first

comment from JJ @ Baseline Scenario:”How could anybody have believed the crap about someone making one dollar in the first place? Those symbolic gestures are absurd. How stupid must someone be to think people are that stupid?Goldman Sachs has behaved like a college student who used student loans to finance a gambling habit. But the student’s parents bailed them out. Grandpa Buffet came to the rescue with 5 billion and their gambling buddy AIG handed over the bailout money they received themselves. When a counselor asked them how they were doing they said they were doing great-failing to tell them how much they really lost in December. Now they want to give back the money so their parents will stop watching them so closely-so they can go back to gambling in peace.You said something on NPR about how it is Goldman Sachs vs. the government right now, but it’s not clear how to distinguish the two. Who knows, maybe the government feels better about giving THEM money, so they don’t gamble it away themselves. The difference between the two is getting blurry.”

Charles, your 23:03:30 post last night is excellent, adding to the growing realization that a private bank effectively controls United States official policy.Goldman Sachs, as more and more sources now reveal, is judge, jury, police and recipient of…and this is completely true…every single piece of value generated by the producers in this country. They pick the Treasury secretaries, they pick the Federal Reserve chairman, and who’s to say, in light of activities of the Bush and Obama administrations, that they don’t pick the president? There can be no doubt that they have veto power over who has a chance to be president, and any of his critical appointments.

Further, I do not want to hang the bankers. I want to put the more shamefaced and remorseful of them to work, Profumo style. Let them serve their penance by using their skills for a purpose other than self gain. We should employ them in an institution that tracks down cash stolen by corrupt figures in Africa and passed through global launderettes such as the City of London to nestle in an obscure Alpine bank to be used later for a coup.

Entire FT article =>The poor must be included in a global economy By Bob Geldof

Two pretty good pieces.Smith goes thru the numbers and the charts to show why housing has a lot further to fall and second is an interesting piece…Why a 50% Drop in Housing Is Not the Bottom (April 16, 2009) A Minsky Meltdown: Lessons for Central Bankers By Janet L. Yellen, President and CEO, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Talk is cheap… Wonder when the reality of the situation trickles up to the top? Looks like it is starting to trickle….We’ll see

Stiglitz views are worrisome. It won´t hit us in the head today but it may in the not too distant future. In the mean time, the market continues to look very robust. Lot´s of smart people think it will correct. Me, I don´t have a clear opinion on this but I am more on the play t safe side thn the greed side.

From the previous thread, posted by MM CA:”This is the issue that will start to take down local banks…Las Vegas braces for commercial foreclosuresThe problem is starting to gain national attention with suggestions that it could rival or exceed the commercial real estate slump in the early 1990s that was triggered by the savings and loan crisis. That helped drag the economy into a recession.The Wall Street Journal reported banks could suffer as much as $250 billion in commercial real estate losses and 700 banks could fail because of that exposure.”I work in the commercial real estate industry and we have known for a long time that things are going to get pretty ugly. There are going to be a lot of CMBS maturity defaults. The deals were underwritten at 90%+ leverage on projected cash flows that never materalized. This was posted today concerning hotels:NEW YORK—According to Fitch Ratings, more than 50% of upscale and luxury hotels in recent vintage, fixed-rate, U.S. commercial mortgage-backed securities may be unable to generate sufficient cash flow to pay debt service by the end of this year.In light of recent substantial declines in the hotel industry’s collective room revenue, Fitch reviewed the performance of the $6.5 billion of high-end hotel loans included in the 2006 and 2007 Fitch-rated, fixed-rate U.S. CMBS to determine the impact if revenue continues to fall at this pace for the remainder of 2009. Because of the high expense margins that hotels typically operate, a 20% revenue decline will result in net cash flow declines between 35% and 40%. In the event that luxury hotel performance continues to decline as it has year to date, more than 50% of hotels involved in CMBS loans may be unable to generate sufficient cash flow to pay debt service.Based on hotel concentrations in recent vintage, fixed-rate transactions ranging from 5% to 15%, large declines in high-end hotels coupled with more moderate declines in middle- and lower- end hotels could result in ratings downgrades, Fitch warned. For more concentrated hotel deals, the downgrades may reach investment grade bonds, while less concentrated deals may see downgrades extend to BB-rated bonds.Fitch further noted that U.S. CMBS loans backed by hotels located in Las Vegas in particular or other high-end leisure destinations face a significant challenge in maintaining debt service.

