Nearly $700 Million Vanishes into Thin Air

Former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine's MF Global is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to FOX News. So by any reasonable interpretation, this firm is facing a crisis that threatens its very existence, having lost $192 million in the past quarter and having seen a 60% drop in the value of its shares. Buying up all those European bonds could have made money if the slacker nations got their act together, but since there is no end in sight to the financial morass that is the European Union, these bonds have collectively become a giant millstone that could drag down MF Global with it. The New York Times' Dealbook adds another complication: federal investigators are looking into the probability that this company is unable to account for up to $700 million of its investors' money.

UPDATE: As though Gov. Corzine didn't have problems enough, now a NorthJersey.com/AP article quotes Craig Donohue, the head of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, who said that MF Global violated rules designed to safeguard its clients' money.

This Is What Happens to Black Men Who Try to Escape from the Plantation

Politico has broken a news story about Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain that reminds one of the allegations leveled against Clarence Thomas when he was undergoing the confirmation process for a seat on the Supreme Court. Mr. Cain has wasted no time rushing to his own defense. Meanwhile, at PJ Media, Roger Simon has come to Cain's defense, referring to this scandal-of-the-week as a "high-tech lynching."

The Worth of Zombies

Just in time for Halloween: an article from MSNBC.

"Zombies may be the walking undead, but their contribution to Main Street’s economy is very much alive. In modern times, the zombie genre has evolved from a cult following to a highly popular theme. 24/7 Wall St. estimates that the today’s zombie genre economy is worth billions of dollars.

"Think way beyond zombie movie ticket sales. Think about DVD sales, video games, comic books, novels, Halloween costumes, zombie walks, merchandise, conventions and even zombie art. Add to that all of the websites, homemade movies, Facebook sites, YouTube sites and other forms of 'digital' zombies, not to mention music. And if you think the financial tab has been high so far, by the end of 2012 the tab is going to be far larger...."

Hiatus

To my loyal readers: There may be a break from tomorrow (Tuesday, 25 October) to Sunday (30 October),as I will be traveling to Orlando, FL to attend the Alternatives Conference. If I have access to an Internet computer, and find juicy news stories to bring to your attention, then I will do so.

Gov. Jindal Wins Second Term in Landslide

NOLA.com informs us that Republican Governor Bobby Jindal crushed the opposition in last Saturday's election. This will be his last gubernatorial election, as the office is term-limited. The Republicans also did well in the legislative races, although they still lack a two-thirds majority needed to enact truly sweeping measures.

Aha! We Have Found One Redeeming Feature of the Occupy Wall Street Protests

Source: Doug Ross @ Journal.

7.2 Magnitude Earthquake Strikes Eastern Turkey

This region knows only too well the death and destruction that earthquakes can cause. Earlier today, according to a CNN article, an earthquake struck Van and Ercis, Turkey and the surrounding area causing the collapse of not less than 55 buildings. The death toll at last count was 138, with more bodies likely to be found.

UPDATE: There are 270 confirmed dead and up to 1,300 injured from the earthquake, says the Telegraph (U.K.).

285 Indian Girls Shed Names That Mean "Unwanted" in Hindi

An AP/Yahoo article highlights a type of gender discrimination that would be considered incomprehensible by Americans. In the Satara district in Maharashtra state, nearly 300 girls gladly gave up the names "Nakusa" or "Nakushi," which mean "unwanted" in Hindi, and took on new names they chose for themselves in a public ceremony.

Sort of Like, Declaring Victory and Pulling Out

CNN has an article and video of President Obama's announcement that all U.S. troops will leave Iraq by the end of December. This comes as no surprise, as he had been looking for a way to pull out of that country even before he was elected. No doubt this decision will meet with mixed reviews - while the level of violence has declined, and most Iraqis recognize that it up to them to end Muslim-on-Muslim violence, nevertheless they may not be strong enough to keep obvious threats such as Iran, Turkey, and Syria at bay. The possibility remains that the country may split into at least 3 pieces.

84 Banks Bite the Dust So Far in 2011; Bank of America Teetering

This is not to spread alarm or panic among our readers, but the so-called "recovery" cannot be labeled as such when there are still so many bank failures, as reported in the Washington Post, which says that this is at least an improvement over 2010, when 139 banks failed by October.

Before It's News has issued an advisory that the bank to watch (being one of the world's largest) is Bank of America.

"We’ve received numerous emails from readers regarding this most recent development with Bank of America, and we’re seeing the report from Washington’s Blog spreading like wildfire across alternative media like The Daily Crux and The Intel Hub. Why? Because this is big news. Really big. One of the oldest banking institutions in America is now on the brink of total insolvency. The only way to for them to be saved at this point is to take billions of dollars in losses and force those losses to be covered by the U.S. taxpayer or innocent account holders. If you’re an account holder, it might be time to reconsider your allegiance, because in the near future you may be dealing with the FDIC instead of a BofA customer service representative.

"Bloomberg reports that Bank of America is dumping derivatives onto a subsidiary which is insured by the government – i.e. taxpayers...."

"I'll Have Whatever He's Drinking"

Investor's Business Daily chronicles one of the most incredible statements from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:

"The massive layoffs we’ve had in America today—of course, they’re rooted in the last administration—and it’s very clear that private sector jobs are doing just fine.

"It's the public sector jobs where we’ve lost huge numbers, and that's what this legislation’s all about. And it's unfortunate my friend the Republican Leader is complaining about that."

