http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/NEWS/2009/NEW02002.html
The EUA authority allows the FDA, based on the evaluation of available data, to authorize the use of unapproved or uncleared medical products or unapproved or uncleared uses of approved or cleared medical products following a determination and declaration of emergency, provided certain criteria are met. The authorization will end when the declaration of emergency is terminated or the authorization revoked by the agency.
Currently, Relenza is approved to treat acute uncomplicated illnesses due to influenza in adults and children 7 years and older who have been symptomatic for less than two days, and for the prevention of influenza in adults and children 5 years and older. Tamiflu is approved for the treatment and prevention of influenza in patients 1 year and older.
The EUAs allow for Tamiflu also to be used to treat and prevent influenza in children under 1 year, and to provide alternate dosing recommendations for children older than 1 year. In addition, under the EUAs, both medications may be distributed to large segments of the population without complying with the label requirements otherwise applicable to dispensed drugs, and accompanied by written information pertaining to the emergency use. They may also be distributed by a broader range of health care workers, including some public health officials and volunteers, in accordance with applicable state and local laws and/or public health emergency responses.
In authorizing an EUA for the rRT-PCR Swine Flu Panel diagnostic test, the FDA has determined that it may be effective in testing samples from individuals diagnosed with influenza A infections, whose virus subtypes cannot be identified by currently available tests. This EUA allows the CDC to distribute the swine flu test to public health and other qualified laboratories that have the needed equipment and the personnel who are trained to perform and interpret the results.
The test amplifies the viral genetic material from a nasal or nasopharyngeal swab. A positive result indicates that the patient is presumptively infected with swine flu virus but not the stage of infection. However, a negative result does not, by itself, exclude the possibility of swine flu virus infection.
The EUA authority is part of Project BioShield, which became law in July 2004.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Swine flu: 'Scaremongering' public health adverts from 1976 outbreak
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/swine-flu/5235301/Swine-flu-Scaremongering-public-health-adverts-from-1976-outbreak.html
These public health commercials from 1976, when doctors feared that an outbreak of the virus in the US could become a pandemic, attempted to heighten fears of the disease to increase the take-up of vaccinations.
These public health commercials from 1976, when doctors feared that an outbreak of the virus in the US could become a pandemic, attempted to heighten fears of the disease to increase the take-up of vaccinations.
Pandemic Risk Grows as New Cases Pop Up
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124090884691363061.html
So just exactly where did the money go and what was it used for?
The flu outbreak comes as the Obama administration seeks a new head of its Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC. The Senate on Tuesday is expected to begin debating the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as HHS secretary. Democratic and Republican aides in the Senate said they expected Senate approval.
The U.S. government is far better prepared for an outbreak than it was when SARS awakened politicians and the public to the notion that infectious diseases continue to be deadly, even with modern vaccines.
Prodded by SARS and the avian flu scare that followed, President George W. Bush in 2005 issued a pandemic flu preparedness plan. Since 2006, $6.2 billion has been appropriated to stockpile antivirals, step up surveillance and improve vaccine-making and technology.
But state and local health departments -- which are often the first to detect new infectious threats -- haven't received federal funds for pandemic flu preparedness since 2006. Many of the agencies have cut staff and services in the recession.
"You can't stand up to this kind of capacity overnight if you haven't had resources to keep people on staff," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a public health advocacy organization.
So just exactly where did the money go and what was it used for?
The flu outbreak comes as the Obama administration seeks a new head of its Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the CDC. The Senate on Tuesday is expected to begin debating the nomination of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as HHS secretary. Democratic and Republican aides in the Senate said they expected Senate approval.
The U.S. government is far better prepared for an outbreak than it was when SARS awakened politicians and the public to the notion that infectious diseases continue to be deadly, even with modern vaccines.
Prodded by SARS and the avian flu scare that followed, President George W. Bush in 2005 issued a pandemic flu preparedness plan. Since 2006, $6.2 billion has been appropriated to stockpile antivirals, step up surveillance and improve vaccine-making and technology.
But state and local health departments -- which are often the first to detect new infectious threats -- haven't received federal funds for pandemic flu preparedness since 2006. Many of the agencies have cut staff and services in the recession.
"You can't stand up to this kind of capacity overnight if you haven't had resources to keep people on staff," said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America's Health, a public health advocacy organization.
Flu map
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=p&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.0004681a37b713f6b5950&ll=32.650649,-116.139221&spn=151.498363,358.59375&z=1
Swine-flu outbreak could be linked to Smithfield factory farms
http://www.grist.org/article/2009-04-25-swine-flu-smithfield/
The outbreak of a new flu strain—a nasty mash-up of swine, avian, and human viruses—has infected 1,000 people in Mexico and the U.S., killing 68. The World Health Organization warned Saturday that the outbreak could reach global pandemic levels.
Is Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork packer and hog producer, linked to the outbreak? Smithfield operates massive hog-raising operations Perote, Mexico, in the state of Vera Cruz, where the outbreak originated. The operations, grouped under a Smithfield subsidiary called Granjas Carroll, raise 950,000 hogs per year, according to the company Web site.
On Friday, the U.S. disease-tracking blog Biosurveillance published a timeline of the outbreak containing this nugget, dated April 6 (major tip of the hat to Paula Hay, who alerted me to the Smithfield link on the Comfood listserv and has written about it on her blog, Peak Oil Entrepreneur):
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090427/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_swine_flu_mexico
Greed kills
The outbreak of a new flu strain—a nasty mash-up of swine, avian, and human viruses—has infected 1,000 people in Mexico and the U.S., killing 68. The World Health Organization warned Saturday that the outbreak could reach global pandemic levels.
Is Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork packer and hog producer, linked to the outbreak? Smithfield operates massive hog-raising operations Perote, Mexico, in the state of Vera Cruz, where the outbreak originated. The operations, grouped under a Smithfield subsidiary called Granjas Carroll, raise 950,000 hogs per year, according to the company Web site.
On Friday, the U.S. disease-tracking blog Biosurveillance published a timeline of the outbreak containing this nugget, dated April 6 (major tip of the hat to Paula Hay, who alerted me to the Smithfield link on the Comfood listserv and has written about it on her blog, Peak Oil Entrepreneur):
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090427/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_swine_flu_mexico
Greed kills
Swine Flu Investigation
http://www.pandemicflu.gov/
Stay informed and prepare for your family
The CDC is actively investigating isolated human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) in several states (CA, TX, OH, KS, NY) and is working closely with Canada and Mexico and with the World Health Organization (WHO). The CDC is continuously updating investigation information
As with any infectious disease, CDC recommends that people should take everyday preventive actions.
Acting HHS Secretary declares a Public Health Emergency nationwide involving Swine Influenza A. Press Release
Flu terms defined — Seasonal flu, swine flu, avian flu, and pandemic flu are not the same.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plan & Prepare
Families & Individuals
Workplace
Community
Health Care
State & Local
Checklists
News
FDA Authorizes Emergency Use of Influenza Medicines, Diagnostic Test in Response to Swine Flu Outbreak in Humans (April 27)
Travel Warning: Avoid all Nonessential Travel to Mexico (April 27)
WHO Elevates Pandemic Level to Phase 4 (April 27)
WHO Updates International Swine Flu Situation (April 27)
CDC Provides New Recommendations on Facemask and Respirator Use in Certain Communities with Swine Flu (April 27)
News Archive >>
Stay informed and prepare for your family
The CDC is actively investigating isolated human cases of swine influenza A (H1N1) in several states (CA, TX, OH, KS, NY) and is working closely with Canada and Mexico and with the World Health Organization (WHO). The CDC is continuously updating investigation information
As with any infectious disease, CDC recommends that people should take everyday preventive actions.
Acting HHS Secretary declares a Public Health Emergency nationwide involving Swine Influenza A. Press Release
Flu terms defined — Seasonal flu, swine flu, avian flu, and pandemic flu are not the same.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plan & Prepare
Families & Individuals
Workplace
Community
Health Care
State & Local
Checklists
News
FDA Authorizes Emergency Use of Influenza Medicines, Diagnostic Test in Response to Swine Flu Outbreak in Humans (April 27)
Travel Warning: Avoid all Nonessential Travel to Mexico (April 27)
WHO Elevates Pandemic Level to Phase 4 (April 27)
WHO Updates International Swine Flu Situation (April 27)
CDC Provides New Recommendations on Facemask and Respirator Use in Certain Communities with Swine Flu (April 27)
News Archive >>
Hospitals cutting services, staff amid recession
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/04/26/national/a210608D08.DTL
Coincidence? Or calculation? In either case if this flu outbreak explodes,
Houston We Have a Problem!
It's time to get serious about taking care of ourselves.
Ailing from the recession, many U.S. hospitals have had to begin making painful cuts to patient services and laying off staff, as previous cost-cutting hasn't been enough, an industry survey found.
In previous recessions the health care industry has held up well, but this time hospitals and other health care businesses are hurting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More News
Official: US flu victims may be infecting others 04.28.09
Man arrested in Antioch slaying 04.28.09
Developments on swine flu worldwide 04.28.09
Torrential rain floods parts of Houston area 04.28.09
Coincidence? Or calculation? In either case if this flu outbreak explodes,
Houston We Have a Problem!
It's time to get serious about taking care of ourselves.
Ailing from the recession, many U.S. hospitals have had to begin making painful cuts to patient services and laying off staff, as previous cost-cutting hasn't been enough, an industry survey found.
In previous recessions the health care industry has held up well, but this time hospitals and other health care businesses are hurting.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More News
Official: US flu victims may be infecting others 04.28.09
Man arrested in Antioch slaying 04.28.09
Developments on swine flu worldwide 04.28.09
Torrential rain floods parts of Houston area 04.28.09
US military 'monitoring' flu outbreak
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.8282347267271b64646e51f83dc4437f.501&show_article=1
Don't take the shot!
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/03240901/H274Y_Vaccine_Failures.html
Vaccine failure for H1N1 is supported by reports from other countries. In Italy, the first five confirmed H1N1 cases were Tamiflu resistant, and three of the five isolates were from vaccinated patients, supporting the failure rate described above in South Dakota.
Indirect evidence came from South Korea, were the vast majority of influenza cases were oseltamivir-resistant H1N1. Influenza exploded at the beginning of 2009, with ILI visits jumping to levels that were twice as high as last season.
Similar results were also reported in Japan, were school closings were widespread, and investigations in the fall identified oseltamivir resistant H1N1 as the etiological agent. Moreover, H1N1 testing of isolates produced reduced titers relative to Brisbane/59, the vaccine strain for this season.
Reports from Taiwan also indicated that vaccines failed in 70% of the H1N1 cases and Tamiflu resistant H1N1 dominated in collections after December, 2008.
Don't take the shot!
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/03240901/H274Y_Vaccine_Failures.html
Vaccine failure for H1N1 is supported by reports from other countries. In Italy, the first five confirmed H1N1 cases were Tamiflu resistant, and three of the five isolates were from vaccinated patients, supporting the failure rate described above in South Dakota.
Indirect evidence came from South Korea, were the vast majority of influenza cases were oseltamivir-resistant H1N1. Influenza exploded at the beginning of 2009, with ILI visits jumping to levels that were twice as high as last season.
Similar results were also reported in Japan, were school closings were widespread, and investigations in the fall identified oseltamivir resistant H1N1 as the etiological agent. Moreover, H1N1 testing of isolates produced reduced titers relative to Brisbane/59, the vaccine strain for this season.
Reports from Taiwan also indicated that vaccines failed in 70% of the H1N1 cases and Tamiflu resistant H1N1 dominated in collections after December, 2008.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Betrayal of the People By Wall Street, Banks, and Government
http://www.theinternationalforecaster.com/International_Forecaster_Weekly/Betrayal_of_the_People_By_Wall_Street_Banks_and_Government
The Federal government is now spending about double what they are collecting in taxes.
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis was told by Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson to shut up about the “material adverse change,” that took place at Merrill Lynch before their merger. This is called strong-arm tactics in the underworld. Lewis was told if he did not follow orders his board would be disbanded and the management team would be fired. That is extortion as well. Lewis should have pulled the plug on this riff raff, but he didn’t have the guts to do so – what a wimp. He shafted the shareholders.
The bottom line now is BoA will be sued by every shareholder for accepting such a losing deal forced on them by government and for accepting this deal and not disclosing material information and lying.
There will now be a run on Bank of America because the liability is unpayable.
NY State AG Andrew Como has released a letter that will lead to lawsuits against BoA, Lewis, Bernanke and Paulson for fraud. The rats are trapped in a corner and are turning on each other.