THE PRESIDENT AND MOST OF OUR REPRESENTATIVES OWE THEIR SOULS TO THE COMPANY’S STORE (BANKS)How do you think they got picked in the first place?We the People must pay our taxes and realize that its clearly rigged against us. It also explains the many similarities between our present two party system.The best solution is go into denial and be glad for a slow motion train wreck economy, rather than all at once.Did you know if you throw a frog into boiling water it leaps out horrified, but if you put it in cold water and gradually heat it it until it boils, it just sits peacefully in the water and dies?

So … the real US Government is basically GS and the Defense Department.

You have just swallowed the red pill casualposter. There is much to learn and your journey has just begun. Welcome to our (soon to be) scorched Earth. Accept the fact that there is nothing you can do to to stop it.To give yourself a sense of control, read http://www.amazon.com/Patriots-Novel-Survival-Coming-Collapse/dp/156975599X/ref=sr_1_1Then start reading http://www.survivalblog.com/Profiles of “The Prepared”http://www.survivalblog.com/profiles.htmlLists of listshttp://www.survivalblog.com/2008/02/from_the_survivalblog_archives_1.html

Thanks Guest. I’ll repost the comment from last nightNotice the last line: “Discussions regarding these matters were handled exclusively by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,” Ms. Pretto said.”From the NY Times:” Still, his stake could represent a potential conflict and is likely to reignite questions about Goldman’s involvement in A.I.G., and about why taxpayer money was used to shield A.I.G.’s trading partners from losses, when asset values plunged everywhere and most investors suffered greatly.Had A.I.G. simply declared bankruptcy, the financial institutions doing business with it would have ended up in court, as they did in the case of Lehman Brothers, fighting to get pennies on the dollar for their claims.Instead, Goldman Sachs received $13 billion of the Federal Reserve’s rescue money to close out various contracts it had outstanding with A.I.G. It was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the government rescue.A spokeswoman for A.I.G., Christina Pretto, dismissed any suggestion that Mr. Liddy’s financial ties to Goldman might have shaped his actions at A.I.G.“A.I.G. is a large institution that engages in standard commercial activity with companies all over the world,” Ms. Pretto said. “These activities are handled in the normal, day-to-day course of business and rarely, if ever, rise to the level of the C.E.O.”She said in particular that Mr. Liddy was not involved in the discussions of how to close out the contracts of A.I.G.’s counterparties in derivatives and other forms of trading.“Discussions regarding these matters were handled exclusively by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York,” Ms. Pretto said. “So who controls the Federal Reserve Bank of New York?Stephen Friedman is serving as chair of the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. He was appointed by Board of Governors to represent the public. Here is his bio:Stephen Friedman is retired chairman of The Goldman Sachs Group and currently serves as chairman of Stone Point Capital, LLC.He joined Goldman, Sachs & Co. in 1966 and became a partner in 1973. He was vice chairman and co-chief operating officer from 1987 to November 1990, and co-chairman or chairman from 1990 to 1994.Mr. Friedman is chairman of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and of the Intelligence Oversight Board. From December 2002 to December 2004, he served as assistant to President George W. Bush for Economic Policy and director of the National Economic Council.Mr. Friedman received his B.A. from Cornell University and law degree from Columbia University Law School. He is currently a board member of The Goldman Sachs Group, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, The Aspen Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations.http://www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/org_nydirectors.htmlWe can sll sleep better knowing that the public has such a strong advocate - Charles- Charles

Someone linked up to it several months ago. I found it riveting.

