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Thread music
Yeah, I can't see how it can get much easier to prove you really can't afford your home.
"This sounds like another delaying tactic."
Is this just a bad plan that TPTB are loath to end, because have no other ideas?
HAMP
Haz
Any
Moneze
Pleeze
Since everyone follow's the pig:
TJ & Bear,
The story about Rahm on 1996 election night...sounds like a joke...
The problem is that the American people don't care about the country, elections, and have no interest in politics. We've probably got a whole generation who is used to the "new normal" of a corporately funded America... the way things have always been.
Much like the death star, there is much power in a fully armed and operational democracy... however in this story the rebels are operating the death star and the empire keeps ruining our plans
Endless supply of cans...but is the road, also, endless? Maybe it isn't a straight road, but a ring road? Do the shoes ever wear out?
wish Stills still had the same singing voice
During the November TARP COP meeting one of the panelists (Simon Johnson?) brought up the issue that HAMP is unconstitutional. I was looking through and he might be right. I don't want to go through the details; but TARP funds are only allowed buy troubled assets. We've got $50B allocated to making incentive payments as part of HAMP. I'm pretty sure an incentive payment is not "buying an asset".
One day a judge will be asked to review the constitutionality of TARP...
YLSP wrote:
...yet.
People are content to be ignorant when they feel it doesn't affect them. Now that it definitely affects them they'll be much more interested. I'd expect political awareness to be the next bull market.
... the execution.
Clearly GM and Chrysler are unconstitutional and investors should be divested.
If use of TARP funds for HAMP is unconstitutional that's another $50B...
there may be not only a 3rd party..but a 4th , 5th etc
Pretty easy to create fake pay stubs....remember the knucklehead troll who kept linking to a site that did just that a while back?
Very hard to verify, unlike tax returns.
direct cash assistance
Is that government-speak for giving my money to somebody else?
"in order to survive we steal ,cheat lie forge, f#<& hide and deal," jefferson airplane 1969
TJ and The Bear wrote:
You had plenty of awareness LAST time - from the left. This time from the right. Other than than - no change. Its a punters duel.
As long as fox news and American Idol are on the air....
so fake pay stubs is the key to each of us getting a stimulus?
DeeperDepression wrote:
Always are. Look down the ticket.
Always are. Look down the ticket.
yes but we can always use a few more
Did anyone realize that the Black Swan guy spoke in front of a House Committee last September?
Committee on Science and Technology: Risks of Financial Modeling: VaR and the Economic Meltdown
. I had no idea until I was looking at various committee hearings. I'm looking at setting up a website to host everything I've been grabbing from our Congress of interest.
I think its possible to make a 20 minute mp3 file of Geithner explaining about his taxes during his confirmation hearing:
"As I said before, the mistake was mine and I take full responsibility for it. Looking back through everything provided, it was obvious I made a mistake... and it should not have happened. But it was no one's fault but my own. I have paid back the taxes, and will not make the same mistake."
Now clearly he made another mistake in 2007 if he realized storm clouds were brewing with the economy. In fact, he did mention he saw storm clouds brewing; let me pull up the transcript....
dryfly wrote:
Sure, that's the typical cycle we've seen these past few decades.
However, I fully expect everyone will become more involved as IMHO this country's economic conditions deteriorate further.
I don't know why but I want a fake pay stub icon.
Now clearly he made another mistake in 2007 if he realized storm clouds were brewing with the economy. In fact, he did mention he saw storm clouds brewing; let me pull up the transcript....
yes but he will pay back the stimulus and he won't make the same mistake again....
No surprise that Greece has NO choice but to remain with the EURO. Their interest rates would go through the roof. The people that think otherwise are dead wrong. Also, he doesn't even address business implications like developing systems that use multiple currencies for accounting again, etc...
Greek Economy Tied to Euro, Central Bank Chief Says (Update1) - Bloomberg.com
*Greece should remain in the euro region where its problems “will be unequivocally easier to solve,” rather than allowing a new currency to devalue, pushing up inflation and interest rates, the central bank governor said.
A new currency would not be like “waving a magic wand,” George Provopoulos said in an article for the Financial Times. A weakened currency could increase the cost of imports, stoking inflation, and boost the cost of servicing public debt. *...
Treasury, it's time for you to wave the white flag.
Not because the tasks are too difficult, but because you are not smart enough.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Left are going to sit this one out [I believe] just as the right sat out '08. Maybe you get your uber-awareness in 2012. I doubt before that.
dryfly wrote:
I agree. I'm talking medium term; even then I wouldn't call it "uber" anything, just ever-growing political discontent.
Greece should start a new industry..like fake pay stubs
dryfly wrote:
I agree completely. The left's frustration is huge and it cannot be easily and quickly motivated again by the same guy who disappointed them so much. Therefore much reduced voter participation this year. I expect that to change significantly in 2012.
