Global War on Terror: Gingrich Speaks Out

In a recent appearance before the National Press Club, former Speaker of The House Newt Gingrich proclaims himself "deeply worried" about the Global War on Terror and its consequences.



It sure seems most of America is asleep at the wheel on this subject. I would have thought 9-11 provided the wake up call.

Bo is Back!

Spring football has arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska and it could not have come soon enough. The Bill Callahan era is mercifully in arrears and Bo Pelini is back to lead the Big Red. Pelini will be called upon to install some leadership and mend broken relationships. It will be on the defensive side of the ball, his expertise, where the most work needs to be done.

Outside of some stellar play by linebacker Bo Ruud, the 'Husker defensive unit was a disaster in 2007. The unit lacked cohesiveness and a spirit for swarming to the ball. Pelini will immediately fix those things, but he does not have a lot of experience to work with. Up front, Zach Potter and Barry Turner return, but they were very pedestrian in '07. The linebacking core is depleted as is the majority of the secondary. Some playmakers need to be found in these areas so we will need Pelini to work his magic. Ricky Thenarse is a hard hitting safety with a potentially bright future.

The offense should be very good. The line returns the majority of starters and has quality depth not seen in many years. At receiver, although the loss of Maurice Purify will hurt, there are several quality players ready to emerge behind steady senior Nate Swift. At running back, there is a long list of players ready to compete for the job. Marlon Lucky returns as the starter but will be pushed by Quentin Castille, who at times looks outstanding, Roy Helu, Cody Glenn and Kenny Wilson among others. Joe Ganz was very impressive late last year at quarterback and he could end up pushing for conference honors. The depth at quarterback is bare and will need to be a focus this spring.

Everyone is just excited to see the Pelini regime get underway. I think everyone hopes the return of Pelini is the beginning of a long and successful tenure. I vote it will be just that.

Global War On Terror: Iran

Most US Citizens are oblivious to this fact, but Iran declared war on us back in the 1970's. While we had been otherwise engaged for a few decades, the Iranian government continued operations.

In response to the horrific events of September 11, 2001, The United States correctly shifted focus from a defensive nature to an offensive one as it was recognized that we are engaged in a global war on terror, whether we sought this or not.

Post WWII and up until September 11, the nation or group that has taken the most US lives was a terrorist group called Hamas, which is a military and political arm of Iran. The Hamas efforts continue regularly, most notably recently with the kidnapping of a group of British soldiers. Hamas also battled Israel a few years back, an event which was covered by news channel operations 24/7.

Orchestrating these events, and verbally and publicly threatening to destruct Israel seemingly on a monthly basis, is Iran and their mouthpiece, Mamoud Ahmandinejad. Ahmandinejad, by the way, is pictured as one of the capturers when our hostages were kidnapped in the late 1970's. Our successful operations in Iraq have uncovered caches of weapons produced by Iran. We have also captured Iranian soldiers and operatives, in Iraq. Thats right, fighting the global war on terror in Iraq, rather than the Cotton Bowl.

Iran is also violating numerous UN resolutions by their quest to obtain nuclear weapons. Demonstrated by their behavior on the world stage, these are not the folks who would responsible caretakers of nuclear weapons. They recently ran speedboats at our aircraft carriers, displaying their brilliance although remaining successful at mind games.

Make no mistake, Iran is the head of the snake in the middle east and central to the global war on terror. An altercation is looming, as the nuclear weapons issue boils over. Israel may just work ahead of us in this effort, which considering the poor support the Bush administration gets on the Iraq effort, may have to do.

The Iranian people are oppressed, and would much prefer a better life than they currently live. Our problems are with the Iranian regime, not the Iranian citizens. None the less, major problems exist and thanks to our position in Iraq, we have a strong platform for future operations, which I fear, will soon become necessary.

Flaming the Spear

Spring practice has begun in Tallahassee as the 2008 Florida State Seminoles hit the practice field. It is a very intriguing year for Florida State, a season which may in fact be the last for our legendary coach, Bobby Bowden.

Standards for the Seminoles are very high, and since playing for the 2000 national title, things have been below expectations. The 'Noles hope this spring to see some players emerge, particularly some leaders, in an effort to regain past glory.

Part of the problem has been the play at quarterback, and although Drew Weatherford returns for his senior campaign with 33 career starts, he is certain to face a stiff challenge from Christian Ponder and frosh prospect EJ Manuel. Drew is a great kid, but he is not at the level we have to have at signal caller to challenge for national titles.