Could someone briefly explain, in relatively simple English, what a quant is, and what’s the bottom line of this? I read some of the stuff posted before, and at zerohedge, but I’m not getting it.

Quant firms run market trading based on computer-based methods. They have proprietary computer algorithms that execute trades based on patterns in the markets. Everything is analyzed based on past market performance, and the quant firm knows their chances of making profits on the trades. The whole quant strategy can fall apart if the global market (stocks, currencies, bonds) starts behaving in a way that is significantly different than prior history. The folks at ZeroHedge are essentially saying that … the market has now deviated in a MAJOR way (6-sigma event?) from prior expectations. Is this true – I honestly couldn’t tell you. Since global trends are shifting right now, and some central banks are buying their own national bonds, it’s conceivable. If the quant firms do go down, they will essentially unwind their trades or deleverage their trades. Meaning, they stop gearing up big trades in the market and sell out. Could this shake up the market? Maybe. The market was rattled when big hedge funds went down along with the Bear Stearns collapse a while back. I couldn’t tell you what kind of impact the current quant companies will have if they close up shop. Watch and see. There are other things going on with CDS derivatives right now, besides issues related to quant trades.PeteCA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Program_trading

Picture these banksters in their Armani suits carrying out jail sentences in the 3rd world as Geldof suggests!Do you think Madoff would want to trade his sentence for such a role?

Quote of the Millennium:”“Something went wrong,” Ben BernankeBen Benanke Brief Profile: Chairman of the Federal Reserve and Pope of the Catholic (as in ‘Centre of the Universe’) Temple of Financial Oriented Faith (for the selected disciples of True Believers. “Economist”. Leading “Expert (‘x’ + rush of liquid) in Great Depression Dynamics.Hah! and Hanlon’s Razor to that…Am I unkind? Probably… but it must be stressed ( I like that word) that with all the resources, supportive academia, political and “leadership” obedience and willingness, infinite financial resources , opportunity and faithful blind following, not to mention social need, this “economist” profession and associated industries, have failed to even attempt to express their social responsibilities into a scientific founded enquiry into the essential foundation and underlying driving dynamics of humanity and civilization, that is to say, “economics”, for the expressed preference for blind apathetic “faith” in pure “superstition” and “opinion” (misplaced), backed by nothing but Bernaysian horse pucky.Ho hum

Pete, if I had understood ZH correctly they were contending that the quants had lost their mojo, had seen market behavior that left them no confidence in their own models and were pulling out of the market with knock on consequences to liquidity & still more volatility. i.e. nobody knows where this is going. Quants may have decided to wait and see. Remember, this whole thing started when BS tried to sell 100B$ in MBS and found NO MARKET! That’s how bubbles break.

Program trading is not the same thing. In that case traders are making decisions using the human brain, and instructing their software to make buy/sell operations on the criteria they decided. Probably most traders (if not all) are using software to assist with buying and selling these days. They key, though, is that they thought through the strategies themselves. It’s more along the lines of trades that are executed daily or weekly, under close human supervision.Whereas the quants really are looking for (and implementing) long-term algorithms that continuously monitor the state of the markets and activate trades when they meet certain success criteria. Quant traders would argue that their algorithms are potentially more successful because they remove human emotions from the buying/selling process. Computer-based decisions are not tainted by fear, hope, greed, depression or anger. And they may not be limited by a narrow vision of the markets or a limited human perspective. So this removes a lot of human weaknesses from the trading strategy. But the quant strategies need a lot of back-testing against historical market experience, in order to be judged to be reliable. Of course, real performance may deviate if the market moves into “completely new territory”. That apprarently is the fear right now.PeteCA

