I've pretty much always liked the French. Having received an actual education that required copious amounts of reading history and philosophical treatises, I know all too well the French impression left on the world today.
Not all of it is good, or bad. And it would behoove us all to recall the simple fact that if it wasn't for the French, a la Lafayette, L'Enfant and Montesquieu, there wouldn't be an America. Certainly not like it is today.
Yes, we laugh and tease the French, call them "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" and say things like "Peugeot? Sounds like something I stepped in once."
But, at the end of the day, the Parisienne and the Lofty-Angeleno have quite a bit more in common than even they may realise.
Case in point: today I was in the old Terminal Annex USPS building in Downtown Los Angeles, California. As a point of reference this is the last remaining building in the Terminal Annex complex and is absolutely exquisite architecturally and also historically significant as it once housed the largest hand-sorting mail facility West of the Mississippi River. (If you are a Charles Bukowski fan, this building is right next door to the facility where Buk worked for almost 11 years sorting and is also the source for his first novel of experiences, Post Office.)
So, as I wandered in to mail my package I noticed a large group of people all taking photos and taking turns posing with the large building in the background and the beautiful full and enormous metal doors covered with brass fixtures glinting in the morning LA sunlight. When I got closer on my ascent up the stairs to the main entrance, I began to hear better the conversations going on around me and noticed they were speaking French.
All told, there were probably between 30 and 40 people in their group and they were stretched out liberally throughout the building and in line to mail their assorted trinkets and doohickeys back to their homes. When I got into line, a nice young man turned and faced me, "Bonjour. Comment ca va?" I said to him. "Oh! You speak French!" he replied excitedly.
Well, a little. "Un peu," I said. After we exchanged greetings we talked about their trip and all the fun they'd been having, and we became surrounded by 8 or 9 other visitors who were keenly listening in to our chat. I had to ask.
"So. Now that you've been here for a few weeks and been in various large cities and small towns, tourist destinations and freeway rest areas and everything else in between, What do you think of America and Americans?"
The responses surprised me to say the least. One gentlemen mentioned the fact that he found, "You Americans are very VERY clean. Everywhere we went, people were cleaning, had just cleaned, or were about to clean something. And when we saw something dirty, there was even a sign apologising for the inconvenience and saying something like 'Excuse our dirtiness' and explaining when it would be clean again."
I think he meant "excuse our Dust," but the point was well taken.
Another lady mentioned how B-I-G everything was, from cars to churches, bridges to bars, and especially the roads.
The first guy I was chatting with said to me, "I love America! That's why I came. I wanted to see it, before it disappears."
My jaw hit the ground. I knew what the man said, I had heard him very clearly. People around him began to nod. The fear that we feel in our hearts, that things are already past the point of no return and all that isn't uniquely an American opinion any more.
"Thanks, Pierre."
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Gun Show Report
Last weekend, I went to one of the largest "retail" gun shows that the West has to offer in Orange County, California. Being behind the Orange Curtain was strange enough, but I hadn't attended an "official" gun show in the better part of 4 years.
Well, everything you've heard about "panic" buying is real. I didn't even have to ask, I simply listened to the others who were asking.
"Are these prices for real?" "Weren't these like $80 last September?" "Are you guys just jacking up your prices because there's a black man in the Offal Office?"
For starters, if you are too damned dumb to understand how economics works, as in supply and demand, then this blog will not help you. However, if you understand that when the supply (the basic availability of an item) of an item is decreased then the price of the remaining available items will increase. So, long about 6 months ago, July, 2008, as I recall, I began to see multiple stories in the "conservative" and gun nut press that high capacity magazines and civilian semi auto rifles were leaving store shelves in record numbers. By the time the yellow-stream media got around to reporting it in the "press" in October, most shelves were already empty.
Back to the OC. Lines for getting in at $14 a pop were 20-deep 2 hours after the doors had opened at the fairgrounds. Normally, dealers and vendors are set up throughout the 3 main facilities. This time, and entire hall had been set aside just for "AMMO SALES." Seeing that giant banner hung above the door made my heart race a little. As I approached the door, I saw two middle-aged Asian males each with a handcart "dolly" stacked almost as tall as they were, all with ammo cases. Together, they had probably close to 12-15,000 rounds of .223, .22LR, .45ACP and 10MM. And they weren't the only ones buying "bulk."
Being an accountant and financial analyst has given me great insight as to how money and prices affect consumers. I've kept most of the "large ticket" items purchases from the last 10 years. Most good CPAs will tell you to keep your records for a minimum of 7 years. I have receipts from ammo purchases in 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2003.