Treasury hasn't responded to their BFF Miss Liz Warren for ~ 3 months.
Letter exchanges here...
I disagree EHP; size of the problem is too big; and they are not smart enough.
i predict the left...will move left
CR Sez...
I agree - you know you'd think if they were eager to delay then they'd just shut up about 'future changes' and let the delay delay.
Pay stubs is 'low doc'...
I predict the markets will bounce tomorrow, but then that's the way I bet. That's as political as I care to get.
There's a whole lot that could happen to shift the electorate by November, especially the independents who aren't ideologically inclined to either or these two extremes. They just want some financial security. Incumbents will have to work hard to sell that one.
Better than 'no docs' though...
RE wrote:
Here let me FIFY... Therefore much reduced voter participation this year ON THE LEFT.
I have a feeling teabagger sightings around political rallies will be at an all time high.
dl,
Are the 'fundamentals' good for tommorrow?
I predict that after 2010 unless you move left you likely won't win the election. Quite contrary to current tea party thinking. In fact, I think tea party members will be considered the elite by then...
dryfly wrote:
See my next post.
Who's behind this labeling and smearing of so-called 'teabaggers'? Or voters sick of the banking bailouts and govt. deficit spending.
Other than the 2 base camps - left vs right and never meet in the middle. most people pay no attention until a few weeks before an election. Most people don't vote in primaries and allot don't vote in non-pres years.
RE wrote:
Left of what? Does either party stand for anything these days???
TJ and The Bear wrote:
We live in a politically and historically illiterate country. With Federalism, one needs a very informed and active electorate. We have neither.
We could have a Corn Pone Hitler arise with the ignorance of the populace, and their lack of ability to think critically.
merchant,
I dunno, I been looking at TA. I see the SPX sitting on the 50 DMA and a very nice trend line in suport. I look back at the bumps in the road so far and I note the market is short term oversold. Seems to me the Obama/bank news has been overdone and we have more earnings coming. Those are my main reasons.
RE wrote:
Heck ya - if they win big in 2010 they will be 'the elite'. Something Roger Daltry said about 'same as the old boss'. Right.
Here's that trend line I referred to:
The Big Picture » Blog Archive » Market Correction Underway
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Does retaining and building their own power and wealth count?
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Themselves.
Fake pay stubs: I am all for them, as long as one is forced to give up the house (or face other legal repercussions) when one is caught using them.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
I believe that the medium term future will make the U.S. aware that there really is a left. This country hasn't known a left movement since the 30s. I believe it is about to discover one again.
RE,
See once you join a 'regional currency network'...there's no way out...lessons for other possible proposed regional currency networks...or tri-lateral arrangements...
RE wrote:
Peak Teabag - after Peak Hope - only two years. Ken's gonna need more icons.
YLSP wrote:
I'm the first one to admit the losses are huge and cannot be avoided. That being said, the Treasury is not coming near maximizing results with the resources they have. Furthermore, their timing/levels are completely wrong.
They're choosing to underperform, in contexts where they will fail to an embarrassing extent.
They had $75bn to prevent foreclosures. Last report had 100k expected mods, 8 months into the program, and those mods are of the lowest quality where a 50% redefault is optimistic.
It would have been a better result to simply "forget to do their homework" and sheepishly say as much in a press conference 1 year after the original announcement.
Many underlying assumptions won't sustain this cycle and haven't been sustaining. Communities across the country are more homogeneous than they have ever been. When you get to the local level, there just isn't all that much disagreement; everyone thinks our country is messed up because of the other. This has even manifested itself at the state level, although not to the same degree. It would have been unimaginable 2 generations ago for a person to have the majority of his siblings in other states; finding that situation isn't shocking today. Even multi-state residences, previously only available to the wealthiest, are quite common and stretch well into the middle class.
Greece should start a new industry..like No Docs
This is just kicking the can down the road!!
One defeat is not enough for these clowns!
America follow Massachussets ... Boot out all the bums who are up for re-election ..
DeeperDepression wrote:
If they get kicked from the EU it will be a 'printing industry' - that's for sure.
Perhaps my use of the term "everyone" was unwise.
Doesn't matter what the circumstances are certain people will never care nor participate. The American revolutionaries were a rather small minority.
I'm just saying that the last half of the 20th Century lulled most people to sleep politically, and that's going to change.
RE wrote:
Actually, the teens, when most of the active left was deported or incarcerated. More populism in the 1930s, with capitalism being so discredited other views were popular.
The US, unlike the rest of First World Democracies, has never had a Labor Party, or anything on the left.
Federalism has retarded political ideas and knowledge.
So are the HAMP hopefuls not paying taxes? Is that the dirty secret here?
A 4506-T is a simple document to fill out to get tax returns... it would be less paperwork than 2 weeks of paystubs even. So it has to be that the borrowers know they can't prove income from taxes.
