Totally accurate, and completely tasteless...unless you are a 1% bloodsucking zombie.

C'mon, people! How do you expect to survive the horror movie apocalypse if you don't know these simple facts.

And for self-defense:

Zombies--shoot 'em in the head.
Vampires--wooden stake in the heart.
Werewolves--throw a tennis ball and run the other way.

It's just that the picture is ambiguous.

The European Union was created to avoid repeating the disasters of the 1930s, but Germany, of all countries, has failed to learn from history. As the euro crisis escalates, Berlin should remember how the banking crisis of 1931 contributed to the breakdown of democracy across Europe. Action is urgently needed to stop history from repeating itself.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/the-germans-have-learned-nothing-from-history-a-838429.html

The failure of German public opinion to grasp the dire state of affairs in Europe today is inviting a repeat of precisely the crisis of the mid 20th century that European integration was designed to avoid. With every increase in the probability of a disorderly Greek exit from the monetary union, the pressure on the Spanish banks increases and with it the danger of a Mediterranean-wide bank run so big that it would overwhelm the European Central Bank. Already there has been a substantial re-nationalization of the European financial system. This centrifugal process could easily continue to the point of complete disintegration.

We find it extraordinary that it should be Germany, of all countries, that is failing to learn from history. Fixated on the non-threat of inflation, today's Germans appear to attach more importance to the year 1923 (the year of hyperinflation) than to the year 1933 (the year democracy died). They would do well to remember how a European banking crisis two years before 1933 contributed directly to the breakdown of democracy not just in their own country but right across the European continent. Astonishingly few Europeans (including bankers) seem to remember what happened in May 1931 when Creditanstalt, the biggest Austrian bank, had to be bailed out by a government that was itself on the brink of insolvency. The ensuing European bank crisis, which saw the failure of two of Germany's biggest banks, ushered in the second half of the Great Depression. If the first half had been dominated by the American stock market crash, the second was all about European banks going bust.

What happened next? The banking crisis was followed by President Hoover's one-year moratorium on payment of World War I war debts and reparations. Nearly all sovereign borrowers subsequently defaulted on all or part of their external debts, beginning with Germany. Unemployment in Europe reached an agonizing peak in 1932: In July of that year, 49 per cent of German trade union members were out of work. The political consequences are well known. But the Nazis were only the worst of a large number of extremist movements to benefit politically from the crisis. "Anti-system" parties in Germany -- including Communists as well as fascists -- had won 13 percent of votes in 1928. By November 1932, they won nearly 60 percent. The far right also fared well in Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Romania. Communists gained in Bulgaria, France and Greece. The result was the death of democracy in much of Europe. While 24 European regimes had been democratic in 1920, the number was down to 11 in 1939. Even bankers know what happened that year.

Those of us who repeatedly warned in the 1990s that the experiment of monetary union would end badly would be gloating now -- if we were not so troubled by the prospect of history repeating itself.

WHY, EVEN IN AMERICA, THERE'S AT LEAST ONE OPPONENT, NO MATTER HOW INSIGNIFICANT SHE MAY BE...

http://www.salon.com/2012/06/13/u_s_drones_deeply_unpopular_around_the_world/singleton/

...The new multi-nation poll finds that “in predominantly Muslim nations, American anti-terrorism efforts are still widely unpopular.” Beyond Muslim nations, “in nearly all countries, there is considerable opposition to a major component of the Obama administration’s anti-terrorism policy: drone strikes.” Specifically, “in 17 of 20 countries, more than half disapprove of U.S. drone attacks.” As usual, “Americans are the clear outliers on this issue – 62% approve of the drone campaign, including most Republicans (74%), independents (60%) and Democrats (58%).” But in every other surveyed country besides India (which naturally supports any attacks in Pakistan), more people disapprove of Obama’s drone strikes than approve, usually by very wide margins. Indeed, “the policy is unpopular in majority Muslim nations, but also in Europe and other regions as well”; specifically, “at least three-in-four [are opposed] in a diverse set of countries: Greece (90%), Egypt (89%), Jordan (85%), Turkey (81%), Spain (76%), Brazil (76%) and Japan (75%).”



Just as is true in the U.S., Obama — revealingly and unsurprisingly — finds ample support for his policies among the European Right, with substantial opposition on the Left. “A majority (56%) of those who describe themselves as being on the political right in Britain favor U.S. drone strikes against extremists, but just 31% on the left agree.” And “a similar gap emerges in France, where about half of those on the right (49%) approve of the drone attacks, compared with about one-quarter (26%) among people on the left. Double-digit differences are also found in Italy, the Czech Republic and Germany.”

