If I was a bank I would put all my money on RED. Who the hell cares? They are going to be shut down anyways. Right?

Or maybe 5,000,000 lottery tickets

john barleycorn must die

YouTube - John Barleycorn Must Die - Traffic - Live (1973)

and old english tune and story about banishing an evil institution...the brewing and distillation of spirits wink wink, nod nod

... and no formal enforcement actions against the Fed, and no disclosure for the Fed...

Pigged

Just logged on after watching some exciting college basketball!

I noticed this on the way over (hope it's not a repeat)...

Lawmakers get eviction notices - Chicago Breaking News

SPRINGFIELD -- The state's money problems are so bad that lawmakers are getting eviction notices and calls from collection agencies about their offices back home.

In the grand scope of what ails state government, the lawmakers all said they recognized late rent for Senate offices is far from the most pressing budget issue.

Each senator receives $83,063 a year as a district office allowance, and the bills end up at the comptroller's office.

Every day, comptroller workers sift through bills for all of state government and prioritize what must be paid and what has to wait. Each month, $2 billion is set aside. The state must make payments to schools and repay short-term loans. It must pay hospitals, nursing homes and doctors caring for Medicaid patients within 30 days in order to get the best return from the federal government.

Languishing further back in line are the bills to pay rents for lawmaker district offices.

Steve Brown, spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, said he knew of no eviction notices going to House members, but has heard that some legislators "on the brink" have had to dip into their own pockets or campaign funds to pay landlords or keep phone service.

Getting utility bills paid in a timely fashion has been a problem for Sen. John Jones, R-Mount Vernon.

"I've heard from collection agencies every month on the power bill and the phone bill," Jones said. The state once fell seven months behind on his district office's $900-a-month rent, and he recalled the landlord saying, "I gotta pay my bills, and I need my money."

Dooooooooooooooom!!!

What you want to do is own a bunch of small banks. Have them all take ridiculous risks. The ones that fail get sold, and the few bets that work out make you rich.

United Commercial Bank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Read about UCB. These guys bet the house before the taxpayer came to the rescue

" . . .to put it more bluntly:. . . ."

By all means, do so. That is the clearest way to express something.

How long until someone develops a reality television show with a regulatory agency turf-war as its central theme?

Another 6,000 to go.

Basically, by letting the system break, we have introduced that Mellonesque debt compression and compromise into the system. Without systemic reflation, housing will be a broken trade for a decade, and still ugly until well after 1956+65=2021. I guess the dead investments are still sucking the life out of bank, pension, and insurance companies until the last mortgage written in 2005 defaults in California.

Such a long horizon until the background rate of inflation eats housing excess. I figure on being even with my house in nominal terms when a new nice pickup truck runs about $60- and not a luxury barge.

Someday this war's gonna end...

noob goldberg wrote:

regulatory agency turf-war as its central theme

That happened with Lassie & Timmy

YouTube - Lassie & Timmy in the Matrix

Tim waiting for 2012 wrote:

These guys bet the house before the taxpayer came to the rescue

Now East West Bancorp gets the bennies on a no-lose deal from the FDIC.

Anak wrote but it was unfortunately Pigged:

But as the wise man said, beer is proof that God exists, and that he wants us to be happy.

The first miracle Jesus performed was to turn water into wine, long after all of the guests were already hammered.

While I'm sure one must pick their time and place, God does not have a problem with situationally-appropriate inebriation.

noob goldberg wrote:

God does not have a problem with situationally-appropriate inebriation.

Always allowed when cavorting, eh?

noob goldberg wrote:

unfortunately Pigged

I'm trying to keep up with these threads as I'm vacuuming the house!

Another Taipei beer story.

Way back when, all beer in Taiwan was made (and sold) by the "gong mai ju", a public monopoly. Only exception was the PX, where impoverished civilians like me were forbidden to go.

