The Tide Shifting in Iraq

On April 19th 2007 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said the war in Iraq is "lost," and the Democrats were accused immediately of turning their back on the troops. "I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and - you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows - (know) this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday." So said Harry Reid, and some day those words will come back to hunt the Democratic Party.

Update as of December 1st 2007 0725 Pacific. Thanks God it is December. November dragged forever but it is now history and here are some good news reported by no other than the French press. Good news from Iraq continues to flow across the wires. The number of Iraqis killed in November was down to 606, and this is the lowest toll since brutal sectarian violence exploded across the country in February 2006, as per official figures released today. The drop in the deaths of civilians, Iraqi soldiers and police supports claims by US and Iraqi officials that military crackdowns against insurgents and militiamen across the country is having an impact. Now compare those 606 Iraqis killed in November 2007 to the worst month of this year, in January 2007 the number of Iraqi deaths was 1,992 as reported by the Iraqi authorities. See, I told you so, we are making progress.

Original post

Let me start with some famous last words for you.

In July 2006 Army Chief of Staff General Peter Schoomaker was asked whether or not we were winning in Iraq. After an exceedingly long pause, General Schoomaker replied by saying “I…y’know…I think I would answer that by telling you I don’t think we’re losing.”

In April 2007 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said "I believe myself that the secretary of state, secretary of defense and - you have to make your own decisions as to what the president knows - (know) this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything as indicated by the extreme violence in Iraq yesterday."

In September 2007 Defense Secretary Robert Gates was interviews by New York Times columnist David Brooks. When asked if the invasion of Iraq was worth doing, Secretary Gates first rephrased the question: "If I'd known then what I know now, would I have done the same? I think the answer is, 'I don't know.'"

Now let's get down to business.

Back on November 2003, upon my return from my first of two Operation Iraq Freedom deployments, I wrote about the tide shifting in Iraq on another forum. That was four years ago, and I was wrong then. I believe that this time the tide is shifting. No, I do not see any flowers or kisses coming our way, but - in my opinion - things are getting better, and I do not want to use the term of things getting back to normal because they are not. We are not there yet, but the civilian leadership running this war from their seats in Washington can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Some Iraqis finally returning to their homeland, there is a big difference in the numbers provided by our government and those provided by the Iraqi government, but the fact is that some Iraqis are finally returning. On the security side, again, there is a big difference in the numbers provided by our government and those provided by the Iraqi government, but we made some progress recruiting a large number of security personnel - some of them were insurgents, some of them with coalition blood in their hands - they were given the opportunity to choose between staying with al Qaeda, and getting killed with the rest, or coming to the US side and live good and prosper with the best.

Some are measuring progress by the number of American fatalities. If that is the case then things are looking good. The number of fatalities continues to go down, and I expect to see those numbers coming down exponentially, to single digits, with the majority of fatalities caused by accidents and not by combat. Overall, I can say that we have had three good months in Iraq, and the best is yet to come. Here is a prediction for you, I can see in the not so distant future our war president giving a de facto VI DAY (Victory in Iraq) proclamation, so, let's make preparations for the victory parade in New York City, I will be there.

Thanks for reading!

Politics and Dancing With The Stars

Melanie Brown and Maksim Chmerkovskiy perform a dance on the 5th season of Dancing with the Stars. In my opinion this was the best couple, and Maksim is without any doubts the best dancer of the bunch - but they came up short on the viewers votes - at the end of the day the viewers are the deciders.

Wait a minute there cfs, this is supposed to be about politics! Not so fast. Dancing with the stars is about popularity - the best is not always the best, but the one with the largest number of votes. The same thing happens in politics, at the end of the day the number of votes makes the difference.

On the dancing floor Spice Girl Melanie Brown was easily the best finalist, she had consistently surprised the judges with her good looks and her attitude - plus she can dance too - Melanie Brown and Maksim Chmerkovskiy were the highest-scoring couple throughout the season. And again - in my opinion - Maksim Chmerkovskiy is without any doubts the best dancer in Dancing with the Stars.

