Business / Economic / Financial
[ This link to a somewhat more cumulative blog posts page will precede current days news since most all topics remain current in terms of impact and longer-term effect and can be searched by topical index term more easily. The same is provided since the blog site http://alpeiablog.blogspot.com has just been censored as to size by google which is typical for google as nsa / cia / gov’t shill as more are becoming aware of. The same is true for microsoft, another co. that’s seen their best days and relies on the government to maintain their monopoly. Up to now the better page http://www.scribd.com/alpeia is provided for ease of formatting and clarity thereby while the Washington Post page is the real deal but without formatting http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/community/mypost/index.html?plckPersonaPage=PersonaComments&plckUserId=alpeia&newspaperUserId=alpeia . The following is the cumulative archive of blog posts / topics for 2010 as the new year starts anew: http://albertpeia.com/December312010postsarchive.htm or PDF formatted version
http://albertpeia.com/December312010postsarchive.pdf ]
The Sick Man Tries to Save the Terminally Ill [ I can’t recall the specific phrase, but applied here it goes something like this, ‘Japan with a debt to GDP ratio of 200% is going to save Europe, but who’s going to save Japan’. Let’s get real here as the u.s. house-building with decks, as in Titanics and reshuffled / rearranged deck chairs, of cards, as in ‘houses of cards’, becomes insanely ubiquitous worldwide and will systemically (now globally) end quite badly. This is an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits since there is much, much worse to come. ] Nyaradi ‘It was a quiet day yesterday for ETFs and stocks in world markets as most exchange traded funds recovered recent losses amid reduced tensions in Europe.
Incredibly, Japan’s intent to buy European bonds was the catalyst for the more positive atmosphere in Europe, and as the title of this article suggests, this is truly the sick man trying to save the terminally ill.
The soap opera in Europe, like every soap opera, is getting boring. It starts with rising interest rates and credit default swap rates which is met by the concerned government proclaiming that they’re totally solvent and will never need a bailout which ends up to be exactly what happens.
Portugal will be selling 10 year notes today, Wednesday, and its ten year debt has stood largely above 7% in recent days. When rates in Greece and Ireland hit these levels, bailouts came within days in both cases. Italy and Spain go to the bond trough this week, as well, and so it will be an active few days in Europe.
Bottom line; get ready for an ECB bailout of Portugal coming soon, possibly this week.
At home, we move into earnings season, Illinois is moving towards an income tax increase to deal with its budget deficit while Governor Brown in California begins to sell his austerity plans.
Daily Moves for Major ETFs:
Dow Jones Industrials: (NYSEArca: DIA) +0.30%
Russell 2000: (NYSEArca: IWM) -0.47%
NASDAQ 100: (NasdaqGM: QQQQ) +0.41%
S&P 500 Index: (NYSEArca: SPY) +0.37%
MSCI Emerging Markets:(NYSEArca: EEM) +1.06%
MSCI China (NYSEArca: FXI) +1.13%
Gold (NYSEArca: GLD) +0.59%
7-10 Year Treasuries: (NYSEArca: IEF) -0.39%
20+ Year Treasuries: (NYSEArca: TLT) -0.56%
VIX -3.71%
U.S. Dollar (NYSE:Arca: (NYSE:Arca: UUP) -0.08%
The major indexes remain overvalued and overbought on a technical and fundamental basis and so Wall Street Sector Selector remains in “Yellow Flag” status, expecting choppy to lower prices ahead.’
Lunch with Marc Faber: Predictions and Insights Sinn – ‘Tuesday I had the pleasure of meeting Marc Faber for the first time and I thoroughly enjoyed his detailed, logical, and smooth-flowing presentation. Faber is good on television, but he is much better live as he is more open with regard to his disdain for Bernanke, Greenspan, Krugman et al. He even ended the Q&A portion by saying ‘I hope you have a better idea of what to do with your wealth, but what you do with your client’s wealth is another story’. Below I have listed the main concepts that Faber’s presentation impressed on my thinking:
Key takeaways from Marc Faber Luncheon- January 11, 2011
The Eurozone is worse off than even the U.S. at this point because they lack a single fiscal authority. It is difficult to implement a federal/super-sovereign approach in the Eurozone due to challenge of implementing a single taxing authority with supervisory and enforcement powers.
When asked about the possibility of dividing the Eurozone into a north and south euro, he dismissed this idea as being very unlikely.
The most likely path forward for the Eurozone will be for the ECB to continue to monetize the sovereign debt of the weaker Member States. He also stressed the point that the ultimate solution will be highly political and unpredictable and that there will be plenty of ‘noise’ on the way to the final outcome.
Faber is concerned about a slowdown in China and India over the next 3-6 months. China currently has negative real interest rates and may need to raise rates over 100 basis points in order to bring the real interest rate back near zero. He also mentioned that he had recently reduced his investment exposure to China and India.
Faber seemed most bullish on the price of oil and pointed out that Chinese consumers consume only 2 barrels of oil per capita/year while US consumers consume over 20 barrels of oil per capita/year.
Faber pointed out how under leveraged Asian consumers are compared to Western European/ US consumers. He cited that only 10% of Vietnamese have a bank account which demonstrates how much room there is for leveraging in Asia.
·He was VERY bearish on U.S. government debt long term and even pointed to a chart of US 10-year note yields over the past 60 years. He then waved the laser pointer to indicate that yields will eventually go past the early 1980s highs.
·He illustrated the performance of Mexican government bonds and the peso currency from the late 1970s to 1988. The peso lost 98% of its value vs. the US dollar and Mexican bonds performed horribly while Mexican equities priced in US dollars ended the 10-year period slightly positive.
Finally, Faber pointed out that there is potential for geopolitical tensions between China and India as they compete for natural resources (oil, water). He pointed out that China and India share the Brahmaputra River. There has been continued speculation that China plans to build a dam on the river in order to divert water to the North of the country (Doug Kass also mentioned the possibility of a military conflict between China and India over this river in his year end predictions for 2011). In addition, Faber explained that China isn’t happy about the US recommendation that India join the UN Security Council.
Oddly enough, I agree with almost everything Dr. Faber discussed. However, I doubt that gold will undergo a 20% correction this year (I would say 10-15% is the maximum unless there were to be a complete paradigm shift in monetary policy from the ECB/Fed). The crowd was most amused by Dr. Faber’s disdainful comments about Messieurs Bernanke, Greenspan, and Krugman.
While I agree with the latter two, I believe Chairman Bernanke is doing the only thing he can do with the terrible hand he has been dealt. I also believe the possibility of a military confrontation between China and India is extremely remote due to the potential magnitude of the consequences. Dr. Faber managed to cause me to be even more concerned about the state of the US fiscal situation than I already was. I didn’t think that was possible, but when he explained the US would be using 30% of total tax revenues just to pay interest on the national debt within a few years, I realized the situation was more serious than even I had realized. Disclosure: I am long GLD.’
Cupcake Capitalism Offers Hope for New Bubble: Jonathan Weil Weil ‘The first thing every prospective investor should know about Crumbs Holdings LLC, which operates 34 cupcake shops, is that there was an error in the first sentence of its Jan. 10 press release announcing the New York retailer’s planned public listing on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Crumbs called itself the “creator of the gourmet cupcake.” The claim is false. Crumbs didn’t create the gourmet cupcake. I did, or at least that’s how I choose to remember it.
