Thursday, April 30, 2009

For those of you who have the patience to read some thoughts of this spring:

My fellow right-wingers, calm down. The new president is not the 
antichrist, Stalin or even a radical.

By David Horowitz
April 2, 2009

I have been watching an interesting phenomenon on the right, which isbeginning to cause me concern. I am referring to the over-the-top hysteria in response to the first months in office of our new president, which distinctly reminds me of the "Bush is Hitler" crowd on the left.

Speaking of this crowd, have you seen any "I am so sorry" postings from that quarter as Obama continues and even escalates the former president's war policy in Afghanistan and attempts to consolidate his military occupation of Iraq?

Conservatives, please. Let's not duplicate the manias of the left as we figure out how to deal with Mr. Obama. He is not exactly the antichrist, although a disturbing number of people on the right are convinced he is.

I have recently received commentaries that claim that "Obama's speeches are unlike any political speech we have heard in American 
history" and "never has a politician in this land had such a quasi-religious impact on so many people" and "Obama is a narcissist," which leads the author to then compare Obama to David Koresh, Charles Manson, Stalin and Saddam Hussein. Excuse me while I blow my nose.

This fellow has failed to notice that all politicians are narcissists and that a recent American president was a world-class exponent of 
the imperial me. So what? Political egos are one of the reasons the Founders put checks and balances on executive power. As for serial lying, is there a politician that cannot be accused of that? And a pretty high bar in this category, and we survived it. As for Obama's speeches, they are hardly in the Huey Long, Louis Farrakhan, Fidel Castro vein. They are in fact eloquently and cleverly centrist and sober.

So what's the panic? It is true that Obama has shown surprising ineptitude in his first months in office, but he's not a zero with no 
accomplishments as many conservatives seem to think -- unless you regard beating the Clinton machine and winning the presidency as nothing. But in doing this you fall into the "Bush-is-an-idiot" bag of liberal miasmas.

It is also true Obama has ceded his domestic economic agenda to the House Democrats and spent a lot of money in the process. But what's the surprise in this? After all, Bush and McCain both proposed (and in Bush's case pushed through) massive government giveaways (which 
amount to government takeovers as well). This is bad, but it doesn't make Obama a closet Mussolini, however deplorable the conservatives among us may regard it. Moreover, he's already run into political resistance even within his own party. Charlie Rangel has made it clear that the itemized deduction tax hike is not going through his committee -- and that should tell you that the American system, the 
one the Founders created, is still in place.

Even as astute a conservative thinker as Mark Steyn has been swept up in the tide that thinks Obama is a "transformative" radical. But look again at his approach to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In both cases, as noted, he is carrying out the Bush policies -- the same 
that he once joined his fellow Democrats in condemning. And that should be reassuring to anyone concerned about where he is heading as commander in chief.

In other words, while it's reasonable to be unhappy with a Democratic administration and even concerned because the Democrats are now a socialist party in the European sense, we are not witnessing the coming of the antichrist. A good strategy for political conflicts is to understand your opponent first -- not to underestimate him, but not to overestimate him either.

Once conservatives do that, they will find some silver linings in the first moves of the Obama administration. Through a combination of ineptitude and zeal, Obama has in two short months locked down the conservative and Republican base. On fetal stem-cell research, on borders (e-verification), on spending, on unions, on shutting down talk radio, Obama has flexed the leftist muscle so nakedly and unmistakably that there isn't a conservative left who will vote 
Democratic in the next election (and there were many who did so in the last).

