If You Were Iran You'd Want Nuclear Weapons, Too

Right? Let's look at this from their perspective. The single greatest imperial power calls you evil, along with North Korea and Iraq, one of which, said imperialists have already destroyed. Right there in your own backyard are the imperialist forces. Your sitting on huge oil reserves that the imperialists covet.

In Iran, who do we hate more than anyone? The Jews of course. Those rotten Jews have flaunted nuclear non-proliferation treaties to acquire nukes of their own. It's not spoken about or admitted outright but it's widely accepted that they have them. If we are somehow going to achieve justice we surely need to wipe Israel off the map and we can't do that without nukes.

The imperialists claim it's appropriate for them and many others, including Israel, to have nukes but not acceptable for us. This makes no sense. Especially since they are the ones preemptively attacking other countries. Furthermore, this Bush character is batshit insane. He could do anything. We have to have nukes to protect ourselves. There is no other way to protect ourselves from the imperialists.

Releases From The Economic Front Lines

Today's economic numbers were ugly.

Retail sales, widely expected to be weak, were borderline abysmal.

The import price index was reported. The index saw a 1.3% increase (whiff....inflation).

Finally, the nation's trade deficit rose 10.4 percent in March to $63.9 billion from $57.9 billion in February. Economists expected a gap of $60 billion. Increased oil shipments drove the biggest increase in imports in more than four years.

Wow. Think about that last one for a minute. "The Skeptic" thinks yesterday's Fed communique, feigning vigilance on inflation, may be their last chance to act so tough.

President Hillary

Can Hillary Clinton really win the presidency? It seems apparent from recent polling that she can win the Democratic nomination. But can she defeat her Republican opponent in the general election? It probably depends on who that opponent is. But the likely answer is - NO, she can't.

Nothing would motivate the Republican base more, save for maybe a vote on "gay marriage" or abortion, than Hillary on the ticket. Motivated like killer vampire bees whose hive has just been bludgeoned with a crowbar.

For one reason, or another, or another many people strongly dislike Hillary. "The Skeptic" has even heard loyal female Democrats excoriate Hillary. Wow. Now that's a bold statement. She has the best chance to win the office of any woman in our nation's history and many women still hate her. Tough crowd women. They'd vote for Rudy though.

Let's just tell it like it is. Being black means Obama will not win this presidential election. Being a woman means Hillary won't either. Cynical yes, but true. The best candidate for the Democrats, the one who could both win the nomination and a general election, isn't even a candidate. That's Al Gore. Now that most people believe in global warming Al Gore is a home run. A politician who was "right" about...something (in this case, global warming).

We should place less faith in name recognition. Dynastic politics is not healthy for our "democracy". Look what we got when we went back to the Bush well. Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton. Scary thought.

Florida on Fire

Local newscasts in southwest Florida have been very busy this week trying to keep up with all of the brush fires. Just the other day there were five local fires ongoing. Yesterday, we were blanketed with smoke from fires burning as far away as Sarasota and Georgia. Emergency operators were inundated with calls from frightened residents who, apparently, thought their backyards were on fire. Yes, the smoke was that thick. Today "The Skeptic" drove out to take a look at the 100+ acre fire burning six miles from his house.

Due primarily to rainfall deficits Florida is a tinderbox. Throw a cigarette butt out your car window and you might burn 500 acres.

Water is becoming a big issue here. That will increasingly be the case as rapid population growth overwhelms limited natural resources. Our lakes are the lowest they've been in ages. Yet "The Skeptic" looks around and finds himself surrounded by green lawns and green fairways. It seems strikingly unsustainable. Tampa is already turning to desalination to quench their thirst. Maybe that will be an alternative for others but it isn't cheap.

Florida continues to burn. From what I see in the news Los Angeles is burning too. Seems to be, the more we burn, the more carbon we release, the warmer and dryer it gets, the more we burn, the more carbon we release. Or maybe something like that. If the reality is anything like that we will continue to burn in the years to come.

This Week's Stock Pick

BNI- Burlington Northern Santa Fe

"The Skeptic" has been pounding the table on railroads for some time now. This particular rail is Buffett's choice. Never hurts to have Buffett on your side. The bullish case for railroads is strong. For one thing, aside from owning corn, it's the best way to play the ethanol boom. Ethanol cannot be transported using existing pipelines- too corrosive. In addition, higher gas prices improve the competitive position of rails relative to truckers. Currently trading below $90 a share BNI is very attractive.

Disclosure: This stock is owned by the skeptic. The skeptic is not a broker and encourages you to do your own research. It's entirely possible that the skeptic has no idea what he's talking about.