However, the viewers said no to Melanie Brown and gave the trophy to the two-times Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves; he became the 4th consecutive man to win the trophy. Granted, Castroneves' team was good, but not as good as the Brown's team.

Now back to politics. Watch the polls closely, and keep good track on all the candidates. We have some excellent candidates, we have some good candidates, and we have some bad candidates. But at the end of the day what really count are the votes. Just take a look at the 2000 Republican primaries, John McCain was the best candidate. You know the rest of the story.

Thanks for reading.

Political Recap 015

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to supporters during a campaign rally in Perry, Iowa November 25, 2007. Things are not looking good for Hillary Clinton on the latest Zogby tracker. However, I learned a long time ago not to underestimate Bill or Hillary Clinton.

Things are not looking good for the Hillary Clinton's camp as per the latest Zogby tracker - inserting a legal disclaimer here - I participate on the Zogby polls on the internet and by phone; so, I take the Zogby trackers seriously. The Democratic front-runner is now trailing all five top Republican contenders in the general election match-ups - a big change from this summer when she was leading on every poll.

Now, can you believe this? Barack Obama and John Edwards are still leading the Republicans in hypothetical match-ups of the 2008 presidential election.

Hillary Clinton has been leading the Democratic candidates in national polls in the 2008 primaries. But now she is trailing Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain and - are you sitting tight? - Mike Huckabee. Not only that - she is trailing by 3 to 5 points in a mano-a-mano against the above mentioned Republicans.

During the summer Hillary Clinton was leading John McCain by a couple of points, leading Rudy Giuliani by 5 points, Fred Thompson by 6 points, and Mitt Romney by 10 points. She was not matched against Mike Huckabee back in July because the man was supposed to be out of competition; but he is back and he is now leading Hillary Clinton in a mano-a-mano.

But Hillary Clinton is facing other problems. She is supposed to be invincible, but she is in danger of losing in Iowa - the Caucuses are around the corner, only 5 weeks away - and if she loses in Iowa all bets are off. But, I learned a long time ago - the hard way - not to underestimate a Clinton.

Some of the Democratic Party voters are expressing concerns about Hillary Clinton's electability against the Republican Candidates - in my opinion she will be destroyed by the Republican Attack Machine (RAM) - in the way I see it, the 2008 presidential election is for the Republicans to lose. If the Democratic Party is defeated in the 2008 election it will be their 8th defeat on the last 11 elections, not a record to be proud of.

But let's get back to Hillary Clinton. Some believe Hillary Clinton is running out of gas - not so - she remains a very good candidate. She is surrounded by a bunch of hard-ball players, and I expect to see a lot of dirty tricks coming out of their pockets. Her team is not going to roll over and let her opponents beat her without a dirty fight. I expect to see her shifting to battle mode in the next couple of weeks. It is not going to be pretty.

Oh by the way, my play money remains with The Final Four.

See, I told you so, the primaries and the general election are going to be FUN!

Thanks for reading.


Updated 11/27/2007 at 1130 Pacific - Good cartoon! Click it and expand it.

Books Review: Wise Investing Made Simple

Wise Investing Made Simple, Larry Swedroe's Tales To Enrich Your Future.

As you know by now on The Lowest Rated Blog rule number one is to be as unfair as possible with crooks and liars. But today we will shift style here and will discuss a book written for individual investors and for financial advisors. A couple of Wall Street's crooks and liars are exposed on this book.

I have read Wise Investing Made Simple a couple of times now, and each time I open the book I learn something new.

This book is easy to read, packed with short chapters and good stories to help you rethink about your investment style. If you are looking for a book to show you how to beat the market, then this books is not for you - if this is what you want, then I recommend you continue watching Maria Bartiromo and Jim Cramer on CNBC. But if you are looking for a book that shows you how the markets really work by using plain English, then Wise Investing Made Simple is the book for you.

Larry Swedroe wrote this book with three objectives in mind - to explain how the markets really work, to forever change the way you think about investing and how the markets work, and to provide you with sufficient knowledge to begin to make informed and more prudent investment decisions. In my opinion, all objectives were met or exceeded.

