The Command T.O.C.

My Mother in Law Passed Away

A really sad week at our home. My Mother in Law, a wonderful woman, passed away this week and we will be laying her to rest on Friday. We will celebrate her life and know that she is at rest with God. 

The Torture Used by Bush Goes Long and Deep

I was one of those who, when President Obama was elected, said we should "let bygones be bygones", be happy Bush is out, and get on with our lives. Until recently. 

As I read more and more about the torture used, and the justification for it, by the Bush administration I say to myself these people have to be punished. There is no way we can just let them get away with this. They have created a dark cloud which will hang over the United States for a very long time. The Statue of Liberty is weeping because the values she was built to represent were shattered in 8 short years. 

Frank Rich opines in the New York Times today a scenario which is very scary. Made up reasons for torture, justifications of what is and is not torture which make your head spin, and an interesting "spin" which I had not thought of.

It is starting to appear the Bush administration was in a panic when they realized they were going to war with a Country which had no ties to 9/11 and probably had no WMDs. Two major reasons for "selling" the Iraq war on the American people. So, they think to themselves, what if we can get a prisoner to say what we want him to say. We can get a quote from him saying something like, "Al Qaeda is in Iraq" or something like that.

See, it is proven that torture will eventually get someone to say anything the captives want him/her to say just to stop the torture. It is why torture is a ridiculous tool. If I am being tortured and I realize you want me to say something and I believe the torture will stop once I say it, I will most likely eventually say it. In fact, it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. The more you torture me the more likely I am to capitulate and say anything. 

So, you ask me, "Is Al Qaeda in Iraq". I say no. Next thing I know you tie me to shackles and whip me or you waterboard me. I quickly realize "no" was not the answer you were looking for. You ask me how often Bin Laden visited Iraq in the last 5 years and i say never (or I do not know). You whip me. I quickly realize that was not the answer you were looking for. 

In a back and forth game of triangulation as I answer questions and you torture me I can, over time, figure out what you want to hear. Finally, I break. I tell you whatever will cause the torture to stop. 

You go away and say, "see, torture (oh, excuse me, enhanced interrogation) works". You get what you already were predisposed to want to hear. The torture stops (good for me) and you get what you want (I guess, good for you).

Unfortunately, over time you realize I only said it to stop the torture. There was no link, Bin Laden didn't go but, alas, it is too late. 5,000 soldiers dead, 1 trillion dollars spent, a Country in ruin, and our Country in disarray. It is too late. 

And this is why I have changed my views. These crimes cannot go unpunished. Bush must be prosecuted along with his gang of criminals. 

More on Twittering...

I just checked to see if I was an "Early adopter" and I would think so. The company was incorporated in May of 2007 and I joined in September of 2007. I wonder how much the popularity of the iPhone had to do with the massive growth of Twitter?

The Use of Twitter - @kevinaom

Twitter is an incredible little application. It is pure genius in its simplicity and it has become an incredible tool to use in the "micro blogging" space. You can "report" on things as they happen and provide very quick insight. You will not see in depth reporting (except for links to such) or huge ideas but rather it will be part of your journey towards the truth (whatever that is) in just about everything you do. 

As expected, I am twittering a lot. I twitter far more than I write here. I have linked my twittering to this blog on the right part of the screen, in the margin, you will see my latest twitters. Further, I know have any posting from this blog automatically twitter out to the "twittersphere" (Will that be a word soon).

So, subscribe to my twitters at @Kevinaom and please interact there as well as here. When there are in depth topics to discuss, they certainly will be done here but my day to day, hour to hour, perhaps minute by minute, thoughts will be out on Twitter. 

One thing about Twitter (or at least how I use it). They are thoughts. They are not "final disposition" but as I think of things, try to understand them, challenge them, I put them out on Twitter. Just because I say something once on twitter does not mean it is final. Much like here, I want responses and thoughts and be able to be "pushed around" so I can develop and grow my thinking. 

GM Shutdown for 9 Weeks

Today we learned GM is thinking of shutting down for 9 weeks this summer. Effectively, this will be the death nail in the coffin of many automotive suppliers, creditors and Detroit itself. I know intellectually that this is a bad deal for the Country. To have such a massive direct hit to the economy is not good for anyone. Many will learn how tied their business and their locality is to GM (this is NOT a "Detroit" issue). Your business next door may have far more "automotive" business than you imagined and if it goes out of business its suppliers (Tier II and Tier III) will have a big issue as well. 

