TGIF

Ahhhh a summer Friday ! That means a lazy day here in the bunker. Plus I'll have circus dog party this evening with a fine martini, while listening to Louis Armstrong classics.

Gold and silver are being crushed overnight. Gold cracks $800 and silver moves under $13. I'll have to scape around and find some money in the Krypto Fund to buy some, as its asset allocation model is screaming for me to buy them.

The WSJ says that there is little evidence that "Georgian attacks killed thousands of civilians." But there is plenty of evidence that hundreds were killed. Isn't that enough to justify "some" Russian response and protection for the people of South Ossetia ? Of course, perhaps the Russians went "too far" but in my opinion, one should look harder upon those who start a war, not on those who finish it.

US policy must be very careful here and unfortunately, the old knee-jerk, anti-Russian reactions are guiding it. Besides Kosovo, what other breakaway province exists in the world where a war is possible ? Taiwan. The US insists that China should not attack Taiwan to take control of it. But why does the US defend Georgia's taking control of South Ossetia with military force ? Very troubling.

Poland and the US agreed to the missile defense to protect Europe against Iranian missiles. Poland drove a hard bargain and got frontline US Patriot aircraft defenses. I suppose the Russian move in Georgia made some minds reach a deal now. I support this in principle, as Poland is a member of NATO and an ally so defense of Poland is part of US commitments anyway. As is all of NATO. But why is the US paying for the defense of a prosperous Europe ? Europe should pay for this if Europe wants it.

Ukraine and Russia are sparing a bit over movements of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, whose base is in Ukrainian Crimea. Russia is talking big about its base, saying that its ships will go wherever they wish, whenever they wish. But the newspapers don't tell you that all the fresh water for that base in the Crimea comes from Ukraine. So it's untenable without Ukrainian cooperation.

Word of the Day

"Ingerence" - noun [$1000] rare; the "g" is pronounced like "j" in Jim.
"Ingere" - verb [$1000] rare, obsolete.
Both words are often used in diplomatic or foreign affairs writings.
Ingerence means bearing in upon, intrusion, interference.
Ingere means to carry in, put or push in, obtrude; (reflexive) to thrust oneself in, to obtrude oneself, intrude, to presume.
Sentences: (A) Russian ingerence into the affairs of Georgia and adjacent territories is causing much concern in all neighbors of Russia. (B) Russia chronically ingeres into the affairs of its neighbors. This pattern of Russian behavior dates to the 16th century and major examples are its ingerence into Poland and the lands of the Ruthenian*, Baltic and central Asian peoples.

*Ruthenian is the correct name for the peoples of western Ukraine and Byelorussia, who are the Red Ruthenians and White Ruthenians, respectively. The names "White Russia" and "Little Russia" were created by Muskovy centuries ago to imply its dominance as the "Great Russians."