It was a glorious Sunday morning in October 1976. I was six years old. My mom helped me follow the instructions on a box of Duncan Hines cake mix. I added Frosted Flakes to the icing, spread the sugary goo on top of my creations, and dubbed them Jonny’s Chocolate Crunchcakes. They were Gr-r-reat!
Crumbs executives say they plan to expand to 200 locations within four years, a sixfold increase. They’ll have no need for a traditional initial public offering, though. Crumbs plans to do a reverse merger with a publicly traded shell company called 57th Street General Acquisition Corp.
It’s easy to dismiss the cupcake craze’s arrival on Wall Street as just another indicator of a world gone mad, because it is. Yet there’s a serious point here, too. This may be one of the most hopeful signs in a long time that the economic boom-to- bust cycle may be returning to boom again.
Think about it. Would a chain of stores selling outsourced $4.50 cupcakes have stood a chance at luring stock-market investors three years ago, when the banking crisis was driving the world into a global recession? No way. Yet now the red velvet carpet is out for the likes of Crumbs Bake Shop. The opportunities for other entrepreneurs seem endless.
Master Plan
Before long, sophisticated investors may once again line up to throw money at sure-fire concepts like iron-on T-shirts and collectible plush toys. This must be good news, whether you’re a central banker or a maxed-out office worker buying a caramel apple on credit. It’s evidence that our global economic leaders’ master plan is working. That would be to spend our way out of the last bubble’s wreckage with money we don’t have, until we can create a new bubble to wealth-effect our troubles away.
To be sure, the news from Crumbs doesn’t signal an actual bubble, only the promise of one. But it does tempt us to consider that there may be real bubbles, even monstrous ones, soon. To accomplish this, we’ll need the titans of industry and finance to remain united in pressing for the common good. And there’s positive news on this front.
Remorse-Free Zone
This week Barclays Plc’s chief executive, Robert Diamond, told British parliamentarians it’s time for banks to stop apologizing and start rebuilding confidence. “There was a period of remorse and apology for banks. That period needs to be over,” he told a House of Commons committee in London.
When this period of remorse supposedly occurred, I’m not sure. What matters, though, is that the world now appears to be coming around to Diamond’s way of thinking, which is that we must all agree to be confident.
Similarly, last week President Barack Obama picked a top JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker and former Fannie Mae board member, William Daley, to be his new chief of staff. Amazingly, hardly anyone complained. It seems Americans are too busy trying to figure out how to buy pre-IPO shares of Facebook and Twitter. Distrust of Wall Street is so 2009.
You also can see the seeds of this new era in our corporate leaders’ math. The same day Crumbs said it would go public, Groupon Inc., which claims to have been called “the fastest growing company ever” by Forbes magazine, issued a press release under this headline: “Groupon Raises, Like, A Billion Dollars.” Actually the amount was $950 million. But we can all agree that a billion grabs more attention.
All of which shows there’s hope for the world’s economy to return quickly to rapid growth, as long as we work together to figure out how we can get in all these new bubbles and sell at just the right time, before everyone else figures out when that is. Then we can be rich again. That is, until the next bust, by which time we’ll have moved on to even bigger booms.
All we have to do is believe. Jonathan Weil is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.) To contact the writer of this column: Jonathan Weil in New York at jweil6@bloomberg.net ‘
Bernanke to Broke States: Go Suck an Egg Infowars.com | Trillions for international banksters, nothing for the states.
Could the U.S. central bank go broke? Reuters | The U.S. Federal Reserve’s journey to the outer limits of monetary policy is raising concerns about how hard it will be to withdraw trillions of dollars in stimulus from the banking system when the time is right.
Gold prices at record amid reports of dollar’s demise Guardian.co.uk | Reports of secret talks over ending the dollar pricing of oil and money flows into commodities as fears of inflation grow.
Sanders Says Bernanke Ducks Request for Details on Fed Loans Vermont Senator Bernard Sanders, whose legislative provision forced the Federal Reserve to disclose last month the recipients of $3.3 trillion in financial-crisis aid, said Chairman Ben S. Bernanke ducked his request for more details about the loans.
Home price drops exceed Great Depression Home prices fell for the 53rd consecutive month in November, taking the decline past that of the Great Depression for the first time in the prolonged housing slump, according to Zillow.
Downturn’s Ugly Trademark: Steep, Lasting Drop in Wages In California, former auto worker Maria Gregg was out of work five months last year before landing a new job—at a nearly 20% pay cut.
Primary Dealers Leech Off Fed’s Currency Destruction While Estonia is burning its currency to keep warm and celebrate joining the Euro, the United States is defiling its currency in a wholly American way—by giving it to Wall Street.
14 Eye Opening Statistics Which Reveal Just How Dramatically The U.S. Economy Has Collapsed Since 2007 Most Americans have become so accustomed to the “new normal” of continual economic decline that they don’t even remember how good things were just a few short years ago. ‘The Economic Collapse Jan 10, 2011
’Most Americans have become so accustomed to the “new normal” of continual economic decline that they don’t even remember how good things were just a few short years ago. Back in 2007, unemployment was very low, good jobs were much easier to get, far fewer Americans were living in poverty or enrolled in welfare programs and government finances were in much better shape. Of course most of this prosperity was fueled by massive amounts of debt, but at least times were better. Unfortunately, things have really deteriorated over the last several years. Since 2007, unemployment has skyrocketed, foreclosures have set new all-time records, personal bankruptcies have soared and U.S. government debt has gotten completely and totally out of control. Poll after poll has shown that Americans are now far less optimistic about the future than they were in 2007. It is almost as if the past few years have literally sucked the hope out of millions upon millions of Americans.
Sadly, our economic situation is continually getting worse. Every month the United States loses more factories. Every month the United States loses more jobs. Every month the collective wealth of U.S. citizens continues to decline. Every month the federal government goes into even more debt. Every month state and local governments go into even more debt.
Unfortunately, things are going to get even worse in the years ahead. Right now we look back on 2005, 2006 and 2007 as “good times”, but in a few years we will look back on 2010 and 2011 as “good times”.
We are in the midst of a long-term economic decline, and the very bad economic choices that we have been making as a nation for decades are now starting to really catch up with us.
So as horrible as you may think that things are now, just keep in mind that things are going to continue to deteriorate in the years ahead.
But for the moment, let us remember how far we have fallen over the past few years. The following are 14 eye opening statistics which reveal just how dramatically the U.S. economy has collapsed since 2007….
#1 In November 2007, the official U.S. unemployment rate was just 4.7 percent. Today, the official U.S. unemployment rate is 9.4 percent.
#2 In November 2007, 18.8% of unemployed Americans had been out of work for 27 weeks or longer. Today that percentage is up to 41.9%.
#3 As 2007 began, there were just over 1 million Americans that had been unemployed for half a year or longer. Today, there are over 6 million Americans that have been unemployed for half a year or longer.
#4 Nearly 10 million Americans now receive unemployment insurance, whichis almost four times as many as were receiving it back in 2007.
#5 More than half of the U.S. labor force (55 percent) has “suffered a spell of unemployment, a cut in pay, a reduction in hours or have become involuntary part-time workers” since the “recession” began in December 2007.
#6 According to one analysis, the United States has lost a total of approximately 10.5 million jobs since 2007.
#7 As 2007 began, only 26 million Americans were on food stamps. Today, an all-time record of 43.2 million Americans are enrolled in the food stamp program.
#8 In 2007, the U.S. government held a total of $725 billion in mortgage debt. As of the middle of 2010, the U.S. government held a total of $5.148 trillion in mortgage debt.
