Simmering Beneath the Surface
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Another sign of a growing economy
To me I find it interesting that not enough people watch the coming and goings of the transportation market. You want to know how well the economy is performing, look at the transports. If trucks are empty or not moving, that means nobody is buying and selling.
That being said, I take this as good news for the economy:
Yellow Roadway triples Q4 profit (YELL) By Jim JelterSAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Trucking company Yellow Roadway Corp. (YELL) reported late Thursday adjusted fourth-quarter operating income of $107 million, or $1.24 cents a share, up from $34 million a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected the company to post per-share earnings of $1.22. The report gave the first combined results for the company since Roadway Express merged with Yellow Transportation. Revenue for the quarter totaled $1.77 billion, up from $903 million a year earlier. Shares of the Overland Park, Kan.-based company closed $1.17 higher at $53.19 ahead of the report.
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
al-Zarqawi declares war on democracy
So, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has declared war on democracy . Who knew?
Seriously, does he really think that he can create any sympathy for his cause when he says things like, "We have declared a bitter war against the principle of democracy and all those who seek to enact it..."
What a knucklehead.
Oh, and you've got to love the latest on Iraqi voter turnout. 72.4% of eligible Iraqi voters said they would vote in the upcoming election.
Uhm, let me think about this......yep, that's a higher percentage that what turned out for the last US Presidential election. Wonder why we haven't read this in the mainstream media (scoff!!)
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Pacific Alliance: The Big Four
Really good post by Colin May of EuroSoc about the significance of the alliance put together by the US, Australia, India, and Japan, to deal with the tsunami disaster.
http://www.eursoc.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/697
Back on April 11, 2004, I posted an idea that the US should consider a deeper military alliance with India, and begin to disengage with our European counterparts. Glad to see I wasn't some crazy man wandering in the wilderness.
If you have read Kagan's book Of Power and Paradise what May states makes a lot of sense. Europe is largely pacified and is increasingly becoming more militarily irrelevant.
I would like to read more of May's thoughts on Japan and whether it can increase it's stature outside of being an economic power. I have felt for sometime that we should encourage Japan to take the training wheels off of the Japanese Defense Forces. Yes, I understand the constitutional implications for Japan. That's why constitutional amendments exist. Not that a change will be easy as a change would also mean a cultural shift for the Japanese people.
Sorry, broke my crayon. Nothing to write with.
Its been way too long since the last post.
The irony was that I started this blog so that I could get the ideas/thoughts that roll through my brain out in the open. I thought I would be cathartic, cleansing, releasing, but ironically it wasn't.
Odd, but the 2004 elections were emotionally and creatively draining. After reading about the election debates, I would get home at night and just not want to think about the elections anymore. My mind was made up, the choice was obvious, and I just couldn't understand how people saw things differently. Still don't, but thankfully some on the left have pointed out how pathetic Kerry was as a candidate. Kerry was nuanced?!?! That's another way of saying he was "without foundational principles".
