Iranian Punctuation

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Some statements move from ending with a question mark to a period to an exclamation point. We used to say, “War with Iran?” Now it’s time to say “War with Iran.” The exclamation point will come into usage once the actual attacks begin.

Iran has no allies that aren’t using it as a bargaining chip. If the USA makes the right concessions, Iran can be diplomatically isolated. Therefore, a war can happen. I’m not going to get in too deep about what the US would have to do to get Russia and China to step away from Iran, but the US would do what it takes to make that happen.

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Republicans Seeking Repeal of 13th Amendment

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Let’s face it. The United States is on the ropes, economically speaking. Our demand is way off and the collapse of the dollar, while only a remote possibility, is nevertheless a possibility. The recent health care debates have been ferocious, but I never thought I’d see the day our nation got so desperate that we would seriously entertain the notion of repealing the 13th Amendment and re-introducing slavery.

I’ve learned that, in exchange for support of Obama’s health care plan, the Republican congressional delegation has mooted the notion of repealing the 13th amendment in order to drop labor costs by bringing slavery back. It’s happening anyway, what with illegal immigrants getting stuffed away into sweatshops and working farms and construction sites all over the nation. They’re treated terribly and paid worse. But rather than fight it, it seems as though we’re going with the legalization route – which makes me wonder which direction the War on Drugs is going to take in the near future.

The proposed language for what has a strong chance of becoming the 28th Amendment goes like this:

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Digging up stuff from last year…

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As an artist, I sometimes have to face the fact that the conditions under which I executed a work change drastically at times. I can’t let those changed conditions take away from what I’ve done, even if it means I feel much differently about them. The work itself stands outside of time and the fact it has a changing interpretation only makes it more important in my life, in my view. My wife is in this picture, and no matter what, these are her friends.

June 2008

June 2008

This one’s a Bollywood actress and I can’t even remember which one. Nice picture, though…

Wind and Smiles

Wind and Smiles

I had forgotten I’d done these works until Shelby reminded me yesterday. Thanks to that reminder, I found a bunch of other “previously unreleased” materials. Thanks, Shelby!

Shelby

Shelby

Also in the stash of previously unreleased works…

Boudreaux

Boudreaux

Fudging Inflation

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The boys that make the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, are cooking the books. We use the CPI to keep track of inflation, which is a measure of how prices are going up. If inflation’s negative, then it means prices overall are going down. Simple enough… so how do they cook the books if all they do is look at prices?

Well, they take $4500 off the price of every car in the USA because the “Cash for Clunkers” program was in effect. That’s a fudge of biblical proportions: now all the inflation-indexed payments will be slashed because if inflation goes negative, everything tied to inflation for monthly adjustments also take a walk on the negative side.

While I think deflation is on its way, this is just a way of the USG dodging its financial commitments. It has the power to do it and get away with it. It wouldn’t matter who runs the Congress or presidency: this is a bureaucratic thing, for which the only cure is stronger leadership.

The O’Jays

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The O'Jays

They’re just flat-out awesome. Great harmonies, soulful sounds, strong lyrics… they know how to do it right. If you’re alive, you can always enjoy an O’Jays song one more time. Go get you some O’Jays if you don’t have any on you right now.

The Hazards of Moral Hazard

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Great article in the Washington Post about moral hazard on the anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Basically, the government said it wouldn’t back up Lehman and when it didn’t, the collateral damage to the economy was so massive that the government came back, begging for forgiveness, and promise no more Lehmans.

The result? Banks could get riskier than ever. Read the article and more about what moral hazard is on the ol’ Wikipedia, and then suggest what you think the government should do. If it lets banks fail, we could have massive and deep recessions. If it doesn’t, then they’ll carry on with the bubble party because they know there’s a sugar daddy waiting to give them a bailout, no matter what.

Velocity of Money

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A few years ago, we had a pretty high velocity of money. That meant, as a nation, we spent our dollars pretty rapidly. We had a lot of financial activity, and it kept our economy scooting along at top speed.

Now, we have low velocity of money. That means we’re not spending like we used to. Our demand is really low, and we’re in a recession.

The USG is going to start printing lots and lots of money. Given our current velocity of money, that will help fend off deflation… if we’re lucky. Once our velocity of money picks up again with an uptick in demand, though, we could be looking at the possibility of almost instantaneous high inflation.

Ouch and ouch, in other words.