Schedule for Week of June 24th

Rank	Name	Points
#1	Rajesh	4,668
#2	GDD9000	3,058
#3	RE	3,054
#4	HomeGnome	2,706
#5	NGBROI	2,300
#6	Bubblisimo Gerkinov	2,280
#7	JP	1,766
#8	Nanoo-Nanoo	1,756
#9	Blackhalo	1,708
#10	Rob Dawg	1,508

ac wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 5:39 am

I wonder if the markets and the economy are going to crash after the Olympics like in 2008.

BTW who is the bonehead who lined these things up with the presidential election cycle?

Yoringe wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 5:10 am

Looks like Germany is finally caught by is lies....Oh, wie ist das schoen, oh wie ist das schoen....

vtcodger wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 5:34 am

In Europe, there is a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

Long past due. It's been what? ...four weeks? ... five weeks? since the last European summit.

(I don't suppose there is any chance that they might address fundamentals rather than cosmetics this time?)

vtcodger wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 5:40 am

NPR two minutes ago (paraphrased). "The key to surviving moose calling is to be able to read the moose's body language if one shows up."

Yoringe wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 5:41 am

Summit is too discuss can hitting wall... Go long riot and lipstick..

1 currency now -yogi wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:02 am

Nasty storm in DC.

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:11 am

6 comments in one hour? Must be a record.

Heated debate on whether there is a comment recession or we have fallen into a comment depression.

Comrade Kristina wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:12 am

I'm thinking it's a depression

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:15 am (in reply to...)

Could be bifurcated if other blogs are doing well.

We may need to take the cattle prods over to ZH and round our people back up.

Yoringe wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:13 am

Must be the " failure friday drinking game " fallout...

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:13 am (in reply to...)

NPR two minutes ago (paraphrased). "The key to surviving moose calling is to be able to read the moose's body language if one shows up."

Like the spouse says, I'd love to see one of those running thru the woods. They must have retractable antlers.

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:20 am

So. Anyone for a game of cards?

josap wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:24 am

good morning

My sister lives very near a water shed meadow, dirve past it to get to her house.
In the summer about 10 to 15 elk hang out there all day. They just walk through the yards and streets to get to the meadow.

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:26 am

For anyone who watches, VXX was down another 10% yesterday.

That makes June down about 23% so far - the only up month this year was May, +25%. It's down 96% in the past 3ish years (I believe that was from inception).

volker the viking wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:25 am (in reply to...)

volker not feeling all that great either

Eric wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:26 am

Chinese Data Mask Depth of Slowdown, Executives Say - Asia Business News - CNBC - CNBC

Why shouldn't they lie? We do.

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:28 am

Matt Taibbi and Yves Smith on the Follies of Big Banks and Government | Moyers & Company | BillMoyers.com

Great segment !

snippet from full transcript

BILL MOYERS: What do you mean when you say banks should be more like a utility?

YVES SMITH: Banks, more than any other business, more than military contractors, live off the government. They depend on government backstopping. They exist only by way of government issued licenses, which if you had open entry you'd see much lower fees. And they get some confidence from the public from the fact that they are regulated. Oh, and the most important thing is they have access to--

MATT TAIBBI: The Federal Reserve.

YVES SMITH: --the Federal Reserve.

MATT TAIBBI: They're getting huge amounts of free money.

YVES SMITH: Well, not just the free money. The Federal Reserve basically guarantees the payment system. You know, that's the really critical architecture that banks control is that, you know, we write checks to each other. We have credit cards. They clear through banks.

But the fact that banks can exchange money with each other confidently is because the Fed stands behind that. So there's a much-- there's another layer of Fed backstopping beyond what we think of the way they step in in a crisis or the way they're now intervening to help the banks. So the fact that these institution really depend in a very fundamental way on government support means they don't have any right to the upside.

I mean, they should really be paid like public servants. I mean, I'm not kidding. I mean, and if they had been, if the pay had been ratcheted down after the crisis, I would have had a lot more sympathy for them, even if they just behaved for a couple of years. You know, they were bailed out. And then in 2009 the industry went and paid itself record bonuses, higher than 2007 instead of rebuilding their balance sheets. I mean, this was just a slap in the face for the public.

BILL MOYERS: And there's no shame.

YVES SMITH: No.

BILL MOYERS: You're describing a corrupt financial and political system. And both of you in recent writings, your current article in "Rolling Stone," which is devastating on the scam that the "Wall Street learned from the Mafia," and a recent column you wrote about the mafia state, you're both using that metaphor to apply to our financial and political system. When I read your pieces, you're not playing with words there. You mean it.

YVES SMITH: Yeah.

BILL MOYERS: Why do you mean it?

YVES SMITH: Well, the mafia, when it gets to be big enough, first thing it has services that people feel they need if they're in a difficult situation. So, for example, loan sharking. If you really need money, they do have the money. And people enter into these loan shark deals even though they know it's going to be very difficult to pay 20 percent or more interest and they'll have their legs broken if they don't pay back.

And the banks actually behave very much in that manner when they find people who really need money. So you see this with credit cards, you know, that, or, and with mortgages. That if you hit-- it's not this if you hit any tripwire, that, you know, become in arrears, the banks basically act in this very extortionate manner and don't cut any breaks.