The oldest receipt I have is for 9milli, at $9.95 for 50 rounds in 1998 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. In 2001, for instance, a 50 round box of 10MM pistol ammo was $10.95. In 2003, it was $12.95. On this past Sunday, it was $16.95 for the same box of 10MM, an almost 50% increase. The line for .308 Winny, 30-ought-6, and .223 (5.56 NATO) was around the table, so I didn't even bother. Most other tables were cleaned out of large-caliber rifle ammo before we even got there on Sunday.
Panic buying is for real, and not just for the newly-aware suburbanites, either. Grizzled old vets, survivalists, your 6Th grade history teacher, fucking-A, everyone was there trying to get GATted up. One of the vendors I had actually purchased from back in the 1990s in NorCal was explaining to a concerned citizen that his prices were reflective of the wholesalers' prices to him, and those were reflective of the higher prices that Manufacturers were charging wholesalers (supply and demand.) In other words, just because Jim's prices were 20% higher than they were last year, it's not like Jim is making an additional 20% profit on each sale. Far from it. Exhibitors fees have risen, gas was at $4.50 a gallon last year and most of these folks live/work on the road out of their RVs, so it was a big hit to their bottom line. Many of them, mostly the smaller mom and pop operations simply stopped selling on the road.
So, the supply has decreased, the demand has more than increased, and there seems to be no stopping to this pattern. Buy it, use it, stay prepared. The time for catching up is nigh upon us. Once the Schumer hits the fan, it'll be too late for you to try to gear up. Use the time that you've been given wisely. Or else be prepared to accept the consequences.
Well, everything you've heard about "panic" buying is real. I didn't even have to ask, I simply listened to the others who were asking.
"Are these prices for real?" "Weren't these like $80 last September?" "Are you guys just jacking up your prices because there's a black man in the Offal Office?"
For starters, if you are too damned dumb to understand how economics works, as in supply and demand, then this blog will not help you. However, if you understand that when the supply (the basic availability of an item) of an item is decreased then the price of the remaining available items will increase. So, long about 6 months ago, July, 2008, as I recall, I began to see multiple stories in the "conservative" and gun nut press that high capacity magazines and civilian semi auto rifles were leaving store shelves in record numbers. By the time the yellow-stream media got around to reporting it in the "press" in October, most shelves were already empty.
Back to the OC. Lines for getting in at $14 a pop were 20-deep 2 hours after the doors had opened at the fairgrounds. Normally, dealers and vendors are set up throughout the 3 main facilities. This time, and entire hall had been set aside just for "AMMO SALES." Seeing that giant banner hung above the door made my heart race a little. As I approached the door, I saw two middle-aged Asian males each with a handcart "dolly" stacked almost as tall as they were, all with ammo cases. Together, they had probably close to 12-15,000 rounds of .223, .22LR, .45ACP and 10MM. And they weren't the only ones buying "bulk."
Being an accountant and financial analyst has given me great insight as to how money and prices affect consumers. I've kept most of the "large ticket" items purchases from the last 10 years. Most good CPAs will tell you to keep your records for a minimum of 7 years. I have receipts from ammo purchases in 1998, 1999, 2001, and 2003.
The oldest receipt I have is for 9milli, at $9.95 for 50 rounds in 1998 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. In 2001, for instance, a 50 round box of 10MM pistol ammo was $10.95. In 2003, it was $12.95. On this past Sunday, it was $16.95 for the same box of 10MM, an almost 50% increase. The line for .308 Winny, 30-ought-6, and .223 (5.56 NATO) was around the table, so I didn't even bother. Most other tables were cleaned out of large-caliber rifle ammo before we even got there on Sunday.
Panic buying is for real, and not just for the newly-aware suburbanites, either. Grizzled old vets, survivalists, your 6Th grade history teacher, fucking-A, everyone was there trying to get GATted up. One of the vendors I had actually purchased from back in the 1990s in NorCal was explaining to a concerned citizen that his prices were reflective of the wholesalers' prices to him, and those were reflective of the higher prices that Manufacturers were charging wholesalers (supply and demand.) In other words, just because Jim's prices were 20% higher than they were last year, it's not like Jim is making an additional 20% profit on each sale. Far from it. Exhibitors fees have risen, gas was at $4.50 a gallon last year and most of these folks live/work on the road out of their RVs, so it was a big hit to their bottom line. Many of them, mostly the smaller mom and pop operations simply stopped selling on the road.
So, the supply has decreased, the demand has more than increased, and there seems to be no stopping to this pattern. Buy it, use it, stay prepared. The time for catching up is nigh upon us. Once the Schumer hits the fan, it'll be too late for you to try to gear up. Use the time that you've been given wisely. Or else be prepared to accept the consequences.
Monday, January 26, 2009
First Iceland, Then?
Some people I know have started a pool to see which country or which country's economy will collapse next, and if you had Iceland, come claim your prize!
