Guard Dog

Yup that is true. They were introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.) and Sen. **** Durbin (D-Ill.) in 2009-2010 when the Dems held the cards. Obama mentioned his support of the Durbin Bill in his SotU address in 2010. Since the Repubs took over the House in early this year those bills are Dead On Arrival, thankfully. But Obama would have signed them had they passed before the 2010 elections. And it would have caused the cost of food to go up even more, hurting people financially even more. Obama and others in the government are not evil people. They do not sit around and dream up ways to harm the people financially or otherwise. But they often do out of sheer ignorance coupled with good intentions. They biggest part of the Libertarian political philosophy is that a smaller government will hurt you less. The problem with career politicians is that they lack any real understanding of what they are governing. The biggest problem with the US political system now is not Republican or Democrats, or even the choice of one or the other. We have allowed the creation of an entire class of people who do nothing but govern. They have no concept of how an economy works because they do not participate in it. They have never had a real job, had to meet a payroll, had to manage a hosehold on a limited income. This is where I could trot out the term limits argument but that is futile, they will never pass it. The political class really has become the tail wagging the dog. Just look at the whole Jon Wiener debacle for an example of how out of control it has become.

I sure hope they are all the same. I'd hate to think we really were knee deep in communists.

The price increases were on food and consumables. There are several reasons why there has been a price increase. First the cost of gasoline & diesel. Everything is delivered by truck, higher transport costs means higher price. Second, ethanol demands have driven up the price of corn (something you must have heard of considering where you are these days). That drives up the price of beef, cooking oil, etc. Neither of those two could really be attributed to Obama. Well, he has (illegally) placed a moratorium on domestic oil exploration in the gulf and Dakota shale fields. This has effectively decreased the supply of oil for fuel refinements so while he did not drive up the price he has certainly not helped bring it down. Quite the opposite. His administration has also refused to permit refinery construction too so that also reduces the supply of fuel for purchase which drives up or at the very least freezes the price. For all his talk of reducing dependency on foreign oil he has done the exact opposite. He has increased it and even gone so far as to force US companies to buy refined fuel from Mexico for the first time in our history. Right now there are two bills in Congress that he favors that will introduce some 6,000 new regulations and compliance rules on all domestic food farms. Compliance with these will drive up the cost of food and quite probably drive a number of smaller private farms out of business. That will decrease the supply and drive up the cost even more. Ironically the big "Agri-Business" corporations he rails against will benefit the most. Small wonder he accepts millions of dollars in donations from them.

Jon Huntsman is in. http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/...eech/?hpt=hp_t2 Keep moving, nothing to see here.

Taken as a whole I think they did a very good job with Season 1. There are a few things left out that were important and a few things added that gave a nice depth to the characters so all in all it's a positive. Looking forward to next spring. GRRM had better pick up the pace. If they keep it going and he keeps up a five year cycle on each book they will catch him before book six comes out.

I like it cooked until just a little burned then served on a big buttermilk biscuit. Mmmmm

Do you ever get the feeling that the current American administration might be just a tad hostile to British interests?

That he was the first American to enter Paris during the liberation is just part of his legend.

Hey, man, we have souls. The title to them may or may not be clouded by remainder interests subject to contractual conditions subsequent, but nearly every lawyer I know still retains present possessory rights of enjoyment of that particular asset. Except divorce lawyers. Even you have to admit they deserve a beating. Anyone who takes such cruel delight in the ruin and suffering of their fellow human beings deserves bad things. Eh, I think the malice comes from the divorcee's not the lawyers. You might gain a new perspective on that one day. I hope not. My wife and I were heading for a fairly peaceful split until she got that miserable money grubbing parasite of a lawyer.

We'll I can't kick out the heavy drinker because I'd have to kick myself out too. The ones somking pot won't hurt anyone, the worst thing they'll do is eat all the chips & dip. Now the ones doing coke & acid, they might be trouble. There are many scenarios where it might become necassary to kick their asses so I'd rather head off trouble right away and show then the door right off.