This book makes for the perfect Christmas present for your family and friends.

Political Recap 014 - Updated 11/23/2007

The latest poll from the Associated Press and Yahoo. So, which candidates wins the popularity contest? On the Republican side, Rudy Giuliani wins. On the Democratic side Barack Obama wins. But on a mano-a-mano Barack Obama beats Rudi Giuliani on the popularity contest 54% to 46%.

Updated 11/23/2007 at 0740 Pacific. Holy cow, after eating like a champ yesterday, this morning I had some of the good cheese cake leftovers for breakfast [did I tell you that cheese cake is my favorite?]! It is now time to hit the gym and burn some of those calories! Have a productive Black Friday!

Updated 11/22/2007 at 0645 Pacific. Happy Thanksgiving to YOU and YOUR family. Enjoy the day, and just for today eat as much as you can. Be safe out there.

Glad to be back in action here after a couple of days off. So, let's break the ice by talking Politics. Check this Poll from the Associated Press and Yahoo. Impressions of the 2008 presidential candidates. Check the poll numbers on this question - Who would you vote for today?

Among Democrats:

Hillary Clinton = 48%
Barack Obama = 22%
John Edwards = 12%
Undecided = 12%
All other candidates = 5%

Among Republicans:

Rudy Giuliani = 27%
Fred Thompson = 17%
John McCain = 16%
Mitt Romney = 13%
Mike Huckabee = 10%
Undecided = 13%
All other candidates = 4%

Who would you vote for today? As per those numbers this could be a Rudy Giuliani vs Hillary Clinton contest in November 2008, but we are way too early to declare any of the candidates as their party nominee [well, I can do that by using my crystal ball, but we are still working on it]. Look at the number of undecided on both parties. The candidate winning the undecided voters could win their party nomination.

Now check the poll numbers on this, showing Hillary Clinton is beating everyone to the punch on the following:

Decisive = 72% [Rudy Giuliani is second with 67%]
Strong = 78% [Rudy Giuliani is second with 69%]
Honest = 65% [Barack Obama is second with 64%]
Experienced = 76% [Rudy Giuliani is second with 71%]
Ethical = 67% [Barack Obama is second with 65%]

On those numbers Hillary Clinton is looking good. For a lot of critics this woman was supposed to be out of the race by now, but she continues to lead the pack of presidential candidates on the national polls. Things could get ugly for Hillary Clinton if she is defeated in the Iowa Caucuses and in the New Hampshire Primary [don't laugh, it could happen, we have a long way to go before the gun goes off to officially start the race to the White House].

We continue talking about Hillary Clinton here, as I understand she had a great night at Las Vegas during the latest debate. I was able to watch some of the reviews and candidates Obama and Edwards did not look good at all [at least on the reviews]. Up to this point Hillary Clinton is "not playing the gender card, she is playing the winning card" and her supporters are all smile. But, again, we have a long way to go before the gun goes off.

Thanks for reading! Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

P R E D I C T I O N S 2007 - Review Time - Updated 11/15/2007

Here is the crystal ball. It is time for cfs to conduct crystal ball cleaning prior to the 2008 predictions !!!!

Updated 11/15/2007 at 1050 Pacific:
Placing The Lowest Rated Blog in standby mode for the next couple of days. I will be hitting the road this evening. I will be back prior to Thanksgiving Day. Have a fine blogging weekend!

It is time for a review. Back in March 2007 I posted my infamous predictions for 2007, all based on metaphysics, extrapolation, and the award-winning cfs proprietary guessing indicators. Things are not looking good for my crystal ball and I will have to do some heavy duty cleaning prior to my next set of predictions. Some of the predictions were totally bogus. I will do a final analysis prior to January 1st 2008. You can expect to see my next set of predictions for 2008 sometime next month. As I have said before, Caveat Emptor; do not bet your home on my predictions.

P R E D I C T I O N S 2007

1. DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Citing personal reasons, senator Hillary Clinton surprises everyone by announcing that she will NOT run for president of the United States in 2008. Several DEM insiders will enter the race for president but there will be no clear front runner. The leadership moves full speed ahead with their political platform with the goal of maintaining control of the House and Senate during the 2008 General Elections.

