Mover Mike

The latest Early Warning Report written by Richard Maybury came today and has the fascinating observation that President Bush is back to warning about meddling in other countries. This was the reason people in the Middle East hate us and seems to go along with the thoughts of Michael Scheuer, author of Through Our Enemies' Eyes, that Osama bin Laden hates the U.S. for three reasons: We are allies with Israel; we have sullied the holy land of Saudi Arabia; and we have supported dictators and despots that have killed and robbed Muslim people of their freedoms.

On August 7th President Bush and Secretary of State Rice Discuss the Middle East Crisis in Crawford, Texas:

And as far as this administration is concerned, we clearly see the problem and we're going to continue to work to advance stable, free countries. We don't expect every country to look like the United States, but we do want countries to accept some basic conditions for a vibrant society -- human rights, human decency, the power of the people to determine the fate of their governments. And, admittedly, this is hard work because it flies in the face of previous policy, which basically says stability is more important than form of government. And as a result of that policy, anger and resentment bubbled forth with an attack, with a series of attacks, the most dramatic of which was on September the 11th.

On August 31st President Bush Addresses American Legion National Convention at Salt Lake City, Utah:

To understand the struggle unfolding in the Middle East, we need to look at the recent history of the region. For a half- century, America's primary goal in the Middle East was stability. This was understandable at the time; we were fighting the Soviet Union in the Cold War, and it was important to support Middle Eastern governments that rejected communism. Yet, over the decades, an undercurrent of danger was rising in the Middle East. Much of the region was mired in stagnation and despair. A generation of young people grew up with little hope to improve their lives, and many fell under the sway of radical extremism. The terrorist movement multiplied in strength, and resentment that had simmered for years boiled over into violence across the world.

On September 9th President Bush Discusses Global War on Terror in Washington, D.C.:

Fifth, we're working to deny terrorists new recruits, by defeating their hateful ideology and spreading the hope of freedom -- by spreading the hope of freedom across the Middle East. For decades, American policy sought to achieve peace in the Middle East by pursuing stability at the expense of liberty. The lack of freedom in that region helped create conditions where anger and resentment grew, and radicalism thrived, and terrorists found willing recruits. And we saw the consequences on September the 11th, when the terrorists brought death and destruction to our country. The policy wasn't working.

In checking his latest pronouncement about the Middle East and Iraq, President Bush changes the message subtly when he discusses Global War on Terror in Washington, D.C.:

Iraq is not the reason the terrorists are at war against us. They are at war against us because they hate everything America stands for -- and we stand for freedom. We stand for people to worship freely. One of the great things about America is, you're equally American if you're a Jew, a Muslim, a Christian, an agnostic or an atheist. What a powerful statement to the world about the compassion of the American people that you're free to choose the religion you want in our country. They can't stand the thought that people can go into the public square in America and express their differences with government. They can't stand the thought that the people get to decide the future of our country by voting. Freedom bothers them because their ideology is the opposite of liberty, it is the opposite of freedom. And they don't like it because we know they know we stand in their way of their ambitions in the Middle East, their ambitions to spread their hateful ideology as a caliphate from Spain to Indonesia.

Bush seems to be reflecting the divide in this country. On the one hand they hate us for the stability we sought in the Cold War by supporting despots which deprived their young people of economic development that produced simmering anger. On the other hand it is a clash of civilizations. They hate us for the freedoms we enjoy. Freedom of religion, speech and thought, but also the freedom to be morally corrupt.

Maybe, Bush is trying to get the people of this country united against the terrorists. The more liberal blame the anger on poverty and people like me blame it on the religion of Islam. If we are to be successful, we need to be primarily speaking with one voice.

Early Warning Report Richard Maybury Michael Scheuer Through Our Enemies' Eyes Israel Iraq Mover Mike

At halftime it's Oregon 24 to 3 and Oregon's luck continues to hold in instant replay. A called fumble by the refs with Oregon losing the ball is challenged by Coach Bellotti and call is reversed. Oregon with 5 seconds to go kicks field goal. Meanwhile Oregon state is trailing 28 31 zip in first half. Are you getting nervous Riley?

Oregon Oregon State PAC 10 Football Mover Mike

Update:

Studio 60 had a musical sketch featuring the music from the the Major General's song from the Pirates of Penzance. It is a popular format for comedy, parody and education. Here are some examples:

Mike Stanfill, Private Hand - Flash Animation - The Elements, by Tom Lehrer

The Buff Barbarian Song

How about a cartoon character:I am the Very Model of a Cartoon Individual Sung to I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General from The Pirates of Penzance

Yakko:
I am the very model of a cartoon individual
My animation's comical, unusual and whimsical
I'm quite adept at funny gags; comedic theory I have read
From wicked puns and stupid jokes to anvils that drop on your head. I'm very good at fancy dances; I can even pirouette
Then smack the villain with a fish; I know my cartoon etiquette
I can make my face all mean and really give you quite a fright
Then make up with flowers made of real exploding dynamite.

When in a jam I just yell "stop" and villains in their tracks are froze
Then I sneak up and utter "start" and take my hands and honk their nose
I am quite proud to be in such a hierarchial progeny
From Daffy Duck and Tweety Bird to Babs and Buster Bunny.

To suit my mood I can call forth a lot of different sceneries
Like outer space and desert scapes and Himalayan eateries
From this bag here why I can pull most anything imaginable
Like office desks and lava lights and Bert who is a cannibal.

YW+D:
You see, in matters comical, unusual, and whimsical
We are the very model of cartoon individuals!

Then there's David Hyde Pierce's Monologue on SNL:

Oh, Kelsey is our show's big star, I'm number two, that's only fair
'Cause he deserves it, even though I'm young and thin and have more hair."

[ four soldiers from the general's army return to repeat the last two lines in song ]

Soldiers: [ singing ]
"Kelsey is the show's big star, he's number two, that's only fair
'Cause he deserves it, even though he's young and thin and has more hair."

While I have not found the transcript of Studio 60's version of the Major General's song from Pirates of Penzance, here is the movie version starring Kevin Cline:

Studio 60 NBC Major General's song Pirates of Penzance Mover Mike

Update:

MAP 1.6 2006/09/29 00:43:23 45.068 -122.834 26.6 3 km ( 2 mi) W of Mount Angel, OR

Robert Novak, in his free newsletter makes several points about the new book Hubris by David Corn and Michael Isikoff: For example why wasn't Armitage prosecuted by the Special prosecuter Fitzgearld?

...Corn never comes to grips with the fact that Armitage could not be prosecuted under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act because (Valerie) Plame was not a covert operative under terms of the law.

I have contended for some time that Valerie Plame was already "out" when Armitage leaked her name.

This 463-page book that is endlessly discursive does not acknowledge this distinction, nor does it seriously consider that she was no longer assigned to foreign missions because her cover already had been broken. It never even mentions the report that Mrs. Wilson had been outed long ago by the traitor Aldrich Ames.

I have always contended the MSM wanted Wilson to be telling the truth to further the belief that we were lied to by President Bush about the need to go into Iraq

The book's effort to cleanse Wilson stoops to deception, including the omission of Wilson's political activism such as his giving and his campaign activities as an advisor to Al Gore in 2000. This surely was known to the authors, who chose to ignore it. And this kind of omission is typical. Also missing is the July 2004 report by the Senate Intelligence Committee's Republicans, unchallenged by the Democratic minority, which undermined Wilson's conclusions from his African mission and undercut his insistence that his wife did not suggest him to the CIA for that mission. After that report, Wilson disappeared from the Kerry-for-President campaign — something that also goes unmentioned in this book.

