Good evening ladies and gentlemen, welcome to SDA Late Nite Radio. Tonight, for your delectation, here are Mr. Chet Atkins and Mr. George Benson performing Help Me Make it Through The Night ¤ (4:10). Very nicely done, gentlemen. For those of you who like tonight’s artists: our previous Chet Atkins shows were 2008-08-08, 2008-10-10, and 2008-11-14, and, of course, we covered George Benson’s Breezin’ on 2008-03-07.
Your Reader Tips are, as always, welcome in the comments.
They make it look soooo easy. Kinda helps you make it through the night. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t even rehearse before this presentation.
I have Chet Atkins and Mark Knopfler on an album
wonderfully smooth and natural.
Here’s my theory on Palin’s resignation. I haven’t heard anyone mention it, so I’ll put it here. My guess is that Todd put his foot down after the latest Letterman incident. Who wants their kids made into laughing stocks. It’s getting out of hand.
Chet Atkins, George Benson, Merle Travis, Scotty Moore, Brian Setzer, Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown, Frank Zappa, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani…..
Ain’t nothin’ like a guitar in the hands of a master!
Thanks Vit!
“”There was some pent-up demand, things almost froze over solid over the winter.””
“It was the best June for sales since the board started tracking the numbers in the mid 1960s.”
Global pent-up, er slump unthawed.
It’s not fair. And it’s H-is fault.
…-
“Housing sales soar in Ontario’s biggest cities
TORONTO – Despite all the talk of a housing downturn and economic crisis in Ontario, the province’s two biggest cities both saw record housing resales last month for the month of June.
The Toronto Real Estate Board said Monday there were 10,955 sales in the Greater Toronto Area in June, a 27% increase from the 8,600 homes sold a year ago. It was the best June for sales since the board started tracking the numbers in the mid 1960s.”
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=1764824
Victimhood: from the perverted cult of liberalism.
…-
“Hockey coaching blamed in rugby death
The family of Manny Castillo say their son died because some hockey coaches fail to teach kids to respect their opponents and called for all sporting organizations to implement a no-tolerance policy for violence.” (canoe news)
It’s getting to the point where no matter what you hear from government, business, the media, scientists, educators and all the other organizations that essentially exist to separate you from your cash, you are much likelier to be closer to the real truth if you adopt the position diametrically opposed to the latest pronouncement from the heretofore mentioned officially sanctioned lying sacks of scum.
Our only salvation is to deprive them of our funds. It be a tough fight. Especially when half your team is playing for the other side. Or busy hiding under the covers.
Let us count the ways*.
Arias: “I can’t count the things we’ve done wrong.”
This is a keeper.
An amazing speech. Ole. Viva El Presidente Arias.
“In 1950 every North American citizen was four times wealthier than a Latin American citizen. Today a North American citizen is 10, 15 or 20 times wealthier than a Latin American. That is not the United States’ fault. That is our fault.”
“Well, Latin Americans did something wrong.
What did we do wrong? I can’t count the things we’ve done wrong.”
Arias says the Anglo-Saxons got “it” right:
“the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand.”
…-
“Costa Rican President: We Did Something Wrong
Arias speech
I’m under the impression that every time Caribbean and Latin American countries meet with the President of the United States of America it’s to ask for something or complain about things. Almost always it’s to blame the United States for our past, present and future problems. I don’t think that’s completely fair.
We mustn’t forget that Latin America had universities before the United States created Harvard or William & Mary, which were the first universities in that country. We can’t forget that on this continent, as well as the world over, at least until 1750 all Americans were more or less equal: all were poor.
When the Industrial Revolution began in England other countries jumped on the bandwagon: Germany, France, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. And the Industrial Revolution passed over Latin America like a comet and we didn’t even realize it. We certainly lost our opportunity.
There is a very great difference. If one reads the history of Latin America and compares it to the history of the United States, one understands that Latin America did not have a Spanish or Portuguese John Winthrop who, with Bible in hand, was willing to build “a city on a hill”, a city that would shine, as was the objective of the pilgrims who arrived in the United States.
50 years ago Mexico was richer than Portugal. In 1950 a country like Brazil had a higher income per capita than South Korea. 60 years ago Honduras had more wealth per capital than Singapore and today Singapore, over a period of about 35-40 years, has increased its annual income per capita to $40,000 per inhabitant. Well, Latin Americans did something wrong.
