When it comes to our friend Ulysses Long's performance last night on America's Got Talent, most of my friends and family are truly upset with the way that he was treated by NBC. No, they shouldn't lay out a red carpet for him to the finals, but I think a lot of what happened last night could be laid at the feet of the Producers of that show.
The Ulysses I know isn't a TV theme show singer. He has a repertoire of thousands of songs. And he uses instruments as melody, not as the primary focus of his performance. The music drowned out his voice and the dancers detracted from who Ulysses really is. The only mistakes I saw that had anything to do with Ulysses choices were the Hair thing and the suit. Sorry, but that suit was not Ulysses. If it were up to me, and I know it isn't, He'd have worn a flat black silk suit with a white shirt and black tie and he would have been singing a soft melody from Paul McCartney or something more uptempo from Stevie Wonder or Billy Preston.
Howie Mandel is the one that pushed this whole TV show theme from the beginning. He isn't a novelty act and that is what is being foisted on the public. Ulysses was great in that first show, because he was allowed to present himself without preconceived notions of who he is. Ulysses is a tender, compassionate, lovable person and he is a man who can think for himself and he doesn't need to be handled by a bunch of clowns and the producers last night did not present the Ulysses Long that we all know and love. They don't know him and we do. You saw the real Ulysses when they critiqued him at the end. He stood there and took it like a man.
This thing isn't necessarily over. There was voting and maybe he made it through, because he really wasn't all that bad and the viewers have a lot of input in that show. If it is over, Ulysses can come on home and we will show him the love he deserves, because as we have already said, we've got your back.
Ulysses can go to facebook and other sites and see all of the people who have expressed their support and he has that to fall back on the rest of his life. Ulysses is always a winner with us!!!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Catawba County Board of Elections accepts City's Referendum Date and Language - July 24, 2012
Today the Catawba County Board of Elections accepted the City's Election Date and Language for the upcoming Referendum on Ward Specific voting. The Date is set for Sepember 18th with early voting beginning August 30th. Last day for voter registration so you would be eligible for this issue is August 24th.
I asked the question about if the language for the referendum had already been written, the answer was no. Further, I asked who would write the language and the answer was that the City would write the language. I asked about challenging such language if need be. Mr. Hood stated that they were not there to give legal advice, which was understood, but stated that would be a question to ask the CEG attorney. There was also a discussion about PAC's directly pertaining to the financial support and advocacy of this issue.
I asked the question about if the language for the referendum had already been written, the answer was no. Further, I asked who would write the language and the answer was that the City would write the language. I asked about challenging such language if need be. Mr. Hood stated that they were not there to give legal advice, which was understood, but stated that would be a question to ask the CEG attorney. There was also a discussion about PAC's directly pertaining to the financial support and advocacy of this issue.
For the document below, Click on the document, then right click view
document, the click the magnifier. Or you can CTRL+ the original screen
to magnify.
Referendum Language
Referendum Calendar
 |
| Add caption |
Referendum Precincts
1967 Charter Change to Modified At-Large System
Monday, July 23, 2012
The Realities of the Hickory Marketplace - Silence DoGood
1. Falling Back on What you Know. The Cheap China market is falling apart. While the labor was cheap, the end product coming out of that market was even cheaper in material and workmanship. I’m talking specifically about furniture. The area was one of the largest furniture manufacturing regions in the world and it was known for that. That base was built over time and utilized semi-skilled labor to produce. The infrastructure for that base still exists in the buildings and the people who can still produce those products. How does that help the region and the people? Not a great deal except that it does put people back to work. Furniture would be a decent manufacturing base for the region again.. if the people that owned it didn’t try to short shift people on wages. Pay a decent wage. Pay what the job is worth, not what you can get by paying. Does it add to your production costs? Less than you might think and the stability and demand for quality would make the price factor negligible. I’m not arguing for or against, it is an option. From reading between the lines of what has been written on The Hound, I’ve got a feeling those speaking in meetings you have attended might be thinking along the same lines of what I just said, or perhaps a variation of it. I’ll also bet you they are planning on taking advantage of the depressed conditions to pay just as little as they can. That is merely going to start the cycle again.
2. Change isn’t Cheap. The people have been forced, for lack of opportunity, investment, or anything else, to educate themselves for jobs that haven’t really materialized. So they’ve been trained for careers that aren’t available, unless you trained in the medical field. So in that regard, here is where investment is crucial. So while those that made money here off the conditions that were prevalent, they have made no investment, no diversification, and no plans to do so. They have elected to wait. Change from the outside? Can you remember when there was no chain restaurant in Hickory? I mean National Chain, not local or regional. McDonald’s at South Center and US 70 was the first. I guess we could say Dairy Queen on 1st Avenue was, but it is unique in that they use DQ merchandising, but I don’t know how embedded they are in the chain. My point here is, Hickory is very isolationist. Change, from an outside change agent, won’t be forthcoming, the insiders won’t allow it. That goes back to what you said in your comment and what Harry confirmed. (The Hound: There were chains here in Hickory in the 1970s, but they were nowhere near as prevalent as they are today. Before McDonald's was Hardee's and Holly Farm's Chicken out here at Spring's road and there was Burger Chef and Kentucky Fried Chicken in Viewmont - speaking of which, remember the arguments about widening 127 in Viewmont in the late 1970s?)
3. Entrepreneurial Enterprise. Just like furniture and socks, it won’t sustain a regional economy by itself, in my opinion. An active and viable aspect? Certainly. An amalgam of niche ventures that fulfill needs, supply products, and perform services that a broad industrial base can’t satisfy, but through existence, creates the demand for those kinds of needs, products, and services.
4. Our region has never been big on brain power. Sad, but true. There have always been intelligent and smart people here. Tragically, intelligence didn’t fit the mold for what those in power wanted to accomplish. “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair. The Captains of Industry that shaped the basis of what Hickory, Catawba County, and the Catawba Valley was to become ensured their steps were firm based upon everyone else’s being shaky, albeit slightly slippery. Those that recognized the tenets of that premise upon which everything was based left to go where they could make a decent living and wage. They took their intellectual capabilities with them. Why give back to an area that has no interest in you, what you can give, and values you at a subsistence rate with no prospect of success?