To wethepeople:I noted your response to my comment on your post a couple of threads back (regarding the constitutionality of the income tax, the Fed, and fiat money). I replied to you in turn, and have taken the liberty of reproducing your response and my reply below.SWK_____Section 8 U.S. Constitution:The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; …To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures.First, the inception of the Federal Income Tax coincided with the creation of the extra-Contitutional (implied powers) authority granted to the Fed to “coin our money and regulate the value thereof..” I did not say the Constitution did not provide for taxation authority, but the point is that creation of a tax to pay debt is within the Constitution, the Constution is violated when congress allows a debt to be created with interest for extending the priviledge of coining our money…and then taxes us to pay the interest on debt created by that priviledge. Per the Yahoo paper: “The Court argued with the doctrine of implied powers, stating that to be ‘necessary and proper’ the Bank needed only to be useful in helping the government meet its responsibilities in maintaining the public credit and regulating the money supply.” As we now know, and Andrew Jackson so heroically acted upon to abolish that very same Second National Bank that was upheld 9-0 by the Supreme Court in the early ninteenth century, is ‘The Bank’ today has not been so helpful in helping government meet its responsibilities (it has created excessive responsibilities) and has (not) maintained the public credit and (not) regulating the money supply. Because the Federal Reserve has violated the implied powers congress was granted in the Constitution. And further as an agent of Congress, albeit a private corporation, which establishes it as an extra-Constitutional entity (i.e. not the U.S. Mint) the Federal Reserve deems itself as not answerable to Congress and has recently refused Freedom of Information Act reguests by private citizens. I would say, that a stricter letter of the law interpretation is needed to reign in such negligence created by the implied spirit of the law. It more than ironic to state the the Fed has ‘taken liberties’ with the agency relationship granted to it by the Congress under Congress’s ‘implied’ powers. The income tax merely was created to collect the interest payments from the citizens giving Congress’s ‘special agent’ private profits from compound interest in this case. Libertarian, conservative, or liberal makes no difference to me. In fact don’t let them divide us to conquer us. Fight..demand a full audit of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve Bank is no longer “necessary and proper”! It is a trust that should be busted!Reply to this comment By wethepeople on 2009-04-17 11:49:19___I’m sorry, but I believe your position is without merit and riddled with errors, among them:>…the Constution is violated when congress allows a debt to be created with interest for extending the priviledge of coining our money…and then taxes us to pay the interest on debt created by that privilege.You have cited no authority for this proposition. Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution provides, inter alia (in the part covered by your elipses), that Congress shall have the power “[t]o borrow money on the credit of the United States.” The Congress clearly has the power to create debts, then, and I see no basis in the text of the Constitution for arguing that Congress has its hands tied in the way you suggest.>As we now know, and Andrew Jackson so heroically acted upon to abolish that very same Second National Bank that was upheld 9-0 by the Supreme Court in the early ninteenth century, is ‘The Bank’ today has not been so helpful in helping government meet its responsibilities (it has created excessive responsibilities) and has (not) maintained the public credit and (not) regulating the money supply.First, there was nothing “heroic” about Jackson’s actions in abolishing the Second National Bank. Indeed, it was foolhardy. After vetoing the 1932 renewal of the Bank’s Charter passed by the Congress, the pig-headed Jackson proceeded to withdraw money from the Bank and invest it elsewhere (for which he initially was censured by the Senate), including other banks (which at that time customarily issued notes not backed by reserves of gold and silver or anything else — they were certainly not issued on the full faith and credit of the United States). This led to huge state debts and nasty inflation, so in response, Jackson stupidly started requiring that purchasers of U.S. land pay in gold or silver coins, which drove up demand for gold and silver coins. Because the banks did not have reserves, or adequate reserves, to exchange for their worthless notes, the banks collapsed, directly leading to the Panic of 1837, and a terrible economic depression. Most importantly, his actions in abolishing the Bank had no effect on the unanimous finding of the constitutionality of the Bank by the Supreme Court. The Bank WAS constitutional, even if Jackson later undertook steps leading to its demise.>…the Federal Reserve deems itself as not answerable to Congress and has recently refused Freedom of Information Act reguests by private citizens.The Federal Reserve is not directly answerable to Congress, but this is how Congress wanted it. The idea was that the Fed should be private with Congressional oversight, not control, so that important economic decisions would not be politicized (I will not dispute at this juncture whether this has been an entirely effective arrangement). As for the Freedom of Information Act, it only applied (again, by Congressional design) to public bodies, not to private or quasi-private entities such as the Fed, so the Fed is under no obligation to respond to a citizen’s demand for information on this basis.I return to my earlier point: if you think the way things now are are not as they should be, then you need to convince enough of your fellow citizens and legislators so that changes can be made to accomplish what you believe should be the case. As there is nothing in the Constitution that requires a central bank, or federal income tax, or fiat money, statutory changes alone could accomplish your objectives.SWKReply to this comment By kilgores on 2009-04-17 19:26:18