It’s an article of faith in many progressive circles that Obama has “restored America’s standing in the world” — they’ll just state it as though it’s gospel — but it’s patently untrue. While it’s true that Europeans and citizens of long-standing American allies such as Japan and Brazil generally view Obama far more favorably than they did George Bush (though far less so than was true in 2009), and the U.S. continues to be viewed favorably in the West, the perception of the U.S. in the Muslim world is as bad as, or even worse than, the lowly levels of the Bush era: MORE

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/jun/11/border-agency-overextended-drone-program/

The Homeland Security Department ordered so many drones it can’t keep them all flying and doesn’t have a good plan for how to use them, according to a new audit the department’s inspector general released Monday. In a blunt assessment, investigators said Customs and Border Protection's Office of Air and Marine has a fleet of nine “unmanned aircraft systems” and is awaiting a 10th — though it doesn’t have enough ground support and doesn’t have a good plan for prioritizing missions.

“CBP procured unmanned aircraft before implementing adequate plans,” the investigators said.

The Defense Department uses armed drones overseas in its war on terror, and a U.S. Navy drone crashed on Maryland’s Eastern Shore on Monday afternoon, according to the Associated Press.

American law enforcement agencies at all levels are also increasingly turning to drones for use in detecting or preventing crimes in the U.S. But they find themselves butting heads with civil libertarians who worry about intrusion into innocent citizens’ private lives. The inspector general said given the number of aircraft, CBP should have been able to fly more than 10,000 hours of missions per year, but in the year under review the agency flew less than 4,000 hours. Underscoring the ad hoc approach, the agency doesn’t have a dedicated budget for running drones, and has had to siphon money from other areas to keep the program afloat. Investigators said the budget woes mean future missions may have to be scrapped — yet the underfunded fleet continues to grow.

“Despite the current underutilization of unmanned aircraft, CBP received two additional aircraft in late 2011 and was awaiting delivery of a tenth aircraft in 2012,” the inspector general said.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2156720/Eye-sky-U-S-government-use-drones-size-GOLF-BALLS-spy-citizens.html#ixzz1xODyLNw5

The Obama administration has been widely criticized for its increased reliance on drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but according to published reports, a plan is now in the works to harness tiny drones to spy on U.S. citizens. A 30-page memorandum issued by President Barack Obama’s Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley on April 23 has stated that the drones, some as small as golf balls, may be used domestically to ‘collect information about U.S. persons.’ The photos that the drones will take may be retained, used or even distributed to other branches of the government so long as the ‘recipient is reasonably perceived to have a specific, lawful governmental function’ in asking for them. The purpose of the cited memorandum is stated as 'balancing … obtaining intelligence information...and protecting individual rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.' Andrew Napolitano, former New Jersey judge and senior judicial analyst at Fox News, wrote in his Washington Times opinion column this week that if the military personnel spot something of interest from a drone, they may apply to a military judge or ‘military commander’ for permission to conduct a physical search of the private property. The memo cited by Napolitano goes on to say that any ‘incidentally acquired information’ can be retained or turned over to local law enforcement, which raises the question of the constitutionality of launching a drone program stateside, and whether it violates people’s right to privacy.

Besides their lethal military application, however, drones can be used in a wide array of scenarios, from tracking down runaway criminals to spraying crops with pesticides. ‘It's going to happen,’ Dan Elwell, vice president of civil aviation at the Aerospace Industries Association, told the Seattle Times. ‘Now it's about figuring out how to safely assimilate the technology into national airspace.’ It remains up to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to do just that. In January, the agency plans to propose a new set of rules for using small drones domestically. The FAA has issued 266 active testing permits for civilian-drone applications, but has yet to allow drones to enter U.S. airspace on a wide scale out of concern they do not have an adequate technology to prevent mid-air collisions.

Concerns for privacy, which have been raised by Napolitano and other critics, remain prominent in the debate over the domestic use of small drones. The aerospace industry, however, insists that these concerns can be addressed. Police departments in Texas, Florida and Minnesota have already expressed interest in the technology's potential to detect fugitives on rooftops or to track them at night by using the robotic aircraft's heat-seeking cameras.
Police in Liverpool, UK, have been using a remote-controlled drone fitted with a TV camera to help combat potential anti-social behavior. California-based drone maker AeroVironment, which has been supplying the military with small drones, has developed its first miniature helicopter drone designed specifically for law enforcement.

