Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Monday 08.23.2010
Something smells (STINKS) in Chicago, at the ShoreBank . . .
read articles two and three VERY CAREFULLY.
ShoreBank, Seven Others Shuttered as 2010 Failures Reach 118
By Dakin Campbell and James Sterngold
Aug. 21 (Bloomberg) -- ShoreBank Corp., the Chicago lender operating under a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. cease-and- desist order for 13 months, and seven other banks were shut by regulators as 2010 bank failures climbed to 118.
ShoreBank's 15 branches, including those in Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit, will open as Urban Partnership Bank, according to statements from the FDIC.
"The good news is that the bank, under this new management, will still be there and serving the South Side community," said Dory Rand, referring to Urban Partnership's William Farrow. Rand is president of the Chicago-based Woodstock Institute, a non-profit that studies community lending."They have made the South Side a decent place to live and work and do business."
Obama's Renewable Energy and Climate Change Agenda
Karl W.Miller - fool.com
This is an interesting story put together from various articles and TV shows by the British Times paper. It shows what Obama and his friends are really all about. It's not hope and change, it is money.
I warn you, the first part is a little boring, but stick with it. The second part connects all the dots for you (it will open your eyes). The end explains how Obama and all his cronies will end up as multi-billionaires. (It's definitely worth the read. You will not be disappointed).
A small bank in Chicago called SHORE BANK almost went bankrupt during the recession. The bank made a profit on its foreign micro-loans (see below) but had lost money in sub-prime mortgages in the US . It was facing likely closure by federal regulators. However, because the bank's executives were well connected with members of the Obama Administration, a private rescue bailout was arranged. The bank's employees had donated money to Obama's Senate campaign. In other words, Shore Bank was too politically connected to be allowed to go under.
The shady ShoreBank bailout
By Michelle Malkin
"No more bailouts, no more greed, how many profits do you need?"
That’s been a signature chant of community organizers and Big Labor thugs who have stormed bank offices and financial executives’ private homes decrying corporate welfare over the past several months. But now that the federal government and a coalition of big banking interests are poised to bail out a crony Chicago bank with longtime ties to the Obama administration, Saul Alinsky's avenging angels are nowhere to be found.
ShoreBank is a Windy City investment bank with all the right (or, rather, left) ties. Its stated progressive mission isn’t merely to make good lending decisions, but to engage in Barack Obama-esque social engineering to "create economic equity and a healthy environment." The ShoreBank corporate slogan: "Let’s change the world."
Feds Looking into ShoreBank Connections
By Charlie Gasparino | FOXBusiness - Aug 4, 2010
As if ShoreBank doesn't have enough problems, the financially troubled but politically connected Chicago-based community lender is now facing a federal investigation into whether political pressure was applied to force several major Wall Street firms to bail out the bank before it was liquidated by banking regulators, FOX Business has learned.
Neil Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, which has agreed to earmark $75 million to help ShoreBank survive, has now bowed to pressure from Congressional Republicans and has agreed to investigate charges that key officials in the Obama White House, as well as FDIC chief Sheila Bair, pressured Wall Street firms to donate money to keep ShoreBank alive.
Regulators shut down big Chicago bank, seven others
WASHINGTON (AP) - Regulators on Friday shut down a big community bank based in Chicago that has been known for its social activism but racked by financial troubles in recent months. A consortium funded by several of the biggest U.S. financial firms is buying its assets and pledging to operate the new bank by the same principles.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over ShoreBank, with $2.16 billion in assets and $1.54 billion in deposits. Urban Partnership Bank, the newly chartered financial institution, agreed to assume ShoreBank's deposits and nearly all its assets.
The FDIC also seized seven other banks Friday, bringing to 118 the number of U.S. bank failures this year amid the recession and mounting loan defaults.
OneCalifornia Bank buys Shorebank Pacific
PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL
ShoreBank Pacific will be acquired by OneCalifornia Bank.