The newsletter covers some other subjects. Such as the William Clinton eruption on the Chris Wallace show was planned, to get Democrats to stop being wusses in reaction to Republicans.
The declassification of the NIE report:

Bush described the recent partial leak of the NIE — first released in April — as a political ploy in an election season. This gives him two lines that resonate with both his base and independent voters: The leaking of classified information is wrong, and the media have behaved irresponsibly in participating in it in the first place, and even more so with a partial leak.

Many of us have been saying that the MSM and Democrats publicise information that is half the truth which has the effect of demoralizing the war effort and giving aid and comfort to our enemies. There is a difference between free speech and aid and comfort intended to sway voters in this country. I am personally happy, if Novak's take is correct, that Bush is finally taking on the MSM; fighting them with the whole story.

Robert NovakMichael Isikoff David Corn Hubris Valerie Plame Joseph Wilson NIE Report Mover Mike

Update:

MAP 2.4 2006/09/27 17:58:21 45.575 -121.591 6.7 6 km ( 4 mi) N of Parkdale, OR

MAP 1.8 2006/09/23 06:36:53 45.575 -122.578 21.6 3 km ( 2 mi) NNW of Maywood Park, OR

MAP 3.9 2006/09/23 05:44:59 42.971 -126.640 10.0 176 km (110 mi) W of Port Orford, OR

You know who you are who resorts to ad hominum Ad hominem attacks on the ideas you read here in this blog saying, "You get all your ideas from Drudge!" As if that taints anything I post. I deny it, it is not true, but you think that's an easy putdown of what I write here at Mover Mike.

Well here's news from Drudge:

In the stampede of books attempting to make their mark this season comes THE WAY TO WIN, by longtime political reporters Halperin and Harris.

The political director of ABCNEWS and the national politics editor of the WASHINGTON POST make it official in their new insider tome on DC politics and how it's played: The four words in every newsroom and campaign headquarters are: Have you seen DRUDGE? (emphasis added)

[...]

Halperin and Harris explain: "So many media elites check the DRUDGE REPORT consistently that a reporter is aware his bosses, his competitors, his sources, his friends on Wall Street, lobbyists, White House officials, congressional aides, cousins, and everyone who is anyone has seen it, too."

I am proud of visiting Drudge many times a day. His headlines send me scampering to the sources and you have to know that others are doing it as well!

When you say, "You get all your ideas from Drudge!", I can resort to an ad hominum Ad hominem attack as easily as you: I smell stupidity, you naive little girl!

Get the book. Don't take my word or Matt Drudge's word for it:

Matt DrudgeDrudge Report ABCNEWS WASHINGTON POST Mover Mike

Update:

Ok I exercised my venom so I have exorcised "naive little girl with a "strike through" I am not alone when it comes to stupidity. I believe it was Mark Twain who said: I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with the unarmed. "I smell stupidity" is more succinct.

Update:

From Wikipedia about the political affiliation of Mark Halperin:

One such allegation of misleading balance came from Mark Halperin, political director of ABC News. He stated in an internal e-mail message that reporters should not "artificially hold [George W. Bush and John Kerry] 'equally' accountable" to the public interest, and that complaints from Bush supporters were an attempt to "get away with ... renewed efforts to win the election by destroying Senator Kerry."

When the Drudge Report published this message[13], many Bush supporters viewed it as "smoking gun" evidence that Halperin was using ABC to propagandize against Bush to Kerry's benefit, by interfering with reporters' attempts to avoid bias. An academic content analysis of election news later found that coverage at ABC, CBS, and NBC was more favorable toward Kerry than Bush, while coverage at Fox News Channel was more favorable toward Bush.[1]

Update:

Studio 60 has the freshest writing my wife and I have watched in a long time.

You talk "no spin", NBC has delivered a strong show that just might change some things at the networks.

No spin on the fact that the director relapsed and tested positively for "blow" and couldn't get a job directing a movie for 18 months. No excuses, he told the truth, it didn't reflect well on him, let's deal with it and move on.

The writers came up with a very funny sketch called "Crazy Christians". The original producer was fired because he tried to run it. The new boys were hired and were made a promise that they could run it. The network president kept her word even though some affiliates said they wouldn't run the show. Some advertisers withdrew. The sketch was funny, but before it ran the cast circled up and said a heartfelt prayer to Jesus of which any Christian would be proud. (Stay tuned. It's one thing to do a Crazy Christian sketch. Can they do a Crazy Muslim sketch?) And the advertisers who want back in when the show suceeds will pay 120% of their old fee as a form of coward's penalty.

We must get a transcript of the lyrics to the opening sung to the Major-General's Song from The Pirates of Penzance.!

Studio 60 stars Matthew Perry, Bradley Whitford, Amanda Peet, Steven Weber, Sarah Paulson, D.L Hughley, Timothy Busfield, Nathan Corddry, and Aaron Sorkin, formerly of West Wing, as Exec Producer.

Studio 60 Aaron Sorkin NBCCrazy Christians Mover Mike

Update:

If you want to read about your favorite TV show, check out tvsquad.com, it's all about blogging television and this post about Studio 60.

Gov. Ted Kulongoski is running for re-election and he has just come up with some "bread and circuses" to win the hearts of Oregon voters. Here is the problem as outlined on his website:

More than 117,000 Oregon children live without health insurance. They lack access to doctors, medicine, eyeglasses, asthma inhalers, and the other health care services people with insurance take for granted. Nearly half these children may be eligible for coverage under one of Oregon’s existing public programs, but they are not enrolled. Thousands more are from working families who earn too much to qualify for those programs, but not enough to pay for private insurance.

Here is the Governor's Healthy Kids Plan:

Provide every child in Oregon access to the health care he or she needs to grow into a happy, productive adult.

How much will this plan cost the residents of Oregon?

The Governor’s proposal funds the Healthy Kids Plan with federal, state and other fund revenue sources, maximizing federal revenue available to the state. The Healthy Kids Plan will cost up to $292 million more than what the state currently spends on kids’ health coverage every biennium (approximately $110 million state dollars and $182 million federal match).

Where will this money come from? The Governor today has proposed an increased cigarette tax that will bring the state's tax on cigarettes level with Washington and raise $160 million that will be used for the Healthy Kids Plan.

Has anyone hanging around the governor suggested that users of cigarettes may quit or smoke less and that the tax will not raise $160 million?
Has anyone close to the governor whispered in his ear that this will mean we have a vested interest in keeping smokers smoking?

And if it is our intent to maximise the number of smokers to provide $160 million, has anyone tripped to the notion that with all that secondary smoke there will be more kids in need of health care?

I smell stupidity!

Gov. Ted Kulongoski Healthy Kids Plan Cigarettes Oregon Mover Mike

I had an amazing experience Sunday. My wife and I and our friends from Central Oregon decided to hike the five mile circumferance of Clear Lake.

...created volcanically, Clear Lake boasts some very clear, blue water.

Clear Lake is fed by snow run-off that passes through miles of volcanic rock, coming into the lake virtually pure. And being a few degrees above freezing, it doesn't harbor much in the way of algae. A hike around the north end of the lake brings you to this treasure: Great Springs, where the clear water just flows out of the rock, to the delight of the butterflies that land there to drink.