2. REPUBLICAN PARTY. Potential 2008 Presidential Election candidates make their rounds on the Sunday news shows. Senator John McCain announces that he is running for president of the United States and immediately becomes the front runner, and is endorsed by a large number of GOP senators.

3. PRESIDENT BUSH. President Bush continues to suffer on the polls, but works hard on saving his presidency and saving face in Iraq. He is not willing to go down in history as a war loser. He brings back his idea on revamping Social Security with the addition of the personal savings accounts. He continues to work on his plan for non-legal residents working permits.

4. THE ECONOMY. The Bad News Bears continue to run for cover. After a slow start during the months of January and February, the economy is back with a vengeance. Job numbers go up, interest rates remains low, inflation remains under control, investors' sentiment remains up, and Americans will feel good emotionally and economically.

5. MIDDLE EAST PEACE. The mess continues in the Middle East. United States, with the help of our European friends will be fully engaged in the Middle East with the goal of creating the Palestinian State next to Israel, and bringing peace to the war thorn region of Lebanon. Israel will refuse the peace plan because it calls for too many concessions from part of Israel.

6. UNITED STATES TROOPS IN IRAQ. Some of the ISG and pentagon recommendations are reluctantly adopted by potus. We have a new course on the war. Things under control before Christmas 2007. Number of troops in Iraq will be below 100,000 by December 2007. The BWT will get back to using their mantra of "We are making progress in Iraq."

7. IRAQ CIVIL WAR. Things get real ugly after the Iraqi Prime Minister IS KILLED by one of his insiders. But a compromise takes place. Plenty of concessions to members of the insurgency, including some members involved on killing Americans. The Iraqi government officially requests that the United States and the rest of the coalition members LEAVE Iraq by the end of 2008.

8. SADDAM HUSSEIN. Saddam he is already sentenced to death. However, his victims will not have the satisfaction of watching the butcher from Baghdad hanging. Saddam, with the help of Iraqi insiders, will kill himself before the official hanging takes place.

9. AXIS OF EVIL. The rest of the Axis Of Evil continues to violate Nuclear Weapons Laws. The BWT will continue to "Give Diplomacy A Chance" and we see no risk of an armed conflict between the United States and Iran or North Korea in 2007. Iran will continue to push the envelope and will announce that "we are now a nuclear power." Potus will be pressured to act by the rest the hard core conservatives, but based on his lessons learned during his adventure in Iraq, this time potus opts for giving peace a chance.

10. THE MARKET TRIFECTA. We continue to be bullish on the US Market, and we predict a good year for the top Three US Stock Market Indexes. We are going for the GOLD with The DOW, The NASDAQ, and The S&P 500 Indexes making moderate GAINS in 2007.

Okay, we are now in the middle of the month of November and we can say this:

Prediction 1 = totally bogus with zero points
Prediction 2 = half point
Prediction 3 = half point
Prediction 4 = half point
Prediction 5 = half point
Prediction 6 = half point
Prediction 7 = totally bogus with zero points
Prediction 8 = totally bogus with zero points
Prediction 9 = half point
Prediction 10= one point

Thanks for reading !!!

Political Recap 013

Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani shakes hands with Christian Coalition Wacko [CCW] leader Pat Robertson on Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007 in Washington DC.

Updated 11/11/2007 at 0650 Pacific - Today is Veterans Day and I wish all my veteran friends and families a great day! Thanks for your services to this country and thanks for all your sacrifices. You are my heroes! God bless you!

==========

Updated 11/10/2007 at 0830 Pacific - Happy Birthday to my friends and family in the United States Marine Corps! You boys and girls are my heroes. You are the best. God bless you!

==========

Original post

WARNING. Political Satire follows. At The Lowest Rated Blog, rule number one is to be as unfair as possible with crooks an liars. If you don't have a sense of humor stop now and continue listening to Rush or his water boy Hannity.