Those millions of Americans laid off from private sector jobs will no doubt feel heartened by Senator Reid's confidence in the vibrancy of today's jobs markets where other millions have given up even seeking employment.

Let's take a quick peek inside Harry's 'just fine' casino math: Federal government employees now total 2,128 million, up 13.5% the last two years under Obama. Private sector jobs last month were 109.349 million, down 2.5 million under Obama's rule....

Obama's Billion-Dollar Re-Election Campaign Stiffs Artists

President Obama is the gift that keeps on giving. In addition to traveling at government expense whenever possible to deliver campaign speeches, a Daily Caller article brings up the point that artists are expected to design "support American jobs" posters for free, with their compensation being an autographed print of their poster. The terms of this design competition are stingy to the max: all proceeds will go to the re-election campaign, and artists grant an unrestricted unpaid irrevocable license for every poster submitted - in other words, they lose all rights to their designs.

Obama Bites the Hand That Feeds Him

Breitbart's Big Government mentions a fact that does not come as a surprise to us: despite receiving more money from Wall Street than all the Republican presidential candidates combined, President Obama has endorsed the Occupy Wall Street protesters.

The article goes on to say that Obama's re-election campaign will attempt to divert public attention from this embarrassing state of affairs by launching an all-out attack on Romney and other candidates. This appears to be a safe prediction to make.

Gaddafi Reportedly Killed or Captured

This is still in the "unconfirmed rumor" stage, but Reuters and other news sources are starting to say that ex-dictator Muammar Gaddafi may have died of his wounds or at least fallen in rebel hands while making a last-ditch effort at resistance in his hometown, Sirte. Now Libyans are dancing in the streets over this breakthrough in their revolt.

UPDATE: ABC News has just announced that Gaddafi was cornered and killed, and that Sirte has fallen to the rebels today.

"Son of Stuxnet" May Pose a Threat to Industrial Computers

Allahpundit is one of the first to report that this new virus, called Duqu, could be even more devastating to more countries than Stuxnet, which was targeting the Iranian nuclear program. Like a crafty spy, it infiltrates a computer, opens a backdoor, collects keystrokes and downloads files, and self-destructs in 36 days. McAfee provides more technical details on this worm, as does Symantec. Fortunately, few computers have been infected at this time.

Wild Animals on the Loose in Central Ohio

FOX News/AP reports that as many as 48 animals had been released by their owner, Terry Thompson of the Muskingum County Animal Farm. Sheriff's deputies killed most of them during the night, but a few remain at large. A CNN article provides the additional detail that Thompson probably killed himself after opening the cages. Jack Hanna of the Columbus Zoo explained in a video that they had no choice but to shoot the wayward animals because the safety of the human population came first and it would have been impossible to use tranquilizer darts at night.

Go Ahead, Laugh - It's Good for You

Nothing infuriates a tyrant or wannabe dictator as much as the spectacle of people laughing at him. Courtesy of LMAObama.com.

With Deepest Gratitude

Thank you for over 50,000 site visits! Because of the rise in the number of readers in recent months, I feel obligated to post news stories on this blog more frequently, and to increase the number of sources that "Bloodthirsty Warmonger" draws from.

The Sin of Rehoboam

I recommend you turn to your Bibles and read the 12th chapter of 1 Kings to see history repeating itself. King Rehoboam ignored his older and wiser counselors and took the advice of the young men who had grown up with him, who were telling the king what he wanted to hear. He told his people, "My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised [tortured] you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions [a type of whip equipped with points like a scorpion's tail]." Ten out of the twelve tribes of Israel decided they had enough and set up the kingdom of Israel under the leadership of Jeroboam.

In our own day, Lurita Doan at Townhall.com describes how President Obama has appointed White House staffers who lack experience but are rabidly loyal to him, with predictable results.

"In April of 2009, President Obama made a key decision to dramatically expand and extend the role of White House Staffers, giving them the power and responsibility to intervene in just about every decision throughout the federal government. Though hardly noticed at the time, Obama directed that Office of the White House Public Liaison be renamed as the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, headed by his friend and political confidant, Valerie Jarrett. The many new Liaisons were recruited from the most fervent young campaign workers, all of whom were fervent Obama supporters, but who had limited experience in government or in the work of the many agencies in which they would be imbedded.

"Inevitably, these new, young and inexperienced White House Liaison officers too often redirected the work of career government servants to meet more expedient political needs of the Obama Administration. The result has been a disaster...."

EDITOR'S NOTE: Even in the Army, which has never been a democracy, I have seen autocratic officers and senior enlisted Soldiers make themselves irrelevant by resorting to threats and coercion too frequently. If people cannot work with them, they will work around them.

Horse Soldiers of Afghanistan to Be Honored with a Monument near Ground Zero

It's nice to report a good-news story from the Daily Caller about the Special Forces Soldiers who helped topple the Taliban regime - on horseback.

"It was the news the world breathlessly waited for immediately after the 9/11 terror attacks: a report of the first American troops on the ground in Afghanistan.

"All at once the world’s attention focused on an iconic photo of those Special Operations Forces doing something no American military had done in nearly a century: They rode horses into combat.

"Their secret mission: secure northern Afghanistan by advising the warring tribal factions that formed the Northern Alliance. During the 2011 Veterans Day Parade on November 11, a new monument to these men — and to all Americans in uniform — will make its way down New York City’s famed Fifth Avenue on the way to its final home, a stone’s throw from Ground Zero...." [a 6-1/2 min. video accompanies this article]