There are a number of voices on this blog who are predicting a Doomsday scenario for the economy. Dr. Roubini maintains that this will not happen, and that although things will continue to deteriorate for some time, we are not looking at a repeat of the Great Depression. Call me a google-eyed optimist, but my money’s on Dr. Roubini.SWK

I really hope youre rightdeep inside, i think we all do….

Kilgores,well stated comments,BUT:Like most posters ,although the general complaint is that the Senate and House members are in bed with the Banksters,no one says that the condition of employment of the Elected Rep’s put them in this position due to the financing involved for campaigns/reelection etc.When I asked the question of a newly elected individual there was no resistance to limiting the campaign contributions of all banks/finance/insurance companies to a standard $100,000 per campaign to level the playing field.The justification was they represent a “Utility Function” that is supervised for the purpose of financial stability. The voters are just being outbid here.There is no mystery.In addition a three term limit to inject new blood into the operation was another option.Maybe someone more knowlegable can comment.What technical options are there to change the relationship between the elected people and their representatives??????

Help Wanted Ads for Quant/Program tradershttp://www.hrg.net/index.php/job_post/listing/5

and speaking of the future and depressions – there is this from the belly of the beast:Bernanke Says Crisis Damage Likely to Be Long-Lasting (Update2)By Craig TorresApril 17 (Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the collapse of U.S. lending will probably cause “long-lasting” damage to home prices, household wealth and borrowers’ credit scores…http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=arpJXeelvfY4&refer=home

and this (time to sign off for the evening)IMF warns over parallels to Great Depressionhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/5166956/IMF-warns-over-parallels-to-Great-Depression.html

lol – is that my subconscious speaking?

I think that there are plenty of people out there/here who understand perfectly well this “crisis.” It comes down to this: THERE IS NO SOLUTION.You see, if there were a one-size-fits-all solution then that would be like everyone running to one side of the Titanic. Clearly the problem is that his presents an issue of balance. There is no balance because those with the most weight (read “most wealth”) keep running to the same side, back and forth; leaving the rest of us just get sloshed around (when the wealthy are on one side they beckon for us to go that way, and as soon as we start in that direction they dash to the other).How then, you ask, do we keep from being sloshed around? Get off the ship! Rather, as reality has it, quit playing in this game of THEIRS. You see, it’s THEIR money, and it’s THEIR game.We’re a lot like Cortez, sinking by trying to hang on to fleeting wealth. I have to admit that I’m still having difficulties letting go: but I have less to let go of, having long since taken the Red Pill.The system is guaranteed to fail. I will wager any amount with anyone on this fact. Why am I so sure? Because it’s based on growth. And until we all understand (and account for) the fact that we cannot have perpetual growth on a finite planet, this system, and any other predicated on growth, WILL crash and burn. If I were to suggest only ONE educational piece it would be Dr. Albert Bartlett’s lecture Arithmetic, Population and Energy.And I’ll say it again (as I often do), Dr. Roubini will NOT be able to address the economic problem without understanding this very basic issue (which makes me wonder how smart he really is).Mark

Decentralization of power!People are starting to get closer Also key is the need to address growth (on a finite planet).Mark