We started the hike at Clear Lake Resort and joined the trail moving clockwise. Soon we were in an old growth forest and could from time to time get a peek at the clear, blue lake. One stop gave us a great view of the three sisters towering above the lake. It's an easy trail, relatively level until you reach the old lava flows where the lake starts from underwater springs. We had Ralph, our Golder Retriever with us, and every chance he got would go for a swim in the frigid water. I could see ahead that while only about five miles around, that five miles looked like quite a distance arounf to the other side.

About half way into the hike I started to worry, needlessly, that we could be out here until dark, if we didn't pick up the pace. I got into a rhythm and my friend Bill said don't let us hold you back. So Ralph and I stepped out. Through the lava fields, we walked, studded with vine maples draped in their yellow and red fall colors. At about the three mile mark we came to a bridge that crosses the MacKenzie river and the trail started rising back to the resort.

Ralph and I were moving as fast as I could walk. Arms swinging with each step, I marveled that my thighs weren't protesting the steady climb. It felt so good to be alive! On we walked. The pace seemed slow, so I broke into a jog and still no thigh problem. My shirt was soaked, the sun was giving my back a gentle push and my heart hardly moved above an idle. Only in my dreams have I had jogs like this. I waited ten minutes before my friends met me back at the car, where I handed them a cold beer.

I just returned from Central Oregon and I could hardly wait to tell this story: My friend Connie and her husband planned a two week road-trip taking in Sacramento, then Arizona (down around Yuma) back up through Las Vegas and home. Connie loves Australian Shepherds and someday planned to get an Aussie that would be her dog. She even had a name picked out: Nel.

The couple started out planning to drive to Klamath Falls, on through Weed, Nevada and then to Redding, California. They were making great time so they passed an staying the night in any of those cities and instead aimed for Red Bluff, 30 minutes from Redding. Connie wanted a cup of coffee. When in Red Bluff in the past, they always stopped at a little independent coffee shop. When they arrived in Red Bluff, they noticed a sign that advertised the fact that Starbucks was now open. They searched all over and couldn't find the store so changed their mind and started back for their familiar coffee kiosk. Connie's husband, Bill, said he'd get her coffee and be right back.

While he was standing in line a man in a pickup drove up and Bill noticed in the bed of the truck were two black and white Aussie Shepherds. He asked the man if those were working dogs. They got into quite a discussion about the breed and the high quality of these particular dogs. Bill mentioned that he was interested in buying another dog, but these dogs were too old. He was interested in a dog much younger. The pickup driver said you might want to take a look at his third dog. Bill could see only three two.

The third dog, the man said, was hiding under a tool box. Bill went with the man to take a look and there in the bed of the truck was a very friendly brown and white female about four months old. "How much you asking for the pup," said Bill and was told $100. That is a very good price for a Aussie with good blood lines, so Bill called Connie over and for Connie it was love at first sight. Bill paid the man and asked him if he could hold onto the dog until they passed back through on their way home. "Sure, no problem!" Connie asked if he had named the pup. Most pups don't get named by breeders.

"Well", the guy says, I named her Nel!"

Update:

Australian Shepherds Mover Mike

Update:

Quick poll for you:

Which party, Democratic or Republican is identified more with the NRA?
Which party, Democratic or Republican, is favored by people who believe in the right to bear arms?
Which party, Democratic or Republican is identified with gun control?
What West Coast liberal city voted for the nation's toughest ban on handguns by making it illegal for city residents to possess them?

I ask because I just received my email from Kari Chisholm of Blue Oregon. She He hosts an article written by Zak Johnson of Portland, Oregon. Zak is one of the co-founders of the Gun Owners Caucus of the Democratic Party of Oregon. Johnson quotes Jason Brown (Democratic nominee for Oregon House District 23)

"I'm a Quaker and would never personally own a gun," said Brown. "But it's [the right to bear arms] in the Constitution and there's a reason it's in there. It's what supports the right of the people to change their government."

Johnson continues:

Exactly. Supporting the 2nd Amendment is the key to supporting the rest of the Constitution. And supporting the Constitution--as it is written--is the key to supporting our national identity and the rule of law.

At this point I started laughing at the Democratic Party. The article already told us that according to Al Gore's campaign spokesman, Doug Hattaway,

Gore lost his home state of Tennessee--along with the rest of the South and the Intermountain West...because of the gun issue.

Further Montana Democratic Chairman Bob Ream has said, that people think we want to take their guns away. (Answer Please: It was San Francisco that voted for the nation's toughest ban on handguns.)

Why, the Democratic Party of Oregon (DPO) last year passed Resolution 2005-008. It states in part:

Section 1. To recognize and support the right to keep and bear arms in Article 1 Section 27 of the Oregon State Constitution and the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America as an individual right not granted by the government, but rather guaranteed by the government.

Section 2. In recognition of the tremendous personal responsibility engendered by the right to keep and bear arms, the Democratic Party of Oregon further advocates severe penalties and their enforcement for criminal use or misuse of the right.

Bottom line the DPO thinks because they passed Resolution 2005-008, you will identify the Democratic Party as the party that will protect your 2nd Amendment rights and the party that supports the Constitution--as it is written.

Are you laughing as hard as I am?

Kari Chisholm Blue Oregon 2nd Amendment Democratic Party Mover Mike

Update:

Trying to correct the claims by the rabid liberals can be a full time job for we bloggers. I am pleased to join others and again be able to correct CBS. Back on April 23, Tyler Drumheller, a former chief of the CIA's Europe division, in a "60 Minutes" interview made a sensational charge.

He claimed that President Bush and his White House ignored intelligence before the invasion of Iraq indicating that Saddam Hussein had no weapons of mass destruction. Liberals love this kind mantra: Bush had his mind made up when he was elected the first time, that he was going to invade Iraq to revenge the attempted assassination of his father. He lied about WMDs. "Bush lied, people died." Drumheller did his job, claiming intelligence told Bush the truth and was ignored.

In a story by Ronald Kessler at NewsMax,

Now it appears Drumheller's claim was untrue, according to the findings of a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence investigation. Rather than undercutting the Bush administration's rationale for invading Iraq, (Naji Sabri, the then Iraqi foreign minister)'s account shows how well-founded the intelligence on Saddam's weapons program appeared to be.

Ironically, just as Drumheller claimed that Bush ignored the truth about Iraq, the media have ignored the documentation in the Senate report demolishing Drumheller's claim.

An addenda to the Senate report on postwar findings about Iraq's WMD program says all the operational documents relating to Sabri indicate he told the CIA just the opposite of what Drumheller claimed. The Senate report refers to Sabri as a source with direct access to Saddam Hussein and his inner circle but does not name him.

"Both the operations cable and the intelligence report prepared for high-level policy-makers [based on interrogation of the source] said that while Saddam Hussein did not have a nuclear weapon, 'he was aggressively and covertly developing such a weapon,'" the Senate report said.

[...]

Moreover, there is "not a single document relating to this case which indicates that the source said Iraq had no WMD programs," the addenda said. "On the contrary, all of the information about this case so far indicates that the information from this source was that Iraq did have WMD programs."

I am constantly amazed at the liberals claiming that Bush lied about WMDs, when their own Democratic party officials, since the first Gulf War claimed Iraq had WMDs. The UN passed resolution after resolution demanding Iraq give up WMDs and even imposed sanctions as leverage to get Iraq to comply. Some claim that 1.2 Million people (or children) died as a consequence of those sanctions under the Clinton administration. Yet they make such outrageous claims against this president and ignore their own party's declarastions.

