Surprise! Congress is trading on inside information

That insider trading in Washignton occurs with a greater frequency than at Galleon is no secret. Courtesy of various loopholes, members of both the House and Senate have long been allowed to trade on inside information, something that grabbed the media's attention when back in November 2005 someone, somewhere sent the stock of USG Corp., W.R. Grace & Co., and Crown Holdings higher even though there was no public information. Only later would it become known that then-Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist would deliver a speech announcing new legislation to relieve companies of asbestos litigation. Subsequent studies (such as Ziobrowski et al's 2004 paper “Abnormal Returns from the Common Stock Investments of the United States Senate.”) confirmed substantial market outperformance by members of Senate. A few days ago, Ziobrowski et al, have released a follow up study "Abnormal Returns From the Common Stock Investments of Members of the U.S. House of Representatives" which confirms that not only do congressional critters consistently outperform the market, but does a granular analysis of just who it is in congress that should consider leaving the public arena, and raising capital to start their own hedge fund: simply said, junior, democratic congressmen beat the market by roughly the same amount, with the same consistency (and probably with the same Sharpe ratio) that allows SAC to charge 3% and 35%.

In a nutshell, the latest stereotype is that if one is a junior democrat in Congress, and one trades for their own discretionary account, one most likely is doing so using insider information.

From the authors:

Memorial Day: We Honor Warriors While Surrendering Our Civilization

If you live in the Western World, the debt you owe to brave men who died fighting for our principles is huge. Their sacrifice in armed conflict allowed enterprise and self rule to flourish, lifting the lives of billions of people toward a hopeful future. We speak proudly of our fallen heroes -- as well we should -- honoring those who gave their lives for our freedom.

But what have the citizens of the West done with that most precious gift, one so often described as a debt that can't be repaid? The very civilizations saved by the heroics of our warriors have surrendered -- to a statist tyranny of enormous size. Our citizens will soon know the true cost of our failed vigilance, as we pay for the gigantic theft by our sovereign leaders, with a debt-fueled collapse that will most likely be chaotic.

Theft too strong a word? Not really. You see, every penny, yen, or euro a government spends (or promises to spend) it simply doesn't have. Governments must get the money they spend -- from us, the citizens. When governments believe they won't get permission from the citizens to take their money (by taxing them one and all), governments steal it -- in the West by currency inflation, or by borrowing the money from future taxpayers. The tyranny of such obligations appears soft and manageable at first, but make no mistake: years of deceitful promises and spending of borrowed money add up to a theft of staggering proportions.

Examine the size of the Western world's obligations

“Although Victorious, the 26th North Carolina Was Virtually Destroyed”

“All the men were up at once and ready, every officer at his post, Col. [Henry] Burgwyn in the centre, Lieut. Col. [John R.] Lane on the right, Major [John T.] Jones on the left. At the command “Forward March!,” all to a man stepped off, apparently as willing and as proudly as if they were on review. The enemy at once opened fire, killing and wounding some…The enemy’s artillery on our right got an enfilade fire. Our loss was frightful. But our men crossed [Willoughby’s Run] in good order and immediately were in proper position again, and up the hill we went firing now with better execution.” (John R. Lane, Address at Gettysburg, 1905)

“Their advance was not checked, and they came on in rapid strides, yelling like demons. The Confederates overpowered the Nineteenth Indiana, striking on both flanks. [The enemy] left was then exposed to an enfilading fire and was forced to fall back. [Near the western crest of McPherson’s Ridge], the Twenty-fourth Michigan fought desperately but the Twenty-sixth North Carolina would not be denied.

As Lane later recalled, “the engagement was becoming desperate, It seemed as if the bullets were as thick as hailstones in a storm. At this time the colors have been cut down ten times, the color guard all killed or wounded. We have now struck the second line of the enemy where the fighting is fiercest and the killing is deadliest. Suddenly, Captain W.W. McCreery, Assistant Inspector General of the Brigade, rushes forward to Col. Burgwyn.

He bears him a message. “Tell him,” says General [James Johnston] Pettigrew, “his regiment has covered itself with glory today.” Delivering these encouraging words, Capt. McCreery…seizes the fallen flag, waves it aloft and advancing to the front, is shot through the heart and falls, bathing the flag in his life’s blood. Lieut. George Wilcox of Company H, now rushes forward, and pulling the flag from under the dead hero, advances with it. In a few steps he also falls with two wounds – not fatal – in his body.”

Read more at: Gettysburg, The First Day.

North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission

"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"

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"No Man Can Take Those Colors and Live"

26th North Carolina
Colonel Henry King Burgwyn, Jr., Lt. Col. John R. Lane, Sgt. Jefferson Mansfield, and Pvt. John Vinson Pettigrew’s Brigade - Heth’s Division - Hill’s Corps

The 26th North Carolina Regiment started the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg with 800 men. By sunset, 588 of them were either dead or wounded. Yelling like demons, they had courageously charged and taken the formidable federal position on Seminary Ridge. Fourteen colorbearers in the 26th were shot down in succession. One of them was 21 year old Henry King Burgwyn, the youngest colonel in the Confederate army, who stained the flag with his blood as he fell wrapped in it’s folds.

