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QE3 v. Wine

Stocks surged yesterday on news that Bernanke was ready to unleash Quantitative Easing Part 3 (parts 4, 5, and 28 are presumably also on the runway). But at least one indicator says stocks are ready to plunge anyway: The fine wine index. It measures auction prices of the 100 most actively-traded wines, and it's sagging bad. You can find a list of the wines here.

Uncle Joe's Daughter Dies

I was surprised to see that Stalin had any children. For some reason, I always envisioned him as a cold, calculating, sex-less being, but I guess I was confusing him with Hitler (or my wife . . . badaboom). He had a couple of wives and children. His sole daughter has now died. Let's pray for her and hope she hasn't been reunited with her father. Link to obit.

Whenever I see a reference to Stalin, I'm always reminded of Robert Conquest, whose The Great Terror described Stalin's liquidation of the kulaks and other atrocities. Conquest consistently maintained that the number killed was in the eight figures. The Left consistently scoffed, but after Communism fell and records became available, everyone knew Conquest was right all along. When his publisher got ready to re-issue The Great Terror, he asked Conquest if he wanted to suggest a different title. Conquest replied, "I told you so, you f***ing fools".

Holiday Pastime

Few things are more enjoyable for me than to read in a recliner next to our Christmas tree. It's my favorite holiday pastime. I especially like to play mellow, instrumental holiday music in the background. My favorite collection in this regard: Bruce Abbott's Mistletoe Sax. It's great quiet-evening fare. Of course, it's not often quiet around my house, but if I can keep the girls off the piano, it's normally quiet enough to hear the mellow sax.

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