Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- May 12, 2013

The American Dream Is Dead; Long Live the New Dream - Truthout - Cliff DuRand -  May 10, 2013 - The American Dream of upward mobility is dead, thanks to the neoliberal ministrations of capital and government. But a new dream could rise from the mess left by globalization, off-shoring and austerity.                The continuation of the economic crisis of 2008 up to the present has driven home a social trend that has been evident since the late 1970s, the decline of what is usually called "the middle class" and the accompanying American Dream.                     The American Dream is the belief that if you work hard, if you are blessed with at least a modicum of ability and have a little luck, you can succeed. That is, you can rise in society no matter how humble your origin to something better in the way of material well-being, economic security, a settled life and social prestige. It is the dream of upward mobility for oneself, or at least for one's children.                       As Richard Wolff has pointed out in Capitalism Hits the Fan: The Global Economic Meltdown and What to do About it, this upward mobility was a reality for most citizens of the United States for several generations, from 1820 to 1970. For 150 years, real wages rose. In the quarter century from 1947 to 1973, average real wages rose an astounding 75 percent. But that shared prosperity came to a halt in the mid '70s. In the next 25 years, from 1979 to 2005, wages and benefits rose less than 4 percent. The sustained rise in standards of living had been made possible by a conjunction of historical circumstances, circumstances that began to reach exhaustion by the mid 1970s.                      Post WWII prosperity was based on 1. the global economic dominance of the United States; 2. pent up consumer demand from the depression and war years; 3. supportive social programs; 4. some political clout due to a strong union movement that could demand a share of the prosperity; and 5. Keynesian stimulus (military spending, infrastructure development like the interstate highway system, etc.).


The Price Of Copper And 11 Other Recession Indicators That Are Flashing Red - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael - May 7th, 2013 - There are a dozen significant economic indicators that are warning that the U.S. economy is heading into a recession.  The Dow may have soared past the 15,000 mark, but the economic fundamentals are telling an entirely different story.  If historical patterns hold up, the economy is heading for a very rocky stretch.  For example, the price of copper is called "Dr. Copper" by many economists because it so accurately forecasts the future direction of the U.S. economy.  And so far this year the price of copper is way down.  But that is not the only indicator that is worrying economists.  Home renovation spending has fallen dramatically, retail spending is crashing in a way not seen since the last recession, manufacturing activity and consumer confidence are both declining, and troubling economic data continues to come pouring out of Asia and Europe.  So why do U.S. stocks continue to skyrocket?  Will U.S. financial markets be able to continue to be divorced from reality?  Unfortunately, as we have seen so many times in the past, when stocks do catch up with reality they tend to do so very rapidly.  So you better put on your seatbelts because a crash is coming at some point.                   But most average Americans are not that concerned with the performance of the stock market.  They just want to be able to go to work, pay the bills and provide for their families.  During the last recession, millions of Americans lost their jobs and millions of Americans lost their homes.  If we have another major recession, that will happen again.  Sadly, it appears that another major recession is quickly approaching.
The following are 12 recession indicators that are flashing red...                     #1 The price of copper has traditionally been one of the very best indicators of the future performance of the U.S. economy.  The fact that it is down nearly 20 percent so far this year has many analysts extremely concerned...