” In other words, beyond even the outrageously broad “state secrets” privilege invented by the Bush administration and now embraced fully by the Obama administration, the Obama DOJ has now invented a brand new claim of government immunity, one which literally asserts that the U.S. Government is free to intercept all of your communications (calls, emails and the like) and–even if what they’re doing is blatantly illegal and they know it’s illegal–you are barred from suing them unless they “willfully disclose” to the public what they have learned. (“New and worse secrecy and immunity claims from the Obama DOJ,” Salon, April 6, 2009)”"EFF attorney Kevin Bankston told Salon: “This is the first time [the DOJ] claimed sovereign immunity against Wiretap Act and Stored Communications Act claims. In other words, the administration is arguing that the U.S. can never be sued for spying that violates federal surveillance statutes, whether FISA, the Wiretap Act or the SCA.”http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=13155Your future?Ho hum

I believe that Dr. Doom has toned down his rhetoric and dire anaylsis at the request of Obama and his people. He also accomplished a lot in the past year and was proved right on many occasions… Would not make sense for him to continue so dire so that IF things turn positive he can ride that wave also. He is protecting his future and credibilty so as to remain well respected by many. That is why it is very important to read between the lines on what he says.Bottom line, I see it for what it is today and it is a disaster for most Americans and will stay this way for many years. You cannot accumulate the debt and liabilities we have currently and at the pace we continue to, without SEVERE consequences on everyday life and things. 35 million people on food stamps, approx 15-20Million people out of work or in Shit jobs that gets them now where. Unemployment expected to climb much higher… Forclosure and upside down mortgages are in the tens of millions… Someone tell me where all the positive news is for Americans…. And someone tell me where the approx 10 Trillion spent on fixing things has worked. Banks and Credit card companies are gouging ALL Americans in the eyes with thier new Fees and taking back of credit. State and local govt’s are gouging people with all their new taxes and levy’s and fees. Health care is broke, Education is broke, Manufacturing is broke, Green technology is a pipe dream in this country as long as Big Oil and Banks are in charge… Medicare and SS have unfunded liabilites of 60 Trillion and rising…And they (Obama and all the others) expect me and All other Americans to beleive that an extra 12.00-15.00 in our paycheck is helping…I could list 100 other gloomy pieces of what’s wrong and quite honestly not many postive things about Economics and the finacials of this country and it’s people. Plenty of positives on people and societal issues, but what we have here is a TOTAL collapse of our Economic and Financial system caused by a bunch of greedy and corrupt Govt’t officals, politicans and Corporate types.Chryslar is toast within days, GM in bankruptcy by June and to be just a shell of itslef.. How the did that happen?Optimism will return when there are positive things happneing…. I for one probably wont be around as I only have about 25 years left here if all goes well…

That’s only true for California the rest of the country did not see real estate gains even close to that of California so the first article doesn’t tell the whole truth only the part the author wanted to prove his point. Author lost his credibility by basically lying or picking out the one state to prove his point turning the article into nonobjective political garbage.

Oh, Hayes, that was good. One of your best links ever. I think I am going to apply.

concise, sad but accurate. Costa Rica is looking better all the time!

@ many threads..another way of saying the same thing…this is an interesting link addressing many aninteresting notions, suggestions and potentialtools for insights and possibilities..http://www.imprint.co.uk/Wilber.htm…And this means that, where appropriate, researchers will have to engage various injunctions that transform their own consciousness, if they are to be adequate to the postformal data. You cannot vote on the truth of the Pythagorean Theorem if you do not learn geometry (the injunction); likewise, you cannot vote on the truth of Buddha Nature if you do not learn meditation. All valid knowledge has injunction, apprehension, and confirmation; the injunctions are all of the form, `If you want to know this, you must do this’ — and thus, when it comes to consciousness studies itself, the utterly obvious but much-resisted conclusion is that certain interior injunctions will have to be followed by researchers themselves. If we do not do this, then we will not know this. We will be the Churchmen refusing Galileo’s injunction: look through this telescope and tell me what you see.

