DAVID BROOKS AS 'SPORTS DAD'.....?

Can playing youth sports "inoculate" Junior from "going homo?" Or is Junior safer in the library than in the Gym!

Anyone for "Math Camp?"

MIND GAMES ABOUT ARABY

END ALL OCCUPATIONS NOW...?

Advise to Tom Friedman in the NYTimes today: Play a little mind game. Imagine that ALL OCCUPATIONS AND INVASIONS were ended NOW.

Once the occupations are ended...in Palestine, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, the religious fanatics will be forced to build sewers, and provide jobs for their people.

This could have a sobering effect.

Yes, there will be residual revoluationary fanatics. (There always is.) But they will no longer have the Israeli Tank or the American Jet to point to in justification of their fanaticism.

BUT WILL THESE "UNOCCUPIED" MUSLIM SOCIETIES FIGHT AMONG THEMSELVES? WILL CIVIL WARS ERUPT? SADDLY, YES!

BUT THEN, THE WEST CAN SUPPORT THE NATIVE SECULAR PARTIES...WITHOUT COSTLY INVASION AND POLITICALLY DISASTEROUS OCCUPATION!

This approach seems to be the most logical...but guess what? IT'S NEVER BEEN TRIED!

Or perhaps, we, in the west, REALLY DO want Arab lands and resources with hand-picked Western Puppets running the politics of Araby...and we are just providing a "smoke screen" to hide our real motivation on the op-ed pages of papers like the Times!

Play a little mind game. Perhaps.....?

HEALTH CARE AND UNEMPLOYMENT

One thing Kruggie misses in todays column

is the relationship between unemployment and national health care....

In France many of the so-called "unemployed" may be voluntarily so, BECAUSE THEY HAVE UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE COVERAGE.

FEW AMERICAN FAMILIES COULD AFFORD TO PAY FOR THEIR OWN HEALTH INSURANCE, WHICH MAY RUN $1000++ PER MONTH--WITHOUT PRESCRIPTION COVERAGE!!

MANY AMERICAS TODAY ARE WORKING FOR THEIR HEALTH CARE COVERAGE, NOT NECESSARILY FOR THE INCOME FROM WAGES....

Fewer Americans can afford to be self-employed because of this, although many are NOW desperate enough to try anything! Because American wages are so low!

But, the proof of the pudding is that NO EUROLAND WAGE EARNER WOULD CHOOSE THE AMERICAN ECONOMIC SYSTEM GIVEN THE CHANCE! While many Canadians and Eurolanders love to complain...NONE WOULD GIVE UP THEIR NATIONAL HEALTH CARE TO COME TO AMERICA.

THE ONLY ISSUE IN EUROLAND IS HOW TO PRESERVE THEIR SYSTEM-- WITHOUT RESORTING TO ANGLO-ASIAN STARVATION WAGES WHICH ASSUME THAT THE NEEDS AND WANTS OF INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL DOMINATE ALL PUBLIC POLICY DECISIONS...

(My only regret is that I can't easily move to Euroland now and adopt the European Lifestyle that Americans stupidly reject.)

WILL AMERICAN WAGE EARNERS EVER WAKE UP TO THEIR EXPLOITATION?

AFTER ALL, BIBLE THUMPING AND GAY BASHING MAY HAVE LIMITS AS THE PRIMARY POLITICAL TOOL OF THE WALL STREET AND WASHINGTON ELITES!

Perhaps....someday.

HEY, FLAT WORLD BOY, WHY THE SUDDEN GLOOM?

Says Tom Friedman in the NYTimes:

"Oh, well, maybe we have the leaders we deserve. Maybe we just want to admire Lance Armstrong, but not be Lance Armstrong. Too much work. Maybe that's the wristband we should be wearing: Live wrong. Party on. Pay later."

TOM, WHAT PART OF: "AMERICA HAS BEEN LOOTED BY INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL" DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?

FREE TRADE AND GLOBALISM ARE AN ECONOMIC CANCER THAT WERE PLACED ON THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BY INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL'S GREED...