How Elites and Media Minimize Dissent and Bury Truth — Paul Craig Roberts - May 10, 2013 -  Over the last several years I have watched the rise of an important new intellect on the American scene. Ron Unz, publisher of The American Conservative, has demonstrated time and again the extraordinary ability to reexamine settled issues and show that the accepted conclusion was incorrect.               One of his early achievements was to dispose of the myth of immigrant crime by demonstrating that “Hispanics have approximately the same crime rates as whites of the same age and gender.” You can imagine the uproar, but Unz won the debate.                             Unz provoked and prevailed in another controversy when he concluded that Mexican-Americans have approximately the same innate intelligence as whites, with their lower IQs being due to transitory socio-economic deprivation.                         He next surprised by showing the connection between the declining real value of the minimum wage (about one-third less than in the 1960s) and immigration. Americans cannot survive on one-third less minimum income than four decades ago, and the unfilled jobs are taken by Hispanics who live many to the room. A higher minimum wage, Unz pointed out, would cure the illegal immigration problem as American citizens would fill the jobs.                      I wrote about some of Unz’s remarkable findings. One of my favorites is his comparison of the responsiveness of the Chinese and US governments to their publics. I found his conclusion convincing that the authoritarian one-party Chinese government was more responsive to the Chinese people than democratic two-party Washington is to the American people.                       The person is rare who can take on such controversial issues in such a professional way that he wins the admiration even of his critics. In my opinion, Ron Unz is a national resource. He has established online libraries of important periodicals and magazines from the pre-Internet era, information that otherwise essentially would be lost. I have not met him, but he donates to this site and is an independent thinker free of The Matrix.                         Unz’s latest article, “Our American Pravda,” http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/our-american-pravda/ is a striking account of the failure of media, regulatory, and national security organizations and subsequent coverups that leave the public deceived. Unz uses the Iraq war as one example:                            “The circumstances surrounding our Iraq War demonstrate this, certainly ranking it among the strangest military conflicts of modern times. The 2001 attacks in America were quickly ascribed to the radical Islamists of al-Qaeda, whose bitterest enemy in the Middle East had always been Saddam Hussein’s secular Baathist regime in Iraq. Yet through misleading public statements, false press leaks, and even forged evidence such as the “yellowcake” documents, the Bush administration and its neoconservative allies utilized the compliant American media to persuade our citizens that Iraq’s nonexistent WMDs posed a deadly national threat and required elimination by war and invasion. Indeed, for several years national polls showed that a large majority of conservatives and Republicans actually believed that Saddam was the mastermind behind 9/11 and the Iraq War was being fought as retribution. Consider how bizarre the history of the 1940s would seem if America had attacked China in retaliation for Pearl Harbor.


Current deficit plunges 32% - CNN Money - May 7, 2013 -  Tax collections rose by $220 billion -- or 16% -- between the start of the fiscal year on Oct. 1 through April 30. Individual and payroll taxes accounted for $184 billion of that increase.                     The tax haul rose sharply primarily because wages and salaries were higher, the payroll tax cut of the past two years expired on Jan. 1 and the fiscal cliff deal brokered over New Year's raised tax rates on high earners.                  Spending, meanwhile, fell 1.9% year over year, the CBO estimated.                               The biggest percentage drop occurred in the payment of unemployment benefits, which were down nearly 25%, or $15 billion. Defense spending fell 5.3%, or $20 billion, and "other activities" -- primarily spending on nondefense programs -- fell 8.6%, or $58 billion.


New Regulations Are Strangling Community Banks - Bloomberg - Camden R. Fine - May 7, 2013 -  The wave of new banking regulations that Congress created to deter and punish Wall Street’s misdeeds is landing with much greater impact on the U.S.’s almost 7,000 community banks than on the too-big-to-fail lenders.                   Community banks didn’t cause the financial crisis; they played by the rules. Because of their time-tested business model, one based on customer relationships rather than transaction volumes, community banks aren’t a threat to the financial system. Yet they are being forced to pay a penalty in regulatory costs -- to comply with rules aimed at preventing the bad behavior on Wall Street from happening again.                              Community banks are also disproportionately affected by the new rules. Right now, banks with less than $10 billion in assets control only 20 percent of total U.S. banking assets. Washington lawmakers and regulators are holding back community banks from devoting their full attention and resources to making more loans and fueling a more robust economic recovery.                     The effect of these regulations is that Congress has added insult to injury for community banks while rewarding the real villains. The megabanks are benefiting from what Bloomberg View calculated is an $83 billion annual taxpayer subsidy, the value of implicit guarantees by the U.S. Treasury. Bloomberg View was correct to characterize the too-big-to-fail subsidy as “a major driver of the largest banks’ profits.”...


New York to sue BofA, Wells Fargo over mortgage practices - Reuters - Karen Freifeld and Aruna Viswanatha - May 6, 2013 - New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on Monday he plans to sue Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and Wells Fargo and Co (WFC.N) for violating the terms of a settlement designed to end mortgage servicing abuses.                  Schneiderman issued the announcement, which suggests lawsuits could be filed against the banks within two months, ahead of a widely anticipated report from the monitor for the multi-state settlement, which is expected to be critical of banks.                     The planned action is the first involving allegations that top banks, which agreed last year to provide $25 billion in relief to homeowners and comply with a set of servicing standards to atone for foreclosure misconduct, are not living up to their obligations under the deal.                        Schneiderman said that, since last October, his office had documented 339 violations of standards - 210 by Wells Fargo and 129 by Bank of America - dictating the timeline for banks to process mortgage modification applications.                      Schneiderman said he would seek injunctive relief and an order requiring the two banks to comply with the settlement. His statement did not say he was seeking damages or penalties.                         But it is unclear how far Schneiderman can take his efforts, because they come outside the primary channel authorized by the settlement for any potential violations.                        The settlement authorized the monitor to first work with a servicer to correct any potential violations and sue only if the servicer does not fix the errors.                       In an afternoon news conference, Schneiderman acknowledged the authority provided to the monitor, but said he could still move forward.