ShoreBank, a community bank based in Ilwaco,Wash., employs 17 people and has about $80 million in assets. Its largest office is in downtown Portland.
OneCalifornia and ShoreBank announced the stock purchase agreement Saturday evening. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Little Timmy, the Goldman boy after all At Treasury, Geithner Struggles to Escape a Past He Never Had
By JACKIE CALMES - NYTimes.com
WASHINGTON - Timothy F. Geithner has been misidentified as a former Wall Street insider from Goldman Sachs so many times since he became the Treasury secretary that he and his advisers had taken to joking about it. Then the joke backfired.
Earlier this month, Mr. Geithner had breakfast in Manhattan with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Robert Steel, a deputy mayor and former Treasury official in the Bush administration who had previously worked at Goldman. Facetiously, a Geithner aide said Mr. Steel and Mr. Geithner knew each other from the investment bank.
Later that day at a public event, the mayor in all seriousness referred to Mr. Steel and Mr. Geithner, and added, "They both worked at Goldman." Oops.
Gerald Celente On the Edge with Max Keiser - 20 August 2010
America no longer needs Chinese money, for now
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
As the Sino-American showdown in the South China and Yellow Seas escalates into the gravest superpower clash since the Cold War, the United States cannot wisely rely on China to help fund its budget deficit for an
The cacophony of voices in Beijing questioning or mocking the credit-worthiness of the US is now deafening, from premier Wen Jiabao on down. The results are in any case manifest: US Treasury data show that China has cut its holdings of Treasury debt by roughly $100bn (£65bn) over the past year to $844bn.
ZeroHedge reports that net purchases by the big three of China, Japan, and the UK (Mid-East petro-dollars) have been sliding for two years. In August they bought the least amount of US debt this year.
Wall Street debates prospect of bond bubble
By Adam Shell, USA TODAY
NEW YORK - Is a bubble brewing in the normally sedate U.S. government bond market?
That's the big debate raging on Wall Street. Heavy buying of 10-year Treasury notes by investors in search of a safe place to park cash, as well as higher yields than available on certificates of deposit, is pushing prices of government-issued debt sharply higher - and knocking yields down to levels last seen 17 months ago in the depths of the financial crisis.
In early April, the 10-year note yielded nearly 4%. On Friday, it was 2.62%, and last week, it hit its lowest yield since March 2009. Its all-time low yield was 2.06% in December 2008, three months after the collapse of Lehman Bros. nearly sparked a global financial meltdown.
Greek crisis refuses to go away
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard - Telegraph.co.uk
The European Commission has approved the next €9bn (£7.4bn) tranche of loans for Greece but the underlying economy continues to deteriorate as Greek banks suffer a record loss of deposits and output contracts at a quickening pace.
A report by HSBC said banks had lost 8pc of their entire deposit base in the five months to May. "The Greek market has never, since the first data in 2001, experienced such attrition," said banking analyst Joanna Telioudi.
While some withdrawals point to capital flight by wealthy Greeks, it is clear that households and companies are running down savings to make ends meet. The Athens Chamber of Commerce warned yesterday that its members are in "dire straits", with a majority facing a liquidity threat.
Dow/Gold Ratio Suggests Possible Future $10,400 Gold!
Gold/S&P 500 Ratio Suggests Possible Future $6,000 Gold
Gold/Silver Ratio Suggests Future Price for Silver Somewhere Between $75 and $650
World Gold Mining Index/Gold Ratio Suggests Much Higher Prices for Gold and Silver Mining Shares
Gold/Oil Ratio Suggests Possible Future Prices for Gold and Oil in Excess of $3,150 and $250 Respectively
Ron Paul: Gold is Money!
The Dollar's Value is Destined to Go Down
The Best Gold Interview of 2010
Jeff Clark, Casey's Gold & Resource Report
Much of what passes for "insider" information these days is often conspiracy-edged or largely conjecture. True inside information is actually hard to come by. So what follows is the refreshingly candid and uncut version of my talk with a first-hand participant in the murky and little-understood world of gold bullion, mints, and bullion dealers.
