Is There Anything Knew Under the Sun (cont.) ?

I guess if one is over 50 and has paid attention all one's life, a person can be jaded as almost everything in world events seems to be a repeat of past performance. Here are three items that brought that thought to mind this morning as we suffer from poor leaders, knavery and corruption in government.

First

Today is the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack. To quote from the BBC news site: "The top US commander calls for a new strategy to fight Taleban militants in their safe havens inside Pakistan". Uh ... did not W say that the terrorists would not be safe anywhere and that nations offering sanctuaries would be considered enemies ? So why hasn't W ordered attacks on these "safe havens" " After all this is seven years later. Is W lying or stupid - the old "fool or knave" choice ? Obviously he should attack them. Let Pakistan scream. They are doing nothing to crush the terrorists. Maybe they'll send troops there to root out that band of killers. Of course permitting "safe havens" was part of the Johnson-McNamara's losing strategy in Vietnam. And the team of Bush-Rumfeld repeated it. Seven years is a long time. Clearly a real leader like Honest John McCain would not repeat old errors.

Second

Obama screeches after being called out on sexist comments about Palin. I refer to the "lipstick on a pig" quote. He says his remark was an innocent expression. Uh ... this is a Harvard Law School graduate who was on the Law Review. He knew what he was saying and to what it alluded. Now he's whining. What a knave !

Third

"Federal investigators alleged that Interior Department officials handling oil royalties broke government rules by accepting gifts from and having sex with industry representatives." Hmmm "having sex with industry representatives. That should be an interesting case. But what's the surprise - corruption in government contracts is an old story. This is one reason why governmental economic power is to be feared. The other is government's insidious growth in its power over the people.

Markets

Gold has fallen more and silver is under $11. I'll be a buyer as Mrs. B deploys her new funds in the Sky Fund, as I'll make asset class balancing investments to keep the entire Krypto Fund in balance (Sky Fund is part of Krypto Fund for asset management purposes).

Good News

I suppose I could call this section the "Gospel of Bunkerman", but that might seem blasphemous. But I think since business news seems unable to mentions anything but fear and gloom, I will occasionally mention good news.

Today's WSJ article on how exports are helping hundreds of small communities in the US provides many examples on the good that the US improving balance of trade is doing. For decades the US dollar was overvalued and the common man working in a manufacturing plant suffered loss of income and jobs. Now that is changing. This is good. The dollar finally reached a fair value range.

On a related matter, for decades pundits will have screamed about the trade deficit. Although today's trade numbers might show a pause of slight reversal, the trade deficit has been closing for months. And once the fall in the price of imported oil flows into the numbers, the trade balance will be even smaller. This is good news.

And why is Bunkerman an optimist ? The pundits say the sky is falling. Babblevision had a fellow on TV early this morning saying a depression was coming. What crap ! (I've been hearing that crap for thirty years -but I guess it sells.) With the growth of freedom in the world, the 21st century should be a time of peace and prosperity as long as Russia or some other rogue nation doesn't caused trouble. Human beings naturally strive to improve their lives. Given freedom, they will do that. That basic human action provides a powerful current of growth for the world economies. The bears are swimming against this current. Soon they will tire and drown. And the Bulls will take charge and a new bull market will emerge.

Word of the Day

"Peruna" - noun [$ incalculable]; a Mencken word.
Peruna means 1. an idea or policy designed to, or which will fool or pacify the masses; 2. (Finnish) potato. 3. (capitalized) the name of a famous elixir in Texas that had a reputation for a cure-all. (The popularity of Peruna soared during Prohibition due to its alcohol content.)
This word is not in any English language dictionary. I discovered its likely meaning through online research into prior uses. Hence, like "quodliteral" this definition is first provided on this "incalculably" valuable site [joke].
Sentences -
A. [from "The Impossible H. L. Mencken" ed. by Marion Rogers, page 83. The quote is excerpted from an article that pondered why Americans did not fall for communism in the 1920s and 1930.] "... the plain people had been vaccinated against it. For years they had been following such quacksalvers as Bryan and Roosevelt, and so they had acquired a certain amount of immunity to social and economic perunas."
B. Does Obama think his speechmaking ability and shills in the sycophantic press can sell his perunas to the public ? This is the 21st century. If the public in the Mencken era didn't buy communism, I doubt they will buy Obama's perunas of high taxes and big government as the cure-all of their problems.