THE ILLEGAL ALIEN'S EXAGGERATION BINGO

When half of the people get the idea that they don't have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for... that, my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. - Author Unknown

Rules for Bullshit Bingo 

1. Before the Illegal Alien's next televised speech, print your "Bullshit Bingo" card.
2. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words or phrases. 
3. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, stand up and shout "BULLSHIT!"

ABOUT TIME JOHNNY COME LATELY

Sen. John McCain on Friday responded to President Barack Obama's criticism of Arizona's new immigration-enforcement law as "misguided."

McCain: “If the president doesn’t like what the Arizona Legislature and governor may be doing, then I call on the president to immediately call for the dispatch of 3,000 National Guard troops to our border and mandate that 3,000 additional Border Patrol (officers) be sent to our border as well,”

McCain, R-Ariz., said at a news conference in downtown Phoenix. “And that way, then the state of Arizona will not have to enact legislation which they have to do because of the federal government’s failure to carry out its responsibilities, which is to secure the borders.”

DUMR

This could explain a lot...like supporting the health care bill, cap and tax, immigration reform, abortion, cutting manned space exploration, cutting missile defense, welfare, social security, medicare and not the least...voting donkey or donkeys dressed as elephants...to name a few.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

GET OUT OF JAIL FREE

A Game Plan

Verified with SNOPES.COM (http://www.snopes.com/military/monopoly.asp).

 You're going to love this!

Something I had not seen before...

(You'll never look at the game the same way again!)
Starting in 1941, an increasing number of British Airmen found themselves as the involuntary guests of the Third Reich, and the Crown was casting about for ways and means to facilitate their escape...

Now obviously, one of the most helpful aids to that end is a useful and accurate map, one showing
not only where stuff was, but also showing the locations of 'safe houses' where a POW on-the-lam could go for food and shelter.

Paper maps had some real drawbacks -- they make a lot of noise when you open and fold them, they wear out rapidly, and if they get wet, they turn into mush.

Someone in MI-5 (similar to America 's OSS ) got the idea of printing escape maps on silk. It's durable, can be scrunched-up into tiny wads, and unfolded as many times as needed, and makes no noise whatsoever.

At that time, there was only one manufacturer in Great Britain that had perfected the technology of printing on silk, and that was John Waddington, Ltd. When approached by the government, the firm was only too happy to do its bit for the war effort.

By pure coincidence, Waddington was also the U.K. Licensee for the popular American board game, Monopoly. As it happened, 'games and pastimes' was a category of item qualified for insertion into 'CARE packages', dispatched by the International Red Cross to prisoners of war.

Under the strictest of secrecy, in a securely guarded and inaccessible old workshop on the grounds of Waddington's, a group of sworn-to-secrecy employees began mass-producing escape maps, keyed to each region of Germany or Italy where Allied POW camps were regional system). When processed, these maps could be folded into such tiny dots that they would actually fit inside a Monopoly playing piece.

As long as they were at it, the clever workmen at Waddington's also managed to add:
1. A playing token, containing a small magnetic compass
2. A two-part metal file that could easily be screwed together
3. Useful amounts of genuine high-denomination German, Italian, and French currency, hidden within the piles of Monopoly money!

British and American air crews were advised, before taking off on their first mission, how to identify a 'rigged' Monopoly set -- by means of a tiny red dot, one cleverly rigged to look like an ordinary printing glitch, located in the corner of the Free Parking square.

Of the estimated 35,000 Allied POWS who successfully escaped, an estimated one-third were aided in their flight by the rigged Monopoly sets.. Everyone who did so was sworn to secrecy indefinitely, since the British Government might want to use this highly successful ruse in still another, future war.

The story wasn't declassified until 2007, when the surviving craftsmen from Waddington's, as well as the firm itself, were finally honored in a public ceremony.

I realize most of you are (probably) too young to have any personal connection to WWII (Dec. '41 to Aug. '45), but this is still interesting.

Story verification: http://blogs.wsj.com/informedreader/2007/11/19/wwii-pows-perk-monopoly-with-real-money/

FORMULA FOR UNDERSTANDING WOMEN REVEALED...AT LAST

Reality And Funnies...Can You Notice The Difference?

A Guy Walks into a Bar with a Dog…

A guy walks into a bar with a dog under his arm, puts the dog on the bar, and announces that the dog can talk and that he’s willing to bet $100 with anyone who says he can’t.

