Mover Mike

No landlord or any agent of the landlord shall do any of the following: (1) Make any inquiry regarding or based on the immigration or citizenship status of a tenant, prospective tenant, occupant, or prospective occupant of residential rental property.

Assembly Bill 976 California Landlords

Sun Capital is going backwards! In 2000 Nationwide Mattress and Furniture Warehouse known as Nationwide Warehouse & Storage had 160 stores in the U.S. and Canada. Sun Capital acquired the majority stake in a trimmed down 63-store Nationwide in 2002 in a deal valued at $10.7 million. Six years later, Great American Group’s furniture division will take over operations in about a week and liquidate the Nationwide business.

Wheeling, Ill.-based Wickes Furniture, another early Sun Capital buy, also has been struggling and recently sent asks its suppliers to sign a “vendor modification agreement,” that would defer payments of past-due debt for 18 months. The letter said a new $10 million equity investment, hinged on the concessions.

American Standard America
Anchor Blue Retail Group
BERKLINE BENCHCRAFT HOLDINGS, LLC
Catalina Lighting
Chrysler Holdings
Conex Bänninger
Crane plumbing
Eljer
GMAC FINANCIAL SERVICES
INTERFACEFABRIC
Lee Cooper
Lexington Home Brands
Mervyns

Sun Capital has a heavy investment in furniture, apparel, restaurants and plumbing. All heavily consumer dependent.

Sun Capital Nationwide Mattress and Furniture Warehouse Wickes Furniture

The burst is now available as a podcast! You can download it here.

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy.

If you’d like to join find out how right here. Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, deportation, invasion, mexico, guatemala, murder, rape, vlog, podcast, border security, ms 13, gangs, drug cartels, suicide,

'Through Barack, I believe we will move beyond the politics of fear and personal destruction and unite our country with the politics of common purpose'

"The winner of Florida will win the nomination."

Third, McCain seems to have pissed off conservative Republicans by lying about Romney's record. It is too early, but the nominees could be Obama, the first black nominee, and Romney, the first Mormon nominee. The result will be historic!

Sen. Ted Kennedy Sen. Barack Obama Rudy+Giulani

Mitt Romney Sen. John McCain Mover Mike

Since combining the two retailers, Mr. (Edward S.) Lampert, 45, has raised prices even as he has cut capital spending and marketing budgets. The dearth of investment shows up in stores, many of which look shabby next to those of rivals like Target and J. C. Penney. Mr. Lampert’s major use of cash has been to buy back Sears Holdings’ shares.

And in 2008 he faces three problems that were only partly evident last year: belt-tightening by consumers, a falling housing market and a possible recession. “Sears is woefully unprepared to handle this kind of consumer spending slowdown,” said Bill Dreher, an analyst at Deutsche Bank Securities. “The underinvestment in stores has hurt sales, hurt customer good will and will hurt their long-term competitiveness.”

Craig Schmidt, an analyst at Merrill Lynch, and Gregory Melich, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, value Sears real estate at around $16 billion. The company’s market capitalization is $14 billion, as of Friday’s close. One investor who has bet against Sears said he believes the real estate may be worth just $10 billion.

Sears (SHLD) Edward S. Lampert Mover Mike

Individuals who pay income taxes would get up to $600, working couples $1,200 and those with children an additional $300 per child under the agreement. Workers who make at least $3,000 but don't pay taxes would get $300 rebates.

I have two questions. Is it a rebate if you are one of those who doesn't pay taxes? Should we save the money, pay down debt or spend it? The answer is an individual one, but probably depends on your outlook for the economy.

As for me, Christmas was just a month ago, I got a flat-screen TV, and I have opened all my presents for my birthday on the 15th. My wants have been slaked. I might save mine.

Mike

Since you’ve endorsed Senator Thompson at Mover Mike, I wanted to reach out after your candidate’s decision today.

