'A&G' away till Oct 30th (at earliest)...

Because we are located in the Northeast sector of the US and there's an impending Hurricane Sandy/Nor'easter that seems to be heading its way by early Monday morning with expectations of lingering power losses, we won't be posting anything new until after it passes.

We hope to have things up and running again by Tuesday night at earliest but we also know that is wishful thinking and realistically, it may takes days or even a full week for power to restore if the weather people are correct.

We appreciate your continued support and loyal readership to 'Ants & Grasshoppers' and will shall return posting the soonest we're able...

Thank you...

October 25- This Day in History

~Battle of Agincourt which was fought today in 1415

Today we're going to deviate from economic and financial issues of the day (trust us, they'll still be there tomorrow and the next week..) and focus on something more historical...

An enjoyable past-time each day is to glance at a listing of events, births and deaths which occurred on the specific day to see how occasions that were so important it its day are utterly forgotten or mere footnotes in the present, and situations that must have appeared trivial at the time, looking back now, take on great importance.

Today, October 25 is as good a day as any to find examples...

For example in 1940, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr became the first black general in the United States Army.  We are pretty certain back in the day this was not cause for celebration or front-page newsworthy.  Who knows how many in the black community back then even knew of it.  Certainly no one talks of Davis today..  However we know it had importance because now we don't even take a momentary gasp at the thought of a black General or Secretary of State or President...

Davis fought in the Spanish American War in the Philippines and WWI, and during World War II, he was commander of the 99th and the 332nd Fighter Group, which escorted bombers on air combat missions over Europe. Davis himself flew sixty missions in P-39, Curtiss P-40, P-47 and P-51 Mustang fighters.  He also was a flight instructor before WWII at Tuskeegee.

And then there's events which are so important at the time and in the present seem so trivial and irrelevant...   Like the fact that on this date in 1415, the Battle of Agincourt took place involving the English forces under King Henry V and French forces under Charles VI, though he was too ill at the time to command his men directly.

Back in the day, Agincourt was a very big deal..  So big to the English that a WWI frigate ship, the HMS Agincourt was named and that Shakespeare even wrote one of his plays on it called obviously 'Henry V' and made into films starring Sir Laurence Olivier in the 1940s and Kenneth Branagh in 1990.

~ Kenneth Branagh playing Henry V

It was a great victory for the English who in the midst of the Hundred Years' War invaded France with a small force of 9,000 men by estimates vs what some believe to be a French force of upwards of 36,000 troops.; a French advantage of 4 to 1.

Henry V believed he was entitled to control of France by birthright  through his great-grandfather, Edward III and obviously France saw things quite differently.  So after negotiations failed, Henry decided decided to invade via Normandy with the goal being the town of Calais.

After a 260 mile march in only 16 days and Henry's men starving and suffering from dysentery among other maladies, they ended up being stopped and blocked by French forces near Agincourt, and ultimately on October 25, 1415, known at the time as St Crispin's Day, the two forces engaged there with the French believing the victory would be quick, swift and devastating upon Henry.

~ Henry V as depicted flatteringly by an artist

We won't get into all the strategic particulars here of troop deployments and attack/counter-attack, but suffice to say by battle's end, Henry with his numerically inferior forces, won the day.  The casualties differ by who's account is looked upon; the French said between 4,000 to 10,000 French dead with 1600 English killed, while the English said they killed 1,500 to 11,000 French while only losing about 100 men.

After the Battle and fearing the French prisoners taken would rise up and kill them, Henry ordered his men to kill off all the prisoners they had captured, leaving not a single one for ransom.  Their deaths might explain why the death ratios are so dramatic between France and English soldier.

Eventually after a more years of fighting, Henry V was able to achieve all his objectives... then shortly later he died and his son Henry VI's military and political ineptitude caused the unraveling of all his father's gains. (For historical context, this is the time when Joan of Arc fought the English and became so famous to the French people)

~ Henry V, as he really looked..

And so this big battle worthy of national accolades and plaudits, ends up being forgotten for the most part.  It did not change world history in any way that we living today feel the affects from, and the two combatants have now been allies for over 100 years.

History is a funny thing-- the events we think so important, end up being trivial and the trivialities we don't bother remembering end up carrying political, economic and/or social significance.

QE3.. QE-DUD

Its been a long time since we've seen the Dow drop more than 200pts on multiple days..  The sweet irony is that its occurred After QE3 was implemented.  

Wasn't QE3 supposed to kickstart the Dow to finally reach 14,000, then 15K and to infinity and beyond?

Yesterday 10/23/12, the Dow dropped -243 pts to close at 13,102

You know what it was at closing bell on 8/27/12, a little over 8weeks ago?

13,124

So in spite of all the money poured into the bottomless pit know as Wall St, and all the little filth and fleas scurrying about on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange looking to Buy! Buy!  Sell! Sell!....