Hey, man, we have souls. The title to them may or may not be clouded by remainder interests subject to contractual conditions subsequent, but nearly every lawyer I know still retains present possessory rights of enjoyment of that particular asset. Except divorce lawyers. Even you have to admit they deserve a beating. Anyone who takes such cruel delight in the ruin and suffering of their fellow human beings deserves bad things.

So far Herman Cain is the one I have like the most. But I've got nothing against Romney. I'm not a fan of Pawlenty, don't know much about Bachman, and Ron Paul has too many bad associations. Gingrich is a buffoon, Santorum a democrat disguised as a republican, and Jon Huntsman is too vanilla. Palin will not run (thankfully) neither will Christie (too bad) or Thune. Rick Perry might, I could get behind hime if he did. Huckabee is an idiot and Guliani will never appeal to the Red States. Right now I'm supporting Cain and I think a Romney/Cain ticket would be formidable. But honestly, I'd take Micky Mouse over the fool we have now.

Doh, typo on my part. I was in a rush when I typed all that. I actually cut & pasted from a post I made on a different forum but I did not proofread it obviously.

Now reading Through My Eyes by NFL Quarterback and former Florida Gator Tim Tebow. It's about what you'd expect. Writing an autobiography at the age of 26 is not an act of humility. Therefore it defies reason that a man who does it should try to come off as humble in his book. But somehow he does it. Also reading Islands in the Stream by Hemingway. He is one of my favorite writers but this is not his best stuff. Also re-reading A Clash of Kings, by you know who. Getting refreshed for the bigh release of Dance with Dragons next month.

True story. I was driving through Montgomery Alabama about 15-16 years ago and I heard about a grand prize for being the 5th caller to a radio show. The prize was your weight in spam. And to think, cell phones were uncommon back then! My loss I guess.

But it's fun. Sort of.

Short answer Amortization is the differential between equity & interest in intagible assets. For example if I bought a radio tower on a 10 year mortgage for $10 million and leased it out for 15 million for 10 years I'd have a 75% amortization on that income for the duration. Now the tower itself will decrease in value over that 10 years, that is call depreciation. They are different things. Debt/Equity is the ratio of capital a company have to it's liabilties. If I have $100M in assets and $300k in debt then my D/E is 30%

Ok, there has been no secret of my hostility to Obama. He is a walking disaster of a President. Top it off with the fact that he is arrogant, condescending and disdainful of his country and countrymen. But really lets just look at the results of his presidency: When he took office in 2009 unemplyoment was ay a 20 year high of 7.6%. It is now close to 10% When he took office, the number of "long-term unemployed" in the United States was approximately 2.6 million. Today, that number is up to 6.2 million. When he became president, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States was $1.83. Today it is $3.89. This causes the price of food, clothes, everything to increase. Food and consumables have increased in price by 29% since 2008. In January 2009, there were nearly 32 million Americans on food stamps. Today, there are more than 44 million on food stamps. According to the U.S. Census, the number of children living in poverty has gone up by about 2 million in just the past 2 years. When Barack Obama took office, the U.S. national debt was 10.6 trillion dollars. Today it is 14.3 trillion dollars. It took the US 230 years to accumulate $10.6T, Obama almost doubled it in just three years The federal government has borrowed 29,660 more dollars per household since Barack Obama signed the economic stimulus law two years ago. To sum up the last two lines, Barack Obama and the 111th Congress added more to the U.S. national debt than the first 100 U.S. Congresses and first 43 Presidents combined. The combined debt of the major GSEs (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Sallie Mae) has increased from 3.2 trillion in 2008 to 6.4 trillion in 2011. The US Govt now has a financial stake in 63% of ALL home loans. Under Obama, the U.S. trade deficit continues to grow. The trade deficit was about 33 percent larger in 2010 than it was in 2009, and the 2011 trade deficit is expected to be even bigger. Only 66.8% of American men had a job last year. That was the lowest level that has ever been recorded in all of U.S. history. In 2010, more than a million U.S. families lost their homes to foreclosure for the first time ever, and that number is expected to go even higher in 2011. This is because of Dodd-Frank and the CRA. The U.S. real estate crisis just continues to get worse. During the first three months of this year, less new homes were sold in the U.S. than in any three month period ever recorded. The U.S. dollar has fallen by 17 percent compared to other major national currencies since 2009. The Fed has intentionally allowed this to happen. The Weimar Republic DID THE SAME THING. Because of this the Chinese are rapidly dumping U.S. government debt. That is not a good sign. When Barack Obama first took office, an ounce of gold was going for about $850. Today an ounce of gold cost $1523.00. All of the money driving up the Gold price used to be invested in business. For the first time in history the US government is forcing to the people to buy a commodity it has control of. If any other entity did this it would be a crime. My sources for the above are posted below. I don't care who wins the Republican nomination in 2012, I'm voting for them. Obama is an unmitigated disaster. http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archive...very-single-day http://www.goldprice.org/ http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2009/feb/wk2/art02.htm http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2009/feb/wk2/art02.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archive...-getting-better http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/gov-t-...5-household-oba http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/111th-...-debt-first-100 http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article27872.html http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cr...-116298504.html China divesting US treasuries