MATT TAIBBI: And I think that there's also this, they are the mafia because of their vast criminality in Wall Street now is that it's bribery, theft, fraud, bid rigging, price fixing, gambling, loan sharking. All of these things, it's all organized.

I mean, the story I just wrote about, which was about the systematic rigging of municipal bond auctions, which affected every community in every state in the country and all of the major banks were involved, including Chase.

They were rigging the auctions that were designed to create a fair rate of return on the investments that towns were getting on their-- the money they borrowed for municipal bonds. And this is not like something that the mafia does. This is what the mafia does. The mafia has historically, it's one of their staple businesses, is bid rigging for construction or garbage or, you know, street cleaning services, whatever it is.

They're doing exactly the same thing. The only thing that's different is there's no violence involved. But what their method of control is that they're ubiquitous. They have this incredible political power that the mafia never had.

YVES SMITH: And they also have what amounts to an oligopoly. I mean, for many of these services, you have a great deal of difficulty going beyond the five biggest banks, you know? This is-- it's the consequence of too big to fail is that when, you know, some of the smaller players, again, you know, like-- JPMorgan buying Bear Stearns.

In the crisis, when the smaller players got sick, they were merged into the bigger players. So now if you want-- for a lot of these services, there aren't that many players for you to go to. You really have no choice in-- other than to deal with the big banks.

BILL MOYERS: Congress is paid to be informed and to hold these guys accountable. Why don't they ask the kind of questions you're dealing with here?

MATT TAIBBI: People refuse to look at these banks and think of them as organized crime organizations.

dilbert dogbert wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:29 am (in reply to...)

Ah for the day the grizzly bear is reintroduced into California. I would have the high country to myself. The grizzly is a low land bear but most would not know that and abandon all wild areas. Wonder how the limousine liberals would react to that. The reintroduction would solve the wild pig problem.

burnside wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:31 am (in reply to...)

I understand ours should arrive in an hour or so. We're on the wet and windy side of a tropical recession.

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:32 am (in reply to...)

See? Everything is in either recession or depression.

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:39 am

German Real Estate Market Soars Amid Euro Crisis - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Sebastian also attributes the price increase to low interest rates, fears of inflation within Germany, general concern over the collapse of the euro and relatively few safe investment alternatives. German bond prices, for example, have become so low that investors are practically paying the German government to take their money. In contrast to the stock market and government bonds, German real estate appears to many investors as a safe bet that can earn rewards. Unlike opening a foreign bank account, buying real estate also comes with few regulations and restrictions.

"Italians don't care where they put their money as long as it is in German real estate," says Ruth Stirati, a real estate consultant who works primarily with Italians looking to buy apartments in Berlin. Stirati says that many of her clients are normal Italians who have a little bit of savings that they are too scared to put in Italian banks for fear the euro will collapse.

RayOnTheFarm wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:40 am

Looked at the FDIC quarterly reports for a regional bank (one that has a local office here). This bank has been called up nine times to buy failing banks. This bank also has a current Texas ratio of ~80% ( which feels high to me ). I suspect that the high Texas ratio is being caused by bad loans from the failed banks they picked up.

Does the FDIC cut them extra slack for all those problem loans while they are working them out ( foreclosure, short sale, or other disposition ) ?

dilbert dogbert wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:41 am (in reply to...)

How many fail decades will we experience when recession or depression is the new normal?

GDD9000 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:43 am

Sebastian knows German real estate? HCN?!?!?!

ac wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:44 am (in reply to...)

Outsider wrote:

German Real Estate Market Soars Amid Euro Crisis - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Monetarism destroys everything it touches.

It's like the cultural equivalent of the Ebola virus.

burnside wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:44 am (in reply to...)

Well well. Thereby vanishes any thoughts of a flat in Dresden or Leipzig. There were some singing 'buys' there lately.

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:44 am (in reply to...)

Sebastian knows German real estate? HCN?!?!?!

Therefore, take it for what it's worth.

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:48 am (in reply to...)

So you've got a real social polarization with radicalization going on. And I've seen a number of reports out of Greece saying that it's basically on knife edge of breakdown.

BILL MOYERS: Could it happen here?

YVES SMITH: If things, if we have another crisis and things aren't addressed, I could see this definitely happening maybe not nationally but in significant regional pockets. I mean, you know, this is a country full of guns. And people don't like to think about what happens when people are pushed, you know, I mean, the kind of random violence, the sort of, you know, going postal phenomena?

MATT TAIBBI: When I was in a foreclosure court last year. I spent a week in a foreclosure court in Jacksonville.

BILL MOYERS: Reporting on it.

MATT TAIBBI: Reporting on it. And the amount of raw anger that you see in these proceedings from people who have lost their homes, they have no illusions about who's to blame for the situation. They know exactly, you know, where the problem is. And I--

BILL MOYERS: And it's where?

MATT TAIBBI: It's with these banks that sold them these mortgages. And I think there's a growing awareness out there in the public, more and more people have had a personal problem on some front with Wall Street, whether it's credit card debt or a mortgage debt or they've lost their jobs. And I think there's anger and it's starting to become more organized.