The bartender quickly takes the bet. The owner looks at the dog and asks, “What’s the thing on top of this building that keeps the rain from coming inside?” The dog answers, “Roof.”

The bartender says, “Who are you kidding? I’m not paying.” The dogs owner says, “How about double or nothing, and I’ll ask him something else.”

The bartender agrees. The owner turns to the dog and asks, “Who was the greatest ballplayer of all time?” The dog answers with a muffled “Ruth.”

With that the bartender picks them both up and throws them out the door. As they bounce on the sidewalk, the dog looks at his owner and says “DiMaggio?”

Too True…

Two politicians are having lunch together. All of a sudden one stands up and shouts, "You’re lying." The other replies, "I know, but just hear me out."

A Failure to Communicate…

“There’s a fire raging out of control west of town, and I want you to get out there, and fast,” the hard-charging newspaper editor shouts at his star photographer. “I want a front-page photo, and I don’t care if that means you have to hire an airplane. Just do it. Don’t worry about the expense.”

So the photographer calls the airport and orders a plane. Grabbing his best equipment, he rushes out to the airport, spots a small aircraft with a young pilot in it, pulls open the door, jumps in, and shouts to the pilot, “Okay, I’m ready. Take off!”

As directed, the pilot takes off, gets up to altitude. A few minutes later, the photographer says loudly so he can be heard over the sound of the engine, “See that fire raging to the west? I want you to fly over that and get down as close as you can.”

Incredulous, the pilot says, “You want me to fly over that fire?”

“Absolutely,” the reporter says, “I’m an award-winning photojournalist and that’s why I am here – to take a front-cover shot of the fire!”

The pilot looks over with a quizzical look on his face and says, “You’re not the flight instructor?”

Work is not a curse; it is the prerogative of intelligence, the only means to manhood, and the measure of civilization. - Calvin Coolidge


The capitalist system has lifted mankind out of mass poverty. It is this system that in the last century and in the last generation, has progressively changed the face of the world, and has provided the masses of mankind with amenities that even kings did not posses or imagine a few generations ago. - Henry Hazlitt


A nation that encourages its people to spend more and save less... promotes economic backwardness, social decay and its own financial doom. - Dr. Kurt Richebacher

FACT VS Fiction #5 From Casey Research

FICTION: The U.S. government has everything under control.
FACT: The U.S. government is on tilt.

At this point the list of hastily conceived, politically motivated spit-and-plaster fixes that have been cobbled together by the government in an attempt to fix the economy - versus just getting the hell out of the way and letting the economy fix itself - could fill a book.
The only thing that matters to the administration and its allies is to corral a sufficient number of votes to get through the November elections on their collective(ist) feet.
Today, as I write, the news broke that Goldman Sachs has been charged with one of its many frauds. I should have seen this coming, as they had become - in the minds of Obama's core constituents - the poster child of Wall Street's greed. In addition, the firm has very, very deep pockets - just as Drexel Burnham Lambert did when the government laid them low with a $700 million fine... virtually none of which was then passed on to the purported victims of their indiscretions.
In the case of Goldman Sachs, I suspect that they may have become too clever by half - and that they've crossed some lines that will now be used by their erstwhile friends in Washington to string them up. And, in so doing, provide Team Obama with a win-win of appearing as a staunch opponent of Wall Street fat cats, while simultaneously confiscating another several billion to be cycled into the furnace of federal spending.
At this point, the only sane way to view the government is as an out-of-control gorilla that is wildly grabbing in all directions. As Goldman Sachs may be about to learn, once the gorilla has caught a hold of you, you've got real problems.
Unfortunately, the gorilla has grown so large that at this point it has its arms around the most of the economy. Counterproductive tax hikes are already baked in the cake and, if the administration has its way, it will soon try to layer on the mother of all tax increases in the form of a VAT. (I think at that point we might actually see riots in the streets.)
In Prechter's video, he echoes our constant admonitions to be careful and to be largely in cash just now. Words to the wise.

Entitlements Are Destroying us...The Ant Vs The Grasshopper

FACT VS Fiction #4 From Casey Research

FICTION: The Greek drama is behind us.
FACT: It's just getting started.

