Thursday - September 06, 2007

What Happens When You Lend Money To Poor People?

This is rich.  Finally, someone on Wall Street is talking about this “sub-prime” fiasco with some clarity.

A Wall Street Trader Draws Some Subprime Lessons

By Michael Lewis

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg)—So right after the Bear Stearns funds blew up, I had a thought: This is what happens when you lend money to poor people.

Don’t get me wrong: I have nothing personally against the poor. To my knowledge, I have nothing personally to do with the poor at all. It’s not personal when a guy cuts your grass: that’s business. He does what you say, you pay him. But you don’t pay him in advance: That would be finance. And finance is one thing you should never engage in with the poor. (By poor, I mean anyone who the SEC wouldn’t allow to invest in my hedge fund.)

That’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned from the subprime crisis. Along the way, as these people have torpedoed my portfolio, I had some other thoughts about the poor. I’ll share them with you.

   Tuesday - May 08, 2007

Media Vultures And Euro Jackals

Far be it from me to insult the vultures and other carrion eaters of the animal kingdom but the similarities between these creatures and the Liberal American press is astonishing at time. Case in point: the NY TIMES.

What? Did you actually think I could go an entire week without blasting these bloviating blowhards? Guess again. They are in the BMEWS radar this time because they are lazily circling in the sky above the World Bank. They are marking the spot and targeting their next meal after the jackals and hyenas in Europe snap and claw at the heels of their latest prey ... Paul Wolfowitz, who is the US picked head of that organization.

I don’t know what jungle animal to compare Wolfowitz to so you’ll have to pick your own anthropomorphism. (Is that a real word? The spell-checker passed it. Well, I’ll be. Anyway ...)

In case you went out for peanuts and beer during the last three innings, let me bring you up to date:

• President Bush appointed Wolfowitz to head the World Bank in 2005. As is customary, the US picks the head of the World Bank and European leaders pick the head of the sister organization International Monetary Fund.


• When he arrived at the World Bank, Wolfowitz immediately notified the bank’s board that there was a conflict of interest because his girlfriend Shaha Ali Riza, who had been with the bank for seven years, held a high-level position and the slightest hint or appearance of favoritism toward his main squeeze might hamper his ability to do his job.


• Wolfowitz then made arrangements to get his gal a job a job at the US State Department and, to compensate her for ripping her out of a good career at the World Bank, she was given a hefty pay raise and put on a good promotion track at State.

You would think that would be the end of it, wouldn’t you? Mais non, ma petite merde! Les Europeons cried “FOUL!” and the NY TIMES immediately seized on the story and has been running with it for a week, carefully guiding the rabid pack dogs in for the kill.

Now, let’s examine the real reason why the Euro-Beasts and the NY SLIMES have their knickers in a wad.

• Paul Wolfowitz was chosen by President Bush to be Deputy Secretary Of Defense under Donald Rumsfeld soon after Bush took office in 2001. Strike One.


• Wolfowitz is believed by the Bush-bashers to have been behind the whole “Weapons Of Mass Destruction” argument about going into Iraq and his subsequent support for major wanker Ahmed Chalabi and the initial failures to stabilize Iraq immediately after the invasion, have been pinned on him since Day One. Strike Two.


• After Rumsfeld’s departure, President Bush sent Wolfowitz to the World Bank, whose board is comprised mostly of anti-American Euro-Jackals who take offense at the drop of a hat and don’t mind whining to the NY TIMES about every little thing. Strike Three.

Starting to get the picture yet? The story has been front-page news on the NY TIMES and WASHINGTON POST for over a week and they’re shagging this story like a horny chihuahua on a bedpost. Wolfowitz is a Republican, he was involved in Iraq, he is good buddies with Rumsfeld, Bush likes him. One more thing: Wolfowitz comes from a Polish-Jewish family. SACRE BLEU!

To paraphrase Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Ah, how do they hate thee? Let me count the ways.” Go take a look at today’s installment of “The Wolfowitz Saga” at the NY TIMES and keep the above in mind as you watch the Liberals and Euro-Peons rewrite recent events, point pudgy little fingers and make baseless accusations and hide behind a mask of duplicity and deceit. Here are a few choice excerpts:

Deal Is Offered for Chief’s Exit at World Bank
WASHINGTON (NY TIMES) — May 8, 2007

Leading governments of Europe, mounting a new campaign to push Paul D. Wolfowitz from his job as World Bank president, signaled Monday that they were willing to let the United States choose the bank’s next chief, but only if Mr. Wolfowitz stepped down soon, European officials said.

European officials had previously indicated that they wanted to end the tradition of the United States picking the World Bank leader. But now the officials are hoping to enlist American help in persuading Mr. Wolfowitz to resign voluntarily, rather than be rebuked or ousted.

Well before Mr. Wolfowitz took office in 2005, leading European countries had begun agitating to discard the custom that had existed since the 1940s of the United States choosing the bank president. The United States has that prerogative because it contributes the largest share of the bank’s financing.