So we get to pay for deadbeats twice. It is amazing the lengths people will go to bailout the undeserving.
If they get kicked from the EU it will be a 'printing industry' - that's for sure.
When i was in Greece it was 1981 and the dollar was king..i'd like another bite of that apple
merchants of fear wrote:
Greece wouldn't be anywhere close to where it is today without the EURO. I lived in Greece in the 70s and the difference is night and day.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
You weren't around for Birmingham, Selma, Chicago - not everyone was asleep. Maybe the last QUARTER of the 20th century was quiet... the middle half anything but.
The Socialist Party was somewhat present in the late 1800s through the early 1900s. Milwaukee had a Socialist mayor into the mid-90s. (See Sewer Socialism if you have more interest.) LaFollette wasn't a socialist, but he was from the left and came the closest to actually achieving a viable leftist party. In Minnesota, the Democratic Farm Labor Party is of course a Labor party that was later grafted into the national Democratic Party.
You weren't around for Birmingham, Selma, Chicago - not everyone was asleep. Maybe the last QUARTER of the 20th century was quiet... the middle half anything but.
My mom carried me in her arms in a protest in NYC against the Vietman War..she got tired and sat on a bench..less than a mile down the road the police charged the protesters on horseback..things are gonna go back to that real quick i think
DeeperDepression wrote:
I had friends who were there in the late 70s - same result - very nice. Trouble is this time the dollar is likely to suck [though not as bad as Greek currency]... you'd have to buy Euros this time [prolly].
dryfly wrote:
First I see countries following the Iceland/Latvia/Ireland path of universal wage cuts. Then pension wipeouts. Then one of the countries in trouble will suddenly see their general populace find it easier to march with torches and pitchforks than roll over any more. Maybe there is a shock in export demand or FDI supply along the way. Then debt default. Guess what, maybe people find defaulting is a lot easier than trying to keep up appearances
EHP,
These folks need cramdowns by bankruptcy judges. Has Congress pushed that through yet?
Effective Demand,
Ding Ding Ding Ding!
Off topic: Just an update ... currently in 2nd place. Not bad for almost four years off:
2010 US Figure Skating Championships
Whew. LP on Saturday.
best to all
I had friends who were there in the late 70s - same result - very nice. Trouble is this time the dollar is likely to suck [though not as bad as Greek currency]... you'd have to buy Euros this time [prolly].
maybe i'll make a fortune in fake pay stubs or No Doc docs...then i'll move to europe and stash my funds away, live on the interest and visit Greece
Used to be I'd read posts here and immediately say to myself " that'll never happen". I'm not doing that quite so much anymore.
adornosghost wrote:
"The Funding Fathers". One black female Senator in 220 years. Shirley Chisolm would have been a stronger President than ...
Until people become convinced the revolution needs to happen in their own communities, the revolution won't happen. It's easy for someone like me in the Midwest to say that California is messed up and needs to change. It doesn't mean anything though.
DeeperDepression wrote:
I hear ya. Both my wife and I went to schools that were forcibly de-segregated... me in the deep south at the time, she in the urban north - this was not long after MLK was shot [and the resulting riots]. People today have no idea how easily this can boil over - they'll learn if it isn't defused in a hurry.
My pay stubs are handwritten on post-it notes by my brother, who I work for.
O K !
DeeperDepression wrote:
Roman Holiday, 1953
Granted I'm sure it was the same for Argentineans in the 1970s or Japanese in 1980s going abroad
I think Africa did well during the 1970s because of commodity prices while America was in a slump, but I think a credit bubble is different. It's not just a swing in incomes, it's the vanishing of savings relative to income.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
EHP, I agree with that. Defaulting just like walking will look quite attractive and the stigma won't be as bad as people make it out to be today.
BTW, Greece can get quite violent. I was there during the Papadopoulos era and protests were a regular feature. I was a rock musician and our concerts were often quite a scene and not always of beauty!
badger wrote:
There was also the Non-partisan League of Minnesota & N Dakota... it later spread up into the Canadian prairie provinces and became the 'Progressives' [NDP I believe now].
Report on local impacts of CA state budget woes:
I've reported before on local education cuts...here's the latest update for a local district budget in CA (note that the district is also in declining enrollment, about 1/2 of the cuts are due to this reduction in ADA):
2008/9: Cut ~6% of budget
2009/10: Cut ~12% of budget
2010/11: Cut ~9% of budget (14% without fed stimulus...11/12 will be at least 5% cuts to make up for ending of fed stimulus, though 5% will be the starting point as the state is surely not finished with cuts. Thus the Fed stimulus delayed an additional 5% of cuts until 11/12)
Total Layoffs: ~160
Remaining staff: ~450
Some of the cuts:
Class size reduction program: Gone (classes have now gone from 20:1 to 28:1 in K-6, 30:1 to 34:1 in 7-12)
Counseling services: Severely Reduced (400:1 proposed 600:1 by 2010-11)
Athletics: Jr High gone, High school on block for 10-11
Libraries: Proposal is to eliminate for 2010
School year: Reduced by 5 days
Campuses: 4 schools closed in last 6 years.
