Gawd....

I'm lovin' me my Glenn Beck. Yeah...sometimes he's a little over-the-top, and he certainly has got a Howard Beale vibe going on, but the guy is making scary sense.

So, yeah...I admit it...there's a lot of video here to watch....but do watch it. We're headed into totally uncharted waters.







I owe my h/t to Karl Denninger at market-ticker.org for these three videos. I read him all the time because he scares me worse than Stephen King.

Now let me add my amateur-economist's analysis to a point Beck touches on at 8:15 or so of the last video.

With words to this effect, Beck asks if the other countries in the world aren't going to be in the same sinking boat that we find ourselves in. I think he's exactly right, and underestimates this point. Take a look at yet another video.....



Yes...its al Jazerra....and there is a point to be made there too. But discounting that for the moment, this story illustrates the problem that China faces too.

For the last 30 years, China has been trying to get their peasant Third-World country into the First-World. To do this, they have kept their currency artificially devalued, so as to facilitate the export of the products that they make. What they're most concerned with is jobs...not the products of those jobs. They're quite content to spend money on cities that no one will live in because they need to keep the construction jobs (read: "economic activity") going.

We're not seeing this reported on any of the American (or Western) media because we're beholden to the debt that China holds. al Jazerra, in essence, the media organ of the Arab OPEC states, has a different set of priorities. They can report the Chinese problems in a candor that Western media cannot. However, the OPEC states are not without their own problems. Absent their oil, they have almost no industry. Their people are not far removed from living in the desert, and many are illiterate. They have few skills, and have to import white-collar and blue-collar labor to give them what they now have. They can operate what are in effect, massive welfare states because they are able to poke holes into the ground and pump out the wealth that supports it.

And here's where my fears are headed.....

All wars are economic.

We're broke.

China can't keep inflating their "production bubble".

And since the world runs on oil, the OPEC states will grind to a halt. (Not to mention the crazy-mad religious motivations that they have.).

These three groups all want to keep things going when we can't keep things going. And something's gotta give. Who'll give first?

Clunker GDP Data.....

This chart ought to tell you something......

The just-announced 3.5% increase in 3Q GDP is fake. We are not out of the recession. This is not over. In fact, its going to get worse. That spike on the chart above is going to correct lower....much lower.

And when it does, they're going to say that it was "surprising".

They're lying to us. Politicians. Media. All of them.

A little late at....

....Getting to this, but Chris Muir nailed things down pretty securely with this one....

[Click image for a better view.]

When some politician or talking head or pundit (or Fed Chairman) says that they're seeing signs of a recovery, I have to ask.....

Really?



Do you even have to look past the cover?

An interesting perspective....

I saw this first, I think, over at Gerard's place a while back, but then saw it again this morning at Innocent Bystanders.
I can't say I agree with everything he says, but it is refreshing to hear a guy from the typically lefty enviro-wacko wing speak rationally about what we're dealing with now, and how he sees the future.

52% of America thought....

Joe Biden was a smarter VP pick than Sarah Palin. Amazing. They mocked her as "Caribou Barbie".

“We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation,” Biden said.

“Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that's what I’m telling you.”

Biden is a certifiable, friggin' idiot. Zero is an even bigger idiot for picking him as his Veep. If they had any honor, the 52% of America that voted for the Zero/Biden ticket ought to be pushing for an impeachment, if for no other reason than to regain their integrity.

Told ya' so.

"Stop spending our future"....

Ummm, Yep. Can't argue with one word.




h/t Sine Nominee, seen via Glenn, so he doesn't need my traffic.

Ok....here's the thing.......

Like everybody else in the world, I've got a couple of gay acquaintances, and even a distant relative who is a lesbian.

That said, I'm as straight as the day is long. Not a gay bone in my body. [Awright, awright... I'll dispense with the double entrendes.]

But if ever I was to have a man-crush, it would have to be with this guy.



And yeah, it turns out to be a pitch for somebody, and I'm real close to becoming a gold bug myself, but the rant is beautiful, man. Beautiful.

h/t Gerard.

I'm beginning to get a suspicious feeling.....

And not just the same "I-Hate-Obama-and-Everything-He's-Doing" feeling. If I'm counting things right, he still has 18 vacancies to fill at Treasury. Geithner is a one-man act, and it isn't going well: They're developing a plan on when to plan to tell us about their plan for the economy. I'm betting that half of these vacancies are due to some of the problems (primarily past taxes) that brought the Zero administration so much attention earlier, but there may be some vacancies due to either Zero being unable to find capable person for the jobs or a willing approach to leave the jobs open. There are calls for Geithner's head, of course, but paradoxically, the vacancies at Treasury almost ensure that no matter how badly Geithner may be handling things, his job is safe.

Whatever the case, Geithner (and by extension, Zero) are handling things badly. The economy is in bad enough shape that this cannot be a one-man job for very long. Geithner will have a heart attack before we get things fixed....there is simply too much to do. Zero had better start something else before Geithner strokes out or something.

The Debt Star...