What did we do wrong? I can’t count the things we’ve done wrong.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287185/posts
..-
(*H/T Shakespeare Sonnets; the incomparable Anglo-Saxon genius: “let me count the ways” …)
In a story that’s gone unmentioned here in Canada (although getting a lot of bits on the financial blogs in the US), a Russian-US citizen has been charged with stealing computer code from Goldman Sachs (GS), the investment banking firm in the US. According to an FBI spokesman:
“[GS] has raised the possibility that there is a danger that somebody who knew how to use this program could use it to manipulate markets in unfair ways,” Facciponti said, according to a recording of the hearing made public today. “The copy in Germany is still out there, and we at this time do not know who else has access to it.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ajIMch.ErnD4
Parse this utterance carefully, people. Presumably, since GS had this software and, also presumably, since they knew how to use it, does this mean GS could manipulate the markets? Does it mean GS could manipulate the markets, but only in fair ways? Does it mean GS could manipulate the markets, but forebore from doing so? And since God knows how many copies of this code are now circulating around cyberspace, does this mean that we could have a horde of firms soon manipulating the markets, some in fair and some in unfair ways?
And, in a somewhat related story, yesterday on CNBC, Bryan Marsal, the man in charge of liquidating the bankrupt Lehman Bros., said that the people the regulators hire to oversee Wall Street get paid a “pittance” compared to what the “MIT quants” get paid to “circumvent the system”. (When I was a boy, “circumvent the system” was a euphemism for “cheat”.)
Keep your money in Canada, folks. Bay Street may have its crooks (and don’t get me started on Robson), but they’re pikers compared to New York.
PS Interesting comments on the stolen code at zerohedge.com
“The hospital in Hawaii where Barack Obama claims he was born refuses to produce any documentation – or even confirm the claim – without permission of the president himself.
The Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women and Children in Honolulu has posted on its website a letter on White House stationery dated Jan. 24 in which Obama wrote, “As a beneficiary of the excellence of Kapi’olani Medical Center – the place of my birth – I am pleased to add my voice to your chorus of supporters.”
Kristy Watanabe, the public relations specialist for the hospital refused to confirm or deny the veracity of Obama’s letter claiming he was born at the hospital.
“Our comment to everyone who has been calling is that federal law does not permit us to provide any more details concerning information [about Obama’s birth] without authorization from Mr. Obama,” Watanabe told WND.
She said the hospital had not contacted Obama for authorization.
When WND asked Watanabe why the hospital did not contact Obama to ask for authorization, especially given the number of phone calls the hospital was receiving with the request, Watanabe said: “This is our response, and we can’t say anything more than that.”
WND asked if a hypothetical elected official pretended to be born at the hospital, would federal law prevent her from disclosing that? If so, which federal law would that be?
“It’s just our policy that without permission we don’t ever answer questions about babies born in the hospital,” she said…”
From: World Net Daily
Don’t go there often but CNN has a story about Canadian healthcare: Is It Better?
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/06/canadian.health.care.system/index.html
While I usually pay little attention to the potus was not born in the US talk, I have noticed the noise about it is increasing of late. My question is this: What if it is definItively proven that BO was not born in the US? What is the process that would remove him? Who would put the process in motion?
Gord at 10:53:
If indeed the Birth Certificate story is true, and he is removed, what happens to all the legisllation that he signed into existence.
And it’s not just his birth certificate; all his university transcripts as well as who paid for his college are secret as well.
Marc A. Thiessen, Obama’s Inheritance: Al-Qaeda in Retreat
In a widely noted speech at the National Archives in May, President Barack Obama said of George W. Bush’s national security policies: “We are cleaning up something that is quite simply a mess.” The president is wrong. Far from a mess, when it comes to national security, President Obama actually inherited a very strong hand from his predecessor. When Bush left office in January, America had marked 2,688 days without suffering another terrorist attack on its soil, an outcome that seemed all but impossible when the smoke cleared on September 12, 2001. Despite repeated attempts, al-Qaeda failed in its efforts to strike the U.S. again—because Bush kept its leaders on their heels and left them increasingly defeated and discredited on battlefronts across the globe.
To understand exactly how strong Obama’s hand is on national security, one needs only to compare the situation today to the one Bush inherited when he arrived at the White House…
Great selection ‘Vit’.
Posted by: KevinB at July 7, 2009 9:29 AM
Kevin – it’s simply an arbitrage algorithm most likely based on profiting from volatility/gamma or some such market conditions.