The bailout of Greece, while still not fully consummated, has brought an eerie calm in European financial markets. It is, for sure, a massive bailout by historical standards. With the planned addition of IMF money, the Greeks will receive 18% of their GDP in one year at preferential interest rates. This equals 4,000 euros per person, and will be spent in roughly 11 months.
Despite this eye-popping sum, the bailout does nothing to resolve the many problems that persist. Indeed, it probably makes the euro zone a much more dangerous place for the next few years.
Next on the radar will be Portugal. This nation has largely missed the spotlight, if only because Greece spiralled downwards. But both are economically on the verge of bankruptcy, and they each look far more risky than Argentina did back in 2001 when it succumbed to default.
The main problem that Portugal faces, like Greece, Ireland and Spain, is that it is stuck with a highly overvalued exchange rate when it is in need of massive fiscal adjustment. Portugal spent too much over the last several years, building its debt up to 78% of GDP at end 2009 (compared to Greece's 114% of GDP and Argentina's 62% of GDP at default). The debt has been largely financed by foreigners, and as with Greece, the country has not paid interest outright, but instead refinances its interest payments each year by issuing new debt. By 2012 Portugal's debt-GDP ratio should reach 108% of GDP if they meet their planned budget deficit targets. At some point financial markets will simply refuse to finance this Ponzi game.

Remembering Afghanistan Part 3

FACT VS Fiction #3 From Casey Research

FICTION: The housing market is improving.
FACT: Would you like to buy a bridge in Brooklyn?

The following ran in Bloomberg:

April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Builders broke ground on more U.S. homes in March than anticipated and took out permits at the fastest pace in more than a year, a sign of growing confidence that sales will stabilize.
Housing starts climbed to an annual rate of 626,000 last month, up 1.6 percent from February's revised 616,000 pace that was higher than initially estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Building permits, a sign of future construction, climbed to the highest level since October 2008.
Builders took advantage of milder weather following the February blizzards as they rushed to have properties available for buyers seeking to qualify for a government tax credit that expires at the end of June. The jump in permits signals demand will hold up even as foreclosures climb and the jobless rate hovers near a 26-year high.

On the other side of the ledger, the following ran in the Financial Times:

Whitehall Street International, Goldman Sachs' international real estate investment fund, has lost almost all of its $1.8bn of equity following soured property investments in the US, Germany and Japan, according to the Fund's estimates.
By the end of 2009, the fund was down to its last $30m, a paper loss of about 98 cents on the dollar, an annual report sent to investors last month said. The report said that Goldman was Whitehall's largest investor, with a commitment of $436m. Last year, Goldman took a loss of $1.76bn from all its real estate principal investments.

If the world's most successful investment house can lose essentially all its equity in a real estate fund, you know we're not in Kansas anymore.

This other dose of realism ran on Fox Business:

Commercial real estate is showing few signs of leveling out nationwide and several regions continue to get hammered by declining values. In this week's Beige Book, the Federal Reserve reported that "commercial real estate activity was slow across the nation," noting that only Richmond, Va., and Dallas have seen positive signs of late.
"In Boston, leasing activity consists largely of renewals, with many renewing tenants leasing less space. Manhattan Class A office rents were down 20% to 25% year over year. Contacts in Philadelphia, Richmond, Kansas City and Dallas expressed concern that lease concessions from landlords were putting downward pressure on rents. Commercial construction continued to be weak in most districts," the Fed reported.
In an effort to stem the tide of bank failures, several ideas to overhaul bank regulation have been put forward as part of the overall financial system reform, including one that would require banks to hold more capital and another that would create an "uber-regulator" by merging the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

I can tell you that around here, the commercial space that was empty a year ago is still empty today. And I'm talking even about the prime locations.

So, how to explain the upbeat housing articles in Bloomberg, when the facts on the ground seem to indicate the exact opposite? Other than the steady evidence that Bloomberg has taken on a cheerleader role for the Democratic machine its boss is a solid cog in, builders may be looking to build simply because that is what they do.
What they'll actually be doing is assuring their future bankruptcies. The following excerpt from an email last night from Jim B., a fellow Casey subscriber and correspondent, sheds light... (emphasis mine).