Once FAA restrictions are eased, the company plans to offer the technology to the nation's estimated 18,000 state and local police agencies. AeroVironment engineers have been secretly testing a miniature helicopter named Qube, which features four whirling rotors that can lift it as high as 200 feet above ground and a sophisticated video camera. The new drone weighs a little over 5lbs, fits in a car trunk and is controlled remotely by a tablet computer. Compared to a normal sized helicopter currently used by law enforcement agencies that can cost as much as $1.7million, the Qube drone comes with a modest $40,000 price tag.
President Obama has come under fire for his increased reliance on drone strikes in Pakistan and Afghanistan

Nice cuff links Mr. Dimon.

You don't see the Presidential Seal on display without reason.

Full faith and credit.

Bought and sold.

Not a single Senator bothered to thank the King of JP Morgue for the honor of being on his payroll.

They were honored to get a peek of the royal baloney as they kissed his majesty's ass in the after meeting conference.

The high light of the day for many of the Senators. So close and yet so far away.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/myth-of-perpetual-growth-is-killing-america-2012-06-12?reflink=MW_news_stmp

...Why? Because all economics is based on the absurd Myth of Perpetual Growth. Yes, all theories and business plans based on growth are mythological. Economists are master illusionists who rely on a set of fictions, fantasies and forecasts that emanate from a core magical mantra of Perpetual Growth that goes untested year after year. And yet it’s used to manipulate the public into a set of policies and decisions that are leading the American and the world economy down a path of unsustainable globalization and GDP growth assumptions that will self-destruct the planet... Yes, economists are addicted to this ideology. Trapped deep in their denial, can’t see the problem, or admit it, or if they do, they are unable to stop themselves, see past their own myopic world view. They’re mercenaries working for capitalists who pay their salaries, and expect them to support the capitalist’s bizarre Myth of Perpetual Growth.

Worse, the public also bought into the myth. Yes, you believe everything you learned in college about economic theories, all the textbooks, everything you read in the daily press, the government reports, all those Wall Street analysts’ predictions relying on studies prepared by economists with credentials. But everything you think you know about economics … is wrong. Dead wrong. And until economics acknowledge this, the discipline is on a self-destruct path. Why? The science of economics is not science. Yes, it looks scientific with all the fancy math algorithms and computer models that economists use, but all that’s just window dressing to make the economist look scientific and rational. They’re not. Their conclusions are pre-ordained, fabricated, based on their biases, personal ideologies and whatever their employer wants to prove to manipulate consumers, voters or investors to buy what they’re selling.

‘What do you call an economist with a prediction? Wrong’

MORE AT LINK

. . . is the ideology of the cancer cell."


Edward Abbey.

A cancer on the state.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-07/iceland-court-sentences-ex-byr-savings-executives-to-jail.html

Byr Savings Bank former Chairman Jon Thorsteinn Jonsson and the lender’s ex-Chief Executive Officer Ragnar Zophonias Gudjonsson were today found guilty of fraud and sentenced to four and half years in prison by Iceland’s Supreme Court.

The court found that the two former executives had used their positions at Byr to grant an 800-million kronur ($6.2 million) loan to Exeter Holdings ehf in 2008 as Iceland’s financial system was on the brink of collapse.

Proceeds of the loan were used by Exeter to buy Jonsson’s and Gudjonsson’s shares in Byr. Exeter guaranteed the loan by putting the Byr shares up as collateral.

“In deciding the punishment” the Supreme Court took account of the fact that the “magnitude of the offences was significant,” according to the ruling posted on the Reykjavik- based court’s website. Jonsson’s action “relieved him from personal guarantees on loans” and Gudjonsson’s “infraction was committed under the auspices of his mandate” as Byr’s chief executive officer, according to the ruling.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/antonia-juhasz/bp-oil-settlement_b_1583520.html

On Friday, the Financial Times reported that BP is hoping to reach an agreement with U.S. authorities which would require it to pay under $15 billion to settle all criminal and civil penalties arising from the 2010 Gulf oil disaster. The Department of Justice is reportedly seeking $20 to $25 billion. Negotiations between the DOJ and BP are accelerating and "an agreement could be reached before the Democratic party's convention in September," the FT reported.

