Weekend Economists' Weekend of Miracles December 3-5, 2010

[Demeter]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULtglogZbR8

Nefesh B'Nefesh Hanukkah Flash Mob (Official NBN Release)

I'm Keeping Kosher for Christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p9TE8dRPX0&feature=related


Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday celebrated for eight days and nights. It starts on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, which coincides with late November-late December on the secular calendar.

In Hebrew, the word “hanukkah” means “dedication.” The name reminds us that this holiday commemorates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.

The Hanukkah Story

In 168 B.C.E. the Jewish Temple was seized by Syrian-Greek soldiers and dedicated to the worship of the god Zeus. This upset the Jewish people, but many were afraid to fight back for fear of reprisals. Then in 167 B.C.E. the Syrian-Greek emperor Antiochus made the observance of Judaism an offense punishable by death. He also ordered all Jews to worship Greek gods.

Jewish resistance began in the village of Modiin, near Jerusalem. Greek soldiers forcibly gathered the Jewish villages and told them to bow down to an idol, then eat the flesh of a pig – both practices that are forbidden to Jews. A Greek officer ordered Mattathias, a High Priest, to acquiesce to their demands, but Mattathias refused. When another villager stepped forward and offered to cooperate on Mattathias' behalf, the High Priest became outraged. He drew his sword and killed the villager, then turned on the Greek officer and killed him too. His five sons and the other villagers then attacked the remaining soldiers, killing all of them.

Mattathias and his family went into hiding in the mountains, where other Jews wishing to fight against the Greeks joined them. Eventually they succeeded in retaking their land from the Greeks. These rebels became known as the Maccabees, or Hasmoneans.

Once the Maccabees had regained control they returned to the Temple in Jerusalem. By this time it had been spiritually defiled by being used for the worship of foreign gods and also by practices such as sacrificing swine. Jewish troops were determined to purify the Temple by burning ritual oil in the Temple’s menorah for eight days. But to their dismay, they discovered that there was only one day's worth of oil left in the Temple. They lit the menorah anyway and to their surprise the small amount of oil lasted the full eight days.

This is the miracle of the Hanukkah oil that is celebrated every year when Jews light a special menorah known as a hanukkiyah for eight days. One candle is lit on the first night of Hanukkah, two on the second, and so on, until eight candles are lit.

Significance of Hanukkah

According to Jewish law, Hanukkah is one of the less important Jewish holidays. However, Hanukkah has become much more popular in modern practice because of its proximity to Christmas.

Hanukkah falls on the twenty-fifth day of the Jewish month of Kislev. Since the Jewish calendar is lunar based, every year the first day of Hanukkah falls on a different day – usually sometime between late November and late December. Because many Jews live in predominately Christian societies, over time Hanukkah has become much more festive and Christmas-like. Jewish children receive gifts for Hanukkah – often one gift for each of the eight nights of the holiday. Many parents hope that by making Hanukkah extra special their children won't feel left out of all the Christmas festivities going on around them.

Hanukkah Traditions

Every community has its unique Hanukkah traditions, but there are some traditions that are almost universally practiced. They are: lighting the hanukkiyah, spinning the dreidel and eating fried foods.

* Lighting the hanukkiyah: Every year it is customary to commemorate the miracle of the Hanukkah oil by lighting candles on a hanukkiyah. The hanukkiyah is lit every night for eight nights.

* Spinning the dreidel: A popular Hanukkah game is spinning the dreidel, which is a four-sided top with Hebrew letters written on each side. Gelt, which are chocolate coins covered with tin foil, are part of this game.

* Eating fried foods: Because Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of oil, it is traditional to eat fried foods such as latkes and sufganiyot during the holiday. Latkes are pancakes made out of potatoes and onions, which are fried in oil and then served with applesauce. Sufganiyot (singular: sufganiyah) are jelly-filled donuts that are fried and sometimes dusted with confectioners’ sugar before eating.

http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/hanukkah.htm

To fill the weekend with light, or at least heat, let us explore the economic degradations, and plan our flight into the mountains, from which we can retake our temple...the Constitution, the economy, the markets, the works!

PS: Hanukkah runs Dec. 1-9 this year...

[Tansy_Gold]

1. #1 Shalom!

[Demeter]

2. Hey Tansy!

I'm being actively recruited for Judaism. Hence the fascination (repulsion). I don't know what makes people do this to me: the Methodists, the Baptists, everybody wants to take a shot...do I have sucker written all over me?

[Tansy_Gold]

4. I don't know what to tell you, girlfriend

Technically, I'm jewish, lower case. My maternal grandmother (neé Andrews) was raised Jewish, taught Hebrew, all that stuff. My maternal grandfather was raised Lutheran, but his mother was also Jewish. That makes my mother and me and my daughter jewish, even though my daughter is the only one who ever practiced at all. She knows much more about the traditions and practices, rites and rituals and dogma than I. All the Andrews relatives are still Jewish; the rest of us kinda are lapsed nominal protestants sorta.

Those who know more about it than I will probably provide better information. Most of what I know comes from Michener's "The Source," Diamant's "The Red Tent," and Shlain's "The Alphabet vs the Goddess."

The proselytizers tend to leave me alone. If they get persistent, I tell them I'm an orthodox atheist and it scares them away.



Tansy Gold

[Demeter]

3. We Had ONE Bona Fide Miracle This Weekend Already

the Catfood Commission failed.

Deficit Reduction Plan Fails to Get the Votes It Needed

http://www.truth-out.org/deficit-reduction-plan-fails-get-votes-it-needed65640

The bipartisan federal debt commission Friday got a majority of its 18 members to endorse its sweeping blueprint for slashing nearly $4 trillion from deficits.

But the 11 supporters of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform "Moment of Truth" plan were short of the 14 needed to send the package to Congress for votes.

Commission members nevertheless insisted their work was an important first step in the process of paring the record federal debt, and most of the dissenters agreed.

They noted how the plan got support across the political spectrum. Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., backed the report, explaining, "I want progressive voices at the table to help protect the most vulnerable….today with my vote I'm claiming a seat at that table."

THERE'S GOT TO BE A PONY IN THERE SOMEWHERE...

[Tansy_Gold]

10. Here's another -- for fun

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x531497

I know, I know, not the week-end's designated holiday, but I thought it worth highlighting.

[Demeter]

12. It's All Good!

Excellent production! I'll be doing the Messiah singalong in the town next door on Monday night in lieu of the Dec 19th local one, since I'll be singing in Ralph Vaughn Williams Hodie that day...there simply aren't enough days in December....

[DemReadingDU]

27. Nice!

Guess what, it's locked. Not a political video.

[ozymandius]

28. Yahweh Be Praised!

Really.

I will sincerely praise just about any deity over this clunker being d.o.a.

[bread_and_roses]

30. what do you want to bet it does a Lazarus, Ozy?

And since Lazarus most assuredly was born a Jew - at least, I presume so, all my biblical info comes from literary references - I think that's still apt to the theme.

But you know, they're not going to let it die - too many goodies in there for the Oligarchs. And no real opposition from the side that is nominally "ours."

Who in this case I think are best compared to the Temple money-changers (again, presumably Jewish) and High Priests who - again, extrapolating from the Xian version of events (sorry, but my knowledge of Judaism is pretty thin) - show that hypocrisy and devotion to dogma and power are fairly widespread amongst the anointed of any faith.

[ozymandius]

32. You mean a bet against those doing "God's Work?"

I'm not inclined to take that bet. Their followers are nuts.

[Dr.Phool]

36. Yahweh needs to get back into the smitin' business.

Hello, Mr. Simpson, you wrinkled-up, old crotchety prick. Erskine, meet Yahweh.

[Demeter]

43. US budget deficit plan faces rewrite

A sweeping plan to cut US budget deficits by $3,900bn by 2020 proposed by the two heads of a bipartisan fiscal commission appeared likely to survive in piecemeal fashion

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/OJ7J7Z/DXJ2Y/9Z1MMB/A7FZWX/28/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=3

[Demeter]

5. Weak Job Growth Pushes Employment Rate Back to Downturn Low Point

http://www.truth-out.org/dean-baker-weak-job-growth-pushes-employment-rate-back-downturn-low-point65632

The establishment survey showed the economy adding just 39,000 jobs in November. As a result of slow job growth, the unemployment rate rose to 9.8 percent. The employment-to-population ratio (EPOP) fell to 58.2 percent, the low hit in December of last year. The EPOP for white men and white women both dropped below their prior troughs. The EPOP for men fell to 67.3 percent, just below the 67.4 percent level of last December. The EPOP for white women fell to 55.2 percent, 0.1 percentage points below the 55.3 percent level of October. The EPOP for Hispanics also hit a new low of 58.5 percent, while their unemployment rate hit a new high of 13.2 percent.

By age, workers over 55 appear to be doing best, having an employment gain of 123,000, while employment for younger workers fell 73,000. This continues a pattern that has been present since the beginning of the downturn. Employment for workers over age 55 has risen by 1,783,000 since the start of the recession. It has fallen by 1,389,000 for workers between the ages of 25-34 and by 1,819,000 for workers between the ages of 45-54. However, the biggest job loss has been among workers between the ages of 35-44, who have seen a drop in employment of 3,540,000, or 10.4 percent.

There were no clear patterns in job loss by education level. The EPOPs for workers without college degrees fell in November. However, workers with college degrees had the biggest rise in unemployment rates, with a 0.4 percentage point jump, pushing the unemployment rate for college grads to 5.1 percent, a record high.