Admin: 30% reduction in staffing
Textbooks: All purchases postponed indefinitely
Supplies: Department budgets cut by 80%, toner and paper is about all that is left.
Maintenance: All scheduled maintenance postponed indefinitely
Support agency cuts (not district cuts, but outside agency services that affect education/youth services)
School Resource Officer: Gone
Truancy Officer: Gone
Outside counseling support services: Gone
Youth Diversion Director and Programs: Gone
Juvenile probation has told local law enforcement to cut citations and referrals by 50%...that means that 50% of previous cites will now be getting catch and release: no intervention, no monitoring.
Free and Reduced lunch applications are up over 40% at some sites
The state continues to eliminate categorical funding, going so far as to delete account codes from the department of ed databases. These programs, and their funding, are not coming back anytime soon.
Food for thought (
)
Roman Holiday, 1953
Granted I'm sure it was the same for Argentineans in the 1970s or Japanese in 1980s going abroad
I think Africa did well during the 1970s because of commodity prices, but I think a credit bubble is different. It's not just a swing in incomes, it's the vanishing of savings relative to income
one thing i have noticed is that Australians are always traveling abroad..how do they do it?
Speed wrote:
My wife [my bookkeeper] does mine - that's okay too - right?
dryfly wrote:
Not suggesting they were. Obviously there was all kinds of political activism that continues to this day, but that's still confined to a minority. The vast majority were comfortably numb. I figure extended double-digit unemployment, declining government services and rising taxes ought to change that.
BTW, Greece can get quite violent. I was there during the Papadopoulos era and protests were a regular feature. I was a rock musician and our concerts were often quite a scene and not always of beauty!
True..I went to a socialist rally in Athens where 500,000 people were shouting "america out of greece"..i slunk through an alley at the end...
DeeperDepression wrote:
We often played at the U.S. base in Thessalonica. Liquor was eminently affordable there and the crowd liked us a lot. However, the mood in the general population wasn't very U.S. friendly to say the least.
thx dum luk...we'll see...
We often played at the U.S. base in Thessalonica. Liquor was eminently affordable there and the crowd liked us a lot. However, the mood in the general population wasn't very U.S. friendly to say the least.
our favorite past-time was to go to this bar when the 6th fleet was in town and watch all the brawls...
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Not in the 60s and 70s - they couldn't be - the changes were in their face. Not everywhere but certainly most places.
Example: they closed the high school where my wife went to school for a MONTH in her junior year - desegregation & resulting riots. The local university was closed down something like five times and it wasn't Berkeley.
In fact that was a major reason for the conservative backlash in the 80s - opposition to the riots & protest of the 60s and early 70s. Stagflation was the straw that broke the camels back.
In fact that was a major reason for the conservative backlash in the 80s - opposition to the riots & protest of the 60s and early 70s. Stagflation was the straw that broke the camels back.
well even the back to the land movement back east in the 70's was part of it..my parents moved out of NYC because of the race riots
by the way..per Nemo's suggestion...am playing a buffalo springfield mix in Pandora..it is really good
DeeperDepression wrote:
good choice - me I gotta zzzzzZZZzzzz...
Badger, TJ, I still don't see what exactly people will protest. War (combat) will increasingly be fought by drones. The financial damage has been done. As you say TJ, rising taxes, decreasing services; are people going to protest the laws of physics? I suppose some event could rally people to some part of reality that is particular egregious. Something like some even more exposed corruption, or even larger foreign policy blunder.
ditto on the zzzz
it wont be like the 60s
How the USA PATRIOT Act redefines "Domestic Terrorism"
from aclu web site
December 6, 2002
Section 802 of the USA PATRIOT Act (Pub. L. No. 107-52) expanded the definition of terrorism to cover ""domestic,"" as opposed to international, terrorism. A person engages in domestic terrorism .... if the act appears to be intended to: (i) intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion;.....
Seizure of assets - Sec. 806: Section 806 of the Act could result in the civil seizure of their assets without a prior hearing, and without them ever being convicted of a crime. It is by far the most significant change of which political organizations need to be aware. Section 806 amended the civil asset forfeiture statute to authorize the government to seize and forfeit: all assets, foreign or domestic (i) of any individual, entity, or organization engaged in planning or perpetrating any act of domestic or international terrorism against the United States, or their property,
all your bases are belong to us
I'm way to wired to sleep any time soon.
I've been stressing since I received a call about mid-day from Spokane!
Ahhh ... at least I can relax now.
best to all
CalculatedRisk wrote:
Pass on our collective congrats - okay CR?
