Inventory decreased 20.4% year-over-year in May from May 2011. This is the fifteenth consecutive month with a YoY decrease in inventory.
The "Bank Owned, Coming Soon" house that has had a realtor sign out for five months went into escrow the same day it was listed. What does that tell you about the value of the inventory number?
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
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
Krugman is right. Bernanke should be pedal to the metal right now, but it isn't going to happen.
The Bernank is ready, got a tank full of fuel (TARP, PORKulus, QE1-3, Op Twist, et al.), but he ain't got no wheels on that bus (depression level job creation/wage inflation).
Of course, all we gotta do is eat our peas (i.e. suck on the tailpipe).
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.
...
long term greedy?
...
never heard that when I worked on the Street. I just checked Yves bio and I'm unimpressed. Corp Fi at Goldman? wake me up when it''s Friday... M&A at Sumitomo? never heard of them...
both of this "journalists" are comers...
It's really easy to frame arguments with the express purpose that the base assumptions about monetary growth and financial intermediation are never questioned.
And when challenged by a distracted and confused civilian populace, it is also easy to pit certain factions against others. with a toss hands in the air result.
I think until we, one by one, come to see the challenges to common good posed by a rotten financial system, then we will be prey to this self-defeating script.
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)
I think until we, one by one, come to see the challenges to common good posed by a rotten financial systemelecting sociopaths, then we will be prey to this self-defeating script.
Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience. ~ John Locke 1690
Until the brainwashed electorate realize that to stop the banksters, and their politeer brethren, you MUST END the Ponzi, nothing will change!
There is a solution, and it's the same solution that established the USofA and ended, what was at that time, the BIGGEST fraudulent artifice on the planet - The Divine Right of Kings:
The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions ~ John Locke 1690
I suggest you start telling that to the tea party folks, they just might bite their handlers.
Spewing it here gets tiresome, as we tend to want to try to fix this mess as best we can.
Right now I argue being ready with some serviceable plans for the next crisis is the best strategy.
As for Locke, well he was Locke. The founding fathers respected what he said, but understood a government requires support from the people, including support in the form of taxes, and without that support becomes the enemy. On the other hand, a truly insurrectionist population becomes ungovernable without force.
I reference the gentlemen to the correspondence of President Washington regarding Shay and his "patriots".
Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes the laws ~ Mayer Amschel Bauer (Who founded the Rothschild family)
I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is now controlled by its system of credit. We are no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men. ~ President Woodrow Wilson (Reflecting on signing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913)
RE : Housing ( wot, this is a housing blog ? ) - sign up on the house opposite - one of those - "For Sale by Owner " cheapskate signs ( and no doubt also no cut for a realtor - except this is a :
"HOUSE FOR RENT" sign.
and 2995 a month.. 2995 ! for a 4 bed 2.5 bath at that.. amazing - and bloody cheapskates - at 2995 you'd think they give a cut to a realtor no ? and this lot were the same who said to me when I put a flyer in everybody's mailbox telling them that the removal truck would cause some inconvenience - she says -
" ooo that LITTLE house over there " ..
but really 2995 a month - this is hardly Beverly Hills, this is Thousand Oaks and if I sense at the jobs profile around me - looks pretty blue collar, lower middle class IMO.
honestly, who gives a damn about what some guy said in 1690?
You're right, why would anyone care?
WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
Why indeed!
We now return you back to your regularly scheduled programming....
Frequency of repetition doesn’t make for reliable sourcing, however, and convincing documentary evidence that Wilson uttered such words, in reference to his role creating the Federal Reserve, is hard to come by. In fact, the available evidence suggests that the quote is an after-the-fact fabrication made by splicing together passages of different Wilson statements that have nothing at all to do with the Federal Reserve.
I don't think policy is going to be a part of the solution in any respect, unless there is some massive social plan to employee people. Thus, one has to ponder how the labor market might be focused for production, and thus what is it that will need to be consumed by so many, who are willing to pay for something apparently in short supply -- it's all bullshit and the system is systemically infected with death spiral flu -- and I see no reason at all for the Ben to piss away another trillion, or even 20 trillion. Ok, massive job creation QE3 & 4 and trillions tossed at slosh funds with new acronyms and lots of hype -- it would take a decade to unwind this shit and then our Baby Boomer Nightmare will be in full swing, and the jobs creation bullshit will amount to nothing ... the game is over ... death spiral.
"When the litigants first proposed the settlement in his court in February, Judge Block referred to it as “chump change,” raising the prospect that he might reject it and ask for a more substantive penalty. But it was not to be, in part because Judge Block noted, with obvious frustration, he had no choice but to approve the settlement because of “the limited powers that Congress has afforded the SEC to recoup investor losses -– as well as obstacles that it has placed in the path of litigation by the private bar.” Block further asked “Congress to consider whether more should be done by the government to come to the aid of the victims of Wall Street predators.” Indeed, Congress should do just that."
The countries with the four-largest euro-zone economies agreed on Friday to an economic growth program with a total value of €130 billion ($163 billion). The sum represents 1 percent of the European Union's gross domestic product, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said in Rome after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Germany, France, Italy and Spain all agreed that growth measures undertaken so far have not been enough to pull Europe out of a debt crisis that is threatening to unravel the continent's common currency, the euro. They also agreed that budget discipline alone will not be enough to fuel economic growth and create jobs for the mass of unemployed Europeans.
Wasn't this one of those attributed quotes that Jefferson never actually said
Could be. OTOH, Jefferson was strongly opposed to chartering the Bank of the United States, so it wouldn't be surprising if he said something along that line. Is deflation a word that the founders would have used? I'm sure Jefferson would have understood the concept. But the word itself seems 20th century to me.
The drastic downward renormalization of the frequency and the enhanced diffusivity are in excellent qualitative agreement with Monte Carlo simulation data.
"Is deflation a word that the founders would have used? I'm sure Jefferson would have understood the concept. But the word itself seems 20th century to me."
"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 them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered...
They also agreed that budget discipline alone will not be enough to fuel economic growth and create jobs for the mass of unemployed Europeans.
Certainly took them long enough.
Probably too late, far too many already unemployed, pensions & salaries cut past the bone.
At this point it may just be lip service, how do they employ 25% plus of a population?
If they figure it out, we better pay attention.
The first part of the quotation ("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 them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered") has not been found anywhere in Thomas Jefferson's writings, to Albert Gallatin or otherwise. It is identified in Respectfully Quoted as spurious, and the editor further points out that the words "inflation" and "deflation" are not documented until after Jefferson's lifetime.[2]
I first read it in the Creature from Jekyll Island (in 1995), which derived it from Rev. Casimir Frank's book "Repeal the Federal Reserve Bank":
How did it happen? After previous attempts to push the Federal Reserve Act through Congress, a group of bankers funded and staffed Woodrow Wilson's campaign for President. He had committed to sign this act. In 1913, a Senator, Nelson Aldrich, maternal grandfather to the Rockefellers, pushed the Federal Reserve Act through Congress just before Christmas when much of Congress was on vacation (Reference 3, 4, 5). When elected, Wilson passed the FED. Later, Wilson remorsefully replied (referring to the FED), "I have unwittingly ruined my country" (Reference 17, P. 31).
I no longer have either book (gave up on trying to save/help USofA in 1998), but I also have read "The New Freedom," by Woodrow Wilson and he never even mentions the Federal Reserve once in the entire book (1912 campaign speeches on credit & banking yes; Fed Act 1913 no)!
Perhaps the timing of the quotes were different, and assembled for effect, but the import is accurate...
Chinese Data Said to Be Manipulated, Understating Slowdown - NY Times
but BRICS apparently still consolidating economic relationships:
"Facing dwindling liquidity abroad, both countries signed a deal on Thursday to set up local currency swaps of up to 60 billion reais ($29.46 billion).
"As international credit remains scarce we will have enough credit for our transactions," Mantega said.
The swap is a deal between two countries to give out loans in their local currencies.
Mantega said the move was part of an effort by emerging-market economies to shield their economies from the crisis now engulfing rich nations. He said the BRICS are demanding more influence in multilateral institutions like the International Monetary Fund to reflect their growing clout in the global economy.
US seems to be so preoccupied w/its drone killings, other chest-beatings & sucking up to the TBTF banksters it's not paying attention to what's happening to its economic status/relationships. Or maybe it's relying on the TBTF banks to take care of all that
Yale University. The Avalon Project. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. "Jefferson's Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank, 1791." The Avalon Project : Jefferson's Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank : 1791
I'm not seeing that particular quote there. (Did a search of the word "deflation", figured that would pick up on it)
But, whatever. Point being that we throw quotes around but at some point unless there is a definite source linked, who really knows.
"As many as 122 million working-age Americans have pre-existing conditions that could get them rejected by health insurance companies, according to a Government Accountability Office analysis issued in March."
but really 2995 a month - this is hardly Beverly Hills, this is Thousand Oaks and if I sense at the jobs profile around me - looks pretty blue collar, lower middle class IMO.
Part of a great discussion from 1791 correspondence between Washington and Jefferson, basically admitting he (Jefferson) did not put a bank in the Constitution because it would have made it harder to pass the Constitution, plus he viewed it as a State's Right Issue.
Very Southern viewpoint, which was basically destroyed in 1865.
The Several States is capitalized.
Jefferson was a mess of contradictions, buying the Louisiana Purchase, and advocating a weaker central government before he had to run it.
"As many as 122 million working-age Americans have pre-existing conditions that could get them rejected by health insurance companies, according to a Government Accountability Office analysis issued in March."
There is a well-funded effort in this country to try to distract the public's attention from the massive upward redistribution of income over the last three decades by trying to claim that the issue is one of generational conflict rather than class conflict.
Young people are not doing well right now, but the relevant measure here is their employment and wages. Because our economy is run by people too incompetent to have noticed an $8 trillion housing bubble, many young people are suffering. But this is a story of Wall Street greed, corruption, and incompetence. It has nothing to do with the Social Security and Medicare received by the elderly.
Power over a man's subsistence is power over his will. ~ Alexander Hamilton
Hamilton was killed in a duel by Burr, whose political (and probably economic) ambitions he'd thwarted first at the presidential level and then at the state (NY) level. Hamilton used his influence to break an electoral college tie between Jefferson & Burr in Jefferson's favor--despite greatly disagreeing w/many of Jefferson's political views. He again used his influence to help defeat Burr's run for governor of NY.
It seems that sometimes threatening a person's subsistence can lead to that person killing you.
It does seem to take well-qualified people to manage accounts and commerce for billions of people -- but, the top 1% do seem to be screwing it all up, so maybe it's time to fire them and hire some incompetent people
==> Look at all the people being laid off in finance -- the children of the elite that don't know how to do a F'ing thing, including wiping their behinds ... what we have is an oligarch problem which is rooted in corrupt nepotism -- the wealthy employ their friends and family and they all generate total inefficient and retarded efforts that F up everything in the world. Hang them all!
only 155 comments?
nothing against Taibbi... I am unconvinced that he's a disciplined reporter.
good bomb thrower...
reminds me a bit of those clowns that started Spy magazine.
what they really wanted was to be in those seats of power in NYC
and now that they are there they are worse than who they replaced...
"Jefferson expressed a dislike and distrust for banks and bankers; he opposed borrowing from banks because he believed it created long-term debt as well as monopolies, and inclined the people to dangerous speculation, as opposed to productive labor on the farm.[159] He felt that each generation should pay back its debt within 19 years, and not impose a long-term debt on subsequent generations. Jefferson fought against Hamilton's proposed Bank of the United States in 1790, but lost. Jefferson also opposed the bank loans that financed the War of 1812 fearing it would compromise the war effort and plunge the nation into serious long term debt. [160]
He was indifferent with many of his fellow tobacco planters however, as they felt that banks were needed to finance the purchase of new land and new slaves, and support commerce.[161] Jefferson often attacked banks, paper money and borrowing as inimical to Republicanism;[162] in retirement in 1816, he wrote John Taylor:
Letter, May 28, 1816, to political philosopher and senator John Taylor:
"The system of banking we have both equally and ever reprobated. I contemplate it as a blot left in all our constitutions, which, if not covered, will end in their destruction, which is already hit by the gamblers in corruption, and is sweeping away in its progress the fortunes and morals of our citizens.[163]"
We can argue about the style, but not about the substance. My 2-cents.
he (Jefferson) did not put a bank in the Constitution
Jefferson was not involved in the Constitution (being ambassador to France at the time.) Madison and Hamilton were the biggest influence on the Constitution.
I was joking... as a bank analyst I followed that bank at SB...
