From Richard Garrison in Morganton (January 29, 2012):
"I just heard that my interview about Grace Hospital will be shown on the WBTV 11 pm Newscast on Thursday night.
(1-31). If you can mention it on the 'hound' Wednesday or Thursday I would appreciate it."
Also:
"I spent a considerable amount of time with the NC Department of Water Quality and DENR on Monday, after researching the story here of an untreated wastewater spill, I learned the City of Morganton FAILED to follow NCGS 143-215.1c, and DID not issue a "Press Release" concerning this spill as required by statute. Morganton did pay for a "legal notice" published in the News Herald Sunday Edition which states, " An approximate 1,824,000 gallons of untreated wasterwater spilled into the Hunting Creek and then into the Catawba River. " I am waiting to see the fallout on this. This is one of the worst mistakes Morganton has made that I know of. Keep watching for updates."
What is news? What is the business model of the News Media? What is the responsibility of news organizations? In the end, who is the Media responsible to, Corporate or Community Interests?
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- January 27, 2013
CHART: The Real Inflation Rate Is 11% According To CPI Calculations From 1980s - The Daily Bail -
History of the CPI - By John Melloy - Executive Producer, CNBC's Fast Money - ...Since 1980, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has changed the way it calculates the CPI in order to account for the substitution of products, improvements in quality (i.e. iPad 2 costing the same as original iPad) and other things. Backing out more methods implemented in 1990 by the BLS still puts inflation at a 5.5 percent rate and getting worse, according to the calculations by the newsletter’s web site, Shadowstats.com...
Compound Inflation - The Hickory Hound
How to Get America Online - The New York Times - Susan Crawford - January 23, 2013 - Although Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has challenged the country to build additional gigabit fiber networks — about 100 times faster than most residential connections today — his words won’t advance our digital future unless they are backed up with the leadership necessary to enact pro-growth, pro-innovation and competition-enabling rules.
At the heart of the problem lie a few powerful companies with enormous influence over policy making. Both the wireless and wired markets for high-speed Internet access have become heavily concentrated, and neither is subject to substantial competition nor oversight. Companies like Time Warner Cable routinely get their way when they seek to prevent local officials from encouraging competition. At the federal level, Verizon Wireless is keeping the F.C.C. in court arguing over the scope of its regulatory powers — a move that has undermined the agency’s authority.
As a result, prices are too high and speeds too slow. A third of Americans opt not to buy high-speed Internet access at home, often because they can’t afford. Incumbents like Comcast and Verizon Wireless (now cooperating in a joint marketing venture) claim that their market is characterized by robust competition. But where is the competition when 94 percent of new wired high-speed customers bought service from their local cable distributors during the third quarter of 2012? Not surprisingly, America lags behind almost every other industrialized country in high-speed access — even France, the bête noir of American free-marketeers, has better and cheaper Internet access. ( The Hound: If you ever want to get a deer in the headlights look, talk to a politician about the need to upgrade the internet infrastructure. First of all, they can't do it because they have been bought off by the telecoms and other media corps. and second they don't understand it, which makes it easier to control them through part one.)
Goldman Sachs Made 400 Million Betting On Food Prices In 2012 While Hundreds Of Millions Starved - The Economic Collapse Blog - ...Goldman Sachs made about 400 million dollars betting on food prices last year. Overall, 2012 was quite a banner year for Goldman Sachs. As I reported in a previous article, revenues for Goldman increased by about 30 percent in 2012 and the price of Goldman stock has risen by more than 40 percent over the past 12 months. It is estimated that the average banker at Goldman brought in a pay and bonus package of approximately $396,500 for 2012. So without a doubt, Goldman Sachs is swimming in money right now. But what is the price for all of this "success"? Many claim that the rampant speculation on food prices by the big banks has dramatically increased the global price of food and has caused the suffering of hundreds of millions of poor families around the planet to become much worse. At this point, global food prices are more than twice as high as they were back in 2003. Approximately 2 billion people on the planet spend at least half of their incomes on food, and close to a billion people regularly do not have enough food to eat. Is it moral for Goldman Sachs and other big banks such as Barclays and Morgan Stanley to make hundreds of millions of dollars betting on the price of food if that is going to drive up global food prices and make it harder for poor families all over the world to feed themselves? This is another reason why the derivatives bubble is so bad for the world economy. Goldman Sachs and other big banks are treating the global food supply as if it was some kind of a casino game. This kind of reckless activity was greatly condemned by the World Development Movement report...
So clucked up! Chicken wing prices up ahead of Super Bowl - Life Inc. Today.com - Allison Linn - January 25, 2013 - Last summer’s drought has come home to roost in the price you’ll be paying for those Super Bowl party chicken wings. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday that chicken prices were up 6 percent in December, versus a year earlier. That's more than triple how much overall food prices have risen over the same time. Food economists had been warning that the price of foods such as meats and dairy would likely rise because of the summer’s severe drought. In the case of poultry, the drought led to a rise in prices for the grains that are typically used to feed animals such as chickens and turkeys. That, in turn, has pushed up the price of the chickens.