Antone Smith at running back has yet to realize his potential and could well be pushed also. The line should be much improved and the wide receivers, led by versatile Preston Parker, should be a strength. It is time for Greg Carr to step it up.

The defense has chance to be dominant. Up front will be a strength and a group of young and athletic linebackers will be lurking to form a formidable front seven. Nigel Bradham, a true freshman, is a potential superstar and is on campus participating in spring ball. The secondary will be very competitive as some new blood is fighting for playing time.
It is always neat to watch which players emerge from obscurity to challenge for a starting position. Perhaps WR Bert Reed is a candidate? You also hope that you end spring practice with everyone healthy. I get a sense compeitition will be the toughest in many a moon, and on the heels of a few 7-6 efforts, that is good news in tomahawk territory.

Jeremiah Wrong

Other than a sense of fresh air, I am troubled by any set of criteria which would lead one to cast a vote for Barack Obama for the Presidency of The United States of America.

He is very inexperienced (I have more government experience than he does), is wrong about the war in Iraq, does not recognize the characteristics of the global war on terror, is dangerous with respect to foreign policy and his rhetoric suggests a complete lack of economic understanding.

Casting all that aside, and there is plenty of it, his association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright and refusal to distance himself from him, discards his stance as a non-political "one of the folks" individual, shows a high level of hypocrisy and should eliminate him for presidential consideration.

Obama publicly berated Don Imus for his idiotic comments suggesting he could not be an enabler by appearing on his show. He commented about how he would shield his daughters from hearing those type of comments. But he attends church services presided by his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, where hatred is celebrated.

Get a load of the hate being inflicted by this moron.



Rev. Wright suggests the US gave black folks AIDS, was due the events of 9-11 as a penalty, lied about Al-Qeada and the relationship with Iraq, lied about weapons of mass destruction, helped the LAPD plant evidence (which helped a murderer named OJ Simpson remain loose) and that the US adopted 3 strikes and your out and expanded prisons to house the folks (criminals). God Damn America he says!

Anyone associating themselves with and certainly anyone getting counsel from an individual throwing out this kind of hate who has a completely distorted view of America is not fit for your local dog catcher, much less holder of the oval office.

If Barack Obama had your vote, after meeting Rev. Wright, he should lose it.

Obama's association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright is wrong!

Looks like Obama's chickens, coming home, to roost!!!!

God Bless America!!!

Free Fallin

JPMorgan Chase (JPM:NYSE) has agreed on Sunday to acquire The Bear Stearns Companies (BSC:NYSE) for approximately $2 a share. If you wondered if anything could top the free-fall this past week of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, look no further than Bear Stearns, which traded in the $150 range back in June.

This past week, the CEO of BSC repeatedly told us that BSC was fine and not in danger. Then came Friday and look out! Now, JPM is taking it over for virtualy nothing. Back in the days of Ace Greenberg, BSC was quite reputable.

This was announced on Sunday in an effort to stabilize markets prior to the ASIA markets opening. The issue goes beyond Bear Strearns and The FED recognized this. The FED also lowered the discount rate.

Finally, we are putting a price tag on the fallout of the subprime mess, and this is a good thing. The stock market hates uncertainty, and this will help as the amount of damage can be accurately forecasted. Thankfully, I did not own this train wreck. I wonder who may next!

Market Bottom?

The action in the US financial markets today was very strong, closing at the high levels of the day on substantially increased volume. This gives the market an opportunity to shift gears and embark on a new direction.

Until we get confirmation of the new rally attempt, it is still cautionary to take only minimal positions.

However, I get the sense the bottom is very close if not already here. Gold is through the roof, commodity pricing has exploded, oil is attacking $110 per barrel, job losses are expanding, sales of new and existing homes are minimal while inventories are at record levels, the technical charts of most of the S&P 500 are a mess and the financials are a disaster. Additional bad news could sink the boat. Before today, just about everyone seemed to have thrown in the towel.

On the plus side, the rate cuts imposed by the Federal Reserve are about to be realized in the economy. At this time, most investors look for potential leadership to emerge.

Perhaps Wal-Mart (WMT:NYSE) is telling a story. As shown on the chart below, WMT began heading down starting in July of 2007. Wal Mart bottomed in September, just about the time everyone else started to recognize problems in the economy. Since then, Wally World has steadily risen and looks about ready to break to intermediate highs. You could say WMT is the place people shop when times are tough, or you could stay the course and proclaim WMT a leader. In similar fashion to how WMT led on the way down, it is now leading on the way up. Greed is set to overtake fear. Just sayin!