BILL MOYERS: Both of you trace this back to what you call fraudulent debt. Is that right?

MATT TAIBBI: In the case of the mortgage markets, absolutely. I think what a lot of these, this was a fraud scheme. It's the same scam that you see here in the streets of New York when somebody's selling a phony Prada bag or a phony Rolex watch in the street. These banks were selling phony mortgages that were, they were selling them as triple A rated instruments when, in fact, they were essentially worthless.

They were highly risky, toxic instruments. And they knew it. They were buying, they were in cahoots with companies like Countrywide and Long Beach, these sort of fly-by-night mortgage operations who went out and they gave mortgages to everybody and everybody who had a pulse. They took these mortgages. They bundled them. They waved a whole bunch of phony hocus-pocus math over them and reconfigured them into triple A rated investments.

Then they went out into the world and they sold them to every customer all over the world, pensions, unions, foreign trade unions, foreign governments. And they--

Yoringe wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:50 am

The rich think germany is cheap and save... I say earth is a globe...

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:51 am

Did Germany win over Greece in the Great Soccer ~~showdown~~ match?

Too bad.

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:51 am (in reply to...)

BILL MOYERS: There's a definition of a sociopath as being radically deprived of empathy. Do you see characteristics of sociopathic behavior on Wall Street?

MATT TAIBBI: Absolutely.

YVES SMITH: Yes.

MATT TAIBBI: I'm sorry, just what Yves was talking about with, you know, the old people who were dying earlier now, people who don't have kids, who aren't going to school, garbage that's being left in the streets. That's all because some guy was sitting up in a skyscraper in Wall Street and knowingly selling some communities, some municipality a fraudulent, toxic mortgage backed security.

I mean, he knows that that instrument is going to blow up in, you know, six months, a year. But he's selling it to them anyway. But he doesn't care, you know, because he can't see it, you know? I think in the eyes of a lot of these guys if they can't see the effect, it doesn't really exist. And to me, that's classic sociopathic behavior when you're blind, you're willingly blind to the consequences.

YVES SMITH: I mean, it's really the growth of the trading culture. You know, in the old days, I worked on Wall Street when Wall Street really was only criminal around the margins. I mean, you really, Goldman Sachs in those days had the expression long-term greedy which meant you didn't kill the--

BILL MOYERS: Long-term what?

YVES SMITH: Long-term greedy. That they were long-term greedy. And that meant you didn't kill the goose that laid the golden egg. You know, you wouldn't put your customer into egregiously bad deal. If you took a little extra, you only took it when the customer was making money, too, so if they ever figured it out they wouldn't be really upset.

That attitude has changed completely. And I attribute it significantly to the growth of derivatives

dilbert dogbert wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:51 am (in reply to...)

km4 wrote:

Then they went out into the world and they sold them to every customer all over the world, pensions, unions, foreign trade unions, foreign governments. And they--

I have a better idea. Reintroduce the grizzly bear on wall street.

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:53 am (in reply to...)

I have a better idea. Reintroduce the grizzly bear on wall street.

Stern bears?

Jonathan wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:56 am (in reply to...)

km4 quoth:

YVES SMITH: Long-term greedy. That they were long-term greedy. And that meant you didn't kill the goose that laid the golden egg. You know, you wouldn't put your customer into egregiously bad deal. If you took a little extra, you only took it when the customer was making money, too, so if they ever figured it out they wouldn't be really upset.

Well, up to a point. The skim became frenzied, but it's not the underlying reason.

The Bernanke had to loosen up to keep things rolling. Oil plateaued off in terms of production, and prices rose. There's the real reason.

And we've done nothing to address the longer term, just kept the skim rolling.

The banks are a sideshow compared to energy.

vtcodger wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:56 am (in reply to...)

Ah for the day the grizzly bear is reintroduced into California

Alas, the California Grizzly was a separate and distinct subspecies. Can't be reintroduced because there are none any more.

energyecon wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:57 am (in reply to...)

Outsider wrote:

Stern bears?

On FIRE this morning!

JP wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:57 am (in reply to...)

Eric wrote:

Chinese Data Mask Depth of Slowdown, Executives Say - Asia Business News - CNBC - CNBC

FTA: Record-setting mountains of excess coal have accumulated at the country’s biggest storage areas because power plants are burning less coal in the face of tumbling electricity demand

I've always thought that daily total kW generation would be a terrific and unambiguous indicator of activity. This pretty much insures that it will never be published.

Eric wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 6:58 am (in reply to...)

JP wrote:

I've always thought that daily total kW generation would be a terrific and unambiguous indicator of activity. This pretty much insures that it will never be published.

For the same reason we can't just get the aggregate weekly tax withholding from the IRS......

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:00 am

BILL MOYERS: When you come back, I want you to take the whole hour and explain to me what a derivative is and how it works. Okay? Is that a promise?

MATT TAIBBI: Absolutely.

BILL MOYERS: Alright, Yves and Matt, thank you very much for joining us.

MATT TAIBBI: Thank you.

YVES SMITH: Thank you.

stay tuned for more

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:01 am (in reply to...)

