Ha, woke up and found some stimulus (the thing we live on these days) in this topic: “Roubini talks about how Europe has socialized losses, but conveniently fails to mention his favorites in the Obama administration who are the kings of moral hazard”Michael Hudson has more on these favorites:If the economy deteriorates in the L-shaped “hockey-stick” rut that many economists forecast, what political price will President Obama and the Democrats pay for having returned the financial keys to the Bush Republican appointees who gave away the store in the first place? Reappointing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke may end up injuring not only the economy but also the Democratic Party for many years to come.The remarkable upward redistribution of wealth since 1979 attests to the success of the Fed and Treasury tandem of financial-fiscal reform – giving the word “reform” almost as bad a name in America as it has in Russia since the neoliberal Rubinomics reforms pressed by Larry Summers, Jeffrey Sachs and Co. in the 1990s. Lowering interest rates enabled banks to sell vastly more debt than ever before, while wealth-holders took their returns in low-taxed capital gains rather than “earned” income taxed as highly as wages. The more an individual or wealth bracket earned, the lower the tax rate that had to be paid. This is the golden age that the Fed and Treasury seek to renew.Labor does not have much to gain from this policy. As Mr. Bernanke’s predecessor, Chairman Greenspan, famously bragged, what has caused quiescence among labor union members when it comes to striking for higher wages – or even for better working conditions – is the fear of being fired and being unable to meet their mortgage and credit card payments. “One paycheck away from homelessness,” or a downgraded credit rating leading to soaring interest charges, has become a formula for labor management.http://michael-hudson.com/Gives a new meaning to the concept of predatory debt creation, methinks.Good morning, debt slaves, look at the bright side of it, the debt originators are wealthier than they’ve ever been. And they were just funded by your leaders to create more of the same. Ain’t that great from and for them?

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about the biology of addiction?DR. GABOR MATÉ: For sure. You see, if you look at the brain circuits involved in addiction—and that’s true whether it’s a shopping addiction like mine or an addiction to opiates like the heroin addict—we’re looking for endorphins in our brains. Endorphins are the brain’s feel good, reward, pleasure and pain relief chemicals. They also happen to be the love chemicals that connect us to the universe and to one another.Now, that circuitry in addicts doesn’t function very well, as the circuitry of incentive and motivation, which involves the chemical dopamine, also doesn’t function very well. Stimulant drugs like cocaine and crystal meth, nicotine and caffeine, all elevate dopamine levels in the brain, as does sexual acting out, as does extreme sports, as does workaholism and so on.Now, the issue is, why do these circuits not work so well in some people, because the drugs in themselves are not surprisingly addictive. And what I mean by that is, is that most people who try most drugs never become addicted to them. And so, there has to be susceptibility there. And the susceptible people are the ones with these impaired brain circuits, and the impairment is caused by early adversity, rather than by genetics.AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean, “early adversity”?DR. GABOR MATÉ: Well, the human brain, unlike any other mammal, for the most part develops under the influence of the environment. And that’s because, from the evolutionary point of view, we developed these large heads, large fore-brains, and to walk on two legs we have a narrow pelvis. That means—large head, narrow pelvis—we have to be born prematurely. Otherwise, we would never get born. The head already is the biggest part of the body. Now, the horse can run on the first day of life. Human beings aren’t that developed for two years. That means much of our brain development, that in other animals occurs safely in the uterus, for us has to occur out there in the environment. And which circuits develop and which don’t depend very much on environmental input. When people are mistreated, stressed or abused, their brains don’t develop the way they ought to. It’s that simple. And unfortunately, my profession, the medical profession, puts all the emphasis on genetics rather than on the environment, which, of course, is a simple explanation. It also takes everybody off the hook.AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean, it takes people off the hook?DR. GABOR MATÉ: Well, if people’s behaviors and dysfunctions are regulated, controlled and determined by genes, we don’t have to look at child welfare policies, we don’t have to look at the kind of support that we give to pregnant women, we don’t have to look at the kind of non-support that we give to families, so that, you know, most children in North America now have to be away from their parents from an early age on because of economic considerations. And especially in the States, because of the welfare laws, women are forced to go find low-paying jobs far away from home, often single women, and not see their kids for most of the day. Under those conditions, kids’ brains don’t develop the way they need to.And so, if it’s all caused by genetics, we don’t have to look at those social policies; we don’t have to look at our politics that disadvantage certain minority groups, so cause them more stress, cause them more pain, in other words, more predisposition for addictions; we don’t have to look at economic inequalities. If it’s all genes, it’s all—we’re all innocent, and society doesn’t have to take a hard look at its own attitudes and policies.

AMY GOODMAN: You began your talk last night at Columbia, which I went to hear, at the law school, with a quote, and I’d like you to end our conversation with that quote.DR. GABOR MATÉ: Would that be the quote that only in the presence of compassion will people allow themselves—AMY GOODMAN: Mahfouz.DR. GABOR MATÉ: Oh, oh, no, yeah, Naguib Mahfouz, the great Egyptian writer. He said that “Nothing records the effects of a sad life” so completely as the human body—“so graphically as the human body.” And you see that sad life in the faces and bodies of my patients.AMY GOODMAN: Well, Dr. Gabor Maté, I want to thank you very much for being with us.

