I’ve got a couple of friends who have families in the dairy business. They run pretty good-sized operations of 4,000-6,000 head…and one of them mentioned a few weeks ago to keep an eye open for soaring milk prices. “Our feed bill at one operation is up $100-grand a month” my source told me.
Sure enough, here comes the story from Bloomberg/BusinessWeek saying here comes “Milk seen surging 15% on drought-feed costs before demand slows.”
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I’ve always wondered how the habit of drinking milk got started…who was that first caveman who suckled a…oh, let’s not go there, it’s breakfast time, after all.
But this is hard reality coming down the pike, so you may want to slowly wean yourself off so much milk…but hey! Just occurs to me that cheese may become a pretty good investment.
The economist who came up with the concept of “core inflation” (e.g. inflation less food and energy) should not be punished for his dangerous delusions. Rather, he should just be deprived on “non-core items” in his life and see what it feels like.
More “Landlording” Coming
You may not grok the import of this part of the Wednesday housing starts report….but go ahead, give ‘er a go…this is the building permit part
“Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in September were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 894,000. This is 11.6 percent (±1.1%) above the revised August rate of 801,000 and is 45.1 percent (±1.8%) above the September 2011 estimate of 616,000.
Single-family authorizations in September were at a rate of 545,000; this is 6.7 percent (±0.9%) above the revised August figure of 511,000. Authorizations of units in buildings with five units or more were at a rate of 323,000 in September. “
And? Let me coach: It means that single family is going up less quickly than rentals.
Oh, the American dream of home ownership? Going the same route as “freedom of the American road” and “friendly skies” seems to me. Slowly, so as not to bother slowly boiled frogs, of course.
Anagram Morning
About 10 AM Eastern, markets may get a kick from our favorite anagram stat: the “Leading Economic Indicators. Surely you don’t need too much help on that one, do you?
Passings: Newsweek Print Editions
Reports of its death are only slightly exaggerated: Newsweek is planning to publish its last print edition with its December 31 issue.
I think I make the case very clearly in my book Broken Web, but in case you forgot, let me slap you upside the head again: The reason we’re in an unrecoverable economic depression is that the internet is (and will continue) doing more damage than did gasoline engines and radio in the last Depression.\
This is just another group of foresters, loggers, truck drivers, mill operators, pulp and paper workers, delivery drivers, (and on it goes) who will see their jobs axed by “progress”. That’s OK, most of the loggers are in Siberia and the Amazon…and the paper jobs gone, too.
Blowing Out Whistleblowers
Eric (“Gunwalker”) Holder’s folks have prosecuted more government officials than all predecessors combined, reports Bloomberg in “Obama Pursing Leaders sends warning to Whistle-blowers.”
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Check me on this, but isn’t it six months or longer since the word “transparency” was used by WH officialdom? Like we’d forget the word if not used to spin up bankster bailouts? Are we that edding dumb?
I regret to tell you…yes….we is.
The Liberal Media Bias, Redux
The story on the National Review site is headlined “Bizarre Coincidence: Democrats get more time in all three debates.”
Once is a “who cares?” Twice is a coincidence. But around here, three times is a pattern. D’oh!
Shaky Day
No, not because voters are on the verge of reminding Washington who’s really in charge…nope: It’s the Great Shakeout earthquake drill today.
Texans are generally not crawling under tables today but we may not have as much reason as California or the New Madrid neighborhood.
Syria-Turkey First
With reports of rocket redeployments from facing Israel to the Turkish border, things are a week or three from hot, perhaps…
Taliban Marketing
Reader Lee sends this little heads-up:
“Hey George, just dropping another line to help fill up your in-box (because that’s what you need just before a deadline drops)….. I’m sure you’ve seen the link re: the Taliban wanting ‘unbiased’ coverage on their attempted murder of the 14 y/o child: Link
Anyway – I was wondering – this not only seems pathetic, but if you think about it, could it be an IC (intel community) ploy to effectively destroy any legitimacy the Taliban MAY have had in some places? Either way – if it is, or if its a ‘real’ story, it seems the Taliban has pretty much been stripped of any ‘legitimacy’ they may have had in the eyes of some. Its a very effective story in that its somewhat believable, yet at the same time pathetic. Your thoughts? “
Well, the National Counterterrorism Center lists the Afghan Taliban as a terrorist group, and if the sandal fits… Anyone who doesn’t understand that children (and women in general) are disposables in that part of the world just hasn’t read much in the field.
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As I see it: A common characteristic of occupying oppressors is to play the role of “victim” when the facts speak otherwise.
Could it be that since a good chunk of America’s warrior class of hard-charging, kick-butt-and-take-names-natural leaders & entrepreneurs have been wasted – spent in wars with little if any return, the general mood of America has now been weakened enough that we’ll swallow just about anything.
A look at candidates for office in the upcoming elections seals my proposition.
More after this…