With Senator Thompson’s departure, I believe that Governor Romney is the only candidate capable of maintaining the unity of the conservative coalition. And I believe that only Governor Romney can stop Senator McCain in Florida and beyond.

Please let me know if I can be of assistance as our party moves forward.

Mitt Romney John McCain Mover Mike

The FED has reduced rates by 1 3/4s and mortgages follow the 10-year Treasury, which has fallen from 4.7% to 3.5%. This time though 15-year mortgages have fallen by just 62 basis points from last year and 30 year mortgages a mere 34 basis points lower than a year ago. That means the Fed's moves haven't helped me. If the 30-year goes low enough, I can refinance, pull out equity and continue spending. Mish writes,

Thus, the only people really benefiting from this drop so far are those currently in interest only mortgages, pay option ARMs, or other ARMs specifically tied to short term LIBOR. For those in Pay Option ARMs, this benefit may do nothing but postpone the day of reckoning. This is especially true for Option ARM holders who are only able to afford the minimum payments and are going deeper in debt every passing month due to negative amortization.

If you agree that the government needs to do something to keep the economy from going into a recession, we need more than a $800 per person handout. Some have argued that President Bush's proposed $140 Billion bailout is too small. I believe Hillary Clinton saw his $140 Billion and raised to $240 Billion. I like Rush Limbaugh's idea. American consumers owe $915 billion in credit card debt. Why not have the government pay it off for us. It would be like hitting a reset button, getting back to zero, so to speak. No pain and soon Americans would be spending again.

Might avoid a lot of "Jingle Mail".

Jingle Mail Federal Reserve Mover Mike

"There Will Be Blood" is loosely based on "Oil". We meet Daniel Plainview, a geologist, first looking for silver, then turning to oil. The opening of the movie does a great job of showing how lonely and risky prospecting is. Then when Plainview finds oil, we see how easily life can end with accidents, how grimy the life was and how high the risks.

Plainview has a son, H.W., but when we are introduced to his son, it wasn't clear to me that the boy was his. He could have belonged to a worker we saw with the boy and was adopted by Plainview when the worker was killed. But Plainview used the boy as a prop to show he was a "family" man.

Harry Chotiner writes

He (Plainview) seems to feel guilty when being a rotten father, but is uncomfortable with the consequences of affectionate feelings. ...We don't understand Plainview's own childhood; only that he had one and it meant something to him. We never glimpse what drives him, only that he is driven. Early in the film, he seems the rapacious capitalist. Then we begin to see him as more than amorally greedy, but malicious and cruel.

And what are we to think of the evangelical minister, Eli Sunday, who renounced his God for mammon and a church of his own.

No One in the movie is driven by any moral compass. We have here what is so prevalent in today's politics, practiced by Hillary Clinton, especially. The end justifies the means!

Sadly, the movie reviews of "There Will Be Blood" mainly concentrate on the process and techniques, rather than the philosophy. And what are we to make of a Hollywood that continually finds anti-American subjects and socialists for movie subject matter.

100% Preventable! More children sacrificed to open borders!

Deporting criminals? Are you sure it's a good thing?

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.

Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, deportation, invasion, insanity, rape, crime, mexico, latin America, podcast, vodcast, blogs for borders,

She was a smoker and fought lung cancer as recently as 2006.

Suzanne Pleshette The Bob Newhart Show Mover Mike

“We see numerous compelling opportunities to acquire and further develop great retail brands, enhancing their performance and building value through investments in growth and active management of their businesses,” said James Schaye, managing partner of Golden Acquisition.

[...]

“With the Domain transaction, Golden Acquisition’s ‘buy and build’ investment strategy is off to a very strong start. This transaction is a perfect example of how we plan to use our retail industry expertise, capital resources, management skills and an eye for innovative deal structures to identify and add value to attractive retail brands,” Schaye said

“This partnership with Synergy represents an excellent opportunity for us to refocus on our core business and our mission of becoming the retail destination of choice for discriminating consumers who appreciate a designer touch,” said George. “As we have already seen, the upscale home furnishings category continues to be a niche market with enormous potential, and we have a range of initiatives under way to further capture our share of this market, as well as expand into new markets we are not currently serving.”