In spite of this, the Dow is 22 pts Less today than eight and a half weeks ago...

Maybe tomorrow it will spike up 300 pts..  who knows..

But we take joy and comfort when we see the Dow keep dropping and all those smug Investors and finance know-it-alls look like the morons which they are.  

They all begged and pleaded and demanded and expected QE3 for 19 months!  'Please Mr Fed Chairman... Please give us more $$!!  We don't care what happens to the American people and how this free money is to be repaid... just give us more $$ NOW!!!'

And thanks to the Law of Diminishing Returns, the market is down 2% since QE3 was implemented.

And of course what do the talking meat sticks at CNBC say?

'We're getting close to stocks being a real bargain; an excellent buying opportunity if you know what to look for..'

Just comical...

No one in a position of power, wealth and/or influence has the courage to openly say what needs to happen since it would adversely affect them so drastically...  That the market needs to be allowed to Crash; to cause all those who've profited the last 3.5 years since the March 2009 lows to lose Everything earned.

And once the market reaches a sincere bottom point with Zero Federal Reserve interference, and investors come in to start buying cheap stocks, then the market will once again be correlated directly to the success of the US economy as it had for most of US history; it would rise and fall based on real economic fundamentals like corporate expansion, increased job hiring and quarterly dividend (profit) reports..

In other words, a Wall St where the success of the investor/trader is based on the success of everyday people being able to find good paying jobs, having the means to purchase goods/services without total dependence on debt acquisition and the 99% become the motor to turn the economy around for the positive.

Will it happen?  Who knows...  Doubt it.  But that's why nothing in the last 4 years concerning the economy has been solved... too much artificial manipulation

Why to root for going over Fiscal Cliff

~ Vestmanna Cliffs - Denmark

Originally, the goal was to sit through the third Presidential debate, analyze it and write a lengthy prose about what the candidates said or didn't say and what they talked about vs what was the original questions posed..

Frankly, we just couldn't do it..

We figured most people were watching Monday Night Football or Game 7 of the National League Championship, so why bother writing on something most didn't feel like watching.   And those that did, well, they can make up their own minds who "won" or who's the best candidate to be their President for the next four years.

It just seemed no point-  the questions we posed yesterday weren't asked and really those were the only questions on foreign policy which mattered.

And quite honestly, by now you should know who you are voting for by this point.  And even if you're not 100% certain, there definitely should be some serious leaning toward one person or the other.

We just didn't think breaking down the 3rd Presidential debate would matter much to our readers so ultimately we decided to just skip it...

Instead we wanted to talk briefly on "fiscal cliffs".

~ Cliffs of Moher - Ireland

If you haven't heard the phrase much lately, you certainly will no matter who wins in the election.

What you will hear in the mainstream media and pro-Wall St forces is that if Congress fails to reach a deficit reduction deal by the end of the year, it will automatically trigger big spending cuts and tax increases in 2013. They say it would hit the still-recovering U.S. economy hard.

Poppycock!  or Pish-Posh!  or utter Bullshit! (Take your pick)

What Wall St and the top 1% want is the Bush tax cuts to become permanent.  They were supposed to have expired two years ago but President Obama, who had pledged in 2008 not to renew them, did so in 2010 and 2011.

They also want to completely gut what they call 'entitlements' and social programs that benefit the poor and elderly.  In spite of stereotypical notions, this is not solely a Republican desire.  Wall St Democrats want to do this as well.  The only reason the agreed-to cuts weren't fortified last year with the bi-partisan Commission was neither side could agree on the Severity of cuts.

It certainly was not a battle between 'cut' and 'don't cut'

But like everything else in this 'Alice in Wonderland' like economy of "black is white", you really Want the nation to topple over the proverbial 'cliff'.     Why??

~ Emerald Cliffs - France

Well.. honestly its the only thing that can possibly save and in fact Strengthen the US dollar and its purchasing power!

Huh?

We'll explain.   Everyone who's read A&G knows that Bernanke has done everything short of whoring his mother to devalue and seriously weaken the US dollar which means it takes more money to buy goods and services than prior... and all so banks can recapitalize and the heavily indebted US Government can roll-over its debts with new debt at lower interest rates.

Now.. if the US Government does reach that fiscal cliff (which we honestly don't see happening since nothing ever occurs in the financial world which actually benefits the people), that will cause great panic and always in times of financial uncertainty, the parasite investors Always flee to the safety of the US dollar,which is the global reserve currency.

In addition, the automatic spending cuts could be viewed as a sign of fiscal discipline that would benefit the currency, not hurt it.  This means of course, greater purchasing power than before i.e. stabilization and/or lowering of cost of gasoline, food, clothing,etc.. since less physical currency would be needed to buy what is needed now.