Then mirabile dictu, the gong mai ju ran out of beer production for a matter of months in, I believe, 1980! They were forced to import, and Heiniken's started appearing everywhere to our great pleasure.

Later, as they ramped up the production of the local formaldahyde laced slop, the locals preferred the old familiar and the Heinies were at deep discount. Even greater pleasure.

Generally though, beer is best fresh, wherever you are.

But as the wise man said, beer is proof that God exists, and that he wants us to be happy. Shy

sportsfan wrote:

Always allowed when cavorting, eh?

Well, I don't know about always.

Alcohol, especially beer, could make one inappropriately flatulent during energetic cavorts. Which could also be funny, I suppose, so I guess that negates the argument.

So yes, always. Laughing out loud

Turf Wars are nothing new.

Rise to the ocassion and shut down the system and rebuild. If not, let it rot from within.

Where has FFDIC been? Change his handle, or swore off HCN?

Anak wrote:

Later, as they ramped up the production of the local formaldahyde laced slop ...

Taiwan pi ju

And the delay tactics continue, with only 3 small bank closings tonight.

I'm sure it will all get better with time.

Anak wrote:

Where has FFDIC been?

It's been a couple of months since I've seen him. He was around for a few nights when there was discussion how NPR had screwed up an FDIC story, IIRC.

EDIT: Nytol

noob goldberg wrote:

Well, I don't know about always

I guess I just thought there might be some connection to cavorting.

Have one for me. Beer

Nytol

He'd mentioned some health problems a while back. Hope he's OK.

And that Taiwan Pijiu can is a real feat of graphic design, isn't it?

Tim waiting for 2012 wrote:

If I was a bank I would put all my money on RED.

Just go with a hard 8-- what have you got to lose?

Anak wrote:

And that Taiwan Pijiu can is a real feat of graphic design, isn't it?

I remember at parties when, late in the evening, the only thing left in the fridge was the inevitable dirt cheap Taiwan Beer that many people brought, but never drank themselves ... my head hurts just thinking about it.

Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:

I remember at parties when

what time frame, years?

taipei is a greeeeat party city.

Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:

he only thing left in the fridge was the inevitable dirt cheap Taiwan Beer that many people brought, but never drank themselves ...

Ever tried a Guamanian brewed San Miguel?

Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:

94 - 97

We've got some overlap there, Bubbles! May have run into you at some of the dives I used to dive in to.

adornosghost wrote:

Ever tried a Guamanian brewed San Miguel?

Drank a lot of San Miguel brewed somewhere in Asia. It was a step up from Tiger and step down from Asahi.

Good link on Spitzer and Ratigan.
Bring out the Guillotines.

Anak wrote:

May have run into you at some of the dives I used to dive in to.

Roxy, 45s, Spin, TUs, Bushi Ban pub, something Dragon pub, DV8s, bunch of places with names I don't remember.

I find most Asian beers are rather dry, and bitter. But they are meant to be drank iced down and darn near frozen.
Starting to get thirsty for some Singha,

the short bottles of San Mig (in Manila) are quite good for Pasay river water!

picking up the children from x-country now, but if you're thinking you can sing, you might try this out:

YouTube - Tears of A Clown(acapella)

Nytol

Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:

Drank a lot of San Miguel brewed somewhere in Asia. It was a step up from Tiger and step down from Asahi.

I drank a lot of San Miguel in the 70's in Micronesia and Asia, but preferred Heineken, which was what was good and available.
I seemed to end up in Japan no matter where I was intending to go, so drank a bit Asai and Kirin also.
Duty free in Guam, so had lots of good Scotch, and until the late 60's no customs between Thailand and Guam, which made things interesting to say the least.

Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:

Roxy, 45s, Spin, TUs, Bushi Ban pub, something Dragon pub, DV8s

Ah yes, student row over on hoping east rd, sec 2. good times.....

Riddle me this.

KD / ZH / CR/... ALL realize the complete fraud that has taken place and STILL taking place.