Brings up the thought: Monetization is like throwing gas on the FIRE.

Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:01 am (in reply to...)

vtcodger wrote:

"The key to surviving moose calling is to be able to read the moose's body language if one shows up."

One is essentially hitting on the moose with the call ... so, uh ... yeah ... their 'body language' might not be to one's liking.

energyecon wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:02 am (in reply to...)

That or signaling your status as a 'competitor'...

Outsider wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:05 am

Time for some books.

:good day all:

energyecon wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:08 am

New blog find courtesy of Yves:

Quants, Models, and the Blame Game « mathbabe

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:08 am (in reply to...)

ac wrote:

Monetarism ~~destroys everything it touches~~ sets economies on FIRE.
It's like the cultural equivalent of the Ebola virus.

adornosghost wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:10 am (in reply to...)

ac wrote:

Monetarism destroys everything it touches.

It's like the cultural equivalent of the Ebola virus.

Only more deadly.

Mr Slippery wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:11 am

In Europe, there is a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

About time! They are finally going to fix the euro mess (wink).

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:13 am (in reply to...)

Mr Slippery wrote:

In Europe, there is a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.
About time! They are finally going to fix the euro mess (wink).

What do they serve up in Brussels? Sprouts?

&

adornosghost wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:15 am (in reply to...)

Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:

One is essentially hitting on the moose with the call ... so, uh ... yeah ... their 'body language' might not be to one's liking.

I have had several moose encounters close-----
I was chased by a cow moose up by Two Ocean Pass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , but escaped.
I think I accidentally got to close to a calf.

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:20 am

What's worse than finding a boiled fly in your ?

Finding only the wing of a boiled fly.

OMNOMNOM!

vtcodger wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:23 am (in reply to...)

I think I accidentally got to close to a calf.

Quite possibly. Or possibly it thought you were a lawyer or investment banker. Apparently moose aren't all that hard to piss off. Around here, they mostly devote their energies to assassinating cars -- something they are pretty good at. Regretably the moose usually don't survive the encounter (either).

ac wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:25 am (in reply to...)

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:

Monetarism sets economies on FIRE.

Hahaha... I like it!!

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:33 am (in reply to...)

ac wrote:

Hahaha... I like it!!

Sometimes reality snarks itself.

adornosghost wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:34 am (in reply to...)

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:

Sometimes reality snarks itself.

"I doubt the two are connected but the ECB has announced it has adjusted collateral rules to allow banks greater access to liquidity. They will allow auto-loan asset-backed securities to be used, a new addition to the line-up. "

vtcodger wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:41 am (in reply to...)

They will allow auto-loan asset-backed securities to be used, a new addition to the line-up.

At last! Europe has been saved! Everyone can relax and watch Spanish bond yields shrink to close to zero!

Sebastian wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:44 am (in reply to...)

energyecon wrote:

New blog find courtesy of Yves:
Quants, Models, and the Blame Game « mathbabe

Once again, nothing new under the sun, books were there long before the Internet and the young think it's all brand-new (good or bad) because it's brand-new to them.

From "Market Wizards" by Jack Schwager, an interview with Ed Seykota, one of the leaders in designing mechanical trend-following systems. Seykota was working for a major brokerage house *in the 1970's" when he was developing trading programs.

Seykota: "The program did fine, the problem was that management couldn't keep from second-guessing the signals...The bottom line was that, because of this interference, the most profitable trade of the year ended up losing money..."

"...Management wanted me to change the system so that it would trade more actively, thereby generating more commission income. I explained to them that it would be very easy to make such a change, but doing so would seriously impede performance. They didn't seem to care...."

Sebastian

adornosghost wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:45 am (in reply to...)

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:

Sometimes reality snarks itself.

They have turned Deepak Chopra into a bot!
Random Deepak Chopra Quote Generator - Wisdom of Chopra
The ultimate snake oil boomer salesman.

Yoringe wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:47 am

European ppl wake up.. Thats why the ESM rush and the insider noise (full monti anyone?)..

Tom Stone wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:50 am (in reply to...)

adornosghost wrote:

Random Deepak Chopra Quote Generator - Wisdom of Chopra
The ultimate snake oil boomer salesman.

Definitely in the top three. I loved hearing him speak.

black dog wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:53 am

In Europe, there is a summit in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

it was wednesday/thursday that monti said EU had a week to get it right ... and we get a $130 billion/euro (details ... later) as response? ... this ain't the 'shock and awe' you were looking for ...

adornosghost wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:53 am (in reply to...)

Tom Stone wrote:

Definitely in the top three. I loved hearing him speak.

"More than any time in history, mankind now faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness, the other to total extinction. Let us pray that we have the wisdom to choose correctly."
-- Woody Allen

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:55 am (in reply to...)

adornosghost wrote:

The ultimate snake oil boomer salesman.

Boomer marketing, gotta love it. The prospect of health, wealth, beauty, youth, and whether it's achieved through Eastern ayurvedic medicine, a meditation retreat, a Florida timeshare or flashy sports car, credit is always accepted.

MaryAnn wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:58 am (in reply to...)

adornosghost wrote:

Let us pray

Let us pray my a##. Both actors who are good at their trade.