The frugality trend has just begun, which will take us back to a lifestyle much like that of the 1940s and 1950s. the vast populace hasn’t gotten it yet. People do not view the current recession as a major economic phenomenon or as a major event. They believe government won’t let it happen, they will save us. They are incapable of thinking the unthinkable.
Unemployment of almost 20% is producing a downward spiral of negative growth. 85% of Americans have no clue as to what lies ahead. Until the system is purged there will be no recovery.
It will be interesting to see how little Timmy deals with Goldman Sachs’ TARP desertion. NYSE data shows Goldman traded 5 times as much volume for themselves compared to customer and agency orders in program trading. Huge short interest stocks were the largest market gainers and the cost to borrow shares to short have soared and it is almost impossible to get stock, because illegally the brokerage houses have called in share loans on financial stocks. How’s that for rigging the market?
The Federal government is now spending about double what they are collecting in taxes.
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis was told by Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson to shut up about the “material adverse change,” that took place at Merrill Lynch before their merger. This is called strong-arm tactics in the underworld. Lewis was told if he did not follow orders his board would be disbanded and the management team would be fired. That is extortion as well. Lewis should have pulled the plug on this riff raff, but he didn’t have the guts to do so – what a wimp. He shafted the shareholders.
The bottom line now is BoA will be sued by every shareholder for accepting such a losing deal forced on them by government and for accepting this deal and not disclosing material information and lying.
There will now be a run on Bank of America because the liability is unpayable.
NY State AG Andrew Como has released a letter that will lead to lawsuits against BoA, Lewis, Bernanke and Paulson for fraud. The rats are trapped in a corner and are turning on each other.
The frugality trend has just begun, which will take us back to a lifestyle much like that of the 1940s and 1950s. the vast populace hasn’t gotten it yet. People do not view the current recession as a major economic phenomenon or as a major event. They believe government won’t let it happen, they will save us. They are incapable of thinking the unthinkable.
Unemployment of almost 20% is producing a downward spiral of negative growth. 85% of Americans have no clue as to what lies ahead. Until the system is purged there will be no recovery.
It will be interesting to see how little Timmy deals with Goldman Sachs’ TARP desertion. NYSE data shows Goldman traded 5 times as much volume for themselves compared to customer and agency orders in program trading. Huge short interest stocks were the largest market gainers and the cost to borrow shares to short have soared and it is almost impossible to get stock, because illegally the brokerage houses have called in share loans on financial stocks. How’s that for rigging the market?
Flu oddities
http://www.legitgov.org/baxter_flu_vaccine_260409.html
The OMFG moment of the century: Illinois-based Baxter working on vaccine to 'stop' swine flu outbreak in Mexico 25 Apr 2009 Specialty drug maker Baxter International Inc. will work with the World Health Organization to develop a vaccine that could stem [foment] an outbreak of a deadly swine flu strain in Mexico. Baxter spokesman Christopher Bona said Saturday that the Deerfield, Ill.-based company has asked the WHO for a sample of the flu strain. He says Baxter has patented technology that allows the company to develop vaccines in half the time it usually takes -- about 13 weeks instead of 26. [Is Baxter International taking a page from the Blackwater playbook? Just as Blackwater/Xe keep on killing to justify their multi-billion dollar contracts to provide 'security' in Iraq and Afghanistan, Baxter International is poised to make *billions* to vaccinate people against their pandemic.]
Are you ready? Wait for it...
Virus mix-up by lab could have resulted in pandemic [Uh, it apparently f*cking *did.*] 06 Mar 2009 It's emerged that virulent H5N1 bird flu was sent out by accident from an Austrian lab [the Austrian branch of US vaccine company, Baxter] last year and given to ferrets in the Czech Republic before anyone realised. As well as the risk of it escaping into the wild, the H5N1 got mixed with a human strain, which might have spawned a hybrid that could unleash a pandemic.
'This was infected with a bird flu virus.' Viral Pandemic H5N1 flu threat: Illinois-based Baxter contaminates European labs by error 25 Feb 2009 According to the scientific network PROMED, Baxter International Inc. in Austria "unintentionally contaminated samples with the bird flu virus that were used in laboratories in 3 neighboring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease". As PROMED reports, the contamination has been discovered when ferrets at a laboratory in the Czech Republic died after being inoculated with vaccine made from the samples early this month. "The material came from Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter, which reported the incident to the Austrian Ministry of Health, Sigrid Rosenberger, a ministry spokeswoman, said today in a telephone interview", the network-alert-system is quoting. "This was infected with a bird flu virus," Rosenberger said. "There were some people from the company who handled it."
'That mixing process, called reassortment, is one of two ways pandemic viruses are created.' Baxter admits sending live avian flu viruses to subcontractor --People familiar with biosecurity rules are dismayed by evidence that human H3N2 and avian H5N1 viruses somehow co-mingled [!] in the Orth-Donau facility. 27 Feb 2009 The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses. And an official of the World Health Organization's European operation said the body is closely monitoring the investigation into the events that took place at Baxter International's research facility in Orth-Donau, Austria. [Source: The Canadian Press]
Spectre of pandemic 26 Apr 2009 The new strain contains gene sequences from North American and Eurasian swine flus, North American bird flu and North American human flu, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of Mexico's dead were young, healthy adults, and none was aged older than 60 or or younger than three, the World Health Organisation said. This has alarmed health officials... Pandemic flus - like the 1918 Spanish flu and the 1957 and 1968 pandemics - often strike young, healthy people the hardest. Mexican officials promised a huge immunisation campaign in the capital this week. [The deadly vaccine program *ensures* a pandemic!]
CLG: Flu Kills The Torture Memos --In a 'Holy convenience, Batman!' moment, a 'unique' flu virus (one likely concocted in US Army labs) overtakes media coverage of revelations that the highest levels of the US government instructed the CIA (and private contractors) to torture terror suspects. By Lori Price 26 April 2009 Guess where the first swine flu outbreak occurred? That's right, Fort Dix, New Jersey, in 1976. Thirteen soldiers died, leading the US government to force a questionable vaccine on the population -- backed by a legal liability escape clause mandated by and for the pharma-terrorists. Next, people started dying not from
The OMFG moment of the century: Illinois-based Baxter working on vaccine to 'stop' swine flu outbreak in Mexico 25 Apr 2009 Specialty drug maker Baxter International Inc. will work with the World Health Organization to develop a vaccine that could stem [foment] an outbreak of a deadly swine flu strain in Mexico. Baxter spokesman Christopher Bona said Saturday that the Deerfield, Ill.-based company has asked the WHO for a sample of the flu strain. He says Baxter has patented technology that allows the company to develop vaccines in half the time it usually takes -- about 13 weeks instead of 26. [Is Baxter International taking a page from the Blackwater playbook? Just as Blackwater/Xe keep on killing to justify their multi-billion dollar contracts to provide 'security' in Iraq and Afghanistan, Baxter International is poised to make *billions* to vaccinate people against their pandemic.]
Are you ready? Wait for it...
Virus mix-up by lab could have resulted in pandemic [Uh, it apparently f*cking *did.*] 06 Mar 2009 It's emerged that virulent H5N1 bird flu was sent out by accident from an Austrian lab [the Austrian branch of US vaccine company, Baxter] last year and given to ferrets in the Czech Republic before anyone realised. As well as the risk of it escaping into the wild, the H5N1 got mixed with a human strain, which might have spawned a hybrid that could unleash a pandemic.
'This was infected with a bird flu virus.' Viral Pandemic H5N1 flu threat: Illinois-based Baxter contaminates European labs by error 25 Feb 2009 According to the scientific network PROMED, Baxter International Inc. in Austria "unintentionally contaminated samples with the bird flu virus that were used in laboratories in 3 neighboring countries, raising concern about the potential spread of the deadly disease". As PROMED reports, the contamination has been discovered when ferrets at a laboratory in the Czech Republic died after being inoculated with vaccine made from the samples early this month. "The material came from Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter, which reported the incident to the Austrian Ministry of Health, Sigrid Rosenberger, a ministry spokeswoman, said today in a telephone interview", the network-alert-system is quoting. "This was infected with a bird flu virus," Rosenberger said. "There were some people from the company who handled it."
'That mixing process, called reassortment, is one of two ways pandemic viruses are created.' Baxter admits sending live avian flu viruses to subcontractor --People familiar with biosecurity rules are dismayed by evidence that human H3N2 and avian H5N1 viruses somehow co-mingled [!] in the Orth-Donau facility. 27 Feb 2009 The company that released contaminated flu virus material from a plant in Austria confirmed Friday that the experimental product contained live H5N1 avian flu viruses. And an official of the World Health Organization's European operation said the body is closely monitoring the investigation into the events that took place at Baxter International's research facility in Orth-Donau, Austria. [Source: The Canadian Press]
Spectre of pandemic 26 Apr 2009 The new strain contains gene sequences from North American and Eurasian swine flus, North American bird flu and North American human flu, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of Mexico's dead were young, healthy adults, and none was aged older than 60 or or younger than three, the World Health Organisation said. This has alarmed health officials... Pandemic flus - like the 1918 Spanish flu and the 1957 and 1968 pandemics - often strike young, healthy people the hardest. Mexican officials promised a huge immunisation campaign in the capital this week. [The deadly vaccine program *ensures* a pandemic!]
CLG: Flu Kills The Torture Memos --In a 'Holy convenience, Batman!' moment, a 'unique' flu virus (one likely concocted in US Army labs) overtakes media coverage of revelations that the highest levels of the US government instructed the CIA (and private contractors) to torture terror suspects. By Lori Price 26 April 2009 Guess where the first swine flu outbreak occurred? That's right, Fort Dix, New Jersey, in 1976. Thirteen soldiers died, leading the US government to force a questionable vaccine on the population -- backed by a legal liability escape clause mandated by and for the pharma-terrorists. Next, people started dying not from
Friday, April 24, 2009
Human Swine Flu Spread to Texas and Likely Import from Mexico
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04...ne_Mexico.html
Here's something to keep an eye on
Now, five more cases have been seen -- all found via normal surveillance for seasonal influenza. None of the patients, whose symptoms closely resembled seasonal flu, had any direct contact with pigs.
"We believe at this point that human-to-human spread is occurring," Schuchat said. "That's unusual. We don't know yet how widely it is spreading ... We are also working with international partners to understand what is occurring in other parts of the world."
The location of the confirmed cases in states that border Mexico, as well as media reports of pneumonia in Canadian travelers returning from Mexico, strongly suggests that the outbreak of influenza in Mexico is also swine flu.
The confirmed cases in the United States likely represent a pandemic of H1N1 swine flu. At this point, most confirmed cases in the United States have been mild and there have been no confirmed fatalities. However, in Mexico there has been a high case fatality rate among young adults, 25-44, with atypical pneumonia, which has similarities with the 1918 pandemic.
Moreover, the 1918 pandemic was composed of eight gene segments representing recombination between H1N1 seasonal flu and H1N1 swine flu.
An efficiently transmitted swine flu can lead to co-infection with H1N1 seasonal flu. Oseltamivir resistance (H274Y) has become fixed in H1N1 seasonal flu, raising concerns that recombination or reassortment will lead to Tamiflu resistance in the swine flu, which is already resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. Moreover, the existing trivalent seasonal flu vaccine will likely offer little protection.
The spread of swine flu in the United States, and likely import from Mexico, creates a major cause for concern
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.recombinomics.com/News/04...ne_Mexico.html
Here's something to keep an eye on
Now, five more cases have been seen -- all found via normal surveillance for seasonal influenza. None of the patients, whose symptoms closely resembled seasonal flu, had any direct contact with pigs.
"We believe at this point that human-to-human spread is occurring," Schuchat said. "That's unusual. We don't know yet how widely it is spreading ... We are also working with international partners to understand what is occurring in other parts of the world."
The location of the confirmed cases in states that border Mexico, as well as media reports of pneumonia in Canadian travelers returning from Mexico, strongly suggests that the outbreak of influenza in Mexico is also swine flu.
The confirmed cases in the United States likely represent a pandemic of H1N1 swine flu. At this point, most confirmed cases in the United States have been mild and there have been no confirmed fatalities. However, in Mexico there has been a high case fatality rate among young adults, 25-44, with atypical pneumonia, which has similarities with the 1918 pandemic.
Moreover, the 1918 pandemic was composed of eight gene segments representing recombination between H1N1 seasonal flu and H1N1 swine flu.
An efficiently transmitted swine flu can lead to co-infection with H1N1 seasonal flu. Oseltamivir resistance (H274Y) has become fixed in H1N1 seasonal flu, raising concerns that recombination or reassortment will lead to Tamiflu resistance in the swine flu, which is already resistant to amantadine and rimantadine. Moreover, the existing trivalent seasonal flu vaccine will likely offer little protection.