Yet the obvious tech bubble due to burst in 1999 and the "NEED" for a another oh I don't know..... "NEW PEARL HARBOR" from Wolfy and PNAC to build up some needed MIC Cash?

Carlyle Group anybody?

Why are people called out for exposing the obvious and ridiculed while the PC Blogs hack on the Fed and all the PTB ignoring the biggest elephant in the room?

Seriously. If that was spelled right.

??

Lets open up the discussion if we are going to address this disaster and do better?

""For the bank failures that have occurred so far, every one of the large loss reports the inspector general has done or any GAO investigation has concluded the reason the bank has failed is the regulator did not take early enough action or severe enough action."

"the field examiners identified the problems early - but then insufficient actions was taken."

You do have a potential false positive problem here. The mere fact that all of the banks that failed didn't have early or severe regulatory action doesn't tell you how many places the regulators were worried, and things turned out fine.

I'm thinking of something like an Altman's Z score here. If the examiners give a ranking of how bad the problem is, and no regulatory action is taken in X months, then the unredacted examiner's report gets published.

Comrade Kristina wrote:

Citi must die....

And yet it lingers on, defying gravity.

Blackhalo wrote:

And yet it lingers on, defying gravity

To me it seems more like indoor skydiving, Indoor Skydiving / Vertical Wind Tunnel / iFLY Hollywood

Hey, Kauai Kahuna, I just got back from walking down from Wainiha Bay to the Ke'e beach, then hitchhiking myself a ride back. This is the first time I've spent any time on the island (eta: since childhood), and I agree with your earlier posts that there must be some really fundamental problems with this island if they can't make a great go of it...

Cost of shipping, and land have thrown everything out of whack here.
It wont' be long until only the wealthy retirees can afford to live here, I know I sure can not afford to buy a SFH and still fund for a retirement here.

some investor guy wrote:

To me it seems more like indoor skydiving

With the Fed/gov providing the lift?

It seems remarkable, though I guess the island is probably just overpopulated? But I think that happened to a lot of pacific islands, where shipped in food (ie. Spam, or in Samoa, corned beef) is so much cheaper, at least 50 years ago. Then all the local industry/food production just dies, and everyone buys all their food from Wal-Mart, because it's "cheaper" as the locals all starve.

Got Concrete? ---CONJURE'S MAD MAX COUNTDOWN CLOCK--- Got Concrete?

The time is now:

11:48:13.3

The clock has reversed 2.3 seconds since 3/7/2010

Conjure says, "The Greek crisis appears to be over for now."

mp wrote:

Conjure says, "The Greek crisis appears to be over for now."

Booooooooooooooooooo. You are Dooooooooooooooom!!!ing on my Dooooooooooooooom!!! Sad Crying

mp wrote:

The clock has reversed 2.3 seconds since 3/7/2010

Conjure says, "The Greek crisis appears to be over for now."

Sweeping debt under the carpet, REDUCES Mad Max outcomes? That seems counterintuitive to me.

Your clock can go backwards?

Cool. I want a clock like that.

Conjures clock is a reality based clock. I understand why. Today was a record breaking day. By far the best Friday I've had in a year. We'll continue on in fits and starts for quite some time before the bottom falls out,.

Sugarcane used to be a big biz there, but it can not compete with other countries due to the cost of labor, etc.
Construction was a big thing after the cat 5 hurricane, then followed through with the housing boom, that's kind of dead now.
Tourism is the only leg left standing, and it is kind of crippled right now. Not many people taking that pleasure trip here when they can go to the Caribbean much cheaper.

But as the wise man said, beer is proof that God exists, and that he wants us to be happy

Maybe I missed it in the last thread (because I haven't read it yet) but I believe that's a quote from Ben Franklin and actually goes, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

I'm sure I'm stating the obvious.

I guess pineapple, too, no? I lived here for a couple years right before Iniki (I think we moved away 6 weeks before it hit, as my dad had finished working on the Princeville (then) Sheraton (now St. Regis), and remember a big sugar-processing plant in Lihue. I was surprised to not experience that super-strong vinegar smell when I went down whatever highway that is right by the old plant...