#9 In the year prior to the “official” beginning of the most recent recession in 2007, the IRS filed just 684,000 tax liens against U.S. taxpayers. During 2010, the IRS filed over a million tax liens against U.S. taxpayers.
#10 From the year 2000 through the year 2007, there were 27 bank failures in the United States. From 2008 through 2010, there were 314 bank failures in the United States.
#11 According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the number of U.S. families with children living in homeless sheltersincreased from 131,000 to 170,000 between 2007 and 2009.
#12 In 2007, one poll found that 43 percent of Americans were living “paycheck to paycheck”. Sadly, according to a survey released very close to the end of 2010, approximately 55 percent of all Americans are now living paycheck to paycheck.
#13 In 2007, the “official” federal budget deficit was just 161 billion dollars. In 2010, the “official” federal budget deficit was approximately 1.3 trillion dollars.
#14 As 2007 began, the U.S. national debt was just under 8.7 trillion dollars. Today, the U.S. national debt has just surpassed 14 trillion dollars and it continues to soar into the stratosphere.
So is there any hope that we can turn all of this around?
Unfortunately, the massive amount of debt that we have piled up as a society over the last several decades has made that impossible.
If you add up all forms of debt (government debt, business debt, individual debt), it comes to approximately 360 percent of GDP. It is the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world.
If the federal government and our state governments stop borrowing and spending so much money, our economy would collapse. But if they keep borrowing and spending so much money they will continually make the eventual economic collapse even worse.
We are in the terminal stages of the most horrific debt spiral the world has ever seen, and when the debt spiral gets stopped the house of cards is going to finally come down for good.
So enjoy these times while you still have them. Yes, today is not nearly as prosperous as 2007 was, but today is most definitely a whole lot better than 2015 or 2020 is going to be.
Sadly, we could have avoided this financial disaster completely if only we had listened more carefully to those that founded this nation. Once upon a time, Thomas Jefferson said the following….
I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution. I would be willing to depend on that alone for the reduction of the administration of our government to the genuine principles of its Constitution; I mean an additional article, taking from the federal government the power of borrowing.’
Tipping Point: 25 Signs That The Coming Financial Collapse Is Now Closer Then Ever The financial collapse that so many of us have been anticipating is seemingly closer then ever. Over the past several weeks, there have been a host of ominous signs for the U.S. economy.
The Economic Collapse
Dec 17, 2010
The financial collapse that so many of us have been anticipating is seemingly closer then ever. Over the past several weeks, there have been a host of ominous signs for the U.S. economy. Yields on U.S. Treasuries have moved up rapidly and Moody’s is publicly warning that it may have to cut the rating on U.S. government debt soon. Mortgage rates are also moving up aggressively. The euro and the U.S. dollar both look incredibly shaky. Jobs continue to be shipped out of the United States at a blistering pace as our politicians stand by and do nothing. Confidence in U.S. government debt around the globe continues to decline. State and local governments that are drowning in debt across the United States are savagely cutting back on even essential social services and are coming up with increasingly “creative” ways of getting more money out of all of us. Meanwhile, tremor after tremor continues to strike the world financial system. So does this mean that we have almost reached a tipping point? Is the world on the verge of a major financial collapse?
Let’s hope not, but with each passing week the financial news just seems to get eve worse. Not only is U.S. government debt spinning wildly toward a breaking point, but many U.S. states (such as California) are in such horrific financial condition that they are beginning to resemble banana republics.
But it is not just the United States that is in trouble. Nightmarish debt problems in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Belgium and several other European nations threaten to crash the euro at any time. In fact, many economists are now openly debating which will collapse first – the euro or the U.S. dollar.
Sadly, this is the inevitable result of constructing a global financial system on debt. All debt bubbles eventually collapse. Currently we are living in the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world, and when this one bursts it is going to be a disaster of truly historic proportions.
So will we reach a tipping point soon? Well, the following are 25 signs that the financial collapse is rapidly getting closer….
#1 The official U.S. unemployment rate has not been beneath 9 percent since April 2009.
#2 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are currently 6.3 million vacant homes in the United States that are either for sale or for rent.
#3 It is being projected that the U.S. trade deficit with China could hit 270 billion dollars for the entire year of 2010.
#4 Back in 2000, 7.2 percent of blue collar workers were either unemployed or underemployed. Today that figure is up to 19.5 percent.
#5 The Chinese government has accumulated approximately $2.65 trillion in total foreign exchange reserves. They have drained this wealth from the economies of other nations (such as the United States) and instead of reinvesting all of it they are just sitting on much of it. This is creating tremendous imbalances in the global economy.
#6 Since the year 2000, we have lost 10% of our middle class jobs. In the year 2000 there were approximately 72 million middle class jobs in the United States but today there are only about 65 million middle class jobs.
#7 The United States now employs about the same number of people in manufacturing as it did back in 1940. Considering the fact that we had 132 million people living in this country in 1940 and that we have well over 300 million people living in this country today, that is a very sobering statistic.
#8 According to CoreLogic, U.S. housing prices have now declined for three months in a row.
#9 The average rate on a 30 year fixed rate mortgage soared 11 basis points just this past week. As mortgage rates continue to push higher it is going to make it even more difficult for American families to afford homes.
#10 22.5 percent of all residential mortgages in the United States were in negative equity as of the end of the third quarter of 2010.
#11 The U.S. monetary base has more than doubled since the beginning of the most recent recession.
#12 U.S. Treasury yields have been rising steadily during the 4th quarter of 2010 and recently hit a six-month high.
#13 Incoming governor Jerry Brown is scrambling to find $29 billion more to cut from the California state budget. The following quote from Brown about the desperate condition of California state finances is not going to do much to inspire confidence in California’s financial situation around the globe….
“We’ve been living in fantasy land. It is much worse than I thought. I’m shocked.”
#14 24.3 percent of the residents of El Centro, California are currently unemployed.
#15 The average home in Merced, California has declined in value by 63 percent over the past four years.
#16 Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has come up with a new way to save money. He wants to cut 20 percent of Detroit off from essential social services such as road repairs, police patrols, functioning street lights and garbage collection.
#17 The second most dangerous city in the United States – Camden, New Jersey – is about to lay off about half its police in a desperate attempt to save money.
#18 In 2010, 55 percent of Americans between the ages of 60 and 64 were in the labor market. Ten years ago, that number was just 47 percent. More older Americans than ever find that they have to keep working just to survive.
#19 Back in 1998, the United States had 25 percent of the world’s high-tech export market and China had just 10 percent. Ten years later, the United States had less than 15 percent and China’s share had soared to 20 percent.
#20 The U.S. government budget deficit increased to a whopping $150.4 billion last month, which represented the biggest November budget deficit on record.
#21 The U.S. government is somehow going to have to roll over existing debt and finance new debt that is equivalent to 27.8 percent of GDP in 2011.
#22 The United States had been the leading consumer of energy on the globe for about 100 years, but this past summer China took over the number one spot.
#23 According to an absolutely stunning new poll, 40 percent of all U.S. doctors plan to bail out of the profession over the next three years.
#24 As 2007 began, there were just over 1 million Americans that had been unemployed for half a year or longer. Today, there are over 6 million Americans that have been unemployed for half a year or longer.
#25 All over the United States, local governments have begun instituting “police response fees”. For example, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has come up with a plan under which a fee of $365 would be charged if police are called to respond to an automobile accident where no injuries are involved. If there are injuries as a result of the crash that is going to cost extra.