GOP Moves to Suspend Debt Ceiling Until May - CNBC - Eamon Javers - January 22, 2013 -
House Speaker John Boehner indicated Tuesday that Republicans will vote on an extension of the federal debt ceiling to allow Treasury to borrow money until mid-May. The move would reverse the order of a series of expected debt and spending fights in Washington, an effort designed to put the GOP on more sound political footing. The Speaker said the measure would be tied to a provision that would suspend the pay of lawmakers if they do not agree to a budget by April 15th. A vote is expected Wednesday. "I think the American people understand that you can't continue to spend money that you don't have," Boehner said. At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney indicated the president would likely sign the measure if the Congress passes it. "The House Republicans made a decision to back away from the kind of brinksmanship that was very concerning to the markets, very concerning to business, very concerning to the American people," Carney said. Extending the debt limit for a few months without demanding specific spending cuts means the next moment of high political and market drama will occur when the so-called "sequester" or automatic across the board spending cuts, kicks in on March 1. That deadline is itself the result of another temporary maneuver by Congress on New Year's Day to avoid the fiscal cliff. (Hickory Hound - Splat!!!)
My master's wasn't worth it - Be careful what you study. Going to grad school isn't always worth the time, effort and money. - CNN Money - Annalyn Kurtz @CNNMoney - Last updated January 24 2013
Older smokers priced out of Obamacare? - AP through CBS News - January 25, 2013 - Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation. The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1. For a 55-year-old smoker, the penalty could reach nearly $4,250 a year. A 60-year-old could wind up paying nearly $5,100 on top of premiums. Younger smokers could be charged lower penalties under rules proposed last fall by the Obama administration. But older smokers could face a heavy hit on their household budgets at a time in life when smoking-related illnesses tend to emerge.
Manufacturers cutting white-collar jobs now, too - By BERNARD CONDON, AP Business Writers; PAUL WISEMAN, AP Business Writers through WRAL.com - January 24, 2012 - Manufacturers have been using technology to cut blue-collar jobs for years. Now, they're targeting their white-collar workers, too. Factory Automation Systems makes machines that help companies cut, bundle and load products faster and cheaper than humans can. But it didn't realize how much technology could help its own business until the Great Recession hit. To save money, the Atlanta company cut nine workers doing administrative tasks, like booking flights, answering phones, managing employee benefits and ordering parts and supplies. "I had to lay people off to survive, then I noticed it's not such a big deal" to do things myself, President Rosser Pryor says. "When I'm buying something, I can go online. I don't need a buyer." Pryor says do-it-yourself software means he doesn't have to rehire though business has rebounded. Other manufacturers are using technology to avoid hiring blue-collar workers when business improves.
Let the Banks Fail - President of Iceland
History of the CPI - By John Melloy - Executive Producer, CNBC's Fast Money - ...Since 1980, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has changed the way it calculates the CPI in order to account for the substitution of products, improvements in quality (i.e. iPad 2 costing the same as original iPad) and other things. Backing out more methods implemented in 1990 by the BLS still puts inflation at a 5.5 percent rate and getting worse, according to the calculations by the newsletter’s web site, Shadowstats.com...
Compound Inflation - The Hickory Hound
How to Get America Online - The New York Times - Susan Crawford - January 23, 2013 - Although Julius Genachowski, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, has challenged the country to build additional gigabit fiber networks — about 100 times faster than most residential connections today — his words won’t advance our digital future unless they are backed up with the leadership necessary to enact pro-growth, pro-innovation and competition-enabling rules.
At the heart of the problem lie a few powerful companies with enormous influence over policy making. Both the wireless and wired markets for high-speed Internet access have become heavily concentrated, and neither is subject to substantial competition nor oversight. Companies like Time Warner Cable routinely get their way when they seek to prevent local officials from encouraging competition. At the federal level, Verizon Wireless is keeping the F.C.C. in court arguing over the scope of its regulatory powers — a move that has undermined the agency’s authority.
As a result, prices are too high and speeds too slow. A third of Americans opt not to buy high-speed Internet access at home, often because they can’t afford. Incumbents like Comcast and Verizon Wireless (now cooperating in a joint marketing venture) claim that their market is characterized by robust competition. But where is the competition when 94 percent of new wired high-speed customers bought service from their local cable distributors during the third quarter of 2012? Not surprisingly, America lags behind almost every other industrialized country in high-speed access — even France, the bête noir of American free-marketeers, has better and cheaper Internet access. ( The Hound: If you ever want to get a deer in the headlights look, talk to a politician about the need to upgrade the internet infrastructure. First of all, they can't do it because they have been bought off by the telecoms and other media corps. and second they don't understand it, which makes it easier to control them through part one.)