The committee’s finding of guilt against Mr. Wolfowitz was tempered by a finding that the bank shared at least some blame for the failure of Mr. Wolfowitz to comply with its rules. According to people familiar with the report, it said the advice from ethics officials at the bank to Mr. Wolfowitz was less than clear and evidently subject to misinterpretation. Nevertheless, the report was clear in its conclusion that Mr. Wolfowitz breached his obligations.

- More ...

   Tuesday - April 24, 2007

Deja Vu

I am reliving the mid-1970’s all over again. Deja vu. The war overseas is getting closer and closer to being pretty much lost thanks to Democrats who want to cut funding and withdraw all of our troops overnight ... and American automobile manufacturers are getting trounced by Japanese automakers.

General Motors is now no longer the world’s top automaker. Toyota has taken over the top spot. This happened in the 1970’s when GM, Ford and Chrysler couldn’t stop making shoddily built, big, gas-guzzling cars and the Japanese proved they could do it better. It took decades for Detroit to catch up.

Now US automakers are falling behind again, this time mainly due to union contracts that are draining all money out of those companies to pay for health insurance until death for every auto worker. No money for R&D, no money for new plants, no money ... period.

So Toyota continues to build better cars by building plants in America (14 in all, at last count), negotiating new contracts for auto workers that often leave the UAW outside in the cold.

So how do GM, Ford and Chrysler fix their problem? Fire the unions, close unprofitable plants and get lean and mean. Build better cars and trucks. Cut prices. Do all the things necessary to level the playing field. If they don’t, they will go into steep decline just like happened in the 1970’s.

Now if we can just figure out how to avoid electing another Jimmy Carter we can stop this flashback to the 70’s from getting much worse.

Toyota Tops GM in 1Q Global Auto Sales
TOKYO (AP) - Apr 24 03:00 AM US/Eastern

Toyota Motor Corp. became the world’s top auto seller in the first three months of the year, passing rival General Motors Corp. for the first time, the Japanese automaker said Tuesday.

Toyota sold 2.348 million vehicles worldwide in the January-March quarter, company spokesman Satoshi Yamaguchi said, surpassing the 2.26 million vehicles that GM said it sold during the same period. The results mark the first time Toyota has beat GM in global sales on a quarterly basis, he said.

While the figures represent only quarterly sales results, they foreshadow a tough challenge for GM as it fights to hold onto its title as world’s top automaker—a claim usually staked on annual production figures.

Toyota has been gaining steadily on GM in recent years, and analysts have been saying it is only a matter of time before it eclipses its Detroit-based rival, which has seen its market share shrink in the United States even as it leads sales in China, a market with tremendous potential.

While GM has struggled to shore up earnings with job cuts and plant closures, Toyota has expanded rapidly, thanks partly to the popularity of its fuel-efficient cars. In 2006, Toyota’s global output surged 10 percent to 9.018 million vehicles, while GM produced 9.18 million vehicles worldwide.

   Tuesday - April 10, 2007

I Gots Dem 1040 Blues

Booooo! It’s time for our Annual 1040 Taxation Without Representation Party™. This Sunday is April 15 so that means .... you don’t have to file taxes yet because it is a Sunday. That, of course, means that next Monday, April 16 is ... still not the deadline for paying your taxes. No, the deadline this year is one week from now - Tuesday, April 17. Wanna know why? Here is the scoop from the IRS Official Shakedown Site ...

“Emancipation Day”. “Patriots Day”. Yeah, that would be too much irony for the annual Fleecing Of The Flock, wouldn’t it? Flock it! I filed my return back in February, did it electronically and had my refund automagically deposited in my bank account a week later. The rest of you nappy-headed taxpayers better get busy writing out checks so the Demoncrat ho’s in Congress can have their pork. Pork: the other green meat.

_{Brian Fairington - Cagle Cartoons}

Why Spring Taxes Me
-- By Tom Purcell

I hate spring. I hate the sunny weather and chirping birds and neighbors smiling and humming, while they spread mulch in their planters.

I hate the buds on the trees and the sweet smell in the air. I hate the way the sun falls gently over the hills at dusk.

I hate everything about spring, because I’m self-employed.

Every year this time I’m a nervous wreck about my taxes. I worry that I’ll owe more than I think I will, and I will. I worry that I’ll not get everything organized and tallied up for my accountant in time, and it’s always close.

This is because our income tax system is complex. It is complex because drunk people (members of Congress) designed it so that a bureaucracy (the IRS) will convert the incomprehensible into the unfathomable (the tax code) in order to punish productive Americans (the self-employed) all in the name of good fun.

To comply with our onerous tax rules, I have developed a highly effective accounting technique: the Big Box Methodology. From the beginning of January through the end of December, I toss every bill, receipt, expense, etc. into a big cardboard box.

Every year, I am forced to organize and tally every one of these items, so that I can document my business expenses. I must document my business expenses to accomplish what every self-employed person hopes to accomplish: to have earned as little income as possible the year before.

I was in a mighty struggle with Big Box during the winter. He kept calling out to me, pleading with me to get things in order. But I ignored Big Box. I ignored his unreasonable demands week after week, and the more I ignored him, the more worried I got.