Let me just say, liberals get your head out of your ass. We are in Iraq for the right reasons. The UN which you so love, made demands/threats and it was Bush and a handful of supporters that backed the resolutions with military power. Once again, the UN is called on to deal with an Iran that wants to go nuclear. The UN believes in non-proliferation and makes demands/threats, but will not lift a finger to seek compliance. Once again, only Bush and a handful of supporters are left with just military power to force compliance. Shame on all you liberals!

Tyler DrumhellerNaji Sabri Iraqe Iran Ronald Kessler Mover Mike

Thanks to France and it's arab sympathies, that go back to the time prior to the establishment of Israel, the world community has no leverage over ending the nuclear ambitions of Iran.

"There will be no war against Iran," Chirac is reported to have told a special emissary of the Islamic Republic who visited him in Paris last week. "Anything other than negotiations would be resolutely opposed by France."

[...]

Chirac dropped the only condition that the 5+1 group - the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany - had demanded of Teheran as a prelude to negotiations.

So Iran does not have to do anything to demonstrate good faith and Russia and China have ruled out sanctions. If...if, the world's goal is to keep Iran from joining the nuclear club, we have no bargaining power. That leaves WAR AS THE ONLY CREDIBLE OPTION. I suspect Ahmadinejad, based on years of U.S. history, does not take the U.S. seriously and I suspect that once again the U.S, will be facing Iran with relatively few public backers.

FranceIran Nuclear Proliferation Mover Mike

Yesterday, in a post about the inverted yield curve, I said the yield curve was signaling a recession is coming.

Today the Philly Fed says

Manufacturing in the Philadelphia region stalled in September, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported Thursday. The Philly Fed diffusion index plunged to -0.4 in September from 18.5 in August. This is the first negative since April 2003. Readings below zero indicate contraction. The decline was much larger than expected. Economists were expecting the index to slip only to 14.3, according to a MarketWatch survey.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve RecessionYield Curve Mover Mike

MAP 2.3 2006/09/20 21:10:24 45.140 -122.552 2.7 2 km ( 1 mi) ESE of Molalla, OR

Oregon Earthquake Molalla Mover Mike

We have an inverted or negative yield curve!

Inverted yield curves are rare. Never ignore them. They are always followed by economic slowdown — or outright recession — as well as lower interest rates across the board. Take a look at the table below. You can see that rates peak at 5.12% and are lower throughout

	Treasury constant maturities
	Nominal 10
	1-month	4.76
	3-month	4.94
	6-month	5.12
	1-year	5.04
	2-year	4.88
	3-year	4.80
	5-year	4.77
	7-year	4.78
	10-year	4.81
	20-year	5.01
	30-year	4.93

Inverted Curve

At first glance an inverted yield curve seems like a paradox. Why would long-term investors settle for lower yields while short-term investors take so much less risk?

The answer is that long-term investors will settle for lower yields now if they think rates — and the economy — are going even lower in the future. They're betting that this is their last chance to lock in rates before the bottom falls out.

Jesse has a most provative comment based on this chart:

inverted yield curve negative yield curve
Short Position in 10 year Note Mover Mike

From Military.com, US Shifting Troops in Iraq

...U.S. Officials say they have shifted some troops from Anbar province, the country's largest, and one of its most violent to Baghdad this summer, not because security conditions are improving in the western province but because they are deteriorating even more in the capital area.

Anbar Province Iraq Baghdad Mover Mike

This week's Blogburst is also available as a Podcast.

by Darnell at Independent Conservative

If this information is true, it is the most detailed revelation of a planned attack that I have ever seen.

Next Attack Imminent: Muslims ordered to leave the United States

Urgent news from Abu Dawood, the newly appointed commander of the al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan:

Final preparations have been made for the American Hiroshima, a major attack on the U. S.

Muslims living in the United States should leave the country without further warning.

The attack will be commandeered by Adnan el Shukrijumah (Jaffer Tayyer or Jafer the Pilot), a naturalized American citizen, who was raised in Brooklyn and educated in southern Florida.

The al Qaeda operatives who will launch this attack are awaiting final orders. They remain in place in cities throughout the country. Many are masquerading as Christians and have adopted Christian names.

Al Qaeda and the Taliban will also launch a major strike (known as the Badar offensive) against the coalition forces in Afghanistan during the holy month of Ramadan.

The American people will be treated to a final audio message from Osama bin Laden which will be aired within the next two weeks.

Q: What do you mean by another attack in America?

A: Yes a bigger attack than September 11th 2001. Brother Adnan [el Shukrijumah] will lead that attack, Inshallah.

Q:Who is Adnan?

A: He is our old friend. The last time, I met him in early 2004, in Khost. He came to Khost from the North Waziristan. He met his leaders and friends in Khost. He is very well known in Al Qaeda. He is an American and a friend of Muhammad Atta, who led 9/11 attacks five years ago. We call him "Jaffer al Tayyar" ["Jafer the Pilot"]; he is very brave and intelligent. Bush is aware that brother Adnan has smuggled deadly materials inside America from the Mexican border. Bush is silent about him, because he doesn't want to panic his people.

Read it all, read it all, read it all in 2004 there was news of Al Qaeda trying to bring a nuke over the US Southern border. Lately I've been reading numerous reports, that a dirty nuke was carried over the US Southern border and an attack is close.

Bush has done little to close the southern US border and if the aforementioned takes place on his watch, it would only be right to impeach him for failing to do what was necessary to protect the American people. We knew for a long time that Islamic nuts would try and attack the WTC again after 1993, and now weve heard many times they want to set off a nuke. Bush cant say he didnt know if it happens, because even we are reading about it ourselves. If such an attack is carried out, after such brazen and open announcements, the talk of "We knew we'd be hit again" is not going to be enough to shield Bush and Chertoff from efforts to remove them, for not defending our porous southern border.

And this raises another issue. Often there is talk of US forces playing it soft during Ramadan, so Muslims are not offended. I say if the enemy takes a break for a month, all the more opportunity to kill them. The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred between Thanksgiving and Christmas 1941, because the enemy (then Japan) knew we would be vulnerable then. We had to end that mess with Japan by dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We showed the enemy we would not play nice then. Its time to show this enemy we dont take chances when it comes to our security and that we wont capitulate to their customs, because they desire to kill us.

This has been a production of the Guard the Borders Blogburst. It was started by Euphoric Reality, and serves to keep immigration issues in the forefront of our minds as were going about our daily lives and continuing to fight the war on terror. If you are concerned with the trend of illegal immigration facing our country, join our blogburst! Just send an email with your blog name and url to admin at guardtheborders dot com.

Here's another religious figure that gets it: From News.com.au

Archbishop George Cardinal Pell yesterday told the nation's clerics they needed to address the links between Islam and violence instead of sweeping them under the carpet.

[...]

They (The violent reactions of Muslims) showed the link for many Islamists between religion and violence, their refusal to respond to criticism with rational arguments, but with violence," Cardinal Pell said.

Pope Benedict XVI Archbishop George Cardinal Pell Australia Islam Mover Mike

Update:

I feel like I've been on a journey these past few years and for me some things have just become clear. The firstt eye opener was this argument from The Copper Scroll by Joel Rosenberg;

Logically, Natasha knew she had only two choices: either Jesus was the Messiah or He wasn't. If he knew He wasn't, then He was a liar, not the good man or moral teacher she'd always described Him as. Then again, if Jesus wasn't the Messiah but thought He was, then He was crazy, a lunatic, a nut case, not worthy of a second thought.