"The changes by the Treasury Department are expected to include greater assistance for homeowners no longer able to make mortgage payments because their paychecks have shrunk...
...That doesn't make much sense since it is pretty easy to provide tax documents,"
The tax documents point to a past higher income. Not as conducive to HAMP relief.
not to pry if its personal
everybody in spokane ok?
oh i get it shasha skating?
mock turtle wrote:
That only works on people who own things. If you're three years out of college with $50K and debt and no job, what are they going to seize? Your '97 Dodge Neon?
Will do. I expect Saturday will be stressful too. A three way tie for first (with one more strong skater still to come), and only two go to Vancouver.
No matter what, this has been awesome!
best wishes
Now they are!
Just a competition ...
best wishes
theyll seize yo ass
"If you're three years out of college with $50K and debt and no job, what are they going to seize?"
And protesting is going to help you get a job?
photon wrote:
Most definitely. They'll be angry about their declining standard of living and lash out as a result.
mock turtle wrote:
Maybe, but not with that clause.
mock turtle wrote:
My thinking as well. They can also make it difficult to rent a place to live, get a job, or any host of other things.
ah but if they combine that clause
with the other clause
ya know the one where the prez can declare anybody he damn well pleases
as an unlawful enemy combatant
well its all good for a one way trip to bogram
where somebody will be staring in the lead roll of
bobbing for apples while wearing a hood
only there are no apples in the bucket
"Most definitely. They'll be angry about their declining standard of living and lash out as a result."
Sure the impulse is there, but I'm not sure there is much historical precedent for people with our current or near-future standard of living rising up in protest.
In general I've felt 2010 would be sluggish and choppy growth. But I'm starting to wonder if we will see a double dip.
Sluggish growth still seems likely, but that would suggest double digit unemployment all year - and if people think the
are out now - just wait until we've had 10%+ unemployment for a year!
Double digits in '82 / '83 only lasted 10 months - and there was plenty of anger.
P.S. It was her manager who called me - and sounded a little nervous - I'm sure all is fine now.
best to all
photon wrote:
At that point you're protesting because you don't believe you can get a job that'll ever get you out of whatever hole you're in. And if it gets bad enough, it doesn't stop at protesting. Goes beyond to seizing buildings, pipe bombs, incitement to riot, all those '60s faves and beyond, with new millennia improvements like computer hacking, credit card fraud to fund the activities (like the Irish rebels robbed banks, but virtual), and beyond. By that point you've got your underground, your cells, concealed means of Internet communications, al your faves.
If people ever get as mad and desperate as they were in the '30s (even if they're not as bad off) quite likely you'll see some or all of the above. Because it's all been there before.
Edit -- I get your point about not being as bad off -- but I think it's not just about absolute standards of living, but also expectation, identity, and above all entitlement. Don't mean that last term in a pejorative sense, either. What caused a bunch of well-off Arab boys to hijack a couple of airplanes and ram them into the World Trade Center. Were they desperate?
photon wrote:
It isn't necessarily the level as the rate of (downward) change. It'll scare the hell out of people.
Sasha Cohen skating in spokane
YouTube - Sasha Cohen SP practice Espana Cani Spokane 2010
CalculatedRisk wrote:
With state UE funds collapsing, the paliative of transfer payments is likely to end. That will crack something. Something not good.
photon wrote:
It happens all the time. They just don't realize what they're actually protesting against.
Comrade Misean is Dope wrote:
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: 25 State Unemployment Funds Bankrupt; Credit Card Defaults at Record Levels; Look on the Bright Side
Let's say there's 20% unemployment. That means 80% of the people can't protest, because they can't risk their job. Of the remaining 20%, I think only some 25% are going to give up hope, and have nothing to lose. That's 5% of the population that might protest. I guess they are going to protest about being losers? That sounds like a promising movement there. I was alive in the 60's although very young. We moved to the country. Not because of riots, just because cities are annoying and dangerous for children. I'm not sure why, but people don't seem to mind being lied to any more.
Comrade Misean is Dope, yes, I think that has kept the anger down (if you can call it down). But the last extension required bribing certain politicians with the tax loss carry back and an extension of the home buyer tax credit. Geesh - that was expensive. What will they have to give up to get another extension? It might not happen ...
best wishes
CalculatedRisk
What's more those extensions are not funded by grants, but by loans from the Feds to the States right?
And that TJ, will increase that downward rate of change. And divorce rates are not tracking normal recessions, IIRC, indicating much greater household stress....at least that's me talking out my ass there...but it makes sense.
photon wrote:
Protests take several forms.
CalculatedRisk wrote:
This is a family friendly site...so....
"They just don't realize what they're actually protesting against. "
Too funny.
DeeperDepression wrote:
Yea, I've been gassed on three continents, but Peoples Park in Berkeley and the burning of the Bank Of America in Isla Vista were the most gas and arms driven. My roommate was shot in the back with birdshot during that one, lucky she had on a leather jacket..