A NATION THAT DOES NOT PROTECT IT'S MARKETS IS DESTINE TO LOSE THEM.

The 1970s were plagued by domestic wage inflation; but the answer was not to have capital abandon the American economy for foreign cheap labor.... Some limits should have been placed on organized labor AND GOVERNMENT WAR AND DOMESTIC SPENDING back then, when the situation was still salvagable.

Now it's pretty much too late. Eight years of Bush looting and books like the FLAT WORLD NONSENSE have let it rip....

DON'T BE SO GLOOMY TOM, YOU WERE PART OF THE PROBLEM HERE. THE CURRENT AMERICAN MALISE AND DEFEATISM ARE THE DIRECT RESULT OF REPUBLICAN AND WALL STREET GREED, AND THE RIGHT WING MEDIA'S NUMBING OF THE AMERICAN PUBLICS' MIND.

PRAY TO JESUS NOW TOM. HE'S YOUR ONLY HOPE..... ASK KEN MEHLMAN TO HELP YOU "FIND JESUS."

AS TO THE AFL-CIO.....?

BREAKING UP IS THE RIGHT THING....

The break up of the AFL-CIO is the right thing to do at this time....

Labor needs to go back to the drawing board and re-define itself.

Public sector unions are essentially different from Private sector unions...

The former live in the command economy of taxation and monopoly services;

The latter are struggling with international private capital and free trade globalism. It's a totally different political dynamic here....

UNIONIZING THE NEW "WALMART AMERICA" IS THE NEXT BIG JOB FOR ORGANIZED LABOR...THE POLITICS WILL COME AROUND, BUT ONLY AFTER THE WORKERS ARE ORGANIZED...

TRYING TO PLAY IN THE KORRUPT HALLS OF KONGRESS IS A LOSERS' GAME FOR LABORS' OLD GAURD...BECAUSE THEY JUST CAN'T COMPETE WITH INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL NOW.

BACK TO THE GRASS ROOTS IS LABOR'S AND DEMOCRATS' ONLY HOPE.

TIME TO SEARCH ALL ARABS AND MUSLIMS?

It's finally down to "Legislate, or Die."

Congress should act now to provide a VIABLE search regime for foreign ooking persons carrying bulky objects in publics places... THAT would not be a violation of the 14 th Amendment or the Equal Protections Clause...BECAUSE THERE IS A COMPELLING STATE INTEREST IN WARTIME SECURITY MEASURES THAT MAKE THE "GROUPING" NOT UNREASONABLE AT THIS TIME.

HARRY POTTER REVIEWED IN TIMES

We Muggles could use some magic about now.....

NEW BOMBINGS A BAD SIGN.....FOR BUSH DOCTRINE

The new bombings in London and Egypt are a bad sign for the BUSH DOCTRINE.

The BUSH DOCTRINE essentially requires the west to invade any Muslim nation that is not pro-western/pro Israel.....Afghanistan and Iraq were first to go. Iran and Syria may be next.

Here's the problem: The entire doctrine is based on the superiority of the US military to "handle" any situation with overwhelming force. There is no doubt that the US has overwhelming force available, BUT CAN THEY USE IT....?

When there are NO ARMIES on the "other side" who do you bomb? In Iraq there are already allegations of WAR CRIMES for bombing and killing civilians. IS THE PENAGON OBSOLETE....OR JUST THE WRONG TOOL FOR THE JOB?

What seems to be happening is a REVIVAL OF PAN MUSLIM SENTIMENT GLOBALLY.

THE NOTION OF A PRO-WESTERN/PRO ISRAEL "NEW EMPIRE OF ISLAM" IMPOSED BY FORCE FROM THE US SEEMS UNREALISTIC. YET THAT IS ALL THERE IS TO THE BUSH DOCTRINE....

THE PROMISE OF AMERICAN STYLE "DEMOCRACY OR DEATH" IS A HOBSON'S CHOICE FOR MANY MUSLIMS TODAY.