Goldman Sachs Made 400 Million Betting On Food Prices In 2012 While Hundreds Of Millions Starved - The Economic Collapse Blog - ...Goldman Sachs made about 400 million dollars betting on food prices last year. Overall, 2012 was quite a banner year for Goldman Sachs. As I reported in a previous article, revenues for Goldman increased by about 30 percent in 2012 and the price of Goldman stock has risen by more than 40 percent over the past 12 months. It is estimated that the average banker at Goldman brought in a pay and bonus package of approximately $396,500 for 2012. So without a doubt, Goldman Sachs is swimming in money right now. But what is the price for all of this "success"? Many claim that the rampant speculation on food prices by the big banks has dramatically increased the global price of food and has caused the suffering of hundreds of millions of poor families around the planet to become much worse. At this point, global food prices are more than twice as high as they were back in 2003. Approximately 2 billion people on the planet spend at least half of their incomes on food, and close to a billion people regularly do not have enough food to eat. Is it moral for Goldman Sachs and other big banks such as Barclays and Morgan Stanley to make hundreds of millions of dollars betting on the price of food if that is going to drive up global food prices and make it harder for poor families all over the world to feed themselves? This is another reason why the derivatives bubble is so bad for the world economy. Goldman Sachs and other big banks are treating the global food supply as if it was some kind of a casino game. This kind of reckless activity was greatly condemned by the World Development Movement report...
So clucked up! Chicken wing prices up ahead of Super Bowl - Life Inc. Today.com - Allison Linn - January 25, 2013 - Last summer’s drought has come home to roost in the price you’ll be paying for those Super Bowl party chicken wings. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday that chicken prices were up 6 percent in December, versus a year earlier. That's more than triple how much overall food prices have risen over the same time. Food economists had been warning that the price of foods such as meats and dairy would likely rise because of the summer’s severe drought. In the case of poultry, the drought led to a rise in prices for the grains that are typically used to feed animals such as chickens and turkeys. That, in turn, has pushed up the price of the chickens.
GOP Moves to Suspend Debt Ceiling Until May - CNBC - Eamon Javers - January 22, 2013 -
House Speaker John Boehner indicated Tuesday that Republicans will vote on an extension of the federal debt ceiling to allow Treasury to borrow money until mid-May. The move would reverse the order of a series of expected debt and spending fights in Washington, an effort designed to put the GOP on more sound political footing. The Speaker said the measure would be tied to a provision that would suspend the pay of lawmakers if they do not agree to a budget by April 15th. A vote is expected Wednesday. "I think the American people understand that you can't continue to spend money that you don't have," Boehner said. At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney indicated the president would likely sign the measure if the Congress passes it. "The House Republicans made a decision to back away from the kind of brinksmanship that was very concerning to the markets, very concerning to business, very concerning to the American people," Carney said. Extending the debt limit for a few months without demanding specific spending cuts means the next moment of high political and market drama will occur when the so-called "sequester" or automatic across the board spending cuts, kicks in on March 1. That deadline is itself the result of another temporary maneuver by Congress on New Year's Day to avoid the fiscal cliff. (Hickory Hound - Splat!!!)
My master's wasn't worth it - Be careful what you study. Going to grad school isn't always worth the time, effort and money. - CNN Money - Annalyn Kurtz @CNNMoney - Last updated January 24 2013
Older smokers priced out of Obamacare? - AP through CBS News - January 25, 2013 - Millions of smokers could be priced out of health insurance because of tobacco penalties in President Obama's health care law, according to experts who are just now teasing out the potential impact of a little-noted provision in the massive legislation. The Affordable Care Act — "Obamacare" to its detractors — allows health insurers to charge smokers buying individual policies up to 50 percent higher premiums starting next Jan. 1. For a 55-year-old smoker, the penalty could reach nearly $4,250 a year. A 60-year-old could wind up paying nearly $5,100 on top of premiums. Younger smokers could be charged lower penalties under rules proposed last fall by the Obama administration. But older smokers could face a heavy hit on their household budgets at a time in life when smoking-related illnesses tend to emerge.
Manufacturers cutting white-collar jobs now, too - By BERNARD CONDON, AP Business Writers; PAUL WISEMAN, AP Business Writers through WRAL.com - January 24, 2012 - Manufacturers have been using technology to cut blue-collar jobs for years. Now, they're targeting their white-collar workers, too. Factory Automation Systems makes machines that help companies cut, bundle and load products faster and cheaper than humans can. But it didn't realize how much technology could help its own business until the Great Recession hit. To save money, the Atlanta company cut nine workers doing administrative tasks, like booking flights, answering phones, managing employee benefits and ordering parts and supplies. "I had to lay people off to survive, then I noticed it's not such a big deal" to do things myself, President Rosser Pryor says. "When I'm buying something, I can go online. I don't need a buyer." Pryor says do-it-yourself software means he doesn't have to rehire though business has rebounded. Other manufacturers are using technology to avoid hiring blue-collar workers when business improves.
Let the Banks Fail - President of Iceland
Friday, January 25, 2013
Governance - Silence DoGood
Recently I was reviewing some older work and saw where I had used some references of present relevance that I’d like to share. The following quotes are pulled from a single letter written by Charles Cotesworth Pinckney. The letter was written to the Federal Convention in and for the State of South Carolina that was then meeting in Charleston on May 14, 1788. Insofar as who Charles Pinckney was and his prominence in the birth of this nation, I’ll leave that to you the reader, suffice to say however that his role was instrumental in helping shape this nation. In pertinent part and to that end, I proffer the following:
“It seems to be generally confessed that, of all sciences, that of government or politics, is the most difficult.” Indeed. How many systems and forms of government have been used, implemented, morphed, imposed, practiced, and instituted through the ages of people trying to formulate a means of order under which all may live and prosper? We find theory and practice intertwined through time. Monarchy, theocracy, democracy, oligarchy, and all the various forms thereof under which people have lived, suffered, prospered, sometimes flourishing and sometimes suffering under the weight of oppression. What is the complexity and dynamic of physics in comparison? What we know today of the hard sciences today never change in their base forms and remain absolute. In mathematics, two plus two always equal four. What does change in the hard sciences is the amount of what we know and understand. But in government and politics, the base dynamic is constantly evolving and changing because of the people factor; the chance factor.