16 Nightmarish Economic Trends To Watch Carefully In 2011 The American Dream Dec 15, 2010 ‘If you only watch the “economic pundits” on television, it can be very confusing to figure out exactly what is happening with the U.S. economy. One pundit will pull out a couple statistics that got a little bit better over the past month and claim that we have entered a time of solid recovery. Another pundit will pull out a couple statistics that got a little worse over the past month and claim that we are headed for trouble. So what is the truth? Well, if you really want to get a clear idea of what is really going on you have to look at the long-term trends. There are some economic trends which just keep getting worse year after year after year, and it is those trends that tell the real story of the decline of our economic system.
As you examine the long-term trends, you quickly come to realize that the U.S. is trapped in an endless spiral of debt, the middle class is being wiped out, the U.S. dollar is being destroyed and America is rapidly becoming a post-industrial wasteland.
Posted below are 16 nightmarish economic trends to watch carefully in 2011. It is becoming exceedingly apparent that unless something is done rapidly we are heading for an economic collapse of unprecedented magnitude….
#1 Do you want to see something scary? Just check out the chart below. Since the beginning of the economic downturn, the U.S. monetary base has more than doubled. But don’t worry – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has promised us that this could never cause inflation. In fact, Bernanke says that we need to inject even more dollars into the economy. So if you are alarmed by the chart below, you are just being irrational according to Bernanke….
#2 Thousands of our factories, millions of our jobs and hundreds of billions of dollars of our national wealth continue to be shipped overseas. In 1985, the U.S. trade deficit with China was 6 million dollars for the entire year. In the month of August alone, the U.S. trade deficit with China was over 28 billion dollars. Nobel economist Robert W. Fogel of the University of Chicago is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040 if current trends continue.
#3 The United States is rapidly becoming a post-industrial wasteland. Back in 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of all U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented only 11.5 percent and it continues to fall. Sadly, the truth is that America is being deindustrialized. As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time that less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#4 The number of Americans that have been out of work for an extended period of time has absolutely exploded over the last few years. As 2007 began, there were just over 1 million Americans that had been unemployed for half a year or longer. Today, there are over 6 million Americans that have been unemployed for half a year or longer.
#5 The middle class continues to be squeezed out of existence. According to a poll taken in 2009, 61 percent of Americans ”always or usually” live paycheck to paycheck. That was up substantially from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
#6 The number of Americans living in poverty is absolutely skyrocketing. 42.9 million Americans are now on food stamps, and one out of every six Americans is now enrolled in at least one anti-poverty program run by the federal government. Unfortunately, many of those that have been hardest hit by this economic downturn have been children. According to one new study, approximately 21 percent of all children in the United States are living below the poverty line in 2010 - the highest rate in 20 years.
#7 Many American families have been pushed beyond the breaking point during this economic downturn. Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008. The final number for 2010 is expected to be even higher.
#8 The U.S. real estate market continues to stagnate. During the third quarter of 2010, 67 percent of mortgages in Nevada were “underwater”, 49 percent of mortgages in Arizona were “underwater” and 46 percent of mortgages in Florida were “underwater”. So what happens if home prices go down even more?
#9 More elderly Americans than ever are being forced to put off retirement and continue working. In 2010, 55 percent of Americans between the ages of 60 and 64 were in the labor market. Ten years ago, that number was just 47 percent. Unfortunately, it looks like this problem will only get worse in the years ahead. In America today, approximately half of all workers have less than $2000 saved up for retirement.
#10 In the United States today, there are simply far too many retirees and not nearly enough workers to support them. Back in 1950 each retiree’s Social Security benefit was paid for by 16 workers. Today, each retiree’s Social Security benefit is paid for by approximately 3.3 workers. By 2025 it is projected that there will be approximately two workers for each retiree.
#11 Financial assets continue to become concentrated in fewer and fewer hands. For example, the “big four” U.S. banks (Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo) had approximately 22 percent of all deposits in FDIC-insured institutions back in 2000. As of the middle of 2009 that figure was up to 39 percent.
#12 The Federal Reserve has been destroying the value of the U.S. dollar for decades. Since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913, the U.S. dollar has lost over 95 percent of its purchasing power. An item that cost $20.00 in 1970 would cost you $112.35 today. An item that cost $20.00 in 1913 would cost you $440.33 today.
#13 Commodity prices continue to soar into the stratosphere. Ten years ago, the price of a barrel of oil hovered around 20 to 30 dollars most of the time. Today, the price of oil is rapidly closing in on 100 dollars a barrel and there are now fears that it could soon go much higher than that.
#14 Federal government spending is completely and totally out of control. The U.S. government budget deficit increased to a whopping $150.4 billion last month, which represented the biggest November deficit on record. But our politicians can’t seem to break their addiction to debt. In fact, Democrats are trying to ram through a 1,924 page, 1.1 trillion dollar spending bill in the final days of the lame-duck session of Congress before the Republicans take control of the House of Representatives next year.
#15 The U.S. national debt is rapidly closing in on 14 trillion dollars. It is more than 13 times larger than it was just 30 short years ago. According to an official U.S. Treasury Department report to Congress, the U.S. national debt is projected to climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015.
#16 Unfortunately, the official government numbers grossly understate the horrific nature of the crisis we are facing. John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics has calculated that if the federal government would have used GAAP accounting standards to measure the federal budget deficit for 2009, it would have been approximately 8.8 trillion dollars. Not only that, but John Williams now says that U.S. government debt is so wildly out of control that it is mathematically impossible for us to “grow” our way out of it….
The government’s finances not only are out of control, but the actual deficit is not containable. Put into perspective, if the government were to raise taxes so as to seize 100% of all wages, salaries and corporate profits, it still would be showing an annual deficit using GAAP accounting on a consistent basis. In like manner, given current revenues, if it stopped spending every penny (including defense and homeland security) other than for Social Security and Medicare obligations, the government still would be showing an annual deficit. Further, the U.S. has no potential way to grow out of this shortfall.
The more one examines the U.S. economic situation, the more depressing it becomes. The U.S. financial system is trapped inside a horrific debt spiral and we are headed straight for economic oblivion.
If our leaders attempt to interrupt the debt spiral it will plunge our economy into a depression. If our leaders attempt to keep the debt spiral going for several more years it will just make the eventual crash even worse. Either way, we are headed for a financial implosion that will be truly historic.
The debt-fueled good times that we have been enjoying for the last several decades are rapidly coming to an end. Unfortunately for the tens of millions of Americans that are already suffering, our economic problems are only going to get worse in the years ahead.’
Jobless Recovery?: 25 Unemployment Statistics That Are Almost Too Depressing To Read ‘… Unemployment is up again! That’s right – even though Wall Street is swimming in cash and the Obama administration is declaring that “the recession is over”, the U.S. unemployment rate has gone even higher. So are you enjoying the jobless recovery? Economic Collapse Blog Dec 4, 2010 ‘Guess what? Unemployment is up again! That’s right – even though Wall Street is swimming in cash and the Obama administration is declaring that “the recession is over”, the U.S. unemployment rate has gone even higher ... Times are really, really tough and unfortunately the long-term outlook is very bleak. We should have compassion on those who are out of work right now, because soon many of us may join them.
The following are 25 unemployment statistics that are almost too depressing to read….