Customarily, when considering a company for a potential recommendation, I hold a series of discussions with management. It was during one of these vetting procedures that I spoke with Andy Schectman of Miles Franklin - and heard some disturbing reports about supply that every investor should know. Andy is a bullion seller, so you're welcome to take his comments with a grain of salt. On the other hand, what he sees week after week and what he hears from his high-level industry contacts might just make you pull back on that salt shaker and re-inventory the number of ounces you own...
Silver Velocity- The Coming Bullet Money can lose its value through excessive abundance, if so much silver is coined as to heighten people's demand for silver bullion. For in this way the coinage's estimation vanishes when it cannot buy as much silver as the money itself contains... The solution is to mint no more coinage until it recovers its par value -- Copernicus Silver Velocity to rise
Our Hinde Silver Trend model has reached a significant low that usually precedes a dynamic move. This move can be lower or higher but our other technical indicators signal a move higher is the most likely scenario.
Peter Schiff - Dollar, CBO, Reich, Freddie & Fannie, Refis
Why Quantitative Easing is Likely to Trigger
a Collapse of the U.S. Dollar
John P. Hussman, Ph.D. - HussmanFunds.com
A week ago, the Federal Reserve initiated a new program of "quantitative easing" (QE), with the Fed purchasing U.S. Treasury securities and paying for those securities by creating billions of dollars in new monetary base. Treasury bond prices surged on the action. With the U.S. economy predictably weakening, this second round of quantitative easing appears likely to continue. Unfortunately, the unintended side effect of this policy shift is likely to be an abrupt collapse in the foreign exchange value of the U.S. dollar.
What Problems Lie Ahead for the U.S. Dollar?
By: Julian D. W. Phillips - GoldSeek.com The recent history of the Dollar
China is the largest holder of the U.S. Dollar in its foreign exchange reserves at $2.45 + trillion. This is an impossible number to trade on foreign exchanges. So they're stuck with them until they can spend them. But, as long as the U.S. Dollar is the world's sole reserve currency, these reserves are useful to buy any asset in any country. It is vital that they retain their buying power. Buying power is defined by its exchange rate value and inside the U.S. relates to the inflation rate. A prime task of the Federal Reserve is to maintain price stability, i.e. buying power stability. So when China expressed concern over the value of the Dollar [and its buying power], we all became concerned. There are many reasons to be concerned about the future of the Dollar. We shall look at some of these in this article.
Inflation, not deflation, Mr. Bernanke World divides into ice-cold and red-hot economies
By Andy Xie
BEIJING (Caixin Online) -- In the wake of a barrage of bad economic data, the yield on two-year U.S. Treasury notes has tumbled to 0.5% and the 10-year note to 2.8%, almost reaching the levels after Lehman's collapse. Pundits in the U.S. and other Western countries are talking about deflation again.
The decline in the consumer price index for the past three months gives this view ammunition. The Fed is coming under pressure to resume quantitative easing (QE). In anticipation of the Fed resuming QE -- nicknamed "QE 2" -- the dollar has declined quickly by 10% from its recent high. Both the Treasury and currency markets have already priced in "QE 2."
The Economy is in Big Trouble
By MIKE WHITNEY - CounterPunch.org
Imagine the reaction at the White House when the Department of Labor released its weekly unemployment figures on Thursday. Jobless claims rose by 12,000 to 500,000 in the second week of August. There's been no improvement in the jobs market in 9 months and now unemployment is edging upwards again. This wasn't supposed to happen. The Obama administration had bet everything that the economy had turned the corner and would gradually get better. Many economists saw less than a 10 per cent chance that the economy would tip back into recession. After all, double dip recessions are "extremely rare". Now more people are losing their jobs and Team Obama is caught in the headlights. There is no back-up plan, no Plan B. The Democrats will face the midterms with no stimulus to create new jobs and with an economy that is steadily deteriorating. It's going to be a massacre and they know it.