The spread of swine flu in the United States, and likely import from Mexico, creates a major cause for concern
Jack Bauer can't stop 'The Goldman Conspiracy'
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/even-jack-bauer-couldnt-stop/story.aspx?guid=%7bbe0d1772%2da628%2d454d%2d80bf%2dc4484ceba7df%7d&dist=secmostread
10 reasons why Wall Street has absolute power over America's democracy
Now what's up with that Cap
A great idea that's gone astray
Used before and then out the door
Because being to nice just through it away
10 reasons why Wall Street has absolute power over America's democracy
Now what's up with that Cap
A great idea that's gone astray
Used before and then out the door
Because being to nice just through it away
Many Contra Costa crooks won't be prosecuted
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/21/BAK9176EGO.DTL
One of the signs of times to come
Normalcy will not be what it was before
Possessing drugs with no price to pay
The thought of tax should be thought some more
Misdemeanors such as assaults, thefts and burglaries will no longer be prosecuted in Contra Costa County because of budget cuts, the county's top prosecutor said Tuesday.
District Attorney Robert Kochly also said that beginning May 4, his office will no longer prosecute felony drug cases involving smaller amounts of narcotics. That means anyone caught with less than a gram of methamphetamine or cocaine, less than 0.5 grams of heroin and fewer than five pills of ecstasy, OxyContin or Vicodin won't be charged.
People who are suspected of misdemeanor drug crimes, break minor traffic laws, shoplift, trespass or commit misdemeanor vandalism will also be in the clear. Those crimes won't be prosecuted, either.
"We had to make very, very difficult choices, and we had to try to prioritize things. There are no good choices to be made here," said Kochly, a 35-year veteran prosecutor. "It's trying to choose the lesser of certain evils in deciding what we can and cannot do."
Barry Grove, a deputy district attorney who is president of the Contra Costa County District Attorneys Association, said, "There's no question that these kinds of crimes are going to drastically affect the quality of life for all the citizens of Contra Costa County."
One of the signs of times to come
Normalcy will not be what it was before
Possessing drugs with no price to pay
The thought of tax should be thought some more
Misdemeanors such as assaults, thefts and burglaries will no longer be prosecuted in Contra Costa County because of budget cuts, the county's top prosecutor said Tuesday.
District Attorney Robert Kochly also said that beginning May 4, his office will no longer prosecute felony drug cases involving smaller amounts of narcotics. That means anyone caught with less than a gram of methamphetamine or cocaine, less than 0.5 grams of heroin and fewer than five pills of ecstasy, OxyContin or Vicodin won't be charged.
People who are suspected of misdemeanor drug crimes, break minor traffic laws, shoplift, trespass or commit misdemeanor vandalism will also be in the clear. Those crimes won't be prosecuted, either.
"We had to make very, very difficult choices, and we had to try to prioritize things. There are no good choices to be made here," said Kochly, a 35-year veteran prosecutor. "It's trying to choose the lesser of certain evils in deciding what we can and cannot do."
Barry Grove, a deputy district attorney who is president of the Contra Costa County District Attorneys Association, said, "There's no question that these kinds of crimes are going to drastically affect the quality of life for all the citizens of Contra Costa County."
Thursday, April 23, 2009
FDIC: The Next Big Bailout
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FDIC-The-Next-Big-zacks-15011357.html?.v=1
Even before the FDIC gets into the business of insuring loan to the PPIP (there will be no losses there, according to their accountant Lewis Carroll), it looks like the fund is in pretty bad shape. As a percent of insured deposits, it fell to 0.40% at the end of the fourth quarter from 0.76% at the end of the third quarter, and 1.22% at the end of 2007.
Since then, 26 banks have failed -- the same number as in all of 2008. The year-end reserve ratio for the fund was the lowest since the second quarter of 1993, at the tail end of the S&L debacle (back then, banks and S&L’s had separate funds, but on a combined basis).
Given the failures so far this year, there is no doubt in my mind that the reserve ratios have declined sharply since the end of last year. The graph below shows the trend (larger version available at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/04/fdic-woefully-underfunded-problem.html).
Clearly we have not seen the end of bank failures this year. You should count on at least one FDIC pizza party each week for the rest of the year. At the end of last year there were a total of 252 banks that were listed as troubled by the FDIC, up from 76 at the end of 2007 and 50 at the end of 2006.
The assets of troubled institutions has grown even more quickly, to $159.4 billion at the end of 2008, from $22.2 billion at the end of 2007 and just $8.3 billion at the end of 2006. The FDIC historically has been very hesitant about putting banks on the list, for example, none of the biggest disasters of 2008 (Indymac, WAMU, Wachovia) were on the list at the end of 2007. Thus, it is likely that this list significantly understates the problem.
Even before the FDIC gets into the business of insuring loan to the PPIP (there will be no losses there, according to their accountant Lewis Carroll), it looks like the fund is in pretty bad shape. As a percent of insured deposits, it fell to 0.40% at the end of the fourth quarter from 0.76% at the end of the third quarter, and 1.22% at the end of 2007.
Since then, 26 banks have failed -- the same number as in all of 2008. The year-end reserve ratio for the fund was the lowest since the second quarter of 1993, at the tail end of the S&L debacle (back then, banks and S&L’s had separate funds, but on a combined basis).
Given the failures so far this year, there is no doubt in my mind that the reserve ratios have declined sharply since the end of last year. The graph below shows the trend (larger version available at http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/04/fdic-woefully-underfunded-problem.html).
Clearly we have not seen the end of bank failures this year. You should count on at least one FDIC pizza party each week for the rest of the year. At the end of last year there were a total of 252 banks that were listed as troubled by the FDIC, up from 76 at the end of 2007 and 50 at the end of 2006.
The assets of troubled institutions has grown even more quickly, to $159.4 billion at the end of 2008, from $22.2 billion at the end of 2007 and just $8.3 billion at the end of 2006. The FDIC historically has been very hesitant about putting banks on the list, for example, none of the biggest disasters of 2008 (Indymac, WAMU, Wachovia) were on the list at the end of 2007. Thus, it is likely that this list significantly understates the problem.
WSJ: BofA CEO says was told to be quiet on Merrill
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/WSJ-BofA-CEO-says-was-told-to-apf-15011695.html
Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis told the New York attorney general he believed former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke wanted him to keep quiet about the worsening terms of the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, according to testimony reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The New York AG's office plans to release the testimony on Thursday to federal regulators and overseers of bailout funds and banks, the newspaper reported after reviewing a transcript.
"We believe we acted legally and appropriately with regard to the Merrill Lynch transaction," Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri told The Associated Press Thursday.
He declined further comment about the report.
Lewis testified in February to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office, which has been trying to determine if Merrill and Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America failed to provide adequate disclosures to shareholders about the more than $15 billion in losses Merrill incurred in the 2008 fourth quarter and hefty bonus payments. Had they had that information, BofA shareholders might have voted down the deal.
The Journal said in Thursday's edition that Lewis doesn't say in the transcript that he was told specifically to remain silent about Merrill's burgeoning losses. But the paper quotes Lewis as testifying that disclosing that information "wasn't up to me," and that he was warned by Paulson and Bernanke that failing to complete Merrill's takeover would "impose a big risk to the financial system."
Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis told the New York attorney general he believed former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke wanted him to keep quiet about the worsening terms of the bank's acquisition of Merrill Lynch, according to testimony reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The New York AG's office plans to release the testimony on Thursday to federal regulators and overseers of bailout funds and banks, the newspaper reported after reviewing a transcript.
"We believe we acted legally and appropriately with regard to the Merrill Lynch transaction," Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri told The Associated Press Thursday.
He declined further comment about the report.
Lewis testified in February to New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office, which has been trying to determine if Merrill and Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America failed to provide adequate disclosures to shareholders about the more than $15 billion in losses Merrill incurred in the 2008 fourth quarter and hefty bonus payments. Had they had that information, BofA shareholders might have voted down the deal.
The Journal said in Thursday's edition that Lewis doesn't say in the transcript that he was told specifically to remain silent about Merrill's burgeoning losses. But the paper quotes Lewis as testifying that disclosing that information "wasn't up to me," and that he was warned by Paulson and Bernanke that failing to complete Merrill's takeover would "impose a big risk to the financial system."
9/11 and the financial meltdown and some very interesting coincidences
http://islamic-intelligence.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-israeli-madoff-is-key-financial.html
The terror attacks of 9-11 and the financial crisis that exploded in September 2008 are similar and connected. The similarity between the two events that occurred almost exactly seven years apart reveals the criminal thinking behind both events – and the method.
Seven years later, to the exact day, two immense pillars of the financial world collapsed in a strikingly similar fashion. These two columns were Lehman Brothers bank and the American International Group (A.I.G.), managed and controlled for decades by the very same Maurice R. Greenberg. Like the twin towers, both companies were thought to be too large and powerful to simply collapse, but collapse they did. By September 11, 2008, these companies seemed to have lost both their foundations and core columns and were in a state of free fall. Investors pulled their money and global panic ensued. Like the twin towers, both Lehman and A.I.G. were Zionist-controlled organizations. The systems of corporate financial security, enforcement, and investigation were also under their control. Despite repeated warnings, indictments, and violations of the law by A.I.G., the heads of the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank called for the U.S. taxpayer to bail-out these corrupt and criminal enterprises. The key player in this huge and historic bail-out was Ben Shalom Bernanke, a dedicated Zionist who spent summers working for a well-known Jewish criminal who controlled elections in Dillon, South Carolina, when he studied at Harvard.
The terror attacks of 9-11 and the financial crisis that exploded in September 2008 are similar and connected. The similarity between the two events that occurred almost exactly seven years apart reveals the criminal thinking behind both events – and the method.
Seven years later, to the exact day, two immense pillars of the financial world collapsed in a strikingly similar fashion. These two columns were Lehman Brothers bank and the American International Group (A.I.G.), managed and controlled for decades by the very same Maurice R. Greenberg. Like the twin towers, both companies were thought to be too large and powerful to simply collapse, but collapse they did. By September 11, 2008, these companies seemed to have lost both their foundations and core columns and were in a state of free fall. Investors pulled their money and global panic ensued. Like the twin towers, both Lehman and A.I.G. were Zionist-controlled organizations. The systems of corporate financial security, enforcement, and investigation were also under their control. Despite repeated warnings, indictments, and violations of the law by A.I.G., the heads of the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank called for the U.S. taxpayer to bail-out these corrupt and criminal enterprises. The key player in this huge and historic bail-out was Ben Shalom Bernanke, a dedicated Zionist who spent summers working for a well-known Jewish criminal who controlled elections in Dillon, South Carolina, when he studied at Harvard.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Obama muddles torture message
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21569.html
This is a world decision on use of torture that was violated, it's not just a moral issue for the United States.
The violations on the imprisoned innocent, far out weigh anything that could have been gleaned as useful. All human beings have right, and the right to be tortured is not one of them. That was the lesson that was taken away from WWII.
President Barack Obama’s attempt to project legal and moral clarity on coercive CIA interrogation methods has instead done the opposite — creating confusion and political vulnerability over an issue that has inflamed both the left and right.
In the most recent instance, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair acknowledged in a memo to the intelligence community that Bush-era interrogation practices yielded had "high-value information,” then omitted that admission from a public version of his assessment.
That leaves a top Obama administration official appearing to validate claims by former Vice President Dick Cheney that waterboarding and other techniques the White House regards as torture were effective in preventing terrorist attacks. And the press release created the impression the administration was trying to suppress this conclusion.
The president, who has said he wants to focus on the future rather than litigate the past, also opened himself to distraction and attack by retracting the earlier assurance by top officials that they had no plans to prosecute lawyers for former President George W. Bush who approved the “enhanced interrogation” program.
This is a world decision on use of torture that was violated, it's not just a moral issue for the United States.
The violations on the imprisoned innocent, far out weigh anything that could have been gleaned as useful. All human beings have right, and the right to be tortured is not one of them. That was the lesson that was taken away from WWII.
President Barack Obama’s attempt to project legal and moral clarity on coercive CIA interrogation methods has instead done the opposite — creating confusion and political vulnerability over an issue that has inflamed both the left and right.
In the most recent instance, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair acknowledged in a memo to the intelligence community that Bush-era interrogation practices yielded had "high-value information,” then omitted that admission from a public version of his assessment.
That leaves a top Obama administration official appearing to validate claims by former Vice President Dick Cheney that waterboarding and other techniques the White House regards as torture were effective in preventing terrorist attacks. And the press release created the impression the administration was trying to suppress this conclusion.
The president, who has said he wants to focus on the future rather than litigate the past, also opened himself to distraction and attack by retracting the earlier assurance by top officials that they had no plans to prosecute lawyers for former President George W. Bush who approved the “enhanced interrogation” program.