Japanese manufacturer to add 200 jobs in N.C. (Greenville) - Triangle Business Journal - Lauren K. Ohnesorge - May 8, 2013
Allscripts to add 350 jobs in Raleigh - Triangle Business Journal - Jason deBruyn - May 8, 2013


No Volume, No Problem - Zero Hedge - Tyler Durden - May 11,2013






The IRS as a Political Tool of Tyranny

Newsletter about the City Council meeting of May 7, 2013 -- Danny Hearn, Chamber President addresses Council about Catawba County Economic Competitiveness Plan

Newsletter about the City Council meeting of May 7, 2013 -- Addendum on Beer sales during Sails Music Series

2. Request Approval to Modify the Special Event Permit for Sails Music Series. - Music Series represents Hickory’s Life. Well Crafted. Brand, and providing local beer crafted in Hickory fits the brand print and is similar to local farmers as vendors at the Downtown Hickory Farmers Market. An opportunity has risen that would allow OHB to serve its crafted beer during the Sails Music Series under the Sails on the Square in Downtown Hickory. A designated area will be provided for the boundary of the area where beer is allowed while still ensuring that the event is open to all ages. OHB staff is responsible for carding and serving the beverages to those over 21 years of age. Hickory Police Department and city staff will be present and monitor the event which is 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Friday nights in May and June.

In looking at the second Departmental Report this evening, members of the CEG are curious as to whether any "Request for Bid" process took place involving beer sales for your "Sails on the Square Music Series."And thank goodness that we are able to speak about this before you give it your "Departmental Report" rubber stamp, because once again there is a smell in the air of favoritism and we aren't speaking per se against the Olde Hickory Brewery.

How many other vendors would have liked to have had the opportunity to sell beer on Union Square? And isn't it funny that the Hickory Alive series has been cut back in which the Jaycees sell beer, in favor of creating an opportunity and lining the pockets of another chosen favorite Union Square business owner. Yes, this stinks to high heavens.

We all know there was no open bid process, we wonder what other vendors will think when they find this out. Once again the city redefines competition. How do we know that the City is getting the best deal? We don't fully understand how the money works on this deal. Is Olde Hickory Brewery's fees helping to offset the cost of the music groups? How much is it costing to hire the musical talent?

A member of our group attended last week's event, the wine shop was busy with patrons and there were even people who brought a picnic. The attendance was sparse due to the inclement weather and the music group had some difficulties due to that.

One final thought, this type of programming is good, it just needs to be paid for by the people who benefit -- the businesses on Union Square. The same type of programming could have been taking place long ago without this expensive use of Taxpayer monies. Public funding for private benefit seems to be the theme of the city's public-private quote-unquote "partnerships". As the weather improves, we are sure that these musical events will be successful.





Council initially passed and authorized the sell of beer 4 to 3 with Alderman Lail being the most vocal against and then Alder Fox spoke up that she didn't think it was fair that businesses on Union Square get charged and OHB wouldn't have to pay and then Alderman Guess wanted to know about the public safety concerns.

It seemed that the Mayor was not comfortable that it was going to be 4 to 3 decision, then he changed his mind and stated it was because of the public safety concerns, then there was more discussion with Alderman Meisner about what the other businesses were paying that had dining on the Square, so then he fell in line and the Mayor rescinded his vote and after a little more discussion they voted 6 to 1 against the Departmental Report with only Alder Patton maintaining her vote for it.

The Hound: We don't have anything against these guys making money, but the process needs to be legit and the policies need to be equitable. That is the reason why we are called the Citizens For Equity in Government. That is Equity for everyone from the top to the bottom. We aren't looking for equal outcomes. We are looking for everyone to have a fair shot. And these little insider games are what is wreaking havoc from the dirt roads in this county to Union Square to the Tarmacs at all of our Airports to the Monumental Mausoleums in Raleigh and Washington. This is cronyism. 

