For the record, I have not signed the petition; instead, I wrote my own version of the letter to the people involved. Individual letters have more, not less, weight than petition signatures. No, I'm not doing both, and I have my reasons, but don't feel the need to go into them. Regardless, I do not think there are significant numbers of people like me in this matter (why would this matter be any different) so I don't think whatever "we" there might be here are distorting your overall response numbers.

But to the point: I could say more about the raw numbers and the effectiveness of political action - and I do not overstate it when I say I have had a lot of experience in such matters - but it may and may not make you feel better to know that your response rate is, quite frankly, pretty good, based on the numbers you're throwing around in the video. It's sad that it's true, but it is true. And yes, that's comparing against political populations who were in positions at least as personally important.

I'm not going to get any more specific in a public forum, and quite frankly, it's kind of depressing anyway. But there it is, for what it's worth; your numbers actually aren't that bad, compared to similar efforts. (They're better than many.) You know how you say, you play the tape you have, rather than the tape you want? It's not just true in finance.

Clearly, you need to step back; accordingly, you should. Go take a break, relax, make some more money and do other things that don't***** you off. And never forget...



...there is always someone wrong on the Internet. ^_^

back to today's technical for just a minute-- dumb question-- what the hell is that pink line on the charts? Thanks.

+1 confirmed.

Thanks for giving a ****, KD.

Signed both petitions when they first came out. I like to hear both sides of the story, especially when it comes to whether different markets (equities, bonds, commodities et al) will go up or down short term.

**** you.

When 9-11 hit I joined the Army. Where the **** were you?

Whine: "Oh but the fat pigs are stealing from the children!" The only kids worth saving are the ones coming home in coffins. I'd say your a little ****ing late to the party.

What a bunch of lazy leech**** bull****. "Oh look honey, I got a billion people to sign a stupid ****ing piece of paper! I have done MY part to make the world a better place! Look at all my self-sacrifice and hard work!"

Bull****.

Ya, I signed your petitions back when they first came out.

But if you think for a second you have made any real effort to change things then you are fooling yourself.


Step up or shut up.

Blastum - Congrats on joining up. Why don't you go back? The only kides worth saving are coming back in coffins draped in flags? Sounds like they might have needed "saving" prior to the sacrifice. Don't get self righteous that your path is the only way to protect liberty. We haven't fought a non-discretionary war since WWII, and all the ribbons, flags, and patriotism can't cover the stench of more resource wars that fail in every proposed aspect of quantitative or qualitative analyses. Your service is most definitely an example of patriotism, but there are more ways to be patriotic than waving a ****ing gun around in the sand. Last I checked, every Vet still wants to come home to the land of the (previously) free and home of the brave...

Karl - You gotta do what you gotta do. I am a loyal reader, signer of the petitions, et. al. The best part of the day is ignoring my job for a few hours and learning what is going on around me in relation to economics/investing/politics/etc. However, your efforts to enlighten and change the situation we all live in should not cause you tsoris...if anything, like Bubba says, ya do what you can at the edge of the milky way. It seems there are a few cardinal lessons you preach, applicable to anyone, regardless of the size of the group in question, from individual, to partnership, to family, to community, to state, all the way up to species. Live debt free, invest in the people around you, make some positive change in the world, and learn how to be self sufficient in thought, word, and deed. Most will never understand that the values and principles that you (from my perspective) hold highest, because finance and investment are only two applications of the greater whole.

I very much respect your knowledge, and couldn't imagine having found a comparable education anywhere else, for free no less. I don't know if things will change for the better in America. I hope they do, as I am on the precipice of starting my first business, but whatever happens, nobody can ever say they weren't told where the fault lines were. Lastly, it is gratifying to find a place where there are still some voices of logic and critical thinking available for discussion. Good luck in all you do, and thanks for being a teacher, even if you were unaware that you were teaching. I take good knowledge where an when I find it, and I found some here. Thanks.

Blastum,

I can't agree with you. I, too, have an honorable discharge, mine from a different era and a different war. I don't think that discharge is the only valid badge of patriotism a person can have.

Does it make sense for a single parent with a young child to join the service? Who's going to take care of that child? Isn't the future, as represented by children, what we really "fight" for? So they can continue to enjoy the freedoms that we currently have?

Making use of our First Amendment rights is important. Talk isn't always cheap. The pen is often mightier than the sword.

Karl is exercising a basic American right. By not shutting up he is stepping up.

I'm a relative novice here; I make no bones about that: I'm learning all the time from forum members and, indeed, from KD's superb daily tickers. I would dearly love to the sign the petition but am not a US citizen. Anyhow, I respect KD's feelings and am more than willing to admit that a forum devoid of a Technical Ticker will indeed be my (our?) loss. This is still a super forum. I/We DO appreciate all the hard work you have put in. Thanks KD :)

I do apologize. I should not spew my venom on those that are at least trying to do something about the lies and corruption.

Going to DC and waving a banner around shouting a few slogans; or writing a petition...these things do not compare with the actions of those that came forward after 9-11.

Comparing the two is disrespectful.

For what it's worth, I sent letters to my congressman and senators about two weeks ago and have now signed the petition. Thanks, Karl, for your analysis and for making a difference.

So, change through joining the arm services is the only "real" way to be a patriot? Fighting on behalf of two political parties that would rather see someone like myself dead rather than working to better myself adn those around me? Again, I respect your service, but my life and future is more valuable and important to me than fighting for some nebulous cause both ill defined and wrongly articulated. Those that came forward post 9/11 are brave. Those that attempt change through political action are brave. Those who simply try to coexist in a world where differences demarcate the line between enemies within a homogenous group are themselves termed "unpatriotic?"

