Numero uno too!

Happy birthday Fud!

But I couldn't find any other good cartoons and really, this one did, shall we say, hit home.

That would last for all of five minutes before all hell broke loose, in progressive tough love sort-a-kind-a way. Or not.

(It's the neighbors who sometimes, you know, forget to bring their manners)

by more folks.

Eventually, we will reach a tipping point. On that day people will realize that WE ARE THE GOVERNMENT AND WE MAKE THE RULES. They will see this red/blue thing for what it is; a divide and conquer ploy. They will realize why our media doesn't cover Iceland; we might get ideas and over throw our corporate overlords and their congressional lackeys.

On that day, the second American Revolution will have begun.

British travel company Thomas Cook warned its shareholders this weekend that the firm could go into administration if they fail to back two planned disposals.

Europe's second biggest holiday company posted documents to shareholders saying failure to support the planned sale and leaseback of some of its aircraft and the disposal of five hotels in Spain could jeopardise its lifeline with lenders.

http://www.france24.com/en/20120513-thomas-cook-warns-shareholders-disposals

Anyone for some cheap hotels in Spain?

It could happen voluntarily, but both the Greek people and Greek politicians are still clinging to the idea that they can put an end to austerity yet still stay in the euro. In order to try to achieve that, a new government may call the eurozone's bluff.

At that point, the other eurozone members would face an awkward choice. Doubtless there would be voices in favour of providing the money, willy nilly. That might well be the French position. But if the eurozone gives way on this, what chance would there be of painful austerity being continued, not just in Greece but also in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Ireland? The northern countries would face the prospect of pouring money into a bottomless pit.

Accordingly, it is likely, I think, that they would say: "It's your choice: we want you to stay in the euro (which isn't true yet has to be said) but you cannot do so on your own terms."

If the Greeks did not yield, then they would be out. For if they don't get the money, it isn't simply a matter of not being able to honour their debt obligations (i.e. defaulting); they would not be able to meet their obligations to pay wages and pensions. Moreover, if they could not get ECB funding for their banks, then their banking system would face implosion. At that stage, the only way out would be to move to a system where they can get funding from their own central bank – in other words, to come out of the euro.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/rogerbootle/9263156/The-final-death-throes-of-the-euro.html

headline from Max Keiser, report from Teri Buhl:

when all one's hopes and dreams come true...

(obviously they aren't nice dreams...hence the insomnia...)

freakin' scumbags.

That's a sentence that will never be pardoned or worked off (since they don't know how to work (create value from labor), in the first place).

They do this because negative consequences are so very unlikely.

and comeuppances

"If the mining companies are honest and if Haiti has a good government, then here is a way for this country to move forward," said Bureau of Mines Director Dieuseul Anglade.

In a parking lot outside Anglade's marble-floored office, more than 100 families have been living in tents since the earthquake. "The gold in the mountains belongs to the people of Haiti," he said, gesturing out his window. "And they need it."

She's one of the very, very few I trust to protect the consumer from the TBTF jerks!

over a period of years. This is the track our train is on. We will not be allowed to change destinations and there are no stops along the way to facilitate an orderly disembarkation.

Still, this is worthy of its daily K&R.

Find a soft spot and a slow passage and get the hell out.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lihPypL2RpM/TazaTI967GI/AAAAAAAAARs/J5i9F477aoA/s1600/jumping+off+train.jpg

Still, a sprained or broken ankle is better that that sudden stop at the end of the line.

This isn't the first time things like this have been reported.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/crime/florida-farm-workers-tell-how-drugs-debt-bind-them-in-modern-slavery/1229662

Florida farm workers tell how drugs, debt bind them in modern slavery

By Ben Montgomery, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, May 13, 2012

HASTINGS — LeRoy Smith thought he had hit rock bottom when he found himself trolling Atlanta's gay district, looking to exchange sex acts for a hot hit off a crack pipe. Then he wound up on a Florida farm near the small town of Hastings, being bilked blind, he says, by a man with a fifth-grade education, sweating all day for a few dirty dollars, with no way to escape from the middle-of-nowhere camp.

He did not think slavery existed in modern America. He knows better now.

The recruiters had found LeRoy Smith playing chess in a park in Jacksonville on May 1, 2010. They pegged him for a black man with a back strong enough for farm work and an addiction strong enough to stick around and work for nothing. He was hooked on crack, but he had enough sense to recognize peonage when he saw it, and to slip away by night to safety.

And now he's talking. He filed a lawsuit last month in federal court against the man he says enslaved him. And he's talking to the Tampa Bay Times in hopes that publicity will cleanse Florida of indentured servitude.

The man he accuses says it's all a lie. Confronted with the allegations, Ronald Uzzle dismissed them and told a reporter to get off his property.

There's something going on in this small town and it might be hard to care because the victims are often homeless black men who live mostly in the shadows. Many have criminal records and sins in their past.

(snip)

can't believe it's been a month and a half since I last walked the streets of Paris.

Street walker.

and our feet sure felt it

Japan was up early while the rest of Asia was down.

And are still buzzed.

I gotta go now, or I'd try to find something sparkly, too.

Spent a lot of time in the pool.

But, Coconut Margaritas, at 7:00am on a Sunday morning at the dog park is a little much.

I'm going to quit smoking tomorrow. So, I'll probably be pretty grouchy for a while.

to my favorite combatant in the Battle of Wits. Glad to here you giving up the evil weed, I'd like to see you around here for many more years.....Anne

Oil is down. Gold/silver is down. NG is underground. Is all that the counter to the credit hedge that is unwinding?

This is looking very suspicious. Bear baiting?

I haven't seen anything from the Squid which makes me wonder.

It's probably nothing.

Off to the coal mines. See you later.

CEO violated company policy
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/best-buy-distracted-by-probe-of-ex-ceo-analyst-2012-05-11

Either that or billion dollar losses at JP Morgan are requiring speculators to cash in some spec money in oil markets. Good to see the price going down.

Oil has been driven up by speculation. Once the margin calls start coming, oil will fall. Not sure that the London Whale (JP Morgan) losses have anything to do with it, but Europe's declines do. Gold will fall for the same reason.

Funny pieces of paper won't do.

Erased 100 point loss already....only 60 to go.

Spoke too soon.

out-of-mind kind of day, but in any event, I'm out of here for the most part. Carry on in my absence, Marketeers!