5. No Skilled Trades or Heavy Industry. Machinists, metal smiths, skilled trades, master carpenters, master cabinetmakers, actual mechanics and not technicians. These folks, blue collar, knowledgeable, skilled with their hands and their heads. They don’t exist in Hickory for the most part. These people were/are the crux of the middle class in most of America. The majority of these people would be small business owners, or worked their way into the trade through apprenticeship if not trade school. Sure there are a few, but disproportionate to the population.
6. Political and Industrial Overlap. Those in charge of business also seem to be in charge of the politics. Consequently, that means those holding the money run things. How convenient can that be and protectionist! Let me count the ways! Those being elected to be representative are certainly not representative of the majority of the population. They can’t be elected though without the votes of those they hold in contempt, except during election cycles.
Just some thoughts. I’ve been thinking quite a bit of late, I just haven’t written a lot. Sorry about that. I didn't post this under comments, because I didn't want to generate a lot of outside distractions. Take care and best wishes always.
2. Change isn’t Cheap. The people have been forced, for lack of opportunity, investment, or anything else, to educate themselves for jobs that haven’t really materialized. So they’ve been trained for careers that aren’t available, unless you trained in the medical field. So in that regard, here is where investment is crucial. So while those that made money here off the conditions that were prevalent, they have made no investment, no diversification, and no plans to do so. They have elected to wait. Change from the outside? Can you remember when there was no chain restaurant in Hickory? I mean National Chain, not local or regional. McDonald’s at South Center and US 70 was the first. I guess we could say Dairy Queen on 1st Avenue was, but it is unique in that they use DQ merchandising, but I don’t know how embedded they are in the chain. My point here is, Hickory is very isolationist. Change, from an outside change agent, won’t be forthcoming, the insiders won’t allow it. That goes back to what you said in your comment and what Harry confirmed. (The Hound: There were chains here in Hickory in the 1970s, but they were nowhere near as prevalent as they are today. Before McDonald's was Hardee's and Holly Farm's Chicken out here at Spring's road and there was Burger Chef and Kentucky Fried Chicken in Viewmont - speaking of which, remember the arguments about widening 127 in Viewmont in the late 1970s?)
3. Entrepreneurial Enterprise. Just like furniture and socks, it won’t sustain a regional economy by itself, in my opinion. An active and viable aspect? Certainly. An amalgam of niche ventures that fulfill needs, supply products, and perform services that a broad industrial base can’t satisfy, but through existence, creates the demand for those kinds of needs, products, and services.
4. Our region has never been big on brain power. Sad, but true. There have always been intelligent and smart people here. Tragically, intelligence didn’t fit the mold for what those in power wanted to accomplish. “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” - Upton Sinclair. The Captains of Industry that shaped the basis of what Hickory, Catawba County, and the Catawba Valley was to become ensured their steps were firm based upon everyone else’s being shaky, albeit slightly slippery. Those that recognized the tenets of that premise upon which everything was based left to go where they could make a decent living and wage. They took their intellectual capabilities with them. Why give back to an area that has no interest in you, what you can give, and values you at a subsistence rate with no prospect of success?
5. No Skilled Trades or Heavy Industry. Machinists, metal smiths, skilled trades, master carpenters, master cabinetmakers, actual mechanics and not technicians. These folks, blue collar, knowledgeable, skilled with their hands and their heads. They don’t exist in Hickory for the most part. These people were/are the crux of the middle class in most of America. The majority of these people would be small business owners, or worked their way into the trade through apprenticeship if not trade school. Sure there are a few, but disproportionate to the population.
6. Political and Industrial Overlap. Those in charge of business also seem to be in charge of the politics. Consequently, that means those holding the money run things. How convenient can that be and protectionist! Let me count the ways! Those being elected to be representative are certainly not representative of the majority of the population. They can’t be elected though without the votes of those they hold in contempt, except during election cycles.
Just some thoughts. I’ve been thinking quite a bit of late, I just haven’t written a lot. Sorry about that. I didn't post this under comments, because I didn't want to generate a lot of outside distractions. Take care and best wishes always.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- July 22, 2012
12 Signs That The Next Recession In The United States Has Already Begun - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael Snyder - Is the U.S. economy in a recession right now? Has the next recession in the United States already begun? Unfortunately, there are a lot of economic numbers that are pointing in that direction. U.S. retail sales have fallen for three months in a row, U.S. manufacturing activity is contracting and there are numerous indications that the labor market is getting weaker. Of course there are some economists that will argue that we never even left the last recession. For example, the percentage of working age Americans with jobs fell from above 63 percent in 2007 to under 59 percent during the last recession. Since the end of the last recession, that number has not gotten back above 59 percent. In fact, it has been below 59 percent for 34 months in a row. In addition, we have continued to see poverty and government dependence steadily rise during this "economic recovery". Since Barack Obama became president, the number of Americans living in poverty has risen by 6 million and the number of Americans on food stamps has risen by 14 million. So it would be really hard to argue with anyone that wants to say that the last recession never really ended. However, the latest economic numbers indicate that things are about to get even worse for the U.S. economy, and that is not good news at all. The following are 12 signs that the next recession in the United States has already begun....
#1 U.S. retail sales have declined for three months in a row, and that is a very bad sign.
#2 Manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region has declined for three months in a row.
#3 Overall, the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted last month for the first time in almost three years.
#4 Sales of previously occupied homes dropped by 5.4 percent during June.
#5 Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to 386,000 last week
#6 According to one survey, only 23 percent of all U.S. businesses plan to hire more workers over the next 6 months.
#7 The Philadelphia Fed's employment index indicates that there is bad news ahead for the labor market....
#8 Unless Congress acts, the U.S. Postal Service is going to financially default for the first time ever on August 1st.