Because of this moutain of debt, you can count on the $ printing press running full bore. Basically, the government/bankster cabal is and will continue to be confiscating savers’ money so debt can be repaid in cheaper $’s. What’s the solution (within the realm of this blog) for those who are not in debt and want to survive on this crappy planet for as long as possible? Have a well-paying job, live frugally, and invest excess $’s in a diversified portfolio of hard assets. Good luck.

As a follow-up comment, take a look at the second chart in the following recent article by Eric Janszen. Thanks Eric! The 2′nd chart shows long-term Personal Consumer Expenditures in the USA.Since 1980 this important variable has been decreasing steadily on a long-term basis. Strong US recessions correspond to significant downturns in PCE, but even when PCE recovers afterwards – it never stabilizes. The trend is always down in the long-term.Long Term PCE for US ConsumersPut the message together from these two charts, and what do you conclude about where the GDP of the USA will be in 5 years?THEREFORE – the whole downturn started by the mortgage crisis in 2007 can be viewed as the early impact of a series of economic earthquakes as the USA approaches a general collapse point – for an economy based on debt and Ponzi finance.

I totally agree with you! One of the best advise here.

Omigosh! We now have 3 Petes on this blog!

Well, I’ve opined on this blog in detail about the dangers of de facto corporatocracy supplanting our democratic republic. I’m my view, the courts’ gradual recognition and expansion of constitutional rights in artificial legal persons — corporations — over the past 140 years or so has exacerbated the undue influence exercised by big money and lobbyists. Corporations are not citizens: human beings are. We need to get a handle on that before we can hope to see any meaningful change.SWK

excellent posts 3Pete! Perhaps this is why the greatest financial heist of all time is occurring now; certainly, Benvito, Pauly and the rest are aware of this outcome and need about 5 years to transfer the amount of wealth they have in mind!

Hey, I’ve got some great foil hats on sale. Interested?

PeterJB,Off topic, but; for some time I wanted to ask your opinion of consciousness after death, but couldn’t find a way to ask you the question on your blog. Probably not relevant here, but…hlowe

Yes ,I agree.I have gone back and relooked at the good Doctors video,s several times.What we are all staring at is the fact that the existing 500 year old financial system was never designed to cope with a finite world.It is not based on science,with a fixed unit of measurement that brings repeatable results when you apply a theory.Economic planning right now ,using the existing system is basically a joke.Unfortunately the joke is on us,as we dont have control over the system..Is anyone up for starting with a clean sheet of paper and devising a system that would join the Physical Economy with the Financial Economy ,that is actually stable and programmable ???

@ some of above..and speaking of stressful poetry as a form of torture.( egg, skip this section)..i was reading in the paper concerning down town N.Y.,the stated future financial center of the world, to bebuilt on the site of the horrible demolition of wtc 1-7.apparently dubai isn’t ready or working out.( soon to beunder water in so many ways.) puke here…..anyway… thoughts of sustainability ran throughmy head like sugarplums at christmas and i thoughtof ted hawkins via john prine “christmas in prison”.ted wrote a song called “The Constitution”. ..it goes….” lets not forget the constitution.that is the reason why we all stand free.our for fathers fought for the right..so that men and women can be free.”.there are more lyrics than these but these areenough..ted did time in prison, probably for drug possessionwhile committing the crime of not havingenough money or a license to do so. but that didn’tdiminish his genius..And so i had reason to go to the port authority innew york city to pick up a traveler from boston.i have a car and drove to 42 st. and 8th ave. for thepick up. here is where it becomes poetic.wouldn’t you know, with thousands of people, millions?,walking and talking, shopping and driving, hustlingand waiting, i would see on the side walk …a man, pants down to his ankles, squatting over anopen plastic bag, reading the paper and taking a shit.and as i passed he looked up to notice a mr. softyice cream truck passing by. with a half dozen yellowtaxis behind i had to slow down to wonder as dozens ofmy fellow men and women passed this marvel and , perhaps, did not even notice.?such is life in the financial capital of the world.?i thought “now this is a man i can respect”. he hasthe common sense and decency to shit into a plastic bag,in public, yes, but this is time square, presumably to dispose of in a proper way whatever that may be.then i thought of all those imperial defficators inpositions of “power” who choose to shit where theyeat. no comparison. i’ll take the guy with themr. sofy dream.peas.