...the retailer “continued to suffer significant liquidity issues” as suppliers cut terms and credit lines, lender Wells Fargo reduced the retailer’s borrowing capacity and consumer traffic in the major malls where Domain’s stores were located dropped off.

“At the same time, more macroeconomic forces, such as a severely depressed real estate environment, lack of overall consumer confidence and a forecasted economic recession, continued to erode the company’s sales, margins and working capital,” Domain Chairman and Synergy Chairman and CEO Gary Nacht said in an affidavit.

Domain Home Chapter 11 Home Furnishings

Lake Paliastomi

Russians are bracing for temperatures of as low as minus 55 degrees Celsius (minus 67 degrees Fahrenheit) in Siberia.

[...]Bloomberg reports that worst hit will be the Siberian region of Evenkiya, while neighbor Georgia, whose climate is subtropical, already plunged to as low as minus 35 degrees Celsius. Lake Paliastomi in the western Georgia froze for the first time in 50 years, reports Rustavi-2 television.

Russia Lake Paliastomi Mover Mike

Her traveling chief of staff Huma Abedin has been gracing the mag's pages as often as a starlet lately.

"This is America, not Saudi Arabia. It's also 2008: Margaret Thatcher may have looked terrific in a blue power suit, but that was 20 years ago. I do think Americans have moved on from the power-suit mentality, which served as a bridge for a generation of women to reach boardrooms filled with men. Political campaigns that do not recognize this are making a serious misjudgment."

Hillary Clinton Huma Abedin Vogue

Kristy Lee Cook American Idol Mover Mike

The Seattle Times has a nice article about Timberline Lodge and what it's like to stay in the eight deluxe fireplace rooms.

When my sister-in-law was married in the Silcox Warming Hut, we stayed at the Lodge in a room that had a double bed and a bathroom down the hall. It was very nice and a little rustic.

Timberline Lodge Mt. Hood Silcox Warming Hut

Open borders groups demand: Don't tell the truth about the invasion!

100% Preventable! More Americans sacrificed to open borders.

And civil rights: who gets'em?

And yes, that is one of our smoke detectors beeping in the background! Apologies if it's annoying.

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.

Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, deportation, civil rights, rape, murder, mexico, invasion,

With one month to be reported, the weak USD has not helped the U.S. Trade Deficit. In fact November's number of -$63.118 Billion is the largest since September of 2006! One big impediment this time was the higher oil price, our cost averaged over $79 per barrel. There's no relief in sight. Oil is currently over $90 and touched $100 last week. And, as the USD falls, oil rises.

U.S. Trade Deficit USD Mover Mike

I have done this for several reasons:

1. The reports lately of the contents of Ron Paul's newsletters that favored David Duke, contain homophobic and anti-semetic articles, while they may not have been written by Ron Paul, are his responsibility and they should be repudiated.

2. While I believe the U.S. meddles in other country's affairs, too often, and many times sets other countries up for blackmail, (see "Confessions of An Economic Hitman"), Ron Paul would immediately leave Iraq. Thus he gets the support of people wanting a smaller government and he gets the support of the left anti-war crowd. That subverts my pro-defense, pro-America position.

Ron Paul is called a Libertarian and even ran as a Libertarian, however the Libertarian party that grew out of Ayn Rand and Ludwig Von Mises, that was pro-defense and pro-America, was subverted by Murray Rothbard who is the opposite of Randian Libertarians. Dr. Jack Wheeler writes in his latest To The Point letter:

I will never forget the day I canceled my subscription to Rothbard's Libertarian Forum newsletter in 1974, for it was the day I stopped calling myself a libertarian. The lead editorial was written by Rothbard, in which he said: "The Soviet Union is the greatest force for peace in the world today."