First a legal disclaimer. The term CCW applies to the leadership of the Christian Coalition and NOT to the cult followers. And now let's move on.

Thanks God is Friday!

In reference to the global war on terrorism and national politics, there is plenty to talk about, however, at the present time "I don't have the time" to do so! I will keep this one short, sweet, and fun.

In reference to national politics, there is no need for any of us to waste our time on the primaries and on the general election in 2008. This week the CCW leader endorsed Rudy Giuliani for president.

It is well known that the CCW leader talks to his GOD on a regular basis. It is well know that all important decisions [by the CCW leader] are based on conversations with his GOD. Based on these facts we can extrapolate that the 2008 election is over and Rudy Giuliani WILL be the next president of the United States.

Have a productive week and thanks for reading!

Political Recap 012

From top to bottom: Mitt Romney [Republican], Mike Huckabee [Republican], John Edwards [Democrat], and Bill Richardson [Democrat].

This is a recap of my final four presidential candidates. Back in March 2007 I posted The Final Four [Primary Predictions]. The below listed presidential candidates are my final four [2 from the Republican Party, 2 from the Democratic Party].

John Edwards
Bill Richardson
Mike Huckabee
Mitt Romney

A couple of days ago I was asked if I have changed my primary predictions. Are you kidding me? No changes as of now, and there will be no changes unless any of the candidates listed above declare a NO MAS quitting the race before crossing the finish line. I do not expect any of my final four to quit [not at least until after the New Hampshire primary]. All of my final four are in good shape with the exception of Bill Richardson. The governor of New Mexico is the candidate with the BEST resume, but he needs to make an upward move on the polls.

As far as the first test in Iowa, things are looking good for Republican candidates Romney and Huckabee [as a matter of facts this duo have a good chance to finish one and two in Iowa]. Also in Iowa, things are looking good for Democratic Candidate Edwards. Bottom line, of my final four the only one needing a push is Richardson, all others are in a good position.

What about the front runners on both parties? If you are to believe the polls and the media hype, then a Hillary Clinton vs Rudy Giuliani contest is inevitable. Are you kidding me? What inevitability? The voters of Iowa and New Hampshire will have a say on this. I see both front runners LOSING on January 3rd 2008 in the Iowa Caucus and LOSING again in the New Hampshire Primary a few days later. A defeat in Iowa is not a big deal, but a defeat in Iowa followed by a defeat in New Hampshire is bad news for any candidate!

Full disclosure. I am one hundred percent Libertarian/Independent. I am not a member of the Republican Party. I am not a member of the Democratic Party. I am not a member of any Political Party. I do not support any of the candidates listed as my final four, or any of the other candidates. But at the end of the day I will vote for the most qualified candidate [however, I will NOT support the two front runners because they are morally corrupt and their nomination will divide this country].

This is my opinion ... what's yours?

The Book-Cover Tag

Phytotherapy of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Evidence-Based and Potentially Useful Botanicals in the Treatment of Cfs. The author is Roberto Patarca-Montero, MD, PhD. I did a search and found various research papers written by this doctor, very interesting but packed with medical terms.

I was tagged by Niki from Japan. And the subject is The Book Cover Tag. The rules for this tag is very simple [after three decades of military service I can follow simple or very complicated rules], go to the advanced search of Amazon dot com, and type your first name in the "Title" field, and post the most interesting/amusing cover that shows up.

Well, this is what I found after entering my name of cfs in the title field:

Phytotherapy of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Evidence-Based and Potentially Useful Botanicals in the Treatment of Cfs.

Okay, so far so good with this tag. I believe that I have "accomplished the mission of the tag" - but let see if we can learn something about the subject of this book! Please continue reading.

Now, the first word of the book title is a fancy one, and I had to do a search to decode it! Saved by Wikipedia! Phytotherapy is the study of the use of extracts from natural origin as medicines of health-promoting agents. Even though phytotherapy is usually regarded as "alternative medicine" in the Western countries, it is as well, when critically carried out, a essential part of modern pharmacognosy.