In our current world, there are those that look and gesture back toward Europe as the model that we should strive to be like. “In reviewing such of the European states as we are best acquainted with, we may with truth assert that there is but one among the most important which confirms to its citizens their civil liberties, or provides for the security of private rights…we have been taught here to believe that all power of right belongs to the people; that it flows immediately from them, and is delegated to their officers for the public good; that our rulers are the servants of the people, amenable to their will, and created for their use. How different are the governments of Europe!” How different indeed. That one “European state” so referred to by Pinckney was in fact England.
The same nation with which we had just waged a war of independence and yet it was seen and viewed by many as a model by which we should mold our form of governance. A nation led by a monarch who refused to give representation to the colonies, hence therein lies the rub. “From the European world are no precedents to be drawn for a people who think they are capable of governing themselves.” In other words, the models for democracy that exist today in Europe were copied from our own quest for Freedom. And yet, there are those that say today that we should exemplify the European model; they copied it from us! While there existed in the Europe of that time parliaments that ‘represented’ the people, they were still subservient to the will of the monarch. “Let it be therefore our boast that we have already taught some of the oldest and wisest nations to explore their rights as men….”
In the formation of the type of governance, “The first knowledge necessary for us to acquire, is (sic) a knowledge of the people for whom this system was to be formed; for unless we were acquainted with their situation, their habits, opinions, and resources, it would be impossible to form a government upon adequate or practicable principles. If we examine the reasons which have given rise to the distinctions of rank that at present prevail in Europe, we shall find that none of them do, or in all probability ever will, exist in the Union.” “The only distinction that may take place is that of wealth. Riches, no doubt, will ever have their influence; and where they are suffered to increase to large amounts in a few hands, there they may become dangerous to the public—particularly when, from the cheapness of labor and the scarcity of money, a great proportion of the people are poor.” This argument remains to this day. The disparities among the few and the many with regard to wealth have grown and manifested themselves in the last 30 years, despite this letter being almost 235 years old, we have seen precisely these very things move to the forefront in our nation.
Pinckney was a lawyer and a plantation owner. He prospered from the very things that he wrote warning the nation of. His primary belief was in agriculture and the proliferation thereof. Did he stand to benefit? I’m sure he did. But he also saw the ways in which the government could be corrupted and oppressive. Why? Because we have seen the rise of the following, whom Pinckney quotes, but doesn’t name, “the three ways for a nation to acquire wealth. The first is by war…this is robbery.” “The second is by commerce, which is generally cheating….” “The third is by agriculture….” Pinckney disagrees with the writer concerning commerce, because he says, “some kinds of commerce are not only fair and valuable, but such as ought to be encouraged by government.” But, “Foreign trade is one of the enemies against which we must be extremely guarded—more so than against any other, as none will ever have a more unfavorable operation. I consider it as the root of our present public distress—as plentiful source from which our future national calamities will flow, unless great care is taken to prevent it…the object of a republic is to render its citizens virtuous and happy; and that an unlimited foreign commerce can seldom fail to have a contrary tendency.”
When you analyze what is written in the context of today, you see precisely what was warned of taking place. You have seen this area and in a greater regard, the nation decimated by foreign trade. You have seen the plight of the poor and those less affluent of this country become more so and the rise of a thriving commercial monolith through what is commonly regarded as a corporatocracy; the subjugation of the people by means of influence through the political process by way of lobbyists and the introduction of those in commerce into politics and governance. “Commerce may be made, an object of the attention of government…it does not appear to me that the commercial line will ever have much influence in the politics of the Union.” Proverbial, but it didn’t proliferate itself until the latter part 20th Century to be precise, with impunity. This has become a self-serving ideal in the bodies’ politic across the nation. But to be clear I am no more a fan of agriculture ruling the people than I am commerce. Both are necessary and crucial to our existence, but not in controlling our destiny. Agriculture, commerce, and the trades should all be allowed to operate and prosper within the framework of our Republic, but not at the expense of the people.
With those notions I will leave it to you the reader to ponder the implications of that wisdom. Some will have already made up their minds after reading the first few paragraphs because they will view what they have read within the context of what they believe or hold to be true without further consideration that maybe, perhaps, they have been mistaken in what they believe. I have found myself in the position to have to re-consider positions I have long held as true on the basis of additional information and truth and grudgingly reformulated my own opinions and beliefs because what I had known to be true was in error. And while this isn’t necessarily an expression of opinion, it is an expression of thought. And to perpetuate ourselves and our Nation, we must think of the future, learning from our past, our mistakes and missteps, and learn from them by not repeating them.