Courtesy of The Smallest Minority, one of my favorite 2A and mostly libertarian, and Arizona bloggers (whom I should visit more often).

[And, BTW, the "I have altered the pool" image is one that I once used as my signature image on That-Forum-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named. That kid still cracks me up.]

I wish we had been here sooner....

Via Hot Air, I see this WaPo article which headlines...

"Senate Lacks Votes to Pass Stimulus"

This is obviously good news. I've been against these tax incentives/bailouts/stimuli from the start. We have been poorly served, both by the congresscritters and the Fed who have gotten us into this mess, and by the idiots trying to get us out.

I thought I had written about McCain suspending his campaign, but now can't find it. I do remember being alarmed at the stunt. While I could see where he might see the moment as one where he could offer leadership, I thought that suspending his campaign spoke of desperation. That said, a bit more principled opposition to the whole idea of the bailouts would have served us well.

Today, with the backbone that the House Republicans offered a week ago, perhaps the Senate R's will also slow this train down. Before we rush at full speed right over the cliff.

More here, and here.

As if we needed further evidence...

...of our impending financial doom.

Financial Times January 28, 2009

"The US financial sector's new political masters began exercising their influence yesterday...."

Folks, there are none who have fewer qualifications to run our financial sector (or the energy sector, or the farming sector, or the manufacturing sector, or any other sector) than a "political master", and especially this current crowd.

Connecting Two Dots....

Dot One...



Via John at Powerline, we see this chart of the measure of our money supply, and in which he suggests that no one has "any idea what the medium-term consequences of these extremes of fiscal and monetary policy will be". (See also this additional Powerline question.)

This chart ought to alarm the most casual observer of our monetary policy. Simply put: Never in the history of the Fed have we seen such a spike.

Dot Two...

Via Glenn, this post asks: "Who will bail out the Fed?"

OK. I'll admit the obvious: The title to this post isn't connecting anything. The point here is that no one--not you, not me, not Ben Bernanke, and certainly not the Congressional luminaries or Zero or his minions--knows if this approach will work either.

Shipping rates hit zero....

Via Glenn, I see this story. I know I commented last fall--somewhere--on the Baltic Dry Index, and think I blogged about it here, but now can't find it.

Shipping is in trouble. In a global economy, this means trouble. Obviously, we've got our troubles here. But others are being pinched too. The Baltic Dry Index has fallen off a cliff.



How we get out of this--peacefully--is a large question.

Peter Schiff....

...Scores a shack.



h/t: Theo.

Gawd.

You just gotta love Matt Drudge.

"We'll spend our way out of this."

Who knew? Democrats are opposed to Zero's plan!

Yes. That's what is desperately needed here. An "exit strategy".

Drudge also notes that the spokes may be coming off the wheel (to use a favorite term from an internet friend). I can't find it now, but I ran across an article yesterday making the point that the US consumer is tapped out on taking on more debt, and that others in the world (China, primarily) aren't willing to buy any of it.

Trouble approaches. Gotta get the new toy up and running, before The Apocolypse hits.

It might be tempting to say that this was great news...

...But it's not. I hate to be a pessimist, but I think this is very bad news indeed.

Oil drops 9 percent as demand outlook overshadows OPEC

I paid $1.39 a gallon for gas last week. And, as is the case with everyone else, I like paying that a whole lot more than I like paying $4+ per gallon.

But on the day after OPEC cuts production by 2 million barrels per day, when the Price of Oil falls 9%, we're seeing our economic House of Cards fall right before our eyes.

Buckle up, kiddes. It's going to be a rough ride.

Backwardation...

Caveat: I am a guy now 33 years beyond my Econ 101/102 courses in which I got C's, if I remember right. I'm no economic expert...I barely understand a fraction of this stuff.

But I do know that this sort of thing scares the pants off me.

Backwardation

From what I can gather, the core of our monetary system (and that of others around the world) has just rotted through completely. Nobody who has gold is selling it. Our fiat currency is fatally ill, and the means of an individual protecting oneself is now gone.

That said: I'm buying ammo and ammo components.

Ben Stein...

This is sincerely breaking my heart, but I am beginning to question my affection for Ben Stein. I have kept a subscription to The American Spectator (at no small expense) largely because I love reading his column every month. The obituaries he has written to his mother, father and friends have touched me over the years and leave me wishing to be remembered as fondly as Stein remembers his lost loves.

However, Stein has become quite fickle on our Global War against Islamic Terror, specifically as it has been played out in Iraq. At one point, he said that he thought that "Mr. Bush is going to go down in history as one of the great peacemakers and democracy-builders in the history of the world". Then, not a year later, he said that Bush should admit that Iraq had become a "quagmire".

I first noted my disillusionment with Stein here.

And now, here is another example of how my heart is breaking at losing my cyber-friendship (if in my mind only) with Stein. In the interests of the economy, he is endorsing the same big-government, big-spending programs that got us into the hole that we're in.

More bad economic news...

Why 'Powerful' Rally Won't Last: 'A Lot of People Still Have to Deleverage'