Within seconds a bullet entered his heart and the officer pitched forward drenching the standard with his blood. Lt. George Wilcox pulled the blood soaked flag from underneath Mcreery’s lifeless form and pushed ahead into the maelstrom. After a few steps, two rounds pierced his chest, but he survived.

Fearing that his troops might falter at this critical juncture Burgwyn seized the flag staff from Wilcox. With his outstretched sword in one hand and the flag in the other, he ordered the regiment to "Dress on the colors". Mortally wounded Col. Burgwyn is said to have whispered, "I know my gallant men will do their duty. Where is my sword?" Then he was gone.

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Fourteen different color bearers from the 26th North Carolina, including their "boy colonel", Henry Burgwyn had been killed or grievously wounded holding aloft the regiment's colors.

Despite suffering enormous casualties in their fight with the 24th Michigan and the rest of the Iron Brigade, Lt. Col. J.R. Lane lifted the flag once more and yelled, "twenty-sixth, follow me!" The fight for Herbst Woods proved to be the bloodiest regimental fight in the Civil War's bloodiest battle. The 26th North Carolina lost 687 out of 843 men at Gettysburg and the 24th Michigan suffered 73% casualties. These two units suffered more casualties than any other regiments in their respective armies.

Now we have the opportunity to join with our friends at the Conservation Fund to save the very ground that the Iron Brigade and the 26th North Carolina trod during their epic struggle on July 1, 1863. This long sought-after ground, coupled with a separate preservation effort at the Josiah Benner House property, makes this one of the most exciting opportunities in our history.

• Donate Now »

• $30 and higher donations will receive a Civil War Trust hat

Donation Match

$29 to $1

Our Goal

$70,000

Police Misconduct NewsFeed Weekend Recap 05-28-11 to 05-30-11

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Here are the 15 reports of police misconduct tracked so far on this three day Memorial Day weekend of May 28 – May 30, 2011:

Repost: How do you know you're shopping in Texas?

An especially sad Memorial Day

Via longtom, L&P
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It is piquantly tragic. Why? Never before was the federal government so totally unworthy of the armed services the American people provide for the country. Never was there a more obvious traitor in the White House; never was there a more feeble, morally disgusting Congress.

Americans are a wonderful folk, forgiving and patient with impossible leaders; but we have reached a point that what our servicemen sacrifice their lives for that which has become a dream of the past. Our servicemen give their lives for a dream. The reality for which they serve is a far, far cry from that dream–however superior that policial, social reality is to anything else in this present world. While daily our federal government schemes to rob Americans of more and more of our freedoms, we still have more than any other country.

Yet, how can we truly honor our war dead, when what they sacrificed for is being taken away from us–by the very government they served, the very government sworn to uphold our Constitution and our freedoms? The irony is nigh unbearable. We honor what they died for, though it no longer exists.

Oathbreaker Profile: James Cavenaugh

LINK

From a reader email:

The likely info of another oathbreaker to add to your list.

James M. Cavanaugh, perjurer:

(see http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-national/is-atf-s-cavanaugh-a-credible-splc-spokesman)

Likely address and info here:

http://inigo.williamson-tn.org/assessor/parcel_details.php?ndx=184484

(CAVANAUGH JAMES M

CAVANAUGH DEBORAH

9228 HUNTERSBORO DR

BRENTWOOD, TN 37027)

Thank you, reader!

BTW, I have not done any research or verification on this from my end. Anyone with more info to add, please comment or email me at oathbreakers2011@gmail.com.

Memorial Day 2011: How About A New Meaning?

The Memorial Day 2011 weekend is upon us. Many will use this weekend as the first short vacation of summer. Picnics, boating, traveling, family gatherings, and dedication to enjoyable activities are the rule this weekend.

But Memorial Day is meant to honor the men and women who died in military service to the United States of America. Formerly known as “Decoration Day,” it was first established in 1868 to decorate the graves of the Civil War (War of Northern Aggression) dead.

This weekend, there will be memorial services and parades across America in town squares, churches and at cemeteries. Flowers will be strewn and American flags will be in grand display. Politicians will walk the route, and military veterans will don old uniforms and walk with them. Twenty-one gun salutes and taps will echo among the headstones. Impassioned speeches will be delivered to patriotic crowds on the goodness of America and the honor and bravery of the fallen soldiers and sailors.

And Americans will be remembering all the wrong things.

How about a reality check?

Those who fought and died (over 364,000) in Lincoln’s Army died invading another sovereign nation, the Confederate States of America. The CSA, who lost over 139,000 soldiers, was defending itself from the aggression of a foreign nation. It would have been no different morally if the Northern Army would have invaded Canada. So, Northern mourners should remember the shame of the North, not just that their loved ones died in battle. And Southerners should forever laud their sons who valiantly died in an attempt to thwart a foreign invasion and protect their homeland.