I just got married on Hanalei Bay, which was spectacular, and my (now) wife's parents would love to sell some of their Russian properties and buy some ag land out here. In fact, her sister, who is 23 and lives in Austin where we do, is now staying in a tent on a farm in Anahola where a friend of an old family friend runs some kind of commune-type-situation, which is pretty awesome.

Where are you on the island? We'll be here honeymooning until the 22nd, and it'd be fun to grab a beer sometime.

Comrade Kristina wrote:

Today was a record breaking day.

Do tell!

I've heard that "beer is proof..." quote in many forms attributed to many many people. I'm just finishing up a bottle of '98 Sonoma County cabernet and will be switching to beer shortly. It truly is wonderful.

Kauai_Kahuna wrote:

Tourism is the only leg left standing, and it is kind of crippled right now. Not many people taking that pleasure trip here when they can go to the Caribbean much cheaper.

And I'll say I did my part and brought about 20 people out here for my wedding who LOOOOOVED it. I feel like I should get my trip sponsored. =)

mock turtle wrote:

john barleycorn must die

Thanks mock, great to listen to Winwood again.

alkaloids, Congratulations on getting married.
Pineapple is/was big on Oahu, and Maui. Maui just pulled out and will become the Maui Land company.
I work and live on Oahu now, no good jobs on Kauai, but I'm not giving up this handle, I have been using it since the early nineties.
Got 54 minutes before my shift is over and I can start celebrating winning the BFF poll yet again. Smile

Comrade Kristina wrote:

By far the best Friday I've had in a year. We'll continue on in fits and starts for quite some time before the bottom falls out,.

Ya know, this is the kind of thing I love so much about this place.

Where else can you find consecutive sentences that read like this and not suffer even a hint of cognitive dissonance?

I propose a new board slogan: "HCN: The Lighter Side of Dooooooooooooooom!!!."

And with that ...

Nytol

worth a re post

stunning revelations that lehman went shopping for somebody, anybody to sign off on their fraudulent repos - off book balance sheet book cooking and had to go outside the usa to find a willing dupe

and apparently the NYFR and geithner were aware that lehman couldnt pass any version of the stress test the fed created no matter how lame

so timmay let them create and pass their own...

best part is just before... and after.... yves update of the post (read to the bottom ok?) at naked capitalism

NY Fed Under Geithner Implicated in Lehman Accounting Fraud « naked capitalism 

mock turtle wrote:

so timmay let them create and pass their own...

YouTube - Audience - Stand By The Door

@ moch turtle

Timmay: I do not read everyting that passes my desk

USG: Ya but you signed off

Timmay: No way Im just saying that I dont know

USG: Okay then you up for promo to GS Pres that pays 2B Quadalops/per year

Timmay: Yup

Next

Thank you, but ahhhh, that's too bad. I've been looking forward to the possibility of that for some time. This has always been a pretty special place to me, so it was exciting for me to see your handle when I first noticed your posts.

Congrats on winning the poll, I just don't understand why it's not 20 every week, but that's why I don't have any money in the stock market, either. Was it Upton Sinclair who said something about markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent?

and this additionally on the same issue about how turbotaxtimmay G probably knew about the book cooking a lehman and looked the other way

from lolfed

"There is a massive, 2,200 page tome that was released yesterday that goes into excruciating detail as to why Lehman failed. Anton Valukas, the examiner, assuredly had a lot to work with. We weren’t quite expecting an encyclopedia, but we guess we shouldn’t be surprised either. And what did he find? Bad mortgages? Sure, of course. No collateral other than that closet full of stress balls and tote bags that ultimately got auctioned on eBay? At the very end, yeah.

