My family
Upper row (from left to right): My bother-in-law, my nephew, my sister; In front of my brother-in-law is his mother; At middle right is my mother, and in the middle center right is my nephew, with two of his friends; front center is my nephew.
In the times that we live in, family is important. One thing I am thankful for is my family (pictured above). My family is as diverse as are our political views. Yes, this is my biological family. I don't have as much Puerto Rican in me as does my sister, because we don't share the same paternal biological ancestry. Hardly anybody would be able to look at me and tell that my mother's maiden name is Alvarez.
Go, Senator Reid, go!
I pick Senator Reid.
I bow out of blogging
I had to bow out of blogging. I reduce myself into a non-factor. I blogicide myself. Republicans shouldn't declare war on themselves. Lowden isn't the devil incarnate.
Paul Washer sermon
A powerful sermon by Pastor Paul Washer:
A few of my favorite videos
Neal Broten, a native-Minnesotan, and Shawn Chambers. Both played with the Minnesota North Stars while I was a kid. Neal is one of the most humble men on the planet.
O Canada, here I come
Going to be making a trip to Edmonton, and will be catching a Minnesota Wild game.
Dollar rally
We have gone through a bit of a dollar rally in the last few weeks. Silver is in the low 15's as I write. My guess is this a dollar rally to sell (as in sell dollars). Only a guess. Nothing I say should be taken as investment advice.
'Politically confused'
After 16 years of being active in politics, that is my political identity. The only thing I am not confused about is what I believe. What I am confused about is who to trust and who will take us to the "promised land." I like small government, was originally a Republican, then became an independent, and almost voted for President Barack Obama.
Ranking the U.S. Senate candidates
By order of my own personal preference:
1)Sue Lowden
Mike Gravel video
The establishment Democrats, like the establishment Republicans, have no intention of bringing the troops home. Dina Titus voted AGAINST an exit strategy for Afghanistan. Pelosi is on record saying that the U.S. will have a permanent, Korean-like presence in Iraq. This is the kind of statesman we need for Nevada:
Bear market in the metals
I'm a metals aficionado. I own a lot of the physical stuff - most of my savings is in gold and silver. Like I posted earlier, I don't like seeing lower highs and lower lows. I see we are now at $15.32. We are definitely in a bear market. The CFTC is on the verge of imposing new regulations that could drive people out of the futures market and into the spot market.
The big question is when the bear market is over. The futures and spot markets tend to converge during the major trading spot month. If I had to guess, I would say as we move into March. But that is just a guess.
Ralph Nader on Congressman John Olver
If you want to know how bad things have become in this country, just watch the video clip below. This is from the year 2007.
Did Geithner rescue the financial system?
A sound financial system shouldn't need to be "rescued." A sound financial system doesn't engender $1,080 per ounce gold. An unsound financial system needs to collapse in order to have real healing. I have laid out plans to deal with insolvent institutions. If a homeowner defaults, the bank forecloses. The problem we face is that banks aren't allowed to fail, i.e., default. How should we handle bank defaults? The bank's creditors - i.e., depositors - would become the receiver for a failed bank's assets. Thus it is the depositors who have first claim on a bank's assets. Instead, the FDIC, which is bankrupt, becomes the receiver and banks get bailed out, which diminishes the need to liquidate housing inventories.
Mike Gravel
The former Alaska U.S. Senator Mike Gravel is a hero of mine. This video is from the 2008 presidential primary season:
McCain-Feingold
It is nice to see the USSC's decision re: McCain-Feingold. Objectively, McCain-Feingold handed a monopoly on electioneering to the media.