Some Reflections

It's becoming obvious, I think, that the monetary union in the EU is a failure. Can't have nations with such varied economic situations tied together under a single currency.

Also think we are reaching the end of the road of the credit system of economics. Falling apart everywhere. Fake bubble booms created everywhere in the last couple of decades. Spending more then you make, both at a personal and national level, has to by definition come to an end.

Either club med nations go back to being poorer but living-the-life, or reform themselves and become like Northern European workaholics.

Putin's Softer Side

Putin recently received a puppy as a gift from the premier of Bulgaria.

Even More Putin Action Antics

Putin was photographed inside a Formula One race car recently. Reports say he reached 150mph.

More Putin Action Antics

Putin shooting darts at whales from a crossbow in Kamchatka Peninsula in far-eastern Russia as part of a biological expedition.

Dead Castaway

I originally doodled this at work, and I liked the way it turned out, so I re-drew it at home. This time, I added a ship that is sailing away, which makes the whole scene a little more tragic.

(click image for full size)

Chase Overdraft Coverage

Chase bank has been bombarding me with ads and documentation to renew my overdraft coverage. Which means that even if I have no money in the account, my card is still accepted. But I'm hit with a big fee. That's their scam. They make a lot of money from that program. If I don't have any money my card should get declined!

Almost everyday they've sent me a letter about it. It is getting to the point in annoyance of me calling them up. In these letters, there is always new copy too. Always presented differently, with some new angle.

They charge a $34 fee each time you use your card, with insufficient funds (yet your card is still accepted everywhere). You could unknowingly, which is what they want, buy some gas, a pizza, and a water bottle some place else, and end up paying over a hundred dollars in fees alone.

I remember, I brought that up to a friend, who is a Chase employee, a while ago. He said "it's only 34 dollars". Yes, $34 per transaction. You buy a bus ticket and a hamburger, get slapped with a $68 fee, that doesn't include other charges. How is that not a scam.

I'm not only getting tired of Chase spamming me with this BS. But I know thousands of their customers are falling for their misleading letters. My bank, or any bank, should not try to devise these tricks, scams, and misleading programs to extort money from its customers.

Medvedev Sniping in a Suit

Pure Style

The End of NATO

Interesting article on NATO in Foreign Policy today. A new report says, "NATO should slim down, scale back, and pass the ball". As a result of "crushing fiscal retrenchment and sour memories of Afghanistan will likely leave most member states in Europe incapable of any significant military expeditions". Isn't this a good thing? Maybe we will see a return to the principle of you-leave-me-alone and I-leave-you-alone in international relations. The article speaks about a "inevitable decline in NATO's military capacity" and "NATO's days as an armed-to-the-teeth phalanx blocking the Soviet Army are now in the misty past". NATO is shrinking and "making way for a more purely diplomatic role". That staff in Brussels -- those who remain after the pink slips -- will spend more time coordinating NGOs and contractors than directing tank brigades." I have considered NATO, as it has existed, a unnecessary anachronism for a long time, this is a good development.

At the same time, the scaling back of military capability as a result of economic trouble, is not all good. This is something that Mark Stewart points out in a post on the Fourth Course of Action blog: "when governments spends enormous amounts of wealth they do not have and adopt policies that discourage economic growth [emphasis on consumption over savings], they will eventually lose the ability to pay for one of the most fundamental functions of government: National defense". Because of the economic/finical/deficit crisis in Europe, "The West will continue to rely on the military might of the United States to make up for shortfalls in capability among the other democracies. But what will happen when the United States is served the bill for its own governmental mismanagement of the economy? Who will there be to call on then? " I would like to see individual or nations in bi-lateral partnership be in command and responsible for their own defense. Europe especially has for far too long depended on the United States.

You can be an Economic Prophet

How to be a Gerald Celente or a Peter Schiff.

Decorated Penguin Reviewing Troops!

This Norwegian Penguin is not only a Colonel-in-Chief but also has been Knighted.

USA bailing out Greece? Yes

Americans like to think of the Greek financial fiasco as a European problem. What a majority probably don't know is that they are going to help foot the bill. The United States supplies 20% of IMF funding. This means that US taxpayers will be providing around $8 billion dollars of the $145 billion package to rescue Greece from default. The scam doesn't stop there.