Not once - never, ever - did Rothbard take the side of America in any dispute with the Soviet Union. No matter what happened, no matter what evil the Soviets perpetrated, it was always our fault, it was our aggressive behavior that "provoked" them.

Ron Paul is blind to the reality of a dangerous world. Which is why, since being elected to Congress in 1996, he has not voted for a single Defense Authorization Bill, not one, not ever.

I cannot support him when it comes to foreign policy. I believe we have a genuine threat from Islamofascists who would like nothing better to kill us all. For all that I'm taking down the Ron Paul button.

Ron Paul Libertarian Mover Mike

Bank of America last August propped up Countrywide by buying $2 billion of preferred shares convertible into a stake of about 16% in the lender.

Bankamerica (BAC) Countrywide (CFC) Mover Mike

Update:

Bank of America Agrees to Buy Countrywide for $4 Billion The deal rescues the country's largest mortgage lender and expands the financial services empire of the nation's largest consumer bank. The transaction would value Countrywide at $7.16 a share,

Update:

He also will get a nice severance package of $110 Million.

Oregon Earthquake Mover Mike

There were several scary moments when Brandon Roy went down with a knee injury in the first half, but he came back to start the second half. The other scary moment happened when Steve Blake took a knee in his calf and had to be helped from the floor. He scored a season high 24 points.

Forest Service geologist An expert in volcanic eruptions, Chitwood, 65, loved talking about the slowly growing South Sister "bulge" and when it could erupt., 65, died while hiking Bend's Pilot Butte Friday evening"

An expert in volcanic eruptions, Chitwood, 65, loved talking about the slowly growing South Sister "bulge" and when it could erupt.

Read his comments regarding The Badlands southeast of Bend.

From The Hollywood Reporter,

Axium International, the (Film) industry's largest payroll services providers as well as a source for production and gap financing, has closed its doors indefinitely.

Axium has been a part of the film community, a contributor to independent film non-profits and, through its various businesses, has handheld many productions through the different state tax rebate programs. Film producers working right now, however, might be in an especially tough spot if Axium's accounts are indeed frozen and the company is holding payroll bonds intended to guarantee and finally cover their production payrolls.

Update:

People familiar with the situation said the company's liquidity problems involved an outstanding multimillion-dollar loan. There was no indication in the bankruptcy filing that it was related to the writers strike.

Update:

As to what prompted the sudden action, Ehrenberg said that on Friday, Golden Tree Asset Management in New York — Axium's primary lender — "swept Axium's bank accounts and seized $22 million, leaving Axium unable to honor any of its payroll obligations or even to operate itself." He said he believed Golden Tree lent the company $140 million in total.

Update:

...Golden Tree is the first in line to be repaid when Axium sells its assets.

Sources close to the company blamed an acquisition binge for Axium's financial woes but said the writers' strike, which has halted production on many TV shows and films, was the tipping point.

"They were a little shaky and the writers' strike threw them over the edge," said one client.

Axium employs between 300 and 400 people globally and handles payroll services for hundreds of production companies in TV, film and commercials, ranging from HBO to Sony Pictures. It is well known in the industry and was a title sponsor of last year's Tribeca Film Festival.

The sudden shutdown means hundreds, if not thousands, of people won't get paid. In addition, production companies that deposited funds with Axium to cover their payrolls might lose their money.

FURNITURE Today is reporting

Wickes Furniture is asking suppliers to sign an agreement that would postpone the retailer’s payment of its past-due debt until July 2009.

Wickes, which has about 43 stores in greater Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Portland, Ore., is owned by Sun Capital Partners. It is No. 19 on Furniture/Today’s Top 100 with estimated 2006 sales of $450 million

How the MSM try to lead us down the 'yellow brick road' to amnesty.

Guest workers: There's a history here?

100% Preventable! More Americans sacrificed to open borders!

This has been the Blogs For Borders Video Blogburst. The Blogs For Borders Blogroll is dedicated to American sovereignty, border security and a sane immigration policy. If you’d like to join find out how right here.