#9 The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators fell by 0.3 percent in June.
#10 A Washington Post survey from April shows that 76% of Americans believe that the U.S. is still in a recession.
#11 According to AARP, 600,000 American homeowners that are 50 years of age or older are currently in foreclosure.
#12 The unemployment rate in New York City is now back up to 10 percent.
63% of laid off South Florida workers forced to live off retirement savings, new study finds - Sun Sentinel (Miami, Florida) - Donna Gehrke-White - July 19, 2012 - Some laid-off South Floridians are going to social service agencies, complaining they have raided savings and retirement accounts just to stay afloat – a trend seen nationally. Almost two thirds of laid-off workers who had a 401(k) retirement account at their last employer withdrew money to pay bills, according to a nationwide survey by the nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. The survey found middle-aged displaced workers are at the greatest risk because of their low amount of retirement savings. Those in their 40s and 50s had only an estimated median retirement savings of $2,300 left in their 401k accounts, according to the survey. The average 401k balance is $71,500, up from about $50,000 when the stock market tanked in 2008 during the onset of the Great Recession, according to Fidelity, one of the largest 401k providers. South Florida social workers say they have had to teach many of the jobless how to apply for food stamps and obtain other services after they have exhausted savings while trying to find new work. The job search can take months – if not years. There are more than 5 million long-term unemployed in the United States who have been looking for work for 27 weeks or more......
More Americans Put Off Medical Care as Costs Rise - CNBC - Jennifer Leigh Parker - July 21, 2012 - The sluggish economy is prompting more Americans to put off medical tests, prescriptions and so-called elective procedures-like knee or hip replacements-and related health care companies are feeling the pain. Many patients are deciding to delay testing or treatment either because they lack insurance, face higher out-of-pocket costs or are afraid to take time off work, health care analysts say. ..... Bird says both doctors and patients are cutting back as new rules from Obamacare-formally known as the Affordable Care Act - have everyone more concerned about rising costs. The impact was clear this past week when companies that specialize in diagnostics (the industry's broad term for disease detection and treatment) reported disappointing earnings. Orthopedic implant maker Stryker (SYK) posted second-quarter earnings that fell short of analysts' expectations. The company attributed the miss to a weaker euro, which hurt overseas sales.
Student loan defaults mimic subprime woes, study shows - NBC News -July 20, 2012 - Borrowers who took out private student loans in the run-up to the financial crisis are facing higher levels of default, reflecting the risky lending practices at the time, the Obama administration said in a new report. The Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said private lenders have since cleaned up some of the worst activities, but lawmakers should still work to improve the private loan market and enhance protections for students. CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. Student loans fall into two main categories: Loans directly from the government and those offered by banks and other private financial companies. The report focused on private student loans, which spiked from $5 billion in loans originated in 2001 to more than $20 billion in 2008. After the financial crisis, as lending standards tightened, the market shrank to $6 billion in 2011. The report said students taking out private loans may not have fully understood the loans they chose and may have unnecessarily been subjected to more expensive terms. The two agencies said they were required by the Dodd-Frank financial oversight law to study the private student loan market and determine if gaps existed in consumer protection. Federal and private loans do not have to be repaid while the borrower is in school, and both types offer deferment for students seeking post-graduate degrees. But unlike some private loans, federal loans have fixed interest rates and offer adjustments for borrowers who struggle to make payments. Companies also gave loans to borrowers with lower credit scores during that period, the report said. Student loan defaults have since risen, likely due to risky lending as well as a weak labor market. There are now more than $8 billion in defaulted private loans, or 850,000 distinct loans in default. "Subprime-style lending went to college, and now students are paying the price," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, whose department produced the report. Duncan said the government must do more to ensure that people who received private loans enjoy the same protections as those who borrow from the federal government. After 2008, lenders began requiring co-signers for more loans, increased school involvement in securing private loans and tightened credit standards for loans, the report said.
Cordray and Duncan said Congress should step in to prevent private lending from growing risky again in the future. They want lawmakers to ensure that schools are involved in the private student loan process and find ways to offer relief to struggling recipients of private loans. Congress should take a special look at a 2005 change to bankruptcy law that makes it more difficult to get out of private student loans, Cordray said. The change has not resulted in lower prices or better access and should be revisited, he said. Duncan said his department plans to release a financial aid "shopping sheet" that schools can provide to help students and parents understand the aid and loan packages available to them. "What we don't want ... is for a student to feel like the first time they really understood how much debt they were in was when the first bill arrived," Duncan said. (Study: Student loans went to people who couldn't repay - Daniel Wagner, Associated Press through USA Today - July 20, 2012)
What Recovery? Home Prices May Hit Roadblock Soon - CNBC _- Diana Olick - July 12, 2012 - The recent growth in U.S. home prices may hit a roadblock in the coming months, thanks to a new supply of distressed properties hitting the market. Banks are moving more delinquent loans through the pipeline at a faster pace, according to a new report released Thursday by foreclosure sale website RealtyTrac. The number of homes starting the foreclosure process for the first time grew for the second month in a row on an annual basis. Just over one million properties received some kind of foreclosure filing in the first half of this year, an increase of two percent from the previous six months, according to RealtyTrac. The numbers are still down 11 percent from a year ago, largely because banks were still in settlement talks over the so-called, “robo-signing” foreclosure paperwork scandal. After a $25 billion settlement early this year, the banks began moving loans again. While negative equity is largely centered in the sand states (California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida), other states are not immune. 37 percent of borrowers in Georgia are “underwater” on their mortgages, 35 percent in Michigan and 28 percent in Illinois. Negative equity prevents many borrowers from refinancing their loans to today’s record low rates. The 30 year fixed rate mortgage fell to just 3.56 percent on the Freddie Mac weekly survey.
Market-Rigging and Price-Fixing - Daily Reckoning - Eric Fry - Laguna Beach, California - July 19, 2012 - “Markets are so rigged by policymakers that I have no meaningful insights to offer.”