It's doom and gloom all over again Survey sees fear trumping greed in the market
By Howard Gold
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Investors are scared--really, really scared.
That's what our latest MoneyShow.com Investors' Sentiment indicator tells us, in big, bold, red letters:
HELP!
Our most recent survey of the active, mainly self-directed investors who use MoneyShow.com showed the highest bearish ratings we've ever seen--far greater than back in February 2009, just before the market bottomed. Read MoneyShow's "Investors Aren't Believers."
Cost of this time down: Stagflation Bubbles burst, and no amount of clever labels can change that fact. Recovery is going to take a while, and we can expect low growth and inflation while we wait.
By Bill Fleckenstein - MSN Money
Gauging the mood of the market over recent weeks, the dominant sentiments seem to be uncertainty and angst. Certainly there are a number of possible explanations: a weak economy, the ugly employment picture and deflation worries, to name a few.
But it was the lead editorial in the Aug. 12 New York Times, headlined, "When the Fed speaks," that I think most aptly put its finger on the recent bout of fear and unease.
And Now We're Headed For The GREATEST Depression,
Says Gerald Celente
by Henry Blodget - TechTicker
The fake "recovery" was nice while it lasted, says famous apocalyptic forecaster Gerald Celente, founder of the Trends Research Institute. But now the fun's over, and we're headed for what Celente describes as the "Greatest Depression."
Specifically, the always startling Celente says the country is headed for rising unemployment, poverty, and violent class warfare as the government efforts to keep the economy going begin to fail.
Abercrombie & Fitch to close 110 stores by 2011
SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES - BY Sarah Duxbury
Abercrombie & Fitch said it would close up to 110 stores over the next 18 months.
Most closures will come through expiring leases, and will affect the Abercrombie Kids and Abercrombie and Fitch brands. The Ohio-based company said that it will close 60 U.S. stores over 2010 and an additional 50 U.S. stores in 2011.
Abercrombie currently operates 1,098 stores under the Abercrombie & Fitch, Abercrombie Kids, Hollister and Gilly Hicks brands.
Nevada unemployment grows in July Some areas of Nevada economy are showing signs of stability
By JENNIFER ROBISON - LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
If you're waiting for an end to Nevada's 16-month string of record unemployment, well, hunker down and dig in.
Experts say it'll be at least half a year before the hiring picture stabilizes, and the Silver State could easily see jobless gains through the end of 2010.
"It really comes back to consumers," said Jered McDonald, an economist with the state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. "As long as consumers worry about maintaining a job and taking pay cuts, they're just not going to spend on a trip to Las Vegas, and until those folks can start coming back in greater numbers, we're probably going to remain on a negative economic trend."
Fascism, American Style: 'Too Big to Fail' Is Killing the Middle Class, Celente Says
by Peter Gorenstein - TechTicker
August has been a hot bed of merger & acquisition activity, including:
Intel to buy McAfee for $7.7 billion
Mining giant BHP Billiton wants to takeover agricultural goliath Potash for $40 billion.
Dell to buy 3PAR for about $1.2 billion in cash
First Niagara Financial Group agreed to buy Connecticut's
NewAlliance Bancshares Inc. for about $1.5 billion in cash and stock.
M&A activity is generally viewed as a good sign for the market and economy.
To the contrary, says Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute. "This country went from a nation of Main Street, mom and pop businesses to Wall Street and 'too big to fails'," he tells Tech Ticker in this clip. ("Not only were they 'too big to fail,' they were 'too big to jail'," he says of Wall Street execs.)
This Is Why There Are No Jobs in America
By: DailyWealth - MarketOracle.co.uk
Porter Stansberry writes: I'd like to make you a business offer.
Seriously. This is a real offer. In fact, you really can't turn me down, as you'll come to understand in a moment...
Here's the deal. You're going to start a business or expand the one you've got now. It doesn't really matter what you do or what you're going to do. I'll partner with you no matter what business you're in - as long as it's legal.