Service to a cause can be righteous, but denying that service can take many forms is simply naive. If every group action takes many kinds of service from many different individuals, defining one act as more important than another is an ideological excercise in futility. If we don't all wise up to what it means to be responsible for our actions, none of it will matter in the long run anyway.

A cause espoused by professional liars and cheats is no cause. Obama, Clinton, McCain, or even RP are not going to pay your bills or mine. None of the pols will feed us, or help us find jobs/work. They are doing what they can for themselves, irregardless of anything else because politics is simply a watch word for keeping the lineage of power and control status quo. No more, no less. Four years from now, the names will be different, and four years later, the names will be different still. We as individuals must learn to critically think through each and every action we take, and in this case, I understand the social mechanisms of censorship well enough to realize that when someone starts with belittling others based solely on the proximity of finger to trigger, the problems are not close to being solved.

I won't waste anymore of anyone's time on this subject, but I would leave things thusly. Killing, no matter how large the scale, will not, can not, solve these problems. Whatever the problem, killing will not solve it. Humans are probobly capable of solving any problem that arises. Truth is, we don't know if we are willing, let alone capable of fixing a system so clearly problematic and fractured. Good luck to all.

I think it is a waste of time to complain to our representatives. The problem is money, and that others with different agendas who have more money, power, ownership, control, etc... are always going to win. So long as the game revolves around money, the cards are stacked against us ordinary folk.

So I don't want to work within the system, I want the system to fail and be replaced by something better. At first I exited the markets and banks (and bought food) out of fear, but now I'm doing it out of a desire to be free.

Burn Rome burn.

-heck

You're wrong Heck.

As I've explained in the other thread on this, if you get off your ass and show up in DC in a nice suit (make an appointment), along with about 100 others (NOT coordinated - just go do it) you'll see something amazing happen.

Money is great and its what politicians run on, but in the end, money doesn't vote.

People vote.

If you'll spend $1,000 to go to DC, will you spend $1,000 to buy signa in the next election and plaster them all over town?

And what happens if you do?

THAT is the calculus that goes on in Washington DC. All else is secondary.

They lied to start a war. Voting didn't help then, and it sure as hell won't do a damn thing now.

I'd like to believe; but I just don't. Sounds like a fairytale.

Blastum - Something we agree on! However, if you acknowledge that the war was started on a dishonest premise, why on earth should we fight it?

Genesis,

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe you're right. I've come to realize that there is very little that I know by direct first hand experience, and the majority of what "I know" is just a set of beliefs based on what someone else told me.

don't argue about the war on an investing forum

Well Heck I've got direct experience with this..... take it for what you think its worth, do or don't, its up to you.

But its also up to me whether I continue to hand out fish, and the "no mas" sign is going to show up more and more often if I'm doing nothing other than shouting into the wilderness.

At some point you either pick up a rod or you get used as bait.

I signed up because I actually believed that a madman had WMD and planned to use them. I signed on to defend the country.

Never again.

If the WMD lies did not cause enough political fallout to change anything, then I have serious reservations that any kind of political activism will.

I will keep signing petitions, and voting. But no more than that. I'm too tired.

Heck wrote..

I've come to realize that there is very little that I know by direct first hand experience, and the majority of what "I know" is just a set of beliefs based on what someone else told me.

Bless you Heck, that is the beginning of true wisdom. If more people looked to their own world of the moment -- "trading the tape they have" -- instead of stewing in stories and beliefs and resentment about the way things are and the way they should have been, what a beautiful world our children would inherit.

The belief that you are powerless is just as much an arbitrary story as anything else you've heard. There's no need to hold onto that belief.

Gen,

after reading some of these posts (a few good ones). I dont blame you for going about your business. I am glad to see that these are some of the people I trade against. So easy for some to sit on the net and complain. I dont entirely agree with Blast, but he served so I have to listen to his opinion, he deserves space.

About the Ticker: you thought about making it shorter? 40 mins of TA for free? These guys dont know what they are getting. I subscribed to Dennis Gartmans newsletter for awhile, it is very good, but its written and $400 a month! these guys need to thank you or go somplace else. **** em' I dont have time for whinners.

Sondergaard,

Bless you too, however I do not think I am powerless. Rather I think that I have mistakenly given my power over to bankers, lawyers and politicians... and that they've abused it. So I'm taking it back by unplugging from the system, and making myself as free and independent as possible. We are so conditioned to place value on money and set our goals around it, but it is really just a concept in our heads.

P.S. Sorry, I know this is an investing forum, and that my opinion is probably crazy by comparison. Thank you Genesis for providing a place to stay informed without the mainstream filter.

Ryche,
I read Dennis Gartman every day, and he happens to be a friend with whom i share market (and other) views from time to time. His work "is what it is", but it doesn't come close to being a helpful trading tool such as Karl's daily missives. The two are just not comparable...and no, i don't pay directly for Dennis' work, nor would i. Karl's on the other hand, now there is (was?) a useful money making product.

ted

Tbear,

Yes i agree Dennis is very good as i said and u r right, he and Karl's TA are completly different. I was just trying to emphasize what good anaylis can cost out there in the world. Tell Dennis, he is quite good on Fast Money.

Im new around here but still signed, I hope you keep the daily blog up, it was part of my afternoon routine to watch it.