Software itself cannot move markets in the absence of significant capital – which if used to induce specific conditions – would show itself as manipulation pretty quickly.
I love a good conspiracy as much (or more) than anyone. I sincerely doubt this one is the case.
Indeed, if it was, criminal charges would never have been sought.
Alexandre from Bloomberg brings good news, “far exceeding expectations”.
Will Duceppe and his Bloc be chattering about this?
This is Canadians responding to the doom-gloomsters of the left and its choir, aka the MSM.
Of course, it’s H-is fault.
…-
“Canada Building Permits Surge in May on Condominiums
By Alexandre Deslongchamps
July 7 (Bloomberg) — Canadian building permits surged in May, far exceeding expectations, because of new condominium and school projects. Residential construction plans gained for the third straight month.
The total value of permits issued by municipalities jumped 15 percent to C$5.02 billion ($4.34 billion), Statistics Canada said today in Ottawa. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast a gain of 0.8 percent, the median of 13 estimates. The agency revised April’s fall to 4.5 percent from the 5.4 percent originally reported.
The value of permits rose to the highest since October, a sign that the recession that began last year may be waning after the central bank cut its benchmark lending rate to a record 0.25 percent to spur growth.
“Clearly, builders were not scared off by the weak macro economic backdrop,” said Charmaine Buskas, an economist with TD Securities in Toronto, in a note to clients. She added that government spending appears to be encouraging construction.
“This pace of rising activity is unlikely to continue though,” Buskas also said.
Canada’s currency, known as the loonie, was little changed at C$1.1598 per U.S. dollar at 10:15 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.1593 yesterday. Earlier, it touched C$1.1551, the highest level since July 2. One Canadian dollar purchases 86.22 U.S. cents.
Subtracting From Growth
The Bank of Canada estimated in April that housing will cut 1.1 percentage points from growth this year as job losses undermine consumer confidence. Policy makers will revise that forecast July 23.
Residential permits increased 14 percent to C$2.65 billion, led by multiple-family units including condominiums and apartments, a gain of 41 percent to C$1.1 billion. The value of permits for single-unit dwellings climbed 1.4 percent to C$1.6 billion.
Permits for non-residential construction rose 15 percent to C$2.37 billion, the agency said. The gain was led by a 48 percent jump in institutional buildings such as schools and hospitals to C$913 million.
Industrial permits increased 7.3 percent to C$346 million, while the value of commercial permits was down 0.3 percent to C$1.1 billion, Statistics Canada said.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=awtZxLTrFaCI
*
hmmmm… what if michael jackson hadn’t
been a freak for plastic surgery?
just ask a forensic artist.
*
Define doublethink:
“President Barack Obama reiterated his support for efforts to restore Zelaya to Honduras’ presidency — even as he pointed out that Zelaya has strongly opposed American policies.
In a speech to Moscow graduates on Tuesday, the president said that’s evidence that the U.S. does not dictate another country’s leaders.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31778837/ns/world_news-americas/
hardboiled:
Have you been watching the markets lately? Until recently, whenever it looked like the SP500 was going to close under 900, a highly suspicious ramp up appeared in the last hour of trading to drive the index back to that mark. (Last Thursday was an exception; coincidentally, that was just when certain firms noticed their code was missing.)
And, knowing how program trading works, certain firms whose initials might include “G” and “S” don’t need to buy hundreds of billions of stocks – just a judicious investment in SPY futures and options. That would set off program trades all over Wall St., multiplying the initial effect.
Again, I urge you to review “zerohedge.com” – this issue has been covered extensively there since the recovery from the March lows.
“While I usually pay little attention to the potus was not born in the US talk, I have noticed the noise about it is increasing of late. My question is this: What if it is definItively proven that BO was not born in the US? What is the process that would remove him? Who would put the process in motion?”
Posted by: Gord Tulk
IMO, Witnessing the complete silence and/or contempt from the MSM and the Republican Party’s silence which could surely benefit from the truth coming out AND more so from the sources that I consider “Unbiased, fair and concerned” for the US and it’s constitution: The Fox people: Beck, Hannity, O’Reilley. Plus, Ann Coulter and many more on the Right except for Rush Limbaugh who kinda talked about the Birth certificate briefly at one point; I have come to the conclusion that the situation could be so explosive that no one who has any influence dares address it directly.