But I can't give you any capital - you have to come up with that on your own. I won't give you any labor - that's definitely up to you. What I will do, however, is demand you follow all sorts of rules about what products and services you can offer, how much (and how often) you pay your employees, and where and when you're allowed to operate your business. That's my role in the affair: to tell you what to do. Seriously. This is a real offer. In fact, you really can't turn me down, as you'll come to understand in a moment...
U.S. Mortgage Relief Effort Is Falling Short of Its Goal
By DAVID STREITFELD - NYTimes.com
The Obama administration's mortgage relief program, originally intended to shield three million households from foreclosure, now looks as if it will permanently help as few as one-sixth of that number.
While millions say they need help avoiding foreclosure and many struggling households applied, data released Friday showed the dropout rate from the Making Home Affordable Program was very high: 96,000 trial modifications were canceled by lenders in July. The number of canceled trials now exceeds 616,000.
Post-Mortgage Meltdown, Where Do We Go Now?
NPR.org
For more than 20 years, the mantra in Washington has been "more, not less" when it comes to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the expansion of homeownership.
But in light of the financial crisis and Fannie and Freddie's near-collapse, policy leaders are also rethinking the government's role - and many Americans are starting to question whether homeownership is the only path to the American Dream.
Fannie and Freddie function by buying, bundling and then stamping a government guarantee on mortgages. Then they sell them to investors. It keeps the banks happy because it keeps capital flowing, and it keeps consumers happy because it makes low, fixed-rate mortgages possible.
Rense and Celente prepare for the worst
Mortgage Fraud Is Rising, With a Twist Adopting to Tighter Rules After Collapse, Scammers Turn to More Complex Plots
By ROBBIE WHELAN
New data suggests that mortgage fraud - which got tougher to pull off after the collapse of the U.S. real estate market - is returning in a big way.
Data prepared for The Wall Street Journal by research firm CoreLogic, examining about seven million home loans made by hundreds of lenders, show that losses from mortgage fraud-ranging from falsified credit reports to identity theft - rose 17% last year after declining 57% in the two years after its 2006 peak.
In 2009, $14 billion in loans, or about 0.7% of all mortgage loans made in the U.S., were originated with fraudulent application data.
Housing Diagnosis: Still Weak
By DAVID REILLY - WSJ.com - $$
Talk of mortgage-market reform has started percolating in Washington. But housing numbers this week are likely to reinforce the notion that the market is still far too weak for radical surgery.
Existing-home sales for July, due Tuesday, are expected to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.63 million, which would mark a nearly 10% decline compared to a year earlier and the first time since June 2009 that the rate has fallen back below 5 million units. Credit Suisse economists believe the figures could reach their lowest level since at least 1999. New-home sales figures due Wednesday, meanwhile, are expected to stay flat with the previous month, at a near-record low of about 330,000 units.
Hard Times Are Getting Harder: Why The Silence?
By Danny Schechter - NewsDissector.com WHO IS TALKING ABOUT WHAT MATTERS?
We know we live in hard times that are on the verge of getting harder with 500,000 new claims for unemployment last week, a recent record. The stock market may be over for now as fear and panic drives small investors out. Big corporations hoard stashes of cash rather then hire workers.
Foreclosures are up, and the Administration's programs to stop them are down, well below their stated goals, only helping 1/6th of those promised assistance.
And here's a statistic for you: 300,000. That's the number of foreclosure filings every month for the past 17 months. This year, 1.9 million homes will be lost, down from 2 million last year. Is that progress? In July alone, 92, 858 homes were repossessed.
Ron Paul - Discussing Austrian vs. Keynesian Economics
Housing Fades as a Means to Build Wealth, Analysts Say
By DAVID STREITFELD - NYTimes.com
Housing will eventually recover from its great swoon. But many real estate experts now believe that home ownership will never again yield rewards like those enjoyed in the second half of the 20th century, when houses not only provided shelter but also a plump nest egg.
