542006-08-09T15:17:00.000-07:002006-08-09T15:29:45.996-07:00Sore Loserman<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/1600/sore.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5252/163/320/sore.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I think it is obvious what my thoughts are on this matter. This election was Democracy in action. People Powered Politics. Entitlement deserves ZERO respect in a truly functioning Democracy. It is imperative for any elected official to always prove to their constituents that they deserve their vote. Obviously, Lieberman did not bother to do any real campaigning (he didn't even have buttons to hand out) since he felt he was entitled to be the Democratic nominee. Not only that, if he only made the simple statement that he would not run as an independent he might have won. (Look at the close margin) I believe plenty of folks turned against him when he started hedging his bets. An act of political cowardice- in my mind. Frankly, he lost me when he said it was detrimental to our security to criticize the executive branch of government, especially during war time. Not only did I find this to be a direct affront to Democracy itself, but also is a phrase ALWAYS sputtered by dictatorial governments.<br /><br />Mr. Lieberman. NO ONE IS ENTITLED TO ELECTED OFFICE. NO ONE!<br /><br /><a href="http://thismodernworld.com/3053">Hat Tip & Photo Link</a>:ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1154553764902568182006-08-02T14:20:00.000-07:002006-08-02T14:22:44.920-07:00Happy Belated BirthdayI can't believe I missed this. Happy belated Birthday Jerry!<br /><br /><object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RmWrpi4wngE"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RmWrpi4wngE" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmWrpi4wngE">YouTube Link</a>:<br /><br />Hat Tip: <a href="http://www.crooksandliars.com/posts/2006/08/01/cls-late-nite-music-club-with-jerry-garcia/">C&L</a>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1154464777814951382006-08-01T13:36:00.000-07:002006-08-01T13:39:37.823-07:00We Are Obviously in an Inflationary PeriodCore Inflation is at the highest levels in 11 years. Inflation is a reality the TV talking heads refuse to accept. Now, will they provide their viewers with a fair and unbalanced look at the economy? Do they have the moxie to say what is really happening? We are in a Bear Market.<br /><br />Read <a href="http://www.billcara.com/archives/2006/08/us_inflation_nu.html#more">Bill Cara</a>, you just should.ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1153454491290416002006-07-20T20:59:00.000-07:002006-07-21T16:05:53.176-07:00Not In This WorldSo far the game has a sense of being out of control with Hendrickson already giving up 2 doubles on 5 hits for 3 runs. He's not fooling anyone. We should be down by more, but, for some reason, we aren't. Meanwhile, we score one on a doubleplay that really just killed the inning. They gave up a run to end a threat. Now, it's the bottom of the 3rd inning with Arizona's Chad Tracy up to bat against the Dodgers. There are 2 outs. Hendrickson was able to strike out Johnson and got Estrada to hit into a grounder. Chad Tracy was the potential 3rd out- a 1 2 3 inning. Then, Hendrickson reached back and throws strike three. Dodgers up to bat. I bring up this moment not because of Hendrickson, but because of a foul ball during Chad Tracy's at bat.<br /><br />He hit a ball foul towards the 3rd base side that lands in the crowd along a railing separating a section of seats. Three folks in the crowd are chasing the ball as it bounces from section to section. A young boy, maybe 7 or 8 years old, is in wild pursuit. He almost had it in his grasp, but it fell down a small wall onto a lower area. It's just a few steps below closer to the ground. So the kid jumps down with all his might. An older kid, in his teen years, chases the offering from the other side. He runs down a short set of stairs and heads for the ball. A middle aged man, in his 40's, now has a lead on both of them. He was sitting in the lower section and gets to the corner just in time to snag the prize right in front of the young kid. The child had jumped from the ledge and landed just as the old man took the leather.<br /><br />This happens all the time at ballgames. It's like survival of the fittest out there. Folks will jump over seats and people to get the ball. But this moment was different. As the old man grabbed the ball the young boy stared in disbelief. He thought he had it and some grown up had taken it away. The look on his eyes was something to behold. He just continued to stare. Then, his expression changed from disbelief to hope. Would the old man do the neighborly thing? Give it to the kid. Would he provide endless moment of happiness for a child just learning the world? The old man stood up, turned around and walked back to his seat.<br /><br />Then, Vin Scully, the Dodger television broadcast announcer, made a comment that was both biting and true. He said, "not in this world young man."<br /><br />Not In This World.<br /><br />The sage had spoken.ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1152400065315337022006-07-08T16:06:00.000-07:002006-07-08T16:07:45.330-07:00We Didn't Start the Fire<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/L0iKYlb1pbI"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/L0iKYlb1pbI" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26743316.post-1151537158859679282006-06-28T16:23:00.000-07:002006-06-28T16:26:43.893-07:00Hump Day! Star Trek Oldies and GoodiesThis is funny. Now, I'm not a big Start Trek fan, but Bert sure is! This is for you Bro.<br /><br /><i><a href="http://gorenfeld.net/john/?p=54">Found on John Gorenfeld's Blog</a>: <blockquote>The Summer of 1994 my Mother and I went to Orlando to Universal Studios, a trip I had wanted to have for a long time prior if for no other reason but to go on the Back To The Future ride. While we were there we found a video souvenir place that can put you ‘into the movies’. All they had was Star Trek and though I was a modest fan of the films I wanted to do it anyway, problem was this required two people, one for the role of Captain and one as the Vulcan. My Mother really didn’t want to do it but it was that or some stranger from the park be in my video so I convinced her to do be the Vulcan…</blockquote><br /><br /><div adblocktab="true" style="overflow: visible; display: block; position: relative; width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; top: 0px; z-index: 65535; opacity: 0.5;"><div style="border-style: ridge; border-width: 2px 2px 0px; display: block; position: relative; left: -70px; top: -18px; width: 66px; height: 16px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 0px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; direction: ltr;">Adblock</div></div><div adblocktab="true" style="overflow: visible; display: block; position: relative; width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; top: 0px; z-index: 65535; opacity: 0.5;"><div style="border-style: ridge; border-width: 2px 2px 0px; display: block; position: relative; left: -70px; top: -18px; width: 66px; height: 16px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 0px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; direction: ltr;">Adblock</div></div><div adblocktab="true" style="overflow: visible; display: block; position: relative; width: 0px; height: 0px; left: 0px; padding-left: 0px; top: 0px; z-index: 65535; opacity: 0.5;"><div style="border-style: ridge; border-width: 2px 2px 0px; display: block; position: relative; left: -70px; top: -18px; width: 66px; height: 16px; -moz-border-radius-topright: 10px; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 10px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 0px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 0px; background-color: white; color: black; cursor: pointer; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; direction: ltr;">Adblock</div></div><object height="350" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ISihtIMvRSc"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ISihtIMvRSc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="350" width="425"></object><br /><br /><br /></i>ernesthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16702907938750062750noreply@blogger.com0