I don't use it, never have (I think). But It's not my place to tell someone else they can't and I don't want a government telling someone else they can't on my behalf.

Odd you should say so. Except for some flowery and conciliatory speeches Obama has followed the exact same foreign policy as Bush did. In 2008 after the election if I told you by 2011 we would be involed in three shooting wars and begining a fourth would you have believed me?

Krez, I realize you do not consider me a credible source of info about...well anything, however this is a subject I know a little about and have enjoyed some success at. I have not looked hard at IBM or any other "tech" stock but I hope you are not buying in because you are hoping for another Apple like growth trend. If so you might as well by lottery tickets. Two thing to look for in a stock, 1) EBITA, Earnings Before Interest Tax Amortiztion. This is the 1# measure of the comapy's profitability. 2) Debt service or debt to equity ratio. Apple was a smart buy in 2003 because it's debt service was only 14% (under 30% is good). IBM according to Forbes has a EBITA of 23.3% and a D/E of 89%. Granted there is more to dertermining if this is a bad thing because you need to analyze just what their debt encompasses but at first look that does not get my juices flowing. My best advice to you based on your risk tolerance is buying into a real commodity (but NOT gold, it is way over price. In fact I've been selling my gold of late). Their demand is high with all of the economic unertainty and they are largely immune from inflation concerns. Silver or copper are solid bets right now. I would avoid currency or any government bond right not, no matter whose it is. If you are looking at stocks in the US choose one with a low debt service that is offering a product or service that will not be impacted by instability in the US govt. Just my $.02. I took the money I recived from my gold divestment and bought real estate over in Nashville & Murfesboro. The price has never been better and it won't stay that way forever.

You gotta love Sean Bean, it turns out he gets stabbed in a bar fight over a woman last night and intead of going to the hospital he goes back into the bar and orders another drink. Huzzah! http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/...y-model-report/

In Alaska it is legal to have and use MJ under a certain quantity. It is illegal to sell it, go figure, but it is legal to have it. I've never bought the argument that MJ use leads t other drugs or increases in crime. No one ever got stoned and killed their wife. The probably got stoned and forgot to kill their wife. I am of course all for legalization because it is not the proper place of the government to tell you what you can and can not have like some evil nanny.

Here are two little surprises. While I was getting dressed for work this morning I had CNN on the TV, they actually ran a segment on how shocked viewers were and what a unexpected twist this was. Then on the way to work they were actually taking calls about it on the radio on WEGR. I guess it is a pretty poular show after all. A lot of folks said they were never watching again but I said the same thing after I read that part in Book 1 and again after you-know-what in Book 3. But here I am ready and waiting for book 5.

I would put the story of Saint George and the dragon as a parable to this situation. They were sold by their governments but can you say without doubt that they weren't coerced into it? You of all people have in idea of what life is like in a place where people have no rights and suffer the predations and whims of their government. I don't know who is more despicable, the Guatemalan official who accepted the deal, of the US official who arranged it. Actually I could say the same thing about slavery in pre-civil war America. Who was worse, the slavers who captured and sold the slaves or the country that allowed them to be purchased and worked to death? I could not say.