It is a bread riot, period.
The street warfare is domestic reaction to domestic sin, namely theft of the nation's resources by Mubarak's apparatchik.
The Muslim Brotherhood is undoubtedly pleased at the prospect of a Cairo power vacuum, but when 10 million mothers are too malnourished to produce breast milk, it takes no cabal of turbaned Pat Robertsons to create a certain amount of anger.
Yes, it may contribute to four-dollar gas in Pleasantville, but there is nothing the inept American foreign policy machine can do about that. What Hillary, President Obama, and USAID can profitably do is shut up. Except for issuing a statement suggested by my buddy Joe in during a similar foreign goat grope some years ago. "We are sorry for your troubles and wish you all the best of luck. Have the last man standing send us a telegram. We'll be pleased to deal with him."
Jan 29, 2011
Jan 28, 2011
The January thaw is here. It began yesterday and will persist until this evening's dinner hour, topping out at 33 torrid degrees in mid-afternoon, then yielding to the next Canadian import. Tuesday and Wednesday night will be somewhere in minus-six range. Around here the rustics abbreviate that as OFAGDSF. That is, "Oh fooey, another gol-danged scrotal freezer."
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I have an inconsistent philosophy about weather moaners. When others over-gripe about a few little feet of snow and a bracing Alberta breeze, I'm often prone to huff that they should shut up or move to Arkansas. When I do it it I am merely exercising my First Amendment right to bitch. Use it or lose it.
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The firewood stash is much diminished but more than adequate for remaining season. It is no longer a neat stack, and I've used a little more than I planned, probably because some of the ash wasn't as dry as I thought. Still, I should carry over a couple of months' supply to the winter of '11 and '12. This is known as a budget surplus, and I usually have one, confirming my long-held belief that I am morally superior to those in or seeking public office.
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Being a somewhat weather-driven man, I naturally read the Washington Post reports of the end of the world yesterday. That led to a mischievous Bing search for the Capitol's fool-proof plan for evacuation in response to nuclear attack. If you need a giggle as badly as I did, do the same.
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This is the sort of thing you get from a fellow who feels compelled to write something but who has absolutely nothing to say. Please love me anyway.
.
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I have an inconsistent philosophy about weather moaners. When others over-gripe about a few little feet of snow and a bracing Alberta breeze, I'm often prone to huff that they should shut up or move to Arkansas. When I do it it I am merely exercising my First Amendment right to bitch. Use it or lose it.
---
The firewood stash is much diminished but more than adequate for remaining season. It is no longer a neat stack, and I've used a little more than I planned, probably because some of the ash wasn't as dry as I thought. Still, I should carry over a couple of months' supply to the winter of '11 and '12. This is known as a budget surplus, and I usually have one, confirming my long-held belief that I am morally superior to those in or seeking public office.
---
Being a somewhat weather-driven man, I naturally read the Washington Post reports of the end of the world yesterday. That led to a mischievous Bing search for the Capitol's fool-proof plan for evacuation in response to nuclear attack. If you need a giggle as badly as I did, do the same.
---
This is the sort of thing you get from a fellow who feels compelled to write something but who has absolutely nothing to say. Please love me anyway.
.
Jan 27, 2011
Snort
Some news guy says, "They're getting rid of color terror alerts and replacing them with emoticons."
Fed Notes by the Number
...and with continued apologies to Ray Price,
"Troubles by the score...".
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Stocks scared us witless, so we took our serious money out of equities and parked it in good old gummint bonds. I mean, they're guarandamnteed by the feds, right?"
Yes, Ben warrants the fed numbers, but neither he nor Tim nor Barack will touch the question of what your bond proceeds will buy. The private money gurus are increasingly at pains to point that out, almost as a matter of daily routine. For instance:
"Troubles by the score...".
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Stocks scared us witless, so we took our serious money out of equities and parked it in good old gummint bonds. I mean, they're guarandamnteed by the feds, right?"
Yes, Ben warrants the fed numbers, but neither he nor Tim nor Barack will touch the question of what your bond proceeds will buy. The private money gurus are increasingly at pains to point that out, almost as a matter of daily routine. For instance:
Two reasons to be wary about bonds now is the inevitability that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates and the growing likelihood that some states may default on their debt.
Find what irony you will in another of Stacy's observations:
And, if you’re looking for an alternative bond investment, Lyndon points to corporate and utility bonds, which he feels, are “safer than treasuries and munis these days.”
That is, while the Government of His Obamaness and all of his plans for your prosperity are so much unicorn methane, that evil ol' private sector might just hand you a gas mask.
(I'll pass for now on commenting on that sentence about muni default. It's just too depressing. Besides, I don't own any bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the California Commission on Condor Restoration. Illinois, either.)
Find what irony you will in another of Stacy's observations:
And, if you’re looking for an alternative bond investment, Lyndon points to corporate and utility bonds, which he feels, are “safer than treasuries and munis these days.”
That is, while the Government of His Obamaness and all of his plans for your prosperity are so much unicorn methane, that evil ol' private sector might just hand you a gas mask.
(I'll pass for now on commenting on that sentence about muni default. It's just too depressing. Besides, I don't own any bonds backed by the full faith and credit of the California Commission on Condor Restoration. Illinois, either.)
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