Let’s take a quick turn around the old attic of the mind and clear some cobwebs and peek into those dark corners of memory and reflections on the world of today.

How long did it take you to do that special Halloween decoration the little lady wanted for the front of the house? Why is they always seem to think you can do these creations in a few minutes and that you will have fun doing it? My miserable looking scarecrow took a total of five hours and two trips to Home Depot and one to the drug store and no, I did not have fun. But it makes them happy and she lied and said how good it looked. Just think you are only a couple more weeks away from starting on the Thanksgiving lay out and then on to Christmas decorations.

Would you want BO or Biden in a foxhole with you when the bullets were flying? BO would never fire his weapon and want to negotiate and let the bad guys know how much he loves them in spite of the incoming fire. Biden, my Lord those shiny teeth would be a dead give away to the enemy, drawing fire like the bees to the hive. Give me Clint any day.

The Federal Reserve now controls about 20% of our GDP and is buying about 75% of all the new debt issued by the Treasury with freshly printed dollars. If you read the international news you may have noticed that Bernancke not only has critics at home but the international finance community last week had some pretty harsh criticism of his printing mania and machine. Some may think he is the smartest guy in the room but do they really believe he is the smartest guy in the world?

In spite of last year’s agreement to increase the national debt limit to a depressing and eye-popping 16.3 trillion we are already within less than two hundred billion of reaching that limit. It might well happen before year end. One more headache in addition to the fiscal cliff we are approaching. The debt limit has been lost somehow in the current political debate. That is too bad for all of us because we need to know the intentions of the politicos regarding our unsustainable debt.

One must wonder if Alsace and Lorraine in eastern France are still happy to be part of the French nation. They have floated back and forth over the centuries between German and French control. Some in the area still speak

German more than French. Would you rather be living in the German economy or the French? Well, sometimes you get leadership and nationhood remorse. But they can dine well, that is if they can afford it.

A123 battery filed for Chapter 11 this week. That is another crony renewable outfit that has bit the dust after taking hundreds of millions in grant money from the current administration. They have all kinds of excuses for why things haven’t worked out. The bottom line those is success or no. Does the administration have even one real success story for its renewable energy program of government “investment” and government central planning? Remember that A123 and Solyndra were celebrated by BO as huge success stories at one time but the congratulations were premature. Maybe you have noted that people are much more careful and thoughtful when they have their own money at risk rather than playing with other people’s’ money–in this case our money. The investment was made not by us though but by politicians. Would you have allowed your 401 or IRA money to have been invested in such ventures? If the answer is no then why would you tolerate the government doing it?

Democrats often criticize Republicans for spending on defense items. They reference Reagan’s large increase in defense spending and his SDI program (strategic defense initiative, Star Wars) and that he didn’t fully pay for it. Well, those decisions of Reagan directly resulted in us finally winning the Cold War and the consequential “peace dividend”. Clinton benefited from that peace dividend to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars in savings and in fact we still are. The Democrats were vicious in their attacks on Reagan at the time. Thank God he stood firm.

You will hear regularly that big oil has so many special tax breaks and tax loopholes working in their favor. What they are talking about is the depletion allowance for oil and gas wells. It is not really a mystery or hard to understand why they get to take that deduction from income. If you had a landscaping company and bought a truck for your business you would get to depreciate the value of the truck over a period of years because the value of the truck would decline with age. It is the same for an oil and gas well. As you pump the oil or gas out the amount remaining is diminished. No well last forever, each one has a finite limit. Just like you with your truck that get to take a deduction for that depletion of the well as it ages. It is an ordinary business expense like any other. It is ok if you don’t like the oil companies for whatever reason but don’t argue they get “special” breaks any different from any other company like Apple or Google for all their hardware purchases they depreciate.

The British Meteorological Office recently reported that world temperatures have remained the same for the last 15 years. There is a very thoughtful and comprehensive article in The Mail from last week you can look up. You should regardless of your position on global warming. It is rather long but worth the read. It doesn’t take a position really but does rely more on actual data for the article rather than so much interpretation. It also noted as was mentioned here that while the Arctic ice field is reduced at the moment the Antarctic ice fields are at record highs.

Is there any tool more useful and used more than the common pocket knife? When I was a kid virtually every man carried a small pocket knife. Not many do today but guess they are carry a Leatherman in the glove box of the car.

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” Thomas Paine, patriot pamphleteer, 1776 http://www.oldcranky.wordpress.com