Technorati Tags: illegal immigration, mexico, el salvador, rape, murder, crime, deportation, amnesty, invasion, insanity,

The country of Ecuador in South America is waiting patiently for the imminent eruption of the Tungurahua volcano, which has been spewing ash and smoke.

Tungurahua Volcano Ecuador Mover Mike

We saw Charlie Wilson's war and I'm told that Tom Hanks had Charlie Wilson down. Too bad, the movie didn't have the truth about Afghanistan down as well. For one thing, did you notice that Pres. Reagan was no where to be found?

Dr. Jack Wheeler in last weeks To The Point News newsletter (By subscription only) wrote that it was not Joanne Herring (played by Ms. Roberts), but Wheeler himself, that told Wilson "defeating the Soviets in Afghanistan could win the Cold War." The movie makes clear that the State Department in Pakistan is not interested in winning in Afghanistan by defeating the Russians. Then the only one the CIA operative, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, mentions as a recipient for aid is Afghani Ahmad Shah Massoud. Wheeler writes

Yet the CIA in fact provided little or no aid to Massoud for most of the war. The film never mentions who did get most of the CIA aid instead of Massoud: an America-hating Khomeini-loving Islamofascist named Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and his "Hezbi" Mujahaddin.

How the Afghans got the Stingers that won the war is a fascinating story never fully told and can only be abbreviated here. The very condensed version is this:

All the massive weapons flow organized by Charlie and the CIA had, by mid-1986, done no good as it was mostly going to Gulbuddin. When I was in Afghanistan in August, the war was over. The Soviets had won, most of the Muj had retreated back to the refugee camps in Pakistan. Soviet Spetsnaz teams were hunting down and killing the Muj who were left.

Ronald Reagan had been well aware of the need for shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles, and in April 1985 signed a classified Executive Order giving CIA Director Bill Casey the authority to provide the Muj with Stingers. The EO was blocked by CIA Deputy Director John McMahon.

McMahon was determined that the Afghans not get Stingers, and used every bureaucratic trick in the book in a constant stream of excuses to prevent their delivery, despite the demands of Reagan, Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-NH), Charlie, and many others in Congress such as Don Ritter (R-PA).

By late 1985, the entire conservative movement was demanding military aid to anti-Soviet freedom fighters, so we decided to make an end run around McMahon. A visit by UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi was arranged to Washington, where he met President Reagan in the Oval Office on January 30, 1986.

Savimbi told Reagan about the coming Soviet-Cuban offensive scheduled at the end of the rainy season in April, that UNITA would be destroyed without Stingers against the Hinds. Reagan gave Savimbi his word that the Stingers would be provided.

The President then called Bill Casey and said he just didn't care what the excuses were anymore. Any reason given by McMahon was to be disregarded. He signed an EO to that effect on February 18. Two weeks later, McMahon resigned. I was in Angola at UNITA's Jamba headquarters in April when the Stingers arrived. The Soviet-Cuban offensive was stopped thanks to them.

The final scene is one of Wilson seeking $1 million for schools in Afghanistan, after we spent $500 million on weapons. He was turned down because "no one gives a shit about schools" for Afghanis. That seems to be the Movie's lesson for Americans to the question, "Why do they hate us?" We didn't spend enough money building them back up so the Taliban (Hamas or Palastinians, your choice) marched in.

Wheeler writes that Charlie Wilson's heroism should be "a deep embarrassment to the party of Pelosi Galore and Lost Harry Reid, the party who apologizes for America's existence and has neither the spine nor will to defend her."

Charlie Wilson Charlie Wilson's War Mover Mike

Update:

In Kansas -Dec 28, 2007 "Last year, we had the snowiest January on record," said Robb Lawson, meteorologist for the National Weather Service. "This year, we have had one of the snowiest Decembers on record."

Toronto - Dec 17, 2007 "The city received a dumping of 26 centimetres on Sunday, just missing a 44-year-record for snowfall in one day."