I don't remember any major deals in M%A field that they backed...
various friends worked for the jap banks but I was never aware of major swagger...
Elected to the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, Jefferson was appointed on June 11, 1776, to head a committee of five in preparing the Declaration of Independence. He was its primary author, although his initial draft was amended after consultation with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams and altered both stylistically and substantively by Congress. Jefferson's reference to the voluntary allegiance of colonists to the crown was struck; also deleted was a clause that censured the monarchy for imposing slavery upon America.
ex-Duke of Con Dao ( or shill for Wall St )
your retorts are lame
here's 59 more comments
Matt Taibbi and Your Humble Blogger on Bill Moyers Page not found « naked capitalism
The new coalition government's program, seen by Reuters on Saturday, reflected public pressure to ease the terms of a 130 billion euro ($163 billion) bailout saving Greece from bankruptcy but only at the cost of harsh economic suffering.
If implemented in full, the new program would undo many austerity measures the country agreed in February to clinch the bailout package, its second since 2010.
Euro zone partners have offered adjustments but no radical rewrite of the bailout conditions, with paymaster Germany particularly resistant to Greek calls for leniency.
I still want my reporters to be disciplined.
it's the same problem one faces with Michael Herr's reporting from the Vietnam War...
if you ever talked to reporters in the field with him at that time (I have) they'd
say that he 'was off the reservation'...
Krugman is right. Bernanke should be pedal to the metal right now, but it isn't going to happen.
Really?
pedal to the metal ... into a wall?
we'll NEVER get further (substantial) fiscal stimulus with where the dow is ... further qe will only serve to prop, keeping fiscal stimulus handcuffed.
unfortunately, we need the stock market to fall ... as it is the only cattle prod i know of that will swing congress into action ... Dow 8000 would certainly catch the attention of 401Kers leading them to scream "DO SOMETHING" at congress ...
Following a theme by late-night commenter, Comrade Troiski, here's a chart of After-tax corporate profits normalized by the GDP for the last several decades. Either the corporate profits will drop nearly in half to their historical level, or the system will break.
Following a theme by late-night commenter, Comrade Troiski, here's a chart of After-tax corporate profits normalized by the GDP for the last several decades. Either the corporate profits will drop nearly in half to their historical level, or the system will break.
Dow 8000 would certainly catch the attention of 401Kers leading them to scream "DO SOMETHING" at congress ...
Give it time.
With the working class forced into austerity by low wages and higher living cost, plus the salaried class being squeezed by increased in education and health costs, with the upper class getting nervous - company profits will fall.
Congress isn't going to do anything. Bernanke continues to be the only game in town and Congress has intimidated him.
It's true, but too, also, traditionally the Fed withholds dramatic action in the months leading up to federal elections (to avoid being accused of acting politically). This is especially true now since the GOP modus operandi is invent facts/theories/conspiracies first, then see if you get away with it.
if you recall, back in 2010 i relentlessly banged the drum here for TPTB to lower the markets (to be run back up once stimulus passed) to provide politcal cover for further stimulus (Ds controlled both house then) ... when the Rs took the House that window closed.
I don't remember any major deals in M%A field that they backed...
various friends worked for the jap banks but I was never aware of major swagger...
Perhaps it was their own work . . . .
October, 1986 Sumitomo Bank merges with Heiwa Sogo Bank.
January, 1989 Sumitomo Bank's shares become listed on the London Stock Exchange.
April, 1990 Mitsui Bank and Taiyo Kobe Bank merge to form Mitsui Taiyo Kobe Bank.
April, 1992 Mitsui Taiyo Kobe Bank is renamed Sakura Bank.
June, 1996 The Wakashio Bank, Ltd. is established, and starts operation in September.
April, 2001 Sakura Bank and Sumitomo Bank merge to form Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. (Capital stock: ¥1,276,7 billion)
December, 2002 Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) establishes a holding company named Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) through a share transfer, and SMBC then becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of SMFG.
March, 2003 Wakashio Bank merges with former SMBC (merged bank's name : Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation )
July, 2008 Sumitomo Mitsui buys a 2.1 per cent stake in Barclays Bank for £500m
Doc Holiday wrote: Elected to the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, Jefferson was appointed on June 11, 1776, to head a committee of five in preparing the Declaration of Independence
But the U.S. Constitution, which is what Rajesh was referring to, was adopted 11 years later.
“Greece’s current account deficit declined by a remarkable 40.3 percent on an annual basis in the year’s first four months, while foreign direct investment also reversed its decline to post an increase, according to Bank of Greece data released on Friday.
“The account deficit fell by 3.8 billion euros to 5.6 billion, while the trade deficit shrank by 2.5 billion year-on-year, due to the decline in the trade deficit, that does not include fuel and ships, by 1.25 billion euros (or 28.9 percent) and the slashing of net payment for ship acquisition by 737 million euros. Export receipts registered a 5.8 percent increase.
“FDI posted a net inflow of 77 million euros in the year to April, against a net outpouring of 703 million euros in the same period last year, BoG data showed.”
With the working class forced into austerity by low wages and higher living cost, plus the salaried class being squeezed by increased in education and health costs, with the upper class getting nervous - company profits will fall.
First they'll rise. This isn't European austerity; it's just more of that good ol' 'Merican wealth transfer to the establishment elite.
Nope. Upon looking at the pictures you provided of the original dress in the museum, I could see it was much more difficult than I had imagined. If one had incredibly wide bolts of fabric it could be done. That back seam, so beautifully set in - I could never in a million years do that.
This isn't European austerity; it's just more of that good ol' 'Merican wealth transfer
Austerity here isn't government mandated, except the cuts to schools, medicade, SNAP, CHIP, UE benefits, Veterans benefits etc.
Our austerity is coming from the 1% forcing the 80% to earn less while spending more.
Main Street doesn't give a crap who is causing this mess.
Digressing, I did some research and found that Facebook's market cap ($70B) is roughly one-half the total annual advertising budget of all American businesses.
the faster they crash this sucker, the sooner we can get to gettin it on once again
I think you're overly optimistic.
IMO, if allowed, the oligarchy will slowly grind the growth machine down not to be revived to the standard we're accustomed to for generations ... if ever.
Think dark ages.
And if the oligarchy is controlled/deposed of ... we're running out of the resources needed for sustained growth anyways.
Drapery fabric or light weight upholstery fabric works.
It is a very complicated dress, which is why mine was purchased.
No way, ever, could I sew like that.
IMO, if allowed, the oligarchy will slowly grind the growth machine down not to be revived to the standard we're accustomed to for generations ... if ever.
Drapery fabric or light weight upholstery fabric works.
Don't ask - but as I spend my saturday planning my next pressie ( July 12th Woodland Hills - be there or be square ) - I'm irresistibly drawn to using this Russian song and dance entry into Eurovision by old crones to make a point - but the dresses.. if I'm asked - and one does get asked the weirdest questions.. what IS this fabric in play here - suecris, josap ?
I'm sorry. ma'am, but our system isn't accepting your SNAP card... you'll have to pay with cash, check or credit. Did you perchance criticize our administration on a public web site recently?
greater distribution of authority, management, and enterprise increases our odds of wider distribution of profits. concentration of power, management, and enterprise leads us down the road we are on now - profits only for the few.
what system on the planet prefers a higher degree of distribution over concentration?
The banking system has been f'ed the past few days in the UK - during my weekly call ( a long term supervisory role over health and wealth of near and dear in decline ) - I got told how pissed people are in village X cos they can't get their money.. No really.. Brought home to me the very real nature of this story that is in frame for me ..
Stephen Hester promised "no one will be left permanently out of pocket" after a software failure which has left customers unable to access money.
So bad is the shambles that banks are opening all weekend to deal with people caught up in it.
They include small businesses who have been unable to pay their staff and people moving house who have been told money has not come into the sellers' accounts, and some even been left homeless as a result.
Account balances were not updated properly overnight, meaning credit and debit payments were not showing up as quickly as they should.
greater distribution of authority, management, and enterprise increases our odds of wider distribution of profits
yes! ... one of the better reasons for breaking up TBTFs (among the MANY) -
Take B of A ... around $2 trillion in size? break into 10 banks of $200 billion each ... 10 CEOs, 10 HQ staffs, etc ... a lot more high paying jobs rather than the inevitable pyramids we get with concentration.
weave geddit ? I do sound superficial I know - well I am in LA and proud of it and I do love Bollywood - but yeah clothes are the most superficial of all surely .. as this song stated.. hmm how shall I weave that in a presentation on Customer Experience Analytics - Now!
IMO, if allowed, the oligarchy will slowly grind the growth machine down not to be revived to the standard we're accustomed to for generations ... if ever.
Think dark ages.
And if the oligarchy is controlled/deposed of ... we're running out of the resources needed for sustained growth anyways.
July, 2008 Sumitomo Mitsui buys a 2.1 per cent stake in Barclays Bank for £500m
sounds about right. never heard about them running any big M&A deal...
funny, when I was following banks, if memory serves, 6 out of the top 10
banks in terms of assets in the world were Japanese and all AAA rated...!
RT @MoyersStaff Join us Sunday at 6 PM ET as @mtaibbi & @yvessmith live tweet the @WNET & @wetatvfm broadcast of @BillMoyers. Ask questions: #moyersq&a
not if they debundled their f-ing "channels" and just let people choose the shows they wanted to watch on demand.
The funny thing is that if we could easily watch anything that was captured on tape we wouldn't have to make anything new ever. People would die before working through the production of 1950-2010.
The propaganda is working: thousands of MSM reporters (CNN, FoxNews, NPR, ABC, NBC, NY Times, WaPo, Atlantic Monthly, etc), and billions of dollars in resources, broadcasting their pro-Wall Street message 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
It’s hard to find one person (in real life, not on the blogs), who hasn’t been totally brainwashed, or who doesn’t agree with Roger Lowenstein’s assessment that Wall Street is not guilty.
And what’s up with all these Obama supporters who’ve never heard of the National Defense Authorization Act? I’ve probably met a dozen of them in the last couple weeks. Once I explain, they say they watch CNN, they listen to NPR, they read the newspapers, etc, but they’ve never once heard NDAA mentioned.
Mass propaganda ruling the public, and molding minds without any need for physical coercion, is really something to behold.
The funny thing is that if we could easily watch anything that was captured on tape we wouldn't have to make anything new ever. People would die before working through the production of 1950-2010.
that is absolutely the comment ( in the press I haven't seen the video doc - original or update - ) made by Louis Theroux ( I'm guessing he's related to the OTHER Theroux ) -
But some time around 2007, the "business of X" started going into a commercial tailspin. The arrival of free [XXyyZZMMYY] { my edit | porn sites meant that consumers could download pirated scenes from the vast backlog of old content for free. The phenomenon of DIY amateur sex – part-timers uploading their videos on sites such as [XXYYYYZZZZZ] { my edit again } – also put a dent in the professionals' pay cheques.
how many of the board members of these companies are in the same "clubs"?
bilderberg
council on foreign relations
trilateral commission
and beyond those.... how many have children who went to the same private schools, the same elite universities, how many attended the same socialite parties and gatherings, charity banquets...
Just like watching soccer, for that one moment of excitement, there is a lot of technically driven boredom.
At the half, I have to get back to vacuuming. The cleaning shall continue, must defur the homestead!
Meanwhile, I suspect China has a lot of oil piled up to match all that coal sitting on the docks in the NYTimes article. What else is in vast surplus? I guess prices will tell us as demand continues to contract.
Egyptian army controls a huge business empire, covering anything from consumer goods to mining
BBC News - Egypt's army in control of vast business empire
And they ain't gonna let a bunch of bearded mullahs spoil it for them.
Egyptian army controls a huge business empire, covering anything from consumer goods to mining
BBC News - Egypt's army in control of vast business empire
And they ain't gonna let a bunch of bearded mullahs spoil it for them."
Don't wait for the email. Go to the page How many posts will "Different Views on QE3 Timing" have when it's pigged? | Hoocoodanode?, click edit and select the correct value.
Just like watching soccer, for that one moment of excitement, there is a lot of technically driven boredom.
At the half, I have to get back to vacuuming. The cleaning shall continue, must defur the homestead!
LOL ! Indeed.. I updated a couple of wiki entries that are just plain wrong while I watch the soccer.. Or do I mean as I update a couple of wiki entries I have the telly on showing soccer
*
Since trade ignores national boundaries and the manufacturer insists on having the world as a market, the flag of his nation must follow him, and the doors of the nations which are closed must be battered down … Concessions obtained by financiers must be safeguarded by ministers of state, even if the sovereignty of unwilling nations be outraged in the process. Colonies must be obtained or planted, in order that no useful corner of the world may be overlooked or left unused.