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:58 am (in reply to...)

MaryAnn wrote:

Let us pray my a##. Both actors who are good at their trade.

Let us prey.

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 7:59 am (in reply to...)

ac wrote:

BTW who is the bonehead who lined these things up with the presidential election cycle?

The guy(s) that set up leap years?

Yoringe wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:01 am

Let us pay.. FFS destroys tradition..

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:02 am (in reply to...)

Outsider wrote:

Like the spouse says, I'd love to see one of those running thru the woods. They must have retractable antlers.

IIRC, they fall off after mating season. Only caribou/reindeer keep their antlers through the Winter, and this is presumably an adaptation to allow them to scratch through the snow to feed during the Winter months...

black dog wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:02 am

no love for tony robbins?

last picture i saw of him ... he didn't look so 'positive' ...

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:04 am (in reply to...)

km4 wrote:

I mean, they should really be paid like public servants.

Great...going for a loan is bad enough already...now it'll be like going to the DMV for a loan....

JP wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:05 am (in reply to...)

Cinco-X wrote:

The guy(s) that set up leap years?

OMG, Pope Gregory was such an asshole for doing that.

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:08 am (in reply to...)

Heated debate on whether there is a comment recession or we have fallen into a comment depression

Debating is over-rated...

In 2012 everyone can have their own blog and try to spin things to fit their own personal fantasies.

Of course, there are a few of these types that have been doing it longer than most, narcissistic overachievers with a penchant for melodrama...

Oh yeah, then there are the looky louses, the dittoheads and the echo chamber hoi polloi.

Too bad, so sad...now go twit about it!

Yancey Ward wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:07 am (in reply to...)

vtcodger wrote:

"The key to surviving moose calling is to be able to read the moose's body language if one shows up."

The first rule of Moose Calling is that we don't talk about Moose Calling.

JP wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:09 am (in reply to...)

adornosghost wrote:

Random Deepak Chopra Quote Generator - Wisdom of Chopra

LMAO... noted and stolen.
Mine is: "Interdependence creates your own photons"

Photons for everyone, on me!

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:08 am (in reply to...)

km4 wrote:

Do you see characteristics of sociopathic behavior in Washington? ~~on Wall Street?~~

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:09 am (in reply to...)

JP wrote:

OMG, Pope Gregory was such an asshole for doing that.

I think we need to bring back the 360 day calendar.

year 1, 360 days
????
year 2, 360 days
...
etc

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:10 am (in reply to...)

vtcodger wrote:

Alas, the California Grizzly was a separate and distinct subspecies.

Are you sure? I thought that it was recently determined that the Grizzly was just another brown bear and not genetically distinct...perhaps I misheard/misunderstood....

JP wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:10 am (in reply to...)

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:

year 1, 360 days
????
year 2, 360 days

What, no profit?

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:12 am (in reply to...)

JP wrote:

What, no profit?

that happens during '????'

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:12 am (in reply to...)

Outsider wrote:

Brings up the thought: Monetization is like throwing gas on the FIRE.

The problem is not monetarism per se, but rather the belief that the tenets of monetarism can solve all problems... this sort of magical thinking is just as foolish as the belief that government policy can solve all problems...

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:13 am (in reply to...)

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:

Sometimes reality snarks itself.

Observational humor is the best...

lawyerliz wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:14 am

Scientists talking about reintroducing jaguars. To the southwest &south. Maybe they will like to eat pythons

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:15 am (in reply to...)

JP wrote:

OMG, Pope Gregory was such an asshole for doing that.

Word...

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:15 am (in reply to...)

Cinco-X wrote:

The problem is not monetarism per se, but rather the belief that the tenets of monetarism can solve all problems... this sort of magical thinking is just as foolish as the belief that government policy can solve all problems...

And when these two powers combine into monetarist policy, we do NOT get voltron. Just a lot poorer.

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:16 am (in reply to...)

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:

that happens during '????'

A miracle occurs....

skk wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:16 am (in reply to...)

Tom Stone wrote:

Definitely in the top three. I loved hearing him speak.

deepak chopra is a horrid man - gives Indian culchure a bad name IMO -

separately - thanks km4 for those extensive quotes from Matt T and Yves Smith - she's a hell of a lady no ? { sorry CR }

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:16 am (in reply to...)

lawyerliz wrote:

Scientists talking about reintroducing jaguars. To the southwest &south. Maybe they will like to eat pythons

And pets. Here, kitty, kitty...

lawyerliz wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:17 am

I think that all manner of extinct predators should be introduced to the DC environment. Lions & tigers &bears. .tra la......

vtcodger wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:17 am (in reply to...)

Great...going for a loan is bad enough already...now it'll be like going to the DMV for a loan....

Visiting the DMV in Burlington is a picnic compared to dealing with "regulated" public utilities like @#$^Comcast or $%^#Fairpoint. Last time I was at the DMV, they had a clerk going down the waiting line and making sure that those in line had all the papers they were going to need when they got to the window.

skk wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:17 am (in reply to...)

lawyerliz wrote:

Scientists talking about reintroducing jaguars.