But she'd read the New Testament in college and the Christ whose life she'd read about didn't strike her as deceptive or delusional. To the contrary, she saw a man of love and compassion, someone who was kind to children and willing to take on the religious hypocrites of the day on behalf of the poor and the unloved and the widows. She saw someone humble and wise, someone with the ability to do miracles that astounded even His most bitter skeptics.

Jesus claimed "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6.

Steve Bainbridge, a TCS Daily Contributing Editor and a Professor of Law at UCLA, explains how C.S. Lewis put it of this claim: "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of thing Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

If we take Him at his word, then it is true, No one comes to the Father except through Me. That was the message of Pope Benedict XVI and that's the conclusion I have come to.

Then from a comment to A Shot Across Many Bows at TCS by Robert Bennett:

Beatitudes

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Bennett says, "I noticed something in this passage that shocked me: The meek inherit the earth, but it's those who are persecuted because of righteousness who will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Why the difference? Right & wrong versus meek, of course.

When one who is righteous defines what is right, he also defines what is not right and what is wrong. This is perilous, especially if one's community is on the wrong side of one's definition, which is just as true today of Christ's followers as it was in the early church. The prevailing reaction to Benedict's comments exhibit this truth perfectly.

In contrast, a meek person defines what is right as, "Whatever works for me is right, so whatever works for you and everyone else must be right as well". Accordingly, meek folk have inherited this earth, purchased with the coin of relativism which, because it attempts to store all values, is without value.

I feel I have just discovered some very great truth here and it sends shivers up and down my spine.

Pope Benedict XVI Christianity Joel Rosenberg The Copper Scroll Mover Mike

Update:

Have you read Gus Van Horn today regarding the MSM Reaction to the Pope's remarks and the resultant abetting of their cause. Gus couches his analysis in a Randian overview and is very much worth reading:

By contrast, the barbarism of the terrorists, who know by observing the West that a more civilized way of living exists, and yet choose otherwise, is grossly underreported.

[...]

Ayn Rand once coined a term, reification of the zero, to describe a fallacy employed in certain philosophical arguments. With apologies to her, I will play on her term to describe the pathetic dependence of terrorism on the willingness of the Western media to shirk -- in the name of "objectivity" -- from truly objective reporting.

Pope Benedict XVI Ayn Rand Islam Mover Mike

In Saturday's WSJ appears an obit by Tunku Varadarajan about Oriana Fallaci who died on Friday. He says

"La Fallaci," as she liked to call herself--yes, immodestly; but Italian divas don't do self-deprecation--became in her last years a fierce, even apocalyptic, critic of Islam. She feared the unassimilated--and, she believed, unassimilable--Muslim immigrants in the West, and she feared them to distraction. Above all, she despised Europe's political and cultural elites who were responsible--in her view--for turning Europe into "a colony of Islam." In a Spenglerian interview for this page last June, she told me: "The moment you give up your principles, and your values . . . the moment you laugh at those principles, and those values, you are dead, your culture is dead, your civilization is dead. Period."

Then this Muslim reaction happened over the Pope calling a spade a spade and Varadarajan imagines Fallaci saying "I really can't take this any longer. I'm outta here." The reason I comment again about Fallacci and her cry to "Wake up!" is the general hue and cry to apologize in the West.

The Jerusalem Post is reporting that

the Mujahideen's Army movement in Iraq threatened to carry out a suicide attack against the Pope in revenge for his comments about Islam and jihad.

The problem is that the West wants to be PC and not offend. We have gotten to believe in relativism. We don't want to call anybody out. We take a look through half closed out eyes and say, "The spade, if you look at it one way, appears to be a club. Yeah, it could be a club!" Let's vow to carry on in the Fallaci manner and add our voices to her cry. "Wake up!"

In a allegedly related development Reuters is reporting that Italian Sister Leonella Sgorbati was killed by gunmen in Mogadishu at a children's hospital on Sunday.

An attack that drew immediate speculation of links to Muslim anger over the Pope's recent remarks on Islam.

Oriana Fallaci Pope Benedict XVI Islam Mover Mike

MAP 3.7 2006/09/17 02:25:31 43.584 -127.367 10.0 244 km (152 mi) WNW of Bandon, OR

Oh man, oh man, oh man, did I blow it. With the score 33 to 20, #15 Oklahoma ahead, #18 Oregon gets the ball and quarterback Dixon is promptly intercepted. I scream. The dog jumps and cowers on the sofa, and I go to take a late shower. I check into OregonLive and see the final score Oregon 34, Oklahoma 33!

Oh man, oh man, oh man. I missed one of the greatest comebacks and tests of courage in Duck history. I gave up on the Ducks with visions of Boise State and Oregon State. This was not the same and with #2 Notre Dame and many other top 20 teams losing, Oregon should move up substantially in the rankings.

Oh man, oh man, oh man. I don't know if I can take these kind of games in the future! Congratulations Ducks and Duck Fans. Happy birthday to son-in-law Kevin McKelligon, a REAL Duck fan!

Oregon Ducks

Syria's Grand Mufti Ahmad Badr Hassoun on Saturday called for holding a Christian-Muslim religious summit in order to face up to attempts at igniting a religious war between Christians and Muslims.

[...]

He said he was personally satisfied with the explanations provided by the Vatican in this connection. "But more explanations could be useful in other parts of the Muslim world" to prevent more strife, he said. He indirectly accused Zionism of trying to spread the seeds of discord between Islam and Christianity.

It's ok, I presume, for OBL to spread the seeds of discord! OBL argues

Muslims are victims of a centuries-long Crusade by Jews and Westerners which has been driven by the goal of undermining and eventually destroying Islam. They colonized Dar al-Islam (the House of Islam, those lands under Muslim administration), divided it up into nation-states, and even left people there to rule over the Holy City of Jerusalem (Israel).

It was Pope Benedict XVI that spoke out about the violence involved with Islam. To accuse Zionists of fomenting this latest outrage by the Muslims is to give them more power than they have.

Is it also not surprising that the NY Times has criticised the Pope:

For many Muslims, holy war — jihad — is a spiritual struggle, and not a call to violence. And they denounce its perversion by extremists, who use jihad to justify murder and terrorism.

Excuse me NYT, your version of "jihad" is a lie! I hear little criticism of OBL's call for Jihad and I hear little that is reasonable coming from the European Muslim community.

Michael Scheuer in his book Through Our Enemies Eyes quotes this prayer of OBL:

Allah, the Exalted and the Almighty, we implore to send down His wrath, His aversion, and His force on the U.S. troops in the gulf and on their Jewish allies in Palestine and on all hypocrites who support them. We implore Him to send upon them from His heaven a thunderbolt that rolls their heads, destroys them to the last man and keeps none. We implore Him to awaken the spirit of jihad in the Muslim nation so it will break away from the shackle of weakness and weill meet for heroic sagas. We also implore Him to bless all Muslims with a rightous state in which those who obey Him are honored and those who disobey him are humiliated; in which virtue is promoted and vice prohibited-a state that supports the oppressed and the powerless in all parts of the world and exacts justice from every oppressor on earth, and this is not difficult for Allah.

You decide who is "igniting a religious war between Christians and Muslims."