“It seems to be generally confessed that, of all sciences, that of government or politics, is the most difficult.” Indeed. How many systems and forms of government have been used, implemented, morphed, imposed, practiced, and instituted through the ages of people trying to formulate a means of order under which all may live and prosper? We find theory and practice intertwined through time. Monarchy, theocracy, democracy, oligarchy, and all the various forms thereof under which people have lived, suffered, prospered, sometimes flourishing and sometimes suffering under the weight of oppression. What is the complexity and dynamic of physics in comparison? What we know today of the hard sciences today never change in their base forms and remain absolute. In mathematics, two plus two always equal four. What does change in the hard sciences is the amount of what we know and understand. But in government and politics, the base dynamic is constantly evolving and changing because of the people factor; the chance factor.
In our current world, there are those that look and gesture back toward Europe as the model that we should strive to be like. “In reviewing such of the European states as we are best acquainted with, we may with truth assert that there is but one among the most important which confirms to its citizens their civil liberties, or provides for the security of private rights…we have been taught here to believe that all power of right belongs to the people; that it flows immediately from them, and is delegated to their officers for the public good; that our rulers are the servants of the people, amenable to their will, and created for their use. How different are the governments of Europe!” How different indeed. That one “European state” so referred to by Pinckney was in fact England.
The same nation with which we had just waged a war of independence and yet it was seen and viewed by many as a model by which we should mold our form of governance. A nation led by a monarch who refused to give representation to the colonies, hence therein lies the rub. “From the European world are no precedents to be drawn for a people who think they are capable of governing themselves.” In other words, the models for democracy that exist today in Europe were copied from our own quest for Freedom. And yet, there are those that say today that we should exemplify the European model; they copied it from us! While there existed in the Europe of that time parliaments that ‘represented’ the people, they were still subservient to the will of the monarch. “Let it be therefore our boast that we have already taught some of the oldest and wisest nations to explore their rights as men….”
In the formation of the type of governance, “The first knowledge necessary for us to acquire, is (sic) a knowledge of the people for whom this system was to be formed; for unless we were acquainted with their situation, their habits, opinions, and resources, it would be impossible to form a government upon adequate or practicable principles. If we examine the reasons which have given rise to the distinctions of rank that at present prevail in Europe, we shall find that none of them do, or in all probability ever will, exist in the Union.” “The only distinction that may take place is that of wealth. Riches, no doubt, will ever have their influence; and where they are suffered to increase to large amounts in a few hands, there they may become dangerous to the public—particularly when, from the cheapness of labor and the scarcity of money, a great proportion of the people are poor.” This argument remains to this day. The disparities among the few and the many with regard to wealth have grown and manifested themselves in the last 30 years, despite this letter being almost 235 years old, we have seen precisely these very things move to the forefront in our nation.
Pinckney was a lawyer and a plantation owner. He prospered from the very things that he wrote warning the nation of. His primary belief was in agriculture and the proliferation thereof. Did he stand to benefit? I’m sure he did. But he also saw the ways in which the government could be corrupted and oppressive. Why? Because we have seen the rise of the following, whom Pinckney quotes, but doesn’t name, “the three ways for a nation to acquire wealth. The first is by war…this is robbery.” “The second is by commerce, which is generally cheating….” “The third is by agriculture….” Pinckney disagrees with the writer concerning commerce, because he says, “some kinds of commerce are not only fair and valuable, but such as ought to be encouraged by government.” But, “Foreign trade is one of the enemies against which we must be extremely guarded—more so than against any other, as none will ever have a more unfavorable operation. I consider it as the root of our present public distress—as plentiful source from which our future national calamities will flow, unless great care is taken to prevent it…the object of a republic is to render its citizens virtuous and happy; and that an unlimited foreign commerce can seldom fail to have a contrary tendency.”
When you analyze what is written in the context of today, you see precisely what was warned of taking place. You have seen this area and in a greater regard, the nation decimated by foreign trade. You have seen the plight of the poor and those less affluent of this country become more so and the rise of a thriving commercial monolith through what is commonly regarded as a corporatocracy; the subjugation of the people by means of influence through the political process by way of lobbyists and the introduction of those in commerce into politics and governance. “Commerce may be made, an object of the attention of government…it does not appear to me that the commercial line will ever have much influence in the politics of the Union.” Proverbial, but it didn’t proliferate itself until the latter part 20th Century to be precise, with impunity. This has become a self-serving ideal in the bodies’ politic across the nation. But to be clear I am no more a fan of agriculture ruling the people than I am commerce. Both are necessary and crucial to our existence, but not in controlling our destiny. Agriculture, commerce, and the trades should all be allowed to operate and prosper within the framework of our Republic, but not at the expense of the people.
With those notions I will leave it to you the reader to ponder the implications of that wisdom. Some will have already made up their minds after reading the first few paragraphs because they will view what they have read within the context of what they believe or hold to be true without further consideration that maybe, perhaps, they have been mistaken in what they believe. I have found myself in the position to have to re-consider positions I have long held as true on the basis of additional information and truth and grudgingly reformulated my own opinions and beliefs because what I had known to be true was in error. And while this isn’t necessarily an expression of opinion, it is an expression of thought. And to perpetuate ourselves and our Nation, we must think of the future, learning from our past, our mistakes and missteps, and learn from them by not repeating them.