That’s what Nomura International’s Investment Strategist, Bob Janjuah, griped five months ago. Since then, policymakers have stepped up their market-rigging, while new revelations of past market-rigging have also come to light. It’s starting to feel like the financial markets are all rigging and no ship. “I am simply stunned that our policymakers seem so one-dimensional, so short-termist, and so utterly bereft of courage or ideas,” Janjuah remarked last February. “It now seems obvious that in response to the financial crisis that has been with us for five years and counting, we are being told to double up on these same policy decisions [that have failed]. The crisis was caused by central bankers mispricing the cost of capital, which forced a misallocation of capital, driven by debt/leverage, which was ultimately exposed as a hideous asset bubble which then collapsed, destroying the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of relatively innocent people.” For many years, the Federal Reserve dabbled from time to time in the Treasury market. But almost never in large size or for very long. After the 2008 crisis, the game changed. The Fed aggressively ramped up its purchases of Treasurys — initially in an effort to provide liquidity to the financial sector and later to suppress interest rates [i.e. fix prices]. The Fed conducted these purchases via its infamous “Quantitative Easing” initiatives, followed up by “Operation Twist.” At the end of all this easing and twisting, the Fed became the largest single holder of Treasury Securities — even larger than China, the former #1.
The Libor Scandal In Full Perspective - Paul Craig Roberts - July 19, 2012 - The article about the Libor scandal, coauthored with Nomi Prins, received much attention, with Internet repostings, foreign translation, and video interviews. To further clarify the situation, this article brings to the forefront implications that might not be obvious to those without insider experience and knowledge. The price of Treasury bonds is supported by the Federal Reserve’s large purchases. The Federal Reserve’s purchases are often misread as demand arising from a “flight to quality” due to concern about the EU sovereign debt problem and possible failure of the euro. Another rationale used to explain the demand for Treasuries despite their negative yield is the “flight to safety.” A 2% yield on a Treasury bond is less of a negative interest rate than the yield of a few basis points on a bank CD, and the US government, unlike banks, can use its central bank to print the money to pay off its debts. As the Federal Reserve can create money, theoretically the Federal Reserve’s prop-up schemes could continue until the Federal Reserve owns all dollar-denominated financial assets. To cover the holes in its own balance sheet, the Federal Reserve could just print more money.... Some suspect that the Federal Reserve, in order to forestall a declining dollar and thus declining prices of dollar-denominated financial instruments, is behind the sales of naked shorts every time demand for physical bullion drives up the price of gold and silver. The short sales--paper sales--cancel the impact on price of the increased demand for bullion. Some also believe that they see the Federal Reserve’s hand in the stock market. One day stocks fall 200 points. The next day stocks rise 200 points. This up and down pattern has been ongoing for a long time. One possible explanation is that as wary investors sell their equity holdings, the Federal Reserve, or the “plunge protection team,” steps in and buys. Just as the “terrorist threat” was used to destroy the laws that protect US civil liberty, the financial crisis has resulted in the Federal Reserve moving far outside its charter and normal operating behavior. To sum up, what has happened is that irresponsible and thoughtless--in fact, ideological--deregulation of the financial sector has caused a financial crisis that can only be managed by fraud. Civil damages might be paid, but to halt the fraud itself would mean the collapse of the financial system. Those in charge of the system would prefer the collapse to come from outside, such as from a collapse in the value of the dollar that could be blamed on foreigners, because an outside cause gives them something to blame other than themselves.
Ex-FDIC Chief Bair: Geithner-Led Fed Didn’t Do Enough in Libor Scandal - Newsmax (Money News) - Forrest Jones - July 20, 2012 - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner should have probed banks more for allegedly fixing interest rates when he was head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York back in 2008, said Sheila Bair, former head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. "Looking at those emails, it looks like they had pretty explicit notification of some very bad behavior, and I don't understand why they didn't investigate," Bair told CNBC. "I think they deserve some credit for trying to suggest some reforms. Even those reforms did not attack the core problem, which was that it wasn't a transaction-based survey. It was a judgment survey. But I don't understand they didn't investigate given what they were being told. I don't understand it, and they did have the authority to do that."
Failing to Break Up the Big Banks is Destroying America - Zero Hedge - George Washington's Blog - July 22, 2012 - ... Indeed, the Obama administration has made it official policy not to prosecute fraud. Top economists, on the other hand, completely contradict Geithner and the rest of the administration ... saying that fraud caused the Great Depression and the current financial crisis, and that the economy will never recover until fraud is prosecuted. Top economists and experts on fraud say that fraud is not only widespread, it is actually the business model adopted by the giant banks. See this, this, this, this, this and this. Therefore, unless the big banks are broken up, financial fraud will grow exponentially like cancer, and the economy will be destroyed. Their Size Allows Them to Rig the Market - The "father of free market economics" - Adam Smith - knew that monopolies hurt the economy. As the Libor scandal shows, the size and concentration of the biggest banks allows them to commit massive manipulation in the world's biggest markets, and to engage in insider trading on a scale never before seen in history. In addition, Richard Alford – former New York Fed economist, trading floor economist and strategist – showed that banks that get too big benefit from “information asymmetry” which disrupts the free market. Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz noted in September that giants like Goldman are using their size to manipulate the market. The giants (especially Goldman Sachs) have also used high-frequency program trading which not only distorted the markets – making up more than 70% of stock trades – but which also let the program trading giants take a sneak peak at what the real (aka “human”) traders are buying and selling, and then trade on the insider information. See this, this, this, this and this. (This is frontrunning, which is illegal; but it is a lot bigger than garden variety frontrunning, because the program traders are not only trading based on inside knowledge of what their own clients are doing, they are also trading based on knowledge of what all other traders are doing). Goldman also admitted that its proprietary trading program can “manipulate the markets in unfair ways”. The giant banks have also allegedly used their Counterparty Risk Management Policy Group (CRMPG) to exchange secret information and formulate coordinated mutually beneficial actions, all with the government’s blessings. In other words, a handful of giants doing it, it can manipulate the entire economy in ways which are not good for the American citizen. And the political system. No wonder Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman thinks that we have to break up the big banks to stop their domination of the political process............
