More Mess

Reading the newspapers - yes, real paper newspapers - over the weekend provided more facts and anecdotes about the Georgia-Ossetia mess. Balkan-style ethinc cleansing seems to be the ruling principal.

Following are some facts in order of time:

1. A South Ossetian militia shells an ethnically Georgian village.
   
2. Georgia stupidly sent in its army to South Ossetia. Many civilian casualties occur in areas occupied.
   
3. Russia sends its army into South Ossetia and thence into Georgia - this appears to be preplanned as some units were already on the move.
   
   
4. South Ossetian militia units wearing white armbands - seemingly in coordination with the Russia Army at least in this identification insignia - proceed to kill any Georgian male they can find, whether in South Ossetia or in Georgia.
   
   
   
5. Putin accuses Georgian leaders of war crimes and massacres. Whether he was aware of the protection Russian army units provide South Ossetians massacring Georgians is unclear.
   
   

The entire situation is a cluster FUBAR.

Why is Russia involved at all ? Ossetians are neither Russians nor Slavs. And Russian 19th century pretensions to be protectors of all Slavs was originally a mere pretext for Tsarist efforts to expand into the Balkans and partition the old Ottoman Empire a la Poland.

The danger arises from foolish leaders in Russia and the West using these events for their own agendas. This is quite a troubling situaiton.

Markets

The sheer stupidity of Babblevision continues to amaze me: rumor-mongering, blabbers of opinions and flimsy ideas with zero facts. They had Sutty on again early. Ugh ...

I will look at some major defense stocks today for long term positions. I have avoided then thinking major weapons programs were at risk. But now with the events in Georgia, to me they now will seem quite important. The most expensive Navy or Air Force is the 2nd best. Air superiority has been crucial for US tactics since World War II. Ditto naval superiority. So major air and naval weapons systems that can dominate Russia and Chinese technologically seem likely to be funded far into the future.

PS: I think I'll start a joint position in GD and LMT in the Alpha Fund. Obviously from the daily charts I've missed some easy money. But the PEs are reasonable and the weekly charts look like breakouts from a long base. I'll take 1/2 down this morning. I'll manage the size by considering (GD+LMT) = one position.

Word of the Day

"Deracinate" - verb, transitive [$10] literary
Deracinate means 1. tear up by the roots; 2. obliterate, expunge.
Sentence: Numerous eye witness acounts show that South Ossetian militia units deracinated ethnic Georgians under the protection of Russian army units.

Bonus Word

"Fie" - interjection [$10] archaic; appears often in Shakespeare.
Fie expresses 1. disgust; 2. shame; 3. a pretense of outraged propriety.
Sentence: (A) (usage 1. & 2.) Fie upon the Russian army in Georgia - protecting killers. (B) (usage 3.) Putin - "Oh fie, Georgia attacked South Ossetia. Let's send our army in."