~ Speech in New York City, (19 Nov 1905), The Papers of Woodrow Wilson 16:228
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Nicaragua
Chile
Argentina
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Iraq
Afghanistan
Honduras
Libya
Haiti
Wait. There's more. D-listed: Bush family adopted homeland “Institutional coup” removes Paraguayan president Lugo from office Fri, 22 June 2012
"Vice president Federico Franco is scheduled to take the oath of office in the next half hour as the next Paraguayan president."
good morning sir.. hey btw, my Obsessive Compulsive Buddy who you may have had to take an interest in while I flew out. she's again seeing a psychiatrist - thank god. she was going downhill since she returned back from NZ - doesn't say a word about NZ to us. weird.. poor thing - whattodo heh ? keep it in the hands of experts and be around is the best I reckon.
Mass propaganda ruling the public, and molding minds without any need for physical coercion, is really something to behold.
I hate to tell you this Mr. Wizard, but as someone that's been part of the "reporter" circus since 1996, it ain't what you think.
Sure, there's corporate spin wishes from on high, and there is .gov coercion, but the culture itself is diseased due to extreme inbreeding and groupthink, resulting in MASSIVE cognitive bias(es)
It starts with progressive "journalism" schools that are hellbent on churning out collectivist, anti-natural law partisans, cookie-cutter style.
The "journalism" tribe is such that if you're not a brain-dead member of the herd, and live/breath PC rhetoric, you get shouted down by "academia" and culled from the pastures of ignorant bliss.
No degree for you!
Thus, "journalism" schools have become an environment somewhere between Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm and the Borg...
P.S. I didn't go to "journalism" school, I have an Electro-Mechanical Engineering degree , so I'm not one of the indoctrinated ones, and THEY hate me for it!
Real estate agents are opposing changes to consumer laws that would require them to tell the truth about properties.
The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand is taking issue with changes that would make it illegal for agents to make unsubstantiated claims, saying the changes could open "floodgates of complaints".
A submission to Parliament by REINZ chief executive Helen O'Sullivan said the Consumer Law Reform Bill could cause confusion, rather than protect consumers.
She said it was too onerous for real estate agents to have to substantiate their statements at the time of making them.
And what’s up with all these Obama supporters who’ve never heard of the National Defense Authorization Act?
NDAA is a tempest in a teapot that false-flag shit-stirrers like you use to bullshit the public that there is no effective difference between Nobama and Rmoney.
NDAA passed the House comfortably and got through the senate 86-14 IIRC. Obama doesn't have anything to do with that, other than his signing statement that he disagees with part of the bill and will not execute some parts of it.
Such complexity and compromise is obviously beyond you. Things have to be simple for simpletons.
Top US drug cop can't tell the difference between marijuana and heroin - Boing Boing
"one of America's top drug cops can't bring herself to say what practically every adult knows: marijuana's harms, whatever they are, are not in the same league as heroin or crystal meth."
No shit. Legalization polls show the country is split on this issue. Unfortunately, potheads a) don't have any money and b) don't vote, so they don't really count in DC.
Kool aid all you want but if you were a Nader voter in FL or NH in 2000 and you do not now deeply regret your choice you are an idiot of the first water.
Now, if you're not in NV, FL, PA, OH, VA, or CO feel free to show The Man that you aren't going to compromise and capitulate.
Kool aid all you want but if you were a Nader voter in FL or NH in 2000 and you do not now deeply regret your choice you are an idiot of the first water.
Hohoho!
Choose between Dumya and Al "I invented the Internets" Gore?!?
No thank you!
Of course, now you all have to pick between a lying muslim and a corporate raider mormon!!!
Enjoy life under President Romney then. Gonna be great. I won't be here to share it with you since I'll be a handful of timezones away, but whatevs, Capt Freedom.
She said it was too onerous for real estate agents to have to substantiate their statements at the time of making them.
That is just soo funny isn't it ? People do this shit with a straight face so often. Its comical for me..
In California agents are not allowed to lie, but are allowed to 'Puff". It's a very strange sensation to sit in a classroom and have someone try to explain the difference between "Puffery" and lying and why one is actionable and one is not.
Under current agreements, the Bank takes collateral when the risk to the Bank or HM Treasury increases. Under the changes being announced today the Bank and HM Treasury intend also to provide collateral in the form of foreign currency securities to counterparties where the risk moves out of their favour....
These changes are expected to come into effect during 2013 and the Bank will be liaising with market counterparties to discuss implementation over the coming weeks and months.
In addition to the ABSs that are already eligible for use as collateral in Eurosystem operations, the Eurosystem will consider the following ABSs as eligible:
1. Auto loan, leasing and consumer finance ABSs and ABSs backed by commercial mortgages (CMBSs) which have a second-best rating of at least “single A” [1] in the Eurosystem’s harmonised credit scale, at issuance and at all times subsequently. These ABSs will be subject to a valuation haircut of 16%.
2. Residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBSs), securities backed by loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), auto loan, leasing and consumer finance ABSs and CMBSs which have a second-best rating of at least “triple B” [2] in the Eurosystem’s harmonised credit scale, at issuance and at all times subsequently. RMBSs, securities backed by loans to SMEs, and auto loan, leasing and consumer finance ABSs would be subject to a valuation haircut of 26%, while CMBSs would be subject to a valuation haircut of 32%.
The risk control framework with higher haircuts applicable to the newly eligible ABS aims at ensuring risk equalisation across asset classes and maintaining the risk profile of the Eurosystem.
Debby was centered about 220 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and was moving slowly north, forecasters said. The storm had top winds of 50 miles per hour (81 km per hour) and was expected to strengthen slowly over the next two days.
With the markets uneasy about the failure of the continent's leaders to put on a united front, Merkel and Hollande are likely to use Wednesday's meeting to try to narrow their differences in order to minimize the risk of another public split.
Nicolas Sarkozy, Hollande's predecessor, had a history of stitching up agendas and agreements with Merkel before such summits, but the socialist president and the German chancellor have so far not been able or willing to do the same.
Hollande is due to meet the head of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi and France's Central Bank Governor Christian Noyer on Monday.
Baloney. Investigating complaints and any possible enforcement action if they ever come take a long time.
Maybe can't take certain 'fraud' complaints any higher than Dept. of RE... so a complaint goes that far and that's it... so that's why civil filings are increasing no doubt if there's no resolution at the 'administrative' lower levels...
In addition to the ABSs that are already eligible for use as collateral in Eurosystem operations, the Eurosystem will consider the following ABSs as eligible
Plus this is mentioned in the link: The newly eligible ABSs must also satisfy additional requirements which will be specified in the legal act to be adopted Thursday, 28 June 2012
Baloney. Investigating complaints and any possible enforcement action if they ever come take a long time.
Maybe can't take certain 'fraud' complaints any higher than Dept. of RE... so a complaint goes that far and that's it... so that's why civil filings are increasing no doubt if there's no resolution at the 'administrative' lower levels...
It's against the law and a violation of the rules. That the law is selectively enforced is a different matter. Notice a pattern?
Well, I'm not an expert on that, but there are things which are obvious. It is perfectly natural for the state to be associated with organized crime. Domestically, speaking, organized crime helps control marginal populations, like in the ghettos. For example, if you look at the FBI, which is the national political police, their activities during the 1960s are instructive. They didn't try to destroy black gangs in the ghettos. What they tried to do is kill black organizers in the ghettos.
[...]
The same is true internationally. Take World War II. As the US Army moved up through Italy, it needed sombody to run the place --though it obviously couldn't allow the resistance to run the place. So, primarily the country was handed back over to the old fascist government... but they also revitalized the Mafia, which had been pretty well wiped out by Mussolini.
[...]
It was also necessary, for example, in the late 1940s to destroy the French labor movement. How do you do that? You need goons, strikebreakers. Who are going to be the strikebreakers? The Mafia, of course. But you need to pay them off. And that's the way the heroin traffic was reconstituted in the late 1940s. And so it goes on from there. The criminal elements and big business are closely integrated. And naturally their common interests often lead them to work together. There are many examples, which shouldn't surprise anybody.
~ Latin America, From colonization to globalization
when the entitled elect themselves, the party accelerates, and the brutal hangover is inevitable
Assuming the ballots are counted fairly (something I am not entirely sure has been the case since 2000) the system is still working, even with the great advantages accruing to money in today's media and political environment.
If the American people are that stupid to vote for Rmoney, well, they're going to get what they deserve good and hard.
I don't really know how things will break for me under the full Republican program. I'm too old to get drafted, and too young to get grandfathered for the current Medicare system. The system going fully vampiric on the working class -- that is the Republican model -- probably hurts me in that my sunk investment in my social security contributions will prove to be unpayable when it's time to collect.
Hence, the GTFO option moves to the forefront. There are still countries that have what I'd like to see us have -- single-payer healthcare without our massive rent-seeking going on, affordable housing even in safe neighborhoods, and semi-functioning economies.
We don't have any of that and we're not going to get it without massive change.
Capt Freedom here thinks sitting things out is going to give him the change he wants. I don't think so, and if enough people join with him I'll be forced to vote with my feet (again, I last bailed in 1992, prematurely I guess).
I don't really know how things will break for me under the full Republican program.
How is that different from the full Democratic program? For a while each party has recently had the WH and Congressional majorities and both have spent us into the ground while steadily dismantling the Constitution. I fail to see significant differences in their actions, only differences in rhetoric and fear-mongering.
The propaganda is working: thousands of MSM reporters (CNN, FoxNews, NPR, ABC, NBC, NY Times, WaPo, Atlantic Monthly, etc), and billions of dollars in resources, broadcasting their pro-Wall Street message 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Do you think Wall St. wants some more Bernanke juice, mp?
I fail to see significant differences in their actions, only differences in rhetoric and fear-mongering.
In 1993 the Democrats raised taxes, without a single Republican vote. That put the nation on a very sane fiscal path, to be discarded by Republicans as soon as they got back into power in 2001.
Then the Republicans launched the twin wars of 2001-2003. Not enough Democrats were brave to block that, but they didn't have the votes anyway to stop the war (it's a very silly mistake to think that because ~all Republicans are conservative ~all Democrats are "liberal"). Plus voting to stop the war in Oct 2002 wasn't conducive to retaining your seat that November, us being a nation of children.
In 2009-2010 the Democrats finally passed health care reform, with only a single Republican vote IIRC. I think it's a solid incremental move towards reform, should it pass Uber-Justice Kennedy's muster.
Then there's the tax bullshit. If you think the Ryan Plan is the way to go, good luck with that. I will no longer be a US taxpayer (assuming the foreign earned income exclusion is retained) should the Republicans seize full control again.
If you can't see the differences between Democrats and Republicans there's really something wrong with you.
Now, the real problem is that there's not much difference between centrist Democrats in real life and rational Republicans. This is not much of a "lefty" nation, and with the current media environment it's pretty tough for lefty, anti-wealth messaging to gain any traction or politicians to find any solid base for election & reelection.
Ask Jim the Realtor sometimes about the bullshit fines he's endured.
In Az, no matter the stupidest complaint to the RE Det and the Broker must answer in writing with all documentation.
"I didn't get all of my security deposit." is great. Move in and move out report, pictures, copy of check to past tenants, tenant ledger, deposit disposition letter with date in legal time frame, tons of work for no reason. As long as you do your job and are honest, keep good records you should be ok.
That the law is selectively enforced is a different matter. Notice a pattern?
Problems in the sales process are probably in the areas of adequate disclosures to the buyers... ILSA regs cover disclosure requirements for developers & sales agents... so you are saying there's a gray area called 'puffery'... this could also be misrepresentations, no?
Five people with ties to a Hayward mortgage brokerage company pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and filling out false statements, authorities announced Friday
Read Ca or Az RE law.
Trust account law.
Multi housing statutes.
HOA requirements & restircions per the law.
Then Fed Fair Housing.
Then FHA guidelines.
Then Sec 8 requirements.
If you can't see the differences between Democrats and Republicans there's really something wrong with you.
Now, the real problem is that there's not much difference between centrist Democrats in real life and rational Republicans. This is not much of a "lefty" nation, and with the current media environment it's pretty tough for lefty, anti-wealth messaging to gain any traction or politicians to find any solid base for election & reelection.
Wealth per se is not so much the problem as how the wealth was accumulated so the focus should be not so much on anti-wealth messages as anti-fraud solutions.