#1 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. unemployment rate for November was 9.8 percent. This was up from 9.6 percent in October, and it continues a trend of depressingly high unemployment rates. The official unemployment number has been at 9.5 percent or higher for well over a year at this point.
#2 In November 2006, the “official” U.S. unemployment rate was just 4.5 percent.
#3 Most economists had been expecting the U.S. economy to add about 150,000 jobs in November. Instead, it only added 39,000.
#4 In the United States today, there are over 15 million people who are “officially” considered to be unemployed for statistical purposes. But everyone knows that the “real” number is even much larger than that.
#5 As 2007 began, there were just over 1 million Americans that had been unemployed for half a year or longer. Today, there are over 6 million Americans that have been unemployed for half a year or longer.
#6 The number of “persons not in the labor force” in the United States recently set another new all-time record.
#7 It now takes the average unemployed American over 33 weeks to find a job.
#8 When you throw in “discouraged workers” and “underemployed workers”, the “real” unemployment rate in the state of California is actually about 22 percent.
#9 In America today there are not nearly enough jobs for everyone. In fact, there are now approximately 5 unemployed Americans for every single job opening.
#10 According to The New York Times, Americans that have been unemployed for five weeks or less are three times more likely to find a new job in the coming month than Americans that have been unemployed for over a year.
#11 The U.S. economy would need to create 235,120 new jobs a month to get the unemployment rate down to pre-recession levels by 2016. Does anyone think that there is even a prayer that is going to happen?
#12 There are 9 million Americans that are working part-time for “economic reasons”. In other words, those Americans would gladly take full-time jobs if they could get them, but all they have been able to find is part-time work.
#13 In 2009, total wages, median wages, and average wages all declined in the United States.
#14 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in manufacturing. The last time that less than 12 million Americans were employed in manufacturing was in 1941.
#15 The United States has lost at least 7.5 million jobs since the recession began.
#16 Today, only about 40 percent of Ford Motor Company’s 178,000 workers are employed in North America, and a big percentage of those jobs are in Canada and Mexico.
#17 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In 2008, it represented 11.5 percent.
#18 Earlier this year, one poll found that 28% of all American households had at least one member that was looking for a full-time job.
#19 In the United States today, over 18,000 parking lot attendants have college degrees.
#20 The United States has lost a staggering 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs since the year 2000.
#21 As the employment situation continues to stagnate, millions of American families have decided to cut back on things such as insurance coverage. For example, the percentage of American households that have life insurance coverage is at its lowest level in 50 years.
#22 Unless Congress acts, and there is no indication that is going to happen, approximately 2 million Americans will stop receiving unemployment checks over the next couple of months.
#23 A poll that was released by the Pew Research Center back in June discovered that an astounding 55 percent of the U.S. labor force has experienced either unemployment, a pay decrease, a reduction in hours or an involuntary move to part-time work since the economic downturn began.
#24 According to Richard McCormack, the United States has lost over 42,000 factories (and counting) since 2001.
#25 In the United States today, 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees.
But this is what we get for creating the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world. For decades we have been digging a deeper hole for ourselves by going into increasingly larger amounts of debt. In America today, our entire economy is based on debt. Even our money is debt. We were fools if we ever thought this could go on forever. Just think about it. Have you ever gone out and run up a bunch of debt? It can be a lot of fun sitting behind the wheel of a new car, running your credit cards up to the limit and buying a beautiful big house that you cannot afford. But in the end what happens? It always catches up with you. Well, our collective debt is starting to catch up with us. There is a sea of red ink on every level of American society. It is only a matter of time before it destroys our economy. IF YOU THINK THAT THINGS ARE BAD NOW, JUST WAIT. THINGS ARE GOING TO GET A WHOLE LOT WORSE. A HORRIFIC ECONOMIC COLLAPSE IS COMING, AND IT IS GOING TO BE VERY, VERY PAINFUL.’
Howard Davidowitz on the Economy: "Here Are the Numbers ... WE'RE BROKE!" 11-25-10 ‘The U.S. economy "is a complete disaster," Howard Davidowitz declared here in July, the most recent in a string of dire predictions from Tech Ticker's most entertaining guest.On the eve of Thanksgiving, I asked Davidowitz if he had any regrets, or was ready to throw in the towel given recent signs of economic revival. Are you kidding me? "Here are the numbers...we're broke," Davidowitz declares, noting the U.S. government goes $5 billion deeper into debt every day and is facing $1 trillion-plus annual deficits for the next decade. "In other words, we're bankrupt."As with the economy, Davidowitz is unwaveringly consistent in his views on President Obama, calling him "deranged, dysfunctional and discredited."Results of the midterm election show "the people of this country think we are in a catastrophe," he says. "I'm with them."Check the accompanying video for more of Howard's unfettered opinions and stay tuned for additional clips from this interview. And...Happy Thanksgiving! Aaron Task is the host of Tech Ticker. You can follow him on Twitter at @atask or email him at altask@yahoo.com’
Timid Tuesday: Is it Safe? Davis ‘… This is how we pay off our current debts and I think bondholders are simply happy to get anything out of a country that admits it owes $15Tn (1/4 of global GDP) but probably owes closer to $60Tn (entire global GDP) in the form of unfunded liabilities. The funniest thing about this (and you have to laugh) is to see Conservative pundits get on TV and talk about how we need to cut $100Bn worth of discretionary spending to "fix" this (while continuing to spend $1Tn on the military and $1Tn on tax cuts for the top 1% each year). There is no fixing this and even a Republican said you can’t fool all of the people all of the time. THIS HOUSE OF CARDS IS TEETERING FOLKS – PLEASE BE CAREFUL OUT THERE! ‘
17 Things Worrying Investors Lloyd's Wall of Worry
Worry Count: 17
CHINA: 1,330,044,605 people can’t be wrong.
The PIIGS: Fasten your seatbelts. It’s gonna be a long, bumpy, expensive, weird, (insert your own adjective here) freak show of a ride.
CALIFORNIA AND THE OTHER 49 STATES: Not yet as dire as “The PIIGS”. Might I suggest the classier moniker of “The Prosciuttos” for the American basket-case states?
QE II: Gobble?
U.S. ECONOMY: The “Punky Brewster” of the global economic landscape.
UNEMPLOYMENT: Only thing worse than losing your job, losing your unemployment check. At least there’s the holiday season to cheer everyone up (read: heavy sarcasm).
TAXES: Praying to the Financial Market Gods that we don’t have another TARP-like vote fiasco.
OBAMA ADMINISTRATION PART II: Still two years before the Pres. election and the peanut gallery is already pleading for a Hail Mary Pass to get them back in the game.
HFT: Instead of beating up these liquidity supplying traders, let’s honor them with their very own stock exchange. But wait -- with no retail saps to pick-off they will never get that Day 1 opening bell tick. Perfect.
XMAS 2010: As my professor friend Nick says, “Nowadays Americans are dining off of two menus – The Million Dollar and the $0.99 Cent.” And both are pissed about it.
CURRENCIES: Poor Mr. Greenback. Does someone need a hug?
HOUSING CRISIS: Price Stabilization – Are we there yet? Just a little bit more. Are we there yet? Just a little bit more. Are we there yet? Just a little bit more….
INFLATION/DEFLATION: Fed Chief Ben B. comes out swinging from his heels in defense of inflation promotion. Don’t punch yourself out as this one is likely to go the distance.
COMMODITIES: Corrected but still sky high; fortunately these prices are only affecting core, basic, life-sustaining necessities and sparing our electronic gadgets and plus-sized SUVs. Whew!