A red flag went up when they said, "To our knowledge, we don't know if their are any other Craft Brewers that have this license." That means that they didn't research this and anyway others need to know the opportunity exists. That doesn't mean that OHB doesn't get the contract fair and square. It means that the process is legit and goes to the best provider and is in the public interest.

And then we come to the money. Zero... and we have an alderman pontificating about them losing money. LOGIC... if money wasn't to be made, then the Jaycees wouldn't be involved in beer sales during Union Square Events. These guys really don't understand Food and Beverage. The cost of these beers will be $4 or $5. They will pay their employees between $100 (2) and $200 (4) to man the station at most and there will probably be a tip jar out there for a few more bucks, depending on how successful. They can easily sell at a minimum 250 beers and maybe double that or more. They could afford to pay $100 per event to sell this beer.

Speaking of which, $25 a month for the restaurants down there to feed Patrons outside? That seems awfully cheap. How about $100 per month for Spring, Summer, and half of Fall and don't charge them in the Winter, And if you need to expand the dining space out there, then do it. And the monies collected should be reinvested into Union Square. All we are saying is that the Square needs to be responsible for the Square. Why is the whole public buying bands on top of the cost of the Million Dollar Structure that has to be maintained ad infinitum? When do the beneficiaries kick in to the kitty?

All we are saying is give Peace and Fairness a chance.

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- May 5, 2013

Where Is The Recovery? A Higher Percentage Of Americans Had Jobs Three Years Ago - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael - May 3, 2013 - If you think that the latest employment numbers are good news, you might want to look again.  In April 2013, 58.6 percent of all working age Americans had a job.  But three years ago, in April 2010, 58.7 percent of all working age Americans had a job.  Well, you may argue, that is not much of a difference.  And that is precisely my point.  The percentage of Americans that have a job fell like a rock during the last recession.  It dropped from about 63 percent all the way down to below 59 percent, and it has stayed below 59 percent for 44 months in a row.  So where is the recovery?  This is the first time in the post-World War II era that the employment-population ratio has not bounced back after the end of a recession.  So anyone that tells you that we are experiencing an employment recovery is lying to you.  Yes, the U.S. economy added 165,000 jobs last month.  But it takes nearly that many jobs just to keep up with population growth.  The truth is that we are just treading water.                      So why has the unemployment rate been going down?  Well, it is because the government has been pretending that millions upon millions of unemployed Americans "don't want jobs" anymore.  In fact, an astounding 9.5 million Americans have "left the workforce" since Barack Obama took office.                       Some in the mainstream media have started calling them "missing workers".  But whatever label you want to use, the reality of the matter is that they are really hurting.  They are part of the reason why food stamp enrollment has soared from 32 million to more than 47 million while Barack Obama has been in the White House.                       If you still believe that the employment market is getting better, just look at the following numbers.  The percentage of working age Americans with a job has been sitting at about the same level for four years in a row...
April 2008: 62.7 percent
April 2009: 59.8 percent
April 2010: 58.7 percent
April 2011: 58.4 percent
April 2012: 58.5 percent
April 2013: 58.6 percent
So why is everyone getting so excited over the latest numbers?  When you step back and look at what has happened to the employment-population ratio over the past decade it really is quite horrifying...




April's solid job growth favors women over men - AP through CBS MartketWatch - May 3, 2013 - It appears that April was a much better month for women than men in the job market, according to the government's latest employment report released Friday.                  The unemployment rate for adult women -- those 20 and older -- fell to 6.7 percent. That's down from 7 percent in March and the lowest since January 2009.                      Among white women, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.7 percent, compared with 6.1 percent the previous month.                     The drop in the jobless rate reflected a gain in employment, rather than people leaving the workforce. The workforce actually expanded, while the labor force participation rate — the share of working-age Americans who either have a job or are looking for one — held steady at a 34-year low of 63.3 percent.                       U.S. stock index futures jumped on the data, while yields on U.S. government debt rose. The dollar strengthened against the yen and the euro.                    "This shows the job market and the economy in general appear to be more resilient than investors had feared," said Joe Manimbo, a market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions in Washington.                  Still, some details of the report remained consistent with a slowdown in economic activity. Construction employment fell for the first time since May, while manufacturing payrolls were flat.