KC police hunt for pilfered poultry
http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/1155384.html
And so starts the black market.
Pssst! Wanna buy 34,000 pounds of frozen chicken?
Kansas City police are trying to track the bags of frozen chicken parts, stolen from Arkansas-based Simmons Foods. Company officials Monday night called the police after their tracking device on a stolen trailer led them to believe the trailer had been parked in the area of Truman Road and Jackson Avenue.
The chicken was valued at $60,000.
Police found that trailer, plus five others, all thought to have been stolen. They think someone backed up a tractor to the trailers and drove off with them.
One trailer had been reported stolen from a chicken processing plant in Oklahoma. Another trailer contained snack foods. But most of the food already had been removed from the trailers.
“There’s a lot of chicken out there,” said Sgt. Keith Ericsson, who is supervising the investigation. “There is a public safety concern because we don’t know how it is being transported or kept. It’s not being regulated.”
Ericsson said he wasn’t worried that the pilfered chicken would end up at well-known grocery stores, but he thought some could have been sold on the street or to mom and pop-type stores
And so starts the black market.
Pssst! Wanna buy 34,000 pounds of frozen chicken?
Kansas City police are trying to track the bags of frozen chicken parts, stolen from Arkansas-based Simmons Foods. Company officials Monday night called the police after their tracking device on a stolen trailer led them to believe the trailer had been parked in the area of Truman Road and Jackson Avenue.
The chicken was valued at $60,000.
Police found that trailer, plus five others, all thought to have been stolen. They think someone backed up a tractor to the trailers and drove off with them.
One trailer had been reported stolen from a chicken processing plant in Oklahoma. Another trailer contained snack foods. But most of the food already had been removed from the trailers.
“There’s a lot of chicken out there,” said Sgt. Keith Ericsson, who is supervising the investigation. “There is a public safety concern because we don’t know how it is being transported or kept. It’s not being regulated.”
Ericsson said he wasn’t worried that the pilfered chicken would end up at well-known grocery stores, but he thought some could have been sold on the street or to mom and pop-type stores
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Rep. Jane Harman was caught on a federal wiretap offering to lobby the Justice Dept
This is just nothing more than standard corruption that passes for politics,
The question is will you accept it anymore?
http://www.infowars.com/harman-and-a...nt-corruption/
The case is yet another example of how politics works in the District of Criminals. In exchange for help in getting espionage-related charges reduced against two AIPAC officials, a suspected Israeli agent pledged to lobby Nancy Pelosi, then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, according to CQ Politics.
More specifically, the Los Angeles Times reveals, the caller told Harman Haim Saban would threaten to withhold campaign contributions from Pelosi unless Harman became committee chairwoman.
In October, 2006, AIPAC denied the allegations
“Harman is a poster child for what has been wrong with Congress for the last 8 years,” writes George Washington’s Blog. She needs to be brought up on ethics and bribery charges immediately and drummed out of Congress. If the AIPAC operatives are convicted, treason charges against Harman should not be ruled out.
The question is will you accept it anymore?
http://www.infowars.com/harman-and-a...nt-corruption/
The case is yet another example of how politics works in the District of Criminals. In exchange for help in getting espionage-related charges reduced against two AIPAC officials, a suspected Israeli agent pledged to lobby Nancy Pelosi, then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee after the 2006 elections, according to CQ Politics.
More specifically, the Los Angeles Times reveals, the caller told Harman Haim Saban would threaten to withhold campaign contributions from Pelosi unless Harman became committee chairwoman.
In October, 2006, AIPAC denied the allegations
“Harman is a poster child for what has been wrong with Congress for the last 8 years,” writes George Washington’s Blog. She needs to be brought up on ethics and bribery charges immediately and drummed out of Congress. If the AIPAC operatives are convicted, treason charges against Harman should not be ruled out.
Tons of released drugs taint US water
http://www.physorg.com/news159425418.html
U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water - contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation
U.S. manufacturers, including major drugmakers, have legally released at least 271 million pounds of pharmaceuticals into waterways that often provide drinking water - contamination the federal government has consistently overlooked, according to an Associated Press investigation
Monsanto's super-weed monstrosity
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.france24.com/en/20090418-...ified-US-crops
The gospel of high-tech genetically modified (GM) crops is not sounding quite so sweet in the land of the converted. A new pest, the evil pigweed, is hitting headlines and chomping its way across Sun Belt states, threatening to transform cotton and soybean plots into weed battlefields.
In late 2004, “superweeds” that resisted Monsanto’s iconic “Roundup” herbicide, popped up in GM crops in the county of Macon, Georgia. Monsanto, the US multinational biotech corporation, is the world’s leading producer of Roundup, as well as genetically engineered seeds. Company figures show that nine out of 10 US farmers produce Roundup Ready seeds for their soybean crops.
Superweeds have since alarmingly appeared in other parts of Georgia, as well as South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, according to media reports. Roundup contains the active ingredient glyphosate, which is the most used herbicide in the USA.
GM protesters demonstrate near the French town of Toulouse in March 2008.
How has this happened? Farmers over-relied on Monsanto’s revolutionary and controversial combination of a single “round up” herbicide and a high-tech seed with a built-in resistance to glyphosate, scientists say.
Today, 100,000 acres in Georgia are severely infested with pigweed and 29 counties have now confirmed resistance to glyphosate, according to weed specialist Stanley Culpepper from the University of Georgia.
“Farmers are taking this threat very seriously. It took us two years to make them understand how serious it was. But once they understood, they started taking a very aggressive approach to the weed,” Culpepper told FRANCE 24.
“Just to illustrate how aggressive we are, last year we hand-weeded 45% of our severely infested fields,” said Culpepper, adding that the fight involved “spending a lot of money.”
http://www.france24.com/en/20090418-...ified-US-crops
The gospel of high-tech genetically modified (GM) crops is not sounding quite so sweet in the land of the converted. A new pest, the evil pigweed, is hitting headlines and chomping its way across Sun Belt states, threatening to transform cotton and soybean plots into weed battlefields.
In late 2004, “superweeds” that resisted Monsanto’s iconic “Roundup” herbicide, popped up in GM crops in the county of Macon, Georgia. Monsanto, the US multinational biotech corporation, is the world’s leading producer of Roundup, as well as genetically engineered seeds. Company figures show that nine out of 10 US farmers produce Roundup Ready seeds for their soybean crops.
Superweeds have since alarmingly appeared in other parts of Georgia, as well as South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Missouri, according to media reports. Roundup contains the active ingredient glyphosate, which is the most used herbicide in the USA.
GM protesters demonstrate near the French town of Toulouse in March 2008.
How has this happened? Farmers over-relied on Monsanto’s revolutionary and controversial combination of a single “round up” herbicide and a high-tech seed with a built-in resistance to glyphosate, scientists say.
Today, 100,000 acres in Georgia are severely infested with pigweed and 29 counties have now confirmed resistance to glyphosate, according to weed specialist Stanley Culpepper from the University of Georgia.
“Farmers are taking this threat very seriously. It took us two years to make them understand how serious it was. But once they understood, they started taking a very aggressive approach to the weed,” Culpepper told FRANCE 24.
“Just to illustrate how aggressive we are, last year we hand-weeded 45% of our severely infested fields,” said Culpepper, adding that the fight involved “spending a lot of money.”
Monday, April 20, 2009
Official: Obama wants agency spending cut by $100M
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Offici...&asset=&ccode=
Check out the cuts, no common sense used there but then again why would the CIA find agriculture to be of any use
Official: Obama calling on Cabinet to cut spending by $100M, heads to CIA for consultations
Steven R. Hurst, Associated Press Writer
Monday April 20, 2009, 9:49 am EDT
Buzz up! Print WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama convenes his first formal Cabinet meeting Monday and will ask department and agency chiefs to look for ways over the next 90 days to cut $100 million out of the federal budget, a senior administration official said
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Offici...&asset=&ccode=
Check out the cuts, no common sense used there but then again why would the CIA find agriculture to be of any use
Official: Obama calling on Cabinet to cut spending by $100M, heads to CIA for consultations
Steven R. Hurst, Associated Press Writer
Monday April 20, 2009, 9:49 am EDT
Buzz up! Print WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama convenes his first formal Cabinet meeting Monday and will ask department and agency chiefs to look for ways over the next 90 days to cut $100 million out of the federal budget, a senior administration official said
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Barack Obama - Crime Boss
http://www.rense.com/general85/bder.htm
Our government is nothing more than recycled trash that one is hard pressed to find any treasure in
Since taking office, Obama, wittingly or otherwise, has headed the largest criminal enterprise in history - the mass looting of national wealth to enrich his Wall Street benefactors. He assembled a rogue economic team of Clinton/Robert Rubin retreads - to fix the current crisis they engineered.
In a March 13 article, (author and former Republican strategist) Kevin Phillips called them "recycled senior (Clinton administration) Democrats (responsible for the) tech mania, deregulation binge and (1997 - 2000) stock market bubble and crash. (Obama) extend(ed) the (disastrous) mismanagement and pro-Wall Street bias of the 2008 Bush regime bailout."
He called Geithner and Bernanke "hapless," the result of their ruinous misjudgments (and, along with Alan Greenspan, complicit) with finance-sector malfeasance."
He said Summers will be "remembered for helping to block federal regulation of financial derivatives and orchestrat(ing) the 1999" Glass-Steagall repeal, among his other "achievements." He went down the list of key economic officials and trashed them all as the very types to be avoided, not appointed.
Our government is nothing more than recycled trash that one is hard pressed to find any treasure in
Since taking office, Obama, wittingly or otherwise, has headed the largest criminal enterprise in history - the mass looting of national wealth to enrich his Wall Street benefactors. He assembled a rogue economic team of Clinton/Robert Rubin retreads - to fix the current crisis they engineered.
In a March 13 article, (author and former Republican strategist) Kevin Phillips called them "recycled senior (Clinton administration) Democrats (responsible for the) tech mania, deregulation binge and (1997 - 2000) stock market bubble and crash. (Obama) extend(ed) the (disastrous) mismanagement and pro-Wall Street bias of the 2008 Bush regime bailout."
He called Geithner and Bernanke "hapless," the result of their ruinous misjudgments (and, along with Alan Greenspan, complicit) with finance-sector malfeasance."
He said Summers will be "remembered for helping to block federal regulation of financial derivatives and orchestrat(ing) the 1999" Glass-Steagall repeal, among his other "achievements." He went down the list of key economic officials and trashed them all as the very types to be avoided, not appointed.
Greenville SC tea party
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJQVNXfKujc
A true representation of the voice of "The People"
A true representation of the voice of "The People"
Friday, April 17, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Georgetown Says It Covered Over Name of Jesus to Comply With White House Request
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/conten...x?RsrcID=46667
This is just plain creepy, but it also shows the level of hypocrisy being used to sway his public image
Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram “IHS”--symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university on Tuesday and the White House had asked Georgetown to cover up all signs and symbols there.
Obama did not mention the name of Jesus during his address. However, he did mention Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.
“There is a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells a story of two men…‘the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house…it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock,’” Obama said.
“We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand,” he added. “We must build our house upon a rock.”
http://www.cnsnews.com/public/conten...x?RsrcID=46667
This is just plain creepy, but it also shows the level of hypocrisy being used to sway his public image
Georgetown University says it covered over the monogram “IHS”--symbolizing the name of Jesus Christ—because it was inscribed on a pediment on the stage where President Obama spoke at the university on Tuesday and the White House had asked Georgetown to cover up all signs and symbols there.
Obama did not mention the name of Jesus during his address. However, he did mention Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.
“There is a parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount that tells a story of two men…‘the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house…it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock,’” Obama said.
“We cannot rebuild this economy on the same pile of sand,” he added. “We must build our house upon a rock.”
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Tax Day Becomes Protest Day
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123975867505519363.html
A big high five to the WSJ, FOR THE TRUTH WITHOUT THE SPIN!
Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies -- dubbed "tea parties" -- to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending. There is no political party behind these rallies, no grand right-wing conspiracy, not even a 501(c) group like MoveOn.org.
So who's behind the Tax Day tea parties? Ordinary folks who are using the power of the Internet to organize.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123975867505519363.html
A big high five to the WSJ, FOR THE TRUTH WITHOUT THE SPIN!
Today American taxpayers in more than 300 locations in all 50 states will hold rallies -- dubbed "tea parties" -- to protest higher taxes and out-of-control government spending. There is no political party behind these rallies, no grand right-wing conspiracy, not even a 501(c) group like MoveOn.org.
So who's behind the Tax Day tea parties? Ordinary folks who are using the power of the Internet to organize.