INSIDER TRADING: Another black eye for Hedge Funds. I estimate that makes black eye number 6,597.
INTEREST RATES: South Korea and China slowly turning up the dial to “11”. On the other hand the U.S. has removed the dial altogether. This never ends well….
NORTH KOREA: Here we go again.
Consumer confidence down, LiveLeak.com - Loonie closes above U.S. dollar … dollar for first time closes below parity on Canadian loonie … hey, hey, hey … 'Huge' stock decline — but not yet MarketWatch - Commentary: Adens … ‘mega trend’ looks grim … The Adens expect a hyperinflationary collapse … ‘ Oh come on! Manipulated dollar decline with inflated earnings, stock prices thereby, etc., … we’ve seen this all before … the last few crashes … Jobless rate jumps to 9.8% as hiring slows (Washington Post) [ The reality is not a mystery! The nation’s been thrown under the bus for the greater good (wealth) of the very few (frauds on wall street, etc.); wall street giving out record bonuses from their accomplished fraud (with no-recession b.s. bernanke help) of $144 BILLION: Come on! This is gettin’ even more downright ridiculous (if that’s even possible)! Pending home foreclosure / distress sales up, oil prices (and oil stocks) up, debased dollar down, plus a little familiar ‘better than expected’ thrown in along with prospects of a ‘no-recession bernanke’ market-frothing bull session on 60 minutes and, voila, suckers’ rally into the close to keep the suckers suckered! What’s good for the frauds on wall street is bad for just about everyone else which includes the vast majority of people and businesses, domestically and globally, as current dollar manipulation / debasement ultimately results in higher costs and loss of purchasing power (ie., oil, etc.). Clearly, this is one of those fraudulent wealth transfers to the frauds on wall street et als which will ultimately be paid for by those who least are in a position to afford it, courtesy of the ever more worthless Weimar dollar, etc., inflating earnings, eps, lowering p/e multiples, etc., see infra. This is an especially great time to sell / take profits while you can since there's much worse to come! Previous: Rosy numbers on consumer sentiment, unemployment (far better than private forecasts) from the government prior to the holiday so-called ‘shop till you drop’? How can anyone believe anything they say? Najerian interviewed by Motek chimes in with the reason for good retail cheer; viz., people have stopped paying their mortgages and are using the funds to purchase retail goods; while Davidowitz adds that with record numbers of americans on food stamps, real unemployment at 17+, and wall street giving out record bonuses from their accomplished fraud (with no-recession b.s. bernanke help) of $144 BILLION … the high end stores / jewelers will do well … daaaaah! And, with insiders and wall street frauds selling into the bubble as preceded last crash, this is an especially great opportunity to sell / take profits! Suckers’ rally on light volume, full moon, and government complicity (false data / reports) to keep suckers suckered (easy for the wall street frauds to do with just a mouse click / push of the button – and, they know all those technical trade lines that are easy to program in this current phase of the scam/fraud with the debased dollar). Keep in mind, the totally mindless blather from the ‘cottage industries’ of and fraudulent wall street itself in talking up lower P/E multiples when the same is a direct result of the debasement of the dollar and the consequent manipulation / translation (not real, see Davis, infra) which preceded the financial crisis / last crash. Unemployment, trade, deficit, etc., numbers continue decidedly worse than expected along with other negative data (and in the ‘wrong direction’, that spin accorded ‘down but not as bad as before’ b*** s*** ) yet the market has rallied like no tomorrow with used home foreclosure / distressed sales, though abated owing to ‘foreclosuregate’, the other ‘heralded’ good news. Moreover, the dumbo lemmings of Europe have jumped on the fraudulent defacto bankrupt american crazy train propelled to the precipice also as if no tomorrow. This is about keeping the suckers sucked in with the help of a market-frothing pre-election debased dollar for favorable currency translation and paper (but not real when measured in, ie., gold, etc.) profits which preceded the last crisis, inflating a bubble as in the last crisis to facilitate the churn-and-earn, particularly with computerized (and high frequency) trades and which commissions they’ll get again on the way down. There is nothing to support these overbought stock prices, fundamentally or otherwise. These are desperate criminals ‘at work’. Even wall street shill, the senile Buffett is saying we’re still in a recession (depression) [ Davis: ‘… all profits are inflated by 10% (from falling, debased dollar) and that 10% is the E that gets divided from the P and gives us a much better price/multiple to hang our hats on and that gets investors to BUYBUYBUY …’ The bull market that never was / were beyond wall street b.s. when measured in gold ] This is a great opportunity to sell / take profits (these lower dollar, hyperinflationary currency manipulations / translations to froth paper stocks will end quite badly as in last crash)! This is a global depression. This is a secular bear market in a global depression. The past up moves were manipulated bull (s***) cycles (at best) in a secular bear market. This has been a typically manipulated bubble as has preceded the prior crashes with great regularity that the wall street frauds and insiders commission and sell into. This is a typical wall street ‘programmed computerized high-frequency churn and earn pass the hot potato scam / fraud as in prior crashes ( widely reported, high-frequency trading routinely accounts for more than 50% of daily U.S. equity trading volume and regularly approaches 70%. )’. This national decline, economic and otherwise, will not end until justice is served and the wall street frauds et als are criminally prosecuted, jailed, fined, and disgorgement imposed.The Stock Market's Long Decline Has Begun Smith ]
(1-12-11) Dow 11,755 +83 Nasdaq 2,737 +20 S&P 500 1,286 +11 [CLOSE- OIL $91.86 (-54% for year 2008) (RECORD TRADING HIGH $147.27) GAS $3.00 (reg. gas in LAND OF FRUITS AND NUTS $3.20 REG./ $3.29 MID-GRADE/ $3.39 PREM./ $3.79 DIESEL) / GOLD $1,386 (+24% for year 2009) / SILVER $29.62 (+47% for year 2009) PLATINUM $1,796 (+56% for year 2009) / DOLLAR= .76 EURO, 83 YEN, .63 POUND STERLING, ETC. (How low can you go - LOWER)/ http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/update 10 YR NOTE YIELD 3.35% …..… AP Business Highlights ...Yahoo Market Update... T. Rowe Price Weekly Recap – Stocks / Bonds / Currencies - Domestic / International This Is a Secular Bear Market and The End of Buy and Hold … and Hope MARKET MANIPULATION AND HOW THE LATEST BUBBLE-FRAUD PRE-COMING CRASH IS BEING ACCOMPLISHED 3-11-10 6 Theories On Why the Stock Market Has Rallied 3-9-10 [archived website file] Risks Lurk for ETF Investors The bull market that never was/were beyond wall street b.s. when measured in gold Property Values Projected to Fall 12% in 2010 Jan 31, 2010 The Week Ahead: Risk Is Off the Cliff; Unwind Has Begun Jan 31, 2010 01-13-10 Forecast for 2010 from Seeking Alpha Contributor THE COMING MARKET CRASH / CORRECTION 1-28-10 Maierhofer (01-15-10) 11 Clear Signs Economy Sinking Economic Black Hole 1-22-10: 20 Reasons Why The U.S. Economy Is Dying And Is Simply Not Going To Recover Current Economic / Fiscal Charts Trendsresearch.com forecast for 2009 1-7-10 Crash is coming! ‘WORST ECONOMIC COLLAPSE EVER’ Must Read Economic / Financial Data This Depression is just beginning The coming depression… thecomingdepression.net MUST READ: JEREMY GRANTHAM’S QUARTERLY UPDATE 25 January 2010 (850 on the S&P) by TPC The Next Wave of Collapse is Coming Sooner than you think Sliding Back Into the Great Depression ABSOLUTELY, ABSURDLY, RIDICULOUS! SELL / TAKE PROFITS WHILE YOU CAN SINCE MUCH, MUCH WORSE TO COME!