In 1993 the Democrats raised taxes, without a single Republican vote. That put the nation on a very sane fiscal path, to be discarded by Republicans as soon as they got back into power in 2001.
You neglect to mention the Dems tried to spend those higher revenues, too, but didn't get that. You neglect to mention that Rubin traded long-term bonds for bills to cut interest expenses, an obvious "sacrifice the future for the hear-and-now" move. You neglect to mention that the Dems presided over the dismantling of Glass-Stegall and greatly expanded housing tax breaks, laying the foundation for the next decade's troubles.
I'm not giving any credit to the Reps -- they made drunken sailors look frugal -- but you're sure as hell donning regarding the Dems. The only reason the late 90's budget came anywhere near balance was due to a monstrous stock bubble.
so the focus should be not so much on anti-wealth messages as anti-fraud solutions.
Problem is, over the years most of what we consider fraud has been make legal.
And those very high in the food chain know how to insulate themselves from any responcibility.
Assuming the ballots are counted fairly (something I am not entirely sure has been the case since 2000) the system is still working, even with the great advantages accruing to money in today's media and political environment.
the system is of course working.. for the elites..
To think that the current US system is on the side of anybody but the elites is sooooo delusional. hence my statement - "Don't Vote - it only encourages THEM".
Wealth per se is not so much the problem as how the wealth was accumulated so the focus should be not so much on anti-wealth messages as anti-fraud solutions.
The problem with wealth in the country is not the past accumulations per se, it is the present flows, from working poor (or worse, charity cases) to the already wealthy.
It's the ongoing rent-seeking in land, health care, energy, spectrum -- things that everyone needs but are natural or regulated monopolies. Fix that and you fix our economy, don't and you don't.
On the federal level, any issues of HUD & ILSA violations may fall under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) now that is funded by the Federal Reserve.
You neglect to mention the Dems tried to spend those higher revenues, too, but didn't get that.
When? Pelosi's congress had a pay-go regime.
You neglect to mention that Rubin traded long-term bonds for bills to cut interest expenses, an obvious "sacrifice the future for the hear-and-now" move.
Whatever happened in the 1990s was great. We should do more of that.
You neglect to mention that the Dems presided over the dismantling of Glass-Stegall and greatly expanded housing tax breaks, laying the foundation for the next decade's troubles.
You mean Gramm (R) -Leach (R) -Bliley (R)?
Capital gains tax breaks had something to do with the boom of 2002-2004 but nothing to do with the bubble of 2004-2007.
The only reason the late 90's budget came anywhere near balance was due to a monstrous stock bubble.
Which came from a monstrous productivity bubble. Granted, I think much of that was the initial feel-good rush of rising offshoring to China and their weak 8 yuan to the dollar regime.
It's the ongoing rent-seeking in land, health care, energy, spectrum -- things that everyone needs but are natural or regulated monopolies. Fix that and you fix our economy, don't and you don't.
No argument with you there... it does have to be investigated, 'fixed', and then regulated since it's out of control...
All I was really trying to say is, there are a zillion laws, tens of agencies, City, County, State, Fed laws and regulations to abide by. Some of them even conflict.
To think that the current US system is on the side of anybody but the elites is sooooo delusional. hence my statement - "Don't Vote - it only encourages THEM".
If you truly think there's no difference between Nobama and Rmoney, go for it. I think you're insane to think that way, but whatevs.
We are not allowed "puffery", it is seen as missrepresentation.
From the article (from REINZ):
In REINZ's submission to Parliament, O'Sullivan said the new requirements should be "balanced by the commercial reality that the agent is in the business of selling property".
I suppose that means they wish to retain the right of "puffery".
there are a zillion laws, tons of agencies, City, County, State, Fed laws and regulations to abide by. Some of them even conflict.
Right. That's what the over loaded courts are for. Figure out if they apply. For every claim, there is a counterclaim. The applicable laws & regs don't scare some operators. They can work around them or above them.
If you truly think there's no difference between Nobama and Rmoney, go for it. I think you're insane to think that way, but whatevs.
Its a ridiculous way of posing the question - as the great movie - Butch cassidy and the Sundance Kid put it..
"Guns or Knives, Butch"
"Neither"
See ? I'm sure you do - in the above segment, Harvey sure did see it. Of course there's a difference between guns and knives, but but but.. no don't take that analogy too seriously...
lets get to the issue at hand.
who is on the side of the elites of those two ?
BOTH !
Yeah I want somebody NOT on the side of the elites - once upon a time..
They can until they are caught. The RE dept here turns agents/brokers over to the attorney general on a regular basis. There is also a recovery fund to pay people who have been damaged, the RE dept then goes after the agent for reimbursement to the fund. Part of our lic fee each two years goes into the fund. If the fund gets used much our fees go up.
A European Parliament Committee rejected the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) yesterday (21 June) despite pro-business lobbying by Trade Commissioner Karel "Speaks with Crayons" De Gucht, who insisted that Parliament should not decide before the European Court of Justice gives its opinion. A final vote in the full Parliament is expected on 4 July.
In October 2007, the United States, the European Community, Switzerland, and Japan simultaneously announced that they would negotiate a new intellectual property enforcement treaty the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement or ACTA. Australia, the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Mexico, Jordan, Morocco, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Canada have joined the negotiations. Although the proposed treaty’s title might suggest that the agreement deals only with counterfeit physical goods (such as medicines) what little information has been made available publicly by negotiating governments about the content of the treaty makes it clear that it will have a far broader scope and in particular will deal with new tools targeting “Internet distribution and information technology”.
You neglect to mention that the Dems presided over the dismantling of Glass-Stegall and greatly expanded housing tax breaks, laying the foundation for the next decade's troubles.
You mean Gramm (R) -Leach (R) -Bliley (R)?
Typically Republicans are much worse in representing the wealthy class.
That is in dispute now based on what has happened in the last decade or so.
That the law is selectively enforced is a different matter. Notice a pattern?
Problems in the sales process are probably in the areas of adequate disclosures to the buyers... ILSA regs cover disclosure requirements for developers & sales agents... so you are saying there's a gray area called 'puffery'... this could also be misrepresentations, no?
"Rustic" "Needs TLC"...euphemism is the major problem I see in most cases. REO are a different matter, no duty to disclose and sometimes the problems are serious. Failure to disclose comes up occasionally but most sellers are pretty careful because they have heard the horror stories.And there are agents who are careful not to ask certain questions of their sellers, usually regarding water, septic issues and unpermitted work. All things that come to light during the inspection process if the buyer's agent does their job. If.
They can until they are caught. The RE dept here turns agents/brokers over to the attorney general on a regular basis. There is also a recovery fund to pay people who have been damaged, the RE dept then goes after the agent for reimbursement to the fund. Part of our lic fee each two years goes into the fund. If the fund gets used much our fees go up.
Interesting. Is there a statute of limitations on a buyer/consumer complaint?
If you can't see the differences between Democrats and Republicans there's really something wrong with you.
If you can see significant differences then you've passed their conditioning process with flying colors.
I've voted both parties (and, in this most recent election, neither) and go by actions and real-world results and do not allow myself to get distracted by wedge issues. By even mentioning "the Ryan Plan" you've shown you're swayed by proposals that haven't a snowball's chance in hell of becoming a reality. Oh, and ObamaCare was all about widening the revenue base and very little about actual reform, hence the now well documented support of Big Pharma (among others).
Stick around to 2014 and see where the chips fall. If O's still in charge it's likely defense spending won't have dropped, and if R's the new chief you'll no doubt see non-defense spending hasn't dropped either.
Read Ca or Az RE law.
Trust account law.
Multi housing statutes.
HOA requirements & restircions per the law.
Then Fed Fair Housing.
Then FHA guidelines.
Then Sec 8 requirements.
It doesn't help if you are crazy to start with, it just makes it a little easier to understand.
You neglect to mention that the Dems presided over the dismantling of Glass-Stegall and greatly expanded housing tax breaks, laying the foundation for the next decade's troubles.
Your post "neglects" to thank Glod for the Repubs in the Senate that so vociferiously opposed Glass Steagall dismantaling that 53 supported it with 54 total Senate votes in favor. That noted, Clinton signing it under Rubin was one of biggest mistakes of his administration. If you pointed the finger at Gramm and Senate GOP as Clinton's fellow conspirators, I wouldn't have bothered to post this. And Pay-go was jettisoned as soon as Bush took power, but otherwise you're oh so correct about the GOP rectitude. They got religion on deficits when Obama was elected, curiously but surely that's a coinkedink that Mitt will correct with 4% GDP spending on Defense and tax cuts.
All I was really trying to say is, there are a zillion laws, tens of agencies, City, County, State, Fed laws and regulations to abide by. Some of them even conflict.
It doesn't help if you are crazy to start with, it just makes it a little easier to understand.
These RE markets can make you crazy. And suspicious. Good deals at the time are illusions sometimes.
But the unregulated derivatives is where the fun really begins.
I suppose that means they wish to retain the right of "puffery".
Sounds like it to me. We just could not get away with it here.
It's not necessary to "Puff" properties to sell them for a good price. It's mostly laziness. IMO people respond well to an honest and accurate description.
Tanta Vive!
Hey! No fair.
Okay CR, housing is generating good news of recovery from near decrepitude. Yeha.
Now, about the rest of the moribund recovery running out of energy?
Well, falling oil prices will provide some stimulus though the fall, but then we face teh fiscal cliff.
More austerity.
This will stagnate us nicely.
Well, enjoy your Saturday, I have house cleaning to do!
Someday this war's gonna end...
Producer price indexes at all stages of production are now zero or turning negative year-over-year.
Happy talk, don't interrupt the...
Krugman is right. Bernanke should be pedal to the metal right now, but it isn't going to happen.
The "Bank Owned, Coming Soon" house that has had a realtor sign out for five months went into escrow the same day it was listed. What does that tell you about the value of the inventory number?
I'm sure many of Matt's ilk started out as "advocacy" groups....
Matt Taibbi and Yves Smith on the Follies of Big Banks and Government | Moyers & Company | BillMoyers.com
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
Has PK continued to demand congress to be pedal to the metal?
Or today is that just considered beyond the realm of possibility?
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
The Bernank is ready, got a tank full of fuel (TARP, PORKulus, QE1-3, Op Twist, et al.), but he ain't got no wheels on that bus (depression level job creation/wage inflation).
Of course, all we gotta do is eat our peas (i.e. suck on the tailpipe).
Hey, that's pretty slick iconsmanship there newsb0y!
Calculated Risk wrote:
Comment by JBR from thread 'Tanta's Bench and Charity Update'
Oh, and these:

Happy Saturday, Tanta Vive!
Has pessimism on Spanish stocks been overdone? - Market Extra - MarketWatch
Edit: Hmmm, the headline leading to that article on MW reads "Stock selloff overdone: analysts"
"Maybe it'll piss her off, and she'll come back. . . "
LOL, well done. Certainly better chance than a séance.
Realtor only now one speed for the most part-hype speed.
I will believe this is good housing recovery after I see much more hiring and increasing wages.
I think this might take a while before we see that- until then it is all a mirage under ZIRP.
ZIRP is the life support mode for an economy.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Congress isn't going to do anything. Bernanke continues to be the only game in town and Congress has intimidated him.
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.
...
long term greedy?
...
never heard that when I worked on the Street. I just checked Yves bio and I'm unimpressed. Corp Fi at Goldman? wake me up when it''s Friday... M&A at Sumitomo? never heard of them...
both of this "journalists" are comers...
Housing Market Recovery Video:
YouTube - Acme Batman Outfits, Guaranteed for the Life of the User
This is the best model out there:
It's really easy to frame arguments with the express purpose that the base assumptions about monetary growth and financial intermediation are never questioned.
And when challenged by a distracted and confused civilian populace, it is also easy to pit certain factions against others. with a toss hands in the air result.
I think until we, one by one, come to see the challenges to common good posed by a rotten financial system, then we will be prey to this self-defeating script.
Even a chicken farmer gets it!
YouTube - Stealing silver with ZIRP
When you get a chance, mp, I'd really like to hear you expand on that.
(among other things)
mp wrote:
you've been around a bit, why would you expect them to in an election year?
Wasn't this one of those attributed quotes that Jefferson never actually said
?
Whenever the legislators endeavor to take away and destroy the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are thereupon absolved from any further obedience. ~ John Locke 1690
Until the brainwashed electorate realize that to stop the banksters, and their politeer brethren, you MUST END the Ponzi, nothing will change!