Ultimately, the very existance of Israel could be in dangered...not from Osama & Co., but rather from the "Friends of Israel" --like Dubya, Rummy, Wolfie and the American Likudnics.

TIME IS RUNNING OUT FOR THE BUSH DOCTRINE TO PROVE IT'S WORTH.....

ANY MORE TERRORISM IN THE WEST COULD PUT THE BUSH DOCTRINE IN THE SCRAPE HEAP OF HISTORY....AND FORCE WESTERN DIPLOMATS BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD....

AND HOPEFULLY THIS TIME ISRAEL WILL BE "IN THE LOOP." AND NOT MERELY STANDING BY LIKE AN INNOCENT BY-STANDER TO BE PROTECTED FROM "EVIL AND CRAZY" ARABS AT ALL COSTS.

BECAUSE THOSE COSTS ARE NOW REACHING UNACCEPTABLE LEVELS

LONDON GOES PARANOID!

"Suspicious" passengers being shot for no reason!!

KEYNES IS DEAD.....

Welcome to The Long Run....!

Time to Buy Gold?

Postscript: Telling China that they CAN'T buy US Oil Companies with their many dollars is not likely to Win Friends and Influence People at the Bank of China either!! Beggers can't be choosers....not for long anyway!

IMAGINE IF THE US WERE OCCUPIED BY MUSLIMS...?

TRUTH TELLING BEGINS AT HOME.....

Tom Friedman's excellent notion of exposing the Muslim HateMongers is a good one....

But we should start here in the US, and in the US News Media.

The old liberal press is dead in America now ...everything in the US media is agenda driven and spin-oriented now.

AM Hate Radio and "Evangelical Politicians" continue to spew vicious nonsense and hate.

And the Republican Party has because our Unofficial Proto-Fascist Party of Hate and Fear in the US for the less intelligent. Why? Because it's easier to sell hate and fear than good public policy! It always has been!

LET'S START TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT ISRAEL'S OCCUPATION PLANS ON THE WEST BANK...AND THE PLAN TO MAKE GAZA INTO A "PRISON STATE" FOR PALESTINIANS.

Let's tell the truth about the US Cold War Policies that supported dictators, like Saddam and Osama, to contain the Soviet Union.

Let's tell the truth about the role of Capital and Wealth in the US political and economic system.... Let's discuss the looting of workers pension funds and the budget destroying tax cuts for the rich, and the huge decline of Worker Rights.

ALL WE EVER HEAR ABOUT IS FREE TRADE AND THE RIGHTS OF CAPITAL TO MOVE ANYWHERE AND DO PRACTICALLY ANYTHING IT WANTS...LITTLE OR NOTHING ABOUT THE RIGHTS OF WORKERS AND ORDINARY PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT.

Let's tell the truth about our NEW ERA OF ROBBER BARRON CAPITALISM.

Let's tell the truth about our Korrupted Kongress, always on the take for BIGGER "campaign contributions."

Let's tell the truth about the Likud plan to NEVER allow a viable Arab state in Old Biblical Israel...

YES, TOM, TRUTH TELLING IS A GOOD THING. A VERY GOOD THING. WHEN DO WE START?

BUT, TRUTH TELLING BEGINS BEST AT HOME..... CAN WALL STREET AND WASHINGTON AND THE NEW YORK TIMES HANDLE IT? I DON'T THINK SO....

GOOOOGLE LIKE IT'S 1999

CURRENCY CHAOS....?

The flap over the sale of a US oil company

to China MIGHT HAVE inspired the move to delink from the dollar.... After all, it China is going to have all these dollars to spend, the US will have to give China SOMETHING TO BUY......

The unhealthy situation around the dollar will eventually cause CURRENCY CHAOS that could be hard to control once it gets started.

The sad truth is that China has more to say about US monetary policy now that the FED!

JUDICIAL LEGISLATION DEFINED.....

When a Judge rules against you he's "legislating from the bench."