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Future Economy Council - January 17, 2013 - We must reset manufacturing
This was a presentation and discussion on how we are going to revive the economy in Catawba County and the Hickory Metro Area. "We must see a reset in our manufacturing base."
Hmmm... where have we heard that before?
Hmmm... where have we heard that before?
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- January 20, 2013
Looking in Fort Knox for its Gold - The International Forecaster - Alfred Adask - January 12, 2013 - Only a fraction of gold in Fort Knox was ever allowed to be seen, No audit of Fort Knox in over 60 years, If you believe government routinely lies, why would you believe government's claim to have retained 8,200 tons of gold for the past 30 years—especially when government refuses to provide or even allow any independent verification of its claim? The only reason to currently believe that government has retained 8,200 tons of gold is that a contrary belief is too fantastic to accept... "An audit of the US gold holdings has been demanded by some for years, but the government will not allow it. The gold belongs to the American people, so why won't they let us see it? Many think it is because it is no longer there. If that is indeed the case, do we not face a 'financial Armageddon'? "At first it may sound shocking, but the last audit of gold stored in Fort Knox took place in 1953. No typo here, 1953, just after U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower took office. [However,] No outside experts were allowed [during that audit] and the audit team tested only about 5% of gold hoarded in the fort. So, there hasn’t been a comprehensive audit of Fort Knox in over 60 (!!!) years."...
Do You Want To Scare A Baby Boomer? - The Economic Collapse Blog - If you want to frighten Baby Boomers, just show them the list of statistics in this article. The United States is headed for a retirement crisis of unprecedented magnitude, and we are woefully unprepared for it. At this point, more than 10,000 Baby Boomers are reaching the age of 65 every single day, and this will continue to happen for almost the next 20 years. The number of senior citizens in America is projected to more than double during the first half of this century, and some absolutely enormous financial promises have been made to them. So will we be able to keep those promises to the hordes of American workers that are rapidly approaching retirement? Of course not. State and local governments are facing trillions in unfunded pension liabilities. Medicare is facing a 38 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years. The Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years. Meanwhile, nearly half of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement. The truth is that I was being incredibly kind when I said earlier that we are "woefully unprepared" for what is coming. The biggest retirement crisis in history is rapidly approaching, and a lot of the promises that were made to the Baby Boomers are going to get broken. The following are 35 incredibly shocking statistics that will scare just about any Baby Boomer...
Gas tax revenue down, officials eye mileage levy - With gas tax revenues down, state officials eye tax on 'vehicle miles traveled' - Associated Press through Yahoo - Dave Gram - January 18, 2013 - Montpelier, Vermont - Carpooling, higher fuel economy, hybrids and electric cars may be good for the environment, but they're bad for government transportation funding, which relies on gasoline and diesel taxes to help pay for the building and upkeep of roads and bridges. Now some states, including Vermont, are mapping out a possible alternative: taxing drivers not based on how much fuel is burned but how far each vehicle travels. Vermont Transportation Secretary Brian Searles said calculating how much of a VMT tax is owed would be done through the global positioning system devices that are expected to be standard equipment in cars later this decade.
"It's a GPS device that is capable of tracking location, time," he said, adding that he was aware that might raise privacy concerns. It did with Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "I'm sure there's going to be a big public outcry when people hear about this," he said. But Adrian Moore, who has studied VMT tax implementation as vice president with the California-based Reason Foundation, said fears of Big Brother are overblown. He said a range of technologies are being tested in pilot studies, including one device that records miles traveled since a fill-up and then communicates with the gas pump on the next fill-up how much tax is owed. If a GPS device can tell a driver when to take a left, it can tell what road the car is traveling on, and eventually could determine how much of the tax is owed to a city, a county or a state, depending on whether the motorist was using a city street, a county road or a state highway, Moore said. James Whitty, a manager in the Oregon Department of Transportation's Office of Innovations and Alternative Funding, said the legislation there would let motorists choose between several technologies, as well as a range of public and private sector vendors that would calculate and collect the tax and relay it to the government. (The Hound: The communists main goal is to limit your mobility, just as the Soviets used to. If you are driving fewer miles and cars are getting better gas mileage, then there should be less wear and tear on the roads and environment. And logically the gubment shouldn't need as much money for maintenance. Hasn't that been their stated goal in implementing the increased standards over the years? Do you really want them placing a tracking device on your car? They minimize the Big Brother angle after all of the abuses we have seen over the last decade.)