The wealth generated by housing in those decades, particularly on the coasts, did more than assure the owners a comfortable retirement. It powered the economy, paying for the education of children and grandchildren, keeping the cruise ships and golf courses full and the restaurants humming.
A housing fix Entice investors back to MBS mart
By JONATHON TRUGMAN - NYPost.com
On Aug. 17, the Treasury Department held a "conference" on the future of housing finance. Just a mere two years after the seismic fall, It comes after Healthcare and Fin-Reg. Priorities, huh?
So, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Shaun Donovan of Housing and Urban Development held court with a dozen pre-selected panelists.
Not much really new came out of this confab except for the call by one to nationalize the industry and another to let the divine being sort things out (sort of).
Well, both are unrealistic. In the real world we need good, pragmatic solutions that work. This is serious stuff and so far the "A" Team hasn't come up with much.
California Short Sales and Foreclosures, Part 1 of 3
California Short Sales and Foreclosures, Part 2 of 3
California Short Sales and Foreclosures, Part 3 of 3
5 most (and least) affordable housing markets First place: Syracuse, N.Y. Median home price: $88,000 Median income: $64,300 Affordability score: 97.2%
This upstate New York City rocketed to the top of the most affordable major metro areas. More than 97% of all homes sold during the three months ended June 30 were within the reach of families earning the city's median family income.
Affordability is so high in Syracuse not because people make more money there -- the area's median income closely matches the national median of $64,400 -- but because home prices are so low. The median home sells for just under $65,000.
'Cash for clunkers' car dealers investigated
By Gregory Korte, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON - The government is investigating at least 20 car dealerships it claims violated the rules of last year's cash-for-clunkers program. Government auditors say up to $94 million in rebates may be ineligible because they lack the proper documentation.
One year after the $3 billion car-buying frenzy, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has reached an enforcement phase. Nine dealers have paid a total of $71,500 in fines.
Obama's GM bailout may destroy capitalism
Porter Stansberry - SilverBearCafe.com
I'm not going to get into what's fair. That's for individual bondholders to decide," explained new GM CEO (and former CFO) Fritz Henderson. Fair? There's nothing fair about doing business with the government or the unions...
Few people, especially in government and big business, seem to remember one of the founding principles of Western civilization and capitalism: private property. If you borrow someone's private property, you have to pay it back. It's not optional. GM has borrowed $27 billion from its bondholders - and Fritz Henderson was the person who arranged nearly all of these loans while he was CFO. Fritz promised lenders they would be repaid. If GM cannot repay these debts on time with interest, then according to all the laws of this country and 1,000 years of common-law tradition, GM's assets are legally transferred from the company's equity investors to the bondholders through bankruptcy. Them's the rules. But apparently, OBAMA! has other ideas about how things should work...
Fixing Social Security "Relatively Simple" But Pension Crisis Will "End in Tears," Mauldin Says
by Peter Gorenstein - TechTicker
Social Security turns 75 this month. A pillar of the New Deal era, Social Security remains vitally important to Americans and shapes the way many plan for retirement. "Half of Floridians on Social Security rely on the benefit for half their income. Some 25 percent count on Social Security for at least 90 percent of their income," notes a recent St. Petersburg Times story.
At 75, however, Social Security is showing its age. Based on current projections the program will fail to pay 100% of promised benefits in 2037. ItÕs also suffering a crisis of confidence among younger Americans. That same St. Pete Times article sites a recent USA Today-Gallup Poll that found 75% of those 18 to 34 "don't expect to get a Social Security check."
Fidelity: Withdrawals From Retirement Accounts Hit Record High
By HUGH COLLINS - DailyFinance.com
The number of workers making hardship withdrawals from their retirement accounts reached a record high in the second quarter as the sagging economy drains household wealth.
High unemployment, fewer working hours and reduced amounts of overtime have hit the take-home pay of many workers, The Associated Press reported.