When a Judge rules for you he's "enforcing the law."

Any questions....?

Amazingly, the number of judges who "go liberal" after their appointment to the court is high..... What gives?

Probably they start taking their job seriously....and realize that they are no longer the tool of special interests but rather are "doing law" for "all the people."

It's the old "me" and "we" problem of the conservatives and liberals....

Liberals being better "we" thinkers and Conservatives being better "me" thinkers.... It's small minded and narrow vs. broad minded and global thinking.... Or think of it the rich and the greedy vs. the general good....

I realize that this annoys conservative "thinkers" like Brooks but it is also very close to the truth of the situation.

BUSH PUNKS ON ROBERTS.....THE 'BLUE BOY.'

The nomination of Roberts to the Supreme Court is probably the result of the Rove Flap and the War in Iraq going badly.

DUBYA'S POPULARITY HAS BEEN IN DECLINE....AND ANY MORE CONTROVERSY, AT THIS POINT, COULD PUT DUBYA INTO A PUBLIC RELATIONS TAIL SPIN.

.....JUST IN TIME FOR THE 2006 ELECTIONS, WHICH WILL LIKELY NOT BE GOOD FOR REPUBLICANS IN GENERAL....

Clearly, Roberts' "thin record" means he can't be "Borked." And his tenure on the Washington Appeals Court has been very brief.

Politically, Roberts seems TOTALLY BLUE.

...BORN IN NEW YORK, RAISED IN INDIANA, WORKED IN PITTSBURG....HARVARD LAW AND A WASHINGTON LAW FIRM..... NOT A RED NECK BUBBA BONE IN HIS BODY.....

Not likely to be too religious. A scholar and perhaps a "good listener." Not a Fifth Circuit bigot.....

SO, WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE?

BUSH PUNKS ON ROBERTS....THANK ROVE FOR THAT....AND THE IRAQ INSURENCY.

Democrats should be happy....there is "blood in the water" now.

The Rove Magic is ending.

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER CONTINUE....

Everything levitates in slowmotion..... No epiphanies. Just same old same old. Iraq out of control. The economy dumbed down so that failure is success. The markets looted. A totally Dubya kind of period where nothing is the best we can hope for.....and for that we should all be thankful.

ROVE: GENIUS? OR JUST DUMB LUCK?

Amazingly, Rove & Chum have been living on the remains of the Clinton Prosperity for nearly six years.... Whether the Clinton Prosperity can last through Dubya's second term is problematic. And;

With the help of the Bank of China--Greenspan has been able to extend his Bubblnomics far longer than any sensible person would have expected. (See The Conundrum).

Further, going with a Mass Liberal in 2004 was not exactly the Democrats shining moment either.

IN SHORT, I HAVE A MORE LOGICAL "EXPLANATION" FOR ROVE'S SO CALLED "GENIUS." I'D CALL IT "DUMB LUCK."

BUT LUCK RUNS OUT...AND SOONER OF LATER THE PUBLICS' STUPIDTY IS CURED BY THE INEVITABLE CONSQUENCES OF BAD POLICY....ECONOMIC AND GEOPOLITICAL DISASTERS LOOM EVEN NOW.

CALLING ROVE A GENIUS...IS WAY, WAY TOO PREMATURE...LET'S STICK WITH THE LUCK SCENARIO...IT'S FAR MORE LIKELY TO BE TRUE.

TAKING THE FIGHT TO THE ENEMY....?

News that the terror bombers in London

where HOME GROWN makes Dubya's notion of "taking the fight to the enemy" a lot less viable....

After all, should Tony the Poodle now bomb Leeds' Muslim neighborhoods?

CLEARLY, THERE IS A GENERAL DISENCHANTMENT WITH THE WEST AMONG MUSLIMS GLOBALLY...... Most of this probably has to do with Israel's clear intent to annex the West Bank and Gaza....and NEVER to give the Palestinians their own "state."

Everyone knows Israel's real intention, but it is never clearly stated in the Western Media....although most Muslims seems to realize that the Palestinian cause is lost......because of US prejudice against them.