Ask yourself this simple question: If we, the “birthers” are such a bunch of whack jobs in the same vain as the 9/11 inside job conspiracy theories, why as’nt any major news organization come out with a complete and thorough debunking report that would finally shut it down or at least severely hurt it’s credibility?
I mean, Popular Mechanic has come out with a good debunking on the Twin Tower 9/11 conspiracy which did severe damage to it’s movement.
The BBC came out with the anti Goracle: “The Great Global Warming Swindle”.
Some years ago CBS did a major one on the JF Kennedy assassination conspiracy.
Being that the MSM is all in the tank for Obama would’nt it make sense that Obama himself use one of his supporters like NBC to do such a report?Obama himself is poring tons of his own cash to keep everything under raps via legal fees. Would’nt he want to stop that?
The only ones who have attacked the Birthers are MSNBC but just a few times and briefly. It’s almost like they are even afraid to promote it by just mentioning it because they have nothing to counter with except attacking the messengers as right wing nut jobs.
I also now believe more than ever that Democracy in the US has been 100% highjacked by elites for special interest groups. The voters are no longer represented. All smoke and mirrors. Dems or Reps are no different. Obama was pre selected as the new ‘puppet’, nobody else was allowed to win. Because of political correctness (Race related) gone haywire he was the best choice for the time. A time of economic turmoil and increasing world unrest. As poverty will increase in the foreseable future, almost guaranteeing minorities as the first ones to feel it, Obama, the Black President for whom they (Minorities) “elected” is the best ‘image’ that the elites can place in the White House to better control potential unrest.
Some time ago many of us were predicting the economy could not mathematically survive and that a severe downturn was coming and we were amazed it had’nt occured by then.
Then,almost like clockwork, the economy went sour at the very end of Bush’s term, or was it ‘triggered’ then just as the new prepackaged POTUS came along?
Bottom line is that the new pre selected WH ‘puppet’ had just one flaw: He was NOT a natural born US citizen. Although a flaw that was not big enough and Constitutionally obscure enough that a ‘controlled message’ could be sustained or in this case, complete silence means the issue does not even exist.
Why was John McCain asked about is Birth status during the election?: My best answer was that it would serve as a deterrent for anyone who would point to Obama: In Joe Average’s mind, if they checked on McCain they’ve surely also checked Obama too.
A Revolution by the people again’st the Federal establishment is the only way the remove the alleged usurper at this point.
Truther ad from Taliban JackNDP: I-IDS, I-Iggy Derangement Syndrome.
…-
“Republicans for Ignatieff?
I don’t know what’s least surprising to me: that American Republicans are in bed with Ignatieff or that Layton is asleep at the switch?
Illegal Pre-Emptive Wars? Check.
Coercive Interrogation? Check.
U.S.A. lover? Check.
Pillaging the environment for oil? Check.
Bush = Ignatieff = Harper. There is no difference between them. Layton should be pushing this.”
http://rabble.ca/babble/canadian-politics/republicans-ignatieff#comment-1035446
Watching the birther movement is such fun! What a comedy! After observing how 1/2 of USA voted for a person with no verifiable past history, with no papers, with terrorist communist and criminal friends, radical racist friends etc, what’s the point in getting involved and trying to right the wrongs in that god forsaken country?
I risked my life to fight communism in USSR and then risked it again to prevent restoration of communism in post-USSR Russia. Coming to Canada and realizing that it’s ‘the same balls, just viewed from different angle’ as the USSR, was quite a shock. Now USA is the same communist paradise, just not as depleted.
Hey, if 1/2 of both Americans and Canadians want to live under socialism – have at it! Go for it, enjoy it! I can live anywhere, I can get water from a well and chop my own firewood. It’s you who have a problem on your hands, not me. It’s your countries, do something about it! Quit whining on the Internet – do something! Out of over 300 million people only one had balls to do something since the war of independence. I’m breaking popcorn, it will be fun watching you pissing away two great countries by doing nothing but whining.
Again, I urge you to review “zerohedge.com” – this issue has been covered extensively there since the recovery from the March lows.
Posted by: KevinB at July 7, 2009 12:07 PM
I get what your saying Kevin – it’s just that to bust out a bid/ask (ie: move the market) using futures and options would take an inordinate amount of margin (how much would 5,000 contracts on the S&P take? Do you really think there is a risk manager on the planet that would permit thousands of contracts of fixed price risk into the book?) Besides, the open interest would look gamey.