National / World
Corporate Media Portrays Loughner as Gold and Silver Advocate Kurt Nimmo | Loughner’s irrational currency ramblings offer the establishment a chance to tarnish a growing movement calling for the elimination of the Federal Reserve.
Arizona Shooter Was On Powerful Hallucinogens Steve Watson | Friend says “He would admit to seeing the sky as orange and the grass as blue”.
Welcome To The Reservation Paul Joseph Watson | American Indian activist Russell Means explains how history has come full circle.
Was Loughner In Love With Congresswoman Giffords? Paul Joseph Watson | Gunman’s disinterest in politics fails to explain dangerous obsession that began several years ago.
Palin: “When was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols?” Sarah Palin | President Reagan said, “We must reject the idea that every time a law’s broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.”
Arizona Shooter Was On Powerful Hallucinogens As with practically every other high profile shooting case in recent memory, it appears that the suspect was using psychotropic drugs, substances that significantly alter areas of the brain associated with perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior.
Was Loughner In Love With Congresswoman Giffords? Now that the contrived idea that heated political rhetoric from conservatives has been rejected as a motivation behind Jared Lee Loughner’s tragic rampage in which Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was targeted, Loughner’s documented obsession with Giffords indicates that he may have been infatuated with the Arizona Democrat.
Welcome To The Reservation American Indian Russell Means gives an eye-opening 90 minute interview in which he explains how Native Americans and Americans in general are all imprisoned within one huge reservation. “The history of the American and the history of the Indian have now come full circle and are intertwined in the dictatorial policies of those that control the monetary system of America,” remarks Means.
He did not watch TV. He disliked the news. He didn’t listen to political radio Regarding the high-pitched talk radio and cable news political rhetoric, Osler says his friend didn’t even watch the news.
Officers stopped suspect on day of Ariz. shooting; Police Say They Visited Tucson Suspect’s Home Even Before Rampage TUCSON — The police were sent to the home where Jared L. Loughner lived with his family on more than one occasion before the attack here on Saturday that left a congresswoman fighting for her life and six others dead, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said on Tuesday.
Arizona Shooting Suspect Wrote `Die Bitch’ on Giffords Letter Jared Loughner, accused of shooting U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords in the Tucson, Arizona attack that killed six people and wounded 14, wrote “die bitch” and “die cops” on a letter he received from the lawmaker in 2007, officials said.
U.S. Promises to be in Afghanistan Beyond 2014 [ Defacto bankrupt america can afford it! Riiiiight! Sounds like a plan … for enhanced heroin production, war profiteering, etc., benefiting the few to the detriment of the many. ]New York Times | Biden met with Karzai and promised a lasting American commitment to the country well beyond 2014, when NATO forces are scheduled to turn over security of the nation to Afghan forces.
‘US behind instability in Lebanon’ Press TV | Iran’s ambassador to Beirut says Washington’s interferences resulted in the failure of Saudi Arabian and Syrian efforts to stabilize Lebanon.
China stealth jet upstages US defence chief’s visit US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday toured China’s nuclear command centre to end what he called a “very successful” visit — one upstaged by a bold display of Beijing’s advanced weaponry
Drudgereport: World moves closer to food price shock...
OIL NEARS $100...
Soaring commodities...
PALIN CALLS OUT MEDIA 'BLOOD LIBEL'...
VIDEO...
Death Threats at 'Unprecedented Level,' Aides Say...
ABCNEWS: She 'once again has found a way to become part of the story'...
CBSNEWS: 'Plays the victim card'...
NBCNEWS: 'Ignorant' for using 'blood libel' term...
Assange claims 'insurance' files on Rupert Murdoch; Says China Top Threat to WIKILEAKS... ‘In this week's New Statesman, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange talks to John Pilger about Bradley Manning, his "insurance" files on Rupert Murdoch and Newscorp - and which country is the real enemy of WikiLeaks. To read the entire feature, pick up a copy of this week's New Statesman available on newsstands from tomorrow. Some highlights of the piece are below: The "technological enemy" of WikiLeaks is not the US - but China, according to Assange. "China is the worst offender," when it comes to censorship, says the controversial whistleblower. "China has aggressive and sophisticated interception technology that places itself between every reader inside China and every information source outside China. We've been fighting a running battle to make sure we can get information through, and there are now all sorts of ways Chinese readers can get on to our site." On Bradley Manning - the US soldier accused of leaking the diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks - Assange says: "I'd never heard his name before it was published in the press." He argues that the US is trying to use Manning - currently stuck in solitary confinement in the US - to build a case against the WikiLeaks founder: "Cracking Bradley Manning is the first step," says the Australian hacker. "The aim clearly is to break him and force a confession that he somehow conspired with me to harm the national security of the United States." Such conspiracy would be impossible, according to Assange. "WikiLeaks technology was designed from the very beginning to make sure that we never knew the identities or names of people sub¬mitting material. We are as untraceable as we are uncensorable. That's the only way to assure sources they are protected." Yesterday, Assange's lawyers warned that if he is extradited to America, he could face the death penalty - for embarrassing the leaders of the US government. "They don't want the public to know these things and scapegoats must be found," says Assange. And despite the pressure the website has been under, reports of trouble at WikiLeaks are greatly exaggerated, claims Assange. "There is no 'fall'. We have never published as much as we are now. WikiLeaks is now mirrored on more than 2,000 websites. I can't keep track of the spin-off sites - those who are doing their own WikiLeaks... If something happens to me or to WikiLeaks, 'insurance' files will be released." The contents of these files are unknown, but, according to Assange, "[t]hey speak more of the same truth to power." It is not just government that should be worried about the content of these files, however. "There are 504 US embassy cables on one broadcasting organisation and there are cables on Murdoch and News Corp," says Assange. The attempts by the US to indict Assange should worrying the mainstream press, he adds. "I think what's emerging in the mainstream media is the awareness that if I can be indicted, other journalists can, too," says Assange. "Even the New York Times is worried. This used not to be the case. If a whistleblower was prosecuted, publishers and reporters were protected by the First Amendment, which journalists took for granted. That's being lost."
Goldman Sachs self-eval calls for disclosure of operations (Washington Post) [ Self-evaluation? Goldman-sachs? Don’t make me laugh! … Oh, right … they don’t cheat, they just steal / defraud! ] Goldman is trying to turn the page on a bad year (as in huge bonuses … that bad … riiiight!) .
Chinese military tests fighter jet ahead of Hu's meeting with Gates (Washington Post) [ China tests stealth aircraft before Gates, Hu meet (Post, January 11, 2011; 6:12 PM) Chinese general to visit U.S. base in small sign of thawing military ties (Post, January 12, 2011; 1:21 AM) Small sign of thawing? Yeah, maybe … so small you’d need a electron microscope to see it … as gates melted at the prospect of China’s latest new addition to their defensive arsenal, which they can afford, as defacto bankrupt america drowns in perpetual, contrived / self-created / self-destructive wars. ]
China's exchange reserves hit record level (Washington Post) [ Relations, relationship, reserves. I’d say proportional … as in terms of, ie., rationality … as in, ie., relative abundance; viz., China having substantially greater reserves and rationality than irrationally, pervasively corrupt, meaningfully lawless, perpetual war despite defacto bankrupt america. ] The thorniest problem in economic relations between the United States and China is getting worse, just as the world's two biggest economies prepare for a summit next week in Washington.