Indeed, Dubya's "taking the fight to the enemy" is really just confirming what many Muslims have have feared or "known" all along....that the US and the West, in general, has no interesting in anything but middle eastern oil.....

Dubya's supposed BOMBING AND KILLING MUSLIMS FOR DEMOCRACY CAMPAIGN not withstanding.

SO, DUBYA, WHERE DO WE TAKE THE FIGHT NEXT? PAKISTAN?....AND MORE IMPORTANT WHO IS THE REAL ENEMY?

ISRAEL, OF COURSE, IS NEVER, NEVER ASKED TO DO ANYTHING TO HELP.

AND, THAT ONLY PROVES THE MUSLIMS' CASE TO THEM--YET AGAIN.....

LORDY, LORDY, GAS AT TWO FORTY!!

Jesus filled my gas tank......!

HAPPY DAYS ARE QUEER AGAIN.....

There is just a little too much joy in the markets now to be "normal." Clearly, the post terror reaction of the markets is an attempt to avoid the "911 Syndrome."

But....there are still the underlying realities that are not conducive to higher stock and bond prices.

But I suppose we can forget about these for a few more days....then the markets will correct back to their normal level.

The Battle for Dow 10,000 is still on...despite the economy, the hurricane, oil prices, Iraq or London....! TRULY AMAZING....DON'T YA THINK?

TERROR GOOD FOR STOCKS.....?

Wall Street soared on the terror news from London.... So what's up....?

Probably it's PLUNGE PROTECTION FROM THE FED AND IT'S MARKET SHILLS...

The last thing Greenspan needs is an economic reaction to the recent terrorism.... Greenspan wants to continue "normalizing" rates, and a NEW terror diversion is not in the cards....

The Fed and it's market shills seem to have stepped in to support the market after the terrorism hit.... The 140+ rise on Friday was just to steady to be real.

The question is what happens next? Clearly, the London terrorism is not clearing up as fast as 911... The perpetrators are still unknown...there is no one in custody.

The unfortunate conclusion is that the terrorism factor is probably worse now than before the Iraq War..... And that can not be good for markets....

And the big Friday run up despite Dennis just off shore, and the rather "punk" jobs number on Friday was clear proof of PLUNGE PROTECTION FROM THE FED.

CAN THE US ECONOMY SURVIVE WITHOUT BUBBLES?

Back in the 1980's it was decided that WAGE INFLATION had to go....

Instead we got ASSET INFLATION, 401ks, China, Free Trade and Cheap Labor...alas, the rest is history....or soon will be.

First we had the Stock Bubbles, now it's Real Estate, and some "commodites" like oil...THE US ECONOMY IS COMPLETELY DEPENDENT ON ASSET BUBBLES.

THERE IS NO CURE......short of another Great Depression......and that may be coming soon. The US economy is a giant conundrum inside an anomaly wrapped in a mystery.

The NEXT KEYNES will have to "solve the economic puzzle" for the CONSEQUENCES OF CHEAP LABOR AND ROOTLESS INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL.....

Economics Grad students had better get started...because there is a Nobel Prize for the taking!

Hint: Very High interest rates are coming....1980 Redux!

IS THE PENTAGON OBSOLETE....

Clearly the nature of war has changed drastically since 911 and the fall of the Soviet Union....but has the Pentagon kept up? Or are the billions spent on the war budget just a formula for more failed policies like the ones in Iraq and Afganhistan?

The notion of MASSED ARMIES ENGAGING IN BATTLE is almost a MEDIEVAL NOTION NOWADAYS!

THE ERA OF ASYMETRICAL WAR IS HERE....THE PENTAGON IS OBSOLTETE....!

IMPROVE OUR GENE POOL: ENLIST NOW!

Bush has said that we are fighting the terrorists "over there" so we won't have to fight them "over here."

But what exactly does that mean?