I was in Bogota Columbia when the storm troopers were called out, and it got dicey.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Yep, and they're balloon loans, too.
"Protests take several forms. "
People were, I think, predicting marches in the streets a la the 60s. Cheating on taxes or whatever, whole different subject.
said upthread
"That means 80% of the people can't protest"
yep uh huh
cause the 80%
will be ordered by the puppet masters
to spin that squirrel cage that much faster
to make up for the absent 20%
mock turtle wrote:
A spate of civil disobedience will test the government powers. The one thing Orwell didn't factor in was a level of supreme incompetence in the government bureaucracy.
CR, Sasha is still in 2nd right now (great place for her going into the LP), one strong skater left...biting my nail.
I will be wearing my Mortgage Pig sweatshirt in Spokane Saturday night. Representing
EvilHenryPaulson, the special extension is paid for by the Federal government. The loans are because the state programs have run dry. At least that is my understanding ... and it is late. I'm up past my bed time!
best wishes
"to make up for the absent 20% "
Right. Or I'm just getting old.
At least, I think you were agreeing with me...
too tired - later
may the fleas of a thousand camels infest the underpants of 5 supreme court judges
good night
sdtfs wrote:
+1 with lots of zeros. One can hope man. I'm kinda banking on it.
Cool. Sounds like she skated pretty well - nerves and all. I think she will be a little more relaxed on Saturday. It is hard to imagine this being the first competition in almost 4 years. She was hurt last year or else she would have had a warmup or two.
It's over for tonight. 2nd place. Cool
best wishes
photon yes agreed
nytol
icenetwork.com
The SEC has a haphazard, decentralized system for analyzing outsider information. Tips arrive by phone, mail and e-mail to officials throughout the agency -- investor education to enforcement divisions. A study commissioned by the SEC last year and conducted by Mitre, a nonprofit group that does research for the federal government, found that the SEC lacks technology to analyze tips and complaints, as well as cohesive policies for what officials should do when they get information.
At SEC, the system can be deaf to whistleblowing - washingtonpost.com
Comrade Misean is Dope wrote:
You're not the only one. Hmm, that link that Speed just posted about the SEC actually cheered me up. Q.E.D.
sdtfs wrote:
The French have figured it out:
That Greece game is just as smart as the French banking regulator, the Commission Bancaire, telling the New York Fed in late 2008 that French law prohibit Crédit Agricole and Société Générale from receiving anything less than full face value, 100 cents on the dollar, on their AIG trades. Société Générale got more US taxpayer AIG bail-out funds than any other bank, including the American ones.
Now that is pretty clever from the French, But even way smarter is that they did it while a few blocks down the road US monoline Ambac was settling its AIG paper for 28 cents on the dollar. With the exact same banks. That is so well played by the French it makes you want to applaud.
-AutoEarth
sdtfs wrote:
Yeah but
is that one by design????
sdtfs wrote:
Oh, you just wait until they get their new computer database system operational, then you'll see....
I just wonder if the dbase III DBA's and VAX7000 engineers are going to be around long enough to finish it...
MLM wrote:
Well, if it's anything like the CA DMV system, or that Denver airport system, or Microsoft, then the safest thing to be is an actual terrorist. I expect at least twenty or thirty innocent people to be hounded, while the guilty board the planes. I'd bet there are at least fifty names on the no fly list that are database errors, mis-keys, mistakes, or wrong SSN type things.
Bernanke's nomination is in trouble.
According to WSJ:
Ben Bernanke's confirmation for a second term as Federal Reserve chairman will go down to the wire and could be a closer vote than seemed likely just a few weeks ago.
There's blood in the water. That always gets the juices flowing for some concessions for a vote. BS Bernutty is a shoe in. I'll change my mind if a serious contender trial balloon is released.
sdtfs wrote:
Or the air traffic control system, or IRS modernization, or...
I think Misean has it right. It's all probably due to a shortage of dBase III "DBA's" and VAX engineers.
With the MA election on their minds, I'd imagine Senators are more open to listening to constituents concerns about Bernanke bailing out banks and bankers while leaving the riff-raff on their own.
I dunno what's worse...talking about atiquated gov't databases this late at night, or F%&%$ing trying to fix a high availability SQL mirror witness...which I've been doing for 6 hours now...
Now the lead story over at Huffingtonpost. Also above the fold at Drudge.
Simon Johnson: Questions That Ben Bernanke Must Answer
Senate Dems Not Sure They Can Get Enough Votes to Reconfirm Bernanke - Political Punch
Why on Earth would the Dems care about reconfirming Bernankrupt?
No can get a witness...?!
Jeebus what a day in Asia. Bloodbath all round to close the week. FT did a nice heatmap style World at the US close, but it's way worse now that Nikki's closed and the rest of the timezones are finishing up.