Matt Taibbi : LiborGate Explained
Matt Taibbi talks about the Libor Scandal at NatGat : LiborGate is the nickname given to the largest Bankster fraud perpetrated upon the entire planet. Rolling Stones Financial Reporter Matt Taibbi stated, "Because the scale is just mind-boggling. Every town and municipality in America probably has investment holdings that are pegged to LIBOR. I think The Wall Street Journal calculated $800 trillion of financial products. So if there's cartel-style corruption that is affecting the LIBOR rate, it is just impossible to imagine a financial corruption scandal that is bigger in scope than this." This is not just a crisis, or a collapse....it's the greatest fraud every perpetrated. Period. Every American needs to understand what is happening, especially if you dislike hearing the "boring financial stuff , The people who are sucking our system dry are counting on the masses to be ignorant about their outright thievery. Their jargon is a disguise. The mask needs to be removed and the monster beneath must be killed if we are to survive. There are 7 billion people on this planet. The Banksters are outnumbered. It's time for us to overwhelm them with people-power.
#1 U.S. retail sales have declined for three months in a row, and that is a very bad sign.
#2 Manufacturing activity in the mid-Atlantic region has declined for three months in a row.
#3 Overall, the U.S. manufacturing sector contracted last month for the first time in almost three years.
#4 Sales of previously occupied homes dropped by 5.4 percent during June.
#5 Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose to 386,000 last week
#6 According to one survey, only 23 percent of all U.S. businesses plan to hire more workers over the next 6 months.
#7 The Philadelphia Fed's employment index indicates that there is bad news ahead for the labor market....
#8 Unless Congress acts, the U.S. Postal Service is going to financially default for the first time ever on August 1st.
#9 The Conference Board's index of leading economic indicators fell by 0.3 percent in June.
#10 A Washington Post survey from April shows that 76% of Americans believe that the U.S. is still in a recession.
#11 According to AARP, 600,000 American homeowners that are 50 years of age or older are currently in foreclosure.
#12 The unemployment rate in New York City is now back up to 10 percent.
63% of laid off South Florida workers forced to live off retirement savings, new study finds - Sun Sentinel (Miami, Florida) - Donna Gehrke-White - July 19, 2012 - Some laid-off South Floridians are going to social service agencies, complaining they have raided savings and retirement accounts just to stay afloat – a trend seen nationally. Almost two thirds of laid-off workers who had a 401(k) retirement account at their last employer withdrew money to pay bills, according to a nationwide survey by the nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. The survey found middle-aged displaced workers are at the greatest risk because of their low amount of retirement savings. Those in their 40s and 50s had only an estimated median retirement savings of $2,300 left in their 401k accounts, according to the survey. The average 401k balance is $71,500, up from about $50,000 when the stock market tanked in 2008 during the onset of the Great Recession, according to Fidelity, one of the largest 401k providers. South Florida social workers say they have had to teach many of the jobless how to apply for food stamps and obtain other services after they have exhausted savings while trying to find new work. The job search can take months – if not years. There are more than 5 million long-term unemployed in the United States who have been looking for work for 27 weeks or more......
More Americans Put Off Medical Care as Costs Rise - CNBC - Jennifer Leigh Parker - July 21, 2012 - The sluggish economy is prompting more Americans to put off medical tests, prescriptions and so-called elective procedures-like knee or hip replacements-and related health care companies are feeling the pain. Many patients are deciding to delay testing or treatment either because they lack insurance, face higher out-of-pocket costs or are afraid to take time off work, health care analysts say. ..... Bird says both doctors and patients are cutting back as new rules from Obamacare-formally known as the Affordable Care Act - have everyone more concerned about rising costs. The impact was clear this past week when companies that specialize in diagnostics (the industry's broad term for disease detection and treatment) reported disappointing earnings. Orthopedic implant maker Stryker (SYK) posted second-quarter earnings that fell short of analysts' expectations. The company attributed the miss to a weaker euro, which hurt overseas sales.
Student loan defaults mimic subprime woes, study shows - NBC News -July 20, 2012 - Borrowers who took out private student loans in the run-up to the financial crisis are facing higher levels of default, reflecting the risky lending practices at the time, the Obama administration said in a new report. The Department of Education and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said private lenders have since cleaned up some of the worst activities, but lawmakers should still work to improve the private loan market and enhance protections for students. CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. Student loans fall into two main categories: Loans directly from the government and those offered by banks and other private financial companies. The report focused on private student loans, which spiked from $5 billion in loans originated in 2001 to more than $20 billion in 2008. After the financial crisis, as lending standards tightened, the market shrank to $6 billion in 2011. The report said students taking out private loans may not have fully understood the loans they chose and may have unnecessarily been subjected to more expensive terms. The two agencies said they were required by the Dodd-Frank financial oversight law to study the private student loan market and determine if gaps existed in consumer protection. Federal and private loans do not have to be repaid while the borrower is in school, and both types offer deferment for students seeking post-graduate degrees. But unlike some private loans, federal loans have fixed interest rates and offer adjustments for borrowers who struggle to make payments. Companies also gave loans to borrowers with lower credit scores during that period, the report said. Student loan defaults have since risen, likely due to risky lending as well as a weak labor market. There are now more than $8 billion in defaulted private loans, or 850,000 distinct loans in default. "Subprime-style lending went to college, and now students are paying the price," said Education Secretary Arne Duncan, whose department produced the report. Duncan said the government must do more to ensure that people who received private loans enjoy the same protections as those who borrow from the federal government. After 2008, lenders began requiring co-signers for more loans, increased school involvement in securing private loans and tightened credit standards for loans, the report said.