Clearly, it is starting to look like the American military is "providing targets" for disgruntled Muslims to shoot at...so they dont have to come "over here" to vent their rage!

The chances of Muslims EVER accepting the dictates of the Americans are slim to none...even those with a political grudge against the estabilished elite...will not welcome American intervention, EXCEPT SHORT TERM.

HENCE, THE RAPID DEATH SPIRAL IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN....WHERE AMERICAN YOUTH ARE MERELY BEING PROVIDED AS "TARGET PRACTICE" FOR ANGRY MUSLIMS....

SO, BUBBA, ENLIST NOW TO BE TARGET PRACTICE IN THE TERROR TRAINING GROUNDS OF ARABY...THEN MAYBE OSAMA WILL LEAVE US ALONE, AND ISRAEL CAN ANNEX THE WEST BANK IN THE MEANTIME UNNOTICED.... IS THIS REALLY WHAT THE WAR IS ALL ABOUT?

ADVISE TO GREEDSPAN....

If you'd have done 50 bp early on....

We would not have the current situation where rates will have to go MUCH MUCH HIGHER TO ACHIEVE ANY EFFECT!

THE FED HAS GIVEN UP THE ELEMENT OF "SURPRISE!" AND FOR THAT THEY ARE PAYING A DEAR PRICE WITH THE MARKET!

SO, ALAN, IN AUGUST ANOTHER 25 PB....PER USUAL? IF SO? PLAN ON TAKING FED FUNDS TO 6% BEFORE CREDIBILITY RETURNS.......!

IN SHORT, PEOPLE DON'T FEAR THE FED....THEY KNOW THE FED IS THE "PATSY" OF WALL STREET AND THE MARKETS.....

ADVISE TO TOM......MONEY GRUBBING ISN'T EVERYTHING

ADVISE TO LIBERALS REGARDING JUDGES....

Liberals should remember that Judges change over time....

Those who are or were dependant on SPECIAL INTERESTS for their initial election and/or appointment to the bench frequently will become more "liberal" ....as time goes by and they become more confident about their ability to retain their positions....and they then start to think about their personal "legacies" on the court.

This often results in more liberal rulings than they would have dared to make when the judge was STARTING HIS OR HER CAREER ON THE BENCH, ....AND WERE MUCH MORE BEHOLDED TO THE SPECIAL INTERESTS THAT PUT THEM IN OFFICE....

IN SHORT, YOU DANCE WITH THE ONE WHO BRUNG YOU.....ONLY UP TO A POINT!

Curiously, the so called "conservative base" of the Republican Party is really only SOCIALLY CONSERVATIVE....AND OFTEN IT IS THESE RED STATE BUBBA VOTERS WHO ARE FEELING THE LASH OF GLOBALIZATION AND THE DOMINANCE OF WALL STREET IN THE ECONOMY....

SO, DO NOT EXPECT THESE RED STATE BUBBAS TO BE CHEERING FOR EVERY COURT RULING IN FAVOR OF BIG CORPORATE INTERESTS....!

THE SOCIAL AGENDA IN THE US IS VERY, VERY NARROW....MAINLY ABORTION, AND CIVIL RIGHTS....

BUT THE ECONOMIC CATASTROPE THAT IS SLOWLY UNFOLDING EVERYDAY....EFFECTS THE RURAL AND RED STATE BUBBAS AS MUCH AS IT EFFECTS THE BLUE STATE "LIBERALS."

The courts will come around...eventually, if the Kongress comes around to the cause of the working classes in the US...

WALL STREET'S ABILITY TO HOODWINK THE RED STATE BUBBA VOTER IS DECLINING CONSTANTLY....

DO NOT FEAR THE BENCH...

FEAR RATHER THE CORRUPTION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY...WHO HAVE A POLITICALBASE THAT MUST BE KEPT IN A CONSTANT STATE OF MORAL OUTRAGE...TO AVOID CONFRONTING THE REAL PROBLEMS OF THE DECLINING WORKING AND MIDDLE CLASS IN AMERICAN TODAY.