Down here in Austin, there's a housing construction recovery in bloom. I spoke to one of the contractors today. He was very happy to have his ten workers back to work after over a year of no work at all. One minor problem: the home construction company wasn't paying him.
I'm guessing the companies are using their subcontractors as lenders and will repay the "loans" if/when the houses are sold. Their credit must still be in the toilet, so it can't get any worse. This looks ominous.
I buy distressed property, mostly foreclosures. The usual number of houses in foreclosure in Travis County in the mid-'90s was around 325 per month. Of those, about 30 had enough equity to make a deal work. The number of foreclosures about six months ago was about 825, and the number of good deals was still about 30. So, about 500 houses per month above the normal rate are being dumped into the Austin real estate market. Just how new construction will overcome this competition is a drama I'm waiting to see.
I agree with Andy Miller. Perhaps the guys that speculate that there are an infinite number of universes are right. Maybe our universe just bifurcated into a rational one and the one we're in.
Like you, I sometimes wonder if the dominant logic of my thought group is missing an important new something that fixes all the non-sequiturs. So far I just don't see it.
Cheers,
Jim

At some point, real estate will again be a great investment - but for now, holding fire on new purchases seems the right thing to do. As for buying housing industry stocks or bonds - not hardly.

FACT VS Fiction #2 From Casey Research

FICTION: You can count on the mainstream financial media for unbiased information.
FACT: They're lying to you.

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.  We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream.  It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same. - Ronald Reagan

It's important to do your own due diligence and trust only your own calculations when confronted with cheery financial headlines.
Yesterday, for instance, the Fed's national industrial index was positively reported on as having continued to improve. By 0.1%. That's an improvement of .001, or roughly the width of a whisker on a gnat. And even that vaporous improvement came on numbers that are still deep in the post-crash dumps.
But even if we use the Fed's own numbers, we see that the month-over-month rate of improvements are losing steam, not gaining traction. This is an economy we can believe in?

That's not to say that there aren't some improvements in the economy. There clearly are. But I contend these improvements are largely selective.
For instance, the mining sector is doing quite well - and is now running at a capacity utilization rate of 90%, versus the broader manufacturing sector, which is bumping along at just 70%. Crude oil production is also running hot, at a capacity utilization of 87.4% in March, versus finished goods at an anemic 71.8%.
In other words, the stuff that the world actually needs to chug along is still in strong demand - but the rest of the economy is just limping along.

(Editorial Hint: Precious metals and energy prices are heading higher. At midnight tonight, ourTax Day Trifecta that allows you to lock in a full year of The Casey Report, Casey's Gold & Resource Report, and Casey's Energy Opportunities for one low price of just $199 expires. Don't miss it. More here.)

Anecdotally, I have had conversations with managers/owners in three different industries over the last week.
A developer of low-income housing said that while things were slightly better compared to this time last year, they were still a disaster and there was no real recovery in sight.
The manager of a high-end boat/RV retailer, whose lot is chock-a-block full of expensive motor homes and boats, was trying to be optimistic going into his traditional big sales season, and he had clearly boosted inventory. But as the sales season is still not quite underway, his guarded optimism is based on nothing more than hope at this point. When I asked him about the availability of credit, he said that people with very good credit can get financing, but everyone else can forget about it. Oops, there goes the majority of his potential buyers.
Then yesterday, I had a beer - er... I mean an off-site management meeting -- with fellow Casey Researchers Olivier Garret and Alex Daley down at a local pub/restaurant/hotel. The owner popped around to say hi, and I asked him if he was seeing an improvement in the economy. His reply, "Oh, there's an economy? Could of fooled me!" While he made the comment as something of a joke, the establishment remained largely empty well into the traditional cocktail hour when we left.
As an aside on the topic of restaurants, I have noted that the better-run restaurants - the ones that provide value for money - are doing reasonably well in the New England resort town that hosts the headquarters of Casey Research.
Rather than confirming a broadly improving economy, however, I suspect this is not unlike the phenomenon where, for a brief period, chickens are able to run around without the benefit of their heads. Which is to say, dining out seems to be a reflexive action taken by people who still have jobs and who may have seen some improvement in their stock portfolios.
We humans really don't like change and typically resist embracing it. Thus, those not forced by personal circumstances to hunker down - i.e., those still receiving paychecks - are following the boom-year custom of regularly dining out, and to a lesser degree, using their still active credit cards to buy stuff they really could do without.
My grandfather, a young man during the Great Depression, was a lifelong skinflint as a result of his experience. One of his favorite sayings when resisting one of the grandkids trying to put the touch on him for one toy or another was, "Money doesn't grow on trees."
By the time this is over, people will be saying, "Money doesn't sprout from credit cards."
Back on the topic of the financial media... I don't watch the financial cable shows. For one thing, I don't have cable. But even if I did, I wouldn't, because almost to a person these people missed the crash. So, why should I listen to them today?
Most of the pundits are talking their own book. And all of the financial news programs know that the stock houses and funds that buy the ads will bolt if their programs take a steadily dim view on the outlook for the economy and stock market.