As spring neared, I began taking Big Box with me. When I went away for the weekends, I put him in my trunk. I had high hopes of using my weekend breaks to organize every slip of paper into a brilliant rendition of how much I earned and spent in 2006, but I did not.

No, I did the same thing this year I do every year. I waited until the last few weeks before taxes are due. Despite the recent cold snap, I know what every self-employed person knows: the weather will break big this week.

As the sun shines and the world comes to life, I’ll get calls from beautiful women who want to spend time with me. I’ll be offered box-seat tickets to baseball games, invitations to cookouts, requests to partake in fun and frivolity of every kind.

But I will turn them all down.

I will turn them down because of Congress. When members of Congress passed the 16th Amendment into law in 1913, they made the income tax deadline March 1. But in 1955 Congress pushed the deadline to April 15.

They did this so helpless American taxpayers would have more time to organize and file their taxes? Ha, ha. No, they did it to give the IRS more time. But I think there was an additional reason.

Dissatisfied that the cost and complexity of the income tax was not painful enough --according to the Tax Foundation, Americans wasted 6 billion hours and $260 billion completing returns last year—Congress saw an opportunity to ruin spring, too.

That’s why I’ve been shut off from the world. That’s why I’ve been hunkered down with an intensity and focus that would make the Unabomber wince.

I have been doing battle with Big Box, you see, trying to make sense of all the receipts, bills, etc. he contains. I’ve been in English-major hell—adding, subtracting, documenting, palpitating.

The worst is yet to come. When I finally get everything organized, I’ll forward the details to my accountant. He’ll use them to make complex tax-code calculations. Then he’ll tell me I owe way more than I thought I did.

Now you know why I hate spring.

---

_{Tom Purcell is a humor columnist nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons. For comments to Tom, please email him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com.}

   Friday - March 23, 2007

Sub Primal

Jayson Javitz, the new guy over at Wizbang, has a great piece explaining the recent bruhaha over sub-prime lending.  Yes, the Donks and the MSM seem to be getting the vapors over everything lately, but this one has no legs.

The Media’s Subprime Soliloquy

You’ve been hearing a lot of rancor about subprime mortgages, haven’t you?

Gloom!
Doom!!
Vote Democrat!!!

It so happens I work in that field. I own a mortgage business. I’m a licensed mortgage broker. I have 26 loan agents working under me. I deal with subprime borrowers and lenders every day of the week. Hell, I teach mortgage finance at real estate school.

I can say with certainty that if you actually *believe* the liberal Democrat media’s apocalyptic headlines about subprime mortgages you need to take a step back, take a deep breath, at least postulate taking a Xanax (or two), but most importantly you need a reality check.

   Tuesday - March 13, 2007

Private Property

I was on another forum earlier and a member from Norway posted a link to an interesting article about private property rights around the world.

If you look at the results, the USA ranks at 14th (tied with Canada and Ireland) for percieved PP rights.

The discussion about this report, and the remark from our friend in Norway that he cannot block access to his land from anyone using it, led to this comment from one of the posters:

None of us actually own land - we only rent it from the government with payments of taxes. If you don’t believe this, just try not paying your rent for a couple years. This gives many people the idea that if the government owns the land, and the government is “of-the-people, by-the-people, for-the-people”, then it follows logically that many feel they can use anything of the “government’s” for themselves.

This got me to really thinking about it.  If we have to pay taxes every year for owning our land or it will be taken away from us (which it will), then do we really own it?  If not, then it follows logically that the government agencies feel no compunction at all in taking it via eminent domain to give to developers. Is it any wonder?

Thoughts?

   Thursday - March 01, 2007

Crash

Just when you thought your portfolio (and your 401k) were doing fine, along comes China with a bad sneeze. What happens? The rest of the world gets a cold. Yep, things were perking along nicely until Monday when the ChiCom market self-destructed.

Now the New York Stock Exchange is dropping like a rock. I pulled out of all of my high risk stock two years ago and moved everything into bonds because I’m at the age when it’s time to take a more conservative approach to your portfolio if you have one.

Hang on tight, everyone. We are going to be in for a bumpy ride over the next week or so as Wall Street investors panic. If you see any of them jumping out of their office windows you might consider cashing in any stock you own. I’m just sayin’ ...

Dow Falls Another 200, Gains Some Back
_{NEW YORK (YAHOO NEWS) - March 1, 2007}

Wall Street resumed its plunge after a one-day reprieve as investors, nervous about the impending release of key economic data, took their cues Thursday from declining overseas markets. The Dow Jones industrials briefly fell more 200 points to the 12,067 level in the opening minutes of trading, having rebounded half-heartedly on Wednesday from the previous session’s huge drop.

In the first half-hour of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 170.80, or 1.39 percent, at 12,097.83. Broader stock indicators also plunged. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 21.86, or 1.55 percent, at 1,384.96, and the Nasdaq composite index was down 47.60, or 1.97 percent, at 2,368.55.