There is a solution, and it's the same solution that established the USofA and ended, what was at that time, the BIGGEST fraudulent artifice on the planet - The Divine Right of Kings:
The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions ~ John Locke 1690
Newsboy wrote:
honestly, who gives a damn about what some guy said in 1690?
or Jefferson? that guy was a robber baron in his own right...
Dance steps are learned more quickly in DC than in any other precinct of our nation.
Can't prove it, but I'll go to bed thinking it.
Chinese Data Said to Be Manipulated, Understating Slowdown - NY Times
I suggest you start telling that to the tea party folks, they just might bite their handlers.
Spewing it here gets tiresome, as we tend to want to try to fix this mess as best we can.
Right now I argue being ready with some serviceable plans for the next crisis is the best strategy.
As for Locke, well he was Locke. The founding fathers respected what he said, but understood a government requires support from the people, including support in the form of taxes, and without that support becomes the enemy. On the other hand, a truly insurrectionist population becomes ungovernable without force.
I reference the gentlemen to the correspondence of President Washington regarding Shay and his "patriots".
Someday this war's gonna end...
mp wrote:
For good or bad he doesn't seem to care.
Europe--the world's largest economy--is imploding.
It's time for massive government spending and monetary stimulus, but it isn't going to happen.
Give me control of a nation's money and I care not who makes the laws ~ Mayer Amschel Bauer (Who founded the Rothschild family)
I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is now controlled by its system of credit. We are no longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men. ~ President Woodrow Wilson (Reflecting on signing the Federal Reserve Act of 1913)
RE : Housing ( wot, this is a housing blog ? ) - sign up on the house opposite - one of those - "For Sale by Owner " cheapskate signs ( and no doubt also no cut for a realtor - except this is a :
"HOUSE FOR RENT" sign.
and 2995 a month.. 2995 ! for a 4 bed 2.5 bath at that.. amazing - and bloody cheapskates - at 2995 you'd think they give a cut to a realtor no ? and this lot were the same who said to me when I put a flyer in everybody's mailbox telling them that the removal truck would cause some inconvenience - she says -
" ooo that LITTLE house over there " ..
but really 2995 a month - this is hardly Beverly Hills, this is Thousand Oaks and if I sense at the jobs profile around me - looks pretty blue collar, lower middle class IMO.
You're right, why would anyone care?
WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness
That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the Forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
Why indeed!
We now return you back to your regularly scheduled
programming....
Cramer at the bottom of the page says "Don't take on this volatile market alone"
You have a source for that quote? Because I'm not finding one. Altho I did find this:
The unhappiness of Woodrow Wilson - Globalization - Salon.com
Frequency of repetition doesn’t make for reliable sourcing, however, and convincing documentary evidence that Wilson uttered such words, in reference to his role creating the Federal Reserve, is hard to come by. In fact, the available evidence suggests that the quote is an after-the-fact fabrication made by splicing together passages of different Wilson statements that have nothing at all to do with the Federal Reserve.
One wearies of unfounded hyperbole.
mp wrote:
I don't think policy is going to be a part of the solution in any respect, unless there is some massive social plan to employee people. Thus, one has to ponder how the labor market might be focused for production, and thus what is it that will need to be consumed by so many, who are willing to pay for something apparently in short supply -- it's all bullshit and the system is systemically infected with death spiral flu -- and I see no reason at all for the Ben to piss away another trillion, or even 20 trillion. Ok, massive job creation QE3 & 4 and trillions tossed at slosh funds with new acronyms and lots of hype -- it would take a decade to unwind this shit and then our Baby Boomer Nightmare will be in full swing, and the jobs creation bullshit will amount to nothing ... the game is over ... death spiral.
sayonara
Outsider wrote:
YU H8Z 'Merica?
Well, I hope you all enjoy your day waving your copies of "Atlas Shrugged" and the US Constitution at each other.
Bear Stearns' 'Chump Change' Settlement Shows SEC Weakness, Judge Says
06/22/2012
"When the litigants first proposed the settlement in his court in February, Judge Block referred to it as “chump change,” raising the prospect that he might reject it and ask for a more substantive penalty. But it was not to be, in part because Judge Block noted, with obvious frustration, he had no choice but to approve the settlement because of “the limited powers that Congress has afforded the SEC to recoup investor losses -– as well as obstacles that it has placed in the path of litigation by the private bar.” Block further asked “Congress to consider whether more should be done by the government to come to the aid of the victims of Wall Street predators.” Indeed, Congress should do just that."
Germany, France, Italy and Spain Agree to Growth Pact - SPIEGEL ONLINE
The countries with the four-largest euro-zone economies agreed on Friday to an economic growth program with a total value of €130 billion ($163 billion). The sum represents 1 percent of the European Union's gross domestic product, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said in Rome after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President François Hollande and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Germany, France, Italy and Spain all agreed that growth measures undertaken so far have not been enough to pull Europe out of a debt crisis that is threatening to unravel the continent's common currency, the euro. They also agreed that budget discipline alone will not be enough to fuel economic growth and create jobs for the mass of unemployed Europeans.
Could be. OTOH, Jefferson was strongly opposed to chartering the Bank of the United States, so it wouldn't be surprising if he said something along that line. Is deflation a word that the founders would have used? I'm sure Jefferson would have understood the concept. But the word itself seems 20th century to me.
The drastic downward renormalization of the frequency and the enhanced diffusivity are in excellent qualitative agreement with Monte Carlo simulation data.
[1206.2303] Population oscillations in spatial stochastic Lotka-Volterra models: A
field-theoretic perturbational analysis
The casino is on fire, you'll have to take your bets outside the market .... Bawhahahahha
http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw2/014/0350029.jpg
http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw2/014/0360030.jpg
Read the letter he wrote to the men who were putting down a rebellion against our government.
So, starting revolutions is easy, finishing them is harder, and getting to peace harder still.
How about some real change instead of fiery rhetoric that ultimately serves no purpose in actually making and implementing a government?
Or are you just another Thos. Paine, throwing bombs and caring not where they explode?
Someday this war's gonna end...
But the word itself seems 20th century to me.
It's debunked in snopes.com. Which was discussed here for the nth time just yesterday. The quote is not from Jefferson.
Welcome to the Disinformation Age.
ex-Duke of Con Dao.....you should change your handle to **Wall St shill **
this is great journalism
Take a look at the 155 supportive comments here
The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia | Politics News | Rolling Stone
vtcodger wrote:
"Is deflation a word that the founders would have used? I'm sure Jefferson would have understood the concept. But the word itself seems 20th century to me."
Private Banks (Quotation) « Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
"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 them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered...
Outsider wrote:
Certainly took them long enough.
Probably too late, far too many already unemployed, pensions & salaries cut past the bone.
At this point it may just be lip service, how do they employ 25% plus of a population?
If they figure it out, we better pay attention.
Rickkk, from the source you linked:
The first part of the quotation ("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 them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered") has not been found anywhere in Thomas Jefferson's writings, to Albert Gallatin or otherwise. It is identified in Respectfully Quoted as spurious, and the editor further points out that the words "inflation" and "deflation" are not documented until after Jefferson's lifetime.[2]
mp wrote on Sat, 6/23/2012 - 9:51 am
LOL... I think I'll wave my copy of "Steal This Book"!
Certainly took them long enough.
I thought mp might like to see that, but I guess he left.
"The Scam Wall Street Learned From the Mafia | Politics News | Rolling Stone"
Excellent piece.
I first read it in the Creature from Jekyll Island (in 1995), which derived it from Rev. Casimir Frank's book "Repeal the Federal Reserve Bank":
I no longer have either book (gave up on trying to save/help USofA in 1998), but I also have read "The New Freedom," by Woodrow Wilson and he never even mentions the Federal Reserve once in the entire book (1912 campaign speeches on credit & banking yes; Fed Act 1913 no)!
Perhaps the timing of the quotes were different, and assembled for effect, but the import is accurate...
So, as usual lieberals lie, and fascists spin!
Just the sweeping and mopping to do.
Hubby is helping, sort of.
FURTHER SOURCES
Yale University. The Avalon Project. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. "Jefferson's Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank, 1791." The Avalon Project : Jefferson's Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank : 1791
Private Banks (Quotation) « Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
Cinco-X wrote:
but BRICS apparently still consolidating economic relationships:
"Facing dwindling liquidity abroad, both countries signed a deal on Thursday to set up local currency swaps of up to 60 billion reais ($29.46 billion).
"As international credit remains scarce we will have enough credit for our transactions," Mantega said.
The swap is a deal between two countries to give out loans in their local currencies.
Mantega said the move was part of an effort by emerging-market economies to shield their economies from the crisis now engulfing rich nations. He said the BRICS are demanding more influence in multilateral institutions like the International Monetary Fund to reflect their growing clout in the global economy.
A commodity-hungry China overtook the United States as Brazil's single largest trading partner in 2009 . . " Brazil in trade pact with China, sees aviation gains
| Reuters
US seems to be so preoccupied w/its drone killings, other chest-beatings & sucking up to the TBTF banksters it's not paying attention to what's happening to its economic status/relationships. Or maybe it's relying on the TBTF banks to take care of all that
ex-Duke of Con Dao wrote:
sumitomo is the 2nd largest bank in japan.
josap wrote:
Just by mentioning the possibility, they appear to be ahead of the US mainstream "thinking."
km4 wrote:
lol
Yale University. The Avalon Project. The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. "Jefferson's Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank, 1791." The Avalon Project : Jefferson's Opinion on the Constitutionality of a National Bank : 1791
I'm not seeing that particular quote there. (Did a search of the word "deflation", figured that would pick up on it)
But, whatever. Point being that we throw quotes around but at some point unless there is a definite source linked, who really knows.
Rickkk wrote:
azurite wrote:
your snark is hilarious. sometimes we can only utter the truth under the guise of humor.
Power over a man's subsistence is power over his will. ~ Alexander Hamilton
the obvious answer to a debt problem is more debt.
duhhhh!
Supreme Court Health Care Decision May Put Sickest Americans At Risk
06/22/2012
"As many as 122 million working-age Americans have pre-existing conditions that could get them rejected by health insurance companies, according to a Government Accountability Office analysis issued in March."
of course, what is the solution to a currency crisis?
answer anyone?
RockyR wrote:
waiting to hear your brilliant solution to a shortage of demand at the zero bound.
wait...a sec... let me guess...KICK ZE POORS...ZE TAX CUTS...GUNZ/BOMBZ/DRONZ.
PS: socialism is coming.
skk wrote:
Amgen, et al.
If you're coming here looking for answers, you're misguided...
Enjoy the happy talk HCN, off to enjoy the summer!
New Sea Level Estimates Will Make You Scared To Live In California
California Sea Level Rise - Business Insider
why DO we have a debt problem, yuan?
Ok, I have 14 yards of fir bark to play with (that was just delivered) ...
or maybe that was just deja vu
Which has been debunked, thoroughly. Please stop using it.
You would be better served by reading source docs.
http://memory.loc.gov/mss/mgw/mgw2/032/1120112.jpg
Part of a great discussion from 1791 correspondence between Washington and Jefferson, basically admitting he (Jefferson) did not put a bank in the Constitution because it would have made it harder to pass the Constitution, plus he viewed it as a State's Right Issue.
Very Southern viewpoint, which was basically destroyed in 1865.
The Several States is capitalized.
Jefferson was a mess of contradictions, buying the Louisiana Purchase, and advocating a weaker central government before he had to run it.
Someday this war's gonna end...
josap wrote:
You wouldn't be cooking his favorite now would you.
Rickkk wrote:
Over to you GOP.....
Why do Americans keep hanging themselves?
Serious People Do Not Use Wealth of People Under Age 35 as a Measure of Their Well-Being | Beat the Press
we do not have a debt problem. we have an oligarch problem.
KarmaPolice wrote:
It's actually global:
MaryAnn wrote:
Nope, he does all the cooking.
He is a very good cook, but mesy.
I do all the cleaning up.
Newsboy wrote:
Hamilton was killed in a duel by Burr, whose political (and probably economic) ambitions he'd thwarted first at the presidential level and then at the state (NY) level. Hamilton used his influence to break an electoral college tie between Jefferson & Burr in Jefferson's favor--despite greatly disagreeing w/many of Jefferson's political views. He again used his influence to help defeat Burr's run for governor of NY.
