Llewellyn H. Rockwell Jr.'s Blog, page 2282

A Gringo Loose in Cuba

 This from a while back, but perhaps of interest:

The American Conservative, December, 2007

On Havana’s malecón, the seawall that parallels the shore, the waves roll in and hit the sudden obstacle, sending towering explosions of bright white spray far into the air, occasionally soaking the unwary pedestrian. Across the highway that follows the malecón is a cheap open-air restaurant, the DiMar. A steady breeze from the sea pours across the tables. A tolerable shrimp cocktail, topped with mayon...

Good Gang of Four

In a sad commentary on the parlous state of the U.S. media, a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson from four United States Senators dated March 8 calling for opening arms control talks with the Kremlin ASAP is nowhere to be found in mainstream newspapers a day after its release on the Senate home page of one of the authors, Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.). Nothing in the New York Times.  Nothing in the Washington Post.  And so, it is left to alternative media to bring to the attention of its read...

Cambodia Makes Good, Cheap Beer

Cambodia makes good, cheap beer, so I was sitting in some lunch place with yet another can of Angkor, after having polished off a plate of fatty pork with rice. Two tables away, a girl sat, doing her homework. She had a machine that sang out, “Old McDonald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O!” and so on. Suddenly, it switched to, “and girls… just want to have fun!” It’s all good, for it was all in English, and this girl needed a constant fix of the world’s master language, if she wanted to get ahead, that...

Five of the Most Violent Cities in the World

When you think of the most dangerous, violent cities in the world, do you picture slums in Third World countries with vicious drug cartels or arrogant warlords? Maybe the kind of violence where enemies are decapitated and whole families are murdered seem like things that happen far away in some terrifying, exotic locale.

Some of this is true – but FIVE of the world’s most violent cities are right here on the American mainland and another is in an American territory. The list was created by re...

RussiaGate Is Simply an Extension

The great thing about Internet archives is that they leave a data trail for anyone who wants to follow it. And while news and opinion revolves around attempt after attempt to implicate President Donald Trump for some sort of collusion or treasonous activity with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, everyone in the mainstream press (this includes Fox News) has taken advantage of – or ignored – history. The advantage taken of history is that many people remember precious little about it, especia...

Snow Business

The muffled sound of falling snow is ever present. It beautifies the dreary and turns the bleak into magic. Happiness is waking up and seeing a winter wonderland. From where I am I cannot hear the shrieks of children sledding nearby, but I can see the odd off-piste skier leaving traces behind. I no longer can handle deep snow, just powder, but can still shoot down any piste once I’ve had a drink or two.

For amusement I listen to the news: flights grounded, trains canceled, cars backed up on m...

The FBI Now Admits It Could’ve Prevented

Amid the fallout from the February 14 school shooting in Parkland, FL, that left 17 dead, the FBI and local law enforcement received widespread criticism for their inability to prevent the shooting despite multiple warning signs and opportunities. On Tuesday, the FBI admitted these failures to the House Judiciary Committee during a hearing focused on how the bureau handled tips about Nikolas Cruz prior to the massacre.

FBI Deputy Director David Bowdich met with members of the House Judiciary...

More Non-Existent Job Growth

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US economy added 313,000 jobs in the 28 days of February, causing a big jump in the Dow Jones average. Where does BLS find these jobs?

The BLS finds 61,000 in construction, which, if correct, suggests in view of falling new and existing home sales, that those building at this stage are going to experience financial difficulties.

Manufacturing conjured up 31,000, but in high tech areas such as computer and electronic products only 1,100 jobs wer...

The Infectious Disease Industry, With Budget Cuts

Lo and behold, just after an infectious disease expert said in news reports that the world needs to prepare for the next deadly flu pandemic that is predicted to kill 200 million and that the infectious disease industry needs an additional $7.5 billion to prevent such an occurrence (wouldn’t have anything to do with steep budget cuts planned for government agencies that oversee disease control and vaccines, would it?), the World Health Organization (WHO) includes in its 2018 list of disease p...

The Everything Bubble

Yesterday we noted that financial markets have become completely uncoupled from reality and that the recent feeble bounces between the 20-day and 50-day chart points were essentially the rigor mortis of a dead bull. As it happened, we were able to share those sentiments with what remains of CNBC’s audience of carbon-based units:

As we also noted as per the chart point mavens, the 20-day average down at 2703 (red line) on the S&P 500 was supposed to represent “support” while the 50-day averag...