They Are Murdering Small Business: The Percentage Of Self-Employed Americans Is At A Record Low - The Economic Collapse Blog - Michael - May 2, 2013 - The percentage of Americans that are working for themselves has never been lower in the history of the United States.  Once upon a time, the United States was a paradise for entrepreneurs and small businesses, but now the control freak bureaucrats that dominate our society have created a system that absolutely eviscerates them.  This is very unfortunate, because by murdering small business, the bureaucrats are destroying the primary engine of job growth in this country.  One of the big reasons why there are not enough jobs in America today is because small business creation is way down.  As I mentioned yesterday, entrepreneurs and small businesses are being absolutely devastated by rules, regulations, red tape and by oppressive levels of taxation.  If anyone doubts that small business in the United States is dying, just look at the charts below.  Sadly, this is what the bureaucrats that run things want.  They don't want us to be independent of the system.  Instead, they are much more comfortable when as many of us as possible are heavily dependent on the system in one way or another.  If all of us have to go running to the government or to one of the big corporations for a job, then we are much easier to control.  But as the control freaks continue to construct their bureaucratic utopia, they are also killing off what once made the U.S. economy so great.                           The other day I came across the following two charts in an article by Charles Hugh Smith, and I was absolutely stunned by what I saw.  This first chart shows that the number of unincorporated self-employed Americans has dropped back to levels that we have not seen since the mid-1980s even though our population has increased by tens of millions of people since that time...

Factory Orders in U.S. Decreased More Than Forecast in March - Bloomberg - Lorraine Woellert - May 3, 2013 -  Orders placed with U.S. factories fell more than forecast in March as a cooling economy slowed demand for metals, mining equipment and military goods.                        The 4 percent drop in bookings was the biggest since August and followed a revised 1.9 percent gain the prior month that was smaller than previously estimated, the Commerce Department reported today in Washington. The median forecast of 58 economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted orders would fall by 2.9 percent.                           Companies are feeling the effects of slowing growth in Europe, Asia and the U.S., where higher taxes and across-the- board federal budget cuts, known as sequestration, have restrained consumer spending. Orders could pick up as manufacturers prepare for improved demand expected in the second half of the year as employment strengthens.


IRS to Spy on Our Shopping Records, Travel, Social Interactions, Health Records and Files from Other Government Investigators - Washington's Blog - May 2, 2013 - We noted in March that all U.S. intelligence agencies – including the CIA and NSA – are going to spy on Americans’ finances.                       The IRS is joining the fun.                     U.S. News and World Report notes today:                       Starting this year, the IRS tools will be able to track all credit card transactions, for starters. The agency has also instructed agents on using online sources such as social media and e-commerce sites including eBay, as well as the rich data generated by mobile devices. In one controversial disclosure in April, the ACLU showed documents in which the IRS general counsel said the agency could look at emails without warrants, but the IRS has said it will not use this power.                          While the agency has declined to give details about what third-party personal data it will use in robo-audits and data mining, it has told government and industry groups that its computers are capable of scanning multiple networks at the same time to collect “matching” comprehensive profiles for every taxpayer in America. Such profiles will likely include shopping records, travel, social interactions and information not available to the public, such as health records and files from other government investigators, according to IRS documents...


Money Manager Pento: Fed Needs to 'Stop QE Right Now' - Newsmax MoneyNews - Dan Weil - May 2, 2013 - The Treasury market's 32-year rally has turned into a bubble that's going to pop with a bang, says Michael Pento, president of Pento Portfolio Strategies.                       "It's the most overpriced, oversupplied and over-owned market in the history of American economics," he tells Yahoo.                        The proof is in the statistics, Pento says. Treasury yields stand 550 basis points below their 40-year average, almost $120 billion flowed into bond funds from 2008 to 2012, and Treasury issuance has soared 140 percent since the end of 2007.                         The Federal Reserve's massive easing program is a big part of the problem, Pento says. "The Fed should stop QE [quantitative easing] now," he states. "It's creating a huge interest rate vacuum," as it's essentially the sole buyer of Treasurys.                        When the Fed finally decides to end QE and then unwinds what will be a $4 trillion balance sheet, as a bond market investor "do you think I'm going to be a buyer in front of that or a seller?" Pento asks rhetorically.