Wal-Mart CEO doesn't see a quick end to recession
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/WalMart-CEO-doesnt-see-a-rb-14931083.html?sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=
If Wal-mart is feeling it you know it's real.
The head of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT - News) said on Wednesday there remained a "lot of stress" in the economy and he did not anticipate a quick end to the recession.
"There's still a lot of stress," Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke said on NBC's "Today Show."
"It's not a 'V' recession, where we're just going to bounce out and come back," he said.
Duke made the comments a day after a government report showed that sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell 1.1 percent in March, and came after Wal-Mart last week reported a lower-than-expected rise in March sales at U.S. stores open at least a year.
The reports have dimmed hopes that the U.S. recession is close to hitting bottom, and show consumers are unswayed from their new frugal mind-set.
Duke said that by the end of the month, just before traditional paydays, customers are left with only a few dollars to spend.
He said the downturn will lead to a "sustained change" in the way that families live.
If Wal-mart is feeling it you know it's real.
The head of Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE:WMT - News) said on Wednesday there remained a "lot of stress" in the economy and he did not anticipate a quick end to the recession.
"There's still a lot of stress," Wal-Mart CEO Mike Duke said on NBC's "Today Show."
"It's not a 'V' recession, where we're just going to bounce out and come back," he said.
Duke made the comments a day after a government report showed that sales at U.S. retailers unexpectedly fell 1.1 percent in March, and came after Wal-Mart last week reported a lower-than-expected rise in March sales at U.S. stores open at least a year.
The reports have dimmed hopes that the U.S. recession is close to hitting bottom, and show consumers are unswayed from their new frugal mind-set.
Duke said that by the end of the month, just before traditional paydays, customers are left with only a few dollars to spend.
He said the downturn will lead to a "sustained change" in the way that families live.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
TEXAS GOV. BACK RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SOVEREIGNTY
http://www.drudgereport.com/flashtx.htm
It would seem Governor Perry has just made "The List" of right winged radicals.
If your a disgruntled Vet you to are on the "List". It doesn't matter that you have a legitimate bitch about being used to fight the Corporate oil wars, perhaps that's why your sustained injuries are so easily ignored, or shuffled to the bottom of the priority pile.
Gov. Rick Perry joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union
Federal agency warns of radicals on right
9-page report sent to police
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/14/federal-agency-warns-of-radicals-on-right/
A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines "rightwing extremism in the United States" as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority
It would seem Governor Perry has just made "The List" of right winged radicals.
If your a disgruntled Vet you to are on the "List". It doesn't matter that you have a legitimate bitch about being used to fight the Corporate oil wars, perhaps that's why your sustained injuries are so easily ignored, or shuffled to the bottom of the priority pile.
Gov. Rick Perry joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union
Federal agency warns of radicals on right
9-page report sent to police
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/apr/14/federal-agency-warns-of-radicals-on-right/
A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines "rightwing extremism in the United States" as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority
Fed’s Flood May Leave Democracy Needing Bailout: Kevin Hassett
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=aU41A2nIChN4
The wise men of Washington keep finding more core beliefs that we have to give up. First it was free markets. Now it’s democracy.
The financial rescue may be the least popular big-ticket government program in history. If the U.S. Treasury decides it needs more money to keep the bailout going, it is anybody’s guess whether Congress would provide it.
As a result, Treasury and the Federal Reserve have been running what feels to this lifelong student of fiscal policy like a scam.
Many economists believe that helping financial institutions turn their less liquid assets into hard cash is a key step toward returning them to good footing. The best way to achieve that in a democracy would be for Congress to appropriate the funds to acquire the assets and for Treasury to borrow the money that it needs.
But Congress is unwilling to appropriate enough money, so Treasury and the Fed have cooked up a work-around: the Fed buys the assets instead. Since the Fed exists outside of the normal budget process, no permission from elected officials is required.
The wise men of Washington keep finding more core beliefs that we have to give up. First it was free markets. Now it’s democracy.
The financial rescue may be the least popular big-ticket government program in history. If the U.S. Treasury decides it needs more money to keep the bailout going, it is anybody’s guess whether Congress would provide it.
As a result, Treasury and the Federal Reserve have been running what feels to this lifelong student of fiscal policy like a scam.
Many economists believe that helping financial institutions turn their less liquid assets into hard cash is a key step toward returning them to good footing. The best way to achieve that in a democracy would be for Congress to appropriate the funds to acquire the assets and for Treasury to borrow the money that it needs.
But Congress is unwilling to appropriate enough money, so Treasury and the Fed have cooked up a work-around: the Fed buys the assets instead. Since the Fed exists outside of the normal budget process, no permission from elected officials is required.
Wall Street on the Tundra
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/04/iceland200904
Iceland instantly became the only nation on earth that Americans could point to and say, “Well, at least we didn’t do that.” In the end, Icelanders amassed debts amounting to 850 percent of their G.D.P. (The debt-drowned United States has reached just 350 percent.) As absurdly big and important as Wall Street became in the U.S. economy, it never grew so large that the rest of the population could not, in a pinch, bail it out. Any one of the three Icelandic banks suffered losses too large for the nation to bear; taken together they were so ridiculously out of proportion that, within weeks of the collapse, a third of the population told pollsters that they were considering emigration.
In just three or four years an entirely new way of economic life had been grafted onto the side of this stable, collectivist society, and the graft had overwhelmed the host.
Iceland instantly became the only nation on earth that Americans could point to and say, “Well, at least we didn’t do that.” In the end, Icelanders amassed debts amounting to 850 percent of their G.D.P. (The debt-drowned United States has reached just 350 percent.) As absurdly big and important as Wall Street became in the U.S. economy, it never grew so large that the rest of the population could not, in a pinch, bail it out. Any one of the three Icelandic banks suffered losses too large for the nation to bear; taken together they were so ridiculously out of proportion that, within weeks of the collapse, a third of the population told pollsters that they were considering emigration.
In just three or four years an entirely new way of economic life had been grafted onto the side of this stable, collectivist society, and the graft had overwhelmed the host.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Food safety for this century
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/04/11/food_safety_for_this_century/
I see that Food safety and the banking industry seem to have alot in common.
They regulate themselves.
Greed kills.
A recent hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the peanut butter scandal showed that some large food manufacturers, which buy ingredients from smaller firms, are also losing patience with the system. The head of the Kellogg Company, A.D. David Mackay, said it relied on plant inspections conducted by third-party auditors hired by the peanut-butter maker itself. In this and other food contamination cases, private auditors working for the producer fail to detect obvious problems.
I see that Food safety and the banking industry seem to have alot in common.
They regulate themselves.
Greed kills.
A recent hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the peanut butter scandal showed that some large food manufacturers, which buy ingredients from smaller firms, are also losing patience with the system. The head of the Kellogg Company, A.D. David Mackay, said it relied on plant inspections conducted by third-party auditors hired by the peanut-butter maker itself. In this and other food contamination cases, private auditors working for the producer fail to detect obvious problems.
Economic Crisis - No End in Sight
http://www.rense.com/general85/econn.htm
Today five US banks according to data in the just-released Federal Office of Comptroller of the Currency's Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activity, hold 96% of all US bank derivatives positions in terms of nominal values, and an eye-popping 81% of the total net credit risk exposure in event of default.
The five are, in declining order of importance: JPMorgan Chase which holds a staggering $88 trillion in derivatives (¤66 trillion!). Morgan Chase is followed by Bank of America with $38 trillion in derivatives, and Citibank with $32 trillion. Number four in the derivatives sweepstakes is Goldman Sachs with a 'mere' $30 trillion in derivatives. Number five, the merged Wells Fargo-Wachovia Bank, drops dramatically in size to $5 trillion. Number six, Britain's HSBC Bank USA has $3.7 trillion. ("Geithner's 'Dirty Little Secret': The Entire Global Financial System is at Risk", F. William Engdahl, Global Research)
These five banking Goliaths are at the center of political power in America today. Their White House emissary, Timothy Geithner, has concocted a rescue plan--the Public-Private Investment Program--which will provide 94 percent funding from the FDIC for the purchase bad assets. The program is designed to keep asset prices artificially high while transferring the bulk of the losses to the taxpayer. The plan has been widely criticized and has even raised a few eyebrows even among usually-supportive members of the establishment like the Financial Times:
Today five US banks according to data in the just-released Federal Office of Comptroller of the Currency's Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activity, hold 96% of all US bank derivatives positions in terms of nominal values, and an eye-popping 81% of the total net credit risk exposure in event of default.
The five are, in declining order of importance: JPMorgan Chase which holds a staggering $88 trillion in derivatives (¤66 trillion!). Morgan Chase is followed by Bank of America with $38 trillion in derivatives, and Citibank with $32 trillion. Number four in the derivatives sweepstakes is Goldman Sachs with a 'mere' $30 trillion in derivatives. Number five, the merged Wells Fargo-Wachovia Bank, drops dramatically in size to $5 trillion. Number six, Britain's HSBC Bank USA has $3.7 trillion. ("Geithner's 'Dirty Little Secret': The Entire Global Financial System is at Risk", F. William Engdahl, Global Research)
These five banking Goliaths are at the center of political power in America today. Their White House emissary, Timothy Geithner, has concocted a rescue plan--the Public-Private Investment Program--which will provide 94 percent funding from the FDIC for the purchase bad assets. The program is designed to keep asset prices artificially high while transferring the bulk of the losses to the taxpayer. The plan has been widely criticized and has even raised a few eyebrows even among usually-supportive members of the establishment like the Financial Times:
Friday, April 10, 2009
Oil demand set to fall by 2.4m barrels a day
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/utilities/article6071632.ece
They tell you one thing
But if you look you can see the other
The recession gripping the world's developed economies will push oil demand down by 2.4 million barrels a day this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
The IEA said that only 83.4 million barrels of oil would be needed a day this year, 2.8 per cent lower than last year after “much lower-than-expected; economic growth in the global economy", as it revised down its previous forecast by one million barrels a day.
It said: "This forecast implicitly discards a recovery in both global economic growth and oil demand from the second half of 2009 as we had earlier assumed."
They tell you one thing
But if you look you can see the other
The recession gripping the world's developed economies will push oil demand down by 2.4 million barrels a day this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
The IEA said that only 83.4 million barrels of oil would be needed a day this year, 2.8 per cent lower than last year after “much lower-than-expected; economic growth in the global economy", as it revised down its previous forecast by one million barrels a day.
It said: "This forecast implicitly discards a recovery in both global economic growth and oil demand from the second half of 2009 as we had earlier assumed."
WAR PEACE FREEDOM SLAVERY IGNORANCE
http://main.fknnewz.com/blog/?p=225
Think about it
Afghanistan enjoys peace ,freedom,democracy,child rape and 2nd highest infant death rate on earth.
Piracy in Africa, America and China steal er rescue many countries resources for economic abuse, use.
Kim Jong Il Re-Elected as fake nuclear bogey man of North Korea, in unanimouse farce.
IN the UK G20 protesters death to be investigated, dismissed and swept under the carpet by IPC
Hello powerless debt ridden, landless, economic peasant slave units, welcome to the FKN News im hard to swallow here are the headlies tonight..
Think about it
Afghanistan enjoys peace ,freedom,democracy,child rape and 2nd highest infant death rate on earth.
Piracy in Africa, America and China steal er rescue many countries resources for economic abuse, use.
Kim Jong Il Re-Elected as fake nuclear bogey man of North Korea, in unanimouse farce.
IN the UK G20 protesters death to be investigated, dismissed and swept under the carpet by IPC
Hello powerless debt ridden, landless, economic peasant slave units, welcome to the FKN News im hard to swallow here are the headlies tonight..
Obama to Push Immigration Bill as One Priority
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/us...g.html?_r=1&hp
How many times must they do the same thing over and over before they figure out it doesn't work?
While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country’s immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.
The latest on President Obama, the new administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion.
Mr. Obama will frame the new effort — likely to rouse passions on all sides of the highly divisive issue — as “policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system,” said the official, Cecilia Muñoz, deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House.
Mr. Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May, administration officials said, and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration groups, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/us...g.html?_r=1&hp
How many times must they do the same thing over and over before they figure out it doesn't work?
While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country’s immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal, a senior administration official said on Wednesday.
The latest on President Obama, the new administration and other news from Washington and around the nation. Join the discussion.
Mr. Obama will frame the new effort — likely to rouse passions on all sides of the highly divisive issue — as “policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system,” said the official, Cecilia Muñoz, deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House.
Mr. Obama plans to speak publicly about the issue in May, administration officials said, and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration groups, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
More States Look to Raise Taxes
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123923448796803135.html
A free fall in tax revenue is driving more state lawmakers to turn to broad-based tax increases in a bid to close widening budget gaps.
