Department of No Defense

I don't know what made me stop briefly on Fox News while channel surfing.
I wouldn't normally pay that cable channel much mind.
Low and behold, up came a story relating to an Armed Forces widow who
had just recieved an invoice from the DoD demanding the return of the
$41,000.00 Life Insurance payout from her dead husband's Policy. Their
reasoning seems to be that because she remarried another Military retiree,
she would eventually recieve his Insurance payout also. They didn't want
her to "double-dip" the system. Yes, she is absolutely livid with anger, and
rightfully so!
Her deceased husband gave 34 of his years to the Military. He paid
premiums for this Life Insurance Policy. Nobody but the listed beneficiary has
any right to lay claim to these "exhorbitant" funds. This is an outrage of the
highset magnitude, and should be prosecuted as fraud, with the guilty parties
serving some serious jail time. It's bad enough when every day civilians trash the
few rights our Military Personnel do recieve, but to have one of their own do it is
tantamount to Treason and should be adjudicated as such.

Live Poll

Are Military benefits too much?

Top of Form	YES
	NO
	HELL NO
	UNDECIDED Bottom of Form

VoteView Results

One Arizona Reaction

 *I did not have adequate access to this publication to properly "seed" it.

 *My comments are disbursed throughout the article, in italics.

editor@taipanpublishinggroup.com

taipan@taipanpublishinggroup.com

Ruger Rallies on Arizona Reaction
by Michael A. Robinson

Dear American Wealth Underground Reader,

Let me cut to the chase. For my liberal "fans," don't mistake my report today on gun sales following the massacre in Arizona as an endorsement of violence.

   Your timing is an insult to your fellow Americans who actually care about the power of words.

We lost a respected conservative federal judge needed to help protect our constitutional freedoms in the Obama era of Big Government. And among others, an innocent 9-year-old girl died at the hands of a madman. So, I'm not trying to profit from senseless murder. But I believe I have a financial duty to let you know how current events in politics and finance affect the overall investment climate as well as specific equities.

   There’s that word again, “BUT”!

However, before I tell you about how the news is affecting one of our positions and why anti-gun zealots are so misguided, let me take a moment to talk about your next monthly newsletter.

First of all, February marks the one-year anniversary of American Wealth Underground. When I launched this publication I told you I was highly interested in natural resources stocks, particularly rare earths and metals. Accordingly, I will be recommending a company that represents one of the better investment opportunities in the silver sector. This small-cap leader is seriously underpriced and is a classic "Era of Gold 3.0" investment as precious metals prices double in the next decade.

I need to double-check my math but as I currently calculate it, we stand to make 66% over the next two years on this upcoming position. And that doesn't factor in higher silver prices or an increase in company production.

In February I will revisit the recurring theme of risk control. However, I am tweaking this column a bit to avoid possible confusion. You may recall I originally named it "Tips From Texas Hold'Em: Lessons in Risk Control." That grew out of a presentation I gave to readers last September in Las Vegas.

The idea was to harness my hobby of playing poker on my iPhone into how to make strategic financial decisions with limited information. In the past year I have played roughly 500,000 hands and racked up nearly $110 million in virtual winnings. So, why the change? Because I am concerned that some readers may think I am likening investments to gambling. Nothing could be further from the truth. A reformed blackjack player, I almost never gamble.

   You could have fooled me.

But I do take risks. Without them there are no rewards. So, in the February issue I will tell you about the importance of having an exit plan and give you the details of a brilliant move my teenage daughter recently made.

   Let me get this straight. You are basing your investment arguments on playing “Texas

   Hold’em” on your cell phone, and tips from your teenage daughter. What could possibly go

   wrong here?

Meantime, Sturm, Ruger & Co. (RGR:NYSE) surged on reports consumers are flocking to gun stores in the aftermath of the Tucson shooting that left six dead and several wounded, including a Congresswoman. At deadline, shares of this leading small-cap gun maker were up more than 3% on heavy volume, putting us up more than 6% overall.