Grand Mufti Ahmad Badr Hassoun Pope Benedict XVI /Osama bin Laden OBL Islam Christianity Crusades crusaders Michael Scheuer Mover Mike

Category Three Hurricane:

Winds 111-130 mph (96-113 kt or 178-209 km/hr). Storm surge generally 9-12 ft above normal. Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures. Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down. Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by battering from floating debris. Terrain continuously lower than 5 ft above mean sea level may be flooded inland 8 miles (13 km) or more. Evacuation of low-lying residences with several blocks of the shoreline may be required.

According to the National Hurricane Center winds are now sustained at 125 mph and could strengthen further prior to landfall!

In addition. Tropical Depression FOURTEEN-E has formed in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico and south of Cabo.

Hurricane Lane Mazatlan Tropical Depression FOURTEEN-E Mover Mike

Update:

Tropical Depression FOURTEEN-E is now Tropical Storm MIRIAM

This along with $40 Oil will never happen!

Islamic Movement leader Sheik Ra'ad Salah said that Jerusalem will soon become the capital of an Islamic nation and that Israel's occupation of the Temple Mount is nearing its end, Israel Radio reported on Friday.

He might want to read Joel Rosenberg's The Ezekiel Option before he opines again.

Sheik Ra'ad Salah Islamic Movement Israel Jesus Christian Mover Mike

Update:

Update:

The West has lost a lioness of a spokesman for our values. Orianna Fallaci has died of cancer at the age of 77. Michelle Malkin has a post about her death including a lengthy excerpt from her writings. She has been warning the West to "Wake Up!"

I’ve been saying it for four years--that I fight against the Monster that has decided to eliminate us physically and, along with our bodies, to destroy our principles and values. Our civilization. For four years I’ve been talking about Islamic Nazism; about the war against the West; about the death cult; about European suicide. About a Europe that is no longer Europe, but Eurabia, and that with its feebleness, its inertia, its blindness, its servitude to the enemy is digging its own grave. For four years, like another Cassandra, I’ve been shouting until I’m hoarse “Troy is burning! Troy is burning!” and I despair of the Danaids for whom, like Virgil in the Aeneid I weep for a city entombed in its torpor. [A city] that, through its wide-open doors receives fresh troops and joins complicit parties [inside]. For four years I’ve been repeating to the wind the truth about the Monster and its accomplices; that is, the accomplices of the Monster who, in good or bad faith, open wide the doors--who, like [those] in the Apocalypse of John the Evangelist, throw themselves at his feet and allow themselves to be stamped with the mark of shame.

I recently finished The Force of Reason and was so moved by Fallaci's writing that I have not as yet been able to write a book review. To condense is to render her writing and reasoned arguments less than whole. I have not discovered the talent in myself to adequately convey the conviction of this woman and will miss her voice and her outrage.

Orianna Fallaci Islam The Force of Reasone Mover Mike

Update:

Just what did Pope Benedict XVI say that incited many Muslims to violence?

Burning the Pope in effigy!

He first said:

...violence, embodied in the Muslim idea of jihad, or holy war, is contrary to reason and God’s plan, while the West was so beholden to reason that Islam could not understand it.

He continued with this statement:

"Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread the sword by the faith he preached," the pope quoted (a 14th-century Byzantine emperor, Manuel II Paleologus), in a speech to 1,500 students and faculty. He went on to say that violent conversion to Islam was contrary to reason and thus “contrary to God’s nature.”

GetReligion thinks there was another issue alluded to in the Pope's speech, namely the question of whether salvation is found through Jesus, alone.

This leads us to the loaded question of whether Allah and the God of the Christian Trinity can be called “the same” God. Those famous Koranic inscriptions inside Jerusalem’s Dome of the Rock are there for a reason, the ones declaring that Allah “begets no son and has no partner,” that “he is God, one, eternal” and that “he does not beget, nor is he begotten.” See you later, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Is Pope Benedict XVI really moving the Catholic church and the larger body of Christianity to this stark schism? GetReligion seems to think so.

Pope Benedict XVI Islam Muslims Jesus Christian Mover Mike

Update:

Here's a follow-up to my September 6th post, Coming Soon: "Hotel" Darfur!, about the real possibility of genocide coming when the African Union peacekeepers that protect 2.5 million refugees.

George Clooney appeared before the UN Security Council pleading with them to do something:

...Clooney told the U.N.'s most powerful body that it must send replacements for the African Union's 7,000 peacekeepers in Darfur when its mandate expires at the end of the month. If it did not, aid workers would have to leave and the 2.5 million displaced people who depend on them would die.

"After Sept. 30 you won't need the U.N. You will simply need men with shovels and bleached white linen and headstones," the 45-year-old actor warned.

If the UN allows another "Rwanda" to happen in Darfur, you can kiss off the UN as an effective body.

George Clooney Darfur African Union Mover Mike

Survivor premiered last might on CBS. The channel has been getting quite a bit of heat, and some even wanted the show pulled, because of its allegedly racist content. You see, there are initially 20 survivors and they were divided into four racial groups; African-Americans (AAs), Asian-Americans (ASAs), Hispanic-Americans (HAs) and Caucasian-Americans (CAs). I am sure some studio execs felt that this was a way to disprove all the racist stereotypes.

After one night, it was "proved" in competition that AAs are not good at contests that involve using their brains, as in the puzzle of putting their boat together. Once they assembled the boat, even though one AA said, "We are more than track stars!", they excelled in the physical challenge and would have won, but for the puzzle challenge at the end of the competition.

The ASAs don't like jokes about their ethnicity and I am sure want to prove that ASAs are just as good as AAs, HAs and CAs, there was this moment when a sterotypical looking oriental man, who escaped from Vietnam, used ancient Chinese massage remedies to the head to relieve a team mate of his migrain. It was an inscrutible moment.

So far the CAs have not stood out. They appear kind of bland, kind of whitebread! However, they did manage to get the CA women into the sack "to warm up!. One last racist moment came when the AAs were asked to send a member of the other teams to Exile Island. Right away two male AAs, without consulting their female AA team mates picked a CA as the first exile.

I am sure glad this show will shy away from sterotypes.

Survivor Mover Mike

70 percent of Wake Island buildings damaged by Typhoon Ioke

The Air Force says 70 percent of Wake Island's buildings are moderately to severely damaged after the Central Pacific's biggest storm in a decade hit the isle last month.

Wake Island Typhoon Ioke U.S. Air Force Mover Mike

Looks like Cabo San Lucas is going to take a direct hit from a new storm, Tropical Storm Lane, which may be Hurricane Lane by Sunday. According to The National Hurricane Center there is a 30% probability that Hurricane Lane will be a Category 1 in 36 hours. Currently it has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.

Cabo San Lucas Baja Sur Hurricane Lane Mover Mike

Update:

Tropical Storm Lane as of Friday is now Hurricane Lane with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph. Cabo has dodged the bullet!. Hurricane Lane has moved right toward the Mexican mainland and is expected to make landfall on the mainland on Sunday.

From The DEBKAfile Review Hizbollah makes news:

First,

Hizballah ...announced that henceforth its own forces will no longer wait for the Lebanese army to act but send its own forces into action against Israel. This is the first time since the UN-brokered went into effect on July 14 that Hizballah has threatened direct military action against Israel.

Second,

Hizballah warned Berlin that German troops posted at Lebanese air ports, seaports or Lebanese-Syrian border posts would be legitimate targets for attack. The warning came just hours after the German government approved a 2,400 naval and air contingent for the UN Lebanon force.