Wall Street was clearly nervous as it awaited the 10 a.m. release of the Institute for Supply Management’s assessment of manufacturing activity during February. Intensifying concerns about the health of the U.S. economy fed Tuesday’s skid that sliced 416 points off the Dow. Each of the 30 Dow components was down early Thursday.

U.S. investors flinched following another series of declines in Asian and European markets. They also appeared unimpressed by the
Commerce Department’s report of improved personal income and consumption data.

Bond prices rose as stocks fell, with the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note falling to 4.50 percent from 4.57 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

In economic news, the Commerce Department said personal incomes rose in January at the fastest pace in a year, fueled in part by executive bonuses and pay hikes for federal workers. Personal incomes rose by 1 percent in January while consumer spending was up by 0.5 percent. The income advance was the largest since January 2006. A confident consumer willing to spend is integral to ushering the economy to the gradual slowdown Wall Street has been hoping for.

- More ...

   Saturday - February 24, 2007

Moonshine

1995-2005: Average Price Of Corn For Last 10 Years - $2.10 per bushel

2005: Congress Passes Law Mandating Ethanol Use In All Gasoline

2007: Current Price Of Corn On Futures Market - $4.43 per bushel

Source: Bloomberg Marketplace

_{Chuck Asay - The Colorado Springs Gazette}

   Tuesday - February 06, 2007

Taxes

_{Tab - The Calgary Sun}

First, we have Democrat John Edwards saying that if elected he will raise taxes to provide universal health care. What Mr. Edwards fails to tell you is that the biggest reason medical costs have been rising over the last few decades is due to sleazy trial lawyers taking on dubious cases of medical negligence, winning multi-million dollar lawsuits, of which they keep the lion’s share of the loot, and forcing malpractice insurance rates through the roof.

Mr. Edwards also fails to note that he was one of those lawyers who made a fortune filing medical lawsuits and used the money to win a Senate seat in North Carolina and push himself into national prominence in order to run for President so he could raise taxes to pay off more sleazy lawyers suing for malpractice. Now, do you understand ... ?

Edwards’ Health Care Plan Includes Taxes
_{WASHINGTON (YAHOO NEWS) - Mon Feb 5, 7:18 AM ET}

Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards wants to provide health care coverage for the 47 million people who currently lack it and reduce the cost of coverage for middle-class families. The plan could cost up to $120 billion a year, and the candidate acknowledged it would require higher taxes.

“The bottom line is we’re asking everybody to share in the responsibility of making health care work in this country. Employers, those who are in the medical insurance business, employees, the American people — everyone will have to contribute in order to make this work,” the 2004 vice presidential nominee said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“Yes, we’ll have to raise taxes. The only way you can pay for a health care plan that costs anywhere from $90 (billion) to $120 billion is there has to be a revenue source,” the former North Carolina senator said. Edwards said health care insurance premiums have risen 90 percent over the past decade.

- More ...

Second, the Democrats as a party want to raise taxes on the so-called “rich” to pay for their pie-in-the-sky welfare programs but they fail to note that over half of tax revenue comes from only 5% of taxpayers. I wonder what would happen if John Galt organized the richest 5% of income earners in the country and led them all out on strike. Would Atlas shrug?

Who Pays Almost All Federal Income Tax?
_{(NEWSMAX) - February 5, 2007}

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and fellow Democrats have talked about repealing President Bush’s tax cuts for upper-income Americans. But those who earn the most money – and invest the most in the economy – are already paying almost all federal personal income taxes, a recent report reveals.

Congress’ Joint Economic Committee disclosed that the richer half of the American population pays nearly 97 percent of income taxes. Most of that, 54 percent, is paid by those in the top 5 percent, Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) disclosed.

And the richest of the rich – just the top 1 percent – pay a hefty 34 percent of all personal income taxes collected by the federal government. Meanwhile, about 14 million lower-income Americans have been removed from the income tax rolls since 2000 due to the earned income tax credit and the per-child tax credit, IBD reports.

The next four years are going to be very disappointing if the Democrats have their way. They will buy patronage with your and my tax dollars and everyone will lose. The poor stay poor and dependent on the Democrats’ money machine and the middle class and upper class will take it on the neck in increased taxes in order for the poor to continue to ride the welfare gravy train.

Sooner or later it will all come crumbling down around our ears. Inflation will rise, as will unemployment. Government spending will once more get completely out of control (as opposed to slightly out of control nowadays). So sit back and watch the American economy grind to a halt. Now would be a good time to reorganize your portfolio to be less aggressive and invest in safe bonds or mutual funds. Buying gold might be a good decision too. We’re headed for rough times ...

   Monday - January 22, 2007

World Economy Primer

Defintion: The GDP of a country is defined as the market value of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time. It is also considered the sum of value added at every stage of production of all final goods and services produced within a country in a given period of time.

GDP = consumption + investment + government spending + (exports − imports)

---

Have you ever wondered how the United States compares to the rest of the world in terms of economics and GDP? Well, Norwegian blogger Carl Størmer and Dispatches From TJICistan blog have done the work for us. Taking data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and matching it up to statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis at the US Department Of Commerce, they came up with this handy map comparing the Gross State Product (GSP) of the individual states in the US to the GDP of countries around the globe with equal figures.