No way - as a ex-scientist I assure you they are actually introducing Kougars not jaguars. Calling Comrade CK

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:19 am (in reply to...)

BILL MOYERS: Both of you trace this back to what you call fraudulent debt. Is that right?

It takes two to tango

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:20 am (in reply to...)

vtcodger wrote:

Visiting the DMV in Burlington is a picnic compared to dealing with "regulated" public utilities like @#$^Comcast or $%^#Fairpoint.

So you agree that turning banks into "regulated" public utilities is potentially a really bad idea?

vtcodger wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:20 am (in reply to...)

Plus alligators, crocodiles and anacondas. Probably have to provide a warm refuge for the reptiles in the coldest months. Maybe some of the larger law firms could find places for them in the lobby.

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:21 am (in reply to...)

vtcodger wrote:

Plus alligators, crocodiles and anacondas. Probably have to provide a warm refuge for the reptiles in the coldest months. Maybe some of the larger law firms could find places for them in the lobby.

I doubt there's even been a python able to handle Washington ...

Rob Dawg wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:22 am (in reply to...)

vtcodger wrote:

Maybe some of the larger law firms could find places for them in the lobby.

The boardroom is plenty comfortable already.

lawyerliz wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:22 am

True newsie.
But people have saidto me hey if they didn't think I could pay the loan why give it to me?

vtcodger wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:24 am (in reply to...)

So you agree that turning banks into "regulated" public utilities is potentially a really bad idea?

No. Not regulating them is a remarkably stupid idea. The problem with Comcast et al appears to be lack of competition, not regulation. Not only should banks be regulated, they should be kept small and local. Things worked a hell of a lot better when we did that.

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:25 am (in reply to...)

Rob Dawg wrote:

The boardroom is plenty comfortable already.

| +1 |

Citizen AllenM wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:25 am

So, we should now blame the peasants for taking a shot at the brass ring?

America is truly a strange place, we celebrate the rich for being greedy, and excoriate the poor for trying to get ahead in the fashion we celebrate the poltroons, and then, when the poor cheat we punish them far more harshly than the elite criminals.

So, Newsboy, enjoy your pokes, and do some coke.

Meanwhile, look at Europe! That is what happens when nobody is willing to make real structural changes.

Someday this war's gonna end...

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:25 am (in reply to...)

vtcodger wrote:

Things worked a hell of a lot better when we did that.

Maybe for you and I... not so much for the Job Creators.

Citizen AllenM wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:26 am (in reply to...)

If it worked for sixty years, the answer should be yes.

Reregulate the banks!

Someday this war's gonna end...

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:27 am (in reply to...)

But people have saidto me hey if they didn't think I could pay the loan why give it to me?

That's what the Bernank said!

Citizen AllenM wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:28 am (in reply to...)

Give them their proper name- Bain's Job Destroyers.

But hey, look at how much surplus population we now have- 15% of the workforce is superfluous.

I should be able to get a personal servant cheap, real soon.

Someday this war's gonna end...

dilbert dogbert wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:28 am (in reply to...)

Outsider wrote:

Stern bears?

Stem to Stern. The full length of Wall St.

traderwalt wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:29 am

OT, but...

There are always condos for sale and potential buyers looking in my 200 unit building. But until a few minutes ago, I've never seen three groups of of potential buyers waiting in the foyer for their chance to view the available units while others are coming out of the building with their RE agents. They're back!

dilbert dogbert wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:29 am (in reply to...)

vtcodger wrote:

Can't be reintroduced because there are none any more

Don't care. Alaska Brown Bear from Kodiak would be just fine. They would go around looking for the salmon that are gone too and take to snacking on the locals who get in my way on the freeway.

MattFea wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:30 am (in reply to...)

Citizen AllenM wrote:

Bain's Job Destroyers.

Bain Said to Pay $1 Billion for 50% of Japanese TV Firm - Bloomberg

The Bain Shopping Network can't be too far behind...

dilbert dogbert wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:31 am (in reply to...)

Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:

their 'body language' might not be to one's liking.

Makes me think of the photo of the young moose mounting a statue of a cow.

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:34 am (in reply to...)

So, we should now blame the peasants for taking a shot at the brass ring?

Stupid is, as stupid does...

MeriKa a LONG, long time ago, and I'm past crying over it.

If I thought, even for a moment, that iSheeple could save the USofA from the socialist/fascist/NPD paradigm, I might be persuaded to once again give a shart.

Unfortunately, all I see is children masquerading as educated, informed adults...

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:34 am (in reply to...)

jpmist says:
June 23, 2012 at 10:19 am
Thumbs up! You and Matt are a great tag team, you guys balance each other well. Love the line, “(the regulators) are used to having tea and cookies with the banks” which makes the point nicely.

some good comments on nakedcapitalism Page not found « naked capitalism

lawyerliz wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:34 am

The Bain job destruction thing getting traction?

Citizen AllenM wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:36 am (in reply to...)

So what is next? Gonna go New Zealand? Or Jimmy Rodgers style living it up as a Chinese Warlord up on an obscure riverbank in Northern Thailand, ready to slip over a border to avoid higher taxes at the drop of a mandate?