Other data in the household survey were consistent with a very weak labor market; although there was a decline of 217,000 in the number of people involuntarily working part-time. The number of discouraged workers jumped to 1,282,000, almost 50 percent above its year-ago level.

Interestingly, the household survey has shown a drop in employment of 17,000 since March, a period in which the establishment survey shows a gain of 690,000 jobs.

The data in the establishment survey offer little hope of the labor market improving anytime soon. The 50,000 job gain in the private sector was the weakest performance since a 16,000 increase in January. Any evidence of building momentum appears to have dissipated. Both construction and manufacturing lost jobs in November, 5,000 and 13,000, respectively. Employment is likely to stabilize or even rise slightly in manufacturing in the months ahead, but falling non-residential construction will lead to further job loss in that sector....

[Demeter]

6. News in Brief: Senate Fails to Pass Tax Cuts, Keeping Federal Unemployment Benefits on Hold, & More

http://www.truth-out.org/news-brief-senate-fails-pass-tax-cuts-keeping-federal-unemployment-benefits-hold-and-more-%E2%80%A665639

An agreement between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate to hold four tax cut votes fell through last night due to the objections of one GOP senator. Instead, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will revert to attempt to push through a vote on the House’s plan to extend Bush tax cuts for income under $250,000 and another to extend the cuts for those whose income is under $1,000,000. The agreement on any compromise to the job cuts is fragile, requiring unanimous consent and, therefore, leaving the floor open to the disapproval “of any restive Republican,” reported Talking Points Memo. However, the extension of federal unemployment funding, and in fact any legislation, is being blocked by Republicans until an agreement is reached on the Bush-era tax cuts, reported The New York Times.

As Two Million Expected to Lose Unemployment Assistance, Jobless Numbers Continue to Rise

As an extension of funding to unemployment assistance freezes in Congress, the newest jobless figures show a continuing rise in both new and continuing claims. Last week 436,000 people applied for unemployment claims, a sign many experts say shows that job creation is happening too slowly. In particular, notes The New York Times, the number of Americans who have been unemployed for more than six months is at its highest level ever recorded...


Trustee for Madoff Victims Sues JP Morgan for $6.4 Billion

A trustee charged with recovering the billions of dollars lost by victims of financier Bernard Madoff is suing JP Morgan for its role in Madoff’s fraud. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, alleges the bank failed to act on well-documented suspicions about Madoff, instead continuing to collect fees and profits. The expected $5.5 billion in fees and profits will go to victims of Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, reported The Guardian UK...

[Demeter]

7. GOP Howls After House Extends Tax Cuts for Middle Class Only

http://www.truth-out.org/gop-howls-after-house-extends-tax-cuts-middle-class-only65620

...The plan, which would extend George W. Bush-era tax cuts for individuals earning less than $200,000 annually and couples making less than $250,000, is going nowhere in the Senate. A temporary extension of all the cuts for every income class is considered more likely to win enactment by the end of this month; otherwise they expire Dec. 31.

Republicans were furious that the House Democrats staged the vote...

[Demeter]

8. Why Don't Republicans Work to Promote "the General Welfare" Like the Constitution Instructs?

GOOD QUESTION! BECAUSE THEY ARE "UN-AMERICAN"?

http://blog.buzzflash.com/davidow/temp/82

[Demeter]

9. 157 Republicans Vote Against Deficit-Reducing Bill That Gives Free, Healthy Meals to Hungry Kids

http://www.truth-out.org/157-republicans-vote-against-deficit-reducing-bill-that-gives-free-healthy-meals-to-hungry-kids65628

[Demeter]

11. Jamie Dimon: Becoming Too Big to Save - Creating Fiscal Disaster MUST READ

http://www.truth-out.org/jamie-dimon-becoming-too-big-to-save-creating-fiscal-disaster65641

In Sunday’s New York Times magazine, Roger Lowenstein profiles Jamie Dimon, head of JP Morgan Chase. The piece, titled “Jamie Dimon: America’s Least-Hated Banker,” is generally sympathetic, but in every significant detail it confirms that Mr. Dimon is now – without question – our most dangerous banker. Mr. Dimon is not dangerous because he is in any narrow sense incompetent. On the contrary, Mr. Dimon is very good at getting what he wants. And now he wants to run a bigger, more interconnected, and more global bank that – if it were to fail – would cause great chaos around the world. Lowenstein writes,

“Dimon has always been unusually blunt, and he told me that not only are big banks like JP Morgan (it has $2 trillion in assets) not too big, but that they should be allowed to grow bigger.”

The problem with very big banks is not that they are “too big to fail,” in the sense that it is physically impossible for them to fail. It is that they are so large and therefore so connected with each other — and with all aspects of how the modern economy operates — that the failure of even one such bank would cause great damage throughout the world.

Lehman Brothers had a balance sheet of around $600 billion when it failed. Its collapse helped trigger the worst financial crisis and deepest recession since the 1930s. Imagine what would happen if JP Morgan Chase – even at today’s scale – were allowed to go bankrupt.

Dimon is brilliantly disingenuous on this key point.

“No one should be too big to fail,” he tells me. And J. P. Morgan? “Right,” he says. “Morgan should have to file for bankruptcy.”

But Dimon himself argued, in a November 2009 op ed in the Washington Post, that regular bankruptcy is not a feasible option for megabanks. Instead he eloquently advocated the creation of a special resolution mechanism for big banks – an update and expansion of the powers that the FDIC has long used to handle the orderly failure of small and medium-sized banks with insured retail deposits.
........

JP Morgan Chase is already Too Big To Fail. If it were to threaten failure, the government would face a terrible choice: provide some form of unsavory bailout, i.e., fully protecting creditors; or risk the outbreak of a Second Great Depression. While the executive branch pondered these alternatives, there would be global financial panic.

But that is not the worst of our worries. Jamie Dimon is apparently dead set on ensuring JP Morgan Chase becomes even larger, in part by expanding its operations in emerging markets in India, China, and elsewhere. As Ireland and other European countries have recently discovered to their horror, Too Big To Fail banks that want to expand globally can grow so large that they become Too Big To Save. “Too Big To Save” means that the government wants to save the bank – e.g., by providing a blanket guarantee, as the Irish did in October 2008 – but that creates such a large liability for the state that it pushes the entire country into insolvency.

JP Morgan Chase is well on its way to becoming Too Big To Save. Through expanding overseas, it effectively bypasses the weak controls we still have in place on bank size (no bank is supposed to have more than 10 percent of total retail deposits). Experience in Europe is that this strategy can enable individual banks to build balance sheets that are larger than the GDP of the country in which they are based – in the UK, for example, the Royal Bank of Scotland had a balance approaching 1.5 times the size of the British economy. And then it failed.

If JP Morgan Chase were to reach the equivalent size in the US, it would be a $20 trillion bank. Perhaps that would take a while, but JP Morgan Chase soon at $4 trillion or $8 trillion is easy to imagine...

MORE SERIOUS FUNK

[Demeter]

13. Shocking: JP Morgan Chase Was On to Madoff for Months, Kept Doing Business With Him

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/?id=376284&t=

It's been revealed that JP Morgan Chase suspected Bernie Madoff's investments were "too good to be true" in the two months leading up to the Ponzi schemer's arrest, during which time the bank kept doing business with him anyway.

According to ABC News, lawyers representing Madoff's victims have filed a $6.4 billion lawsuit against JP Morgan Chase, claiming the bank "continued its relationship with Madoff despite having documented suspicions about him."

Indeed, a "Suspicious Activity Report" shows that the bank's London office was, well, suspicious of Madoff's investment returns in October 2008. Madoff was arrested December 11 of that year.

“he investment performance achieved by funds…is so consistently and significantly ahead of its peers year-on-year, even in the prevailing market conditions, as to appear too good to be true – meaning it probably is.”

As ABC notes, those suspicions did nothing to stop the bank from reaping profits from Madoff's "too good to be true" investments for several weeks, and it did not issue any warnings to U.S. authorities.

[Demeter]

56. 123 claims filed over Madoff pay-outs

The trustee seeking to repay victims of Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme filed more than 100 claims against firms and individuals who allegedly made false profits from their investments with him

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/VKY5JJ/1891ZF/6ADGM/40RGK3/UUZYZU/CM/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=1

[Demeter]

14. Feds tracking credit cards, store purchases without warrant

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/feds-credit-cards-without-warrant/

Federal law enforcement routinely tracks individuals through their credit cards, cell phones, car rentals and even store customer loyalty programs without obtaining a warrant, an online privacy activist has discovered.

According to a document (PDF) obtained from the Department of Justice by online privacy activist Christopher Soghoian, federal agents working on a criminal investigation can draw up their own paperwork requesting that credit companies and retailers give the agents real-time access to purchases made by a particular person.

No court reviews these orders, and the only role courts play in the process is to issue a non-disclosure order to the retailer or credit card company involved, meaning the person being tracked will never be notified of the surveillance.

The process is known as a "hotwatch," and it can be used to spy on cell phones, credit card use, purchases at stores when a customer loyalty card is used, car rentals, and flight ticket purchases. The process "sidestep any Fourth Amendment protections," Soghoian writes...

[Demeter]

15. 5 Ways Homeowners Are Victimized by Wrongful Bank Foreclosure

http://www.alternet.org/story/149054/5_ways_homeowners_are_victimized_by_wrongful_bank_foreclosure


The issue at the center of the foreclosure scandal isn’t the use of robo-signers and shortcuts in paperwork: It’s whether the banks’ mistakes and lack of due diligence caused people to face wrongful foreclosures.