At least 10 states are considering some kind of major increase in sales or income taxes: Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. California and New York lawmakers already have agreed on multibillion-dollar tax increases that went into effect earlier this year.
Fiscal experts say more states are likely to try to raise tax revenue in coming months, especially once they tally the latest shortfalls from April 15 income-tax filings, often the biggest single source of funds for the 43 states that levy them.
A free fall in tax revenue is driving more state lawmakers to turn to broad-based tax increases in a bid to close widening budget gaps.
At least 10 states are considering some kind of major increase in sales or income taxes: Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. California and New York lawmakers already have agreed on multibillion-dollar tax increases that went into effect earlier this year.
Fiscal experts say more states are likely to try to raise tax revenue in coming months, especially once they tally the latest shortfalls from April 15 income-tax filings, often the biggest single source of funds for the 43 states that levy them.
Survivalists 2.0: Regular people get ready for the worst
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/65600.html
There is nothing wrong with a little CYA
Jack Spirko owns a media company, is married to a nurse and has a son in college. He has two dogs and lives in a nice house with a pool in a diversified neighborhood in suburban Arlington, Texas.
Spirko, 36, considers himself an average guy with a normal life.
But for the past few years, Spirko has been stockpiling food, water, gas, guns and ammunition. He also has a load of red wine, Starbucks coffee and deodorant stashed away.
"I refer to myself as a modern survivalist, which means I don’t do without," Spirko explained. "I have a nice TV; I have nice furniture. We are not living in the sticks, but I take all of these things very seriously."
Spirko, an Army veteran and self-described "stark-raving-mad Libertarian," is part of a growing movement of people who are preparing for a disaster natural, economic or man-made. Referred to as "modern survivalists" or "preppers," they are taking steps to protect and provide for their families should something bad happen.
Theirs is a different breed of survivalist, far from the right-wing militants or religious extremists who hole up in bunkers, live off the land and wait for the apocalypse.
Preppers are regular people with regular jobs who decided after 9/11, after Hurricane Katrina or when their 401(k)s tanked that they can’t rely on someone else to help them if something goes awry.
"We are normal people just like you," Spirko said. "We just understand that, sometimes, stuff goes wrong."
There is nothing wrong with a little CYA
Jack Spirko owns a media company, is married to a nurse and has a son in college. He has two dogs and lives in a nice house with a pool in a diversified neighborhood in suburban Arlington, Texas.
Spirko, 36, considers himself an average guy with a normal life.
But for the past few years, Spirko has been stockpiling food, water, gas, guns and ammunition. He also has a load of red wine, Starbucks coffee and deodorant stashed away.
"I refer to myself as a modern survivalist, which means I don’t do without," Spirko explained. "I have a nice TV; I have nice furniture. We are not living in the sticks, but I take all of these things very seriously."
Spirko, an Army veteran and self-described "stark-raving-mad Libertarian," is part of a growing movement of people who are preparing for a disaster natural, economic or man-made. Referred to as "modern survivalists" or "preppers," they are taking steps to protect and provide for their families should something bad happen.
Theirs is a different breed of survivalist, far from the right-wing militants or religious extremists who hole up in bunkers, live off the land and wait for the apocalypse.
Preppers are regular people with regular jobs who decided after 9/11, after Hurricane Katrina or when their 401(k)s tanked that they can’t rely on someone else to help them if something goes awry.
"We are normal people just like you," Spirko said. "We just understand that, sometimes, stuff goes wrong."
Cities collapsing throughout the US
http://thecomingdepression.blogspot.com/2009/04/cities-collapsing-throughout-usa.html
With enough abandoned lots to fill the city of San Francisco, Motown is 138 square miles divided between expanses of decay and emptiness and tracts of still-functioning communities and commercial areas. Close to six barren acres of an estimated 17,000 have already been turned into 500 "mini- farms," demonstrating the lengths to which planners will go to make land productive.
The city, like the automakers, has to shrink to match what's left, said June Thomas, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
"The issue is how," she said. "There's no vision."
"People are moving out of the city, trying to find work," said David Martin of Wayne State University's Urban Safety Program. Those who stay "can't afford to move out."
"Property abandonment is getting so bad in Flint that some in government are talking about an extreme measure that was once unthinkable -- shutting down portions of the city, officially abandoning them and cutting off police and fire service.
...
[Mayor] Brown said that as more people abandon homes, eating away at the city's tax base and creating more blight, the city might need to examine "shutting down quadrants of the city where we (wouldn't) provide services."
He did not define what that could mean -- bulldozing abandoned areas, simply leaving the vacant homes to rot or some other idea entirely."
With enough abandoned lots to fill the city of San Francisco, Motown is 138 square miles divided between expanses of decay and emptiness and tracts of still-functioning communities and commercial areas. Close to six barren acres of an estimated 17,000 have already been turned into 500 "mini- farms," demonstrating the lengths to which planners will go to make land productive.
The city, like the automakers, has to shrink to match what's left, said June Thomas, a professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
"The issue is how," she said. "There's no vision."
"People are moving out of the city, trying to find work," said David Martin of Wayne State University's Urban Safety Program. Those who stay "can't afford to move out."
"Property abandonment is getting so bad in Flint that some in government are talking about an extreme measure that was once unthinkable -- shutting down portions of the city, officially abandoning them and cutting off police and fire service.
...
[Mayor] Brown said that as more people abandon homes, eating away at the city's tax base and creating more blight, the city might need to examine "shutting down quadrants of the city where we (wouldn't) provide services."
He did not define what that could mean -- bulldozing abandoned areas, simply leaving the vacant homes to rot or some other idea entirely."
Bill Lets Obama Turn Off the Internet
http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/04/07/bill-lets-obama-turn-off-the-internet
Two bills introduced giving the President the power to deem a private network part of the nation’s critical infrastructure and shut it down for cybersecurity reasons also gives the Commerce Secretary the power to access network data outside of oversight.
The Big Brother vibe coming off both is reminiscent of a demanding report submitted before Obama even took office. About a month after Election Day, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) issued a report called Securing Cyberspace for the 44th President.
Heard of the military-industrial complex? The CSIS is likely where they meet to carpool.
The recommendations in the report, ignored by the previous administration, are sweeping and demanding. The principle minds behind it hailed from the CIA, the US Navy, Microsoft, Sun, AT&T, ICANN, Lockheed Martin, Cisco, and GE—among a slew of others—and likely those minds felt confident they’d get a more sympathetic ear from the new President. And they were likely right. They’d get that from Congress, too.
Senators Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe introduced legislation last week echoing much of what the CSIS report was looking for, which is primarily a set of standards network operators are to live up to—more on that in a bit. One bill creates the office of cybersecurity czar, called a National Cybersecurity Adviser, who will oversee national network security. Confirmed by the Senate, the cybersecurity czar will have the highest security clearance necessary to monitor infrastructure networks and will be a party to secret initiatives.
Thanks to the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, the cybersecurity czar will be advised by a panel stakeholders from government, private, academic, and nonprofit sectors, much like the signatories to CSIS’s report. Also under the longer bill, the President can order the disconnection of any federal or private critical infrastructure network during emergencies or for reasons of national security. “Critical infrastructure” could include the networks attached to financial, power, transportation, medical, communication or any other network deemed critical that could be the target of a cyber attack.
In short, the President could shut down much of the Internet if he thought necessary. The Secretary of Commerce would also be given "access to all relevant data concerning [critical] networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access" in the event of a cybersecurity emergency.
The National Institute of Standards and
Two bills introduced giving the President the power to deem a private network part of the nation’s critical infrastructure and shut it down for cybersecurity reasons also gives the Commerce Secretary the power to access network data outside of oversight.
The Big Brother vibe coming off both is reminiscent of a demanding report submitted before Obama even took office. About a month after Election Day, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) issued a report called Securing Cyberspace for the 44th President.
Heard of the military-industrial complex? The CSIS is likely where they meet to carpool.
The recommendations in the report, ignored by the previous administration, are sweeping and demanding. The principle minds behind it hailed from the CIA, the US Navy, Microsoft, Sun, AT&T, ICANN, Lockheed Martin, Cisco, and GE—among a slew of others—and likely those minds felt confident they’d get a more sympathetic ear from the new President. And they were likely right. They’d get that from Congress, too.
Senators Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snowe introduced legislation last week echoing much of what the CSIS report was looking for, which is primarily a set of standards network operators are to live up to—more on that in a bit. One bill creates the office of cybersecurity czar, called a National Cybersecurity Adviser, who will oversee national network security. Confirmed by the Senate, the cybersecurity czar will have the highest security clearance necessary to monitor infrastructure networks and will be a party to secret initiatives.
Thanks to the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, the cybersecurity czar will be advised by a panel stakeholders from government, private, academic, and nonprofit sectors, much like the signatories to CSIS’s report. Also under the longer bill, the President can order the disconnection of any federal or private critical infrastructure network during emergencies or for reasons of national security. “Critical infrastructure” could include the networks attached to financial, power, transportation, medical, communication or any other network deemed critical that could be the target of a cyber attack.
In short, the President could shut down much of the Internet if he thought necessary. The Secretary of Commerce would also be given "access to all relevant data concerning [critical] networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access" in the event of a cybersecurity emergency.
The National Institute of Standards and
Struggling US towns print their own currency
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5126185/Struggling-US-towns-print-their-own-currency.html
Communities across America are bypassing the dollar and creating their own currencies in an attempt to help both consumers and businesses struggling in the recession.
The idea, borrowed from the Depression era when the currencies were known as "scrip", is designed to boost local spending and keep money circulating within the community.
Dollar rattled by Fed's plans and US jobs woeTypically, a group of businesses print a new currency which shoppers can then buy at a discount – typically one dollar will cost 90 to 95 cents – and spend at full value with participating companies.
Some of the currencies have been around for years but the recent economic downturn has encouraged others to follow suit. According to some estimates, there are now more than 75 local currency systems across the country.
Communities across America are bypassing the dollar and creating their own currencies in an attempt to help both consumers and businesses struggling in the recession.
The idea, borrowed from the Depression era when the currencies were known as "scrip", is designed to boost local spending and keep money circulating within the community.
Dollar rattled by Fed's plans and US jobs woeTypically, a group of businesses print a new currency which shoppers can then buy at a discount – typically one dollar will cost 90 to 95 cents – and spend at full value with participating companies.
Some of the currencies have been around for years but the recent economic downturn has encouraged others to follow suit. According to some estimates, there are now more than 75 local currency systems across the country.
Obama's G20 plan kisses off Declaration of Independence
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=94331
New international board to intervene in decisions about U.S. companies
New international board to intervene in decisions about U.S. companies
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Bernanke's Financial Rescue Plan: The growing prospect of a U.S. default
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.p... icleId=13077
Fed chief Ben Bernanke has embarked on the most radical and ruinous financial rescue plan in history. According to Bloomberg News, the Fed has already lent or committed $12.8 trillion trying to stabilize the financial system after the the bursting of Wall Street's speculative mega-bubble. Now Bernanke wants to dig an even bigger hole, by creating programs that will provide up to $2 trillion of credit to financial institutions that purchase toxic assets from banks or securities backed by consumer loans. The Fed's generous terms are expected to generate a flurry of speculation which will help strengthen the banking system while leaving the taxpayer to bear the losses. It is impossible to know what the long-term effects of Bernanke's excessive spending will be, but his plan has the potential to trigger hyperinflation or spark a run on the dollar.
Bernanke's zero-percent interest rates, multi-trillion dollar lending facilities and bank bailouts do not fit within the Fed's narrow mandate of "price stability and full employment". With unemployment soaring to 8.5 percent and increasing at a rate of 650,000 per month (with 15 percent under-employed) it is a wonder that Bernanke hasn't been fired already. There are also myriad problems with Bernanke's lending facilities which are nothing more than a crafty way of transferring wealth from the Fed to private industry via low interest loans. The Central Bank is not supposed to "pick winners" as it is blatantly doing through its market-distorting facilities. Businesses outside the financial sector cannot exchange their downgraded garbage with the Fed for semi-permanent, rotating loans; so why should underwater investment banks and hedge funds get special treatment? The facilities represent a gift to financial institutions giving them an unfair advantage in the marketplace.