FT Alphaville » Damage at the close in New York…
Nikki down 2.56%
Hang Seng China Red Chip down 1.53%
Shanghai Composite down 0.96%
Shenzhen Composite down 2.71%
Taiex down 2.47%
And on and on. Australia, Singapore, Seoul.
C
Good numbers? or bad numbers?
Pettis hears what I'm saying
1, 2, 3
1 currency now -yogi wrote:
The Chairman saved us from a Depression. He is a student of the Depression. He is Time's Man of the Year.
We must all be deferential to anyone who can spend $1.5+ trillion in 18 months without Congressional authorization.
Actually, I do not understand why Obama reupped Bernanke.
The Senate now has to decide what, if any, the political costs of reconfirmation are.
I certainly think the stock market will have an opinion.
There are positives out there for people that can't stand the do-nothing approach, repost from yesterday. I'm curious as to what others have to say
Sierra Leone
pic 1, pic 2, pic 3
Mix of Christian, Muslim, indigenous cultures. (Brits resettled slaves there) + Lebanese traders
Rich agriculturally.
World's 3rd largest natural deepwater harbor, sheltered by surrounding mountains
Great location for shipping distances, good timezone
Finally got some electricity with the new Bumbuna dam, talked about for 50 years, Sa Leone lights up :Bumbuna Hydroelectric project provides electricity to Freetown and beyond
Cell phones, and ancillary services have spread out like wildfire
Demographics are set for a post-civil war recovery
5.6mn people
cocoa, palm oil, cassava, rice, ginger, kola nuts
diamonds, gold, bauxite, platinum, good fishing grounds
currently an estimated GDP of $600 per capita, low value added manufacturing, and subsistence farming
markups are high on imported goods, FDI would go a long way
phenomenal growth potential from the simplest/basic investments
the dam finally being built says a lot to me
edit: and a 36.7% urbanization rate, Statistics Sierra Leone
stats reports are well written, when available
Excellent, young jedi.
The VIX hears what I'm saying...
Bloomberg.com:
Personal Finance
C
Catalyst Paper indefinitely closes B.C. recycled newsprint plants
China's big into recycling paper right now
Counterpointer
better heatmap, World Map Heatmap
C
VIX is an abusive relationship, just leave the house and go for a drive
I get nervous when I see such regular repeating patterns.
China will need to start building Starbuckses like Matryoshka dolls to keep GDP up
You can't have the chengguan evict the construction crew that hasn't finished building the last project
I hope they know how the Taylor series ends in advance
Mise - just pull out to the 3y chart, then it's not so regular.
Yet.
But we know this amp goes at least as high as 80!
C
Did...that's what made me nervous. There's no follow through...just traders hitting the reset button???....too tired and frustrated to ponder it.
But I'll leave you night owls with this
Tom Mullen's Blog: The Government Bubble Heads for a Blow-Off Top
It's a light read. Fun, nicely written...neat little view of things.
And I'm off.
Nytol
Comrade Misean is Dope wrote:
Will start to see a falloff in market breadth, will only get worse to the point of a crash in the next 3 months (by the time of maximum 52wk performance, the first earnings season that will really disappoint the crowd). Which suits commodities markets well.
edit: did edit the first few words, meant to say that we will see the collapse of market breadth like happened circa Nov 09 but I don't think it will roll over one more time judging by advances-declines, volume, and the state of commodities/currencies
Counterpointer
You ever notice when looking at Chinese stats that the results of common calculations are exact round numbers? it's creepy
Not so creepy if you start from 8 and work back... Easy!
C
Jason Goepfert’s Sentiment Webinar Summary
Nice charts, one of which suggests individual investors pile in for another month or so and duly have their face ripped off.
C
The lack of patrons eating out has caused another restaurant to go under:
Uno Chicago Grill files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection - Triangle Business Journal:
Pizza Uno filed for chapter 11.
Can't ... view ... anything ... named ... webinar ... must get to utility belt. aiiieee!
Jingle Mail
YouTube - Take It Back-Cream
Good Morning, Doomers.
Yikes!
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: 25 State Unemployment Funds Bankrupt; Credit Card Defaults at Record Levels; Look on the Bright Side
Link to site
ProPublica - Journalism in the Public Interest
States are broke
comrade mike wrote:
Good news: Quality of food won't get worse due to bankruptcy.
Bad news: it's not possible for the quality of the food to be worse.
For our economic situation and the California Posters:
YouTube - When The Levee Breaks Led Zeppelin +Lyrics
Some people never learn. Permagrowth is a failed idea.
12th Percentile wrote:
---It works for cancer.
HomeGnome wrote:
until it doesn't
Have you tried their deep-debt pizza?
it's a little light on dough and toppings...
OT, and strange:
A US military contractor has said it will stop engraving Biblical references on rifles used by the US army.