Denver - Jan 1, 2008 "The two storms that hit Denver between Christmas and Dec. 27 made the month the sixth-snowiest since records began in 1872, the Weather Service reported."

Lufkin, TX - The number 1 story for 2007 "An abnormally strong cold front from Canada met moisture in the air over the eastern part of Texas on Easter weekend, forming snow which was likely the latest-ever snowfall in Lufkin as kept by National Weather Service records."

Silverton, CO - Dec 10, 2007 Silverton gets record snowfall

Michigan - Jan 2, 2008 "The national Weather Service says it's the region's heaviest New Year's Day snowstorm on record and unusual for its intensity and short timeframe."

Twin Cities - December 2007 was the 12th-snowiest on record.

Columbia, MO - Dec 15, 2007 "It was already a record snowfall for Dec. 15, according to Scott Truett, senior forecaster with the National Weather Service in St. Louis. The previous record of 3 inches was set in 1987."

Boston - Dec 27, 2007 "The city of Boston is just one inch shy from the snowiest December ever."

Manchester, N.H - Jan 5, 2008 "...New Hampshire just broke the record for the snowiest December ever recorded. The state got 44.5 inches of snow this month compared to 43 inches in 1876."

Wausau - "The winter storm passing through central Wisconsin dumped at least nine inches of snow in the Wausau area Sunday, breaking a record of 6 inches total snowfall for the same day in 1933."

Winter has just begun!

They nailed Norman Hsu real fast for his '92 fraud case. Three years! Still to come, bilking investors out of $60 Million in a Ponzi scheme and illegally contributing money to Democrats, including $804,850 to Sen. Hillary Clintons campaign for President.

Norman Hsu Sen. Hillary Clinton Mover Mike

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has long argued that economic models don’t adequately capture the way the economy behaves. Mr. Greenspan expanded on that view Thursday night, saying human nature, which is prone to euphoria and fear, may be the principle driver, and it can’t be captured by economic models.

Unlike the inflationary 70’s when money and credit went into the real economy, since the early 80’s and accelerating into the 90’s, this new century money has been increasingly channeled into financial assets, creating asset inflation. This was visible first in the equity bubble of the late 90’s. New money created by the Fed to fight off a collapsing stock market bubble, recession, and a major terrorist attack led to additional bubbles in the bond market, mortgage and housing market, and finally in excess consumption in this new century.

[...]

Money and credit are no longer going into the real economy in the form of new investment in plant and equipment which would create new jobs. Instead credit and money creation is fed into the financial markets leading to multiple asset bubbles in the stock and bond markets and real estate.

[...]

Given this new aspect of America’s economic life and the fact that the Fed and the government have no inclination to live within their means or curtail rampant money creation, new asset bubbles are going to be inevitable. While one asset bubble may deflate as was the case in the NASDAQ and tech stocks from 2000-2002, other asset bubbles in bonds, mortgages, and real estate took its place.

1. Printing Presses in Overdrive - we've seen M3 rise to the point where it is currently accelerating near 20%

   See Chart www.economagic.com

2. Currency Depreciation - since 2004 the USD has fallen from 86 to 75

   

3. Asset Bubbles in Natural Resources - since 2004 oil has gone from $33 to $100, Gold from $400 to $850, Silver from $6 to $15, and the CRB from 260 to 370.
4. Higher Interest Rates - the only thing that hasn't happened is higher interest rates, YET, and you have to ask why. Are investors in denial over inflation? I suspect, either the FED is buying all bonds offered or there's a bubble in bonds.

Since the creation of the Federal Reserve, middle and working-class Americans have been victimized by a boom-and-bust monetary policy. In addition, most Americans have suffered a steadily eroding purchasing power because of the Federal Reserve's inflationary policies. This represents a real, if hidden, tax imposed on the American people.

The Fed has followed a consistent policy of flooding the economy with easy money, leading to a misallocation of resources and an artificial "boom" followed by a recession or depression when the Fed-created bubble bursts.