Something for those big impaired brains of “leadership” to consider:”Under the Equal Protection clause, not to mention the First Amendment itself, government may not grant the use of a forum to people whose views it finds acceptable, but deny use to those wishing to express less favored or more controversial views.”– Supreme Court Of The United StatesSource: Police Department v. Mosley, 1972Comment: You have to be a little concerned when “leadership” sponsors a program to kill its own constituents and to obtain public support in order to establish an Official POLICY for “leadership” to unleash all its trained monkey’s to do what it has been doing anyway… and not a word of objection, au contraire, from the lemmings-to-be-culled (read: citizens), er with the stench of official consent (?).Ho hum

The Bishops and Cardinals of the Holy Order of Catholic (Centre of the Universe) Order of all Things Pseudo-Economic and Priestly invade Australia in order to plot the next round of manipulations of the public funds in order to support their failed theories and their efforts to maintain the Global Status Quo, er, Amen:”THE world’s top central bankers began arriving in Australia for high-level talks as renewed fears about the strength of the global economic recovery gripped world share markets.”"Representatives from 24 central banks and monetary authorities, including the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank, landed in Sydney to meet tomorrow at an undisclosed location.”http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/world-bankers-meet-in-sydney-as-recovery-fears-intensify/story-e6frfh4f-1225827280461And, and the growing speculation is that the Holy Pope himself, the appointed Holy See said to be appointed by God itself (like his cousin in Vatican City, the evidence of the Carte Blanche signed by the Parties has not yet surfaced for public consumption) That is, Pope Benanke I, will attend and Head the final push for the ever faith-based and Holy faithful and loyal servants of the political obedient.”Speculation that the chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, would make an appearance could not be confirmed last night.”Wow, geewiz… what more can I say?Ho hum

http://www.garynull.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/GaryNullShow020810.mp3.http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17468.February 8, 2010 Haiti, Is it a Humanitarian Operation or an Invasion?The Bankruptcy of the United States is Now Certainby Porter Stansberry.”When governments go bankrupt it’s called “a default.” Currency speculators figured out how to accurately predict when a country would default. Two well-known economists – Alan Greenspan and Pablo Guidotti – published the secret formula in a 1999 academic paper. That’s why the formula is called the Greenspan-Guidotti rule. The rule states: To avoid a default, countries should maintain hard currency reserves equal to at least 100% of their short-term foreign debt maturities. The world’s largest money management firm, PIMCO, explains the rule this way: “The minimum benchmark of reserves equal to at least 100% of short-term external debt is known as the Greenspan-Guidotti rule. Greenspan-Guidotti is perhaps the single concept of reserve adequacy that has the most adherents and empirical support.”The principle behind the rule is simple. If you can’t pay off all of your foreign debts in the next 12 months, you’re a terrible credit risk. Speculators are going to target your bonds and your currency, making it impossible to refinance your debts. A default is assured.So how does America rank on the Greenspan-Guidotti scale? It’s a guaranteed default. The U.S. holds gold, oil, and foreign currency in reserve. The U.S. has 8,133.5 metric tonnes of gold (it is the world’s largest holder). That’s 16,267,000 pounds. At current dollar values, it’s worth around $300 billion. The U.S. strategic petroleum reserve shows a current total position of 725 million barrels. At current dollar prices, that’s roughly $58 billion worth of oil. And according to the IMF, the U.S. has $136 billion in foreign currency reserves. So altogether… that’s around $500 billion of reserves. Our short-term foreign debts are far bigger.”…..

“We conclude that the government serves no role in rousing passion nor in initiating or funding entrepreneurship. Instead, the state serves only as a detriment to entrepreneurship.”From Mises Daily (article):Passion Comes from Libertyby Jonathan M. Finegold Catalan on February 9, 2010″Liberty Leading the People” (1830)Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863)”Entrepreneurship is a building block for economic development. Individuals who invest and invent are instilled with a passion to create wealth. The integral role played by entrepreneurship in economic and human development is almost universally accepted. The main point of contention is in pinpointing the source of the incentive to invest.”Comment: The reader will note in this article as well as many others these days, the role of ‘biology’ in the building of arguments on socio-economics and indeed technology across the board. This approach is valid and appropriate and to this end I propose that governance by a central Authority which demands obedience and compliance to an imposed single ideology to be more analogically akin to that of a single celled Amoeba fungal parasite, than that of the capacity of Man and therefore will never hold the centre.”Entrepreneurship” is really the expression of the prime attributes of the individual whilst sustaining life and contributing “privilege” (a biological term) to the fruits of self-procreation and fundamentally, each individual is unique – by nature – and, therefore, any form of socio-economic arrangements must not only acknowledge this “fact”, but also leverage this unique situation to the benefit of the whole, which,a priori, cannot be defined; nor should it be… especially by ‘large impaired brains’ which represent a mucus sponsored single celled Amoeba parasitic fungoid of today’s governing ideologically inspired chaos er, “leadership”, and all that hangs off it!Think on this: Circa 7 billion totally unique creatures each capable of creating a subspecies through expression. Do you wish YOUR life, your whole life to be wasted on obeying the impositions and rules of some vegetable crackpot living in eastern Europe or the Levant just because it has influence and can’t mind its own business?Where are you? Who are you? Why are you?Adapting to Universal Principles is being in “accord” and pushing this edge, means to be human. This is where we have to go!Keywords: Amoeba | Fungus | Parasite | accord | imposition | crackpots | “leadership” | you |Ho hum