But, what is and what causes CFS? Saved by the Vermont Department of Health! Chronic fatigue syndrome, or CFS, is a complex illness characterized by profound fatigue that is not improved by bed rest and that may be worsened by physical or mental activity. People with CFS often function at a much lower level of activity than they did before onset of the illness. CFS can also affect memory, cause weakness and muscle pain, and insomnia. The cause or causes of CFS have not been identified. Many different infectious agents, physiologic and psychological causes have been considered. Research centers on the roles the immune, endocrine, and nervous systems may play and how these factors interact. Genetic and environmental factors may also play a role in developing or prolonging the illness.

But how is CFS really treated? Again, saved by the Vermont Department of Health! Since there is no known cure for CFS, treatment is aimed at relieving your symptoms and improving daily function. A combination of drug and non-drug therapies is usually recommended. While some patients with CFS may see improvement over time, full recovery may be rare. Many patients experience skepticism and disbelief from others about their illness. Treating patients with respect and validating their illness may be the single most important therapy that the health care provider can offer.

Note on the above, I included information easy to understand, but for the real deal you can check the Center for Decease Control and Prevention [CDC] web site with a lot of good [technical] information on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Okay, let's go back to the book. As per editorial reviews of this book, it presents information about the uses of herbal medications for the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome. Discusses the potential and proven CFS-related benefits and adverse effects of well-known botanicals and lesser-known herbs.

Thanks Niki for the tag. By taking care of the book-cover tag, I have learned something new. You are never too senior to learn.

And now I am tagging YOU the reader of this interesting post. YOU can click on the link to the Amazon dot com site listed above, on the "title" field place your name and let's see what you come up with, and if feasible please share with us in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

Cristiano-Fascist Groups

This cartoon is not related to the Cristiano-Fascist Groups, but it is a funny one!

What is wrong with this picture? Because of my writings about "Islamo-fascism" I was challenged sometime ago by a poster on another forum to write about "Cristiano-fascism." I was under the impression that there was not such a thing. But then I found a group of religious cult wackos on a television news program, and this group qualifies as a fascist bunch. The group is the "Westboro Baptist Church" from Kansas. I will refer to this group as CFWs [Cristiano-Fascist Wackos].

This CFW group is routinely picketing funerals of military personnel killed in action in Iraq or Afghanistan. This group of CFWs pickets military funerals because they believe that the war in Iraq is a punishment for our tolerance of homosexuality! But why do we allow this to happen? Well, this CFW group hides behind the First Amendment, which guarantees "freedom of speech and religion."

This is from the Anti-Defamation League. Since the summer of 2005 the Topeka, Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), led by Fred Phelps, has been picketing funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, with placards reading "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Thank God for IEDs [improvised explosive devices]," while shouting epithets at grieving parents. Phelps believes that the soldiers represent a nation tolerant of homosexuality, and their deaths are God's direct punishment for their sins.

Let me be clear about this "freedom of speech" issue, here in "Fighter Town USA" we would not allow this to happen. I dare this CFW group or any other cult to come to a military funeral at Camp Pendleton, Miramar, Coronado, North Island, or around a Naval Base here in San Diego and try to picket a military funeral for one of our bravest killed in action. It is not going to happen, the group would not leave the area in one piece.

But the end could be near for this CFW group. Early this week, a jury in Maryland awarded the father of a Marine killed in action nearly 11 million dollars. The grieving father won the case against these CFWs. The father of the Marine sued the "Westboro Baptist Church" after the CFWs demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, who was killed in Iraq. In the morning the jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. The jury then came back in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress.

Good job by Maryland's justice system! I doubt this CFW bunch will pay a penny in damages, but at least the jury sent a "loud and clear" message to the "Westboro Baptist Church" and to every other wacko group out there. And, oh, by the way, the web site operated by this CFW bunch is very busy lately. Early this week the web site was not accessible [possible crash due to all the hits]. Yesterday I noticed the site up and running, with the visitor counter displaying more than 5.3 million visitors. Before I close, let me say this; there is a big difference between the typical Islamo-fascist group and the typical Cristiano-fascist group!

Thanks for reading.