~ Nullarbor Cliffs - South Australia

Of course the unscrupulous bearded bastard of the Fed would double-down his efforts to destroy the US dollar even more than he's done now but that would be a stomach ache for another day.

Now the media and financial elite will say that if fiscal cliff occurs, the US will be back in a recession..  Um.. Hello!!  We never truly left the original recession which began in December, 2007!

But in case you're wondering, everyone in positions of power and financial influence would be poo-pooing fiscal cliff as a bad thing because recessions hurt corporations' profit margins and coupled with a strong US dollar, kill them when it comes to selling products abroad.

And how come no one admits we're in recession?  Well a small group of academic nerds who have the responsibility of "officially" deciding when recessions begin and end declared in 2009 that the US recession was over.  The 'presstitute' media latched on, and thus.. Ta Da.. 'Recovery'

~ Bunda Cliffs - Australia

Little interesting tidbit-- the term 'recession is actually a modern phenomenon.  For most of US economic history, a great downward tide was referred to as a depression (small d) or 'Panic'.   Because of the connotations of the word after the Great Depression, the academic elitists had to come up with another term to describe downturns that didn't cause fear among the public... and thus 'recession' was born.

So in summary, when the government, Wall St and/or the media tell you something is good for you, believe it to be Bad!  And when they something will be terrible, then Hope and Pray for it to happen.

What should be asked for Debate #3

Tonight will be the third and thankfully final Presidential debate with the focus being on foreign policy. rather than domestic issues, though we're sure the candidates will do their best to ignore the questions posed and answer in a way that addresses economic concerns wherever possible.

What have we learned so far after the three debates (when including the VP farce)?  Really nothing.   If you liked Obama before, you still do.  If you liked Romney before, you still do... And if you're still undecided, your aversion to commitment of any kind or staying informed of the world around you is to be marveled.

We don't know what will be asked tonight by the moderator but we do know what we'd ask the candidates..

We must warn beforehand that our questions may appear on the surface to be impartial or skewed against the President, but when asking on foreign policy of the last four years, he was the #1 decision and policy maker, not Romney.

Question to Both candidates:   

Currently we're in year 11 of the 'War on Terror'.  Osama bin Laden has been killed and we're still fighting Al Quida abroad..  Since the enemy doesn't belong to a specific nation with a specific flag and uniforms,etc, how will you or rather how will we the people know when this War is ultimately over, or should we expect this to go on for decades or generations?

Follow up Q:  The restrictions on Americans' freedoms and liberties like the Patriot Act, TSA screeners at airports going through everyone's personables and feeling all the passengers up, etc... Will this be indefinite too?

Question to President Obama:

All this destabilization in Libya which resulted in the murder of the US Ambassador and 3 other Americans.. Do you take responsibility for it?

Follow Up Q:  Why did you have Gadhafi, the leader of Libya assassinated?  We're not implying he was a good guy but he, like Saddam Hussein in Iraq kept their wild, zealot-like population under control.  Also prior to his death, Libya was the richest and most prosperous nation in North Africa and only 1 of 4 nations around the globe that did not borrow from international banks to keep its economy afloat.    And if you Had to get Gadhafi out of power... why not arrest him and put him on trial instead?

Question to President Obama:

Recently it was announced that the US plans to have direct negotiations with Iran, a nation seeking to build nuclear weapons to use on Israel and others and a nation that openly supports terrorism-- Hezbollah among others.. Do you not see this as going against US policy against negotiating with terrorists and if not, please explain?

Follow Up Q:  You've stated Mr President that its unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons yet how are you going to convince Iran diplomatically?  Do you plan on giving the nation money, power/influence in the UN or other benefits as rewards in exchange for them scrapping their program?

Question to Both candidates:

How do you see America's role in the world in both the next four years and how you'd like to see it over the next generation?   How do you see America's role in regards to the UN?  In other words, do you see the US as superior to, equal to or subservient to the United Nations?

Question to President Obama:

A couple years ago, you were awarded the Noble Peace Prize-- Considering that for most of your administration, our fighting forces have been in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as sending predator drones into Pakistan, etc and what transpired in Libya, can you admit the award was Not deserved?  If you disagree with the contention, please explain how the question is mistaken?

Question to Both candidates:

Does China manipulate their currency i.e. devaluing it to seek unfair advantage with trade abroad?   Yes or No?  Does the US i.e the Federal Reserve do the same thing?  How are we similar or different to the Chinese when it comes to manipulation of currency and interest rates?

So much more we could ask but ultimately it matters more what is asked for real then anything written here.

We'll watch the last debate late tonight on the internet and have analysis by tomorrow.

Black Cats Wallpapers Backgrounds

For you who is reading this post if you have superstition you'll have bad luck for life after seeing this colection of cute black cats, seen everywhere.

Amazing Cute Animals