Banks have denied that this has happened, saying, “We are confident that processing errors did not result in any inappropriate foreclosures.” Foreclosure defense attorneys, however, say that wrongful foreclosures not only happen, they’re widespread. This disagreement comes down to what constitutes a wrongful foreclosure.

Here’s our attempt to break through the rhetoric and lay out the arguments:

1) Homeowners were not in default but faced foreclosure.

Most everyone agrees it’s wrong for banks to foreclose on someone who isn’t behind on a mortgage or has even paid off a mortgage. Homeowners in both these scenarios have faced foreclosure actions due to processing errors -- often involving miscommunication between lenders, servicers, title insurers, foreclosure law firms and other bank contractors. In many of these cases, banks have apologized for such errors.

2) Homeowners who were told that to be eligible for a loan modification, they needed to fall behind on their mortgage -- and subsequently found themselves on the path to foreclosure.

It’s not uncommon for banks to give this kind of advice to homeowners who were at the time current on their mortgage but were seeking a modification. In a survey we conducted in August, nearly half of the 373 homeowners who responded told us that their mortgage servicer incorrectly told them that they had to stop making mortgage payments in order to qualify for a loan modification.

This has led some homeowners across the country down a path to foreclosure. Several have lost their homes -- or come very close -- because the bank instructed them to default and then foreclosed, according to reports by Courthouse News Service.

One Colorado Springs, Colo., family, seeing a drop in business income, sought a loan modification and was told by GMAC Mortgage that to qualify they had to miss two mortgage payments <4>, reported the Denver Post. When they took that advice and were rejected for the modification, they tried to catch up on what they owed in order to avoid foreclosure, but by that time their debt had increased because of additional fees.

3) Homeowners were behind on their mortgage but could have caught up if not for additional fees.

In a speech this month, Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin criticized the mortgage servicing industry for using a “Pandora’s Box of predatory tactics” including “the padding of fees, such as late fees, broker-price opinions, inspection fees, attorney’s fees, and other fees.” (The Federal Trade Commission has a consumer fact sheet on its website that urges homeowners to “read your billing statements carefully to make sure that any fees the servicer charges are legitimate” and to ask for itemizations and explanations when needed.)

Raskin also mentioned servicers’ practice of taking out overpriced forced-place insurance policies and the “strategic misapplication of payments” -- whereby homeowners’ payments for the mortgage principal and interest were first applied to pay fees and insurance premiums, triggering default or precipitating foreclosure on the mortgage principal.

In light of these problems, some state judges presiding over foreclosure cases have begun asking banks and the law firms they hire to justify the thousand-dollar fees they’ve charged to homeowners. From a piece in the Tampa Tribune:

"Routinely, routinely, I'm seeing charges of $1,600, $1,800, $1,000, $800, any of those are ridiculous, and there had better be a good reason for it," Gardner said, noting that these fees should typically be $45 to a couple hundred bucks.

Banks deny that they maximize profits by capitalizing on fees, but legal services attorney Diane Thompson of the National Consumer Law Center told lawmakers last week that the fees are responsible for triggering foreclosure in about half the cases she’s seen.

4) Mistaken foreclosures due to dual track of foreclosure and loan modification processing.

Banks aren’t supposed to foreclose on homeowners until they’ve exhausted all available loss mitigation options. But foreclosures and loan modifications being processed simultaneously by different divisions within the bank can cause many struggling homeowners awaiting approval for a loan modification to be foreclosed on first.

Here’s what we reported in May about one homeowner who was waiting to hear back about her application for a loan modification:

She was still waiting in March when a realtor, representing the new owner of her home, showed up. Her house had sold at auction -- for less than half of what Gomez owed. “They don’t give you an opportunity,” she said. “They just go and do it with no warning.”

It’s not supposed to work that way. Under the federal program, which requires servicers to follow a set of guidelines for modifications, servicers must give borrowers a written denial before foreclosing.

When Gomez called Bank of America about the sale, she said she was told there was a mistake but nothing could be done. She did get a denial notice -- some three weeks after the house was sold and just days before she was evicted.

In October, the Wall Street Journal told the story of a couple who had been granted a loan modification by their servicer, JPMorgan Chase, only to receive notice that Chase had foreclosed anyway. The bank said it had made a mistake.

In a hearing last week, lawmakers, legal experts and banks all agreed that in cases in which loan modifications can both help homeowners and produce higher returns for investors, they should be granted. Failure to do so, said Alan White, an associate law professor at Valparaiso University School of Law, is just as wrong as foreclosing on someone who isn’t behind on the mortgage.

5) Foreclosures in which the bank can’t prove it has standing to foreclose.

Even in cases in which homeowners are clearly in default for reasons unrelated to servicer actions, legal experts have argued that it doesn’t mean just anyone can swoop in and take away the defaulted homeowners’ property -- it has to be the person to whom the debt is owed or someone acting on behalf of the mortgage owner. And when a loan has changed hands numerous times in the securitization process, banks have had a hard time proving standing and producing the documents necessary to enforce a foreclosure.

In a 2007 analysis of bankruptcy mortgage claims, University of Iowa law professor Katherine Porter found that about 40 percent of the time, banks didn’t provide the proper paperwork -- specifically, the note -- to enforce a mortgage claim and collect the debt. She wrote that the statistic was “troubling” and a threat to the “integrity of the bankruptcy system.”

Many foreclosure defense attorneys argue similarly about banks’ failure to produce the same paperwork when enforcing foreclosures. To this point, an official from the Florida Bankers Association told the Jacksonville Business Journal that foreclosure defense attorneys are taking advantage of legal technicalities, and delinquent homeowners shouldn’t escape consequences simply because there were mistakes in the transfer of mortgage paperwork.

Despite the debates elsewhere, many legal experts seem to agree: The so-called technicalities go to the heart of the American system of law and property rights. To argue otherwise, testified Georgetown University associate law professor Adam Levitin, would be to “claim that rule of law should yield to banks’ convenience .”

[ozymandius]

31. NY Judge Testifies Foreclosure Problems Are ‘Pervasive’

A foreclosure judge has witnessed persistent problems with banks' paperwork in foreclosure proceedings. Judge H. Dana Winslow recounts occasions when the "presumptive mortgagee in foreclosure" (the bank) has produced paperwork with dubious signatures, inaccurate notes, wrong note affidavits and fail to produce paperwork proving the validity of the mortgage.

First, here are excerpts of his testimony outlining problems:

Servicers. There is no precise definition. More aptly, there are interchangeable definitions. In one instance, the servicer collects the mortgage payments from the homeowner. In another, the servicer appears to be the equitable owner of the mortgage, and in a third, the servicer commences a foreclosure action on behalf of
the equitable owner. In one instance, I asked the attorney for the plaintiff to tell me whether he represented the Plaintiff Mortgagee or the servicer and he said that he did not know.

---

Issues:

Difficulty arises in multiple unrecorded transfers o f the legal ownership of the Mortgage (with or without the transfer of the Note) and with tracing and proving the chain of titIe. I refer the Committee to the attached diagram (Attachment " A" )' obtained on the internet, which I believe to be both a nonsensical and accurate depiction of the
problems concerning mortgagee chain of title.

The list of problems runs thick and wide. You need not have a basic eduction in legal jargon to understand what has happened Judge Winslow's courtroom.

In the end, an offer of a solution:

CONCLUSION
The ultimate solution may rest in a paradigm change which focuses upon the Defendant Homeowners' ability to pay. rather than the Plaintiff Mortgagee's artificial financial requirements. For example, if the Defendant Homeowners are able to pay S2.000 per month, having a present obligation of $3,500 per month, a loan modification for a period of two years or longer, at S2.000 per month, would avoid the Plaintiff Mortgagee' s costs of foreclosure and property maintenance, avoid the potential loss of principal arising out of a forced sale in a depressed market, and allow the Defendant Homeowners to remain in their home. This approach could ultimately reduce the costs to lenders and borrowers, stabilize the real estate market, and promote equitable predictability.

This suggested solution is the essence of "cram down" legislation that was filibustered to death in the U.S. Senate.

[DemReadingDU]

70. Thousands of Pennsylvania Foreclosures Could Be on Shaky Ground

12/4/10 Thousands of Pennsylvania Foreclosures Could Be on Shaky Ground

Two Pennsylvania cases, one state and one federal, have exposed new types of document problems in foreclosure cases. One of the cases has potentially transformative consequences for thousands of troubled Pennsylvania homeowners. At the center of each is the same law firm: Goldbeck McCafferty & McKeever (GMM).

A lawsuit filed by Patrick Loughren against GMM details how the firm allowed — and perhaps still allows — nonlawyers in its firm to file and prosecute thousands of foreclosures.

As long as a lawyer supervises foreclosure filings, and at least reads them before they’re submitted to the court, that is acceptable. But Loughren is suing because all three named partners of GMM, Joseph Goldbeck, Gary McCafferty and Michael McKeever, have admitted under oath — during depositions last September and in a separate case in December 2009 — that no attorney ever read the filings. The partners made clear that the practice has gone on for the past several years.

more...
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/foreclosure-fraud-bombshell-%E2%80%93-thousands-pennsylvania-foreclosures-could-be-void

[Demeter]

16. Common Security Clubs: How People Are Relearning How to Live as a Community MUST READ

http://www.alternet.org/story/149066/common_security_clubs%3A_how_people_are_relearning_how_to_live_as_a_community_?page=entire

...“We’re taking baby steps toward a new type of community,” adds Jared Gardner, a facilitator in Portland, Oregon. “We want people to feel connected and empowered. That’s what the groups are all about.”