No Global Warming in Hot-Lanta!

Fortunately for the large crowd of folks swept away under the prospect of global warming, they have shifted the scope of their focus to global climate change. I think given events this morning we can put to rest the global warming aspect.

Due to snow showers this morning the NASCAR Sprint Cup practice session has been postponed and NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying session has been cancelled. Of note here is the racing is set to take place in a small town called Hampton, which is just southwest of HOT-LANTA.

That was not a misprint. It was snowing in Atlanta, Georgia this morning. Members of the FOX Sports broadcast team were caught off guard with the snow delay. Pictured at left is a shot from the garage area with freshly melted snow on the ground.

This global climate movement is quite out of hand. I cannot wait to hear these folks attempting to discount snow in Atlanta. I invite you to visit my friends blog where you can read more about the global warming conference held this week in mid town Manhattan at http://capmsblog.blogspot.com/.

Bailout Ben should say Bye Bye

Hoping the Diet Coke will curb my yawning, I sat at my desk reviewing the swollen active listings on the multiple listing service in residential real estate here in Orlando. Just down the road, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is speaking to the Independent Community Bankers of America annual convention.

As some of the commentary became public, the threat of falling asleep promptly departed as I fell out of my chair. The Chairman, indicating he thought foreclosures would continue to rise and more price declines are expected, suggested a plan to combat the problem that forces me to immediately call for his resignation as Federal Reserve Chairman.

Bernanke offered that mortgage companies and banks could reduce and/or forgive portions of the principal of the loan amount in an effort to provide relief for those about to lose their homes and those in the foreclosure process. I’m no Milton Friedman, or Larry Kudlow for that matter, but this suggestion is un-American and a prelude to derailment of free market capitalism.

To begin with, it is not the job of the taxpayer to bail out idiots who made poor economic decisions. Secondly, what ever happened to free markets cleansing themselves of their excesses without governmental influence? Have we not learned what artificial influence on markets can do?

Stocks immediately sold off, as those on Wall and Broad have keen insight. The idea spells trouble on many fronts. First, most mortgages have been resold, and part of our current economic issues are that there are no buyers for these packets of mortgages because it is too difficult to estimate the hidden damage, or potential writedowns. Unless you are a shareholder of these banking institutions, you are not shedding any tears their balance sheets are in such turmoil.

In addition, how about those mortgage holders who did their due diligence and making payments on time, who have performing loans? We don’t get this benefit? Bernanke seems to favor debt forgiveness over default, but it's the shareholders of the banking institutions debt, not Americas. It seems Bernanke wants to reward bad behavior. In fact, he is not the only one.

With that in mind, why would anyone without internal integrity ever pay off a loan since portions may be forgiven. In economics, there is a ripple effect and in this case, it could damage liquidity and economic psychology beyond repair.

The Fed Chair has had an embarrassing couple of months but this absurd idea seriously questions his competency, and that type of thinking has no business as Federal Reserve Chairman.

Capitalism Looks Real Good

It is election time and the rhetoric is getting quite interesting. Recently, Democratic front-runner Barack Obama had his wife Michelle out campaigning, and she went on an anti-capitalism rant, suggesting women not enter the corporate world and focus on working within the community.

I think people, women and men, should choose their own path in an effort to become as successful as possible both financially and spiritually while enjoying your family and friends along the way.

Capitalism is the vehicle which allows individuals to achieve goals and maximize efficiency over a lifetime. America at its finest!

At a recent booster meeting, I had occasion to meet a fellow graduate of Florida State University who is embarking on this journey. Jenn Sterger, who has a double major from FSU in psychology and criminology with a 3.97 grade point average, gained fame recently via a completely different avenue. A football game!

She was pictured during an ABC Sports broadcast and instantly became an internet hit. Emerging from this she has been featured in Maxim Magazine, among others, and has landed several media jobs, including a stint on ABC Sports. She will be featured on E Entertainment in a special presentation called “Byte Me” on March 8.

Jenn took an opportunity presented to her by luck and has capitalized on it. Although it may be a detour from her real ambitions, she likely will find the experience invaluable. She indicated she hoped to later get a law degree and become a sports agent.

It was a pleasure to meet her and I admire her for capitalizing on her chances. I found her inspiring, and had she listened to Michelle Obama, she would have missed the dance.

Good Luck Jenn and Go Seminoles!!!!