Cordray and Duncan said Congress should step in to prevent private lending from growing risky again in the future. They want lawmakers to ensure that schools are involved in the private student loan process and find ways to offer relief to struggling recipients of private loans. Congress should take a special look at a 2005 change to bankruptcy law that makes it more difficult to get out of private student loans, Cordray said. The change has not resulted in lower prices or better access and should be revisited, he said. Duncan said his department plans to release a financial aid "shopping sheet" that schools can provide to help students and parents understand the aid and loan packages available to them. "What we don't want ... is for a student to feel like the first time they really understood how much debt they were in was when the first bill arrived," Duncan said. (Study: Student loans went to people who couldn't repay - Daniel Wagner, Associated Press through USA Today - July 20, 2012)
What Recovery? Home Prices May Hit Roadblock Soon - CNBC _- Diana Olick - July 12, 2012 - The recent growth in U.S. home prices may hit a roadblock in the coming months, thanks to a new supply of distressed properties hitting the market. Banks are moving more delinquent loans through the pipeline at a faster pace, according to a new report released Thursday by foreclosure sale website RealtyTrac. The number of homes starting the foreclosure process for the first time grew for the second month in a row on an annual basis. Just over one million properties received some kind of foreclosure filing in the first half of this year, an increase of two percent from the previous six months, according to RealtyTrac. The numbers are still down 11 percent from a year ago, largely because banks were still in settlement talks over the so-called, “robo-signing” foreclosure paperwork scandal. After a $25 billion settlement early this year, the banks began moving loans again. While negative equity is largely centered in the sand states (California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida), other states are not immune. 37 percent of borrowers in Georgia are “underwater” on their mortgages, 35 percent in Michigan and 28 percent in Illinois. Negative equity prevents many borrowers from refinancing their loans to today’s record low rates. The 30 year fixed rate mortgage fell to just 3.56 percent on the Freddie Mac weekly survey.
Borrowers
in a negative equity position are also more likely to default on their
mortgages. While new delinquencies have been falling, lackluster growth
in the job market puts that improvement in a precarious position. The
new wave of foreclosures hitting the market will likely turn home prices
down again before they can hit a real bottom. Investors in distressed properties, hoping to cash in on the hot rental market,
have been frustrated lately at the current lack of supply of foreclosed
homes for sale. That, in turn, has pushed home prices higher, as they
compete for this small supply. So much of the current market has been
made up of these sales, that this supply drain could cause a big drop in
overall home sales over the summer. Home prices on a national level may look as if
they’re growing, simply because the share of distressed homes selling
will drop and the share of non-distressed, higher priced properties,
will grow, skewing the averages artificially. We saw that in the
National Association of Realtors’ May home sales report. If
this theory holds, their June report could show a big drop in sales and
a rise in prices, which doesn’t make a lot of sense, but this housing
market is unlike any other.
Market-Rigging and Price-Fixing - Daily Reckoning - Eric Fry - Laguna Beach, California - July 19, 2012 - “Markets are so rigged by policymakers that I have no meaningful insights to offer.”
That’s what Nomura International’s Investment Strategist, Bob Janjuah, griped five months ago. Since then, policymakers have stepped up their market-rigging, while new revelations of past market-rigging have also come to light. It’s starting to feel like the financial markets are all rigging and no ship. “I am simply stunned that our policymakers seem so one-dimensional, so short-termist, and so utterly bereft of courage or ideas,” Janjuah remarked last February. “It now seems obvious that in response to the financial crisis that has been with us for five years and counting, we are being told to double up on these same policy decisions [that have failed]. The crisis was caused by central bankers mispricing the cost of capital, which forced a misallocation of capital, driven by debt/leverage, which was ultimately exposed as a hideous asset bubble which then collapsed, destroying the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of relatively innocent people.” For many years, the Federal Reserve dabbled from time to time in the Treasury market. But almost never in large size or for very long. After the 2008 crisis, the game changed. The Fed aggressively ramped up its purchases of Treasurys — initially in an effort to provide liquidity to the financial sector and later to suppress interest rates [i.e. fix prices]. The Fed conducted these purchases via its infamous “Quantitative Easing” initiatives, followed up by “Operation Twist.” At the end of all this easing and twisting, the Fed became the largest single holder of Treasury Securities — even larger than China, the former #1.
The Libor Scandal In Full Perspective - Paul Craig Roberts - July 19, 2012 - The article about the Libor scandal, coauthored with Nomi Prins, received much attention, with Internet repostings, foreign translation, and video interviews. To further clarify the situation, this article brings to the forefront implications that might not be obvious to those without insider experience and knowledge. The price of Treasury bonds is supported by the Federal Reserve’s large purchases. The Federal Reserve’s purchases are often misread as demand arising from a “flight to quality” due to concern about the EU sovereign debt problem and possible failure of the euro. Another rationale used to explain the demand for Treasuries despite their negative yield is the “flight to safety.” A 2% yield on a Treasury bond is less of a negative interest rate than the yield of a few basis points on a bank CD, and the US government, unlike banks, can use its central bank to print the money to pay off its debts. As the Federal Reserve can create money, theoretically the Federal Reserve’s prop-up schemes could continue until the Federal Reserve owns all dollar-denominated financial assets. To cover the holes in its own balance sheet, the Federal Reserve could just print more money.... Some suspect that the Federal Reserve, in order to forestall a declining dollar and thus declining prices of dollar-denominated financial instruments, is behind the sales of naked shorts every time demand for physical bullion drives up the price of gold and silver. The short sales--paper sales--cancel the impact on price of the increased demand for bullion. Some also believe that they see the Federal Reserve’s hand in the stock market. One day stocks fall 200 points. The next day stocks rise 200 points. This up and down pattern has been ongoing for a long time. One possible explanation is that as wary investors sell their equity holdings, the Federal Reserve, or the “plunge protection team,” steps in and buys. Just as the “terrorist threat” was used to destroy the laws that protect US civil liberty, the financial crisis has resulted in the Federal Reserve moving far outside its charter and normal operating behavior. To sum up, what has happened is that irresponsible and thoughtless--in fact, ideological--deregulation of the financial sector has caused a financial crisis that can only be managed by fraud. Civil damages might be paid, but to halt the fraud itself would mean the collapse of the financial system. Those in charge of the system would prefer the collapse to come from outside, such as from a collapse in the value of the dollar that could be blamed on foreigners, because an outside cause gives them something to blame other than themselves.