Hizbollah Hezbollah Israel Mover Mike

Update:

While I'm on the subject of Hezbollah, Gina Cobb has news that Amnesty International has accused Hezbollah of "War Crimes" for deliberately targeting civilians.

When all was said and done, it was over weeks ago, and as predicted, Lukas Rossi is the front man for Supernova. The band passed on competence in Storm and Magni. They passed on the babe magnet, Aussie Toby Rand, who really seemed to have a feel for a way to get the crowd involved, as in White Wedding. They passed on South African Dilana who was one big ball of fire with an amazing voice. When I hear her sing, I hear Janis Joplin and for some reason Ann Wilson, lead singer of Heart

Supernova chose Lukas, the Canadian Goth. His moves on stage are as classic as Mick's, his voice conveys complex emotions, yet he has trouble remembering and writing songs.

Last summer I downloaded The Man Who Sold the World sung by Jordis Unga and I downloaded Creep sung by Marty Casey. I will buy the album of both of those artists, and this year I will buy an album of Storm's maybe I'll buy Dilana's.

My fire went out a lot when Stormie was booted, however watching Rock Star: Supernova was a fun way to get acquainted with some new music and pass some hot summer nights. You know I'll be right back here next year, 63 going on 25.

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Magni Toby Rand Dilana Lukas Rossi Jordis Unga Marty Casey Mover Mike

Photos have been released by the U.S. Coast Guard of damage to Wake Island caused by Typhoon Ioke.

U.S. Coast Guard
A photo taken over Wake Island during an aerial assessment by the Coast Guard shows buildings damaged by Typhoon Ioke. The overall toll of the storm was not as great as had been feared.

U.S. Coast Guard
Forecasters feared that anything not made of concrete would be destroyed on Wake Island, but Typhoon Ioke apparently spared the 2.5-square-mile island of catastrophic damage.

It remained unclear...what will happen to the base. ... officials with Gen. George C. Kenney Headquarters at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, will decide the need and urgency of making it an operational base again.

Wake Island Typhoon Ioke U.S. Coast Guard Mover Mike

Finally, my copy of The Power of the Scepter by Terry Krohn was shipped on Monday!

From the dust jacket:

In this sequel to Eye of the Pyramid, the story opens with a physicist finding artifacts hidden in a secret room below the Coral Castle in Homestead, Florida. Paul (Malone) quickly discovers that these artifacts are ancient devices with great power – remote-viewing capability and much more.

Responsible for the death of Christ, sponsors of despots such as Adolph Hitler, and existing in secrecy for over two-thousand years, the rulers of the Society are aware of Dr. Malone’s discovery and they will stop at nothing to get the artifacts for themselves – and they have an ally. A mutant, a beast, and a soulless genetic creation, he does the Society’s bidding. His reward? The pain he inflicts on anyone who gets in his way.

I so enjoyed the Eye of the Pyramid and I have posted about the book many times. Here's hoping that the sequel is as good. I will let you know.

Terry Krohn/a> The Power of the Scepter Eye of the Pyramid Mover Mike

Please tell me he was misquoted!

From CNN.com, Air Force secretary Michael Wynne said Tuesday, regarding Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices,

If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne. "(Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press."

The U.S. already has a history of using fellow citizens as guinea pigs. How about resignation for Air Force secretary Michael Wynne for advocating the use of any weapon on fellow citizens before using them in wartime?

Michael Wynne Boob Nonlethal weapons Mover Mike

Update:

And you thought it ended with Clinton!

From the NY Post,

Taliban terror leaders who had gathered for a funeral - and were secretly being watched by an eye-in-the-sky American drone - dodged assassination because U.S. rules of engagement bar attacks in cemeteries...

Would they have been so accomodating?

Taliban Rules of Engagement Afghanistan Mover Mike

Regarding Rock Star: Supernova, let me quote Right Thoughts:

For some reason I’m not excited, I just want it to be over already.

My God I miss Storm!

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Mover Mike

Ted Sickinger wrote Saturday in the business section of The Oregonian about the debate over continuing subsidized power to the aluminum industry in the Northwest at what is essentially cost. Aluminum companies (had) 20-year rights to low-cost power as part of the Northwest Power and Conservation Act of 1980, which expired in 2000. Bonneville has been supplying some power at cost and that may end in 2011.

This is part of the story that jumped out at me:

The aluminum industry is a shadow of its former regional presence. Although it once employed about 8,000 workers in 10 smelters scattered around the region, six of those plants have closed permanently, and the other four are either closed or operating at a fraction of capacity.

The Northwest, due to abundant hydro power, has always had cheap electricity compared to California or the East Coast. I wasn't aware on a conscious level, how much the aluminum industry here had declined. Why couldn't industry survive on cheap power? Sightline, a Seattle environmental think tank,

thinks the 2001 west-coast power crunch shut down the industry then production just shifted somewhere else, where power, land, or labor was cheaper.

The Association of Washinton Business agrees:

The California energy crisis of 2001 coupled with an economic downturn suddenly made the industry no longer viable in the Northwest. Mills throughout the region started to shut down.

It is amazing that an industry that was such a part of the Pacific Northwest since the 1950s has suddenly disappeared, even with massive subsidies. If we weren't such a diversified economy, we could look like those towns shuttered when the textile mills closed or the Mid west, when auto plants closed. I am shaking my head; even with massive subsidies, aluminum companies still failed.

Aluminum Companies
Northwest Power and Conservation Act of 1980 Finance Mover Mike

Tonights the night for the final competition at Rock Star: Supernova and tommorrow a "winner" will be announced. But... you and I know who the best contestant was and should have been in the finals: Storm Large!

Lee Williams serves up his latest Storm Watch at The Oregonian.

Though Storm won't be competing in tonight's finale, she definitely will be in the house, and perhaps back on the stage. If enough viewers had voted for her to return for a special encore performance, she will. But early buzz online was showing either brooding rocker Ryan Star or frenzied performer Zayra Alvarez might have earned the spot.

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Mover Mike

So the headline in the WSJ says Trade Deficit Widens as Exports Fall

The U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services increased by 5.0% to $68.04 billion from $64.82 billion in June, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Well, that's not so bad you up only 5% versus June. How about comparing the trade deficit for July this year versus July last year? Last year the trade deficit in July was $58.08 Billion. That's not a 5% increase. That is a 17.2% increase. For seven months,our trade deficit is $453 Billion versus $398.3 Billion in the first seven months of 2005, a 13.7% increase. We are running an annualized trade deficit of $776 Billion!
Courtesy of the U.S. Dept of Commerce

---

Jan.- July, 2005	-398,247
January	-56,637
February	-57,523
March	-53,948
April	-57,010
May	-56,630
June	-58,419
July	-58,080
Jan.- July, 2006	-453,001
January (R)	-66,301
February (R)	-62,743
March (R)	-62,096
April (R)	-63,590
May (R)	-65,407
June (R)	-64,818
July	-68,044

My monthly rant says stop skewing the numbers. Tell us straight. The numbers are growing fast and they are very worrisome for the USD.

Trade Deficit Finance USD Mover Mike

From time to time I get introductions to free books and CDs, urging me to sample various new artists, and if I am so inclined, post about their work on my blog. If it is an interesting subject to me and I think it might be of interest to you, I will find some angle to post about it. I received one such introduction this morning from something called the Miracle Theatre Group which opens its 2006-2007 season next week with the world premiere of a new play called "The Road to Xibalbá" and this link to their web site, http://www.milagro.org/english/Performance/MiracleMainstage/xibalba.htm The concluding paragraph that describes the play says

"The Road to Xibalbá" (pronounced Shi-BAHL-bah) is a magical look at how two generations of Mayan-American descendants connect to rediscover the power of spiritual belief, raising the question of whether this power is contained in the deities that populate the Mayan pantheon, or in the minds of the believers … or both?