"People tend to be taking home less," Beth McHugh, vice president of marketing insight at Fidelity Investments, told the AP. "As a result the percentage of individuals initiating hardship distributions is one of the things we're concerned about."
The Erosion of America's Middle Class
by Thomas Schulz - LewRockwell.com
While America's super-rich congratulate themselves on donating billions to charity, the rest of the country is worse off than ever. Long-term unemployment is rising and millions of Americans are struggling to survive. The gap between rich and poor is wider than ever and the middle class is disappearing.
Ventura is a small city on the Pacific coast, about an hour's drive north of Los Angeles. Luxury homes with a view of the ocean dot the hillsides, and the beaches are popular with surfers. Ventura is storybook California. "It's a well-off place," says Captain William Finley. "But about 20 percent of the city is what we call at risk of homelessness." Finley heads the local branch of the Salvation Army.
Understanding America's Class System... Honk if you love caviar
Joe Bageant - SilverBearCafe.com
How about them political elites, huh? Five million bucks for Chelsea Clinton's wedding, 15K just to rent the air-conditioned shitters - huge chrome and glass babies with hot water and everything. No gas masks and waxy little squares of toilet paper for those guys.
Yes, it looks big time from the cheap seats. But the truth is that when we are looking at the political elite, we are looking at the dancing monkey, not the organ grinder who calls the tune. Washington's political class is about as upwardly removed from ordinary citizens as the ruling class is from the political class. For instance, they do not work for a living in the normal sense of a job, but rather obtain their income from abstractions such as investment and law, neither of which ever gave anybody a hernia or carpal tunnel. By comparison, the ruling class does not work at all.
How Many Laws Have You Broken Today?
by Mark Nestmann - LewRockwell.com
If you're like most Americans, you violate numerous laws each day, probably without even knowing it.
As I wrote in a blog entry nearly three years ago, in New Jersey, you can be arrested for driving by your own home. In Florida, a man was sentenced to six years in prison for carrying cash. In Pennsylvania, a woman faces prison for yelling obscenities at her clogged toilet. You can even be imprisoned for the crime of withdrawing lawfully earned currency from your own bank account.
Ron Paul: The American Empire Can't Afford Another War!
Top Expert: Geology is "Fractured", Relief Wells May Fail ...
Washington's Blog BP is Using a "Cloak of Silence", Refusing to Share Even Basic Data with the Government
Few people in the world know more about oil drilling disasters than Dr. Robert Bea.
Bea teaches engineering at the University of California Berkeley, and has 55 years of experience in engineering and management of design, construction, maintenance, operation, and decommissioning of engineered systems including offshore platforms, pipelines and floating facilities. Bea has worked for many years in governmental and quasi-governmental roles, and has been a high-level governmental adviser concerning disasters. He worked for 16 years as a top mechanical engineer and manager for Shell Oil, and has worked with Bechtel and the Army Corps of Engineers. One of the world's top experts in offshore drilling problems, Bea is a member of the Deepwater Horizon Study Group, and has been interviewed by news media around the world concerning the BP oil disaster.
Washington's Blog spoke with Dr. Bea yesterday.
On the Death of Matthew Simmons
Tom Whipple - SilverBearCafe.com
Last week Matt Simmons, who was America's preeminent proponent of the idea that world oil production was about to peak, died at the age of 67. Simmons was unique among those talking and writing about peak oil in that he came from the very heart of American capitalism, a self-made investment banker for the oil industry. Unlike most who are outspoken on the issue of peak oil, Simmons was a Republican, an energy advisor to President George W. Bush, and commanded the attention of the financial and mainstream media.
Whenever the price of gasoline got a little too high for comfort, the worthies of the Fourth Estate would summon the unorthodox-but-acceptable Simmons to explain to obviously skeptical interviewers just why he believed that cheap gasoline would not be around much longer.
Is Barack Obama Really A Saudi / Muslim "Plant"
in the White House?
RSS
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/images/quotes_7a.gif)