   You just know some of your readers are saying: “whaaaat? He wants us to invest in a Cap

   Gun manufacturer?

Given that the anti-gun nuts are coming out of the woodwork it is difficult for me to predict if the sales trend will continue or if this is just a temporary speculative frenzy. However, Ruger is a well-run company that generates a lot of cash. Forbes recently named it one of America's top 100 companies. Two months ago, a sports industry trade group named it "Manufacturer of the Year."

So, I'm glad to see shares rallying though I would prefer more sanguine circumstances.

   “…more sanguine circumstances”….Oh, sure!

Now then, let me address the hard-left, anti-gun nuts who have run amok these past few days. They're blaming Rush Limbaugh and Sarah Palin for the tragedy.

   No, they are not.

They're also trying to convince America we need to trash our Second Amendment gun freedoms. What a crock of... you know. Mental marshmallows like liberal radio host Alan Colmes justify shredding the Constitution on these grounds: The framers couldn't possibly have envisioned citizens arming themselves with automatic weapons.

    Have you been listening to Lonesome Roads, again. Don’t you realize by now that Fox

    Noise is not News?

That's just true enough for an obtuse thinker like Colmes to get his mind around. But he's barking up the wrong tree: We should be curbing the First Amendment.

   Take your best shot.

Do you really think the framers foresaw the day when Hollywood liberals would make billions by creating a culture that glorifies gun violence? That they would have endorsed ultra-violent video games or cops-and-robbers on 24-7 cable TV?

   The “Framers” didn’t foresee a lot of things going on these days. If you, and your ilk, would  

   stop buying all this mindless entertainment, no one would produce it. You can’t tell me you

   disagree with the Free Market and Supply & Demand?

 And that liberals would justify it all under the guise of "free speech?" Am I the only one who gets it? The movie "True Grit," complete with a gun-slinging hero, made big coin during the weekend of the Arizona massacre. You're telling me those two facts aren't related?

   Until you have put yourself in a position to actually defend our Constitution, you may want

   to consider an alternative to misrepresenting it.

Could the brilliant men who wrote the greatest political document in history have foreseen that director Quentin Tarantino would become the enfant terrible of cinema? You know, the guy who included a scene in "Pulp Fiction" in which a young man gets his head blown off as comic relief!

   First, go back to French class. Second, it sounds as if you spent your money to see that

   movie.

Let's look at free speech and the Internet. Would the framers really have endorsed a culture in which sex-crazed viewers could stream videos on demand of women engaging in intimate acts with barnyard animals?

   Please, go back and study your American History. Your “Framers” were simply not all pure

   and lily white.

I didn't think so. So, for the Alan Colmeses of the world I say this: Come down off your high horses, you intellectual frauds.

   And to all the Mike Robinsons of the World, I say: “A little intellect goes a long way

   nowadays.”

And learn something from the rally in Ruger shares. Guns sales are jumping this week because of the genius of the American people. They have the common sense to know that the best way to protect themselves isn't to trust the police or the liberal media lapdogs. It's to arm themselves against the crazies of this world. And at least for this week that's something you can bank on.

   Genius, I says…Pure genius! If I were to arm myself, it would be to protect us from folks

   just like you. I do hope you realize the import of what you’re saying. I leave you with one bit

   of disturbing news. In the past 15 months, the membership in our Nation’s “Militias” has

   more than tripled. If that fact alone doesn’t concern you, you may need to rethink your

   position.

Good luck and happy investing,

Michael A. Robinson
Editor, American Wealth Underground

Military Pay

CINDY WILLIAMS:  was appointed by President Obama

as an Assistant Director for National Security in the

Congressional Budget Office.

Recent Activity:

Ms. Cindy William wrote a   piece for the Washington Times

denouncing the pay raises coming to service members this

year; citing that she stated a 13% wage increase was more

than they deserve. This is an Airman's response to Cindy

Williams' editorial article in the Washington Times about 

MILITARY PAY.