He also found a massive sleight of hand where Lehman shuffled fitty bill or so in crap assets off its books (books certified by Dick Fuld, of course) in a desperate attempt to stay solvent. He refers to it as “reverse engineer[ing] the firm’s net leverage ratio for public consumption”, but you and I might refer to it as “making s**t up”. This apparently started in late 2007, well before Lehman became a household name.

Karl Denninger’s had time to parse this, and it looks like the NY Fed under Geithner may well have known and looked the other way:"

Lehman Faked It, Timmay Knew It, That Settles It?

someone needs to play the role of john dean (1973) as obama plays richard nixon

"mr. obama...there is a cancer growing on the presidency"

and its geithner and mr president, that tumorous growth needs to be excised now before it metastasizes

mock turtle wrote:

"it looks like the NY Fed under Geithner may well have known and looked the other way:"

Will the MSM, public or congress care?

Timmay is a protege of Henry K, and the idea that young Tim is still ensconced despite everything, is testimony to the old Nixonian's power...

alkaloids, believe me I wish I was being a beach bum there myself, though I would be out on the west side most likely.
I really hope you have a great time there, it's slow, a little backward but it is one of the most fantastic places I know of.
Take care, and with that folks, I should be out of here, it is almost BFF beer time.. Nytol

I'm looking forward to the books that will come out of the Obama WH.

Just got through 'The Price of Loyalty', page turner of a read.

Jonathan wrote:

I'm looking forward to the books that will come out of the Obama WH.

The new issue of The New Yorker with stories on both Obama and Geithner are pretty much must reads.

alkaloids wrote:

I lived here for a couple years right before Iniki

I got out the day before-- got out on a flight from Princeville--
What a mess. I was living on Maui at the time, and visiting a friend who was living at the end of the road.
Still have the house on Maui (actually 2 houses).

alkaloids wrote:

Was it Upton Sinclair who said something about markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent?

Don't know if anyone answered you yet, but that was Keynes. John Maynard, the perv.

Upton Sinclair said,* "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
Also wrote 'The Jungle', if anyone cares.

yossarian wrote:

Don't know if anyone answered you yet, but that was Keynes. John Maynard, the perv.
Upton Sinclair said,* "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
Also wrote 'The Jungle', if anyone cares.

Ah, right. I loved 'The Jungle' when I read it in high school, maybe I should read it again. That quote of his you mention is my signature on a triathlon forum... One of my favorites about life in general.

Comrade Alexei Mikhailovich wrote:

The new issue of The New Yorker with stories on both Obama and Geithner are pretty much must reads.

Thanks, I didn't enjoy either of them, but the Geithner one is especially galling.

The science of accounting will catch up with that little shit, eventually.

Both stories are linked off of the front page: The New Yorker

Thank you FFDIC fans! I am having difficulty posting here. Not sure what the problem is. Could be the pop up blocker. So much security my PC thinks I'm an Indian male selling insurance or a female chef cooking Bouillabaisse... and locks me out of everything except Mahjong solitaire... back on topic: I (like always for the past 5 plus years) blame most of this on the last Bush administration who didn't want bank examiners to do their jobs or at least not well. I was there. Go easy or else were the marching orders. Most everybody got in line or eventually lost their jobs.

I lost my job.

Upton Sinclair said, of the response to "The Jungle" was that "he "had aimed for the public's heart but had instead hit its stomach"

Read it when I was 12, that & some political cartoons permanently altered my view of the US & corporate behavior.

FFDIC, nice to see you back.

FFDIC! MY MAN!!! Always great to "see" you! Smile

Whassup??

It is an absolutely brilliant idea to publish bank examinations reports. Regulators claim it will cause bank runs. BS! As long as depositors have $250k in FDIC insurance or more runs are less likely today. When reports of examination remain sealed the multiple levels of regulatory management can ignore the findings for years and did. Enforcement actions that should have been promptly taken or just now being handed down years late and unhealthy banks facing impending closings are in no position to respond and for the most part remain in substantial non-compliance with the most significant parts of the Enforcement actions until closing occurs. The public deserves the written truth since it is on the hook for the trillions to clean it up when things go so wrong. This is not the Pentagon, CIA or war where secrecy is justified. It's our money!