It seems that sometimes threatening a person's subsistence can lead to that person killing you.
yuan wrote:
It does seem to take well-qualified people to manage accounts and commerce for billions of people -- but, the top 1% do seem to be screwing it all up, so maybe it's time to fire them and hire some incompetent people
==> Look at all the people being laid off in finance -- the children of the elite that don't know how to do a F'ing thing, including wiping their behinds ... what we have is an oligarch problem which is rooted in corrupt nepotism -- the wealthy employ their friends and family and they all generate total inefficient and retarded efforts that F up everything in the world. Hang them all!
km4 wrote:
only 155 comments?
nothing against Taibbi... I am unconvinced that he's a disciplined reporter.
good bomb thrower...
reminds me a bit of those clowns that started Spy magazine.
what they really wanted was to be in those seats of power in NYC
and now that they are there they are worse than who they replaced...
Cinco-X quoted:
"Earliest known appearance in print: 1937"
Thomas Jefferson - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Jefferson expressed a dislike and distrust for banks and bankers; he opposed borrowing from banks because he believed it created long-term debt as well as monopolies, and inclined the people to dangerous speculation, as opposed to productive labor on the farm.[159] He felt that each generation should pay back its debt within 19 years, and not impose a long-term debt on subsequent generations. Jefferson fought against Hamilton's proposed Bank of the United States in 1790, but lost. Jefferson also opposed the bank loans that financed the War of 1812 fearing it would compromise the war effort and plunge the nation into serious long term debt. [160]
He was indifferent with many of his fellow tobacco planters however, as they felt that banks were needed to finance the purchase of new land and new slaves, and support commerce.[161] Jefferson often attacked banks, paper money and borrowing as inimical to Republicanism;[162] in retirement in 1816, he wrote John Taylor:
Letter, May 28, 1816, to political philosopher and senator John Taylor:
"The system of banking we have both equally and ever reprobated. I contemplate it as a blot left in all our constitutions, which, if not covered, will end in their destruction, which is already hit by the gamblers in corruption, and is sweeping away in its progress the fortunes and morals of our citizens.[163]"
We can argue about the style, but not about the substance. My 2-cents.
Letter to John Taylor by Thomas Jefferson
Citizen AllenM wrote:
Jefferson was not involved in the Constitution (being ambassador to France at the time.) Madison and Hamilton were the biggest influence on the Constitution.
yuan wrote:
I was joking... as a bank analyst I followed that bank at SB...
I don't remember any major deals in M%A field that they backed...
various friends worked for the jap banks but I was never aware of major swagger...
Rajesh wrote:
Elected to the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, Jefferson was appointed on June 11, 1776, to head a committee of five in preparing the Declaration of Independence. He was its primary author, although his initial draft was amended after consultation with Benjamin Franklin and John Adams and altered both stylistically and substantively by Congress. Jefferson's reference to the voluntary allegiance of colonists to the crown was struck; also deleted was a clause that censured the monarchy for imposing slavery upon America.
@yuan: i think you kind of answered my question well. we have a debt problem. as for the cause, I'll give you the hint that someone profits from it.
a system run by the few will never benefit the many
ex-Duke of Con Dao ( or shill for Wall St )
your retorts are lame
here's 59 more comments
Matt Taibbi and Your Humble Blogger on Bill Moyers Page not found « naked capitalism
RockyR wrote:
how bout ya spray paint that on some cardboard and join the occupiers
Greece outlines plan to ease bailout burden
| Reuters
RockyR wrote:
we =
Rajesh wrote:
If you wanna press one, press one. If you wanna press two, press two...
--Dave Barry
km4 wrote:
I still want my reporters to be disciplined.
it's the same problem one faces with Michael Herr's reporting from the Vietnam War...
if you ever talked to reporters in the field with him at that time (I have) they'd
say that he 'was off the reservation'...
ex-Duke of Con Dao wrote:
still lame mate.
yer just substituting one lameness for another. name and shame the exact aspect(s) that Matt Taibbi is wrong about in your view.
no kidding..I don't like the we part as some of the peeps understand credit=debt=negative personal yield+credit quality...
Krugman is right. Bernanke should be pedal to the metal right now, but it isn't going to happen.
Really?
pedal to the metal ... into a wall?
we'll NEVER get further (substantial) fiscal stimulus with where the dow is ... further qe will only serve to prop, keeping fiscal stimulus handcuffed.
unfortunately, we need the stock market to fall ... as it is the only cattle prod i know of that will swing congress into action ... Dow 8000 would certainly catch the attention of 401Kers leading them to scream "DO SOMETHING" at congress ...
Stirring the pot...
Following a theme by late-night commenter, Comrade Troiski, here's a chart of After-tax corporate profits normalized by the GDP for the last several decades. Either the corporate profits will drop nearly in half to their historical level, or the system will break.
Graph: Corporate Profits After Tax (CP)/Gross National Product (GNP) - FRED - St. Louis Fed
picosec wrote:
And that with unprecedented profits hiding.
wages for the masses ... profits for the few ... wonder which way the "job creators" lean?
black dog wrote:
Give it time.
With the working class forced into austerity by low wages and higher living cost, plus the salaried class being squeezed by increased in education and health costs, with the upper class getting nervous - company profits will fall.
mp wrote:
It's true, but too, also, traditionally the Fed withholds dramatic action in the months leading up to federal elections (to avoid being accused of acting politically). This is especially true now since the GOP modus operandi is invent facts/theories/conspiracies first, then see if you get away with it.
picosec wrote:
Or both.
Give it time.
yep
if you recall, back in 2010 i relentlessly banged the drum here for TPTB to lower the markets (to be run back up once stimulus passed) to provide politcal cover for further stimulus (Ds controlled both house then) ... when the Rs took the House that window closed.
Now we'll have it to do it the hard way.
ex-Duke of Con Dao wrote:
they are disciplined shills here for the corptocracy Infographic Of The Day: The Mega Companies Behind 90% Of Media | Co.Design: business + innovation + design which is reason why the best ones like matt taibbi who still does great investigative journalism works for Rolling Stone
which is why Rolling Stone is a credible source
Amen... nothing is going to fix this economy faster then blasting more money into the pockets of bankers and hedge fund managers!
ex-Duke of Con Dao wrote:
Perhaps it was their own work . . . .
October, 1986 Sumitomo Bank merges with Heiwa Sogo Bank.
January, 1989 Sumitomo Bank's shares become listed on the London Stock Exchange.
April, 1990 Mitsui Bank and Taiyo Kobe Bank merge to form Mitsui Taiyo Kobe Bank.
April, 1992 Mitsui Taiyo Kobe Bank is renamed Sakura Bank.
June, 1996 The Wakashio Bank, Ltd. is established, and starts operation in September.
April, 2001 Sakura Bank and Sumitomo Bank merge to form Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. (Capital stock: ¥1,276,7 billion)
December, 2002 Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) establishes a holding company named Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) through a share transfer, and SMBC then becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of SMFG.
March, 2003 Wakashio Bank merges with former SMBC (merged bank's name : Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation )
July, 2008 Sumitomo Mitsui buys a 2.1 per cent stake in Barclays Bank for £500m
Doc Holiday wrote: Elected to the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, Jefferson was appointed on June 11, 1776, to head a committee of five in preparing the Declaration of Independence
But the U.S. Constitution, which is what Rajesh was referring to, was adopted 11 years later.
ac wrote:
in a sense you're right, whether snarking or not
the faster they crash this sucker, the sooner we can get to gettin it on once again
many is the slip twixt cup and the lip, so they say
Rajesh wrote:
Sandals or Snowshoes (23 Jun 2012)
It is amazing what austerity does for a country’s current account deficit, especially when public salaries and pensions are cut by 30%+.
ekathimerini.com | Account deficit keeps dropping
Account deficit keeps dropping
“Greece’s current account deficit declined by a remarkable 40.3 percent on an annual basis in the year’s first four months, while foreign direct investment also reversed its decline to post an increase, according to Bank of Greece data released on Friday.
“The account deficit fell by 3.8 billion euros to 5.6 billion, while the trade deficit shrank by 2.5 billion year-on-year, due to the decline in the trade deficit, that does not include fuel and ships, by 1.25 billion euros (or 28.9 percent) and the slashing of net payment for ship acquisition by 737 million euros. Export receipts registered a 5.8 percent increase.
“FDI posted a net inflow of 77 million euros in the year to April, against a net outpouring of 703 million euros in the same period last year, BoG data showed.”
josap wrote:
First they'll rise. This isn't European austerity; it's just more of that good ol' 'Merican wealth transfer to the establishment elite.
suecris
did you ever make the dress we spent an evening trying to figure out?
Nope. Upon looking at the pictures you provided of the original dress in the museum, I could see it was much more difficult than I had imagined. If one had incredibly wide bolts of fabric it could be done. That back seam, so beautifully set in - I could never in a million years do that.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
Austerity here isn't government mandated, except the cuts to schools, medicade, SNAP, CHIP, UE benefits, Veterans benefits etc.
Our austerity is coming from the 1% forcing the 80% to earn less while spending more.
Main Street doesn't give a crap who is causing this mess.
Digressing, I did some research and found that Facebook's market cap ($70B) is roughly one-half the total annual advertising budget of all American businesses.
volker the viking wrote:
I think you're overly optimistic.
IMO, if allowed, the oligarchy will slowly grind the growth machine down not to be revived to the standard we're accustomed to for generations ... if ever.
Think dark ages.
And if the oligarchy is controlled/deposed of ... we're running out of the resources needed for sustained growth anyways.
Cheers ...
suecris wrote:
Drapery fabric or light weight upholstery fabric works.
It is a very complicated dress, which is why mine was purchased.
No way, ever, could I sew like that.
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Agreed.
km4 wrote:
Seems like the AZ Republic has at least one good journalist too: Pinal Sheriff's Office stockpiles, prepares to sell military equipment
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Somewhat hungry but thankfull not to be starving.
Unless you step out of line, then you can starve.
josap wrote:
Don't ask - but as I spend my saturday planning my next pressie ( July 12th Woodland Hills - be there or be square ) - I'm irresistibly drawn to using this Russian song and dance entry into Eurovision by old crones to make a point - but the dresses.. if I'm asked - and one does get asked the weirdest questions.. what IS this fabric in play here - suecris, josap ?
YouTube - Buranovskiye Babushki - Party For Everybody - Live - Grand Final - 2012 Eurovision Song Contest
pensions are slowly descending to hull crushing depth
We really don't have to worry about the future, it's a done deal. Permafrost, methane. QEx means nothing to Mama Earth.
josap wrote:
I'm sorry. ma'am, but our system isn't accepting your SNAP card... you'll have to pay with cash, check or credit. Did you perchance criticize our administration on a public web site recently?
greater distribution of authority, management, and enterprise increases our odds of wider distribution of profits. concentration of power, management, and enterprise leads us down the road we are on now - profits only for the few.
what system on the planet prefers a higher degree of distribution over concentration?
How long does it take to get the e-mail to reckon a prediction?
aClem wrote:
House's proposed roll back of all environmental law w/in of the land borders might. House GOP wants to waive environmental laws on U.S. borders | McClatchy
Must be able to pillage & pollute for profit at will or the terrrists will win.
Jeff Masters
This should jack up gas prices...
skk wrote:
Hard to tell without touching.
Heavy cotton or raw silk are my guesses.
ResistanceIsFeudal wrote:
The banking system has been f'ed the past few days in the UK - during my weekly call ( a long term supervisory role over health and wealth of near and dear in decline ) - I got told how pissed people are in village X cos they can't get their money.. No really.. Brought home to me the very real nature of this story that is in frame for me ..
Stephen Hester apologises to NatWest and RBS customers over computer fiasco - Telegraph
azurite wrote:
Inventory is not the key number, sales price is everything. Inventory is merely a symptom of price.
greater distribution of authority, management, and enterprise increases our odds of wider distribution of profits
yes! ... one of the better reasons for breaking up TBTFs (among the MANY) -
Take B of A ... around $2 trillion in size? break into 10 banks of $200 billion each ... 10 CEOs, 10 HQ staffs, etc ... a lot more high paying jobs rather than the inevitable pyramids we get with concentration.
Harvey?
Egyptian army controls a huge business empire, covering anything from consumer goods to mining
BBC News - Egypt's army in control of vast business empire
looks like they learned well from US MIC
josap wrote:
K.. I can weave that into the pressie..
weave geddit ? I do sound superficial I know - well I am in LA and proud of it and I do love Bollywood - but yeah clothes are the most superficial of all surely
.. as this song stated.. hmm how shall I weave that in a presentation on Customer Experience Analytics - Now!
this is one hell of a song and dance vid btw ..
YouTube - George Michael - Freedom! '90
The Associated Press: Rio+20, the unhappy environmental summit
So they've got that going for them ... which is nice.