I Googled "The Road to Xibalbá" looking for some posted reviews of the play, but instead found this definition in THE HOW AND WHY OF THE MAYAN END DATE IN 2012 A.D. by John Major Jenkins

There is a dark bifurcation or dark rift in the Milky Way caused by interstellar dust clouds. To observers on earth, it appears as a dark road. The Maya today are quite aware of this feature; the Quich» Maya call it xibalba be (the "road to Xibalba")

Here is a chart of the Milky Way and this road to Xibalba:

And a closer look at the the rift:

The Mayans believe when a planet, the sun, or the moon crossed the exact center of the rift entrance to the underworld road was possible. It so happens that the Mayans 2300 years ago calculated our sun will be in the exact center of the rift on December 12th, 2012. Mitch Battros writing at Earth Changes has had many conversations with Mayan elders and reports on their warnings for the planet. To many, the talk about 2012 is more evidence that we are living inthe "end times."

In my Googling, I came across the book "House of the Jaguar" Which welcomes us

To the realm of the Mayan underworld - the black road of Xibalba

* To Guatemala and a modern myth of the hero twins playing the ballgame of life

* To a mythology beyond time, home to Lord Jaguar, Feathered Serpent and Ix Chel

* To the Mayan Calendar as it approaches the end times of 2012

Maybe, the play "The Road to Xibalbá", December 12, 2012, and "House of the Jaguar" are a lesson about the side we present to people and the dark side of our personalities. That there are consequences to our actions. As Lord Jaguar says

They (we residents of planet earth) have been immersed in the sleep of indifference for so long that the jolt required to awaken them must be fierce.

Road to Xibalbá
by Joann Farías.
WORLD PREMIERE!
Directed by Olga Sanchez
September 22 - October 14, 2006

Miracle Theatre Group is the Northwest's premiere Latino arts and culture organization, located at:
425 SE 6th Avenue
Portland OR 97214
503-236-7253

Full disclosure: Mentioning this play entitles me to two free tickets to a performance on THURSDAY, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m., SATURDAY, Sept. 23 at 8:00 p.m. or SUNDAY, Sept. 24 at 2:00 p.m.

The Road to Xibalbá Miracle Theatre Group Portland, OR Mayan December 12, 2012 End times Mover Mike

Update:

I was reminded that the US does not publish M3 money supply numbers anymore when I read over at Bill Cara's site that

...when the Treasury/Fed crank(s) up the printing press, so too do many other countries. They want to keep in lock-step, and use that currency to buy U.S. Treasury Bonds, which keeps the USD propped up. Otherwise, the U.S. Dollar sinks to a level where (i) Americans don’t want to invest or travel abroad, and (ii) American exports become too competitive for the foreign domestic goods (and services).

Cara links to an article in India Times that says in part

...the money supply growth (in India) continues unabated, and is inching towards the 20% mark. This is the highest growth witnessed since 1994-95. Such high money supply could cause further inflationary pressures in the economy.

Most of us don't understand the extent to which the countries of the world have tied themselves to worthless, fiat currencies. It's not just the USD that is a fiat currency and foreign governments have a vested interest in keeping the game going as long as they can. Got Gold?

M3 Money Supply Inflation Gold Mover Mike

Petty Officer Ariel Weinmann of Salem, Oregon is a Fire Control Technician 3rd Class with the United States Navy facing espionage, desertion and other charges. ... Weinmann was arrested on March 25, 2006 at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport while traveling from Mexico City, Mexico en-route to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Investigators ...found computer storage devices, computer discs and a notebook that contained information that reportedly prompted federal agents to inspect the computerized records, from which they discovered top secret information from the submarine.

Now American Free Press is being told by a navy source in Norfolk, Va., where accused spy Weinmann is being held,

that it is one of the worst cases of espionage in U.S. history.

[...]

The Navy report alleges that, while “serving at or near Bahrain, Mexico, and Austria,” Weinmann engaged in espionage “with intent or reason to believe it would be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of a foreign nation, [attempted] to communicate, deliver or transmit classified confidential and secret information relating to the national defense, to a representative, officer, agent or employee of a foreign government.”

Ariel Weinmann Salem, Oregon Espionage U.S. Navy Mover Mike

Listen to Michael Scheuer in 'His Innards Should Be Splattered All Over Afghanistan' over at Johnny $s Place. Then watch Path To 9/11 tonight, and you decide who is responsible for 9/11. See why FOBs want the Path to 9/11 changed or cancelled.

Path To 9/11 Michael Scheuer Mover Mike

New from Lee Williams of The Oregonian

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Fasten your seats belts: Portland performer Storm Large, who was booted off "Rock Star: Supernova" this past Wednesday night, may not get her chance to shine in the finale of the reality TV series next week. But she's still enjoying her time in the media spotlight as she embarks on a whirlwind post-show media tour of Los Angeles. First up: On Monday, Sept. 11, Storm will appear and sing on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. Portlanders can catch Storm on "Ellen" on KOIN (6) at 4 p.m. Monday. This Storm is far from over.

Storm Large Rock Star Supernova Ellen DeGeneres Mover Mike

There's a lot of writing about The Path to 9/11. In case you've been incommunicado The Path to 9/11 is an ABC mini-series scheduled for Sunday and Monday nights. Based on the 9/11 Commission's report, it purports to tell what led up to the event five years ago Monday. I hear that rather than feel that the Clinton Administration let us down, after seeing the movie, we all will believe we are at war and that radical Islam is out to end the West's way of life.

Some of the docudrama is getting heat from Democrats, Richard Clark and Bill Clinton about a particular scene:

...this movie, (The Path to 9/11)...shows the Northern Alliance, Afghanistan warriors, with CIA officials outside a compound in Afghanistan, inside of which is Osama bin Laden. They are on the verge of capturing bin Laden; they know what building he's in, and all of a sudden when the CIA agent on the ground -- whose name in the movie is Mike, which is a composite; there's a composite figure here -- on the phone with people at the National Security Council and the White House war room or whatever it is. In this scene, Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger refuse to give authorization. George Tenet refuses to give authorization, and Berger hangs up on the CIA agent, and they say, "Look, if you do this you gotta do it on your own. You're taking the heat if it doesn't work well.

Richard Clark and Madeleine Albright and Sandy Berger say it never happened. Rush Limbaugh quoted from a July 5th Washington Times editorial or column by Michael F. Scheuer. Mr. Scheuer is a 22-year veteran with the CIA, created and served as the chief of the agency's Osama bin Laden unit at the Counterterrorist Center. Scheuer says about Richard Clark's book, Against All Enemies

Another spectacular untruth is on page 52: "Later in the 1990s, CIA... [failed] to put U.S. operatives into the country [Afghanistan] to kill bin Laden and the al-Qaeda leadership, relying on Afghans instead." Mr. Clarke, of course, was at the center of Mr. Clinton's advisers, who resolutely refused to order the CIA to kill bin Laden. In spring 1998, I briefed Mr. Clarke and senior CIA, Department of Defense and FBI officers on a plan to kidnap bin Laden. Mr. Clarke's reaction was that "it was just a thinly disguised attempt to assassina