h,for the sake of clarity and consciousness which isa commodity in rare supply, here i offer some free.blindman and related blind and fish head crapis not rationally or directly attributable topjb, though influenced by said source. that, he, that I, is other than blind identified.as in blindman is not pjb.other than that i have no certainty or clarity.take home message: do your own diligence.ps. i can tell you “consciousness” isoverrated. get a good nights sleep andthen dream this life anew.

Don’t worship false idles!

sorry for all the links to ZH – but this chart is the best”the chart below demonstrates the various bailout programs (and key bailout players) sorted chronologically.”chart

Nice post Hayes, but I am wondering if there are a few items missing: for instance, BSC/JPM, Maiden Lane 1,2 & 3

(extract)July 29, 2006Global Economic Collapse – A New Global Dark AgeDateline: August 1, 2006Gold:* The world reserve currency concept is tied to the notion of a single all- powerful superpower. That is a 20th-century idea that is going away. It is also tied to the idea of a single economic powerhouse striding atop the rest of the world. That idea is also going away.* While Keynesians see the rise of gold as temporary – and will continue to assert their naysayer views as gold rises further – it will soon come to light that the ‘world reserve currency’ idea was the temporary thing; an anachronism of the industrial age.* Asia’s relative lack of capital market structure – its underdeveloped backbone of lending networks – will make a de facto gold standard that much more attractive. By going straight to gold, Asians get the “trust” that is already built into the metal…they can skip all the financial engineering, or get to working it in later.* Gold (and silver) has intrinsic value. Gold can also be bought on the streets of most Asian countries; by anyone.* Gold also steps up with a number of advantages. It is already regarded as a hard asset safe haven and a key barometer of financial anxiety. Its value is easily understood and appreciated by the masses. It can function without the need for a complex financial system to guide and regulate transactions.* Asia could well be the vanguard for a new gold standard because of internal dynamics. China is exemplary in this regard in that Chinese citizens regularly save as much as 40% of their personal income. This is in large part due to the lack of a safety net in China. This mindset strongly favors a physical, storable asset, like gold.* The price of gold is also being subjected to manipulation by major financial elements in what appears to be concerted and collaborative efforts.* And again, Asian personal savings are extremely high – across the board.http://verbewarp.blogspot.com/2006/07/global-economic-collapse-new-global.htmlHo hum

Financial news reporting is one of the few professions in America that allows its practitioners to enhance their reputations as experts by perfecting a record for failure.Priceless!Mark

@ hlowe “consciousness after death…”Perhaps begin at Evolving Man August 16, 2005http://verbewarp.blogspot.com/2005_08_14_archive.htmlBetter start with what Intelligence and intellect are prior to getting into consciousness and matters after the fact…Ho hum

Weatheman too…lol

New Thread

For what benefit? When you have so much more than you could ever possibly spend, what’s the point of sterilizing the ground that grows the food? Only smaller crops, if any at all.There is definitely some psychotic behavior going on. Self delusion leading to self destruction.Thanks PeteCA for the link and analysis. More grim reality… It just doesn’t make any real sense.

Well thanks SWK,it is true in my neck of the woods that people dont appreciate how much legal power the Corporations have and utilize on a daily basis.I have seen first hand examples in the field of environmental regulation, how the senior staff can safely ignore /defer compliance,all with the “assistance”of the companies solicitors.The Federal Regulation in the field of Finance and Environment isn,t worth spit in many cases.The law is simply ignored….

Well, coming from someone on the west coast I guess I can understand your skepticism: I was once in weather in So Ca. It’s not real easy forecasting weather on the west coast (or east coast if you’re in the southern hemisphere).But weather forecasters’ aims aren’t to mislead or steal from folks.Mark

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