Ex-FDIC Chief Bair: Geithner-Led Fed Didn’t Do Enough in Libor Scandal - Newsmax (Money News) - Forrest Jones - July 20, 2012 - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner should have probed banks more for allegedly fixing interest rates when he was head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York back in 2008, said Sheila Bair, former head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. "Looking at those emails, it looks like they had pretty explicit notification of some very bad behavior, and I don't understand why they didn't investigate," Bair told CNBC. "I think they deserve some credit for trying to suggest some reforms. Even those reforms did not attack the core problem, which was that it wasn't a transaction-based survey. It was a judgment survey. But I don't understand they didn't investigate given what they were being told. I don't understand it, and they did have the authority to do that."
Failing to Break Up the Big Banks is Destroying America - Zero Hedge - George Washington's Blog - July 22, 2012 - ... Indeed, the Obama administration has made it official policy not to prosecute fraud. Top economists, on the other hand, completely contradict Geithner and the rest of the administration ... saying that fraud caused the Great Depression and the current financial crisis, and that the economy will never recover until fraud is prosecuted. Top economists and experts on fraud say that fraud is not only widespread, it is actually the business model adopted by the giant banks. See this, this, this, this, this and this. Therefore, unless the big banks are broken up, financial fraud will grow exponentially like cancer, and the economy will be destroyed. Their Size Allows Them to Rig the Market - The "father of free market economics" - Adam Smith - knew that monopolies hurt the economy. As the Libor scandal shows, the size and concentration of the biggest banks allows them to commit massive manipulation in the world's biggest markets, and to engage in insider trading on a scale never before seen in history. In addition, Richard Alford – former New York Fed economist, trading floor economist and strategist – showed that banks that get too big benefit from “information asymmetry” which disrupts the free market. Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz noted in September that giants like Goldman are using their size to manipulate the market. The giants (especially Goldman Sachs) have also used high-frequency program trading which not only distorted the markets – making up more than 70% of stock trades – but which also let the program trading giants take a sneak peak at what the real (aka “human”) traders are buying and selling, and then trade on the insider information. See this, this, this, this and this. (This is frontrunning, which is illegal; but it is a lot bigger than garden variety frontrunning, because the program traders are not only trading based on inside knowledge of what their own clients are doing, they are also trading based on knowledge of what all other traders are doing). Goldman also admitted that its proprietary trading program can “manipulate the markets in unfair ways”. The giant banks have also allegedly used their Counterparty Risk Management Policy Group (CRMPG) to exchange secret information and formulate coordinated mutually beneficial actions, all with the government’s blessings. In other words, a handful of giants doing it, it can manipulate the entire economy in ways which are not good for the American citizen. And the political system. No wonder Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman thinks that we have to break up the big banks to stop their domination of the political process............
Matt Taibbi : LiborGate Explained
Matt Taibbi talks about the Libor Scandal at NatGat : LiborGate is the nickname given to the largest Bankster fraud perpetrated upon the entire planet. Rolling Stones Financial Reporter Matt Taibbi stated, "Because the scale is just mind-boggling. Every town and municipality in America probably has investment holdings that are pegged to LIBOR. I think The Wall Street Journal calculated $800 trillion of financial products. So if there's cartel-style corruption that is affecting the LIBOR rate, it is just impossible to imagine a financial corruption scandal that is bigger in scope than this." This is not just a crisis, or a collapse....it's the greatest fraud every perpetrated. Period. Every American needs to understand what is happening, especially if you dislike hearing the "boring financial stuff , The people who are sucking our system dry are counting on the masses to be ignorant about their outright thievery. Their jargon is a disguise. The mask needs to be removed and the monster beneath must be killed if we are to survive. There are 7 billion people on this planet. The Banksters are outnumbered. It's time for us to overwhelm them with people-power.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
The Money Tree of Hickory Politics
I debate with myself constantly whether I want to display the list of contributors who brought certain people to office in the local area. It is these people's right to support whomever they wish and I harbor no ill will towards people making political investments in the system afforded them. As much as it is their right to make these political investments, it is my right to go research the public information records and see if it tells a story and it certainly does. If I need to show the information in this forum I will, but what the information shows is that it only takes the support of a few wealthy contributors to buy ones way into office. But the question becomes whose interest are you representing? And who controls the city?
That is one of the reasons why we are pushing this Ward Specific system. The average person cannot afford $10,000 to run a City Wide campaign against people who hold office for 3, 4, or 5+ terms. I know through the experience of campaigns in the past that it is very difficult to get ones message out. The local radio station and newspaper are only going to afford you one small chance to get your message out and most local groups won't sponsor a debate unless it is a member of the organization or represents their specific interests. Yard signs don't do squat to help one gain name recognition or get a message out. They are necessary wasted money. You have to have them, because your opponent has them, but they aren't going to help beat a recognized name without a vigorous discussion of issues.
The Ward Specific voting process will empower the local neighborhood associations. The areas that don't currently have them will see the necessity of them going forward should this referendum pass. Jill Patton and Sally Fox have stated many times the importance of the function of these Associations. With these meetings, you can attend and speak to specific issues involving the immediate vicinity of where you live. Well, these associations don't currently have teeth, because the alders aren't tied to their area. You can guarantee if this referendum passes that your ward representative will attend these meetings, because if they don't, then they won't be reelected. And at these meetings they will have to have dialogue with their constituents about the ward's best interests.