Study: Money Does Buy Happiness - Newsmax Moneynews - Dan Weil - May 2, 2013 - A new study from University of Michigan economists Justin Wolfers and Betsey Stevenson shows that the wealthier people are, the happier they are, whether they are rich or poor.                  The duo looked at statistics from more than 150 countries. Sources ranged from the World Bank to the Gallup World Poll. The study will be published in the May 2013 American Economic Review, Papers and Proceedings.                  Unlike some previous studies, Wolfers and Stevenson found there isn't a threshold where more wealth no longer creates more happiness.                        "Even America's millionaires don't think of themselves as rich," writes Fortune's Nin Hai-Tseng. "So are they any less happy than poorer folks scraping by earning minimum wage? Not exactly."                           The ultra-wealthy just need more money to make them happy, according to Wolfers and Stevenson.                         The study found that no millionaires are unhappy.                  Hai-Tseng distinguishes between day-to-day happiness and overall, "life assessment" happiness.                                The latter is what Wolfers and Stevenson focused on, finding that fulfillment keeps climbing and climbing as long as income is rising.



U.S. Homeownership Rate Falls to Lowest Since 1995 - Bloomberg - Prashant Gopal & John Gittelsohn - Apr 30, 2013 - The U.S. homeownership rate fell to the lowest in almost 18 years, reflecting rising demand for rentals and investor purchases in the housing market.                    The share of Americans who own their homes was 65 percent in the first quarter, down from 65.4 percent a year earlier and the lowest level since the third quarter of 1995, the Census Bureau reported today. The vacancy rate for rented homes dropped to 8.6 percent from 8.8 percent a year earlier, while vacancies for owner-occupied houses fell to 2.1 percent from 2.2 percent.                      Investors are buying single-family homes and renting them out to capitalize on demand among families unable to qualify for a mortgage. Their purchases, many made with cash, are helping to support the housing recovery and pushing up prices. Home values in 20 cities increased 9.3 percent in February from a year earlier, the most since May 2006, according to the S&P/Case- Shiller (SPCS20Y%) index released today.

Rat Meat Sold as Lamb Highlights Fear in China - New York Times - CHRIS BUCKLEY - May 3, 2013 - Even for China’s scandal-numbed diners, inured to endless outrages about food hazards, news that the lamb simmering in the pot may actually be rat tested new depths of disgust.                   In an announcement intended to show that the government is serious about improving food safety, the Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday that the police had caught a gang of traders in eastern China who bought rat, fox and mink flesh and sold it as mutton. But that and other cases of meat smuggling, faking and adulteration featured in Chinese newspapers and Web sites on Friday were unlikely to instill confidence in consumers already queasy over many reports about meat, fruit and vegetables laden with disease, toxins, banned dyes and preservatives.                          Sixty-three people were arrested and accused of “buying fox, mink and rat and other meat products that had not undergone inspection,” which they doused in gelatin, red pigment and nitrates, and sold as mutton in Shanghai and adjacent Jiangsu Province for about $1.6 million, according to the ministry’s statement. The report, posted on the Internet, did not explain how exactly the traders acquired the rats and other creatures.                             “How many rats does it take to put together a sheep?” said one typically baffled and angry user of Sina Weibo, China’s Twitter-like microblog service that often acts as a forum for public venting. “Is it cheaper to raise rats than sheep?

Where’s My Ghost Money?- New York Times - QAIS AKBAR OMAR - May 4, 2013 - I WAS very excited to read, last week, about the “ghost money” that the C.I.A. is paying to the president of my country, Hamid Karzai. I’d like to know: would it be possible for the C.I.A. to give me some, too?                      We do not know what President Karzai has done with this cash that arrives each month in suitcases and plastic shopping bags. Not even the C.I.A. — which every Afghan believes knows everything — can say.                  But I will tell you exactly what I will do with mine: I will do the things we thought the Americans were going to help us do when they came to Afghanistan nearly 12 years ago.                              First, I will use some of it to dig deep wells in all our villages and create modern water systems in all our cities. Fewer than a third of Afghans living in rural areas have access to clean drinking water. In one village I know in Balkh Province in the north, the people must walk more than a mile to reach the nearest well, and its water is salty. They rely on infrequent rain for drinking water and use it sparingly. They asked me to help them get a new well that is nearer and deeper. Now, with my ghost money, I can.                       Even in Kabul — where I lived until nine months ago when I came to study in the United States — most people still get their water from wells. Afghan children must carry heavy buckets of water from the wells to their homes several times each day. I did this for years. On the bright side, in Afghanistan, we do not have the problem of childhood obesity.                           I will use another part of my ghost money to build sewers. Afghans, like Americans, use toilets every day. But what we leave in our toilets either stays in an open pit or is flushed into open drains in the streets. The mosquitoes are happy with this situation, but the children they bite are not.

