The challenge for President-elect Obama

As always, Stratfor has come up with a very thought-provoking analysis of what lies ahead for our new President-elect. Barack Obama has been elected president of the United States by a large majority in the Electoral College. The Democrats have dramatically increased their control of Congress, increasing the number of seats they hold in the… Continue reading The challenge for President-elect Obama

Communists still don’t have a sense of humor!

I’m delighted to read that the Communist Party of St. Petersburg, Russia, is as dour, sour-faced and humorless as ever. They apparently think that James Bond is the real thing! According to the Times, London: Bond girls often come to a sticky end but Olga Kurylenko will be hoping that the Communists never get hold… Continue reading Communists still don’t have a sense of humor!

Thoughts before the election #2: The truth is hard to find.

One of the most unpleasant pre-election thoughts is just how much lying is going on during this election campaign. It’s gotten to the point where one can’t trust most of what one reads or hears about the candidates, the parties, and their positions on the issues. I think it’s true to say that most of… Continue reading Thoughts before the election #2: The truth is hard to find.

I’m not so sure about the opinion polls . . .

. . . they’re all telling us (or, rather, the mainstream media [MSM] is telling us) that Senator Obama has already as good as won the election, and it’s merely a question of how great his electoral majority will be. On the other hand, the supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton are saying something entirely different.… Continue reading I’m not so sure about the opinion polls . . .

The financial crisis and the politicians

In all the fuss and bother over the ‘credit squeeze’ and the ‘bailout package’, the US news media have mostly failed to point out that the same politicians who got us into this mess are the ones currently trying to find a solution. I’m not confident of their chances of success. Most US news media… Continue reading The financial crisis and the politicians

Thoughts on the financial crisis

I’ve been following the drama in Washington over the so-called “rescue package” for banks and financial institutions, as have we all, I guess. I’m both depressed, and mad as hell, because none of the politicians spearheading the “rescue package” are being honest about the origins of the problem. Furthermore, none of them are being honest… Continue reading Thoughts on the financial crisis

Depressing thoughts on the current election campaign

The writer and satirist H. L. Mencken famously wrote, “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed [and hence clamorous to be led to safety] by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” This is becoming depressingly apparent in the current US election campaign. On the… Continue reading Depressing thoughts on the current election campaign