Futures and Options Markets are a zero sum game – that’s why they are margined – and cashflows un discounted.
Please do not copy entire copyrighted articles
into the comments. Use an excerpt and a link.
Bailout bozos
Big government cannot end the recession
By GERRY NICHOLLS
They call it an “Economic Action Plan,” I suspect, because that sounded a little better than “We are spending your money like drunken sailors plan.”
Anyway here are some of the “recession-ending” projects the Economic Action Plan has funded so far: $900,000 for a new stage in Prince Edward Island; $965,000 for an International Balloon Festival in Quebec; $500,000 for a Potato Research Centre; $1.5 million for the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest and $400,000 for Toronto’s Gay Pride Parade.
And of course, the Tories also handed over billions of dollars to failing automakers. Some say this is a waste of money, others insist such a bailout is necessary to ensure benefits keep flowing to CAW union bosses.
If you want to learn more about the Economic Action Plan just check out the government’s special website at http://www.watch-us-buy-your-votes-with-your-own-money.com…..
What we need is less government not more.
Maybe somebody should tell that to our politicians even it does spoil their summer plans….”
http://www.ottawasun.com/comment/2009/07/07/10046011-sun.html
Harper’s a fraud, tell your friends!
Bailout bozos
Big government cannot end the recession
By GERRY NICHOLLS
They call it an “Economic Action Plan,” I suspect, because that sounded a little better than “We are spending your money like drunken sailors plan.”
Anyway here are some of the “recession-ending” projects the Economic Action Plan has funded so far: $900,000 for a new stage in Prince Edward Island; $965,000 for an International Balloon Festival in Quebec; $500,000 for a Potato Research Centre; $1.5 million for the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest and $400,000 for Toronto’s Gay Pride Parade.
And of course, the Tories also handed over billions of dollars to failing automakers. Some say this is a waste of money, others insist such a bailout is necessary to ensure benefits keep flowing to CAW union bosses.
If you want to learn more about the Economic Action Plan just check out the government’s special website at http://www.watch-us-buy-your-votes-with-your-own-money.com…..
What we need is less government not more.
Maybe somebody should tell that to our politicians even it does spoil their summer plans….”
tinyurl.com/nngu4y
Harper’s a fraud, tell your friends!
More Conservative government accomplishments.
Go Army, Go Navy, Go Air Force.
…-
“$10 billion for military equipment
Tories approve plans to buy armoured vehicles, helicopters
The Harper government has approved a plan to purchase new armoured vehicles for the Canadian Forces and is set to announce that it has finally reached a deal on the purchase of additional Chinook helicopters.
The government is now trying to decide how best to roll out the military projects, which total almost $10 billion, for maximum public-relations value.
The helicopter and armoured-vehicle programs are expected to be among a number of defence-related announcements to be made throughout the coming months by the government, according to defence insiders.
On Tuesday morning, Defence Minister Peter MacKay will be in Gander, N.L., to make an announcement at the search-and-rescue squadron there. The announcement will be about 9 Wing Gander, but other details are not being released at this point, according to the Defence Department. Earlier this year, Mac-Kay went across the country making a series of announcements about infrastructure improvements at various bases.”
urlm.in/cryj
WTF, Prime Minister Steve, do they get to keep it?
“Justice John Gomery, blamed Gagliano for perpetuating the irregular manner of directing the sponsorship program, failing to exercise due oversight and steering funds to projects for partisan purposes. However, no criminal charges were ever brought against him.”
http://www.canada.com/News/Court+dismisses+Gagliano+sponsorship+scandal+suit/1765236/story.html
We certainly don’t need no stinkin’ Pickens in Canada.
…-
“T. Boone Pickens Calls Off Massive Texas Wind Farm (LOL Alert!)
Plans for the world’s largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle have been scrapped, energy baron T. Boone Pickens said Tuesday, and he’s looking for a home for 687 giant wind turbines.
Pickens has already ordered the turbines, which can stand 400 feet tall—taller than most 30-story buildings. AP Boone Pickens ——————————————————————————–
“When I start receiving those turbines, I’ve got to … like I said, my garage won’t hold them,” the legendary Texas oilman said. “They’ve got to go someplace.”
Pickens’ company Mesa Power ordered the turbines from General Electric [GE 11.01 -0.47 (-4.09%)] (parent company of CNBC)—a $2 billion investment—a little more than a year ago. Pickens said he has leases on about 200,000 acres in Texas that were planned for the project, and he might place some of the turbines there, but he’s also looking for smaller wind projects to participate in. He said he’s looking at potential sites in the Midwest and Canada.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2287581/posts
HA has what they are calling the “Clueless comment of the day”.