In the past, neighbors knew each other and engaged more naturally in mutual aid, sharing common resources and helping those in need. Nowadays, our mutual aid muscles are out of shape and pretty flabby. Clubs help us to start flexing and stretching them again, little by little.

Clubs also chip away at our resistance to being helped. “People at first resist simply receiving—they think they can’t show up to a potluck empty-handed,” Jared says. “We tell them it’s okay—it’s okay to receive if you need help. We say we’re putting the ‘luck’ back in potluck.”

Often, club members find they can be helpful in ways they don’t expect. “People downplay what they are able to offer,” says Lil Hosman in Portland. “I know how to sew a button on a shirt, and you probably don’t. That’s something concrete I can offer. And it helps me to help you. It’s amazing how quickly people diminish when you take away their ability to be useful.”

Some clubs even experience conflict. “We had some participants for whom the unemployment experience was too fresh. It was too raw to talk about,” says Amanda Soarez in Portland. “The group ended up getting pretty small, but we came up with a cool mutual aid project where we set up a shared sewing machine at our church for the community to use.”...

[Demeter]

17. The Big Float’s a Big Scam

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/12/02/the-big-floats-a-big-scam/


...The Federal Reserve, we know, floating cash all over the place in the cold months of ‘08 and ‘09. But not just to Wall Street. Apparently Harley-Davidson and Verizon were also “too big to fail.”

And the government purchase of commercial paper—very short-term loans to businesses to help them meet cash-on-hand obligations—is the new news in this story. 21,000 commercial loan records have also been released under new financial regulatory legislation.

Some of the biggest users of the Fed’s expanded lending were Goldman Sachs, who claimed they didn’t need assistance. Goldman hit up the Fed 84 times to borrow nearly $600 billion. GE, parent company of NBC, got $16 billion from the Fed — all this, let us not forget, while credit for the rest of us was frozen over.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who wrote the provision requiring these disclosures, noted that the Fed could have forced the companies they helped to restrict executive pay and lighten the burden on mortgage holders. But they didn’t. Instead, the Fed loaned out trillions while families lost their homes. $3,300B in taxpayer cash went to private banks abroad while half a million Americans a month were losing their jobs.

Did Congress authorize our Fed to become the world’s private banker? That’s a question voters have a right to ask their politicians. While the GOP grandstands over shutting government down if they don’t get tax breaks for the wealthy, it just may be there’s a message on which actual voters — from the Tea Party to the block party — can agree...

[Demeter]

18. The Fed Lied About Wall Street

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/12/02/the-fed-lied-about-wall-street/

Posted by Zach Carter on @ 2:08 pm
Article printed from speakeasy: http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy
URL to article: http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/12/02/the-fed-lied-about-wall-street/

The data from the Federal Reserve audit is full of frightening revelations about U.S. economic policy and those who implement it. When Wall Street went off the rails in the fall of 2008, policymakers told the public we had a certain kind of problem, knowing all along that the actual nature of the problem was very different—and far more severe. This was a terribly destructive lie. Had policymakers fully explained the scope of Wall Street’s 2008 troubles, today’s problems with foreclosure fraud would simply not exist.

Here’s the basic issue. As Lehman Brothers, AIG and other major financial firms teetered on the verge of collapse, the Fed and the Treasury Department insisted that the trouble on Wall Street was one of “liquidity.” That’s a finance term meaning, “the banks are fine, but everybody is confused.” Banks have lots of money in long-term assets, but can’t convert those long-term assets into short-term cash.

In retrospect, that view was clearly an error. The bank held hundreds of billions of dollars worth of subprime mortgage assets, which were not merely worthless in the panic-stricken view of the financial mob, but worthless, full stop. At the time many people argued that the financial system faced not a liquidity crisis, but a liquidity crisis and a solvency crisis. That is to say, even if the government had helped the banks deal with day-to-day problems, the banks were still fundamentally unable to pay their debts. They were not merely illiquid, but insolvent...

The Fed had to fix liquidity in 2008. That was its job. But as major banks went insolvent, the Fed and Treasury had a responsibility to fix that solvency issue—even though that meant requiring shareholders and executives to live up to losses. Instead, as the Fed audit tells us, policymakers knowingly ignored the real problem, pushing losses onto the American middle class in the process.

[Demeter]

25. Wall Street owes its survival to the Fed

For a brief, surreal moment, the prevailing narrative in Washington was that the 2008-09 bail-outs were not really so bad. In September, Treasury secretary Tim Geithner called the government’s troubled asset relief programme “one of the most effective emergency programmes in financial history”, claiming that the final cost to taxpayers would be less than $50bn.

Steven Rattner, the Wall Street banker who oversaw the Obama administration’s rescue of the auto sector, wrote in the Financial Times in October that “without exaggeration, this legislation did more to keep America’s financial system – and therefore its economy – functioning than any passed since the 1930s”.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/M2ZOXX/V1KPK3/YGZ3O/PRMRN2/S32FVN/HK/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=2

[Tansy_Gold]

64. About all this money, some questions --

1. Where did the Fed get the money in the first place?

2. How much was actually borrowed/lent? By this I mean did a total of, say, $3,000,000,000,000 ($3T) actually go out the door, or did some of it come back and be re-lent?

3. Re the previous question, how much of this was repaid? By whom? At what interest rate?

4. Is the Fed normally in the business of lending directly to large corporations? If so, would these loans to Verizon and Harley-Davidson be just ordinary business rather than "bail-outs"?

5. Where is this money now?


Tansy Gold, curious

[snot]

72. Tansy, all I know is what I've read (and retained), and

I'm sure others here can answer better, but for what it's worth, my understanding is:

1. They basically created the money by lending it. The problem is, of course, that even though the money was created out of thin air, to the extent it's not paid back, it increases the deficit.

2. I don't know. I'm sure a lot of $ was re-paid/re-lent, but not sure whether/how this is taken into account in the numbers we've seen.

3. I believe this money was lent at interest rates at or close to zero.
In this connection, I'd like to share that I personally know an investment banker who happened to have quit his job before the 2008 meltdown and was still looking for work, who told me he was looking for a bank, any bank, to take advantage of Fed lending, BECAUSE you could make a lot of money making loans so long as you could borrow the money from taxpayers at zero interest. Bottom line: the whole program was basically designed to enable banks et al., U.S. and foreign, to make a lot of money fast, and the taxpayers were cheated in that they could have, should have been earning interest on their loans to these entities -- which were in many cases high-risk loans -- but we're getting nothing back beyond our principal, or most of it.
The true cost to taxpayers SHOULD include this lost, imputed interest; AND the institutions who got the loans SHOULD owe income taxes on this imputed interest that they in essence received as a gift; but I'm sure neither of those is happening.
I don't know the answers to your other questions in #3.

4. Commentators I've read seem to think it's beyond the scope of the Fed's authorized powers to lend to non-financial institutions; I'm not sure.

5. I haven't seen anything indicating that the program's not still ongoing -- i.e., even if much of the principal's been re-paid, it may be being re-lent. In particular, if we're undertaking a new round of Q.E., where is that money going, if it's not being funnelled into the economy through loans such as these?

Even if we're unalterably opposed to "socialist" governmental jobs programs as the WPA, theoreticaly, we should be able to require that loans to these high-risk institutions be used in turn to finance private construction of needed infrastructure, or other jobs-creating projects. Or something.

[Demeter]

19. Bedtime for Demeter

I have this urge to hibernate...

[Demeter]

20. Hong Kong gold market hit by sophisticated scam

Hong Kong goldsmiths have been sold hundreds of ounces of fake gold this year in one of the most sophisticated scams to hit the Chinese territory’s gold market in decades.

Industry executives say the scam – while not massive and hitting only the retail sector – uncloaks the increasingly elaborate gold swindles perpetrated by criminals in Asia as bullion prices soar to record highs of $1,400 a troy ounce.


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/3JFELL/3OJHB6/87I64/OJZ99F/YH4N0O/HK/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=1

[Demeter]

21. Irish banks exposed to euro periphery

Ireland’s banks are among the most exposed to some of the other weaker eurozone nations, in spite of the industry’s tiny network of foreign operations, according to analysis of the most recent Bank for International Settlements data

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/3JFELL/0GQ1NO/IEP5S/S34FE4/XT5FHE/AZ/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=1

[Demeter]

22. Telegraph plans to charge for online content

The Telegraph Media Group is drawing up plans to charge for online news content next year.
It would join News International and the Financial Times in putting its articles behind a paywall, having previously been a champion of free news content online.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/YHIRY1/IEP5S/1891ZM/5CE33H/D5/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=30

[Demeter]

23. Indian economy grows 8.9 per cent

India’s economy grew at 8.9 per cent in the second quarter, an acceleration from the brisk growth rate posted for the previous three months.

The figures, released on Tuesday, surpassed analysts’ expections that the economy would fall short of the 8.8 per cent year-on-year growth it recorded in the April to June quarter.

Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, has forecast that the economy will expand 8.5 per cent this year, after growing 7.4 per cent last year, despite a severe drought that hit farm production and contributed to sky-rocketing food prices.

The prime minister
predicts that an economy propelled by buoyant domestic demand has the capacity to climb towards 10 per cent growth in the coming two years to rival Chinese rates of growth.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/3OJPSA/DXJ2Y/26S14Y/OJOMBV/50/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=30

[Demeter]

24. EU growth funds lie idle

Billions of euros of EU funds to promote growth in Europe’s rundown regions are lying idle because cash-strapped national governments cannot find the necessary matching funds to release the money.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/M2ZOXX/QFMWP1/Q38E1/D4HVIW/EWPLMP/E4/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=29

[Demeter]

26. PANIC AT DAILY RECKONING: Pinch Your Pennies Before It's Too Late

A colleague warns us:

"It's time to save every possible penny. Next year is going to be worse than 2008 - a lot worse.