You may notice that four major countries are missing from the map: Japan, Germany, China and the United Kingdom. That is because those four countries’ GDP can only be compared to more than one state. China compares to the entire West Coast. Japan to the entire Midwest and most of the West, Germany to the Southeast and the UK to the Northeast.

Here in Missouri, we make as much money and are worth as much as the entire country of Poland. Oddly enough, poor ol’ Alabama (my home state) is worth as much as Iran. That coupled with the fact that there are four active nuclear power plants in Alabama and the seventh largest army in the world is the Alabama National Guard should give you an idea of what we can do. It should also serve to convince the Mad Mullahs that their status in the overall scheme of things is next to worthless ... compared to the Heart Of Dixie. Yeehaw!

   Monday - October 02, 2006

Devil’s Advocate

Hugo Chavez is a major idiot and I have no use for the loudmouth jerk. I also feel he needs to be smacked up side of his pointy little head for his recent remarks about President Bush being the devil. With that said however, I am going to have to take the position of devil’s advocate in the whole CITGO kerfuffle that is going around the blogosphere.

The fact is I just don’t see a boycott of Citgo doing any good whatsoever to get back at Chavez. There has been a whole lot of smoke and mirrors over this entire incident and I want you to consider the three key facts below, think about it and then let’s open the floor for discussion ...

• Citgo doesn’t actually own any of the U.S. gas stations that carry its brand. Instead, it sells gas and oil to franchise owners. So the people who would be hurt most from a boycott of stations with the Citgo name would be the thousands of small businessmen and women who own the franchises and run the stations.


• The 7-Eleven stores are indeed dropping Citgo as a supplier, but the truth is the deal has been in the works for a year and is only marginally related to Mr. Chávez’s U.N. comments.


• The total value of Venezuelan crude oil and refined products imported into the United States for 2005 was estimated to be in excess of $21 billion. Citgo imported $10 billion. Many other U.S. oil companies, including ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and ChevronTexaco also import crude oil and refined products from Venezuela (Source: PVDSA).

_{Clay Jones - The Freelance-Star, Fredericksburg, VA}

7-Eleven Dumps Citgo, Picks Up Torrance Supplier
_{(BIZJOURNAL) - September 28, 2006}

Convenience store operator 7-Eleven Inc. is dropping Citgo as its gasoline provider and switching to its own brand, the company said Wednesday. The Dallas-based chain’s 20-year contract with Venezuelan-backed Citgo expires at the end of this week, said 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris. Torrance-based Tower Energy Group is among the suppliers that will now be supplying 7-Eleven with gasoline.

Chabris said 7-Eleven has been planning for some time to shift to its own brand of gasoline, and it is merely coincidental that the announcement follows incendiary remarks Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made about President George W. Bush last week.

Chabris added that Citgo, a Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, announced earlier this year that it would no longer supply Texas and other states where 7-Eleven relied significantly on the gasoline.

“Our decision to rebrand the gasoline as our own was made some time ago and certainly before Hugo Chavez made his remarks at the U.N. Last week,” Chabris said. Chavez, during his remarks, called Bush the devil and an alcoholic, according to news reports. 7-Eleven sells Citgo gas at more than 2,100 locations, Chabris said.

   Thursday - September 28, 2006

They already get my business…..

....but will be getting more now.

Chicago Tribune (registration Required)

DALLAS—7-Eleven Inc. is dropping Venezuela-backed Citgo as its gasoline supplier after more than 20 years as part of a previously announced plan by the convenience store operator to launch its own brand of fuel.

7-Eleven officials said Wednesday that the company’s decision was partly motivated by politics.

Citgo Petroleum Corp. is a Houston-based subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-run oil company and 7-Eleven is worried that anti-American comments made by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez might prompt motorists to fill-up elsewhere.

Chavez has called President George W. Bush the devil and an alcoholic. The U.S. government has warned that Chavez is a destabilizing force in Latin America.

“Regardless of politics, we sympathize with many Americans’ concern over derogatory comments about our country and its leadership recently made by Venezuela’s president,” said 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris.

“Certainly Chavez’s position and statements over the past year or so didn’t tempt us to stay with Citgo,” she added.

Good move guys.  You have this man’s support.

(H/T: Wizbang)

   Wednesday - August 30, 2006

Helping Out Down Under

It does my heart good to see hard-working citizens stepping up to do their part to reduce the pain of increased gas prices. Why, it literally brings a tear to my tired old eye to think of these fine young ladies discounting their “product” to help out the ordinary working man. I think a Nobel Piece Peace Prize is the least they should get ...

Brothels Take The Sting
Out Of Pump Prices
_{SYDNEY (Reuters) - Wed Aug 30, 7:51 AM ET}

Hot and bothered by rising pump prices? Australian brothels are offering clients discounts based on their gas bills.

Brothel owners claim the system works much the same way as supermarkets which offer shoppers discounted gas prices by presenting their grocery bills when they fill up their tanks.