It also looks like the IMF loan is being made "junior" to existing Greek debt. Instead of how in normal finance, the last lender is usually "senior". This means it should get the money back first. Not the case here. Greece is going to pay first, with the new money, the seedy unscrupulous bankers who loaned it the money to get into this mess in the first place. Then when the cash runs out again, and it looks like it will, most analysts only calling this package a "band-aid", Greece will have nothing to pay back the countries, e.g Germany, the US, that have bailed it out. Our loan is never going to be paid back.

This is yet another example of the recent trend of bailing out and rescuing companies that have made bad choices. It is not the responsibility, in any way, of taxpayers or governments to pay companies for making bad investment and lending choices. What happened to risk? These companies and banks have gotten so big and important, "too big to fail" through fraud, that not bailing them out would be disastrous. How long can we keep subsidizing incompetent crooked companies?

Vegetarians, From the Other Point of View!

from the comedy duo behind Peep Show.

ARMACast Takes Off

Evan Lahti of PC Gamer magazine, Keenan Weaver of Game-Central.org and Andrew Fogarty, a modder, have teamed up to create an entire podcast based around the Bohemia Interactive Mil-sim ArmA 2. This is an interesting premise for the show and in the debut episode they already have introduced several segments: "Special Assignment" where they give listeners some kind of ArmA related assignment for that week, which will be discussed in the next show. And the "Armory" where they discuss a single weapon from the game.

I've been a long time ArmA player since the original Operation Flashpoint (2001), and have also played several sessions of ArmA2 with Evan and Keenan on the PC gamer "war walrus" server. This makes it very easy for me to see how an entire podcast can be based around a single game. This is because ArmA, probably more so then any other current game, is more of a platform. The large community is endlessly adding new content, from missions, mods, add-ons, to entire new islands to play on. ArmA, as mentioned in the first episode of the show, harkens back to a time when (PC) games, and specifically self proclaimed "realistic shooters", were inherently difficult, slower-paced, complex and didn't "simplify" game-play to cater to mass audiences. You didn't magically regenerate health by hiding behind a rock. Games, like the first Ghost Recon, early Rainbow Six and of course Operation Flashpoint.

I look forward to the release of new episodes, and playing more ArmA2.

Putin Bonus

German Military Resurgence

Germany Now World's Third Largest Arms Exporter -- Spiegel

German arms export had doubled in the last five years, now only behind the United States and Russia. Although the Germans are well known for high quality weaponry, this is startling considering Germany's deep pacifism since the Second World War.

Putinghis Khan

Georgia Digging a Tunnel to Afghanistan?

Another Example of Georgian-American kookiness. The United States and Georgia are signing a deal that would create a military supply line from Georgia to Afghanistan. However, Georgia shares no border with Afghanistan. In fact, the two countries are well over a thousand miles distant. According to the Stratfor analyst, "unless the Georgian government somehow managed to bore a tunnel underneath Earth's crust between Georgia and Afghanistan".

Full Body Scanner Doesn't Find Bomb

Ever since the "December Bomber" attack, full body scans at airport checkpoints have been pushed as a security solution. In this German video, the scanner finds the fat man's cell phone and microphone, but failed to find the bomb making materials he simply hid, in his suit and pants pockets, his mouth, and his socks. The scanners don't work. Full body scanners are yet another part of the performance of national security at airports worldwide, meanwhile all these emerging scanner companies are set to make millions.

Company of Heroes Series 75% Off This Weekend

The entire Company of Heroes series is on sale this weekend. Company of Heroes: Gold is especially a good deal, at $7.49, it includes the original game and the Opposing Front expansion. CoH is one of the better real time strategy games of the last couple of years, at this price point anybody who hasn't already played, should pick it up. It retains the classic base building and resource collecting mechanics of traditional RTS games, something fewer and fewer RTS games do today, while not feeling dated. It also features excellent unit AI.

You can also download the official soundtracks of the games for free. They contain over 30 orchestral tracks. Links are at the bottom of the Steam store page.

Also, the Company of Hereoes: Eastern Front mod was released yesterday. The mod adds the Red Army into the game, with all new models and textures. The EF team has done a good job, and it all looks very professional. The download is available at ModDB.