The 10 Most Hated Companies in America - 24/7 Wall St. - January 12, 2013
Companies with Record Layoffs in 2012 - 24/7 Wall St. - January 4, 2013 - Whatever recovery the jobs market posted in 2012, mass layoffs remained impressively high. Dozens of companies each fired thousands of workers, with failing firms at the top of the list based on total cuts. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), which is so badly off that investors now question its viability, fired 27,000 people in May. That number could rise rapidly as some of its core tech divisions struggle for sales. The botched buyout of Autonomy almost certainly will cause more job cuts in that division, which has, according to HP, much lower profits than forecast. CEO Meg Whitman has said HP sales may not improve for two years or more. Hostess moved into Chapter 11 so quickly that the public only watched the process in its late stages, when it became clear that Twinkies might disappear. Friction between management and labor did not improve during negotiations, and 18,500 people lost work. From tech to food to travel: AMR, the parent of American Airlines, also in Chapter 11, fired 13,000 people as the company attempted to show it can be profitable. The actions were part of a plan to emerge from bankruptcy either as an independent or an attractive target for another large carrier. Those plans have come to fruition. US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) probably will buy American. A new consolidation between the airlines will cause another round of jobs cuts.
Gaston plant closing, 220 to lose jobs - Gaston Gazette - Ragan Robinson - January 10, 2013 -
Some 220 Apex Tool Group employees will lose their jobs when the company closes its Gastonia plant in June. Work done in Gastonia today will go to Apex factories and warehouses in Dallas, Texas, and in China, a spokeswoman for the toolmaker said Thursday. Operations at the Isley Drive plant will begin slowing over the next few months, which could leave some employees out of work before the June deadline. The site has been home to tool making since 1978 when it was owned by the Moore Co., according to spokeswoman Kelly Blazek. Apex Tool Group, formerly Danaher, has traditionally been known for its American-made Craftsman tools, although the company manufactures, packages and ships dozens of other brands. Apex Tool says the Gastonia plant is the only one it plans to close. Bain Capital, a private equity firm once run by presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in October announced a deal to acquire the company, which formed in 2010 from Danaher Tool Group and Cooper Tools. Businessweek reported this month the toolmaker is looking for more than $1 billion in loans to back the buyout.
The Cost of America's Crumbling Roads and Bridges - CNBC - Michelle Caruso-Cabrera - January 15, 2013 - The decrepit state of the nation's infrastructure will knock more than $3 trillion off the nation's gross domestic product through the end of the decade if more money isn't spent to upgrade the country's roads, bridges, airports and ports, according to a new report from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Based on current trends in the U.S., ASCE estimates the infrastructure investment needs will total $2.7 trillion, and yet they estimate only $1.6 trillion will be spent, leading to an investment gap of $1.1 trillion. The biggest gap in funding is in surface transportation, in other words roads and bridges, which will need a whopping $846 billion. Airports will need $39 billion, and marine ports and waterways will need $16 billion. The costs are measured in terms of such things as unreliable transportation services, and less reliable water and electricity. The impact from not filling that investment gap means $484 billion fewer in exports, and $1.1 trillion in lost total trade. That, in turn, leads to 3.5 million fewer jobs than would otherwise be created, the report said.
Intel profit sinks 27% on dreadful PC sales - CNN Money - David Goldman - January 17, 2013 - The world's largest chipmaker reported a quarterly profit on Thursday that fell 27% from year-ago results, dragged down by slumping PC chip sales. Intel sold 6% fewer PC chips in the fourth quarter -- its biggest business, and one that accounts for nearly two-thirds of its overall revenue. The results weren't unexpected. Worldwide PC shipments fell by 5% in the fourth quarter and 3.5% for 2012, according to Gartner. It was the first time since the dot-com bust of 2001 that PC shipments fell from one year to the next. (The Hound: The World is turning to smart phones and tablets.)
Do You Want To Scare A Baby Boomer? - The Economic Collapse Blog - If you want to frighten Baby Boomers, just show them the list of statistics in this article. The United States is headed for a retirement crisis of unprecedented magnitude, and we are woefully unprepared for it. At this point, more than 10,000 Baby Boomers are reaching the age of 65 every single day, and this will continue to happen for almost the next 20 years. The number of senior citizens in America is projected to more than double during the first half of this century, and some absolutely enormous financial promises have been made to them. So will we be able to keep those promises to the hordes of American workers that are rapidly approaching retirement? Of course not. State and local governments are facing trillions in unfunded pension liabilities. Medicare is facing a 38 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years. The Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years. Meanwhile, nearly half of all American workers have less than $10,000 saved for retirement. The truth is that I was being incredibly kind when I said earlier that we are "woefully unprepared" for what is coming. The biggest retirement crisis in history is rapidly approaching, and a lot of the promises that were made to the Baby Boomers are going to get broken. The following are 35 incredibly shocking statistics that will scare just about any Baby Boomer...
Gas tax revenue down, officials eye mileage levy - With gas tax revenues down, state officials eye tax on 'vehicle miles traveled' - Associated Press through Yahoo - Dave Gram - January 18, 2013 - Montpelier, Vermont - Carpooling, higher fuel economy, hybrids and electric cars may be good for the environment, but they're bad for government transportation funding, which relies on gasoline and diesel taxes to help pay for the building and upkeep of roads and bridges. Now some states, including Vermont, are mapping out a possible alternative: taxing drivers not based on how much fuel is burned but how far each vehicle travels. Vermont Transportation Secretary Brian Searles said calculating how much of a VMT tax is owed would be done through the global positioning system devices that are expected to be standard equipment in cars later this decade.
