Archives for September 2007

I’ve often wondered about the eye rolls I must get from readers who come along and land on one of my posts asserting that America is a fascist country and has been for a very long time.

Well.

Roosevelt himself called Mussolini “admirable” and professed that he
was “deeply impressed by what he has accomplished.” The admiration was
mutual. In a laudatory review of Roosevelt’s 1933 book Looking Forward,
Mussolini wrote, “Reminiscent of Fascism is the principle that the
state no longer leaves the economy to its own devices.…Without
question, the mood accompanying this sea change resembles that of
Fascism.” The chief Nazi newspaper, Volkischer Beobachter,
repeatedly praised “Roosevelt’s adoption of National Socialist strains
of thought in his economic and social policies” and “the development
toward an authoritarian state” based on the “demand that collective
good be put before individual self-interest.”

Keep rolling them eyes.

(Warren Meyer)

Interesting to read lefties observe Ron Paul’s campaign (via Rockwell). Interesting comments, too. One points to this video I’d not seen.

Turns out the guy who made it, ‘aravoth,’ has made quite a number of impressive compilations, including this. Here’s his YouTube page.

It’s going to be hard for the 2008 election industry to ignore what happened in Ron Paul’s campaign this last week. Some are going to to report it, so others won’t want to be seen as missing a real story. Maybe you recall the press he got at the end of last quarter, when it was learned he had more cash on hand than McCain. Once that got out, news outlets were compelled to deal with it. It’s a matter of getting the snowball rolling, and this might do it, again.

A little less than a week ago, Paul’s campaign set out to finish the quarter with a bang, by raising a half-million in the final five days of the quarter. When that goal was hit at about the halfway point, they increased the goal to $1 million. At this writing, they stand at having raised  $1,057,000 and there’s still nearly a day left.

I don’t vote, but I did kick in $200 for my part, and I’ll continue to do so over time. I still think actually winning is a very long shot, but it’s worth getting his message out. Just seeing the cheers he gets in the various debates, as well as winning most of them in the Internet and call in polls (until those get swept under the rug by powers who find such results embarrassing) is worth it. All of this ignoring of Paul has been predicated on the notion that his campaign can’t possibly contend seriously, so he’ll eventually go away. It’s about the only thing they can do. If they’re right, no one will care they did their best to ignore and marginalize him; and if they’re wrong, it will be irrelevant. And money talks. The news media is going to promote anyone’s campaign that has significant dollars to spend in political advertising over the next year on their networks. Paul is closing in on such levels.

Not a bad week. The market went essentially nowhere, but because of some of the trades I made at the lows for the week I’m up pretty good overall in spite of today’s down day. My guess: pretty big up across the board next week, and if so, I’m positioned for a serious killing. We’ll see.

You know that Crocs (CROX) trade I told you about? I’m still riding that one, now at a gain of nearly $11,000. I’m closing in on 100%, there. I also entered about the same $16,000 in calls on SAP (SAP) at the same time as Crocs and had to feel the heat for a while as yesterday, at the low, it was showing a loss of about $4,000. Today I’m almost back up to break even on it. We’ll see how that goes, but if it doesn’t get it in gear early next week, I’ll bail. I have sights on both Echelon (ELON) and Nvidia (NVDA) and that SAP trade would be the one to close in order to cut opportunity costs. Other than that, I’ve got some ProShares leveraged ETFs on the S&P and Qs, as well as some call options on both for even more leverage. All were entered near the lows of the week, so we’re looking good.

Today’s selection is The Traveling Wilburys. Quite and eclectic bunch, and even though neither Tom Petty or Bob Dylan shine in this particular one, both George Harrison and Roy Orbison make up for it in spades. And tun it up, wouldja?

This was already all over the blogs by the time I got up this morning, and Greg Freeman (that’s what you think) comments on another post about this bit of news.

For 11 years, Pedro Zapeta, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, lived his version of the American dream in Stuart, Florida: washing dishes and living frugally to bring money back to his home country.

Two years ago, Zapeta was ready to return to Guatemala, so he carried a
duffel bag filled with $59,000 — all the cash he had scrimped and
saved over the years — to the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
Airport.

Nope; the mariachi band was not in attendance that day. No teary but joyful send off for a guy who’d worked hard and achieved something in 11 years that few do in an entire lifetime: saved the equivalent of five year’s pay, all together in one spot: a real American Dream for someone of his background. And yep; the federal government stole every last penny of it. And two years later, he hasn’t seen a penny, though the Feds did offer to "settle" with him by giving him back a fifth of what’s his, $10,000.

But, you know; rules are rules and the law is the law. Sure is. You’re getting everything you want, and you’re getting it good and hard, you freedom-loving Americans, you.

Billy has some good words on an awful thing.

Here’s the Texas Legislature, which, among other things, is voting to limit voter fraud.

(Balko)

Thanks to commenter Matt who came up with this example of a cop who murdered a motorcycle rider because he refused to stop. I could quote from that article, but it’s better to read the whole thing, because you must understand the underlying logic; how the decision is essentially mandatory by the court and perfectly logical. It made exactly the correct decision, given the premise and logic of the state and police forces.

You see, nobody — certainly not those intelligent judges — would dispute various facts.

1. There was no high speed involved.
2. The police car ramming the motorcycle (twice) was a greater danger to the rider, the officer, and other vehicles than was the motorcycle’s improper passing maneuver.
3. The event for which the police car rendered chase had already past, so presented no further danger to anyone else.

The federal appeals court ruled items 1 and 2 irrelevant, even though true. Yet, it’s item 3 that holds the potential of this being a just killing; i.e., the motorcyclist is currently (i.e., right now) engaging in activities that present a real and present danger to others, within the context of what’s going on (a busy roadway) and less violent alternatives (setting a moving roadblock a-la the OJ chase) to keep others clear are impossible or would take too much time. This is all within the scope of any intelligent man or woman to think through the possibilities — if reverence for human life were paramount.

…

Read More

News headline:

GALLUP: Trust in Federal Government, On Nearly All Issues, Hits New Low — Even Less Than in Watergate Era

Relax. I’m sure things will be right back up to the normal level of foolishness right on schedule for the primary season and on into the general election.

(McQ)

Looks like Brett Darrow (and more) is getting plenty of "protection" and "service" these days. I’m sure those officers are just making sure none in their ranks go and do something stupid. I’m just sure of it.

(Balko)