Actually, the recent events in Iceland aren't too terribly funny at all. Democratically elected governmetns don't normally just fail to exist one day. When banks collapse and people are in the streets attacking guvmint buildings then the Schumer has already hit the fan. What is happening now in quiet, peaceful, relatively conservative and secure Iceland will surely spread to mainland Europe once it finishes decimating the British banking system and economy. World wars have been started for less, two of them in fact in the last century alone.
What happens in Europe most certainly affects what happens in these united States. Take a look at this slideshow from the UK Guardian. There are so many unsold cars (from the manufacturers to the dealers, nevermind the retail pile-up of unsold vehicles) that one company has been forced to use its race track test course for a parking lot of depreciating assets. Ouch. I've seen stories here from Long Beach, CA, that show how they are literally running out of open land and space to store all of the unsold inventory. Previous readers of my RiSE-LA blog may recall the pictures of all of the unclaimed containers that ships had delivered to ports around the world, only problem was, the folks who were supposed to show up and pay for their goods (that's the "C" as in cash as in C.O.D. for those of you that went to a government/public school) never did. Multiply that scenario by dozens of ports and then multiply that by the number of companies and the number of containers each company abandoned...well you get the idea.
The old axiom of global finance used to be "When America gets the sniffles, the rest of the world gets the flu." In the recent era of mass globalisation, the American patient has gone way past the early stages of influenza and has a collapsed lung, advanced pneumonia, severe bronchitis and may need a complete anal-cranial inversion operation to set itself straight. Since that won't happen over night, the pain will continue.
When you're in a fight, there's no better feeling than knowing that at the exact moment you need them, you can call your friends and allies and they too will join your fight and make your cause theirs. Uncle $ucker doesn't have too many friends left thanks to the dangerous and illegal policies of Bush43, and when the news is this bad for our #1 friend, the UK, I don't really know what else I can tell that isn't so painfully obvious. These are unprecedented times. The rapid encroachment of government into areas of personal and corporate finance that have taken place in the past 6 months, hell the past 6 weeks, are unprecedented.
The British currency dropped for a fourth day against the euro after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said in a speech yesterday the central bank may start buying assets within weeks after cutting the main rate to the lowest level since 1694.
They've already talked about nationalizing all of the banks in Britain, even the few that are still sound and solvent. That's Facism with a Das Kapital "F".
Keep preparing. Your safety and security are yours and yours alone to worry about. Sunspots shorting out global telecommunications and electronic commerce a real possibility? Check. Democratically elected governments reneging on their loans to other governments and causing them to collapse? Check. Coldest weather in recorded history in numerous states, where gasoline and water freeze in the pipes in the ground? Check check check.
Power - water - food distribution - law and order - arson fires - full scale looting
Actually, the recent events in Iceland aren't too terribly funny at all. Democratically elected governmetns don't normally just fail to exist one day. When banks collapse and people are in the streets attacking guvmint buildings then the Schumer has already hit the fan. What is happening now in quiet, peaceful, relatively conservative and secure Iceland will surely spread to mainland Europe once it finishes decimating the British banking system and economy. World wars have been started for less, two of them in fact in the last century alone.
What happens in Europe most certainly affects what happens in these united States. Take a look at this slideshow from the UK Guardian. There are so many unsold cars (from the manufacturers to the dealers, nevermind the retail pile-up of unsold vehicles) that one company has been forced to use its race track test course for a parking lot of depreciating assets. Ouch. I've seen stories here from Long Beach, CA, that show how they are literally running out of open land and space to store all of the unsold inventory. Previous readers of my RiSE-LA blog may recall the pictures of all of the unclaimed containers that ships had delivered to ports around the world, only problem was, the folks who were supposed to show up and pay for their goods (that's the "C" as in cash as in C.O.D. for those of you that went to a government/public school) never did. Multiply that scenario by dozens of ports and then multiply that by the number of companies and the number of containers each company abandoned...well you get the idea.
The old axiom of global finance used to be "When America gets the sniffles, the rest of the world gets the flu." In the recent era of mass globalisation, the American patient has gone way past the early stages of influenza and has a collapsed lung, advanced pneumonia, severe bronchitis and may need a complete anal-cranial inversion operation to set itself straight. Since that won't happen over night, the pain will continue.
When you're in a fight, there's no better feeling than knowing that at the exact moment you need them, you can call your friends and allies and they too will join your fight and make your cause theirs. Uncle $ucker doesn't have too many friends left thanks to the dangerous and illegal policies of Bush43, and when the news is this bad for our #1 friend, the UK, I don't really know what else I can tell that isn't so painfully obvious. These are unprecedented times. The rapid encroachment of government into areas of personal and corporate finance that have taken place in the past 6 months, hell the past 6 weeks, are unprecedented.