While $15 billion sounds like a lot of money -- and it is -- it is a far cry from what BP owes for the many costs associated with the largest offshore oil spill in history. To date, a full accounting of exactly what BP should owe for its crimes in the Gulf has not been made public. Such an accounting is vital if we are to ensure that justice and restoration are delivered to the Gulf Coast and that such a catastrophe never occurs again.

A straightforward application of just the most pertinent U.S. laws yields a fine of $192 billion. (For simplicity sake, I only address BP's fines.)

Sound high? Here's why it's not.

Seaman's Manslaughter Statute = $2.75 - $5.5 million

Eleven men died aboard the Deepwater Horizon: Gordon Jones, Dewey Revette, Jason Anderson, Shane Roshto, Stephen Curtis, Blair Manuel, Karl Kleppinger, Adam Weise, Don Clark, Roy Kemp, and Aaron Dale Burkeen. Title 18 Section 1115 of the U.S. Criminal Code, the "Seaman's Manslaughter Statute," holds companies, executives, managers, and employees of vessels liable for fines and imprisonment for deaths occurring on their rigs. Simple negligence (not intent) is enough to secure a conviction. The conclusions of numerous critical investigations make negligence a forgone conclusion in this case. Criminal penalties include up to 10 years imprisonment per violation and fines. Individual fine: $250,000 per violation x 11 = $2.75 million. Company fine: $500,000 x 11 = $5.5 million.


Clean Water Act: $30.5 billion

AND THE BILL CONTINUES....AT LINK

http://rt.com/usa/news/indiana-shooting-law-state-591/

Hold onto your holsters, folks: shooting a cop dead is now legal in the state of Indiana.

Governor Mitch Daniels, a Republican, has authorized changes to a 2006 legislation that legalizes the use of deadly force on a public servant — including an officer of the law — in cases of “unlawful intrusion.” Proponents of both the Second and Fourth Amendments — those that allow for the ownership of firearms and the security against unlawful searches, respectively — are celebrating the update by saying it ensures that residents are protected from authorities that abuse the powers of the badge.

Others, however, fear that the alleged threat of a police state emergence will be replaced by an all-out warzone in Indiana.

Under the latest changes of the so-called Castle Doctrine, state lawmakers agree “people have a right to defend themselves and third parties from physical harm and crime.” Rather than excluding officers of the law, however, any public servant is now subject to be met with deadly force if they unlawfully enter private property without clear justification.

“In enacting this section, the general assembly finds and declares that it is the policy of this state to recognize the unique character of a citizen's home and to ensure that a citizen feels secure in his or her own home against unlawful intrusion by another individual or a public servant,” reads the legislation...

HOW DO YOU LIKE THEM APPLES, ADAM?

Governor Daniels agrees with the senator in a statement offered through his office, and notes that the law is only being established to cover rare incidents of police abuse that can escape the system without reprimand for officers or other persons that break the law to gain entry.

“In the real world, there will almost never be a situation in which these extremely narrow conditions are met,” Daniels says. “This law is not an invitation to use violence or force against law enforcement officers.”

Officers in Indiana aren’t necessarily on the same page, though. “If I pull over a car and I walk up to it and the guy shoots me, he’s going to say, ‘Well, he was trying to illegally enter my property,’” Sergeant Joseph Hubbard tells Bloomberg. “Somebody is going get away with killing a cop because of this law.”

“It’s just a recipe for disaster,” Indiana State Fraternal Order of Police President Tim Downs adds. “It just puts a bounty on our heads.”

Surprise. Surprise. Jolly gee. You just got sold out. Welcome to the club.

Can you think of anyone who won a shoot-out with the police? Maybe John Dillinger....for a while.

but unless the cop had totally alienated the entire police force, they would be coming after....and they don't need an excuse to shoot you dead.

http://news.firedoglake.com/2012/06/13/jamie-dimon-is-taking-your-phone-calls-on-foreclosure-paperwork-problems/

I should have added one thing to my reactions to Jamie Dimon’s testimony. First of all, a set of anti-foreclosure activists disrupted the hearing at the beginning, demanding Dimon to “stop foreclosures now!” As that wasn’t the point of the hearing, this went mostly unaddressed on the panel. But then unassuming Sen. Herb Kohl decided to bring it up.