Besides the $2 trillion for the Term Asset-Backed Lending Facility (TALF) and the Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP), the Fed will also provide a multi-billion dollar backstop for the FDIC as bank closures continue to snowball and more reserves are needed to shore up the system. That means that the Fed's balance sheet could mushroom to over $4 trillion by the end of 2010. The Treasury has already agreed in principle to assume full responsibility for the Fed's lending facilities (as well as the bailouts of AIG and Bear Stearns) as soon as the financial system stabilizes. By providing loans and US Treasurys to failing companies, instead of capital, Bernanke has sidestepped Congress, thus, undermining the spirit and the letter of the law. Congress has approved a mere $1.5 trillion of the nearly $13 trillion for which taxpayers are now responsible.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.p... icleId=13077
Fed chief Ben Bernanke has embarked on the most radical and ruinous financial rescue plan in history. According to Bloomberg News, the Fed has already lent or committed $12.8 trillion trying to stabilize the financial system after the the bursting of Wall Street's speculative mega-bubble. Now Bernanke wants to dig an even bigger hole, by creating programs that will provide up to $2 trillion of credit to financial institutions that purchase toxic assets from banks or securities backed by consumer loans. The Fed's generous terms are expected to generate a flurry of speculation which will help strengthen the banking system while leaving the taxpayer to bear the losses. It is impossible to know what the long-term effects of Bernanke's excessive spending will be, but his plan has the potential to trigger hyperinflation or spark a run on the dollar.
Bernanke's zero-percent interest rates, multi-trillion dollar lending facilities and bank bailouts do not fit within the Fed's narrow mandate of "price stability and full employment". With unemployment soaring to 8.5 percent and increasing at a rate of 650,000 per month (with 15 percent under-employed) it is a wonder that Bernanke hasn't been fired already. There are also myriad problems with Bernanke's lending facilities which are nothing more than a crafty way of transferring wealth from the Fed to private industry via low interest loans. The Central Bank is not supposed to "pick winners" as it is blatantly doing through its market-distorting facilities. Businesses outside the financial sector cannot exchange their downgraded garbage with the Fed for semi-permanent, rotating loans; so why should underwater investment banks and hedge funds get special treatment? The facilities represent a gift to financial institutions giving them an unfair advantage in the marketplace.
Besides the $2 trillion for the Term Asset-Backed Lending Facility (TALF) and the Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP), the Fed will also provide a multi-billion dollar backstop for the FDIC as bank closures continue to snowball and more reserves are needed to shore up the system. That means that the Fed's balance sheet could mushroom to over $4 trillion by the end of 2010. The Treasury has already agreed in principle to assume full responsibility for the Fed's lending facilities (as well as the bailouts of AIG and Bear Stearns) as soon as the financial system stabilizes. By providing loans and US Treasurys to failing companies, instead of capital, Bernanke has sidestepped Congress, thus, undermining the spirit and the letter of the law. Congress has approved a mere $1.5 trillion of the nearly $13 trillion for which taxpayers are now responsible.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Geithner's Stress Test "A Complete Sham," Former Federal Bank Regulator Says
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/225897/Geithner's-Stress-Test-%22A-Complete-Sham%22-Former-Federal-Bank-Regulator-Says?tickers=UBS,C,BAC,XLF,SKF,FAS?sec=topStories&pos=9&asset=TBD&ccode=TBD
The bank stress tests currently underway are “a complete sham,” says William Black, a former senior bank regulator and S&L prosecutor, and currently an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. “It’s a Potemkin model. Built to fool people.” Like many others, Black believes the “worst case scenario” used in the stress test don’t go far enough.
He detailed these and related concerns in a recent interview with Naked Capitalism. But Black, who was counsel to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the S&L Crisis, says the program's failings go way beyond such technical issues. “There is no real purpose [of the stress test] other than to fool us. To make us chumps,” Black says. Noting policymakers have long stated the problem is a lack of confidence, Black says Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is now essentially saying: “’If we lie and they believe us, all will be well.’ It’s Orwellian."
The former regulator is extremely critical of Geithner, calling him a “failed regulator” now “adding to failed policy” by not allowing “banks that really need desperately to be closed” to fail. (On Saturday, Geithner said on Face the Nation, if banks need "exceptional assistance" in the future "then we'll make sure that assistance comes with conditions," including potentially changing management and the board, but did not say they'd be shut down.)
Black says the stress test must also be viewed in the context of Geithner’s toxic debt plan, which he calls “an enormous taxpayer subsidy for people who caused the problem.” The fact bank stocks have been rising since Geithner unveiled his plan is “bad news for taxpayers,” he says. “It’s the subsidy of all history."
The bank stress tests currently underway are “a complete sham,” says William Black, a former senior bank regulator and S&L prosecutor, and currently an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. “It’s a Potemkin model. Built to fool people.” Like many others, Black believes the “worst case scenario” used in the stress test don’t go far enough.
He detailed these and related concerns in a recent interview with Naked Capitalism. But Black, who was counsel to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the S&L Crisis, says the program's failings go way beyond such technical issues. “There is no real purpose [of the stress test] other than to fool us. To make us chumps,” Black says. Noting policymakers have long stated the problem is a lack of confidence, Black says Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner is now essentially saying: “’If we lie and they believe us, all will be well.’ It’s Orwellian."
The former regulator is extremely critical of Geithner, calling him a “failed regulator” now “adding to failed policy” by not allowing “banks that really need desperately to be closed” to fail. (On Saturday, Geithner said on Face the Nation, if banks need "exceptional assistance" in the future "then we'll make sure that assistance comes with conditions," including potentially changing management and the board, but did not say they'd be shut down.)
Black says the stress test must also be viewed in the context of Geithner’s toxic debt plan, which he calls “an enormous taxpayer subsidy for people who caused the problem.” The fact bank stocks have been rising since Geithner unveiled his plan is “bad news for taxpayers,” he says. “It’s the subsidy of all history."
Mortgage Fraud Epidemic: How the FBI Blew It and Why There's No 'Perp Walks'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/225823/Mortgage-Fraud-Epidemic-How-the-FBI-Blew-It-and-Why-There's-No-'Perp-Walks'?tickers=JPM,BAC,XLF,MHP,MCO,WB,FAS
In the wake of the bursting of the housing bubble, you'd think there'd be a significant number of investigations into criminal wrongdoing and accounting fraud, similar to what occurred after the S&L crisis and bursting of the stock bubble in 2000.
But two years into the crisis the FBI "doesn't have a single major conviction or indictment of anyone," notes William Black, a former senior bank regulator and S&L prosecutor, and currently an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri - Kansas City.
Black, who was counsel to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the S&L crisis of the 1980s and blew the whistle on the "Keating Five" in 1989, reiterated what he told us in November: Though the FBI warned of an "epidemic" of mortgage fraud in 2004, they subsequently made a "strategic alliance" with the Mortgage Bankers Association, which Black calls the "trade association of perps."
Indeed, as much as 80% of the fraud during the boom was "induced by the lenders," who either encouraged people to lie on loan applications or actively altered documents to make them more likely to be approved, says Black.
How extensive was the fraud
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/225823/Mortgage-Fraud-Epidemic-How-the-FBI-Blew-It-and-Why-There's-No-'Perp-Walks'?tickers=JPM,BAC,XLF,MHP,MCO,WB,FAS
In the wake of the bursting of the housing bubble, you'd think there'd be a significant number of investigations into criminal wrongdoing and accounting fraud, similar to what occurred after the S&L crisis and bursting of the stock bubble in 2000.
But two years into the crisis the FBI "doesn't have a single major conviction or indictment of anyone," notes William Black, a former senior bank regulator and S&L prosecutor, and currently an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri - Kansas City.
Black, who was counsel to the Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the S&L crisis of the 1980s and blew the whistle on the "Keating Five" in 1989, reiterated what he told us in November: Though the FBI warned of an "epidemic" of mortgage fraud in 2004, they subsequently made a "strategic alliance" with the Mortgage Bankers Association, which Black calls the "trade association of perps."
Indeed, as much as 80% of the fraud during the boom was "induced by the lenders," who either encouraged people to lie on loan applications or actively altered documents to make them more likely to be approved, says Black.
How extensive was the fraud
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Larry Summers, Tim Geithner and Wall Street's ownership of government
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwa...04/04/summers/
A nice view of just how the system works
White House officials yesterday released their personal financial disclosure forms, and included in the millions of dollars which top Obama economics adviser Larry Summers made from Wall Street in 2008 is this detail:
Lawrence H. Summers, one of President Obama's top economic advisers, collected roughly $5.2 million in compensation from hedge fund D.E. Shaw over the past year and was paid more than $2.7 million in speaking fees by several troubled Wall Street firms and other organizations. . . .
Financial institutions including JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch paid Summers for speaking appearances in 2008. Fees ranged from $45,000 for a Nov. 12
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwa...04/04/summers/
A nice view of just how the system works
White House officials yesterday released their personal financial disclosure forms, and included in the millions of dollars which top Obama economics adviser Larry Summers made from Wall Street in 2008 is this detail:
Lawrence H. Summers, one of President Obama's top economic advisers, collected roughly $5.2 million in compensation from hedge fund D.E. Shaw over the past year and was paid more than $2.7 million in speaking fees by several troubled Wall Street firms and other organizations. . . .
Financial institutions including JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch paid Summers for speaking appearances in 2008. Fees ranged from $45,000 for a Nov. 12
Buffett, champion of bailout, is also leading beneficiary
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/65496.html
A little inside look at Warren's world
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has been lauded for his plainspoken denunciation of the greed and foolishness behind the economic crisis. He's pushed the massive federal bailout of imploding banks as the essential response to an "economic Pearl Harbor."
When Buffett speaks, people in high places listen. He's so highly regarded that in a fall debate, both presidential candidates said they'd consider him for Treasury secretary.
A Sacramento Bee examination of regulatory records has found that his extensive holdings in financial firms have made Buffett, the world's second-wealthiest person behind Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, one of the top beneficiaries of the banking bailout.
Just 28 companies received more than 90 percent of the funds so far disbursed to financial firms by the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, hasn't received any of that federal aid, but Berkshire, based in Omaha, Neb., owns stock valued at more than $13 billion in the top recipients of TARP funds, including Goldman Sachs Group, US Bancorp, American Express and Bank of America, which analysts all thought were in deep trouble before TARP was approved in October.
That total, The Bee found, ranks Berkshire fifth among all investors in TARP-assisted companies. Berkshire's TARP holdings constitute 30 percent of its publicly disclosed stock portfolio, and that proportion reflects at least twice as much dependence on bailed-out banks as any other large investor.
Berkshire, for instance, is the largest shareholder in San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, which got $25 billion — 91 percent of the TARP funds invested in institutions headquartered in California.
Buffett increased his bank holdings in September, while he was arguing in the media that Congress should approve the bailout to prevent the collapse of the global financial system.
"If I didn't think the government was going to act, I would not be doing anything this week," Buffett told CNBC after investing $5 billion in Goldman Sachs. "I am, to some extent, betting on the fact that the government will do the rational thing here and act promptly."
The more the bailout props up these financial companies, the more secure Berkshire's and other shareholders' investments in them are. Berkshire shares have risen sharply with the financial sector stock rally in recent weeks, but they're still down nearly 40 percent since September. In Friday trading, they closed at $92,490 a share.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/65496.html
A little inside look at Warren's world
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has been lauded for his plainspoken denunciation of the greed and foolishness behind the economic crisis. He's pushed the massive federal bailout of imploding banks as the essential response to an "economic Pearl Harbor."
When Buffett speaks, people in high places listen. He's so highly regarded that in a fall debate, both presidential candidates said they'd consider him for Treasury secretary.
A Sacramento Bee examination of regulatory records has found that his extensive holdings in financial firms have made Buffett, the world's second-wealthiest person behind Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, one of the top beneficiaries of the banking bailout.
Just 28 companies received more than 90 percent of the funds so far disbursed to financial firms by the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, hasn't received any of that federal aid, but Berkshire, based in Omaha, Neb., owns stock valued at more than $13 billion in the top recipients of TARP funds, including Goldman Sachs Group, US Bancorp, American Express and Bank of America, which analysts all thought were in deep trouble before TARP was approved in October.
That total, The Bee found, ranks Berkshire fifth among all investors in TARP-assisted companies. Berkshire's TARP holdings constitute 30 percent of its publicly disclosed stock portfolio, and that proportion reflects at least twice as much dependence on bailed-out banks as any other large investor.
Berkshire, for instance, is the largest shareholder in San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, which got $25 billion — 91 percent of the TARP funds invested in institutions headquartered in California.
Buffett increased his bank holdings in September, while he was arguing in the media that Congress should approve the bailout to prevent the collapse of the global financial system.
"If I didn't think the government was going to act, I would not be doing anything this week," Buffett told CNBC after investing $5 billion in Goldman Sachs. "I am, to some extent, betting on the fact that the government will do the rational thing here and act promptly."
The more the bailout props up these financial companies, the more secure Berkshire's and other shareholders' investments in them are. Berkshire shares have risen sharply with the financial sector stock rally in recent weeks, but they're still down nearly 40 percent since September. In Friday trading, they closed at $92,490 a share.
