TEA Time

I agree with Thomas Sowell.

What is greedy about seeking to retain the fruits of my own labor?

And for crying out loud, why is not considered greed for governments and the idiots who support their unquenchable thirst for tax dollars not considered greed.

In fact, it is immoral for those folks to lay claim to the fruits of my labor.

Taxation, and regulation, are out of control.

The Beatles had it right.

"Let me tell you how it will be There's one for you, nineteen for me Cos I'm the taxman, yeah, I'm the taxman"

The Beatles released Taxman 50 years ago in 1966 on the album "Revolver". No Beatles video, but here is George Harrison with Eric Clapton in for Paul McCartney on lead guitar. TEA time!

Real Climate Change

Real Climate Change, as in business climate, due to the horrendous economic policies of President Obama.

The auto industry is under siege, having to meet ridiculous emissions standards and labor agreements.

As wealth is transformed, with our citizens facing higher energy costs and unemployment, the destruction of America continues, alarmingly without a whole lot of opposition.

The Ghost of History

China Ghost City

The talking heads on the financial channels are blaming China for the recent downdraft in the stock market. China is a real problem; a ticking time bomb.  However, this is not new. They manipulate their numbers, and do not operate efficient markets based on supply and demand principles. China has several ghost cities, for crying out loud, which are well known and truly stunning.

It is the mess created by the US government, with complicit partners on Wall Street and in the mainstream media, that has placed America and her finances in peril.  Every decision that was made in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis was in error, and eroded liberty and freedom for all. Once such action was extending the unemployment coverage for longer periods of time. As famed author Art Laffer once quipped, "when you people not to work, don't be surprised if get a lot of people not working." Got it.

Speaking of the job market, investors hope a strong jobs number Friday morning will held turn the market tide.  But that is a manipulated number as well, as it captures only those who have recently sought full employment, not the high number of those who have given up.  In fact, if the job market was improving, you would see a slight increase in the unemployment rate, as more individuals would enter the capsule of those actively seeking work. The most accurate indicator of the job market can be found in the labor participation rate, painting a dismal snapshot in time sunk at level not seen since the days of Jimmy Carter over 35 years ago.

It is noted that it is most difficult to find any market indicator not flashing a high level of caution. The following excerpt from an excellent piece from Jim Quinn over at The Burning Platform, "Corporate profits are plunging. Labor participation continues to fall. A global recession is in progress. The strong U.S. dollar is crushing exports and profits of international corporations. Real household income remains stagnant, while healthcare, rent, home prices, education, and a myriad of other daily living expenses relentlessly rises. The world is a powder keg, with tensions rising ever higher in the Middle East, Ukraine, Europe, and China."

The experts always claim this time it is different; nothing but financial folly. As noted in the piece, "The reckless herd has been in control for the last few years, but their recklessness is going to get them slaughtered. The lessons of history scream for caution at this moment in time, not recklessness." True.

We warned about the economy and capital market months ago, and our position has not changed. Once again, this time isn't different.

The ghosts know.

 Please see  THIS TIME ISN'T DIFFERENT by Jim Quinn over at The Burning Platform.

The Truth Be Told?

Have you heard of Arthur Melvin Okun?

I had to rattle my brain something bad awful to jog memory of this chap, but the outstanding website Zero Hedge not only recalled him, but put his economic theory to the test.  You see, Okun identified a correlation between GDP and the unemployment rate, and in doing so offered proof of data manipulation.

This thorough and illuminating piece is well worth your time and can be accessed at Zero Hedge.

THE REAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HAS LONG BEEN OVER 12%!

All our readers should understand the information presented in this article. Shortly after election in 2009, Obama brought the Census Bureau under the direction of the White House. While most know about the efforts to reclassify voting districts to benefit Democrats, few are aware the Census, under contract from the Labor Department, conducts the household survey used to tabulate the unemployment rate.

Okun's Law Unemployment Rate/Zero Hedge

The government has been manipulating data and lying to the citizenry since the first jump in effort to pump up a recovery that does not exist. Imagine what else they lie about!

And when memory failed and written records were falsified—when that happened, the claim of the Party to have improved the conditions of human life had got to be accepted, because there did not exist, and never again could exist, any standard against which it could be tested."

---George Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four"

Fencing

It should be obvious. If the federal government wanted a fence to be built to prohibit illegal immigrants from entering our country, it would be built.

Despite their continued commentary to the contrary, our progressive leaders actually want illegal immigration, many housed in sanctuary cities.

For starters, they like the cheap labor, but much deeper in scope, these folks deem America an oppressive nation and wish to transfer the wealth to those America stepped on along the way to becoming the superpower it now is, although efforts by the current administration to diminish our standing have been quite effective.

In addition, they seek open borders. That is why you see continued efforts to govern outside of the Constitution, hoping to make it irrelevant in the future.  Treaties with the UN, monetary agreements with the IMF and so forth are designed to render the Constitution powerless and place Uncle Sam under control of a global governance of un-elected bureaucrats that are out of the reach of your ballot box.

As for NASCAR's Coke Zero 400, where the above pictured crash took place late last Sunday evening, I found the #3 NRA Chevrolet SS of Austin Dillon to be a pretty sharp looking ride earlier in the week in a practice session at the World Center of Racing, the Daytona International Speedway.

#3 NRA Chevrolet SS driven by Austin Dillon