"Here's why:

1. The euro is going to fail. Ireland, Spain, and Italy's sovereign debt cannot be financed.

Shares of even the biggest and strongest of Europe's banks (Deutsche Bank) have begun to "roll-over."

2. More QE in Europe and America will make it much more difficult for businesses to invest across borders. That will result in massive trade problems and could easily cause a global famine. Most people don't realize how dependent the world has become on free trade for basics, like food. Here's what agriculture prices have done since July when QE II began. Vastly higher ag prices are not bullish for financial markets or world order.

3. Housing in the US is going to collapse, again. The various games that have been played to prop up the housing market in the US have failed. Tax credits, etc. haven't worked...and they never had a chance. I have good contacts in this industry and it is completely bleak. With foreclosed properties making up 25%-50% of the inventories, housing prices will continue to fall 10%-15% a year - or more. There will be no new net demand for homes for a long time. Several major homebuilders will go bankrupt, including the largest, Pulte.

4. Lots of major US corporations - see GE - have unsustainable debt loads. These companies will end up bankrupt and will fire at least 50% of their employees over the next three years.

5. Muni/State finance: You guys have seen all of the numbers. Probably half of the states and munis in the US are being run in a way that's completely unsustainable. As these cuts are made it will have a big impact on the economy. See what happened to Cisco last quarter, all because of cutbacks at the local government level.

"The problems of 2008 haven't gone away. We've just borrowed a lot more money to make people think everything would be okay. As the veneer wears off, there's going to be a real panic; and this time it will be worse, because there's zero trust and confidence left in the government or the bankers...

"If I were in your shoes, I'd make sure every business unit I controlled was being run in a very prudent way, with a big cash flow buffer. I'd make sure they were ready to cut overhead by 50% in 30 days..."

[Mojorabbit]

34. Well that wasn't what I needed to read

just before bed. I can totally see it happening.

[bread_and_roses]

29. HELP! I hit "unrec" by mistake!

it's late, i'm tired, i thought i'd get in at least a quick peruse before hitting the hay - then thought, oh, I'd better get in my R before time is up - I might be busy in day tomorrow - ahhgggggggg The feeble trembles of age and fatigue catch up with me. Mea Culpa - except wait - it's the wrong week for that - we didn't get to the Xians yet.

[Po_d Mainiac]

33. Covered for u.....n/t

[Demeter]

50. It's okay, B&R

It looks like the unrecc'ing crew has been by this morning... I could have sworn it was 17.

[snot]

73. Rec'd.

[Demeter]

35. Suddenly Everyone's Talking About How Our Money Works -- Is it Time to End the Fed?

http://www.alternet.org/story/149052/suddenly_everyone%27s_talking_about_how_our_money_works_--_is_it_time_to_end_the_fed?page=entire

Our Federal Reserve doesn’t work. Progressives have to get out in the fight to change it before Sarah Palin claims victory.


“We probably know more about tribes in the Amazon jungle than we do about the real nature of power in the United States. Neither political science, nor history, nor economics do very well on this.” - Tom Ferguson

Something new is happening around the contours of monetary policy. It’s becoming part of our popular political landscape. We saw this a few weeks ago, when Sarah Palin injected into the 2012 presidential race the idea of fundamentally reorganizing the Federal Reserve’s mandate. Republican Mike Pence, Senator Richard Shelby, and a host of other Republicans have jumped on this concept, and there will soon be legislation introduced to make this happen.

Beyond Republican politicians, the public is beginning to rethink our monetary order. A YouTube video on quantitative easing has over 3 million views. The video slams the Fed for missing the dotcom bubble, the subprime crisis, for being fundamentally undemocratic and unaccountable, and for being engaged in collusive dealings with Goldman Sachs. Financial blogs and CNBC discuss the Fed, and its associated characters, with deep insight and passion. And Bernanke drew 30 no votes in his confirmation hearing in 2009, the most ever for such a position, just four years after drawing almost none. The market nearly crashed on the possibility that Bernanke’s nomination would fail before the White House stepped up aggressive lobbying efforts. On the left, the last few years saw a remarkable grassroots coalition of economists and activists to bring transparency to the central bank, joining a long-sought libertarian crusade. I was a staffer for Rep. Alan Grayson, who was working with that coalition to require an independent audit of the Federal Reserve. Tomorrow, because of provisions put into Dodd-Frank by Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressmen Grayson and Ron Paul, the Federal Reserve will release details of its 2007-2010 emergency loans to the web.

This network of politicians, advocates, and bloggers will go to town on whatever revelations come out of that. (Although the Fed obnoxiously put its Maiden Lane disclosures in a non-copy or printable PDF format, so we’ll see how easy they make it to get this info.) The defenders of technocracy are out in force as well. Paul Krugman is defending the institution, if not every decision. The Democratic partisan class is going after right-wing Fed critics, while more liberal independents are pointing to the Fed in the 1940s and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation as a very different monetary model. Not since the populist movement of the 1890s has there been this much discussion of monetary structures among the public, and so much dissent about how money is created and circulated throughout the economy. It’s happening for a reason. The public is now paying attention to finance. We ran a focus group in Orlando last year, and one of the surprising conclusions was that nearly every independent voter knew who Ben Bernanke was. People don’t like the structure of our financial oligarchy, and they are talking about it. Even the deficit hysteria and the Fannie/Freddie GSE fights are a function of this monetary debate.

It is good that this debate is happening. It means that we will be able to examine the real power structure of the American order, rather than the minor food fights allowable in our current political system. This will bring deep disagreements, profound ones, but also remarkable possibility. Modern American industrial policy is to push capital into housing, move manufacturing abroad, build a massive defense establishment, and maintain an oligarchic financial sector. This system isn’t a structural inevitability. People built it, and people are unbuilding it. People with names, motivations, and reputations. People like us, and like Sarah Palin...

MUCH MORE! MUST READ!

[Demeter]

37. Spain flights paralysed over controllers' strike

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11918008

A wildcat strike by Spain's air traffic controllers has grounded flights across much of the nation, stranding hundreds of thousands of travellers.

About half of the controllers showed for their shift on Saturday morning but most refused to work, in a dispute over hours and conditions.

The government is meeting to decide whether to declare a "state of alert" and compel controllers to work.

[Demeter]

51. Spain to sell stake in lucrative state lottery

Spain announces the part-privatisation of the company along with jobless benefits cuts in its latest bid to cut public debt

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/8AP0OC/Q38E1/XTIL2B/18KUR5/50/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=2

[Demeter]

38. Fed's Bernanke did not rule out more bond buys

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101203/bs_nm/us_usa_fed_bernanke

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did not rule out further purchases of Treasury bonds beyond the $600 billion program announced last month, CBS television reported Bernanke as saying in an interview on the show "60 Minutes"...

Bernanke's high-profile TV appearance, which will air on Sunday at 7 p.m. (2200 GMT), comes as the Fed's decision last month to purchase an additional $600 billion caused a flurry of criticism from politicians in Washington, who argue the central bank is playing with fire and courting future inflation.

The last time Bernanke appeared on 60 Minutes was in March 2009, just as the worst phase of the global financial crisis was beginning to subside. The stock market began to rebound that month while the economy started to recover in the summer from its worst recession since the Great Depression.

The interview was conducted in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday, before the Labor Department issued a disappointing report showing a rise in the unemployment rate to 9.8 percent.

[Demeter]

39. Bling Dynasty: Will China Force A Gold Standard By Cornering Gold?

I CAN'T SEE ANY ADVANTAGE TO CHINA IN DOING THAT--I DON'T THINK THEY MINE THAT MUCH GOLD

http://blogs.forbes.com/schifrin/2010/12/03/bling-dynasty-will-china-force-a-gold-standard-by-cornering-gold/?partner=yahoofpapp

One month ago, Forbes Fixed Income columnists and editor of Forbes/Lehmann Income Securities Investor wrote an interesting story on our Intelligent Investing contributor page called Opium Wars Revisited: Will China Corner The Gold Market? It obviously struck a chord because it got the most clicks of any story on that very active contributor page.

This morning I open up the Wall Street Journal on the way to work and I see a story on page C-1 entitled, China Buys In to Gold’s Allure . The story reports that China has increased its purchases of gold five-fold in the first 10 months of this year and that they sucked in 210 metric tons of the shiny yellow metal. Apparently the Chinese absorbed all of the gold the IMF shed and then some. The amount they bought in just ten months also “dwarfs” the total amount bought by the biggest gold ETF trading on the market SPDR Gold Shares (GLD). It’s seems like Richard could be on to something.

Why would China want to corner the gold market? Because they have purchased so much of our paper (think Treasurys) and because Bernanke keeps printing more of it. That makes China seemingly vulnerable to Helicopter Ben’s moves. Indeed anyone holding dollar denominated paper is at risk. The solution for China could be to effectively control the price of gold using dollars.

Here is how Richard predicted things could play out if China secretly were cornering the gold market.

“One alternative for China is to declare itself the buyer of last resort for gold, i.e. it will buy all that is offered for sale at their specified dollar price. This is not going on the gold standard, but rather, it’s a hijacking of the valuation process for both the dollars and gold. To implement such a policy, they should currently be busy secretly buying all the gold they can. When their buying finally attracts world attention, they would announce the new policy. With the announcement would also be the setting of this month’s dollar denominated benchmark gold price. As frequently as they need to, they can ratchet this price upward to preserve the buying power of their combined gold/dollar reserves or to gain other advantages yet to be discovered.”