Meyerson: Culture of paranoia (Washington Post) [ That ‘for us or again’ us’ dichotomy that flourished with unbridled enthusiasm and encouragement by lesser brains typified by burnt out war criminal and moron dumbya bush & co certainly gained traction with the bushlander failed regimes; but, truth be told, to the surprise of many, the same mindless approach to all things domestic and international has under wobama’s failed regime proved to be the coup de grace, the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back, etc.. Indeed, the continuation of the perpetual war policy despite the defacto bankruptcy of the nation has made wobama’s failed presidency merely icing on what has become the american upside down cake. From no pros of the frauds on wall street to increased war spending and runaway deficits, wobama the ‘b’ for b*** s*** has proven the more america ‘changes’ the more america stays the same … in rate of decline, that is. Talk radio … all b*** s*** with a few convenient facts interspersed for relevance. I’d say liberal talk radio is worse in that if they’re not comin’ down hard on wobama (I presume they’re not), then all their rhetoric in the bush years was hot air. And hot air is what they are which is the reason d’etre for that little on/off switch which is all the censorship that’s needed. That’s what I use for the blowhards … and it works extremely well! ]
Krauthammer: Beyond Ariz., a reckless charge (Washington Post) [ If it were only that simple; viz., a palin ( I’ve previously said I’m more concerned with her level of stupidity, dumb enough in an infantile way to prove she had gonads by pressing the button – never goin’ to happen, her being in that position), a beck, a bush, a wobama (Drudgereport: OBAMA FLASHBACK: 'If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun'... ), etc., there’d be hope for pervasively corrupt defacto bankrupt america. The fact is, the problem is inherent to america / americans themselves as I previously wrote here and reiterate: Will: Half-baked explanations for tragedy (Washington Post) [ Half-baked? Charlatans? The foregoing are in no short supply in defacto bankrupt, meaningfully lawless, pervasively corrupt, fraud prevalent america. See, for example, RICO case http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/ricosummarytoFBIunderpenaltyofperjury.pdf http://www.albertpeia.com/112208opocoan/PeiavCoanetals.htm . Moreover, Mr. Will as an oftimes apologist for war criminal, pervasively fraud-prone, defacto bankrupt, etc., america, with crime rates exceeding by far those of any other so-called civilized nations, might indeed find himself among those he’s so categorized. Among the last separate page sections to my website will be a somewhat detailed psychoanalytic evolutionary profile of the u.s. (one might ask who am I to do so which is fair comment to which I would reply, read it, or not, your choice). However, for the nonce, let me say that the it is no small coincidence that the 20th century has been dubbed ‘the american century’. That the 20th century has been considered the bloodiest is at once the natural concomitant of the foregoing reality. Keeping in mind the so-called ‘selective’ processes in both insurance (adverse) and evolutionary (Darwinian) terms, and as well, the psychology of it all from a behavioral perspective, america has indeed evolved. From the genocide of indigenous populations, to outlandish propaganda in support of same (ie., that ‘manifest destiny’ balderdash with overtones of religiosity spoonfed since elementary school, etc.), to contrived conflict / war, such, euphemistically bad behavior has been reinforced, some of which conditioning not always purposeful, ie., the ever greater frauds perpetrated on wall street for which there have been in large part no real punitive consequences to the perpetrators; but, to the contrary, great financial rewards though substantially detrimental to the majority. Despite the surface appeal, that oft asserted ‘blue-blood’ distinction doesn’t pass muster. Aside from the few seeking seeking religious freedom (ie., Puritans among some others), most then new americans were such disaffected rejects of their former homelands that desperation at best was motivation for travel to the wilds of the ‘so-called new world’ as opposed to intelligent, rational choice; criminals, mentally ill, the not-so-bright but ruthless populating the new nation in disparate numbers toward the ends consistent with greed and common criminality, corruption, and venality. As of the age of the dinosaurs, the american century has passed into the annals of a history replete with self-generating terrorism within and without (that blowback thing). DRUDGEREPORT: NATION SHOCKED: CONGRESSWOMAN SHOT IN TUCSON
SCARY FREAK!
THE DEVIL MADE HIM DO IT: TUCSON SHOOTER'S TWISTED SKULL SHRINE...
Described by Classmate as 'Left-Wing Pothead'...
Family of suspect blocks FBI access to house...
Shooter Smirks in Court, Smiles for Mug Shot...
Was registered independent; Didn't vote in Nov. '10 election...
'SHERIFF' BLAMES RUSH LIMBAUGH FOR MASSACRE?
CONGRESSWOMAN READIES GUN CONTROL BILL...
Dem planning bill that would outlaw 'threatening' lawmakers...
...'use language or symbols that could be perceived as inciting violence'
OBAMA FLASHBACK: 'If They Bring a Knife to the Fight, We Bring a Gun'...
SAFEWAY MASSACRE... UPDATE...
SLAIN JUDGE WANTED TO TALK TO REP. ABOUT SURGE IN BORDER CRIME...
WIRE...
Suspect scrawled: 'I planned ahead'...
Obsessed With Mind Control...
Described by Classmate as 'Left-Wing Pothead'...
Trade war looming, warns Brazil...
Tensions rise in currency wars...
Pressure on Portugal heightens...
GLOBAL ORDER: Sarkozy takes case to Obama as food prices soar...
Greece borrowing rates hit new record...
Pentagon concerned over China's rapid development of new weapons...
Economists foretell of U.S. decline, China's ascension...
SAFEWAY MASSACRE...
VIDEO...
6 Dead, 12 injured...
Dem Rep. Gabrielle Giffords shot through brain; critical after surgery, doctors 'optimistic'...
Federal Judge Killed...
WIRE...
CAPITOL POLICE URGES CONGRESS TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS...
BOEHNER: 'An attack on one who serves is an attack on all who serve'...
OBAMA: 'UNSPEAKABLE TRAGEDY'...
Gunman ID'ed as Jared Loughner, 22... YOUTUBE...PHOTOS...
Obsessed With Mind Control...
MYSPACE GENERATION: Suspect Says Goodbye Online: 'Please don't be mad at me -- I cannot rest'...
14 decapitated bodies found in Mexico resort city...
NUMBER OF COMBAT INJURIES IN AFGHANISTAN APPROACHES IRAQ-WAR LEVELS...
WIKILEAKS: US demanding our TWITTER account info...
WIKILEAKS demands GOOGLE and FACEBOOK unseal US subpoenas...
New data collected from sensors left on moon in 1971 [ Riiiiight! … and if you’ve seen the beginning of 2001:Space Odyssey (the monolith), you’ve already seen it! ] ...
Euro Crisis Roars to Forefront...
Portugal's debt worries worsen...
UN warns Greece on anti-migrant fence...
NJ police: Man seeking 'portal to hell' stabbed 2...
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Go to following pages for above links:
http://www.albertpeia.com/currentopics2ndqtr10108.htm
http://www.albertpeia.com
http://www.albertpeia.com/alresume.htm
http://www.albertpeia.com/wallstreetlunacy2ndqtr10108.htm
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