"Ms   Williams:  

I just had the pleasure of   reading your column, "Our GI's earn enough", and I

am a bit confused. Frankly,  I'm wondering where this vaunted overpayment is

going, because as far as I can tell, it disappears every month between  DFAS

(The Defense Finance and Accounting Service) and my bank account. Checking

my latest earnings statement, I see that I make $1,117.80, before taxes per

month. After taxes, I take home $874.20. When I run that through the

calculator, I come up with an annual salary of $13,413.60 before taxes, and

$10,490.40 after.      

 

I work in the Air Force Network Control Center where I am part of the team

responsible for a 5,000 host computer network. I am involved with infrastructure segments, specifically with Cisco Systems equipment. A quick check under jobs for "Network Technicians" in the Washington, D.C. area reveals a position in my   career field, requiring three years experience in my job. 

Amazingly, this job does NOT pay $13,413.60 a year. No, this job is being

offered at $70,000 to $80,000 per annum........... I'm sure you can draw the

obvious conclusions.      

Given the tenor of   your column, I would assume that you NEVER had the 

pleasure of serving your country in her armed forces. Before you take it upon 

yourself to once more castigate congressional and DOD leadership for attempting 

to get the families in the military's lowest pay brackets off of WIC and food   stamps, I suggest that you join a group of deploying soldiers headed for AFGHANISTAN;

I leave the choice of service branch up to you. Whatever choice you make

though, opt for the SIX month rotation: it will guarantee you the longest

possible time away from your family and friends, thus giving you full

"deployment   experience."  As your group prepares to board the plane, make

sure to note the spouses and children who are saying good-bye to their loved

ones. Also take care to note that several families are still unsure of how

they'll be able to make ends meet while the primary breadwinner is gone.

Obviously they've been squandering the "vast" piles of cash the government

has been giving them.  

Try to deploy over a major holiday. Christmas and Thanksgiving are perennial

favorites. And when you're actually over there, sitting in a foxhole,

shivering against the cold desert night, and the flight sergeant tells you

that there aren't enough people on shift to relieve you for chow, remember

this: trade whatever MRE's   (meal-ready-to-eat) you manage to get for the

tuna noodle casserole or cheese tortellini, and add Tabasco to everything;

this gives some flavor.      

Talk to your loved ones as often as you are permitted. It won't be nearly

long enough or often enough, but take what you can get and be thankful for

it. You may have picked up on the fact that I disagree with most of the

points you present in your open piece. But, tomorrow from Kabul, I will

defend to the death your right to say it.    

You see, I am an American fighting man; a guarantor of your First Amendment

right and every other right you cherish. On a daily basis, my brother and

sister soldiers worldwide ensure that you ,and people like you, can thumb your

collective noses at us all on a salary that is nothing short of pitiful and

under conditions that would make most people cringe. We hemorrhage our best

and brightest into the private sector because we can't offer the stability

and pay of civilian companies.    

And you, Ms. Williams, have the gall to say that we make more than we

deserve?    

A1C Michael Bragg, 

Hill AFB AFNCC  

A Champion of Plain English

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/business/09view.html?ref=economics

The Art of our Language, and how simplicity wins every time......

As with the late William Saffire, Alfred Kahn will be greatly missed, and not only for his love of the English language.

Where the Jobs Are: The Right Spots in the Recovery

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2040964-3,00.html

This article is certainly headed in the right direction. I just wish people would take the heads out of the sand long enough to see that our unemployment is fiercely larger than our Government is reporting. I propose that these National and Regional numbers be doubled, for a realistic view of our Labor Force. The more than 8 Million manufacturing jobs we've lost are not coming back. The Trend is toward an "all service" economy; that is unsustainable!
Reading this article, and its brother,"Where The Jobs Aren't", seems to reinforce my unfortunate conclusion that this Summer is going to very unrestful. The recent violence in Arizona may give us some sense of what to expect.