Or north to the new wheatfield of northern Canuckistan as they permafrost thaws?

Or just sit here and enjoy the creeping miasma?

Someday this war's gonna end...

vtcodger wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:38 am (in reply to...)

15% of the workforce is superfluous.

That may be low. I wouldn't be surprised if the actual percentage of superfluous "workers" weren't a lot higher than 15%. Maybe as high as 25-30% if one got rid of every pointless job activity, and consolidated the remainder. And that's after implementing longer vacations and shorter work weeks..

josap wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:39 am

Got ice tea made, eggs boiling, kitchen cleaned up, fruit & veg co-op basket picked up, frig sorted out, dinning room all pretty.
Still have to sweep & mop and I guess clean the bathroom.
My day off

HCN breaks inbetween

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:43 am (in reply to...)

The Bain job destruction thing getting traction?

Sheer stupidity, when coupled with NPD, is a truly powerful tool in the hands of a tyrant...

YouTube - Obama Is Going To Pay For My Gas And Mortgage!!!

Citizen AllenM wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:41 am (in reply to...)

It should, it is a pretty obvious and valid target. Mitten's tax return is a whole month of spin awaiting poison control.

Trust funds? Who got dat? Sure ain't the workin' class, nor the tea party filks. Let's talk about the offshore stuff next- whoooo hoooo! Lookie at that Goldman Sachs gold plated predator class investment portfolio.

In short, nice to see the ruling class pull down their shorts, at least what hits the tax return. I am sure there is even more in closed Bermuda corps beyond our tax guys.

Numbered Leichtenstein partnerships? I dunno.

Far beyond us folks who just picked up the exploding cat furtube.

Someday this war's gonna end...

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:42 am

California faces more serious risk of sea level rise than other areas - San Jose Mercury News

MaryAnn wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:43 am (in reply to...)

lawyerliz wrote:

The Bain job destruction thing getting traction?

Water carriers with small buckets. GMAFB. Our own government lined their pockets at the expense of American jobs.

josap wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:43 am (in reply to...)

Citizen AllenM wrote:

Or just sit here and enjoy the creeping miasma?

I'm just going to sit here.
Don't like the cold, don't want to learn a new language, don't have enough to tax too much - yet.
And in a few years I will get light rail down the street.
(due to higher taxe rates, not higher income)

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:44 am (in reply to...)

Water carriers with small buckets. GMAFB. Our own ~~government~~ (D) & (R) demigods lined their pockets at the expense of American jobs.

Anak wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:44 am

One things for sure. It does seem that many ordinarily oblivious people are beginning to see that we may have a problem with the growth as normal models.

I would expect (OK, too easy, we already see) all manner of end days potions, totems, nostrums.

Having said that, a couple of simple attitudinal shifts may have "saved" a lot of people who are now stuffed. So who's to denigrate doomy advice columns of only a decade past?

Comrade Troyski wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:48 am (in reply to...)

vtcodger wrote:

15% of the workforce is superfluous.

That may be low

More like 80%. Think of all the workers who only serve superfluous workers.

Cut the redistribution, and the whole thing pancakes down to those who can sell their services to the 1%.

Anak wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:48 am (in reply to...)

josap is primed and ready for a fabulous weekend is what it sounds like.....

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:49 am (in reply to...)

Or just sit here and enjoy the creeping miasma?

Hasn't that been the norm since iSheeple decided that Perot wasn't Hollywood enough to counterbalance the tyranny?

ex-Duke of Con Dao wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:49 am (in reply to...)

km4 wrote:

They were highly risky, toxic instruments. And they knew it. They were buying, they were in cahoots with companies like Countrywide and Long Beach, these sort of fly-by-night mortgage operations who went out and they gave mortgages to everybody and everybody who had a pulse
...

this is bad journalism...
please understand where Matt came from, obviously you don't know the kind of stuff he was writing 10 years ago...

Comrade Troyski wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:49 am (in reply to...)

Newsboy wrote:

(D) & (R) demigods lined their pockets at the expense of American jobs

Politicians don't appear from a cloud. People get the government they deserve. We wanted this to happen.

dilbert dogbert wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:51 am (in reply to...)

vtcodger wrote:

they mostly devote their energies to assassinating cars

Somewhere I found a photo of a rhino assassinating a Land Rover full of tourists in Africa. The OH! SHIT! look on the faces of the tourists was precious. Not sure there is a photo of a bull elephant trying to mount a Land Rover full of tourists. That also would be a precious photo.

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:53 am (in reply to...)

No argument from me on that salient reality...

Fanaticism always results in empowering/enriching morons with a penchant to grift...

Citizen AllenM wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:52 am (in reply to...)

So what Newsboy, I am old enough to remember when we had the choice of John B. Anderson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia , who would have been a changer and a half compared to Ronnie R.

So what? We like our messes deep. Change only comes in America on the wings of crisis, so bring it on and git 'er done.

Someday this war's gonna end...

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:53 am (in reply to...)

ex-Duke of Con Dao

and this is great journalism...

The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia | Politics News | Rolling Stone

Comrade Troyski wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:55 am (in reply to...)

ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:

year 1, 360 days
PARTY TIME
year 2, 360 days

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 8:59 am (in reply to...)

Not Available said...
In capitalist America the banks rob you!
19 Likes

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:03 am (in reply to...)

So what? We like our messes deep. Change only comes in America on the wings of crisis, so bring it on and git 'er done.

But this isn't America, this is MeriKa!

Hell, even 99.99% of the informed haven't identified that the entire game was rigged by LBJ/Nixon, and that until we rip out the architecture they started -0-, that is ZERO! change can occur.

Until the Wars On (insert your socialist/fascist plan) come full stop, the visions of the Sons of Liberty is dead, dead, DEAD!

MaryAnn wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:00 am (in reply to...)

If you could lead me to his early writings I would appreciate it. Back early in the year I tired to research the man but just didn't find what I needed to know. Gotta garden a little so I'm in and out on CR. I have found gardening to be good for the soul and keeps me grounded.

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:00 am (in reply to...)

Scruffyboo said...
The Mafia is a bunch of amateurs compared to Wall Street ...
27 Likes

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:01 am (in reply to...)

Grania said...
Bless you, Matt! If only the mainstream media had covered this trial and explained the issues as well as you have--Americans might begin to wake up and demand real change. Meanwhile, keep on fighting to get the word out.
8 Likes

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:03 am (in reply to...)

In capitalist America the ~~banks~~ iSheeple rob themselves ~~you~~!

Again, Stupid is, as stupid does...

Rob Dawg wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:02 am

The consensus is for an increase in sales to 350 thousand Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) in May from 343 thousand in April.

I suspect enough pull forward from Mar-Apr mild weather to affect this number.

km4 wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:03 am (in reply to...)

Linda Almonte said
A quote from Thomas Jefferson in 1809 amazing how correct is was.

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies . . . If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] . . . will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered . . . The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs." -- Thomas Jefferson -- The Debate Over The Recharter Of The Bank Bill, (1809)

24 Likes

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:06 am (in reply to...)

Matt is a hack!

Lame Stream Media =

Left-wing Internet Punditry =

Anak wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:07 am (in reply to...)

MaryAnn, I'd have to dig and it's too late on a Sat night for me to do that.

But I can assure you that he and this other expat gringo were doing gonzo out of Moskow before it was cool.

It was back in those early years of "we americans living abroad cannot believe the GWB prince hal sooper jerk motive in the native mythology" thing going on.

Sorry, but I'm serious, that's the best I can put it.

yuan wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:07 am (in reply to...)

Cinco-X wrote:

Do you see characteristics of sociopathic behavior in Washington? on Wall Street?

CincoX wants you to be very mad at the hired help. Mustn't mess with the financial wizards and job creators that fund =. This could lead to ~~democracy~~ anarchy, communism, maoism, and marxism.

Citizen AllenM wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:07 am (in reply to...)

Yep, hence my ending tag.

Someday this war's gonna end...and then what?

The Mortgage Pig wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:08 am

Summary for Week ending June 22nd

Newsboy wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:09 am (in reply to...)

Matt is one of the henchmen @ Adbusters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

yuan wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:09 am (in reply to...)

Newsboy wrote:

and that until we rip out the architecture they started -0-, that is ZERO! change can occur.

Give this man a medal.

Yoringe wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:09 am

iDiots are the new Forrests....

Anak wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:12 am (in reply to...)

advocacy group.

If you cant' stand the heat, go fish.

ex-Duke of Con Dao wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:16 am (in reply to...)

km4 wrote:

The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia | Politics News | Rolling Stone

you didn't follow Taibbi's journalism, if you could call it that, in the early days
when he wrote for this downtown rag.
he was amusing if not always sober... a veritable bomb thrower...
makes sense he writes for Rolling Stone

dilbert dogbert wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:26 am (in reply to...)

Newsboy wrote:

It takes two to tango

I have watched tango and I don't remember the move where one dancer mounts the other from behind. Got a U tube of that move?

Cinco-X wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:30 am (in reply to...)

km4 wrote:

A quote from Thomas Jefferson in 1809 amazing how correct is was.

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies . . . If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] . . . will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered . . . The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs." -- Thomas Jefferson -- The Debate Over The Recharter Of The Bank Bill, (1809)

Wasn't this one of those attributed quotes that Jefferson never actually said ?

dilbert dogbert wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:31 am (in reply to...)

josap wrote:

Got ice tea made, eggs boiling, kitchen cleaned up, fruit & veg co-op basket picked up, frig sorted out, dinning room all pretty.
Still have to sweep & mop and I guess clean the bathroom.

Woman's work is never done from rising to setting sun. Thanks woman now get me a beer!

dilbert dogbert wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:33 am (in reply to...)

km4 wrote:

California faces more serious risk of sea level rise than other areas - San Jose Mercury News

The Palo Alto house was 40 feet above sea level. The new one at the undisclosed location is at 1600 feet. If that isn't enough, the cabin is at 6000 feet.

Shopping at Amazon?

HCN Scoreboard

Open predictions

Our local book authors

User login

Who's online

Currently online

Recent Recommendations

Schedule for Week of June 24th