Not to Miss Writeup on the Marines Incident

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The Nature of Warriors

The blog is authored mainly by former special operations people.

To paraphrase the main point and one that Allen West also makes: People are only human. Things like this happened during WWII, which only lasted 4 years. These people have been at it for 9 years. And to call the enemy that they grapple with over there animals would be an insult to animals.

Also see retired Lt Col Allen West's comments over at Carol's Place.

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My Favorite is Illusion Number 8

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The Green Dot

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US Dollar / Market Tell Update

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Evidence is just beginning to appear that it may no longer be a Dollar Up-Market Down, and inverse of that -  market.  There have been a couple days where the dollar, market and commodities have all been up.
Just a heads up.  It may revert back, but this is a new event.

I knew I shouldn't have said anything.

Fwiw.

Ok, Now we play the Music!  This kid doesn't shave yet either...


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Do Ya Know What I'm Sayin?

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There is language a bit further down, just FYI.

A federal appeals court upheld an injunction against a voter-approved ban on Islamic law in Oklahoma on Tuesday, saying it likely violated the U.S. Constitution by discriminating against religion.

A three-member panel of the Denver-based U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the rights of plaintiff Muneer Awad, a Muslim man living in Oklahoma City, likely would be violated if the ban on Sharia law takes effect.

Link

Forget the fact that sharia law is in opposition to so many human rights laws already on the books in the United States it would make your head spin fast enough to create a sonic boom.

Will People understand now?

FUCK NO AND FUCK ME !  Stick a fork in this dysfunctional fucking country.  Let's not offend the sadistic vermin that regularly perform clitorectomies, cut the heads off of their wives who are too old to please them anymore and stone to death those evil teenage girls for the crime of being raped by a pack of jackal muslim teenage boys.

Fuck Me.

You people better get your head out of your ass and fight for this country or you're going to be sorry and it's going to be soon.

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Long Term Investment Idea

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Todd Harrison of Minyanville recently noted a breakout in the home builders index HGX.  While that index is still in a longer term downtrend from 2005, it is currently up trending and has broken up out of a downtrend from 2008.

Gee, the big money knew something was up with housing 3 years before it came crashing down.

Anyway, there is an ETF which can be used to invest in the home builders which is XHB.  An ETF is a basket of stocks, focused on an industry or sector that insulates you somewhat from one or more of the individual companies going bust.

I kind of like the idea because most people would puke if you suggested investing in home building right now and that is the perfect time to start building a position in an industry that is never going to go away.  Like I wouldn't do steam powered PCs for an opposing example.

Following is a long term chart, showing the lifespan of the XHB index going back to 2006 showing a long term downtrend.  A trend is recognized as 3 points over or under which a line can be drawn.  The downtrend is easily recognizable.  The uptrend from March 2009 is not confirmed as only two points touch the line but you can extend the line as time rolls on and see how it plays out.  The breakout of the downtrend is more important.

Here is a short term view of the breakout of the downtrend that happened around $17.  The market likes to test breakouts so I wouldn't be surprised to see this ETF head back towards 17.00 in the next couple weeks before heading back up (or down) but there is certainly no guarantee of that happening.

If you like the idea, one strategy would be to build a position over a period of time, like the next 6 months to a year and average into it.  So, for example, put 5% of your intended dollars into it now.  If it went back to 17, add another 20%, then try to buy it when it's weak. 

I would define weak by looking at the MACD oscillator at the bottom of each chart.  In the green is strong and in the red is weak.  Everything always goes up and down.  You'll never pick an exact bottom but if you buy when it's weak, you'll likely be happier than buying when it's strong.  Here's a great site for information about all aspects of the markets and investing.

(To get the link for MACD, I went here, selected Dictionary, then Technical Analysis and went to page 2).

 Pro's:

• I read where the property owners (banks mostly) bulldozed 20,000 houses just in Cleveland  last year.  It would seem they are going to get the home inventory in shape one way or the other.
• People will always need houses, even if they're only going to rent them.

 Con

•  The 20% minimum down for a mortgage seems like it may force a lot more people to remain in apartment living.

• Restoration of a true healthy home building environment still seems like a multi-year away event, but who knows.

Aside from housing, Technology stocks always lead a bull market.  In that vein, a couple that the pros like are Google (GOOG), and SanDisk (SNDK).  SanDisk makes those memory cards for cameras and other devices but also makes Solid State Disk drives.  Solid State drives are big chunks of memory with no moving parts.  Expect every computer device to have SSD's as time goes on.  Especially mobile devices.

I personally don't like Apple here, as it is what the market calls priced for perfection.  Stock prices for a company go up based on revenue growth and Apple has shot up because of its incredible growth  with iPod, iPad, iPhone.  Eventually it will hit the law of big numbers like Cisco system did and will not be able to grow 50% a year or even the 25% minimum growth the pros like to see to expect a rising stock price.  It may go to 1,000 bucks, I just don't consider it a high percentage bet.

Anyway, what do you think?

Journey to the Center of the Galaxy

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Click the picture to go to the APOD site, for a description. Clicking on the picture there a couple times will get you the high resolution version.

Here is a movie of a trip to the center of our galaxy.  It is made up of real telescopic images, zooming into the center and near the end shows the movement of the large gas cloud zooming around the massive black hole at the center of our galaxy using images taken each year since 2002.  Be sure to click on the youtube link on the bottom right of the video then the "show more" below the video to read the description.

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Solutions, Part 2, or The Next Big Thing

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Alternate title - Don't talk to me about Entitlements until you make some progress on this crap!

Seriously, the number of people that have their underwear in a bunch because of some people getting what? 1500 a month social security, and that's our Big problem ?

Ah no.  This is our big problem.

Think Greece. It’s coming in some form or another and it hasn’t been given Any media attention what-so-ever. 

It’s called public unions (Toss in GM and Chrysler too) and their raping of America.  

In the past I’ve complained about them working the system so as to exclude themselves from poor economic conditions. Translated as taking more money from the non-union taxpayers (most of us) who have less to give because of the poor economic conditions, no raises in years, and the devaluation of whatever money they have stuffed in a mattress.  Then crying like babies because they have to kick in 75 bucks a year for a Cadillac Health Plan.  Oh Boo Freakin Hoo.

And recently in Ohio, people voted to let them continue raping us at will.  Though most of the people that showed up at the polls for this special election were surely public union members and no doubt there was some voter fraud ala oblabber's election.  Add in some non public union morons who bought their fake sob story radio ads.  Ads that were paid for by tax dollars distributed to the unions as 'Stimulus money'.  There's nothing good here.  Seriously.

You’d think that should be bad enough. It gets worse, and it is going to get much worse yet.

Here’s a Philadelphia council woman to retire, pass go, collect $478,000, then start back to work on Monday...

Rape Me Again Please !

This isn’t a one off. 

This is going on all across the country.

States have been giving special retirement status to a growing number of types of positions. We can all agree that a 65 year old firefighter would be about useless, but Liquor Control Officer?, Gaming Officer?, Prison Worker?, Fire Investigator?, Dispatcher?, Motor vehicle Inspector?

In California, Milk Inspectors get this special status.

What is the special status? Well, it’s the ability to retire at 50-55 with large amounts of compensation (85% of salary for example for a 50 yr old prison worker in California) and full health and other benefits. Based on today’s life expectancy, that’s a 35 year vacation at Your expense. If you’re a non-union taxpayer.  And no doubt when they reach age, they'll also apply for social security and medicare.

This stuff is ramping up big time,  as more workers are pulled into special status.  Sounds like Greece all over again.

Why did I not get a state job ?   

I feel like a schlep for working my entire life since I was 15 so I could support a bunch of parasites on a 35 year vacation, albeit some of whom, like Sig94 - actually contributed something.  But I think he is in the minority here.

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Here Ya Go, Peace With The taliban

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Just saw this today.  And they're opening an office in Qatar for negotiations Money Laundering.

It's time to leave Afghanistan.  All else aside, when the commitment to win is gone, then it is time to leave and stop offering up our folks for target practice.

Update:  Ok, here's some really smooth guitar to ease the subject a little.  Do you think she was thinking that the guitar player stole the show?



Update2:  Market up today, Gold up. Dollar down big. See UUP chart. Oil and all else reacting to the dollar, not so much Iran - or the economic numbers, as the idiot media would have you thinking.  The dollar action will tell you all you need to know.  This may change but since the 2008 crash and until further notice, it's all been about the dollar value.
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Why Should We Have Soldiers In All The Places We Have Them?

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I honestly can't some up with a good reason to have our soldiers stationed around the world, in hellholes in the Middle East, and otherwise, in Germany, France, England, Japan, Turkey, and others.

I personally feel all we need are Carrier Battle Groups stationed near all the hotspots in the world, where serious trouble can be addressed in a matter of hours with air power.

There is the all encompassing argument for continuing in Afghanistan or not, and my personal opinion there is that we're not going to purge the taliban from the Earth so we either commit to staying there forever, thousands of our sons and daughters maimed by IED's, RPGs and otherwise, or take another approach.  Like arm the opposition and let them have at it, supporting them with air power seems reasonable.  Afghanistan will never have a centralized government / security force to do the job themselves and Karzai himself often sides with the taliban.  So, wtf are we doing there?

If we're sitting somewhere protecting someone like S. Korea, then they should be paying us, and a bunch of that should go as compensation to the military members and their families who are actively involved.

Iran or country Xyz about to get nuclear weapons.  We don't have people on the ground in Iran nor will we.  We have also never stopped anyone from building nuclear weapons, even with the U.N.'s Nuclear Watchkitty on the case, so what would having people on the ground near Iran do exactly. 

Let Iran get a nuke, or help Israel take out the nuclear sites from the air, or wait until Iran actually uses a nuclear weapon and show them what a nuclear submarine in the are can do to make them regret their actions.  Again, none of this involves people on the ground.

I understand our military is made up of some fantastic people. People willing to go to some hellhole and risk having both legs blown off or death in the course of temporarily saving some civilian(s) from the torture of islamic maniacs.  But why send them.  We can give them much more profitable things to do.

So, I'm with Ron Paul here.  Bring them all back, Make our military healthy and protect America as a focus.

I'm updating this post at random so if it looks different from when you last looked. (you came back twice?!) that is the reason.   Like global climate - Embrace the change! 

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Interesting Picture

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Our fragile environment.  Barely able to reach out to things in plain sight.

Click the image to go to the APOD site, then click a couple more times to get the Huge version.

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