[...]

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to stand up for working Americans by putting an end to the manipulation of the money supply which erodes Americans' standard of living, enlarges big government, and enriches well-connected elites, by cosponsoring my legislation to abolish the Federal Reserve.

Update:

MAP 6.5 2008/01/05 11:44:48 51.171 -130.556 10.0 398 km (247 mi) WNW of Campbell River, Canada

MAP 6.5 2008/01/05 11:01:05 51.299 -130.713 10.0 413 km (257 mi) WNW of Campbell River, Canada

MAP 5.6 2008/01/05 10:39:15 51.396 -130.252 10.0 387 km (240 mi) WNW of Campbell River, Canada

Campbell River, Canada Earthquake 2008 Predictions

Say yeah, gimme your loving
(Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme)
(Gimme, gimme, gimme your loving)

Thought that it would be so easy
Thought that I could be alone
But when I'm close to you
I lose my mind
I lose control
(Gimme your loving)

I want you so, I won't let go
Please give me now a sign to move on, oh

Gimme, gimme, gimme your loving
Far away from you seems like dying
Don't you leave me standing in the dark
Ohoh, gimme, gimme, gimme your loving

Artist: Eurovision Song Contest
Song: Cyprus: one - gimme
Album: Eurovision Song Contest 2002

Sen. Hillary Clinton Hillary Huma Abedin Gimme Mover Mike

What we have learned about Mr. Huckabee the past few months is that he's an ace entertainer with a warm, witty and compelling persona. He won with no money and little formal organization, with an evangelical network, with a folksy manner, and with the best guileless pose in modern politics. From the mail I have received the past month after criticizing him in this space, I would say his great power, the thing really pushing his supporters, is that they believe that what ails America and threatens its continued existence is not economic collapse or jihad, it is our culture.

They have been bruised and offended by the rigid, almost militant secularism and multiculturalism of the public schools; they reject those schools' squalor, in all senses of the word. They believe in God and family and America. They are populist: They don't admire billionaire CEOs, they admire husbands with two jobs who hold the family together for the sake of the kids; they don't need to see the triumph of supply-side thinking, they want to see that suffering woman down the street get the help she needs.

We are disgusted with a government that can't protect our borders and squanders our wealth. We don't understand a "trillion dollars" or that we owe trillions of dollars, yet many in the country are doing spectacularly well and others are just getting by. We see $100 oil and $3.00 gas and buy groceries at higher and higher prices, yet our government tells us there is no inflation.

What Mike Huckabee brings to my mind, is an "Evangelical Taliban". Why would we fight Islamic extremism around the globe and be just as intolerant at home? That's not what we are want in our President. The Republicans can not win that way, but they can win if they address the bigger issue. Noonan says Huckabee is riding the wave. Let's elect someone who is making the wave!

Huckabee Peggy Noonan Mover Mike

NASDAQ Mover Mike

The poor employment report should clear the way for a fourth-straight rate cut by the Federal Reserve later this month, as concerns mount about continuing troubles in credit markets.

The sharp jump in the unemployment rate...may be the most alarming feature of this report. Single-month increases that large occur only rarely and most often near business cycle turning point

The rise in unemployment hit blacks and Hispanic workers especially hard, with both groups seeing a rise of 0.6 pp in their unemployment rates to 9.0 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.

Unemployment Barack Obama Mover Mike

Trailing in the third quarter by 14, the Blazers tie the game and trail by one at end of the third. With less than 24 seconds at the end of regulation Portland has the ball and a chance to win. With less than 24 seconds left in the first OT Portland has the ball and a chance to win.

Finally, late in the second OT, Portland wins at the free throw line as Brandon Roy makes a pair and then Jones makes four straight. Nice way to end the road trip. Denver beat San Antonio, so the two remain tied for the lead.

The second most plentiful element in the universe is suddenly in short supply on this planet...