Rickkk wrote:
My argument is with creating facts out of thin air...My 2-cents.
km4 wrote:
Why not ... they were funded by USAID.
km4 wrote:
Ahh... the sweet smell of democracy!
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
that's another way of looking at it
Duh
skk wrote:
I remember all these girls that were in love with him back in the 80s.
LOL
ac wrote:
Quite.. there IS a god isn't there ..
km4 wrote:
according to that graphic GE owns Comcast... I don't think so...
flaminia wrote:
sounds about right. never heard about them running any big M&A deal...
funny, when I was following banks, if memory serves, 6 out of the top 10
banks in terms of assets in the world were Japanese and all AAA rated...!
Bubblisimo Gerkinov wrote:
Don't wait for the email. Go to the page How many posts will "Different Views on QE3 Timing" have when it's pigged? | Hoocoodanode?, click edit and select the correct value.
josap wrote:
Balenciaga could...
Good morning all.
NBCUniversal is 51% owned by Comcast and 49% owned by GE so they're whoring in same bed
km4 wrote:
comcast needs content
RT @MoyersStaff Join us Sunday at 6 PM ET as @mtaibbi & @yvessmith live tweet the @WNET & @wetatvfm broadcast of @BillMoyers. Ask questions: #moyersq&a
I hope picosec doesn't mind if I post the score of Spain v France.
0:0
After 10 minutes
No worries man, I won't spoil the fun for the tapers of this game.
how many of the board members of these companies are in the same "clubs"?
bilderberg
council on foreign relations
trilateral commission
km4 wrote:
indeed. what has the Duke got agin one of the good guys of this world ? I mean Matt of course -
c'mon Duke.. which gf did HE steal off yer ?
here's a new vid mash for y'all
YouTube - Euro Roadkill of 2012: GREECE
...
volker the viking wrote:
not if they debundled their f-ing "channels" and just let people choose the shows they wanted to watch on demand.
The funny thing is that if we could easily watch anything that was captured on tape we wouldn't have to make anything new ever. People would die before working through the production of 1950-2010.
Claire gets it right
Page not found « naked capitalism
The propaganda is working: thousands of MSM reporters (CNN, FoxNews, NPR, ABC, NBC, NY Times, WaPo, Atlantic Monthly, etc), and billions of dollars in resources, broadcasting their pro-Wall Street message 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
It’s hard to find one person (in real life, not on the blogs), who hasn’t been totally brainwashed, or who doesn’t agree with Roger Lowenstein’s assessment that Wall Street is not guilty.
And what’s up with all these Obama supporters who’ve never heard of the National Defense Authorization Act? I’ve probably met a dozen of them in the last couple weeks. Once I explain, they say they watch CNN, they listen to NPR, they read the newspapers, etc, but they’ve never once heard NDAA mentioned.
Mass propaganda ruling the public, and molding minds without any need for physical coercion, is really something to behold.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
that is absolutely the comment ( in the press I haven't seen the video doc - original or update - ) made by Louis Theroux ( I'm guessing he's related to the OTHER Theroux ) -
How the internet killed porn | Culture | The Guardian
TORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !
that's a joke on the proxying aspects of internet connectivity that one needs to "liberate" streaming vids of a variety of streams.
black dog wrote:
and beyond those.... how many have children who went to the same private schools, the same elite universities, how many attended the same socialite parties and gatherings, charity banquets...
German Supermarket Offers Shopping Spree With A Catch: You Have To Be Naked - Business Insider
Greg S. on Jun 22, 10:40 PM said:
Lets hope Walmart never does this on opening a new store here.... man that would be scary!!!!!!
+27 likes
Data wants to be free. Even pr0n. This the universal disgust with the NAR.
Optimists see the donut.
Pessimists see the hole.
Top US drug cop can't tell the difference between marijuana and heroin - Boing Boing
I got holes by the dozen, ten cents.
volker the viking wrote:
I have portable holes, but they aren't cheap.
Outsider wrote:
Yes, they all agreed that growth would be a good thing.
So, here we sit.
Just like watching soccer, for that one moment of excitement, there is a lot of technically driven boredom.
At the half, I have to get back to vacuuming. The cleaning shall continue, must defur the homestead!
Meanwhile, I suspect China has a lot of oil piled up to match all that coal sitting on the docks in the NYTimes article. What else is in vast surplus? I guess prices will tell us as demand continues to contract.
Someday this war's gonna end...
km4 wrote:
And they ain't gonna let a bunch of bearded mullahs spoil it for them.
"km4 wrote:
Egyptian army controls a huge business empire, covering anything from consumer goods to mining
BBC News - Egypt's army in control of vast business empire
And they ain't gonna let a bunch of bearded mullahs spoil it for them."
That's what they said/thought in Iran as well.
The best part about portable holes is you only have to pay for the first one.
one more post for weekend...
Cosmo’s 44 Most Ridiculous Sex Tips by jezebel
Jezebel
Hilarious
China has stockpiled copper.
Rob Dawg wrote:
Ummm, no.
I have at least a dozen.
Google Image Result for http://www.blacksmithrick.com/images/blacksmith/portable-hole.jpg
Tpropical thing will get named at five if it has closed circulation which they expect.
lawyerliz wrote:
Names are not good when it is a storm.
Floors are swept & mopped.
I think I finished cleaning before Allen. But his house is bigger.
All this time I thought a portable hole was a boat.
Mexican food eaten. Pats tummy. Gasing up at a mere 3.159 as we speak. Not the cheapest place either.
Kauai_Kahuna wrote:
Hole in the water.
Into which you throw money.
I kept getting distracted, and I am still not done. Another phone call.
Back to it. Anyone want a spare fur critter? I have another couple coming out of the vac.
Someday this war's gonna end...
Citizen AllenM wrote:
We have 3 furry things and a feathered thing.
josap wrote:
If you don't spend money on a boat, does it sink from neglect, or just sulk like a hulk?
Someday this war's gonna end...
Co-evolution or parasitism?
lawyerliz wrote:
That's Mexican for you...
Rajesh wrote:
Thanks.
Citizen AllenM wrote:
LOL ! Indeed.. I updated a couple of wiki entries that are just plain wrong while I watch the soccer.. Or do I mean as I update a couple of wiki entries I have the telly on showing soccer
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01534/1-m_1534262a.jpg
I just checked a Zestimate. $414k-$1.43 MM....Listed at $849k, $800k would take it. Zillow is special
REBear wrote:
Good to see her getting a break, she has to be under tons of stress.
Go to the game and forget about work for awhile.
Keeping it real.
Good morning!
Incidentally, how many times did a Bush man either barf on her or grope her?
edit: diction boldface
josap wrote:
Getting rid of the greeks is so much easier on the soccer field.
re: "we [sic] don't practice mercantilism"
~ Speech in New York City, (19 Nov 1905), The Papers of Woodrow Wilson 16:228
.
.
.
.
Nicaragua
Chile
Argentina
.
.
Iraq
Afghanistan
Honduras
Libya
Haiti
Wait. There's more. D-listed: Bush family adopted homeland
“Institutional coup” removes Paraguayan president Lugo from office Fri, 22 June 2012
"Vice president Federico Franco is scheduled to take the oath of office in the next half hour as the next Paraguayan president."
Antipodes wrote:
good morning sir.. hey btw, my Obsessive Compulsive Buddy who you may have had to take an interest in while I flew out. she's again seeing a psychiatrist - thank god. she was going downhill since she returned back from NZ - doesn't say a word about NZ to us. weird.. poor thing - whattodo heh ? keep it in the hands of experts and be around is the best I reckon.
I miss the good ol days:
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2005/03/free-money.html
I hate to tell you this Mr. Wizard, but as someone that's been part of the "reporter" circus since 1996, it ain't what you think.
Sure, there's corporate spin wishes from on high, and there is .gov coercion, but the culture itself is diseased due to extreme inbreeding and groupthink, resulting in MASSIVE cognitive bias(es)
It starts with progressive "journalism" schools that are hellbent on churning out collectivist, anti-natural law partisans, cookie-cutter style.
The "journalism" tribe is such that if you're not a brain-dead member of the herd, and live/breath PC rhetoric, you get shouted down by "academia" and culled from the pastures of ignorant bliss.
No degree for you!
Thus, "journalism" schools have become an environment somewhere between Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm and the Borg...
P.S. I didn't go to "journalism" school, I have an Electro-Mechanical Engineering degree
, so I'm not one of the indoctrinated ones, and THEY hate me for it!
Sorry to hear that skk. I hope things settle down for her.
Doc Holiday wrote:
There usually is a greater fool. Most people are follwers, not leaders.
Sad to say.
Agents Oppose Consumer Law Reform Bill | Stuff.co.nz
km4 wrote:
NDAA is a tempest in a teapot that false-flag shit-stirrers like you use to bullshit the public that there is no effective difference between Nobama and Rmoney.
NDAA passed the House comfortably and got through the senate 86-14 IIRC. Obama doesn't have anything to do with that, other than his signing statement that he disagees with part of the bill and will not execute some parts of it.
Such complexity and compromise is obviously beyond you. Things have to be simple for simpletons.
People from AZ dissing boats?
km4 wrote:
"one of America's top drug cops can't bring herself to say what practically every adult knows: marijuana's harms, whatever they are, are not in the same league as heroin or crystal meth."
No shit. Legalization polls show the country is split on this issue. Unfortunately, potheads a) don't have any money and b) don't vote, so they don't really count in DC.
Antipodes wrote:
That is just soo funny isn't it ? People do this shit with a straight face so often. Its comical for me..
when keeping it real goes wrong
PENALTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !
In deference to the tapers of the game I won;t say which way..
Please save us master!
TORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR !
Comrade Troyski wrote:
Absolutely for individuals like km4. KISS is the operative phrase.
Kool aid all you want but if you were a Nader voter in FL or NH in 2000 and you do not now deeply regret your choice you are an idiot of the first water.
Now, if you're not in NV, FL, PA, OH, VA, or CO feel free to show The Man that you aren't going to compromise and capitulate.
Hohoho!
Choose between Dumya and Al "I invented the Internets" Gore?!?
No thank you!
Of course, now you all have to pick between a lying muslim and a corporate raider mormon!!!
Newsboy wrote:
yes, that was the choice. 97,488 Nader voters in FL and 22,198 in NH "chose poorly" as the man said.
then again, if you think the colossal damage the Bush crew did to this nation is part of a longer plan towards a leftist revival, more power to you.
That's idiotic, but if you're that stupid to think it's going to work there's obviously nothing to write to reach you.
re: moriarty macramé
iran:ru, ru: china, china:Kazakhstan, india:jpn, jpn:china, china: s.ko, china: au, china:anatolia, china: brasil, brasil: angola
Brazil and China sign 30bn dollars swap to boost trade and better weather global turbulence
Rob Dawg wrote:
Larry Yun and Leslie Appleton- Young LOOOVE the NAR. And I'd bet there's a dozen more who feel the same way.
km4 wrote:
That tells you what he's been smoking.
Maybe we can trick Russia and China into backing opposite sides in an afghan paki conflict.
Sorry, not playing the

game.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda...
Uh huh, keep voting for the (D) & (R) Free Crap Army, and keep getting the fantastic results you non-idiots have been getting since they shot JFK.
But, you'll have to do it without my consent...
Newsboy wrote:
Enjoy life under President Romney then. Gonna be great. I won't be here to share it with you since I'll be a handful of timezones away, but whatevs, Capt Freedom.
In Corporate America, the game plays you.
skk wrote:
In California agents are not allowed to lie, but are allowed to 'Puff". It's a very strange sensation to sit in a classroom and have someone try to explain the difference between "Puffery" and lying and why one is actionable and one is not.
A dozen. Heh heh. Oh you realtors and your exagerations.
Rob Dawg wrote:
300 MM people or so in the USA, half with an IQ under a hundred and 15% or so seriously mentally ill. It might well be two dozen...
News Release - HM Treasury and Bank of England announce technical changes to selected foreign currency operations 22 June
ECB takes further measures to increase collateral availability for counterparties 22 June
< wipes tears >
mp wrote:
Exhibit 1
mp wrote:
Exhibit 2
Tropical Storm Debby forms in central Gulf of Mexico
| Reuters
Rob Dawg wrote:
You get the fallout.
Citizen AllenM wrote:
Exhibit 3
ex-Duke of Con Dao wrote:
Exhibit 4
km4 wrote:
Headline from ten, twenty, thirty years ago?
Merkel to meet France's Hollande on Wednesday
| Reuters
YouTube - Dr. Michael J. Burry at UCLA Economics Commencement 2012
Tom Stone wrote:
Baloney. Investigating complaints and any possible enforcement action if they ever come take a long time.