BBC News - US firm to remove Biblical references on guns
"The markings, in the form of coded references, have been appearing on products made by the US firm Trijicon, based in Michigan, for decades."
NervousRex<
I posted about this a day or two ago.
It's no wonder why some citizens think of our foreign wars as "Crusades"...
"He went on CNN and he laughed at us, and he said, 'They'll never get me because Allah will protect me. Allah will protect me.' Well, you know what? I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God and his was an idol."
---Ret. Gen. Boykin
Looks like another sell day on tap.....closing out my positions and picking up some VIX.
HG - Thanks. Sorry to repost.
Sometimes I wonder if we're in year 25 or so of a 500-year war. But then some immediate thing comes along and (fortunately) breaks my concentration
This is my rifle, and this is my god
One is for fighting infidels, and the other is for dogma
"What we need," the general growled as he chomped on the wet, day-old cigar, "is a dogma shootin' rifle."
Ben having trouble getting re-confirmed in the Senate? This could be something to watch.
Pretty boy wins!
Pretty boy is pretty!
Pretty boy for Friday eye-candy!
All hail pretty boy!
Pretty Boy!
The market was "wrecked" by all of the artificial inflation of values...........
I think Volker is right on!
Who would replace Bomber Ben?
Volcker or Volker?
IndexQ.org: World Market Index
lots of red
Re-Volcker?
shill wrote:
yep!
pick 'em
So what is Volcker going to do?
Jack interest rates up?
rock> we are here <hard place
"I say: my feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Saviour as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to the fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as sufferer but as fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and of adders."
Adolf Hitler 1922
I don't see how this will help. Just one more thing the mortgage servicers can lose over and over again. They have my tax documents AND my pay stubs and still can't get the modification finished in over 7 months. The FACT is, they don't WANT to do these mods. Without teeth, the program is useless.
There was some discussion earlier of Paul Volcker's age along with suggestions as to where he might best fit in. I think he's in a good place as an advisor. What's been missing until lately is a willingness to listen to the man.
Who can defeat God's army?
I agree with this comment, we are just kicking the can down the road.
The nazis were only a fringe group, but well organized when the rest of their rivals, weren't.
Sound a little familiar?
Also, by using pay stubs they are taking that pay stub and multiplying it by 52 weeks to arrive at income (they are already doing that now with mine) so why is a rule necessary when they are ALREADY using pay stubs? Something is fishy here. The pay stubs only benefit the banks. In my case they are trying to say my husband makes his pay per week times 52. The problem with that is if you take what he actually made this year it doesn't add up to that at all because he was laid off for three months. SO, that adds more income to our bottom line and decreases the benefit of the mod for us. Is this article saying what they are doing right now with us is not legal? Anyone?
I'm blessed.
of course you are
Did anybody notice the timing of Obama's announcement yesterday?
The 1st day of his 2nd year.
Clean slate, etc.
Kristina,
"Non Illegitimi Carborundum ! (Don't get the bastards grind you down).
you're not very good at this, are you?
Juvenal Delinquent wrote:
he'll need some Bon Ami if he wants a clean slate. Gotta scrub the dirt from deep inside the fabric.
and for the uninitiated:
Amazon.com: Faultless Starch 04030 Bon Ami Cleaning Powder: Kitchen & Dining
not lately
My how big those brobdingnagians were, that Teddy made mincemeat of...
Once upon a time
Shill wrote:
You've got no respect for the SPX 50 DMA or 11 mo trend line, eh ? I'm stickin with what I've got, but will scamper if those break.
If UE benefits are not extended, a portion of the long term unemployed will begin liquidating retirements and pensions , even with the penalty.
I'm convinced I could plot the journey of a winged insect going up or down a wall, and get you compulsive gamblers to wager on it, as long as I spiffy it up on Wall*Street, so it doesn't appear we are in the green-felt jungle.
When they couldn't find anyone to gamble at billiards with them, the gamblers at the bar I used to work at would bet on how many peanut M&Ms would come out of those Quarter candy machines. THey'd also bet on the horse races on the Mega Touch video game machines at the bar.
purple wrote:
plenty of rules for avoiding the penalty, financial exigency for example, loss of a job in the year you are turning 55, etc.
do it before they change the rules
still may have to pay the income tax
jd
dont need to spiffy it up or put it on wall street just a fly,a wall and they will come to your door.
dum luk wrote:
You are obviously ignoring the entrails of sheep. You do so at your own peril !
Nope....its all fake.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
I would dispute that. The fighting in the streets between the "hard hats" and the peace marchers comes to mind. And not just in NYC, but in cities all across the country. There were years of "long hot summers" with gunfire and riots in almost every major northern American city. Protest marchers and counter marchers were everywhere, fury over Vietnam was at a fever pitch, with pro-war and anti-war folks going at it, and assasinations punctuated the times. The majority were not numb.