“If you come in and spend time with one of our lovely ladies, we’ll give you a discount of 20 cents a liter,” Kerry, manager of Sydney brothel The Site, told Reuters Wednesday.

There is no link between brothels, petrol providers or supermarkets but brothels like The Site and Madame Kerry’s say the system is simple. Once you’ve filled up your car, bring your receipt to the brothel and they’ll discount the price of your visit.

The bill for a full 50-liter tank at 126.9 cents per liter comes to A$63.45 ($48.22). With the offered 20c a liter discount, the petrol bill would have instead come to A$53.45. That A$10 difference is taken off the A$150 cost of a 30-minute session with one of the brothel’s “service providers.”

The Site has taken out cut-out newspaper ads offering the service. “We’re getting more media exposure, if you want to put it that way, than basically bums on beds,” Kerry said.

Brothels are legal across most of Australia, but states have strict laws against soliciting and running brothels in residential areas, and near churches or schools.

   Thursday - April 27, 2006

Full Circle

How many of you remember the last time OPEC had us over a barrel? I remember it all too well. At the time, I was working as a field electronics technician for Altec and my territory covered Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and half of Kentucky. I was on 24/7 emergency call and had to do a lot of driving to respond to emergencies with electronic equipment in hospitals, theatres, schools and government offices. I remember all too well the long lines, service stations closed and even a good deal of price gouging (that was later punished). Life was hell if you had to drive anywhere. I had no choice.

What have we (and our politicians) learned in the 33 years since then? Not a damn thing, it seems. We’ve come full circle. Our vehicles get no better gas mileage even though engines are more efficient because of all the anti-pollution devices snaking their way under the hood. Have we opened up new drilling in the US? Not a chance. Have we built new refineries? Nope. Have we built more nuclear power plants to reduce dependence on oil? Not on your life. No, the environmental freaks have silently managed to keep us in the same position we were in back in those evil days - over a barrel.

Our politicians aren’t helping one danged bit either. The Democrats want to raise taxes on the oil companies and the Republicans want to send all of us a $100 rebate check. Who do they think they’re kidding? This is an election year and they want our vote. If we have the technology to send men to the moon and roving scientific gizmos to Mars, why can’t we come up with a viable alternative to gasoline? At least drill for more oil in Alaska or wherever so we can ride this out while we do develop the technology that will enable us to thumb our noses at the Arabs and the Hugo Chavez’ of the world.

If we don’t do something we’ll just keep going in circles, round and round, lurching from one oil crisis to another at the whim of madmen. Just remember - people who drive around in circles never get anywhere other than back where they started from. That’s not pro-gress. It’s con-gress ...

The 1973 Oil Crisis

The 1973 oil crisis began in earnest on October 17, 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC, consisting of the Arab members of OPEC plus Egypt and Syria) announced, as a result of the ongoing Yom Kippur War, that they would no longer ship petroleum to nations that had supported Israel in its conflict with Syria and Egypt (i.e., to the United States and its allies in Western Europe).

About the same time, OPEC members agreed to use their leverage over the world price-setting mechanism for oil in order to quadruple world oil prices, after attempts at negotiation with the “Seven Sisters” earlier in the month failed miserably. Due to the dependence of the industrialized world on OPEC oil, these price increases were dramatically inflationary to the economies of the targeted countries, while at the same time suppressive of economic activity.

At the height of the crisis in the United States, drivers of vehicles with odd numbered license plates were allowed to purchase gasoline only on odd-numbered days of the month, while drivers with even-numbers were limited to even-numbered days.

---

---

DISCLAIMER

THE SERVICES AND MATERIALS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND THE HOSTS OF THIS SITE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF SATISFACTORY QUALITY, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR ANY MATERIALS.

Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

THE INFORMATION AND OTHER CONTENTS OF THIS WEBSITE ARE DESIGNED TO COMPLY WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. THIS WEBSITE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ALL PARTIES IRREVOCABLY SUBMIT TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE AMERICAN COURTS. IF ANYTHING ON THIS WEBSITE IS CONSTRUED AS BEING CONTRARY TO THE LAWS APPLICABLE IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY, THEN THIS WEBSITE IS NOT INTENDED TO BE ACCESSED BY PERSONS FROM THAT COUNTRY AND ANY PERSONS WHO ARE SUBJECT TO SUCH LAWS SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO USE OUR SERVICES UNLESS THEY CAN SATISFY US THAT SUCH USE WOULD BE LAWFUL.

Copyright © 2004-2015 Domain Owner

GNU Terry Pratchett

Oh, and here's some kind of visitor flag counter thingy. Hey, all the cool blogs have one, so I should too. The Visitors Online thingy up at the top doesn't count anything, but it looks neat. It had better, since I paid actual money for it.

---

Sponsor's Links

---

Newsfeeds

 RSS 2.0   Atom 

---

Other ways to BMEWS yourself

Most Recent Posts

• Once Again, The One And Only Post
• Gee, Oops
• The ‘Rona Song
• Follow Me !
• eye candy, high plains edition
• Flowers For Algernon?
• The Death Of NYC?
• Very Funny Officer
• Rhubarb !!!
• Fauci Gets One Right
• toldja so
• Of course she isn’t, but you’re uninformed and intellectually lazy so she’ll get away with it
• Walter White Moved To Holland?
• TLH? Typical Leftist Hypocrites
• Biden Picks Kamala Harris For VP
• Feral Child Killers
• Gohmert (R-TX) Much Improved
• Still Here
• A Dark Ending
• Ospreys are up, is Trump in town?

Humor

---

Donations & Stuff

Buy BMEWS High Quality Stuff!

---

Help Support BMEWS

---

PAYPAL donation button

---

Our Sponsors

Your Ad Here

---

Department Of Information

DAILY READS

• Broderland Beat
  
• Hot Air
  
• Gateway Pundit
  
• Michelle Malkin
  
• Right Wing NEws
  

CONSERVATIVE OPINION

• Neal Boortz
  
• Ann Coulter
  
• Hugh Hewitt
  
• Rush Limbaugh
  

NEWS

• Washington Times
  
• Best Of The Web Today
  
• Media Research Center
  
• Newsmax
  
• Townhall
  
• Weekly Standard
  
• WorldNetDaily
  

MILITARY & IRAQ

• US Central Command
  
• US Army
  
• US Air Force
  
• US Navy
  
• US Marine Corps
  
• US Coast Guard
  
• A Soldiers Blog
  
• Citizen Smash
  
• CPT Patti
  
• Front Line Voices
  
• Iraq 2.0
  
• Iraq The Model
  
• Sgt. Stryker
  

GOVERNMENT

• White House News
  
• White House Press
  
• Dept Of Defense
  
• Dept Of State
  
• Dept Of Homeland Security
  
• National Security Council
  
• CIA
  
• FBI
  
• NASA
  
• US Supreme Court
  
• US House
  
• US Senate
  
• US House Votes
  
• US Senate Votes
  
• RNC News
  
• DNC News
  
• On The Floor
  
• US Government Reference
  
• State Governments
  
• America's Job Bank
  

LINKS

• Inside Louisville

Search For It!

Web BMEWS

This Blog Is Rated

Required Reading

• FAQ For Barking Moonbats
• What Is A Moonbat?
• Why Do Moonbats Bark?
• Our Patron Saint

Acknowledgements

Categories

• Abortion - (17)
• Adventure - (22)
• Advertising - (0)
• Advertising - (9)
• Africa - (102)
• Amazing Science and Discoveries - (121)
• Animals - (249)
  • Cat Blogging - (14)
• Archeology / Anthropology - (83)
• Architecture - (41)
• Art-Photography - (339)
• Awards - (77)
• Battling Brits - (23)
• Big Brother - (53)
• Big Business - (53)
• BIRTHDAY - (7)
• Blog Stuff - (270)
• Border Security - (27)
• Bowling Blogging - (187)
• Bread - (19)
• Bridges - (50)
• Canada - (14)
• Celebrities - (125)
• CHESS - (67)
• CHINA in the news - (45)
• Climate-Weather - (442)
• Colleges-Professors - (70)
• Commies - (212)
• Computers and Cyberspace - (80)
• Crime - (1093)
• CULTURE IN DECLINE - (416)
• Daily Life - (730)
• Democrats-Liberals-Moonbat Leftists - (1830)
• Passing on, Death and Disaster - (18)
• Disasters - (7)
• Economics - (362)
• DIVERSITY BS - (119)
• Editorials - (318)
• Education - (342)
• Egypt, Then and Now - (0)
• Environment - (209)
• EUro-peons - (310)
• Eye-Candy - (903)
• Fake News - (1)
• Finance and Investing - (36)
• Family - (38)
• Fine-Dining - (168)
• Food - (15)
• FRANCE - (116)
• Fun-Stuff - (838)
• FREEDOM - (121)
• gardening - (1)
• Gardens and plants - (3)
• Gay Gay Gay! - (56)
• Genocide - (12)
• Government - (395)
• Corruption and Greed - (144)
• Guns and Gun Control - (528)
• Health and Safety - (67)
• Health-Medicine - (320)
• Heroes - (72)
• High Tech - (33)
• Hildabeast - (77)
• History - (345)
• Holidays - (63)
  • Christmas - (15)
• Hollywood - (184)
• Homeland-Security - (41)
• Humor - (1876)
• Illegal-Aliens and Immigration - (502)
• Inflation and High Prices - (16)
• Insanity - (252)
• International - (396)
• Iran - (62)
• Iraq - (175)
• Israel - (81)
• Jack Booted Thugs - (124)
• Judges-Courts-Lawyers - (480)
• Justice - LACK OF - (123)
• Latin-America - (19)
• Literature - (32)
• Love-Marriage - (27)
• Media-Bias - (428)
• Medical - (48)
• Mexico - (11)
• Middle-East - (140)
• Military - (596)
• Miscellaneous - (2383)
• Moonbat Award to: - (15)
• Motorvators - (122)
• MOVIES - (29)
• Music - (117)
• muslims - (364)
• Nanny State - (149)
• Nature - (34)
• New Jersey - (3)
• Neat Inventions - (15)
• News-Briefs - (335)
• No Shit, Sherlock - (47)
• North-Korea - (20)
• NOSTALGIA - (10)
• Obama, The One - (431)
• OBITITUARIES - (48)
• Odd-Strange - (244)
• Oil, Alternative Energy, and Gas Prices - (126)
• Oppression - (34)
• Outrageous - (453)
• Outsourcing - (8)
• OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT - (39)
• pandemic and epidemic diseases - (61)
  • The New Normal - (4)
• Pandemic Pandemonium - (63)
• Paleswine - (74)
• PAT CONDELL - (43)
• Patriotism - (151)
• Personal - (436)
• Philosophy - (70)
• Pirates, aarrgh! - (158)
• planes, trains, tanks, ships, machines, automobiles - (179)
• Politically Correct B.S. - (147)
• Politically-Incorrect - (117)
• Politics - (860)
• Porkbusters - (11)
• Product Safety - (5)
• Racism and race relations - (283)
• REALLY WORTHLESS and PUTRID PEOPLE - (145)
• Religion - (187)
• Republicans - (132)
• RoPMA - (684)
• Russia - (5)
• Sarah Palin - (16)
• Satire - (64)
• Scary Stuff - (76)
• Science-Technology - (257)
• Self-Defense - (35)
• Sex - (106)
• Sharia law - (10)
• Social-Security - (41)
• Space - (41)
• SPOOKS - (9)
• Sports - (170)
• STFU - (0)
• Stoopid-People - (1015)
• Success Stories - (7)
• Super Seniors - (0)
• Talented Ppl. - (22)
• Taxes - (66)
• Television - (55)
• Terrorists - (715)
• The New Conservatives - (45)
• Travelers/Gypsies/Squatters - (130)
• TURD WORLD - (27)
• Typical White People: Stupid, Evil, Willfully Blind - (36)
• Tyrants and Dictators - (94)
• UK - (1715)
• Unions-Labor - (54)
• United-Nations - (136)
• USA - (277)
• War On Terror - (365)
• War-Stories - (218)
• weird stuff - (37)
• work and the workplace - (143)