FACT VS Fiction #1 From Casey Research

FICTION: Though sporadic, the U.S. economy will continue to improve.
FACT: The U.S. is headed for a currency crisis.

While having learned to cover their butts by adding some modest modifiers to their generally rosy forecasts, the administration's shills (Geithner, Bernanke, Summers, et al.) are unified in telling us that the worst is over.
The fact is that the U.S., nay, the world, is headed for fiat currency crash. As this is a topic we have addressed at some length in our various services, I won't linger overly long on the details. But I push forward some evidence in support of that contention.
In this fiscal year, the U.S. government will run its second trillion-dollar-plus deficit. Concerned about the political heat going into the November elections, the Democrats have been making noise about cleaning up their sloppy spending.
A couple of months back, El Presidente of this banana republic intoned that his government...

...[cannot] continue to spend as if deficits don't have consequences... as if the hard-earned tax dollars of the American people can be treated like Monopoly money.

Which is to say, he acknowledged that the deficits have consequences. And what might those consequences be?
For starters, rising interest rates. Because in order to finance its hyperactive spending, the government will have to sell a lot of debt - and because all the developed nations find themselves in the same boat, they'll have to manage those sales in an increasingly competitive environment.
Of course, higher interest rates put yet more pressure on the many businesses that rely on access to capital to sustain themselves. And higher rates crush borrowing for houses and other large-ticket items... which means, they crush the economy. Especially one perched on a foundation of debt.
Inflation is another consequence, because when the prospective debt buyers begin to stay home or, more likely, agree to show up but only for a more attractive yield, the Fed will increasingly be forced to monetize the debt. Leading to the demand for even higher yields.
Once the monetization begins in earnest, and in plain sight, Obama's high-speed spending train will find itself on very wiggly tracks, leading in relatively short order to a debt-fueled currency crash.
I go on, even though I promised not to. The point is that the only real hope for the country starts with deep cuts in government spending. Now, I am not talking about talking about cutting spending - you know, where you stand in front of a warmed-up audience and talk about spending cuts. But honest-to-goodness, real spending cuts.
Which brings me to Mars.
Yesterday the president gave a speech at Cape Canaveral where, ahead of time, it was advertised that he would announce serious cuts in the space program. That was the fiction spun out to the pundits.
Instead, when it came time to stand and deliver, Obama delivered a $6 billion boost in NASA's budget, then offset the cancellation of a program that would once again send men to the moon by announcing a new program to land astronauts on Mars... and drop in on an asteroid as well.
Over the course of my days on this remarkable planet of ours, I have had the opportunity to get to know all manner of personality types. One of the most troubled have been the serial spenders... deluded individuals that simply can't help but buy all that their hearts desire, no matter how much pain results from their debt-financed spending. That describes today's political class.
Unless and until you start hearing the president making speeches about not going to Mars, followed by wishing legions of government employees the best of luck as they enter the private sector, the only conclusion to be drawn is that a space ship isn't the only thing headed for outer space, but government debt as well.
The spending is unsustainable and so won't be sustained.

The more corrupt the state, the more it legislates. -Tacitus

The government that we gave limited power to... to protect our rights... has grown into a hideous behemoth that continually increases its power and now enslaves the people... and causes strife throughout. - Tom Parker


We cannot play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent.
--Ronald W. Reagan


It is unfortunate that we secure peace only through preparing for war.
--Jack Kennedy


The atom bomb was no great decision. It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness.
--Harry S. Truman


When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him.
--Franklin D. Roosevelt


Tell me what brand of whiskey Grant drinks. I would like to send a barrel to my other generals.
--Abraham Lincoln


The man who loves other countries as much as his own stands on a level with the man who loves other women as much as he loves his own wife.
--Teddy Roosevelt


I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.
--John Adams


To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace.
--George Washington

Who wants to go first???.....PICK ME!!!!