Maybe can't take certain 'fraud' complaints any higher than Dept. of RE... so a complaint goes that far and that's it... so that's why civil filings are increasing no doubt if there's no resolution at the 'administrative' lower levels...
Mary wrote:
Plus this is mentioned in the link: The newly eligible ABSs must also satisfy additional requirements which will be specified in the legal act to be adopted Thursday, 28 June 2012
merchants of fear wrote:
It's against the law and a violation of the rules. That the law is selectively enforced is a different matter. Notice a pattern?
ooooo. anachronnnnnnistic!
~ Latin America, From colonization to globalization
is Merkozy now Merllande? Or is it Holkel? So confusing.
Deal is done. Prepare your mind for the WURLITZER, tho'.
Assuming the ballots are counted fairly (something I am not entirely sure has been the case since 2000) the system is still working, even with the great advantages accruing to money in today's media and political environment.
If the American people are that stupid to vote for Rmoney, well, they're going to get what they deserve good and hard.
I don't really know how things will break for me under the full Republican program. I'm too old to get drafted, and too young to get grandfathered for the current Medicare system. The system going fully vampiric on the working class -- that is the Republican model -- probably hurts me in that my sunk investment in my social security contributions will prove to be unpayable when it's time to collect.
Hence, the GTFO option moves to the forefront. There are still countries that have what I'd like to see us have -- single-payer healthcare without our massive rent-seeking going on, affordable housing even in safe neighborhoods, and semi-functioning economies.
We don't have any of that and we're not going to get it without massive change.
Capt Freedom here thinks sitting things out is going to give him the change he wants. I don't think so, and if enough people join with him I'll be forced to vote with my feet (again, I last bailed in 1992, prematurely I guess).
Guest Post: Military Rolls Tanks Onto St. Louis Streets...But Why? | ZeroHedge
they practice in anticipation of need, okay? get it?
Comrade Troyski wrote:
How is that different from the full Democratic program? For a while each party has recently had the WH and Congressional majorities and both have spent us into the ground while steadily dismantling the Constitution. I fail to see significant differences in their actions, only differences in rhetoric and fear-mongering.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
and who says there will even be an election
Matty wrote:
We have alot of boats here, plenty of lakes.
All man made, but lakes.
Tom Stone wrote:
Ask Jim the Realtor sometimes about the bullshit fines he's endured.
how do you do that? is that what they teach you in those hide bound, moss covered schools?
km4 wrote:
Do you think Wall St. wants some more Bernanke juice, mp?
merchants of fear wrote:
he's making them want it
he knows it's his last shot
he knows he's cornered
the last tool in his kit is a red dress and some strappy heels
who knows, it could work
TJ and The Bear wrote:
In 1993 the Democrats raised taxes, without a single Republican vote. That put the nation on a very sane fiscal path, to be discarded by Republicans as soon as they got back into power in 2001.
Then the Republicans launched the twin wars of 2001-2003. Not enough Democrats were brave to block that, but they didn't have the votes anyway to stop the war (it's a very silly mistake to think that because ~all Republicans are conservative ~all Democrats are "liberal"). Plus voting to stop the war in Oct 2002 wasn't conducive to retaining your seat that November, us being a nation of children.
In 2009-2010 the Democrats finally passed health care reform, with only a single Republican vote IIRC. I think it's a solid incremental move towards reform, should it pass Uber-Justice Kennedy's muster.
Then there's the tax bullshit. If you think the Ryan Plan is the way to go, good luck with that. I will no longer be a US taxpayer (assuming the foreign earned income exclusion is retained) should the Republicans seize full control again.
If you can't see the differences between Democrats and Republicans there's really something wrong with you.
Now, the real problem is that there's not much difference between centrist Democrats in real life and rational Republicans. This is not much of a "lefty" nation, and with the current media environment it's pretty tough for lefty, anti-wealth messaging to gain any traction or politicians to find any solid base for election & reelection.
See Grayson down in FL for how that worked.
Rob Dawg wrote:
In Az, no matter the stupidest complaint to the RE Det and the Broker must answer in writing with all documentation.
"I didn't get all of my security deposit." is great. Move in and move out report, pictures, copy of check to past tenants, tenant ledger, deposit disposition letter with date in legal time frame, tons of work for no reason. As long as you do your job and are honest, keep good records you should be ok.
Tom Stone wrote:
Problems in the sales process are probably in the areas of adequate disclosures to the buyers... ILSA regs cover disclosure requirements for developers & sales agents... so you are saying there's a gray area called 'puffery'... this could also be misrepresentations, no?
merchants of fear wrote:
We are not allowed "puffery", it is seen as missrepresentation.
Slowly moving up the food chain.
Five with ties to Hayward mortgage company guilty of wire fraud - Inside Bay Area
mof
Want to make yourself insane.
Read Ca or Az RE law.
Trust account law.
Multi housing statutes.
HOA requirements & restircions per the law.
Then Fed Fair Housing.
Then FHA guidelines.
Then Sec 8 requirements.
picosec wrote:
Good to hear.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
Wealth per se is not so much the problem as how the wealth was accumulated so the focus should be not so much on anti-wealth messages as anti-fraud solutions.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
You neglect to mention the Dems tried to spend those higher revenues, too, but didn't get that. You neglect to mention that Rubin traded long-term bonds for bills to cut interest expenses, an obvious "sacrifice the future for the hear-and-now" move. You neglect to mention that the Dems presided over the dismantling of Glass-Stegall and greatly expanded housing tax breaks, laying the foundation for the next decade's troubles.
I'm not giving any credit to the Reps -- they made drunken sailors look frugal -- but you're sure as hell donning
regarding the Dems. The only reason the late 90's budget came anywhere near balance was due to a monstrous stock bubble.
volker the viking wrote:
no.
straps vegetable steamer to head
vegetable steamer - Google Search
please explain.
As RBS' ATM "Glitch" Enters Fifth Day, The Bailed Out Bank Issues A Statement | ZeroHedge
hmmmm...............................
merchants of fear wrote:
Problem is, over the years most of what we consider fraud has been make legal.
And those very high in the food chain know how to insulate themselves from any responcibility.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
the system is of course working.. for the elites..
To think that the current US system is on the side of anybody but the elites is sooooo delusional. hence my statement - "Don't Vote - it only encourages THEM".
merchants of fear wrote:
The problem with wealth in the country is not the past accumulations per se, it is the present flows, from working poor (or worse, charity cases) to the already wealthy.
It's the ongoing rent-seeking in land, health care, energy, spectrum -- things that everyone needs but are natural or regulated monopolies. Fix that and you fix our economy, don't and you don't.
josap wrote:
On the federal level, any issues of HUD & ILSA violations may fall under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) now that is funded by the Federal Reserve.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
When? Pelosi's congress had a pay-go regime.
Whatever happened in the 1990s was great. We should do more of that.
You mean Gramm (R) -Leach (R) -Bliley (R)?
Capital gains tax breaks had something to do with the boom of 2002-2004 but nothing to do with the bubble of 2004-2007.
Which came from a monstrous productivity bubble. Granted, I think much of that was the initial feel-good rush of rising offshoring to China and their weak 8 yuan to the dollar regime.
China / U.S. Foreign Exchange Rate (EXCHUS) - FRED - St. Louis Fed
Comrade Troyski wrote:
No argument with you there... it does have to be investigated, 'fixed', and then regulated since it's out of control...
merchants of fear wrote:
All I was really trying to say is, there are a zillion laws, tens of agencies, City, County, State, Fed laws and regulations to abide by. Some of them even conflict.
skk wrote:
If you truly think there's no difference between Nobama and Rmoney, go for it. I think you're insane to think that way, but whatevs.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
nothing so harsh as a long held value proven false
josap wrote:
From the article (from REINZ):
I suppose that means they wish to retain the right of "puffery".
Newsboy wrote:
I think it's corporatist stenography.
josap wrote:
Right. That's what the over loaded courts are for. Figure out if they apply. For every claim, there is a counterclaim. The applicable laws & regs don't scare some operators. They can work around them or above them.
Antipodes wrote:
Like in Glengarry Glen Ross.
Rob Dawg wrote:
I have. He does things his way and doesn't "Get with the program". He is ethical and does a good job so they haven't put him out of business.
Antipodes wrote:
Sounds like it to me. We just could not get away with it here.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
volker the viking wrote:
it's like a km4 post with an h, several m's, and a bunch of dots.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
Its a ridiculous way of posing the question - as the great movie - Butch cassidy and the Sundance Kid put it..
"Guns or Knives, Butch"
"Neither"
See ? I'm sure you do - in the above segment, Harvey sure did see it. Of course there's a difference between guns and knives, but but but.. no don't take that analogy too seriously...
lets get to the issue at hand.
who is on the side of the elites of those two ?
BOTH !
Yeah I want somebody NOT on the side of the elites - once upon a time..
TJ and The Bear wrote:
I thought there were some cooked books as well ... no?
merchants of fear wrote:
They can until they are caught. The RE dept here turns agents/brokers over to the attorney general on a regular basis. There is also a recovery fund to pay people who have been damaged, the RE dept then goes after the agent for reimbursement to the fund. Part of our lic fee each two years goes into the fund. If the fund gets used much our fees go up.
MEPs to 'finish off' ACTA on 4 July
:: reference
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement | EFF.org (ACTA)
Comrade Troyski wrote:
Typically Republicans are much worse in representing the wealthy class.
That is in dispute now based on what has happened in the last decade or so.
merchants of fear wrote:
"Rustic" "Needs TLC"...euphemism is the major problem I see in most cases. REO are a different matter, no duty to disclose and sometimes the problems are serious. Failure to disclose comes up occasionally but most sellers are pretty careful because they have heard the horror stories.And there are agents who are careful not to ask certain questions of their sellers, usually regarding water, septic issues and unpermitted work. All things that come to light during the inspection process if the buyer's agent does their job. If.
josap wrote:
Interesting. Is there a statute of limitations on a buyer/consumer complaint?
Dot com


???
Housing
Higher Ed
Next
josap wrote:
It is misrepresentation.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
If you can see significant differences then you've passed their conditioning process with flying colors.
I've voted both parties (and, in this most recent election, neither) and go by actions and real-world results and do not allow myself to get distracted by wedge issues. By even mentioning "the Ryan Plan" you've shown you're swayed by proposals that haven't a snowball's chance in hell of becoming a reality. Oh, and ObamaCare was all about widening the revenue base and very little about actual reform, hence the now well documented support of Big Pharma (among others).
Stick around to 2014 and see where the chips fall. If O's still in charge it's likely defense spending won't have dropped, and if R's the new chief you'll no doubt see non-defense spending hasn't dropped either.
merchants of fear wrote:
I don't know.
We do have to keep all records, paper work for 5 years.
Property management 7 years due to the trust account.
Tom Stone wrote:
Need a good, thorough, unbiased inspector.
josap wrote:
It doesn't help if you are crazy to start with, it just makes it a little easier to understand.
TJ and The Bear wrote:
Your post "neglects" to thank Glod for the Repubs in the Senate that so vociferiously opposed Glass Steagall dismantaling that 53 supported it with 54 total Senate votes in favor. That noted, Clinton signing it under Rubin was one of biggest mistakes of his administration. If you pointed the finger at Gramm and Senate GOP as Clinton's fellow conspirators, I wouldn't have bothered to post this. And Pay-go was jettisoned as soon as Bush took power, but otherwise you're oh so correct about the GOP rectitude. They got religion on deficits when Obama was elected, curiously but surely that's a coinkedink that Mitt will correct with 4% GDP spending on Defense and tax cuts.
josap wrote:
REINZ is making a submission. We'll have to wait a bit to see what the law looks like in final form. I don't expect much.
Comrade Troyski wrote:
Pfft ... old paradigm ... we've moved onto oligarchical plundering.
Think post Soviet Russia.
merchants of fear wrote:
Yeah, they suck at that.
josap wrote:
The conflicts are not always minor.
Tom Stone wrote:
These RE markets can make you crazy. And suspicious. Good deals at the time are illusions sometimes.
But the unregulated derivatives is where the fun really begins.
josap wrote:
Does that help keep people honest or is the cost simply transferred through to the clients?
Comrade Troyski wrote:
Other than some cultural coservative pandering, what would a Romney admin do that's significantly different than the current admin?
josap wrote:
It's not necessary to "Puff" properties to sell them for a good price. It's mostly laziness. IMO people respond well to an honest and accurate description.