Bringing Hickory towards Reality

The Hound was the first source to talk about the desperate situation with the job picture in the area in the fall of 2008 and even before that in Letters to the Editor in the Hickory Daily Record. We were the first source to talk about the loss of the young people in the community -- Building a Bridge to Hickory's Future. Make no mistake, the articles are available from late 2008 discussing the issue and below is the conversation that I had with Mayor Wright in March 2009 in which he basically dismisses what I am saying to a great degree. The local Powers That Be had been marketing the area to Retirees for years and it has led to the current plight we face with our demographics so far out of whack.




In August of 2009, Taylor Dellinger brought statistics to the Future Economy Council meeting that showed statistically how bad things were becoming and the situation has worsened over the subsequent 4 years -- Just The Facts about Hickory's Loss of the Younger Demographic. Once again, I called up Hal Row's show to speak with the Mayor on August 31, 2009. That conversation is below.





And now we come to last month's Hal Row Show with the Mayor, in which Mayor Wright finally fully acknowledges what I had been getting at 4 years ago, but now his acknowledgment comes with money strings attached.  Mayor Wright summarizes exactly verbatim what I stated 4 years ago. He stresses urgency now, while I was stressing it 5+ years ago. The lesson should be that it's good to listen to everyone and not just the people you deem "Business Leaders." Many of these "Leaders" are the same people who have brought us to the edge of the cliff where we reside today. Fixing Hickory isn't about infrastructure boondoggles (ie local Stimulus) aimed at insider's personal interests. It is about investing in people and that means all of the people. As they say, and I do listen, "A hand up and not a hand out." We'll spend a ton of money on Statues, Paint, and Shrubs, while completely dismissing microlending. That is just insane.



In speaking at the Council meeting a month ago, I was not addressing the Council. I was addressing everyone in Hickory. That is who everyone who speaks before the Council should be addressing, because in the end the Council are Citizens. This Council rendered themselves impotent long ago. You take an idea to them and they don't look at how they can help you get it done, they tell you why it can't be done. That is unless you are an insider and the insiders are always looking for personal interests over the interests of the entire community. I really hate saying that, but after you continually see regular people ignored you have to say it.

"I have resolved to take a stand, with the help of a few, to move this community forward into dealing with reality. As long as I am here, I will continue to do my part.

Matthew 25:40 talks about looking out for the "Least of These." It is time to start looking out for our neighbors. I am not the Judge. There is a higher Authority."

Civilian Labor Force lowest in nearly 21 years

The Civilian Labor Force, here in Catawba County, is down to 73,081 people. That is down from 73,315 the month before. That means that 234 fewer people are in the workforce this month. That is a 3/10 of one percent reduction in the Labor force over the previous month (234/73,315).

The last time that we had fewer people in the Catawba County workforce was in September of 1992, when we had 73,033 in the local workforce. And remember in February 2001 that we had 82,245 in the workforce. We have lost over 11% of our workforce in the last 12 years (82,245-73081/82,245).

 Link to the data: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/NCCATA5LFN?cid=29272

The media is looking at U-3 numbers and telling you that Unemployment fell to 10.1% from 10.8% the previous month. 3/10 of a percent of that number is explained by people dropping out of the Labor Force and I believe that the rest of that reduction comes from the arbitrary "Seasonal Adjustments." The U-3 numbers may even fall below 10% in the near future, but until one looks at the reality of the U-6 numbers and the ever shrinking workforce numbers, then one will not grasp the true nature of the local employment picture -- it is at best stuck in a rut. Since July 2008, the local Catawba County workforce has shrunk by nearly 5,000 people (77,976 - 73,081= 4,895) and the trend shows that number growing substantially for the foreseeable future.

U-3 Unemployment numbers in Catawba County:
http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/NCCATA5URN?cid=29272

These are the real numbers as they should be presented and represented. And please as always!

Inspiring Spaces photos from Open House on 4/18/2012

You can blow up the photos and look at the details by clicking on the pictures and clicking CTRL+ to the desired scale or saving the pictures and using a program such as Photoshop.. I did not reduce the image quality. The photos had themes of Greenways, Bikeways,Blueways, Parks, Gateways, Special Places, Streetscapes, This should give an idea of the proposed development for those who could not make the Open House Event.