As we move forward, Obama faces increasingly tough choices in the 
wars against Islamic fascism in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Gaza and Iran. Hopefully, he will make the right choices, and should he do so conservatives will need to be there to support him. If he makes the wrong choices, conservatives will need to be there to oppose him. But neither our support nor our opposition should be based on hysterical 
responses to policies that we just don't like. Let's leave that kind of behavior to the liberals who invented it.
--

Some Odds and Ends today - Spring 2009

In the woods where many rivers run among the unbent hills
and Fields of our Childhood - where ricks and rainbows mix
in memory although our "fields" were streets
I see again those myriad mornings rise
when every living thing casts its shadow in eternity
and all day long the light like early morning
with its sharp shadows shadowing
a paradise that I had hardly dreamed of
nor hardly knew to think of this unshaved today 
with its derisive rooks that rise above dry trees
and caw and cry and question every other
spring and thing - Lawrence Ferlinghetti

from across the pond:

Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale is the most played song in 
public places in the past 75 years, according to a chart compiled for 
BBC Radio 2.

The song, with its distinctive organ riff, stayed at number one for 
six weeks in the UK in the summer of 1967.

Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody was at number two followed by All I Have To Do Is Dream by the Everly Brothers. There was no place in the top 10 for The Beatles.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Suicide Redux from December 23, 2008


I wrote this last December after the reaction by some to the Bernard Madoff Scandal.  Since Last December there have been many Suicides - by Unemportant people - who don't count - until the Latest "Big Guy" at the freddiemac, fannymae lending consortium.  He was 41 - a financial superstar.....good bye!

If you have a friend, who is in a deep state of Depression, for your knowledge - a must rea is a small book (84 pages) a self account of a great writer, William Styron "Darkness Visible" - and after you have read it - give it to your friend to read - as someone did for me.

Suicide Watch - Dead Men Walking as I write.

Suicide is condemning yourself to death. First you visit "Hell on Earth" - the real and only hell - then you see that every turn available is unacceptable. Anxiety reaches astronomical levels, Searching for the way - out of this hell. You eliminate social contact around your life, including intimates - they cannot help, only interfere - It's a private matter of the utmost, and can only be experienced by one. There are many ways to commit suicide - the internet has thorough discussions, mostly by people who have failed. It behooves everyone to learn the best method for themselves - and then to fine tune the procedure - so that success is guaranteed. How to Point the Gun, what pills to take, the importance of the plastic bag and rubberband - unless of course you're going to jump or drown yourself (messy.) There is a point in anyone's life (anyone!) that suicide becomes a thought, moved up to an option, moved up to a plan and "Execution." It is...the perfect crime!

Friday, April 3, 2009

On The Road - Kernville, California in the Sierra + RIMM

As I strive to keep myself in the weather temperature range of 75 Degree Days and 40 Degree nights - I have arrived in Kernville, California - to the surprise of Research in Motion's (Blackberry) earnings that jacked up the price (+25%) - My Major "Call Holding" for the past month which is the amount of time I have been using the Blackberry Storm.  Assuming I do not do anything foolish - I have accumulated (in this gain) enough funds to make my next 6 months of living - "on the house" during these troubled times - although I was equipped to manage the costs - in any event.  This is a beautiful Town - beautiful Area - Classic Lake/River town in the Sierra Mountain Range.  The Temperature at arrival was 75 degrees and early this morning (5am) 40 Degrees( Elevation about 3,000ft)... So....all the "Bells" lined up on the slot machine. - More to come, Words, Pictures, gains and losses.

PS. For those of you who are Fibonacci Devotees, The RIMM price this morning hit the "high line" of Feb 09/09 at $60 and retracted slightly - I'm drawing an "inside Fib" between the top two lines and will close if no support at the 50% of the "inside lines."  Addendum: Needed to go out and play closed call position when price was 58.80 - stock was basing - so the remainder of todays action will not happen until maybe 2:30 - bird in the hand....

"Looking at large positive gap openings for RIMM regardless of the catalyst (earnings, news, etc) shows a similar trend to its typical pattern on positive earnings report days.  Today's gap opening (+25%) is likely to be the second strongest in the stock's history, and the eighth positive gap of more than 15%.  Following the prior seven 15%+ gaps, RIMM has averaged a gain of 4.9% from the open to close with positive returns 71% of the time."


Lake Isabella, adjacent to the Kern River


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Rock Climbers going acquatic