The Chicago Tribune says the U.S. is the number one source for Helium. One third of the world's supply comes from Texas. During WWI, we stockpiled the gas in underground reservoirs in the Federal Helium Reserve near Amarillo, Texas and now those reserves, at present production rates, will be depleted in 10 years.

It (Helium) is locked largely in natural-gas deposits and typically found only at trace levels too expensive to strip out and refine.

By a quirk of geology, however, some natural-gas fields in this country are blessed with robust helium concentrations. And that has made the U.S. to helium production what Saudi Arabia is to oil.

[...]

A standard tank with enough helium to fill 400 average-size balloons cost $40 five years ago but $88 today, Kaufman said. And he's been told to expect another 50 percent price hike before Christmas.

The Linde Group, a smaller Helium producer, recently purchased BOC's Helium productiion sources and has become a major player along with Taiyo Nippon Sanso who purchased parts of spun off parts of BOC.

Besides balloons for parties, Helium is used for the Goodyear Blimps,

it is ideal for cooling metals that produce superconductivity or in processes that throw off a lot of heat. It is used to make flat-panel TVs, semiconductors, optical fibers and medical MRIs, and it toughens industrial welds. NASA uses a full train-car load to pressurize a liquid fuel rocket.

via videosift.com

Llaima Chile Mover Mike

The stock market (DJIA) fell over 220 points, as Gold went to a new all time closing high and oil touched $100 a barrel. Bullish commodity investors see the FED abandoning the fight against inflation and going all out to fight the liquidity crisis brought on by the sub prime mess.

In addition, Yahoo announces U.S. Manufacturing Sector Contracts

The U.S. manufacturing economy unexpectedly contracted in December, ending a streak of 10 consecutive months of growth and sinking to its lowest point in almost five years, a private research group said Wednesday. The decline suggests that the overall economy may be weakening faster than some economists predicted.

What a pickle for the FED and our fiat currency!

The Federal Reserve Interest Rates Mover Mike

map 1.2 2007/12/29 20:16:32 45.128N 120.924W 14.8 13 km ( 8 mi) ESE of Maupin, OR

Maupin Earthquake Mover Mike

Update:

Update:

Update:

The most active volcano in South America has erupted. The The Dream Antilles has a picture as does Chileno.

Llaima Volcano Southern Chile Mover Mike

There's great news for America in the New York Times. Geologists and drilling companies have known for years that significant oil underlies Montana and North Dakota in a formation called the Bakken Formation. Now technology has allowed us a way to drill into this formation and access an estimated 200 Billion barrels of oil or more "significantly more, for instance, than the much debated field in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge." 200 Billion barrels of oil would put it in the company of the five biggest onshore fields in Texas and California.

The (Bakken) formation consists of three members: lower shale, middle dolomite, and upper shale. The shales were deposited in relatively deep marine conditions, and the dolomite was deposited as a coastal carbonate bank during a time of shallower water. The middle dolomite member is the principal oil reservoir, roughly two miles below the surface.

Porosities in the Bakken average about 5%, and permeabilities are very low, averaging 0.04 millidarcies—much lower than typical oil reservoirs.[2] However, the presence of horizontal fractures makes the Bakken an excellent candidate for horizontal drilling techniques in which a well drills along the extent of the rock layer, rather than punching a hole vertically through it. In this way, many thousands of feet of oil reservoir rock can be penetrated in a unit that reaches a maximum thickness of only about 140 feet.[3] Production is also enhanced by artificially fracturing the rock.

Bakken Formation U.S. Oil Reserves Mover Mike

Gold rose to within striking distance of its record high on the last trading day of 2007...

Gold reached a session high of $843.20 a troy ounce on Monday, the highest level since January 1980, when bullion reached a record $850...

...2007 marked the sixth consecutive year of positive returns for gold....

Gold ended trading in New York at $833.20 a troy ounce, ...up by 30.9 per cent since the start of 2007.

Gold precious metals Mover Mike