Wow, the Dow Industrials lost 416 points in one day. Personally, my IRA fell off the chart, but it didn’t completely die – I haven’t lost part of my principal, just part of my gain.
Why do I get the feeling that gold and silver will become awfully important very soon, especially if the market starts falling again?
Debt begins to look like an awful leash around the neck at times like this. Get out of it, if you’re in it. The borrower is the lender’s slave, and we hate slavery in this country.
Well, mostly.
There’s a fascinating article in today’s Pravda on the Hudson entitled Honeybees Vanish, Leaving Keepers in Peril. Interesting quotes:
Beekeepers are the nomads of the agriculture world, working in obscurity in their white protective suits and frequently trekking around the country with their insects packed into 18-wheelers, looking for pollination work.
Once the domain of hobbyists with a handful of backyard hives, beekeeping has become increasingly commercial and consolidated. Over the last two decades, the number of beehives, now estimated by the Agriculture Department to be 2.4 million, has dropped by a quarter and the number of beekeepers by half.
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Today the industry is in a weaker position to deal with new stresses. A flood of imported honey from China and Argentina has depressed honey prices and put more pressure on beekeepers to take to the road in search of pollination contracts. Beekeepers are trucking tens of billions of bees around the country every year.
So we’ve abandoned our manufacturing industry, leaving it to others, and resorted to a service industry, and we find ourselves more vulnerable to system shocks. Yet we wonder why our international trade is in deficit instead of surplus.
Perhaps one of the reasons the bees are dying off is because they are experiencing a climate shock as they move across the country. It would be fascinating to see what would happen if the farmers hired part time help to manage their own private bee colonies instead of relying on someone else’s service. Maybe then we would see the bees acclimate better and become more productive and hardier. Besides, then the farmers would have a side crop of honey and beeswax they could sell, as well as their fruits and almonds. The beekeepers could stay closer to home instead of spending so much time on the road, and they could sell their service or expertise as well as their own honey and wax.
The more I read about the economy and our deficits, the more convinced I am that the road to financial independence as a nation (rather than our current debt slavery) is by means of production and not consumption. So think twice before you go out and buy that new flatscreen TV made in China.
Instapundit linked to news about the renewed “assault” weapons ban, which has also been discussed elsewhere. But its not just the AWB the new Congress wants to bring back – they want a completely renewed effort to outlaw the ownership of and commerce in firearms. Let’s review their newest actions.
Read more…
Note: This is not a posthumous award.
BACA, JOHN P.
Rank and organization: Specialist Fourth Class, U.S. Army, Company D, 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry, 1st Cavalry Division. Place and date: Phuoc Long Province, Republic of Vietnam, 10 February 1970. Entered service at: Fort Ord, Calif. Born: 10 January 1949, Providence, R.I.. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sp4c. Baca, Company D, distinguished himself while serving on a recoilless rifle team during a night ambush mission A platoon from his company was sent to investigate the detonation of an automatic ambush device forward of his unit’s main position and soon came under intense enemy fire from concealed positions along the trail. Hearing the heavy firing from the platoon position and realizing that his recoilless rifle team could assist the members of the besieged patrol, Sp4c. Baca led his team through the hail of enemy fire to a firing position within the patrol’s defensive perimeter. As they prepared to engage the enemy, a fragmentation grenade was thrown into the midst of the patrol. Fully aware of the danger to his comrades, Sp4c. Baca unhesitatingly, and with complete disregard for his own safety, covered the grenade with his steel helmet and fell on it as the grenade exploded, thereby absorbing the lethal fragments and concussion with his body. His gallant action and total disregard for his personal well-being directly saved 8 men from certain serious injury or death. The extraordinary courage and selflessness displayed by Sp4c. Baca, at the risk of his life, are in the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit on him, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
Almost forgot to comment on the ads.
This makes me want to sell my Garmin stock.
I miss Terry Tate and the Bud Lizards.
We went to a church event tonight to watch the big game. I was pulling for da Bears, while Jennifer was pulling for the Colts (she liked their colors better). I thought halfway through that it would have been a good idea to live-blog the game. Perhaps next year.
This game was a perfect example of how it pays off to not go for long passes and instead embrace the slow-and-steady short pass, short rush game. Despite early errors and worse weather, the Colts pulled it off and beat da Bears. I wish da Bears had made a better showing of it, but hey, maybe next year.
And perhaps they’ll realize before next year that they need to promote Brad Maynard from Punter to Quarterback. Besides, he’s far and away the sexiest player they have.
Must run in the family.
Supppose John “Coiffure” Edwards manages, despite his single term in the Senate, to win not only the Democrat nomination but also the Presidency and a Congress that is willing to pass his ginomrous health care plan (which is really an attempt to do an end-run around Hillary on the issue of socialized health care) and raise taxes in an effort to pay for it.
Suppose further that the tax hikes fail to hike revenue. Will anyone think that it might be a good idea to cut taxes and raise revenue (like history shows will happen)?
No, of course not. So we’ll end up with another entitlement that we don’t need and can’t afford, as well as a set of tax hikes no one will have the political will to kill.
Let’s avoid the situation altogether. Vote Republican. It’s easier than getting laid off because your employer can’t pay their employment taxes.
Funny.
Not funny.
As a side note, isn’t it odd how the Republicans are always referred to as the Republican Party, but the Democrats are always referred to as the Democratic Party, as if they were somehow inherently democratic? Shouldn’t it be the Democrat Party?
Hmmm…
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