Congress backs off AIG crackdown
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/20844.html
The pattern never changes!
Congress is still riding the AIG outrage express, but the drive to actually crack down on the beleaguered company is sputtering.
That first week, a House lawmaker redefined American International Group’s acronym as “Arrogance, Incompetence and Greed.” Over in the Senate, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) suggested company executives commit suicide to demonstrate their shame. And the subpoena threats flew across the Capitol.
But those are just words. Three weeks after the AIG storm broke, efforts to regulate bonus payments, compensation packages and just about anything else at the mega-insurer are foundering.
Asked Thursday about progress on his AIG bonus bill, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) merely shook his head and said, “We’ll wait until after the recess.”
The Obama administration played a significant role in calming the AIG storm when the president signaled his opposition to a House bill that would tax AIG bonuses at 90 percent, telling “60 Minutes” that he would not “govern out of anger.” The latest House bill to retroactively crack down on almost all bailout company bonuses, passed Wednesday evening, has been met with silence on the Senate side.
The AIG scandal, however, reflects a common pattern on Capitol Hill.
Here’s how these brushfires usually unfold: A scandal breaks in the media, the public is outraged, congressional recriminations follow, wealthy men in suits testify under oath about their sins, pledges to reform are made, bills are introduced.
And then ... everyone moves on to the next outrage.
The pattern never changes!
Congress is still riding the AIG outrage express, but the drive to actually crack down on the beleaguered company is sputtering.
That first week, a House lawmaker redefined American International Group’s acronym as “Arrogance, Incompetence and Greed.” Over in the Senate, Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) suggested company executives commit suicide to demonstrate their shame. And the subpoena threats flew across the Capitol.
But those are just words. Three weeks after the AIG storm broke, efforts to regulate bonus payments, compensation packages and just about anything else at the mega-insurer are foundering.
Asked Thursday about progress on his AIG bonus bill, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) merely shook his head and said, “We’ll wait until after the recess.”
The Obama administration played a significant role in calming the AIG storm when the president signaled his opposition to a House bill that would tax AIG bonuses at 90 percent, telling “60 Minutes” that he would not “govern out of anger.” The latest House bill to retroactively crack down on almost all bailout company bonuses, passed Wednesday evening, has been met with silence on the Senate side.
The AIG scandal, however, reflects a common pattern on Capitol Hill.
Here’s how these brushfires usually unfold: A scandal breaks in the media, the public is outraged, congressional recriminations follow, wealthy men in suits testify under oath about their sins, pledges to reform are made, bills are introduced.
And then ... everyone moves on to the next outrage.
Active Thermitic Material Discovered in Dust from the 9/11 World Trade Center Catastrophe
http://www.bentham-open.org/pages/content.php?TOCPJ/2009/00000002/00000001/7TOCPJ.SGM
Active thermite does not come from airplanes
So where did it come from
And who put it there
We have discovered distinctive red/gray chips in all the samples we have studied of the dust produced by the destruction of the World Trade Center. Examination of four of these samples, collected from separate sites, is reported in this paper. These red/gray chips show marked similarities in all four samples. One sample was collected by a Manhattan resident about ten minutes after the collapse of the second WTC Tower, two the next day, and a fourth about a week later. The properties of these chips were analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The red material contains grains approximately 100 nm across which are largely iron oxide, while aluminum is contained in tiny plate-like structures. Separation of components using methyl ethyl ketone demonstrated that elemental aluminum is present. The iron oxide and aluminum are intimately mixed in the red material. When ignited in a DSC device the chips exhibit large but narrow exotherms occurring at approximately 430 °C, far below the normal ignition temperature for conventional thermite. Numerous iron-rich spheres are clearly observed in the residue following the ignition of these peculiar red/gray chips. The red portion of these chips is found to be an unreacted thermitic material and highly energetic.
Active thermite does not come from airplanes
So where did it come from
And who put it there
We have discovered distinctive red/gray chips in all the samples we have studied of the dust produced by the destruction of the World Trade Center. Examination of four of these samples, collected from separate sites, is reported in this paper. These red/gray chips show marked similarities in all four samples. One sample was collected by a Manhattan resident about ten minutes after the collapse of the second WTC Tower, two the next day, and a fourth about a week later. The properties of these chips were analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy (XEDS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The red material contains grains approximately 100 nm across which are largely iron oxide, while aluminum is contained in tiny plate-like structures. Separation of components using methyl ethyl ketone demonstrated that elemental aluminum is present. The iron oxide and aluminum are intimately mixed in the red material. When ignited in a DSC device the chips exhibit large but narrow exotherms occurring at approximately 430 °C, far below the normal ignition temperature for conventional thermite. Numerous iron-rich spheres are clearly observed in the residue following the ignition of these peculiar red/gray chips. The red portion of these chips is found to be an unreacted thermitic material and highly energetic.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Bailed-out banks may buy toxic assets: report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Bailed...BD&ccode =TBD
Gaming the system on the taxpayers dime
(Reuters) - U.S. banks that have received government aid, including Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co, are considering buying toxic assets to be sold by rivals under the Treasury's $1,000 billion plan to revive the financial system, the Financial Times said.
...
Citigroup was considering whether to take part in the plan as a seller, buyer or manager of the assets, but no decision had yet been taken, the paper said, citing people close to the company.
Goldman and Morgan Stanley have pledged to increase investments in distressed assets, the paper said.
This week, John Mack, Morgan Stanley's chief executive, told staff the bank was considering how to become "one of the firms that can buy these assets and package them where your clients will have access to them," according to the paper.
Spencer Bachus, the top Republican on the House financial services committee, told the paper that he would introduce legislation to stop financial institutions "gaming the system to reap taxpayer-subsidized windfalls."
Bachus added it would mark "a new level of absurdity" if financial institutions were "colluding to swap assets at inflated prices using taxpayers' dollars," according to the paper.
Citigroup, JPMorgan and Goldman declined to comment to the paper.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Bailed...BD&ccode =TBD
Gaming the system on the taxpayers dime
(Reuters) - U.S. banks that have received government aid, including Citigroup Inc, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase & Co, are considering buying toxic assets to be sold by rivals under the Treasury's $1,000 billion plan to revive the financial system, the Financial Times said.
...
Citigroup was considering whether to take part in the plan as a seller, buyer or manager of the assets, but no decision had yet been taken, the paper said, citing people close to the company.
Goldman and Morgan Stanley have pledged to increase investments in distressed assets, the paper said.
This week, John Mack, Morgan Stanley's chief executive, told staff the bank was considering how to become "one of the firms that can buy these assets and package them where your clients will have access to them," according to the paper.
Spencer Bachus, the top Republican on the House financial services committee, told the paper that he would introduce legislation to stop financial institutions "gaming the system to reap taxpayer-subsidized windfalls."
Bachus added it would mark "a new level of absurdity" if financial institutions were "colluding to swap assets at inflated prices using taxpayers' dollars," according to the paper.
Citigroup, JPMorgan and Goldman declined to comment to the paper.
What they said and what it meant
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Meltdown-101-What-G20-leaders-apf-14842134.html?sec=topStories&pos=9&asset=TBD&ccode=TBD
Meltdown 101: What G-20 leaders said -- and meant
Meltdown 101: G-20 leaders vow to fight economic downturn -- but what do their promises mean?
Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer
Friday April 3, 2009, 9:36 am EDT
Buzz up! Print Leaders at the G-20 summit in London declared that "a global crisis requires a global solution." But that doesn't mean they are in agreement on just what the solution should be.
Here is a look at what they promised in their joint communique and what the grand phrases really mean.
WHAT THEY SAID: "We are undertaking an unprecedented and concerted fiscal expansion, which will save or create millions of jobs which would otherwise have been destroyed, and that will, by the end of next year, amount to $5 trillion, raise output by 4 percent and accelerate the transition to a green economy."
WHAT THEY MEANT: The words in the communique were strong but in reality the major countries did not pledge any additional efforts on government spending or tax cuts to boost their own economies.
Because of strong opposition from France and Germany, President Barack Obama was not able to achieve his goal of getting the other G-20 countries to commit to spending the equivalent of 2 percent of their domestic economy on stimulus efforts to boost jobs. That is a goal the United States has reached with the $787 billion two-year stimulus program Obama pushed through Congress.
Meltdown 101: What G-20 leaders said -- and meant
Meltdown 101: G-20 leaders vow to fight economic downturn -- but what do their promises mean?
Martin Crutsinger, AP Economics Writer
Friday April 3, 2009, 9:36 am EDT
Buzz up! Print Leaders at the G-20 summit in London declared that "a global crisis requires a global solution." But that doesn't mean they are in agreement on just what the solution should be.
Here is a look at what they promised in their joint communique and what the grand phrases really mean.
WHAT THEY SAID: "We are undertaking an unprecedented and concerted fiscal expansion, which will save or create millions of jobs which would otherwise have been destroyed, and that will, by the end of next year, amount to $5 trillion, raise output by 4 percent and accelerate the transition to a green economy."
WHAT THEY MEANT: The words in the communique were strong but in reality the major countries did not pledge any additional efforts on government spending or tax cuts to boost their own economies.
Because of strong opposition from France and Germany, President Barack Obama was not able to achieve his goal of getting the other G-20 countries to commit to spending the equivalent of 2 percent of their domestic economy on stimulus efforts to boost jobs. That is a goal the United States has reached with the $787 billion two-year stimulus program Obama pushed through Congress.
ISM: Service sector shrinks for 6th straight month
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ISM-Se...-14842532.html
That last line says it all
A private trade group's measure of the strength of the services sector shrank for the sixth straight month in March and at a faster pace than expected.
A services index from the Institute for Supply Management, a Tempe, Ariz.-based trade group of purchasing executives, fell to 40.8 last month from 41.6 in February. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the index to edge up to 42.
Any reading below 50 indicates contraction.
The report is based on a survey of the institute's members in 18 industries. It covers such indicators as new orders, employment, inventories, prices and backlogs.
About three-quarters of Americans work in service-providing industries such as hotels, retail, education and health care.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ISM-Se...-14842532.html
That last line says it all
A private trade group's measure of the strength of the services sector shrank for the sixth straight month in March and at a faster pace than expected.
A services index from the Institute for Supply Management, a Tempe, Ariz.-based trade group of purchasing executives, fell to 40.8 last month from 41.6 in February. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the index to edge up to 42.
Any reading below 50 indicates contraction.
The report is based on a survey of the institute's members in 18 industries. It covers such indicators as new orders, employment, inventories, prices and backlogs.
About three-quarters of Americans work in service-providing industries such as hotels, retail, education and health care.
OCC's Quarterly Report on Bank Derivatives Activities
http://www.occ.treas.gov/deriv/deriv.htm
Ensuring a safe and sound banking system lol
Check out the fourth quarter for 2008 and then tell me how safe you feel!
Ensuring a safe and sound banking system lol
Check out the fourth quarter for 2008 and then tell me how safe you feel!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
5 banks repay $353M in bailout funds
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/5-banks-repay-353M-in-bailout-apf-14838121.html
Wow I'm surprised Goldman wasn't included in the 5, since they where the first to say they were going to. It looks like they got be to the punch line
Five banks have repaid millions of dollars they received from the government's $700 billion financial bailout pot, the Obama administration said Thursday.
The Treasury Department, which oversees the bailout program, said the banks returned a total of $353 million.
The banks are: Iberiabank Corp. of Lafayette, La.; Bank of Marin Bancorp of Novato, Calif.; Old National Bancorp. of Evansville, Ind.; Signature Bank of New York; and Centra Financial Holdings Inc. of Morgantown, W.Va.
They were the first banks to repay the government, wanting to escape the increasingly tough restrictions placed on participants in the rescue program.
In addition to the $353 million, the banks paid the government a total of $5.4 million in dividends, Treasury Department spokesman Andrew Williams said.
Wow I'm surprised Goldman wasn't included in the 5, since they where the first to say they were going to. It looks like they got be to the punch line
Five banks have repaid millions of dollars they received from the government's $700 billion financial bailout pot, the Obama administration said Thursday.
The Treasury Department, which oversees the bailout program, said the banks returned a total of $353 million.
The banks are: Iberiabank Corp. of Lafayette, La.; Bank of Marin Bancorp of Novato, Calif.; Old National Bancorp. of Evansville, Ind.; Signature Bank of New York; and Centra Financial Holdings Inc. of Morgantown, W.Va.
They were the first banks to repay the government, wanting to escape the increasingly tough restrictions placed on participants in the rescue program.
In addition to the $353 million, the banks paid the government a total of $5.4 million in dividends, Treasury Department spokesman Andrew Williams said.
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