Prescient In Its Anticipation

Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney warned us in 2008 that Russia and the Ukraine were going to be places to watch and that they were the biggest geo-political risks we face. The press and Obama made fun of them. Perhaps, Palin and Romney had been talking with George Friedman. Friedman wrote in "The Next 100 Years"

The Russians will pull the Ukrainians into their alliance with Belarus and will have Russian forces all along the Polish border, and as far south as the Black Sea. This, I believe, will all take place by the mid-2010s.

Stratfor has an excerpt in Ukraine and the 'Little Cold War. I suggest you read the short piece for a look into the future.

Hey Tim Cook Buy This!

He leads a company that some would consider the epitome of ruthless global capitalism. But Apple chief executive Tim Cook has shocked some in the US with an impassioned attack on the single-minded pursuit of profit – and a direct appeal to climate-change deniers not to buy shares in his firm. Hey Tim Cook we don't have to support (gasp) Global-warming supporters. Don't think I'll buy an iPad or iOS phone again!

On Obama's Watch

On Obama's watch we have lost or are losing Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Argentina, Venezuela, Thailand and, of course, the latest and most violent, the Ukraine. This is not Bush's fault!

Recommended Listening

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts - Former US Treasury Official, Co-Founder of Reaganomics, Economist & Acclaimed Author gives a very thoughtful and chilling interview about the current events in the Ukraine.

2014!

The government has announced budget cuts for the Dept of Defense.

The Pentagon said on Monday it would shrink the U.S. Army to pre-World War Two levels, eliminate the popular A-10 aircraft and reduce military benefits in order to meet 2015 spending caps, setting up an election-year fight with the Congress over national defense priorities.

I wasn't going to attention to any of this until I saw Martin Armstrong"s chart of Cycles of War and Political Change:

Harold Ramis R.I.P.

Who will ever forget Harold Ramis? Best-known as an actor for 'Ghostbusters', 'Stripes', writer/director for 'Caddyshack', and 'Groundhog Day'.

Ramis, a longtime North Shore, Chicago resident, died at 12:53 a.m. from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a rare disease that involves swelling of the blood vessels. He was 69.

Book Review: A Haunting In Oregon (The River) By Michael Richan

Paperback: 258 pages

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (September 13, 2013)

A Haunting in Oregon is the second book in The River series. The first was The Bank of The River. Now out are the third in the series, Ghosts of Our Fathers and finally, Ximere.

All four novels are based in the northwest.  Richan lives in Seattle, Washington.

Roy and his son Steven have a gift. They can dip into the river, kind of like an invisible, information highway, and see into some kind of other dimension where ghosts live.  In A Haunting… they are invited to solve a problem of ghosts and death occurring in a hotel near Medford, Oregon. The different invisible beings and the assistance from other gifted people dad and son call on, can be a little like Grimm the TV series. The story is unlike anything I’ve ever read. I like the characters, and the problems the two face is very creative. I already had the first book in the series on my Kindle, now I’ll add Ghosts of Our Fathers.

Was the book scary? In a way. I made the mistake of reading right before bedtime last night and it was a little unnerving to turn out the light.