I don’t know, I think this thread comment has to be in the running for at least the decade.
“man, some of you are so afraid of taxes.
Taxes won’t have to go up… the interest the gov is making off the bank bailouts will cover most of this.”
ummmm. wow.
http://hotair.com/headlines/?p=45109#comment-517058
hardboiled:
http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/NYSE%20fixed.PNG
This shows, that just for last week, GS accounted for nearly 50% of all program trades on the NYSE last week – a position they have occupied for months – totalling over 2.8 BILLION shares, of which nearly half, or 1.4 billion shares, GS was executing as principal. In other words, of all program trades executed on the NYSE last week, GS accounted for nearly a quarter of it trading on their own account.
To think that they’re not capable of pushing the market one way or another – well, I think you’re too smart for that.
“as Michael Ledeen says, the storm is still ahead.”
…-
“Legacy
Christopher Hitchens asks whether recent unrest in Iran has been fueled, at least in part, by the fall of Saddam in 2003. He writes in Slate:
The most exciting and underreported news of the past few weeks in Iran has been that the emerging challenger to the increasingly frantic and isolated “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. And Rafsanjani has recently made a visit to the city of Najaf in Iraq to confer with Ayatollah Ali Husaini Sistani, a long-standing opponent of the Khamenei doctrines …
It is this dialectic between Iraqi and Iranian Shiites that underlies the flabbergasting statement issued from Qum last weekend to the effect that the Ahmadinejad government has no claim to be the representative of the Iranian people. One of the apparent paradoxes involved in visiting Iran is this: If you want to find deep-rooted opposition to the clerical autocracy, you must make a trip to the holy cities of Mashad and Qum.
Among the more surprising members of the anti-Khomeini opposition is the late ayatollah’s grandson Sayeed Khomeini, a relatively junior cleric in Qum about whom I have also written before. … Which brings me to a question that I think deserves to be asked: Did the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime, and the subsequent holding of competitive elections in which many rival Iraqi Shiite parties took part, have any germinal influence on the astonishing events in Iran? Certainly when I interviewed Sayeed Khomeini in Qum some years ago, where he spoke openly about “the liberation of Iraq,” he seemed to hope and believe that the example would spread. One swallow does not make a summer. But consider this: Many Iranians go as religious pilgrims to the holy sites of Najaf and Kerbala in southern Iraq.
An Australian general officer who recently served in Iraq remarked at a dinner address I attended that all he expected OIF to achieve was to ‘restart the clock of history which had been stopped by Saddam Hussein’. He did not imagine that Iraq would automatically be pro-Western, but he did expect that it would find its own destiny. Certainly this implies, as Christopher Hitchen’s article suggested, that opposition to the current regime in Iran would not necessarily resemble an American political party. But to the question of whether OIF helped restart the clock of history in Iran, I think the probable answer is yes. The connections between the Iraq’s Shi’ite South and Iran run too strong and deep for there to have been no effect.
But there is an implicit tragedy in Hitchen’s analysis. His article does not follow the argument far enough. If he is right, the overriding goal of Iranian diplomacy must of necessity be the strangulation of a rival power center south of the border. If Hitchens is right about Iraq precipitating much of the unrest against Teheran, then it follows that Teheran will want to clamp down in Iraq. And it also follows that if Barack Obama is truly attempting a “grand bargain” with Iran in exchange for an “exit” from Iraq, then Teheran will surely want him to neuter Shi’ite dissidents in Iraq. Unless Iraq is dampened, then Teheran will fear regime change from that quarter and Obama has already forsworn that. Whether Obama will accede to the pressure remains to be seen. The clock of history may have restarted, but Iran will try to persuade Washington to let it wind down. It may however be the case that the Shi’ite resurgence in Iraq is already irreversible; in which case, as Michael Ledeen says, the storm is still ahead.”
http://pajamasmedia.com/richardfernandez/2009/07/07/legacy/#comments
hardboiled:
Don’t know if you’re still following this thread, but again today, starting at about 3:15 pm, the SP500 ramped up into the close so that it would not close below 880, which is important technical support. The mysterious forces available weren’t quite successful, as the index closed at 879. Still, one more data point in favour of manipulation.