Why derivatives may actually help Greece's finances - The Globe and Mail

...“If we get to a point where we've had enough with credit default swaps, then I think Greece will have serious problems,” said Darrell Duffie, a finance professor at Stanford University.

Sellers of credit default swaps agree to pay the buyers if the debt goes bad. With swaps, investors who lend to countries by buying their bonds can reduce their risk. Without them, Mr. Duffie and others say, Greece's borrowing costs would escalate because lenders would demand higher premiums.

Not to go off topic too much - but pretty interesting bank lending article at WSJ...
Where to Find The Monday
Where to Get the Best Loan Rates - WSJ.com

FFDIC - excellent point. But if there's material non-compliance for so long, and it's so pervasive, how are the choices made to move on the various institutions? Of course it's political, but how does that play out in the various management and board discussions? I'm asking from experience on a risk committee and seeing some of the dance around problem identification, testing, verification, solution analysis, proposal, moderation, spinning, escalation and so on.

C

CP
Don't understand question man. Move? Like move for a bank closing? Move for an enforcement? Move for what? It's after midnight and I do my best work earlier and when donuts are involved.

Nice to see you here FFDIC.

FFDIC wrote:

It's after midnight and I do my best work earlier and when donuts are involved.

LOL! Swill - er- Dunkin Donuts Coffee is the best we can do at the moment.

Nice dodge. There's a process around who gets shafted, when and how. Always is. Was just wondering how it works at FDIC.

C

EDIT: as in which banks.

FFDIC wrote:

It is an absolutely brilliant idea to publish bank examinations reports

Audit the Fed.

[US Constitution, Article I, Clause 7]

The FDIC is not there to protect banks from runs, it's there to protect depositors from bankers.

TJ and The Bear wrote:

: Swill - er- Dunkin Donuts Coffee is the best we can do at the moment.

Yap Stone I pulled this off of the Randy's Donuts at the Manchester off ramp of the 405; will that do?

FFDIC nice to hear from you. I think he wants to know how they game Sheila.

As a lawyer, I have learned that when there's secrecy which damages much-desired confidence rather than enhance it, assume every imaginable fraud until it is ruled out; and with continued secrecy nothing is ever ruled out.

When historians examine our age of national decline, how many careers will be made explaining the endurance and pervasiveness of this cartel's power?

Or running time in the other direction, if the eminent academic Woodrow Wilson were transported to today, he would soon become an even "unhappier man".

(and yeah, I know the first part of that quote is said to be mis-attributed, but it would certainly be apt given the attributable portion).

Those histories will be conceived, written and made widely available only if the opposition to the cartel wins. It will be extremely contested ground.

C

Counterpointer wrote:

extremely contested ground.

Always has been, and maybe even more so in pre-historic times when oral history obtained. Hope our progeny don't have "post-historic' times in store.

"He who controls the past, controls the future; and he who controls the present, controls the past."

Kick the can, our new national past time.

May you live in interesting times.... Too bad the curse did not have an attached solution to it.

Perhaps it was just me chewing on the topics of the day and yesterday covered here. But tonight I saw some signs of significant down shifting in society, and hints of possible de-evolution.
I'm OK with lowered expectations, heck it's pretty easy since I never really had any high expectations. But I am seeing a lot of people adjusting to shattered dreams.

I'm still really shaky and massively confused on the whole inflation or deflation thing, which I admit is only a concern to people who actually have assets or cash which it seems is a small segment of the population.
I just know how hard I worked and what I sacrificed to get what little I have, I'm still looking for thoughts on how to protect the small nest egg I built.

Gold is the usual answer, but I still get that nagging feeling of a bubble. 30% deflation of the US $ to 300% in a metal just does not make sense to me.