If this whole scenario doesn’t have our central bankers a bit worried then I don’t know what would. I don’t think anyone wants China effectively controlling the value of our currency.

What should an investor do? Well the obvious answer is to buy gold...

COULD IT JUST BE THAT CHINA IS TURNING WASTE PAPER INTO TANGIBLES?

[Demeter]

45. Chevron selling gas field stake to Sinopec

The second-largest US oil company is selling an 18 per cent stake in its deepwater gas fields in Indonesia to Sinopec, the latest deal for the Chinese oil and gas group which has been expanding its global reach

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/9Z1AHZ/204L2/QF5334/M96QN5/1G/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=3

[Demeter]

46. Volvo and Geely differ over business strategy

The debate over expansion strategy marks the first major test for the biggest acquisition yet of an overseas brand by a Chinese carmaker

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/9Z1AHZ/204L2/QF5334/8AJ248/1G/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=3

[Demeter]

47. Samsung and LG to make LCDs in China

The world’s two biggest makers for flat panels for televisions have won approval from a key Chinese government body to build advanced LCD panel plants in the country

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/9Z1AHZ/204L2/QF5334/QFVR1Q/1G/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=3

[Demeter]

54. China boost for Morgan Stanley

The US group receives Chinese government approval to sell its stake in China International Capital Corp, paving its way to set up a fresh venture in the country

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/VKY5JJ/1891ZF/6ADGM/40RGK3/6VQUS7/CM/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=1

[Demeter]

55. China allows first foreign loan provider

Home Credit Group, a Czech firm, is the first foreign company to be granted a licence to operate as a consumer lender and will formally launch a pilot operation in the eastern city of Tianjin

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/VKY5JJ/1891ZF/6ADGM/40RGK3/BMFBFS/CM/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=1

[Demeter]

57. Beijing acts on surging food prices

Concerns shown by students rioting over prices in their cafeteria, local governments handing subsidies to the poorest families, and Chinese authorities trying to bring down prices

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/GK8Z8O/9MEOW/FXGMF0/TPADCJ/VU/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=1

[Demeter]

58. China surges ahead on clean energy investment

China has surged ahead of the rest of the world in renewable energy, creating a ‘new world order’ in the low-carbon sector, according to new research

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/9ZUHPR/WH2F8/ZBE30J/EWPTB2/KI/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=30

[Demeter]

60. Caterpillar to source more parts from China

The world’s biggest maker of earth-moving equipment, which imports 40% of components for its Chinese excavator factories from Japan, plans to reduce that by at least a quarter

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/2SRI11/3OJ3SN/LSLXF/PR7YUX/18KESU/D5/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=30

[Demeter]

40. SCOTT ADAMS AND MARK FIORE, GOOD HUMOR MEN

ATTENTION TANSY GOLD: MOUSE WARNING!

http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/watch-wikileaks-julian-assange-state-department-un-spying-animated-video-mark-fiore-an

[DemReadingDU]

71. Mark Fiore: TSA Turkey

http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/watch-tsa-travel-airport-security-touch-my-junk-suzie-newsykins-animated-video-mark-fiore-an

[Demeter]

80. CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THAT DILBERT

[Demeter]

41. ECB steps up push to calm markets

Traders said the ECB was buying Portuguese and Irish bonds in €100m tranches – four times bigger than previously. The moves lowered the cost of borrowing for Lisbon and Dublin

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/OJ7J7Z/DXJ2Y/9Z1MMB/TPZ3TO/28/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=3

[Demeter]

42. Bankers bemoan lack of bazooka action

Market participants were left downcast by the failure of the European Central Bank to use the option of announcing full-blown quantitative easing similar to the US

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/OJ7J7Z/DXJ2Y/9Z1MMB/V1MUBO/28/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=3

[Demeter]

44. Goldman considers selling mortgage servicer

Goldman Sachs is considering a sale of its Litton Loan mortgage-servicing division, a move that would potentially end the bank’s foray into the business of collecting home loans and foreclosing

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/9Z1AHZ/204L2/QF5334/EWU4I6/1G/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=3

[Demeter]

48. Banks’ asset selling hints at better conditions

Some banks are looking to sell the companies they took over from their private equity owners during the financial crisis, indicating that the economic cycle is turning

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/9Z1AHZ/204L2/QF5334/18DGV3/1G/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=3

I SUSPECT THIS IS JUST MORE BUBBLES BLOWN BY THE FED TO INFLATE PAPER ASSETS, AND THE RESULTING FLOOD OF LIQUIDITY IS LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO BUY

[Demeter]

49. Eurozone bail-out fund to issue bonds

The issue of triple A rated bonds by the European Financial Stability Facility is expected to raise between €5bn and €8bn to provide emergency loans to indebted nations

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/8AP0OC/Q38E1/XTIL2B/RNVEX0/50/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=2

TURN YOUR CASH INTO JUNK!

[Demeter]

52. Questions surround EU relocations

Millions of euros in EU subsidies have been allocated to companies relocating factories from western to eastern Europe despite rules designed to stop aid for corporations seeking cheaper labour

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/8AP0OC/Q38E1/XTIL2B/TPA9KI/50/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=2

FUNNY HOW THAT HAPPENS...

[Demeter]

53. Wikileaks puts focus on banks’ data security

News Wikileaks may be planning to release a trove of internal documents from a big US bank adds to list of woes

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/5F39HH/5CF8B0/87I64/YHETOL/V17J7E/N9/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=2

AND THAT'S WHEN THE EXCREMENT HIT THE FAN, AND ALL THE PRESSURE STARTED....

[Demeter]

59. BP to develop Canadian oil sands

BP has committed to develop its Canadian oil sands project in a move likely to provoke further criticism from environmental groups that have targeted the company over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/2SRI11/3OJ3SN/LSLXF/PR7YUX/OJO27Q/D5/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=30

[Demeter]

61. WikiLeaks: Afghan vice-president 'landed in Dubai with $52m in cash'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/02/wikileaks-elite-afghans-millions-cash

Ambassador in Kabul reports pervasive 'wealth extraction' by establishment and apparent powerlessness of US to stop it


Palm Jumeirah in Dubai where the Kabul Bank chairman, Sher Khan Farnood, owns 39 properties, according to WikiLeaks cables. Photograph: PA

.....The cable records that exporting cash is encouraged by the fact that "drug traffickers, corrupt officials and to a large extent licit business owners do not benefit from keeping millions of dollars in Afghanistan and instead are motivated to move value into accounts and investments outside of Afghanistan"...

The cable adds: "Many other notable private individuals and public officials maintain assets (primarily property) outside Afghanistan, suggesting these individuals are extracting as much wealth as possible while conditions permit."

[Demeter]

62. The Stench of US Economic Decay Grows Stronger By Paul Craig Roberts

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26936.htm

On Thanksgiving eve the English language China Daily and People’s Daily Online reported that Russia and China have concluded an agreement to abandon the use of the US dollar in their bilateral trade and to use their own currencies in its place. The Russians and Chinese said that they had taken this step in order to insulate their economies from the risks that have undermined their confidence in the US dollar as world reserve currency...Previously, China concluded the same agreement with Brazil.

As China has a large and growing supply of dollars from trade surpluses with which to conduct trade, China is signaling that she prefers Russian rubles and Brazilian reals to more US dollars.

The American financial press finds solace in the episodes when sovereign debt scares in the EU send the dollar up against the euro and UK pound. But these currency movements are just measures of financial players shorting troubled EU-denominated debt. They are not a measure of dollar strength.

The dollar’s role as world reserve currency is one of the main instruments of American financial hegemony. We haven’t been told how much damage Wall Street fraud has inflicted on EU financial institutions, but the EU countries no longer need the US dollar for trade between themselves as they share a common currency. Once the OPEC countries cease to hold the dollars that they are paid for oil, dollar hegemony will have faded away.

Another instrument of American financial hegemony is the IMF. Whenever a country cannot make good on its debts and pay back the American banks, in steps the IMF with an austerity package that squeezes the country’s population with higher taxes and cuts in education, medical and income support programs until the bankers get their money back.

This is now happening to Ireland and is likely to spread to Portugal, Spain, and perhaps even to France. After the American-caused financial crisis, the IMF’s role as a tool of US imperialism is less and less acceptable. The point could come when governments can no longer sell out their people for the sake of the American banks.

There are other signs that some countries are tiring of America’s irresponsible use of power. Turkey’s civilian governments have long been under the thumb of the American influenced Turkish military. However, recently the civilian government moved against two top generals and an admiral suspected of involvement in planning a coup. The civilian government further asserted itself when the prime minister announced on Thanksgiving day that Turkey is prepared to react to any Israeli offensive against Lebanon. Here is an American NATO ally freeing itself from American suzerainty exercised through the Turkish military. Who knows, Germany could be next.

DISCUSSION WITHIN THE US FOLLOWS...


Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He was awarded the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Mitterrand.

[Demeter]

63. RETURNING TO THE AULD SOD: Default! Say the people

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/default-say-the-people-2439331.html

A SUBSTANTIAL majority of the Irish people wants the State to default on debts to bondholders in the country's stricken banks, according to a Sunday Independent/Quantum Research poll...The finding that 57 per cent favour and 43 per cent oppose default reflects a growing view among policymakers and opinion formers that the State simply cannot support the debt burden it has taken on...The telephone poll of 500 people nationwide has also found that a majority of around two-thirds opposes the headline measures in the Government's four-year plan...