But in another way, I want to see this so the infamous "Teabaggers" will understand just how fragile this economy is. They will see their friends lose jobs, local factories and businesses shut down, creditors file for chapter 11 etc. etc. When that happens then they may actually think about their ideology v. reality. I wish it upon no one but I am afraid it is what will have to happen for the great "economists" of the tea bagger revolution to understand what is truly going on in our economy and what our state of affairs is today. 

But, alas, my guess is they will just blame it on "Clinton". 

More on The Tea Party Idiocy

Ok, you just cannot make this stuff up. Here is the Daily Show interviewing the morons at the Tea Party events. I wonder if any of these people can calculate their effective tax rate. If they could, they would find it to be far lower now than it was 30 and 40 years ago. But, why let facts get in the way of a good show.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Tea Party Tyranny
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis Political Humor

Republican and Fox News Tea Bag Parties

This week we had to endure the idiotic "tea bag" parties from the Republican party and their media outlet, Fox News. At one point during the week I really wanted to understand what they were talking about however it clearly came down to anger with anything Obama and therefore I tuned it out. On XM Radio I listened to Sean Hannity (This is the Sean Hannity who loves war and "loves his Country" yet never once has he done anything that even remotely looks or smells like service. He only does what he can make millions doing) keep telling me that there were "hundreds of thousands" of people when in reality it was so small they could have all fit into a good size stadium. 

We also had to listen to Fox News talk about how this was a "grass roots" campaign when, in fact, it was choreographed by Fox News in more detail than a performance of the Irish River Dance. So, Fox news has a new model. They create the news, then they cover what they create, then they talk about the coverage of what they created (you know, we had to listen to days of, "The mainstream media did not cover it"). 

Then, like some incestuous family you have to endure Glenn Beck going on Sean Hannity, Sean Hannity going on Bill O'Reilly, Bill O'Reilly just playing with himself etc. etc. It is one hell of a business model they have created. 

In reality, of course, it was mostly about very angry, mostly white, people who are generally racist and have an education of a three year old. At this post at Huffington Post we see the disgusting signs which were used (bringing out of the closet the "Obama is a Muslim" chant) etc. At the clip below (in the extended post) you can hear the vile anger towards a CNN news reporter who was trying to engage the crowd.  Finally, you can hear the vile chants against on of their own.

The good news from all of this is the average American was not swayed by what amounts to the lunatic right. Huffington Post also reports that independents saw what the "Tea Parties" really were and have been turned off in a big way. 

In a funny sort of way, it is interesting they choose "Teabagging" as the description of what they were doing. As you will see in the final clip (again, posted in the extended post), tea bagging has a very specific meaning in the sexual sense. I guess they should have looked that up before they just went hog wild with this stupid show put on by Fox News. 

Jim Cramer and The "CNBC" Crowd Panic on National T.V.

I recently saw a segment on CNBC (Which I watch much like you watch a traveling circus, not for investment advice but more for humor and fun) where Jim Cramer was called out by Dan Solin. He did a great job saying why professional money managers and idiots like Jim Cramer are doing the average investor more harm than good. 

The discussion was about the 401(k) and whether it is a good investment now that many companies have stopped the match. This is a good topic because typically you have poor choices in a 401(k), they have very high fees and will get taxed as personal income when you take money out. 

Anyway, Cramer went absolutely nuts. He came in on the show and was madder than hell which is good. Between his abysmal performance on the Daily Show and now this, he is being called out for what he is: He is nothing more than a huckster in a fancy suit. He does more damage every night to the wealth of America than any one man. 

The video is below.

Bogle Article in New York Times

The New York Times writes a nice article about Jack Bogle's thoughts on professional money managers. Warning, if you are a professional money manager you may not want to read this. 

He also discusses how we are no longer in an ownership society but rather an agency society. Read the article and see what I mean. This is very important for investors. 

President Obama Ordered The Use of "Appropriate (read: Deadly) Force"

Well, I guess this answers the stupid question about what would he do if he got a call at 3:00am. I must say the seals are amazing. Imagine parachuting into the water (most likely at night so not to be detected), swimming to the ship, then setting up the scopes to shoot these bastards.

I hope they get their medals publicly. It is a great moment.