Well, that was my thought of the day, now it's back to toasting the BFF banks. I get a extra one for winning right?

FFDIC - This is not the Pentagon, CIA or war where secrecy is justified. It's our money!

While I agree with your points, it is a full on war between the Vampire Squid from Hell and the taxpayer. The final looting of the treasury before they exit the crumbling empire to a bunker island in the Caribbean with no extradition and the local Government already is bought and paid for.
Wow, maybe I need a get a tin hat myself.

Kauai_Kahuna wrote:

But tonight I saw some signs of significant down shifting in society, and hints of possible de-evolution.

That seems to be a popular opinion but, life goes on... I still do not think it is that bad yet.

FFDIC wrote:

Go easy or else were the marching orders. Most everybody got in line or eventually lost their jobs.

That rings true. Pres. Obama sure was awful nice to the outgoing admin in the face of a lot of blatant ineptitude. I think he fumbled his chance to shed the blame by circumventing due process himself.

"beer is proof..." quote

I'm a home brewer, and I love my beers, meads, ciders and even some dry white and red wines.
But I'm also a fan of Ben, Franklin that is.

Benjamin Franklin FAQ
++---
Did Ben really say that beer is proof of God's love?
There is no evidence to suggest that Ben ever said that beer is proof that God loves us. However, he did have this to say about wine:

"We hear of the conversion of water into wine at the marriage in Cana as of a miracle. But this conversion is, through the goodness of God, made every day before our eyes. Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy. The miracle in question was only performed to hasten the operation, under circumstances of present necessity, which required it."

This passage has been translated from the original French that Ben wrote in a letter to the Abbé Morellet in 1779. The subject of the letter was wine and Divine Providence.
++--
But that is too long for most drinkers to remember, so it got changed to the current version, kind of like the bible. Smile

Blackhalo - That seems to be a popular opinion but, life goes on... I still do not think it is that bad yet.

I live a pretty cooped up sheltered life, but when I'm out and about I go to fine places and dives. I was disturbed tonight, it is the subtle changes that people prefer to ignore, or don't even see.
Kind of like the people who say they never see homeless people because they refuse to see them even though they drive by them everyday. Hopefully communities will be able to focus on what is important, but then again hope is not a plan that works out most of the time.

Too bad this new economy of "service and fees" just did not take off except for the people on the top who skimmed the cream and left the curds to rot.
But hey, keep the beer, cigarettes, cable going, double or quadruple the tax's on the sin's, this train can keep going for miles after the tracks end.

No surprise here, but once again the mass media is actually seeing through the smoke and mirrors.

middle-class-money-angst: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Fed's Flow of Funds numbers again show average Americans' net worth gaining more by mortgage defaults than asset appreciation.

If there is a recovery in Americans' finances, they don't see it.

The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that the net worth of U.S. "households" increased at about a 5% annual rate in the fourth quarter, a good deal slower than the blistering 20% pace over the two previous quarters, but still a solid increase.

++--
OK, so fess up, who reads CR and wrote this article?

Time to say good night to one and all. Nytol

History is written by the winners.

BFF Poll for Fri. Mar. 12th 2010

This week's BFF, opened on Thursday, got off to a rousing start with a closing mere moments after the polls opened. Way to go, Sheila! Extra points for enthusiasm. Sadly, this enthusiasm was soon dissipated as evidenced by Friday's lackluster performance of three additional closings.

Four* bank closings for the week ending 3/12/2010

The unofficial weiners are:

70.79.189.120
Anonymous Bosch
BremNorthwest
curlydan
Grim_Poppet
Kauai_Kahuna
MLM
O H Chick
Rob Dawg
RockyR
some investor guy

*The Rules Committee is still in conference debating the inclusion of this week's atypical non-Friday closure. Until such time as a definitive ruling is handed down, the Janitorial Subcommittee is allowing the fourth bank. A spokesperson for the Subcommittee, who wished to remain anonymous, stated, "Any bank closure is a step in the right direction."

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