These neighborhood associations will hold debates when the election cycle rolls around. In a town of 40,000 people you can't get enough signs out there throughout the city. That is $1,000 to $2,000. You can't get to the people of the entire city. In a ward of 6,700, you can meet most of the people. People are more likely to personally recognize you. And at the same time, you are going to have to have a better critical thinking process to discuss the issues of your ward constituency versus the overall interests of the City at large. It will bring governance back to the wards. It will be cheaper and less time consuming to run a campaign and get your message out there. You can go door to door in a ward. This renewed Democratic process will enable better ideas to rise to the top through citizen input. Is it good to only have wealthy people representing this city? Isn't it time for a broader perspective?
The ward specific system will lead to better city council meetings with more vigorous discussion, questioning, and give and take. The Ward Specific Representatives are still going to represent the City as a whole. The Council will have to be more professional in their performance standards and engagement with City Staff. This system will demand more vigorous discussions with the staff and fellow council members about how the specific ward's needs fit into the City's overall plans and objectives.
I have seen where the Mayor is campaigning on the issue through facebook; good for him. He has been the lead opposition on this issue. Funny thing is that it doesn't affect Hickory's Mayoral electoral process, because he would still be elected throughout the city, but it will most certainly affect the way a mayor governs and brings the mayor position more responsibility. Right now the Mayor is only a glorified Council member. The True Ward System would empower the Mayor, while at the same time demanding a Mayor that can bring people together through positive coalescing. I would hope that the Mayor would come out from the shadows and debate this issue in public, if he feels that strongly about it, and I think it is high time that current council members state their positions.
I would like to reiterate, all we are trying to do is make participation in local government more user friendly. Whether you are Black, White, Rich, Poor, Woman, Man, Baptist, Lutheran, or whatever, it isn't about labels. It is about the stake you have in this community. Everyone has something to contribute. This issue brings everyone together. It brings everyone in this community to the decision making table. It makes the representatives on City Council responsible and accountable to the people closest to them. It makes them attentive to the 6,700 people in their ward, instead of diluting that representation to a bloc of people outside of their ward. That will not dilute the interest of the City as a whole. We believe it enhances it. Ward empowerment is not a plus and minus affair. It is a plus and plus affair.
1961 -- A lesson in Hickory's History
1967 - How we got where we are today
The History of At-Large voting in Hickory - The HDR articles and Council Minutes Documents
Hal Row's First Talk - CEG discussion about Ward Specific Voting - The Interview
Help Bring Fair Representation Back to the City of Hickory
Mayor Wright - Hal Row - Ward Specific Elections
Remember Next Saturday:
That is one of the reasons why we are pushing this Ward Specific system. The average person cannot afford $10,000 to run a City Wide campaign against people who hold office for 3, 4, or 5+ terms. I know through the experience of campaigns in the past that it is very difficult to get ones message out. The local radio station and newspaper are only going to afford you one small chance to get your message out and most local groups won't sponsor a debate unless it is a member of the organization or represents their specific interests. Yard signs don't do squat to help one gain name recognition or get a message out. They are necessary wasted money. You have to have them, because your opponent has them, but they aren't going to help beat a recognized name without a vigorous discussion of issues.
The Ward Specific voting process will empower the local neighborhood associations. The areas that don't currently have them will see the necessity of them going forward should this referendum pass. Jill Patton and Sally Fox have stated many times the importance of the function of these Associations. With these meetings, you can attend and speak to specific issues involving the immediate vicinity of where you live. Well, these associations don't currently have teeth, because the alders aren't tied to their area. You can guarantee if this referendum passes that your ward representative will attend these meetings, because if they don't, then they won't be reelected. And at these meetings they will have to have dialogue with their constituents about the ward's best interests.
These neighborhood associations will hold debates when the election cycle rolls around. In a town of 40,000 people you can't get enough signs out there throughout the city. That is $1,000 to $2,000. You can't get to the people of the entire city. In a ward of 6,700, you can meet most of the people. People are more likely to personally recognize you. And at the same time, you are going to have to have a better critical thinking process to discuss the issues of your ward constituency versus the overall interests of the City at large. It will bring governance back to the wards. It will be cheaper and less time consuming to run a campaign and get your message out there. You can go door to door in a ward. This renewed Democratic process will enable better ideas to rise to the top through citizen input. Is it good to only have wealthy people representing this city? Isn't it time for a broader perspective?
The ward specific system will lead to better city council meetings with more vigorous discussion, questioning, and give and take. The Ward Specific Representatives are still going to represent the City as a whole. The Council will have to be more professional in their performance standards and engagement with City Staff. This system will demand more vigorous discussions with the staff and fellow council members about how the specific ward's needs fit into the City's overall plans and objectives.
I have seen where the Mayor is campaigning on the issue through facebook; good for him. He has been the lead opposition on this issue. Funny thing is that it doesn't affect Hickory's Mayoral electoral process, because he would still be elected throughout the city, but it will most certainly affect the way a mayor governs and brings the mayor position more responsibility. Right now the Mayor is only a glorified Council member. The True Ward System would empower the Mayor, while at the same time demanding a Mayor that can bring people together through positive coalescing. I would hope that the Mayor would come out from the shadows and debate this issue in public, if he feels that strongly about it, and I think it is high time that current council members state their positions.
I would like to reiterate, all we are trying to do is make participation in local government more user friendly. Whether you are Black, White, Rich, Poor, Woman, Man, Baptist, Lutheran, or whatever, it isn't about labels. It is about the stake you have in this community. Everyone has something to contribute. This issue brings everyone together. It brings everyone in this community to the decision making table. It makes the representatives on City Council responsible and accountable to the people closest to them. It makes them attentive to the 6,700 people in their ward, instead of diluting that representation to a bloc of people outside of their ward. That will not dilute the interest of the City as a whole. We believe it enhances it. Ward empowerment is not a plus and minus affair. It is a plus and plus affair.
1961 -- A lesson in Hickory's History
1967 - How we got where we are today
The History of At-Large voting in Hickory - The HDR articles and Council Minutes Documents
Hal Row's First Talk - CEG discussion about Ward Specific Voting - The Interview
Help Bring Fair Representation Back to the City of Hickory
Mayor Wright - Hal Row - Ward Specific Elections
Remember Next Saturday:
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)