Government sources have also denied an RTE News report on Friday that the average annual interest rate on the €85bn EU-IMF bailout would be 6.7 per cent...Last night the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, told this newspaper that such an interest rate was "not acceptable to me"...But whatever interest rate is eventually agreed -- it is expected to be closer to 6 per cent -- the State will be burdened with a colossal annual interest payment of around €5bn over nine years, if or when the bailout is drawn down.

This effective doubling of the interest payments that are already being made has helped to convince the public here that there must now be a default on a portion of the debt -- specifically, the portion lent to Irish banks, including senior bonds...If that was to happen, it would be likely to cause a severe shock to the financial system worldwide and raise the risk of an international meltdown. However, advocates of a default say it is no longer in Ireland's national interest to prevent senior bondholders taking a hit...The argument goes that a bailout from the EU-IMF will effectively neutralise the argument that default on bank bonds would cause investors to stop lending money to the Government.

If Ireland is forced to default, there is a view that it should happen after the financial system has been restabilised, reformed and restructured, so that it can absorb the losses without the risk of meltdown...The political and economic crisis in Ireland has rapidly accelerated in recent weeks and days to the point that it is now undermining the stability of the entire eurozone.

Nonetheless, the German Chancellor Angela Merkel will this week intensify her lobbying for reforms tying debt holders to sovereign bailouts, despite concerns that she is further unnerving investors...In her latest intervention last week, Ms Merkel invoked what she referred to as "the primacy of politics" over the "limits of the markets"...She has said that she wants bondholders to take a hit on the value of their holdings when a country is in trouble, potentially saving taxpayers billions of euro...The German Chancellor's insistence on raising the issue at this time may be populist and of benefit to a resurgent Germany, but it is causing near panic in the financial markets.

In Dublin, there is barely concealed outrage at the interventions of Ms Merkel and at the position adopted recently by the European Central Bank, which precipitated the arrival of the EU-IMF team in Ireland...With calls for a bailout of Portugal intensifying and worries about Spain, Italy and even Belgium growing, the German Chancellor is keen to show her domestic audience that once the febrile mood is calmed, there will be an orderly mechanism for dealing with a repeat situation.

[Demeter]

65. IMF and EU Hammer Ireland: "We're all Fu**ed" By Mike Whitney

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26947.htm

The terms of the EU/IMF's €85 billion ($113 billion) bailout for Ireland are much worse than analysts had anticipated. Ireland will be required to use its National Pension Reserve Fund (NPRF) to shore up its insolvent banks and to maintain government operations. At the same time, senior debt-holders will not share any of the losses brought on by the banks reckless lending. According to Bloomberg News, "Prime Minister Brian Cowen told reporters there had been no support in talks to ask senior bondholders to lose part of their stake on loans made to Ireland's debt-crippled banks." Thus, 100 percent of the EU/IMF's €85 billion "Financial Rescue Package" will be paid for by Irish taxpayers.

This is a very bad deal. Irish workers have already endured nearly 3 years of depression-type conditions with shrinking wages, soaring unemployment and dwindling home equity. Now Brussels is taking aim at pensioners to save bondholders in Berlin and Paris from any losses on their bad bets. And that's not all. Here's an excerpt from the government's statement:

"The facility will include up to €35 billion to support the banking system; €10 billion for the immediate recapitalisation and the remaining €25 billion will be provided on a contingency basis. Up to €50 billion to cover the financing of the State.....If drawn down in total today, the combined annual average interest rate would be of the order of 5.8% per annum."

This is nothing but extortion. If Ireland wants to put its banks on solid footing, there's a way to do it that doesn't involve years of debt-slavery for its people. The government can underwrite the banks with a €10 billion loan from the Pension Reserve Fund that will guarantee deposits while the banks are nationalized and restructured. It is an excruciating process, but it's been done many times before. Ireland does not have to accept indentured servitude if it chooses not to.

And why would the government even consider paying an interest rate of 5.8% per annum? Interest rates should be the same as they are for the banks; 1 percent. Should a sovereign nation get a worse interest rate than a crooked banker who ripped off millions of investors?

Besides, Ireland is in the drivers seat. It's Ireland that should be making the demands, not the IMF or the EU. After all, the government currently owes the European Central Bank more than €130 billion. If the ECB wants to get its money back, it should be flexible about the conditions. Otherwise, Ireland can simply cut off negotiations and let the ECB hire a collection agency. See what good it does them...MORE AT LINK

[bread_and_roses]

79. and here at home... "Mounting State Debts Stoke Fears of a Looming Crisis"

Appropriated from a posting in LBN by poster Elmore Furth

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/us/politics/05states.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

Mounting State Debts Stoke Fears of a Looming Crisis
By MICHAEL COOPER and MARY WILLIAMS WALSH

The State of Illinois is still paying off billions in bills that it got from schools and social service providers last year. Arizona recently stopped paying for certain organ transplants for people in its Medicaid program. States are releasing prisoners early, more to cut expenses than to reward good behavior. And in Newark, the city laid off 13 percent of its police officers last week.

While next year could be even worse, there are bigger, longer-term risks, financial analysts say. Their fear is that even when the economy recovers, the shortfalls will not disappear, because many state and local governments have so much debt — several trillion dollars’ worth, with much of it off the books and largely hidden from view — that it could overwhelm them in the next few years...

... the finances of some state and local governments are so distressed that some analysts say they are reminded of the run-up to the subprime mortgage meltdown or of the debt crisis hitting nations in Europe.

Analysts fear that at some point — no one knows when — investors could balk at lending to the weakest states, setting off a crisis that could spread to the stronger ones, much as the turmoil in Europe has spread from country to country.

[Demeter]

66. Making It Easier for Doctors to Get Away with Malpractice Is an Insane Way to Cut the Deficit

http://www.alternet.org/story/149029/making_it_easier_for_doctors_to_get_away_with_malpractice_is_an_insane_way_to_cut_the_deficit

...Using Medicare savings to gut corporate liability through tort reform is a hell of a neat trick if you can get away with it. I believe the Greeks used a similar method to enter Troy.

[Demeter]

67. Bank of America Stock Drops Amid Suspicion It's Next WikiLeaks Target

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/372221/bank_of_america_stock_drops_amid_suspicion_it%27s_next_wikileaks_target/#paragraph5

[Demeter]

68. Report: Mortgage Banking Still Totally Free of Oversight

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/372220/report%3A_mortgage_banking_still_totally_free_of_oversight/#paragraph6

[raouldukelives]

69. K&R

[bread_and_roses]

74. Must be some kind of miracle that the entire house of cards still stands

...although "miracle" is generally used in a positive way and so I guess not truly apt? Because I sure as HELL (is hell judaic? christian? zoroastrian?) am not being positive. I read through this stuff - skim, really - and am always left in jaw-dropping amazement - using "amaze" in both it's contemporary and obsolete meaning:

from dictionary.com

–verb (used with object)
1.
to overwhelm with surprise or sudden wonder; astonish greatly.
2.
Obsolete . to bewilder; perplex.

[Demeter]

75. 10 Reasons We'd Be Better off Without Ben Bernanke By Nomi Prins

http://www.alternet.org/story/149048/10_reasons_we%27d_be_better_off_without_ben_bernanke?page=entire

I like reason #2) The Great Depression Scholar Act is Getting Old, and

3) Even if Bernanke understood the causes of the Great Depression, he didn't apply them, and of course,

6) Bernanke wouldn't know a bubble if he were living in one.



but it's all good.

[Demeter]

76. Meet the Billionaire Couple Who Took Over California's Water Supply

http://www.alternet.org/story/149061/meet_the_billionaire_couple_who_took_over_california%27s_water_supply?page=entire

Stewart and Lynda Resnick, owners of one of the biggest privately held agribusiness corporations in the United States – Roll International – or, as their website proclaims: “the largest privately held company you’ve never heard of.” Roll’s holdings include Paramount Farming, the largest grower and processor of almonds and pistachios in the world; Paramount Citrus; Fiji Water; Suterra, a pesticide brand; Teleflora; PomWonderful; and the Neptune Pacific Line, a global shipping company.

A large part of the Resnicks’ billion-dollar business entails growing more than 5 million trees in the cracked and dry Westside soil of the San Joaquin Valley, where rain doesn’t fall and rivers do not flow. Kern County receives only five inches of rainfall a year and most of its aquifers have been depleted, contaminated, or both. None of Paramount’s pistachio or almond trees would survive without the daily application of irrigation water pumped through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and down the length of the California Aqueduct.

Over the past two decades, the Resnicks have been at the heart of the most controversial moves in California water politics. When the Resnicks began buying land here in the 1980s from Mobil and Texaco, they acquired contracts for California State Water Project deliveries from the California Aqueduct. From far behind the scenes they helped rewrite the contracts that govern the California State Water Project, commandeered a $74 million dollar state water bank, and encouraged Senator Dianne Feinstein to intervene on behalf of agribusiness in the conflicts over the ecological collapse of the Delta.

The Resnicks’ political involvement is driven by a simple force: money. The Resnicks have made a lot of it over the past 20 years by hoarding state water resources in ways now being challenged in court. In a land of outrageous poverty, the Resnicks have built a billion-dollar fortune by growing trees with water from an artificial river while the migrant workers who tend the irrigation pumps don’t have access to potable water in their homes...