The British currency dropped for a fourth day against the euro after Bank of England Governor Mervyn King said in a speech yesterday the central bank may start buying assets within weeks after cutting the main rate to the lowest level since 1694.
They've already talked about nationalizing all of the banks in Britain, even the few that are still sound and solvent. That's Facism with a Das Kapital "F".
Keep preparing. Your safety and security are yours and yours alone to worry about. Sunspots shorting out global telecommunications and electronic commerce a real possibility? Check. Democratically elected governments reneging on their loans to other governments and causing them to collapse? Check. Coldest weather in recorded history in numerous states, where gasoline and water freeze in the pipes in the ground? Check check check.
Power - water - food distribution - law and order - arson fires - full scale looting
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Wait is Over
If you're the type to wait around for universal consensus before you think or act, brother, the time is nigh upon us. More and more articles, more teevee shows, hell even the celebutante-obsessed media whores here in LA have done feature stories on "what could happen if..." or "..some experts say that if such and such continues to decline, there may be further global economic collapse."
Things that were once considered impossible, like the US Treasury getting involved in buying banks, the same government trying to buy out or nationalize the auto industry, and on and on you'd say "No way!"
Well, Yes Way! I'm not writing this stuff to convince anyone that I'm right and they are wrong. If you aren't concerned about what's going on around you then it's probably already too late for you anyways and nothing I can say or do will probably fix that. You simply aren't paying attention to the obvious signs that Something Big This Way Comes. Whatever "something" is can be debated, however, just take your pick. Here are three of literally hundreds of articles that portend doom and not in 20 or 30 years but in the next 12 to 18 months. Serious hurt coming down the path to be certain. As I've said before, these people are not in the habit (or business) of losing anything, least of which their hard earned capital. Take this for instance:
The Bank of England today slashed interest rates to their lowest level since it was founded in 1694, but millions of homeowners will not save a penny from the cut.
In other words, we've gotten Ours, thankssomuch, now Piss Off! These folks have been around since the 17th Century (think about that) and if they are losing money, son, the shit has already hit the fan. Oh, and why should we here safe and snug in these united States care what a bunch of pasty-faced Brits have to say about anything? Try because they own a shitload of our debt, and when Oh!Bama tries to borrow to cover his promises on his stimulus package, which will have to be financed through huge deficits, maybe the dollar will be so devalued that countries will seek safer harbors for their cash and not buy into worthless US paper debt anymore. Oops!
The warning comes despite the dollar having strengthened significantly against other major currencies, including sterling and the euro, after hitting historic lows last year. It will reignite fears about the currency's prospects, as well as sparking fears about the sustainability of President-Elect Barack Obama's mooted plans for a Keynesian-style increase in public spending to pull the US out of recession.
The long-term prospects? Not so good, either. When people are telling you to get out of US T-bills, once considered the pinnacle of financial safety and security, and especially the longer term notes, well, it doesn't really matter whether you accept this reality or not.
It's already here.
Things that were once considered impossible, like the US Treasury getting involved in buying banks, the same government trying to buy out or nationalize the auto industry, and on and on you'd say "No way!"
Well, Yes Way! I'm not writing this stuff to convince anyone that I'm right and they are wrong. If you aren't concerned about what's going on around you then it's probably already too late for you anyways and nothing I can say or do will probably fix that. You simply aren't paying attention to the obvious signs that Something Big This Way Comes. Whatever "something" is can be debated, however, just take your pick. Here are three of literally hundreds of articles that portend doom and not in 20 or 30 years but in the next 12 to 18 months. Serious hurt coming down the path to be certain. As I've said before, these people are not in the habit (or business) of losing anything, least of which their hard earned capital. Take this for instance:
The Bank of England today slashed interest rates to their lowest level since it was founded in 1694, but millions of homeowners will not save a penny from the cut.
In other words, we've gotten Ours, thankssomuch, now Piss Off! These folks have been around since the 17th Century (think about that) and if they are losing money, son, the shit has already hit the fan. Oh, and why should we here safe and snug in these united States care what a bunch of pasty-faced Brits have to say about anything? Try because they own a shitload of our debt, and when Oh!Bama tries to borrow to cover his promises on his stimulus package, which will have to be financed through huge deficits, maybe the dollar will be so devalued that countries will seek safer harbors for their cash and not buy into worthless US paper debt anymore. Oops!
The warning comes despite the dollar having strengthened significantly against other major currencies, including sterling and the euro, after hitting historic lows last year. It will reignite fears about the currency's prospects, as well as sparking fears about the sustainability of President-Elect Barack Obama's mooted plans for a Keynesian-style increase in public spending to pull the US out of recession.
The long-term prospects? Not so good, either. When people are telling you to get out of US T-bills, once considered the pinnacle of financial safety and security, and especially the longer term notes, well, it doesn't really matter whether you accept this reality or not.
It's already here.
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