Friday's various links and comments

A few news items for your enjoyment on a Friday morning:

Condoleezza Rice is the commencement speaker at Boston College this year. Here is an op-ed by an adjunct professor of English at Boston College claiming he is resigning in protest over Rice's appearance. Call me a cynic, but I'm certain he is either going to change his mind claiming his students begged him to stay or he already has another job lined up.

Speaking of cynicism, here is an article to restore a healthy sense of distrust.

A wheelchair-bound Los Angeles woman, who has repeatedly filed lawsuits over access for the disabled, got up and ran after police arrested her for fraud, authorities said on Thursday.

Laura Lee Medley, 35, had sued in at least four California cities over injuries she claimed she sustained while trying to navigate her wheelchair before she was suspected of fraud.

Former Congressman Sonny Montgomery dies. The current version of the GI Bill for Education is named the Montgomery GI Bill because he was the one who pushed the legislation through the Congress in the early 1980's.

When ignorant people say "Hey, what's the big deal about immigration" (usually shying away from using the word illegal) I feel like throttling them and then explaining the facts of economic life to them. Everything costs money. Their are dozen of examples available of government services that are used by illegals. The easiest to track is the affect on police and jails. Our local sheriff sent a bill to the federal government a while back for housing illegals in jail. Here is a story of a sheriff in Oregon who took a different tact, he sent a letter to Mexico's President Fox asking for payment for housing the crooks he sends across the border.

Three months later, Trumbo reports, Vicente Fox still has not paid up. The Mexican president has issued no response, no installment payment, nada.

No surprise there. Our county didn't get paid either. And that sums up the problem. At the federal level neither country wants to make the effort to secure the border, but the local communities are expected to bear the brunt of the costs for housing the crooks and schooling their children.

Investing advice: Gold and other precious metals have had an incredible run up. Now, everyone is on board and saying buy. You know you are getting near a top (or a bottom) when everyone is in agreement. If you are buying gold at these prices bear in mind the other side of the trade. The seller is locking in the profits from the run up. Now is the time to start looking at the sectors completely out of favor.
(Disclaimer: Don't come to me for investing advice)