HALF-FULL REPORT 05/06/11

First, an apology for the fake "OBL Dead" photo.  You’d think, having been taught by the master himself, I’d follow Ronald Reagan’s advice to "trust but verify."  But I didn’t this time, being caught up in the excitement of getting what I thought was a pic of OBL shot in the head in the arms of a Navy SEAL.

If you knew who my source was and his bona fides, you’d be blown away.  But even he got suckered – the pic was photoshopped from the movie Blackhawk Down – and forgot RR’s advice as well.  So I screwed up and am really sheepish. Sorry about this.  I’ll never forget Reagan’s words ever again.

*  *  *  *  *  *
One good way to recover from too much cheap tequila celebrating Cinco de Mayo last night is to read Cinco de Reality (May 2010).  It will sober you up for sure.  (Plus it’s a great nutshell history of the creation of Mexico.)

*  *  *  *  *  *
Back to the Obama-Osama Saga.  What Jack Kelly calls a "botch" is getting more farcical and fun by the hour.  Through his sheer incompetent perversity in refusing to release the OBL death photos, Zero has manufactured this ridiculous "deather" controversy that’s taken off like wildfire.

The quote of the week:  "Obama killed Osama and we got 72 versions."

Then he compounds the situation by hogging all the credit and making it all about him.  Narcissistically dumb.  The deather thing, that the attack was faked, Osama wasn’t killed, it was a double, blah blah, is on the face ridiculous because for it to be true, the SEALs would have to be in on the fraud.  Ipso facto, it’s not a fraud.

Yet Zero is in a trap of his own making.  Until he releases the genuine pics, more and more people are going to believe it’s made up, destroying whatever bump  in the polls the Osama Hit got him.  They won’t even believe the AQ official announcement that the Great Moslem Scumbag was greased.

One bottom line:  Zero’s great heroic moment – he did what Bush couldn’t or wouldn’t do – is going to backfire on him big time.  He really does care more about Moslem sensibilities than Americans’.  A real US President would have the stones to call out the Moslem world, saying:

"Your reaction to the elimination of a great evil poisoning and defaming your religion should be one of celebration, for you are now liberated from its curse.  Any Moslem or Moslem organization such as Hamas or followers of London imams condemning the elimination of Osama Bin Laden, claiming him to be a "holy warrior" who was "martyred," is claiming that Allah is an evil god who relishes the slaughter of thousands of innocent human beings in his name. 

"This is a blasphemous insult to Islam and to Allah.  Moslems of the world: Now is your opportunity to stand for Islam as a religion of peace, and reject those among you who claim it is a religion of murder in God’s name.  Be assured that America will support the former, and continue to hunt down relentlessly those of the latter who commit violence against us."

Guess we’ll have to wait for President Palin to say that.

*  *  *  *  *  *
Note in the "London imams" link above, the British press describes the Moslem protestors as "supporters" of Osama and the counter-protestors denouncing them as "extremists." 

This is a perfect example of the vast abyss between the ruling class/media elite in England and the overwhelming majority of native British people.  The "extremists" are those of the English Defense League, England’s equivalent of Tea Party patriots.  They are smeared and reviled by the PC media, and surging in popularity among normal British.

The sentiment against Pakistan immigrants forcing sharia law upon countless communities throughout England, and against England-hating Moslem crazies living off taxpayers is building now to such levels that major violence against them is becoming a certainty – because the government refuses to protect the British and their culture against Islamic destructive encroachment.

Once this anti-Moslem violence breaks out nation-wide, the only way to stop it will be to meet the demand that Moslem immigrants must be deported back to their country of origin, such as Pakistan.  This is coming like a freight train, and it’s not going to be stopped by media pansies and insufferably snooty politicians.

*  *  *  *  *  *
I should also tell an eerie personal story.  In July 2006, I led my Concordia expedition to the base camp of K2, the worlds second highest mountain (28,250′) on the Pakistan-China border.  On the way back, we drove down the Karakorum Highway from a region called Hunza to Islamabad (the Pak capital).