[Demeter]

77. Marriage on the Decline: Bad Economy Turns More and More People Off of Matrimony

http://www.alternet.org/story/149070/marriage_on_the_decline%3A_bad_economy_turns_more_and_more_people_off_of_matrimony?page=entire

...“Lower-income white family formation is starting to look like black family formation of 20 years ago,” said Paula England, Stanford University professor and member of the Council on Contemporary Families...

[bread_and_roses]

78. The Needy In Jewish Tradition

http://www.crivoice.org/needy.html

The Needy In Jewish Tradition

Dennis Bratcher

Jewish laws and traditions concerning treatment of the poor, widows, orphans, travelers, and others in need, grew directly from biblical commands. The Bible repeatedly expresses the obligation to help those who, for whatever reason, could not help themselves.

Some biblical injunctions no doubt grew out of commonly accepted cultural values. For example, the laws requiring hospitality to travelers ("strangers") reflect the harsh desert environment of the Near East. Even modern Arabs place great significance on the proper treatment of guests (see Travelers and Strangers).

For the Israelites and later for Jews (see note) even these customs had a strong ethical and moral base. Jewish traditions interpreted and applied the biblical laws concerning the poor and needy. Both arose from a profound understanding of God as a God of compassion and mercy. "For the Lord your God is . . . the awesome God who does not show partiality . . . . He brings about justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the stranger by giving him food and clothing. Therefore, show your love for the stranger" (Deut. 10:17-19).

So, the Israelites were to care for the traveler or alien in the land because they had once been "strangers in the land of Egypt" (Lev. 19:34). They were to promote justice for the needy because "I, the Lord, love justice" .... They were to help those who could not sustain themselves because God "supports the orphan and the widow" ...

*

*note on the source: I know nothing about it. I chose it because the first four paragraphs seem to give an overview and because it is a ".org."

Seems to me we don't hear our Fundies calling much on these precepts.

Of course, there's always a downside when the cognitive disconnect necessary to the existence of organized religion is a basis for right action: later in the article it is noted:

Still, they often viewed poverty as having positive value. It forced the poor to depend on God... "

[Demeter]

81. I DON'T THANK YOU ALL ENOUGH FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS

So consider yourselves all thanked for participating in this self-directed, self-study course!

I just waddled in from delivering the Sunday advertising, sorry, guess we still call it a newspaper, although I doubt that there's even 1% news content...With 5 layers on top, and 3 pr of pants, bending knees, turning to peer out the back window, are problematic at best and impossible if fatigue sets in.

It's only the first week of December, and I am dressing like the depths of February....it wasn't especially cold, but that wind was awful. As it was, I never overheated, even with the heater running full blast.

The Younger Kid can't take it any more...she's quitting as of today, her last day to throw papers. A fellow board member's daughter is willing to help out...I'm giving her the easiest part of the route to do, and I'll take over the Kid's and keep the hard part of my own.

[Demeter]

82. 10 Things You Can Do to Starve the Wall St. Beast and Grab Yourself a Piece of the Pie

http://www.alternet.org/story/148970/10_things_you_can_do_to_starve_the_wall_st._beast_and_grab_yourself_a_piece_of_the_pie?page=entire

We must put the wealth back into the hands from which it was taken in a rigged wealth transfer scheme...

"America’s richest one percent of the population own over forty percent of America’s wealth — exclusive of home ownership — in this, the most opulent society history has ever known. On the other hand, the bottom sixty percent of Americans own approximately one percent of all of America’s wealth... " The richest 1 percent received over one-third of the total gain in marketable wealth over the period from 1983 to 2007. The next 4 percent also received about a third of the total gain and the next 15 percent about a fifth, so that the top quintile collectively accounted for 89 percent of the total growth in wealth, while the bottom 80 percent accounted for 11 percent...

Debt was the most evenly distributed component of household wealth, with the bottom 90 percent of households responsible for 73 percent of total indebtedness...

The January 21, 2010 Supreme Court decision to allow corporations to have staggering financial influence in our elections (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission) and the November 2, 2010 results of the midterm election should send a bone chilling message. Help is not on the way. The end game of this massive wealth concentration is long-term deflation, economic misery and multiple generations who will look back on us as the hapless society who couldn’t tame the Wall Street greed machine for want of a plan...

I offer below ten ideas to get started on the first course of starving the Wall Street beast. And, just to be clear to those perched on the edge of their seats preparing to scream “Socialist!,” I’m not suggesting “redistributing” wealth; I’m suggesting putting the wealth back into the hands from which it was taken in a rigged wealth transfer scheme:

SEE THE LINK!

[Demeter]

83. America's Shocking Unemployment Rate Is the Big Economic Crisis, Not the Deficit

ACCORDING TO NPR, THE "EXPERTS" WERE EXPECTING 4 TIMES AS MANY NEW JOBS IN NOVEMBER AS ACTUALLY OPENED UP...AND THEY EXPECT THAT DISMAL NUMBER TO BE "REVISED UPWARD". BUT NOBODY'S BETTING ON IMPROVEMENTS IN 2011!

SINCE NOVEMBER'S JOB REPORT WAS NO DOUBT MASSAGED WITHIN AN INCH OF ITS LIFE, I EXPECT NOVEMBER'S NUMBERS WILL BE ADJUSTED DOWNWARDS....

http://www.alternet.org/story/149040/america%27s_shocking_unemployment_rate_is_the_big_economic_crisis%2C_not_the_deficit?page=entire

[ozymandius]

87. If I may honk my own horn...

I just posted a relevant piece over there about Historical Employment, Unemployment and New Measures...

In response to the extended high levels of unemployment, The Bureau of Labor Statistics will change its statistical standards to report these numbers more accurately.

Please feel free to leave a comment.

[DemReadingDU]

84. Recent David Stockman Videos

12/3/10 Discussing why the disappointing jobs number does not seem to have had a significant impact on the trading day, and whether the high jobless rate is actually the new norm, with former Reagan OMB Director David Stockman.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1680963951&play=1

12/3/10 The U.S. debt panel votes today on whether to adopt a controversial report that calls for more than $4 trillion in budget cuts over the next 10 years. BNN looks at the U.S. attempts to get its ballooning debt under control with David Stockman, former Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.
http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip384325


edit: I think the 2nd interview is better.

[bread_and_roses]

85. Slim pickin's

Yahoo has a story on the front page on eating cheap. http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/111412/feed-a-family-of-4-on-10-a-day.

Among the suggestions:

• A five-pound roasting chicken ($5) could yield two dinners. For the first meal, roast with potatoes and carrots and eat half of the chicken.

Now, it's true that nutritionists tell us that a four oz serving of meat suffices - and goddess knows, it would be better for the planet if we ate a hell of a lot less of it, or even none at all.

But I guarantee you that people served four oz sliced off half a chicken are going to feel deprived. And while it might suffice for grade-schoolers, or we oldsters with our diminished appetites, if there's a teenager in the house they are going to be hungry. Unless they eat about two pounds of potatoes with it.

My mother was a genius at making filling, comforting meals on next to nothing.

I could fill up four people with half a chicken, but I wouldn't do it by serving mingy little slices of chicken on a plate. I'd serve it like a shepherd's pie. Or in a white chili. Or layered in something like rotini, with sauce. In the summer I'd mix the slices, marinated, with small boiled potatoes and steamed green beans for a warm main-dish salad. Sliced raw red pepper would be good with it, and add color and crunch as well as a treasure-trove of vitamins. They are expensive, but you'd only need one.

And of course, for many these days $10 is more than they have. For those days, my mother served "fried mush" - corn meal mush allowed to cool and "set-up," then fried and served with a syrup made from Karo syrup and artificial maple flavoring. LOL. Well, it fueled us till times were better.

[bread_and_roses]

86. Petion to G20 for global Green Jobs and Stimulus Now!

http://www.avaaz.org/en/global_economy_gb_video_2/?cl=844280256&v=7667

We call upon you to cooperate on a bold plan for global sustainable economic recovery, focusing on green job creation and investment in the future. Cooperative global leadership is necessary to prevent a downward economic spiral and lift tens of millions of people out of poverty.

I'm a little wary of the "halt protectionism" in the explanation (which is a bit sketchy) but it was sent to me by a good progressive I know - also an informed union member - so I went ahead and signed. Green jobs sounds good. I am so tired of trying to parse everything out amidst the multitude of lies.

[Po_d Mainiac]

88. The bears talk Ag .... Eye candy form (Video)

If there is a large PM to the upside during Monday trading....this video may be why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gl47z2g2EvI&feature=player_embedded

[Demeter]

89. That's damning

but I can't say it's implausible, nor can I say I'm surprised.

I am imagining Jamie Dimon with his pants around his ankles...what can I say? It's been a long time.

He's calling out Bernanke as a full-fledged crook...

I doubt that morgan's traders would try to cover its shorts--it's not THEIR money, and they've been socking it away (if they are smart) so they can walk away to Dubai or somewhere shady. I'd expect some quick exits and a lot of chaos, weeping and wailing.

There's got to be a physical limit to how much fraud can be tolerated by an increasingly unstable system.

Sounds like a bank holiday is on its way soon--Obama will be FDR in spite of himself, if he isn't arrested (cardiac or for real). Joe Biden as FDR? Not feasible. John Boner? :rofl:

We are so freaking doomed.

[DemReadingDU]

90. Bank Holiday? Bank Run December 7 in France

So it would be curious if the bank run to occur in France on December 7, actually occurs, or if the banks decide to take a holiday instead.
:shrug:

[Po_d Mainiac]

91. I am imagining Jamie Dimon with his pants around his ankles...what can I say? It's been a long time

Huh? When was the last time you him in such a state? Did you get pictures?
:hide: