Posted 3:04 AM by Howard
After years and years of scanning the employment opportunities ads for the one that will say, "Lay Around and Make Big Money" I finally fell into one and until the Feds walk in and bust us I will be working and not blogging.

MARKETS A lesson on how fucking awful everyone on Wall Street is when handling client money can be observed by looking at a Krispy Kream Doughnut chart. The clearest of sell signals occurred in late June of 02 and you should have hit the road. IBD named KKD one of their Hot 100's back in 2000 and gave a clear buy signal a month or so later. The stock climbed $25 til the sell signal.

Why would a brokerage firm or broker not get you out way back then? Fear. Anybody getting hit at this late date is just out to lunch. Again, IBD is the only place to go for both education and information about stocks.

In general the market is very nervous. This may be because all the political partisans are scared shitless and are cancelling each other out by playing it safe. As I noted here before, people who are for Bush feel he's going to lose and people for Kerry feel Kerry is going to lose. Not a confident market. Don't fuck with it during the week before Labor Day and unless your ducks are ALL in a row be sure you miss the chance to go long or short. There is always a next time. And remember: volume, volume, volume; when there ain't none you got zilch.

Politics I know what you know. The Swiftie's ads have been dynamite and the latest book to attract attention is called Stolen Valor (actually an old book for researchers til now) that details everyone's medals in Vietnam hangs Kerry even further out to dry. Let's be honest here: Kerry is not a coward. He did not run from the sound of the gun, but instead got just near enough to feather his own nest with embellished reports of his own bravery and obviously faked his first Purple Heart. If you've had a chance to see those boring TV ads featuring movie stars for Kerry, you will realize how effective the "truth told well" can be. Keep in mind there is a distinction between truth and fact. I have been in Ohio for a few days and let me tell you people are very disappointed with Kerry; disappointed as opposed to angry. Let's all see how this plays out.

Bye bye and thanks for reading me these past couple of years. link

  Posted 1:22 PM by Howard
The Rain in Maine can really be a pain....but I have news.....

Bush confessed to War Crimes back in 1972, New York Times set to report in a bombshell Special Edition....The Times will reveal that Bush testified against his fellow National Guard draft dodgers before a secret Senate hearing in July of 1972. In a voice charged with emotion Bush Jr. testified to beastiality, that air national guardsmen routinely twisted citizens into knots, and that they squeezed the testicles of local people. The Times has learned that these acts were committed against U.S. Citizens unlike the acts committed by Kerry which were against a bunch of armed and vicious Communists.

Bush claims he testified to he and his pals screwing a bunch of the local ugly pigs in town, not bestiality; that the townspeople got "bent out of shape" over a few drinking parties held in motels, and that he and his friends busted the balls of the local town officials. The White House also said that the purpose of the hearing was whether or not the Air National Guard should be allowed to install a couple of "high end" whore houses in Alabama for Air National Guard use.

The Kerry campaigning stands by their charges. Looks bad for Bush.....

link

  Posted 3:38 AM by Howard
VACATION TIL AFTER LABOR DAY link

  Posted 2:25 AM by Howard
Very late add to my comment below regarding the ease with which a determined liar can obtain an undeserved medal: It may well be that heavy research and documentation is required NOW to get a Silver Star, such was not the case in either Korea or Vietnam. In both "wars" the battle fields were confused and shifting, small battles took place all over, and nobody was too interested in checking anything. Admiral Lehman, the guy supporting the Kerry Silver Star, doesn't want to look like a fool, but he signed the documents without knowing jack shit, the stories could have been made up, and could have come from dead guys. Jury is still out. link

  Posted 1:52 AM by Howard
Ali has a very good piece up right now on Sadr and his "supporters" outside of Najaf. In a nutshell, many are clerics afraid of losing their mantle of holiness if clerics ared deposed, while many more are just unemployable losers. Good piece.

And Allah, the all knowing, has a killer piece up too on women's sports in Mullahville. Sample observation

The Khomeinist version of the hijab, invented in the 1970s and now popular in many countries, including the United States, covers a woman's entire body but allows her face and hands to be exposed. Hijab theoreticians agree on one claim: a woman's hair emanates dangerous rays that could drive men wild with sexual lust and thus undermine social peace.

So that explains shaved pussies, I knew something was driving me wild with lust but I just thought it was my evil nature. Thank God it is all the fault of those evil bitches who are dying to have sex with me. Dangerous rays that that come from women's hair drive me wild with lust covers it. Now what comes from them tits? Dangerous gasses? Call your local Imam. link

  Posted 1:40 AM by Howard
The NBA has been exposed for the showboating assholes they really are. Driving in for insane "Holy Picture lay ups" for fans and TV have nothing to do with basketball and everything to do with "me me me." That not one professional basketball player can hit an outside shot or intermediate jumper shows everyone what a bunch of semi-talented jerks they all are. Teamwork? Them? Shoot? Shoot? Naw, send Iverson into the middle and then dish to somebody else driving the middle. The NBA (Nothing But Assholes) has been shown up, first by the Larry Brown coached Detroit Pistons, and now by the rest of the world. These clowns couldn't earn money anywhere else but here, which is a good thing. These guys are essentially unemployable low IQ freaks with nothing to offer anyone outside of their clown show. link

  Posted 10:43 AM by Howard
Michael Ledeen asks: So what ever happened to the Bush doctrine, anyway? And, doctrine or no doctrine, will the Western world really wait until Iran has the atomic bomb before doing anything? Ledeen assumes Bush ever had a doctrine or a plan or a clue about the society we attacked.

It brings back a very unpleasant memory. Back in the mid-Eighties a Lebanese Christian leader stuck his head out of a trench and said "the Western world should either support us, or change its name." It's HERE on NRO if you haven't read it. He quotes my bud, "hammorabi."

On the other hand my favorite writer around, Victor Davis Hanson, has this to say:

one can argue that it's striking that after a mere three years the United States has liberated 50 million and implemented democratic reform in place of what were the two most fascistic governments in the world — all without another 9/11 mass murder.

It's another terrific piece. link

  Posted 6:13 AM by Howard
MSM is finally reporting the Swiftboat Vets, BUT almost all of them side with Kerry and some call the Vets outright liars. Go to Google News for a ton of references. None that I saw mentioned the Cambodia over Christmas lie and all that I saw simply went over the shooting of the VC without mentioning that Kerry shot him in the back while the (armed?)kid was running away. As I said HERE a guy who knows how to beat the system who is not a career guy can get a medal or two that are not deserved. By any interpretation of "conspicuous bravery" shooting somebody in the back ain't particularly brave (while it can be necessary) and conspicuously brave it just flat ain't. If you "know somebody" high up and if you are an officer who went to the "right" school you can get a silver star, sometimes. How many other guys got a Silver Star for shooting somebody in the back? link

  Posted 4:20 AM by Howard
In cleaning out my hard drive I stumbled on this 1980s essay, lifted from something or other and sent to me by somebody inside the Army. I saved it for the portions listed below and because it describes the Arab tactics of fighting that we now see in Iraq.

culture does need to be taken into account. Indeed, awareness of prior mistakes should make it possible to assess the role of cultural factors in warfare. John Keegan, the eminent historian of warfare, argues that culture is a prime determinant of the nature of warfare. In contrast to the usual manner of European warfare, which he terms "face to face," Keegan depicts the early Arab armies in the Islamic era as masters of evasion, delay, and indirection. Examining Arab warfare in this century leads to the conclusion that the Arabs remain more successful in insurgent, or political, warfare — what T. E. Lawrence termed "winning wars without battles." Even the much- lauded Egyptian crossing of the Suez in 1973 at its core entailed a masterful deception plan. It may well be that these seemingly permanent attributes result from a culture that engenders subtlety, indirection, and dissimulation (lying--me)in personal relationships. Along these lines, Kenneth Pollock concludes his exhaustive study of Arab military effectiveness by noting that "certain patterns of behavior fostered by the dominant Arab culture were the most important factors contributing to the limited military effectiveness of Arab armies and air forces from 1945 to 1991." These attributes included over-centralization, discouraging initiative, lack of flexibility, manipulation of information, and the discouragement of leadership at the junior officer level. The barrage of criticism leveled at Samuel Huntington's notion of a "clash of civilizations" in no way lessens the vital point he made — that however much the grouping of peoples by religion and culture rather than political or economic divisions offends academics who propound a world defined by class, race, and gender, it is a reality, one not diminished by modern communications...(negating all the current liberal fads)

The essay also spells out why Arab leaders NEED tribal conflicts among the governed.....

First, the well-known lack of trust among Arabs in anyone outside their own families adversely affects offensive operations. In a culture in which almost every sphere of human endeavor, including business and social relationships, is based on a family structure, this basic mistrust of others is particularly costly in the stress of battle. Offensive action, at base, consists of fire and maneuver. The maneuver element must be confident that supporting units or arms are providing covering fire. If there is a lack of trust in that support, getting troops moving forward against dug-in defenders is possible only by officers getting out front and leading, something that has not been a characteristic of Arab leadership. (Exceptions to this pattern are limited to elite units, which throughout the Arab world have the same duty — to protect the regime rather than the country.) • Second, the complex mosaic system of peoples creates additional problems for training, as rulers in the Middle East make use of the sectarian and tribal loyalties to maintain power. The `Alawi minority controls Syria, east bankers control Jordan, Sunnis control Iraq, and Nejdis control Saudi Arabia. This has direct implications for the military, where sectarian considerations affect assignments and promotions. Some minorities (such the Circassians in Jordan or the Druze in Syria) tie their well-being to the ruling elite and perform critical protection roles; others (such as the Shi`a of Iraq) are excluded from the officer corps. In any case, the careful assignment of officers based on sectarian considerations works against assignments based on merit....

Just so you know that building an Iraqi army composed of different tribes and SEXES goes against thousands of years of so-called culture. Just look at the first meeting of the Iraq Assembly this AM with hundreds of screaming morons demanding their turf. There is no concept of democracy there and the so-caloled leadership will do what they can to see that it doesn't happen. A further observation from this essay goes like this:

First, the well-known lack of trust among Arabs in anyone outside their own families adversely affects offensive operations. In a culture in which almost every sphere of human endeavor, including business and social relationships, is based on a family structure, this basic mistrust of others is particularly costly in the stress of battle. Offensive action, at base, consists of fire and maneuver. The maneuver element must be confident that supporting units or arms are providing covering fire. If there is a lack of trust in that support, getting troops moving forward against dug-in defenders is possible only by officers getting out front and leading, something that has not been a characteristic of Arab leadership. (Exceptions to this pattern are limited to elite units, which throughout the Arab world have the same duty — to protect the regime rather than the country.) • Second, the complex mosaic system of peoples creates additional problems for training, as rulers in the Middle East make use of the sectarian and tribal loyalties to maintain power. The `Alawi minority controls Syria, east bankers control Jordan, Sunnis control Iraq, and Nejdis control Saudi Arabia. This has direct implications for the military, where sectarian considerations affect assignments and promotions. Some minorities (such the Circassians in Jordan or the Druze in Syria) tie their well-being to the ruling elite and perform critical protection roles; others (such as the Shi`a of Iraq) are excluded from the officer corps. In any case, the careful assignment of officers based on sectarian considerations works against assignments based on merit

The essay concludes with the following observations: First, the Soviets had a lot of success building Arab armies because both Russian and Arab cultures operate on class, believing that underlings with knowledge are dangerous and 2. because Russian culture is as paranoid as are Arabs always fearful of plots from below.

It would be difficult to exaggerate the cultural gulf separating American and Arab military cultures. In every significant area, American military advisors find students who enthusiastically take in their lessons and then resolutely fail to apply them. The culture they return to — the culture of their own armies in their own countries — defeats the intentions with which they took leave of their American instructors. Arab officers are not concerned about the welfare and safety of their men. The Arab military mind does not encourage initiative on the part of junior officers, or any officers for that matter. Responsibility is avoided and deflected, not sought and assumed. Political paranoia and operational hermeticism, rather than openness and team effort, are the rules of advancement (and survival) in the Arab military establishments. These are not issues of genetics, of course, but matters of historical and political culture.

Don't be surprised if the Iraqi "army" fucks up in Najaf. It is a lead pipe cinch that they will be useless when we leave. link

  Posted 10:51 AM by Howard
When newspapers lie the lies spread to all pages including the wine pages as this link to Bill Quick will show

MSM continues to black out the Swiftboat story but everyone who drives and listens to talk radio knows all about it, at least here in LA. I don't know how we can escape the conclusion that there is a conspiracy here. How else to explain it? link

  Posted 7:58 AM by Howard
Wanna see more UN triumphs? Go HERE
Then go HERE What the UN has done is mass refugees into one spot and then abandoned them so that their enemies can come in and slaughter them. The UN is where John Kerry wants to take us. There are more gory pictures there too but none worse than this one with the following "story".

A woman covers the body of a child Saturday, Aug. 14, 2004, who was killed during an attack Friday Aug. 13 2004 in a refugee camp in Gatumba, Burundi, which housed Congolese ethnicTutsis. Dozens of attackers raided a U.N. refugee camp in western Burundi, shooting and hacking to death at least 180 people, witnesses and local officials said Saturday. A Burundian Hutu rebel faction claimed responsibility for the attack late Friday near the Congolese border, saying its fighters were in pursuit of Burundian soldiers who fled to the camp from a nearby army position.

Probably not enough bribe money to UN officials to get involved. link

  Posted 5:13 AM by Howard
Simon has a long post about lying, Kerry, and Bush's religion that is interesting reading but in my view misses the so-called "religion" of Bush. Bush was by all accounts an alcoholic well into his thirties. After his life became a mess (failed businesses and perhaps a failing marriage, together with no purpose) he joined AA and cleaned himself up "one day at a time." Those of us who have either cleaned up or had a family member who needed it and so on know that fighting that gorilla is a bitch. What AA demands is that you own up to the fact that you are an alcoholic and that your LIFE has become unmanageable (Note: your LIFE has become unmanageble). That you are powerless over alcohol. Then you turn to God for help. Within this context you learn that lying is the root symptom, if not the cause. Stop lying and you develop a new set of friends who don't lie, who are generally honest, and run their lives around these principals. You learn that everybody is NOT corrupt, not liars, not cheating on their spouses, and so on. And surprise surprise you are better off telling the truth and helping others. You learn that truth is what really exists; lies are invented.

One of the problems with Twelve Step People (AA, NA and so on) is that they learn to "turn it over"; meaning that you turn things over to God and that things will work out to the better purpose. I think that is Bush's failing as a president. I don't think you can just "turn it over" when you are dealing with Satan. When people are out to destroy you, fighting and turning it over beats just turning it over every time. I think Bush is honest but far too kind to people who fuck up and should be fired, like the shithead who told the NYT about the al Qaeda mole. I say fire the prick and let him turn it over to God.

Truth is often welded to danger, and it most certainly is in this war with Islamofascism. Is it possible to tell the truth, get re-elected, AND win a war deep inside Muslim territory? Bush seems to prefer silence and I think it is costing him dearly both at home and in Iraq. But with politics the supply of truth always exceeds the demand for it. We prefer to have our prejudices confirmed, not challenged. It is a serious failing of a democracy.

At any rate, that is my take.
link

  Posted 1:06 AM by Howard
What do we KNOW about Kerry?
1. We know he lied about being in Cambodia over Christmas 1968, and used this lie to manipulate senators, the public and the press when he was making some political moves.
2, He didn't know who was President in 1968 (he thought it was Nixon).
3, We now know that he shot a VC in the back while the guy running away. He received a Silver Star for this. Or was it a Bronze Star? The citations don't exist and the medal authorization(s) were signed by two Admirals who were nowhere near the action.
4. The Kerry campaign is very confused and is still developing "a storyline."

So why am I not totally pissed? Because I never read or watch MSM. I watch sports, FOX, and read on the web. I watch movies on TV and some of the history shit. I'm not going to ruin my life by staying constantly pissed off. I think that if you choose to read me you are also getting your news from the same unreliable and irresponsible sources and are a menace to life as we know it.

To those of you with no military experience who wonder just "how the fuck does a guy fake medals?" a little enlightenment. Notice all officers, even the women who have been nowhere and done nothing, have six rows of medals. How do they get them? They put in for them. I have 2.5 rows of ribbons. They include several generic battle zone medals, two unit commendation medals, a medal for serving in some fucking hole with 200 guys and only one whorehouse (standing in line for two hours for a piece of ass deserves something besides a dose of the clap and loss of self esteem), and one for staying out of trouble (a clerical error). Guys who want to grease the system go to the head clerk and grease the fucker. It is relatively easy to do a month or so after a battle when people are more glad to be alive than be suspicious. One of my friends who I served with for every minute of my military career starting ion boot camp "proved" a point by getting himself a bronze star for a battle that never took place. Niether of us were career guys, I don't know that he would have dared pull that stunt if he was staying in. It seems that Kerry did a lot of brave shit that everybody else did, no more and no less, but he knew how to play the system for maximum personal gain. That's who he is.

BTW: The biggest moron on TV is on display on NBC Olympics. The stupid bitch was praising the Saudis. Still wondering? Why it's the high rated Katie Couric, the one all women love because.....I guess because they're all stupid too.

LATER BTW: I had the women's vollyball game between Germany and Cuba on TV early this AM, did a bunch of stuff outside, drove to the market etc. and two hours later I returned to see the fucking game was still on. Wonder why NBC does tape delay? link

  Posted 1:05 AM by Howard
Hollywood Accounting: If you've ever been around gamblers, and by gamblers I mean the people who really make their money doing it, you will hear the old bromide "never chase your losses." It means that once you have lost a certain amount get up and go to the beach because you can always play a new game tomorrow. I'm reminded of that whenever I see ads for a movie that is hopelessly done. Manchurian Candidate is a horrible loser, grossing less than $50 mil after three weeks, yet the ads continue full bore. Why? Well my bet is that some relative within the Paramount structure is being fed shareholder money. Somebody, or some company, advertising agency, or time buyer, will be allowed to make a killing off of a movie that is toast. This happens all the time in Hollywood and Wall Street, neither of which ever tires of roping in the unwary. An investment house of cards might be rescued by one last mooch. A collapsing movie might suddenly be "turned around" by some miracle.

The difference between gamblers and the Hollywood crowd is that gamblers are always playing with their own money while Hollywood and Wall Street are always getting rich playing with yours.
link

  Posted 5:09 AM by Howard
Negotiations in Najaf mean Bush is Toast-------I will join in the chorus of fuck you let's get the fuck out of there if Saddr is allowed to live. How many Americans have died? How many wounded? How much has this cost? It's about time we imposed OUR way of life upon the Muslims, not risking our soldiers lives having their way being imposed upon us. What is so special about Najaf? It's ten more bullshit Muslim stories The cemetary is the burial ground for hundreds of famous clerics and even Saddam had trouble there. Here is how he handled it:

Before the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Najaf was the most important center of study for Shia religious leaders. However, Saddam Hussein ordered mass arrests and the expulsion of senior clerics, giving the Iranian seminary in the city of Qom the opportunity to take over the religious leadership of the Shias.

Khomeini made Najaf his home stomping grounds for 12 years. Saddr wants to becvome the tip top Muslim piece of shit. Saddam kicked everybody out and they all moved to Qom in Iran, which now houses 40,000 pissed off clerics. Qom may now face a challenge over the concept of something called the Velayat-e-Faqih - the God-given authority for a top religious leader to oversee secular in the absence of the Prophet Mohammad and infallible imams (this is who Saddr wants to be). The Najaf school does not interpret the Velayat-e-Faqih as meaning the direct intevention of religion in politics. The Najaf seminary's view of the Velayat-e-Faqih is that of a supervisor and adviser. The Qom school believes the opposite, with Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, officially considered as the highest religious authority of the world's Shias. Qom sees the direct involvement of clerics in state ruling and executive affairs as their legitimate right and moral obligation. This is what Iran is trying to send into Iraq, and Saddr is their guy. Bush has to kill the cocksucker or he loses.
link

  Posted 12:01 AM by Howard
Notes on a Zig Zag paper: News blackout in LA extends only as far as our local paper, the justifiably scorned Los Angeles Times. The Swiftboat story isn't there. This in spite of the fact that it the only topic of talk radio when I'm driving to work these past few mornings. I'd wax hot about this but Captain's Quarters has the best story and links I've seen. Go there if you didn't link from Reynolds. The fact that the London papers are doing a better job than any of ours makes me wonder if Bush has a chance. The liberal attack is nationwide and is done by blackout as much as attack journalism. I'd say if you aren't reading the web, you are misinformed.

Al Qaeda terror intel updated as early as this Spring, according to a White House link printed in the New York Times, the same rag that wrecked the intel sweep by publishing a deep background story from the moronic Bush White House. I think that they agreed to give this one some page time to make up for it. Just bullshit. The intel is solid. Were they going to act?

More Oil for Food, this time in MSM. When the report landed in the United Nations' Iraq sanctions committee, the clearinghouse for all contracts with Iraq, it caused only a few ripples of consternation. There was no action, diplomats said, not even a formal meeting on the allegations.

Since the fall of Mr. Hussein, the oil-for-food program has received far more scrutiny than it ever did during its six years of operation.

So starts the New York Times telling all of us what we have known for at least a year. Naturally they didn't credit Claudia Rosett, the only reporter who wrote on the story for more than a year. Next for The Times: "Russians to build wall between East and West Berlin."

More Swiftboat: many vets are rallying around Kerry

Kerry "always led from the front," Medeiros said. "He was always the first one off (the boat). He was just dedicated, and he wanted to accomplish something."

Good piece from the Oakland Tribune. In essence many of the crew are blasting the Swiftboat expose' as pure politics. The interviewee also clarifies the killing of the "VC teenager" thusly:

On the day of the now-famous incident, Medeiros said the swiftboat, PCF-94, was heading upriver when it ran into an ambush. Rockets were flying out of the jungle, and Kerry "made a decision to put the boats in and get these guys," Medeiros said. Kerry's boat happened to hit the shore right in front of an enemy soldier holding a grenade launcher. The soldier started running, maybe to get enough distance to be able to fire his weapon at the boat, Medeiros said.

Kerry's forward gunner managed to hit the guerrilla, who appeared to be a teenager, according to reports on the incident. Although he was hit in the leg, the guerrilla kept running with his weapon, which could have done serious damage to the boat and the sailors on board. Medeiros remembers Kerry jumping off the boat to give chase.

"I saw him running down this trail after this guy, and I followed him," Medeiros said. "Just as I rounded a corner behind him, (Kerry) shot the guy."

This ain't over by a long shot and we all have to hold judgment til all the info is in. But, this defense of Kerry's actions is damaging to him: You don't get a medal for shooting somebody in the back, and this is what is behind the controversy over this incident.

Revenge News Flash: Jilted boyfriend Paul Clarke took revenge on his ex-lover by posting a video of them having sex on the internet.

Business cards with the website address were handed out at Cara Whitehouse's 21st birthday party by an unknown man and put on the windscreens of all cars at the venue.

Her neighbours and work friends were also sent details. link