"It's a GPS device that is capable of tracking location, time," he said, adding that he was aware that might raise privacy concerns. It did with Allen Gilbert, executive director of the Vermont chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. "I'm sure there's going to be a big public outcry when people hear about this," he said. But Adrian Moore, who has studied VMT tax implementation as vice president with the California-based Reason Foundation, said fears of Big Brother are overblown. He said a range of technologies are being tested in pilot studies, including one device that records miles traveled since a fill-up and then communicates with the gas pump on the next fill-up how much tax is owed. If a GPS device can tell a driver when to take a left, it can tell what road the car is traveling on, and eventually could determine how much of the tax is owed to a city, a county or a state, depending on whether the motorist was using a city street, a county road or a state highway, Moore said. James Whitty, a manager in the Oregon Department of Transportation's Office of Innovations and Alternative Funding, said the legislation there would let motorists choose between several technologies, as well as a range of public and private sector vendors that would calculate and collect the tax and relay it to the government. (The Hound: The communists main goal is to limit your mobility, just as the Soviets used to. If you are driving fewer miles and cars are getting better gas mileage, then there should be less wear and tear on the roads and environment. And logically the gubment shouldn't need as much money for maintenance. Hasn't that been their stated goal in implementing the increased standards over the years? Do you really want them placing a tracking device on your car? They minimize the Big Brother angle after all of the abuses we have seen over the last decade.)
The 10 Most Hated Companies in America - 24/7 Wall St. - January 12, 2013
Companies with Record Layoffs in 2012 - 24/7 Wall St. - January 4, 2013 - Whatever recovery the jobs market posted in 2012, mass layoffs remained impressively high. Dozens of companies each fired thousands of workers, with failing firms at the top of the list based on total cuts. Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ), which is so badly off that investors now question its viability, fired 27,000 people in May. That number could rise rapidly as some of its core tech divisions struggle for sales. The botched buyout of Autonomy almost certainly will cause more job cuts in that division, which has, according to HP, much lower profits than forecast. CEO Meg Whitman has said HP sales may not improve for two years or more. Hostess moved into Chapter 11 so quickly that the public only watched the process in its late stages, when it became clear that Twinkies might disappear. Friction between management and labor did not improve during negotiations, and 18,500 people lost work. From tech to food to travel: AMR, the parent of American Airlines, also in Chapter 11, fired 13,000 people as the company attempted to show it can be profitable. The actions were part of a plan to emerge from bankruptcy either as an independent or an attractive target for another large carrier. Those plans have come to fruition. US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE: LCC) probably will buy American. A new consolidation between the airlines will cause another round of jobs cuts.
Gaston plant closing, 220 to lose jobs - Gaston Gazette - Ragan Robinson - January 10, 2013 -
Some 220 Apex Tool Group employees will lose their jobs when the company closes its Gastonia plant in June. Work done in Gastonia today will go to Apex factories and warehouses in Dallas, Texas, and in China, a spokeswoman for the toolmaker said Thursday. Operations at the Isley Drive plant will begin slowing over the next few months, which could leave some employees out of work before the June deadline. The site has been home to tool making since 1978 when it was owned by the Moore Co., according to spokeswoman Kelly Blazek. Apex Tool Group, formerly Danaher, has traditionally been known for its American-made Craftsman tools, although the company manufactures, packages and ships dozens of other brands. Apex Tool says the Gastonia plant is the only one it plans to close. Bain Capital, a private equity firm once run by presidential candidate Mitt Romney, in October announced a deal to acquire the company, which formed in 2010 from Danaher Tool Group and Cooper Tools. Businessweek reported this month the toolmaker is looking for more than $1 billion in loans to back the buyout.
The Cost of America's Crumbling Roads and Bridges - CNBC - Michelle Caruso-Cabrera - January 15, 2013 - The decrepit state of the nation's infrastructure will knock more than $3 trillion off the nation's gross domestic product through the end of the decade if more money isn't spent to upgrade the country's roads, bridges, airports and ports, according to a new report from the American Society of Civil Engineers. Based on current trends in the U.S., ASCE estimates the infrastructure investment needs will total $2.7 trillion, and yet they estimate only $1.6 trillion will be spent, leading to an investment gap of $1.1 trillion. The biggest gap in funding is in surface transportation, in other words roads and bridges, which will need a whopping $846 billion. Airports will need $39 billion, and marine ports and waterways will need $16 billion. The costs are measured in terms of such things as unreliable transportation services, and less reliable water and electricity. The impact from not filling that investment gap means $484 billion fewer in exports, and $1.1 trillion in lost total trade. That, in turn, leads to 3.5 million fewer jobs than would otherwise be created, the report said.
Intel profit sinks 27% on dreadful PC sales - CNN Money - David Goldman - January 17, 2013 - The world's largest chipmaker reported a quarterly profit on Thursday that fell 27% from year-ago results, dragged down by slumping PC chip sales. Intel sold 6% fewer PC chips in the fourth quarter -- its biggest business, and one that accounts for nearly two-thirds of its overall revenue. The results weren't unexpected. Worldwide PC shipments fell by 5% in the fourth quarter and 3.5% for 2012, according to Gartner. It was the first time since the dot-com bust of 2001 that PC shipments fell from one year to the next. (The Hound: The World is turning to smart phones and tablets.)
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