Monthly Archives

• May 2024
• August 2020
• July 2020
• June 2020
• May 2020
• April 2020
• March 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019
• November 2019
• August 2016
• July 2016
• June 2016
• May 2016
• April 2016
• March 2016
• February 2016
• January 2016
• December 2015
• November 2015
• October 2015
• September 2015
• August 2015
• July 2015
• June 2015
• May 2015
• April 2015
• March 2015
• February 2015
• January 2015
• December 2014
• November 2014
• October 2014
• September 2014
• August 2014
• July 2014
• June 2014
• May 2014
• April 2014
• March 2014
• February 2014
• January 2014
• December 2013
• November 2013
• October 2013
• September 2013
• August 2013
• July 2013
• June 2013
• May 2013
• April 2013
• March 2013
• February 2013
• January 2013
• December 2012
• November 2012
• October 2012
• September 2012
• August 2012
• July 2012
• June 2012
• May 2012
• April 2012
• March 2012
• February 2012
• January 2012
• December 2011
• November 2011
• October 2011
• September 2011
• August 2011
• July 2011
• June 2011
• May 2011
• April 2011
• March 2011
• February 2011
• January 2011
• December 2010
• November 2010
• October 2010
• September 2010
• August 2010
• July 2010
• June 2010
• May 2010
• April 2010
• March 2010
• February 2010
• January 2010
• December 2009
• November 2009
• October 2009
• September 2009
• August 2009
• July 2009
• June 2009
• May 2009
• April 2009
• March 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009
• December 2008
• November 2008
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• July 2008
• June 2008
• May 2008
• April 2008
• March 2008
• February 2008
• January 2008
• December 2007
• November 2007
• October 2007
• September 2007
• August 2007
• July 2007
• June 2007
• May 2007
• April 2007
• March 2007
• February 2007
• January 2007
• December 2006
• November 2006
• October 2006
• September 2006
• August 2006
• July 2006
• June 2006
• May 2006
• April 2006
• March 2006
• February 2006
• January 2006
• December 2005
• November 2005
• October 2005
• September 2005
• August 2005
• July 2005
• June 2005
• May 2005
• April 2005
• March 2005
• February 2005
• January 2005
• December 2004
• November 2004
• October 2004
• September 2004
• August 2004
• July 2004
• June 2004
• January 2004
• Complete Archives
• Category Archives

The Stat Monster

---

---

---

Copyright

All content on this website (including text, photographs, audio files, and any other original works), unless otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

You may freely use anything for non-commercial purposes as long as you attribute the source. All non-original content must be attributed to the original source. Play fair.

Fair Use

This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner or may be authorized or licensed for publication at this site only. Permission to copy, republish or reproduce such material must be obtained from the original copyright owner.

We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc.

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law.

In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes.

If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

GNU Terry Pratchett