Google "Osama’s hidden compound," the click on Maps, and up will come a map with an icon marked "A" designating it’s exact location in Abbottabad.  Zoom out a bit and you’ll notice the Karakorum Highway running right through the town. 

Osama had been living in his compound since 2005.  Which means, in 2006 when we drove down the KK in Abbottabad, we were less than a kilometer away from OBL.  We of course had no idea.

*  *  *  *  *  *
Let’s look to the north now for good news this week. Canada now has a clear majority Conservative government.  Prime Minister Stephen Harper is today arguably the most conservative, pro-free market, and pro-America leader certainly in the Anglo world and possibly the entire world.

Denizens of the Forum can look forward to posts by TTP’s most lovable Canuck, Dr. Julius, discussing this great conservative victory.  Congratulation, Julius, and congratulations Canada!

*  *  *  *  *  * 
More northern good news – north of England, that is.  In yesterday’s elections (5/05), the Scottish National Party (SNP), which advocates secession from the UK and outright independence for Scotland, won a clear majority in the Scottish Parliament.

The SNP now has the legal authority to hold an independence referendum, which is expected to pass handily. 

William Wallace (1272-1305), Robert The Bruce (1274-1329), Bonnie Prince Charlie (1720-1788), and Sean Connery are happy today.

*  *  *  *  *  *
Still more good news from Europe.  The HFR has been making this prediction for some time, the latest being the HFR of 04/22/11:

"The whole EU bailout scheme may crash, the banks and their investors have to get a high & tight buzzcut, the euro itself may be in dire straits with Portugal returning to the escudo and Greece to the drachma, and fiscal sanity may have a future in Europe."

Sure enough, the EU Mandarins in Brussels are spasming out today over the announcement that Greece is going to abandon the euro and default on its debt to (primarily) the French and German banks (in the hole on Greece for $28 and $40 billion respectively).

It is astounding that anyone would think that Greece paying 25% interest on its two-year bonds is sustainable.  Yes, 25%, no typo.  Yet in the twisted logic of EU-Land, if it doesn’t – doesn’t – Greece will "go bankrupt," in the words of German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. 

Ah, national bankruptcy and default – remember when Russia did that in 1998, and Argentina in 2001, and those countries ceased to exist?  Yet, somehow, they are both still there just like before; somehow millions of Argentines and Russians got on with their lives without starving and dying.

And somehow, there will still be a Greece with the drachma – and prices so low tourists will be flooding into the place pouring in dollars.

For a clue to what’s next, click on that "Greece" link above again and look at the biggest yellow debt bomb in the Investments at Risk graphic.  Yep, Spain.  €147 billion (over $210 billion) is just what German banks alone are going to lose. 

Spain is toast.  That’s the solid opinion of a billionaire global investor I know with whom I met privately in Paris last weekend.  The only European countries left standing financially when Spain and thus the EU-Euro enterprise goes under are Germany, Denmark, and Holland – plus non-eurozone countries like Norway and of course Switzerland.  There’s a chance Italy might barely squeak through, but likely not the UK, and France is broke.

We’ll always have Paris, and Europe too – but the EU-Euro game is soon to be over.

Oh – and my billionaire friend (whose $20B private equity fund is averaging 68% returns, so he knows what he’s doing) won’t touch investing in China with a 20-foot pole.

*  *  *  *  *  *
Folks, Rendezvous X starts here in Vegas shortly, so it’s time to go.  For those who can’t be here, we’ll do our best to fill you in next week on what we’re about to learn. We’ll miss you! One last memo: 

Sunday is Mother’s Day!  All of our mothers gave us the greatest possible blessing:  our lives, our very existence.  Nothing can top that.  All of us owe our mothers bottomless gratitude.  Happy Mother’s Day, Moms!