The fall of Troy

Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. Apollo (the Greek god of the sun, truth and prophecy) fell in love with Cassandra. However, when she did not return his love, Apollo placed a curse on her so that no one would ever believe her predictions.




Cassandra foresees the destruction of Troy (she warns the Trojans about the Trojan Horse, the death of Agamemnon, and even her own demise). Despite this foresight, she is unable to do anything about these events.

In January of this year I predicted that there was a looming problem of rising oil prices. At that time, Nymex crude oil was at $100.00 a barrel.

This past week, it broke through the $140.00 mark.

I tried to point out that if the price of sweet crude oil continued higher, the cost of everyday consumer goods would rise alongside it. This would then, in turn, spark wide spread inflation in the United States.




In its infinite wisdom, Ben Shalom Bernanke and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in Washington DC has cut interest rates time and again over the past couple years to "stimulate" the stock market and “help” the nationwide real estate crisis.




These shortsighted actions have caused serious weakness in the US dollar. When the Canadian Loonie, for the first time in its history became more valuable than the US dollar, I made a point to mention it on this blog.

As you can see from this chart (pictured below), the Dow Jones Industrial Average is now well below the 11,722 mark it held in January of 2000.



(CLICK CHART TO ENLARGE)

One might kindly say that we have simply made no economic progress in the eight years that George Bush has been in the White House.

However, if you adjust those market levels for even modest year-to-year inflation you really get a sense of what a complete cluster fuck this administration has been.

For the birds

A study performed by a scientist at Keio University, and one of his graduate students, has found that pigeons are smarter than 3-year-olds.





However, the scientist concluded that the three-year olds are still a lot smarter than this turkey.

Now That's Rich

From Page Six of today’s New York Post:

June 10, 2008

WE'RE in for taxing times if Barack Obama wins the White House, says CNBC's Maria Bartiromo. "He's going to take the capital gains tax at 15 percent right now all the way up to 25 to 28 percent," the "Money Honey" tells Avenue. "Sell anything, like a home or stocks, and make a profit . . . [almost] 30 percent of the profit will go to the government instead of 15." The income tax is also in for a bump. Bartiromo says, "Right now [it] is 35 percent, Obama wants to take that to 39 percent . . . We're talking about people who make over $200,000. That's not rich. So it's actually going to impact more people than you may think."




Keep in mind that Maria Bartiromo’s annual salary exceeds $1,000,000.00, so it would be a big mistake to think she is biased in any way.

Bartiromo's suggestion that $200K per annum income is "not rich," and that an increased tax on those who earn that much represents some sort of widespread impact on mainstream earners is blatantly false.

The fact is that in 2005, the national median income was a mere $44,389. Furthermore, according to the 2006 U.S. Census data on household income, households earning $200K or more represent only 3.5% of all households.

This would mean that over 95% of all American households would directly benefit from Obama’s plan.

I think if Barack Obama would add a tax cut plan on pant suits, Maria would immediately calm down.

Sunday Giggle VIII

Growing up in America.




Special thanks to Lindsay, Age 6, for her submission.

Picking up chicks

On his television show, British chef Jamie Oliver recently made a point of showing the reality of how animals are treated and killed in the manufacture and processing of food.



No matter where you stand on this issue, this is not easy to watch.

Another important movie on this subject is the 2006 Richard Linklater directed Fast Food Nation.