After a discussion about how JPMorgan’s loan-to-deposit ratios are much lower than comparable banks, giving them more funds to gamble with, Kohl said that his constituents often call him, and every other Senator, with loan modification problems. “Often they say the banks lose their paperwork. One constituent said to me ‘I don’t want to lose my house because they can’t get their paperwork straight.’” We know from Paul Kiel’s book that most of these “lost documents” simply went over to India in a cost-cutting measure, never to be seen again:



So that was the issue at hand. Dimon’s response was priceless. First of all, he said to forward the information from the constituent to him personally, and he will take care of it. This is the typical fashion; the banks don’t jump on a foreclosure problem until it gets media attention or attention from a Senator in a hearing. After that it’s a fire alarm. Dimon then said, and I quote, “We don’t want you to lose your home because of our paperwork problem.”

How many hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their homes because of paperwork problems over the last few years? How many are being thrown out using false documents, back-dated documents, forged documents and robo-signed documents? How many homeowners have lost their home because of technical screw-ups? Lost payments? Misapplied payments? Payments with 2 cents missing (that’s a real case)? Banks trying to foreclose on homes with no mortgage? Banks breaking and entering into the wrong home, one that doesn’t even have a delinquency? Is the number even countable at this point?

Sen. Michael Bennet, when he wasn’t pleading with Dimon to endorse austerity, said he would take up Dimon on his offer to look personally into individual mortgage problems. Shouldn’t we all have that privilege? So if you have a Chase mortgage and are getting the run-around from their customer service representatives, you can know call your Senator, and he will apparently go right to Jamie Dimon with the complaint. That should work smoothly. Give it a try!

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0613/Democrats-fear-Obama-may-lose

(AND THE REST FEAR HE MAY WIN AGAIN...)

http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/8093

The opportunities for institutional advancement in the EU created by the dismal management of the Eurozone crisis may well include the establishment of a banking union, a theme that could be placed on the agenda of the forthcoming European Council at the end of June. The debate on this topic, however, seems mired in confusion, notably as regards the features and tasks of deposit insurance at the Eurozone or EU level in combating contagion and restoring financial stability. It also seems at times to overlook the fact that many constituent elements of banking union are already present in the legislation in force or tabled for approval and, more importantly, that much of what is needed may be feasible with ordinary legislative procedures.

There is a need, to start with, to distinguish clearly what is needed to address a ‘systemic’ confidence crisis hitting the banking system – which is mainly or solely a Eurozone problem – and ‘fair weather’ arrangements to prevent individual bank crises and, when they occur, to manage them in an orderly fashion so as to minimise systemic spillovers and the cost to taxpayers, which is of concern for the entire EU. Much of the on-going debate on deposit insurance and banking resolution funds mainly refers to the latter issue; deposit insurance or resolution arrangements can be instrumental in confidence-building over the medium term but couldn’t ever have sufficient resources to meet a spreading run on deposits. More important, “using extended insurance coverage to stabilise financial systems in the absence of appropriate institutional, political, and fiscal conditions to address existing problems” would entail moral hazard (IADI 2012). Financial stabilisation in the short term is the proper task of lending of last resort by the central bank.

Taking up the ‘fair weather’ system first, we have always known that a stable and well-functioning internal market in banking requires EU-wide deposit insurance, crisis resolution procedures, and supervision. While the desire to preserve national prerogatives in these domains has slowed down the progress in this direction, the crisis is now accelerating progress on all three fronts. As to deposit insurance, Directive 94/19/EC, as amended by Directive 2009/14/EC, and a new directive under consideration by Council and Parliament, based on a Commission proposal of July 2010,1 have already harmonised the level of depositor protection (€100,000) and will require all national systems to be funded ex-ante with a significant risk-based component of fees paid by participating banks. The European Commission has further proposed that each national scheme should target a level of funding of 1.5% of total insured deposits, to be reached within 10 years (which Parliament has lengthened to 15). The target level is supported by the European Parliament, but the member states in the Council would like to lower it to 0.5%. A recent survey prepared by the Financial Stability Board shows that most EU members are already compliant with the principles of the Commission proposal (with ex-post-funded deposit insurance still present in Italy, the Netherlands, and the UK); however, the size of insurance funds is very small, well below even the lower target acceptable to the member states (see FSB, 7:52).

There is also a provision whereby national guarantee funds may, under certain circumstances, lend funds to each other on a voluntary basis to meet unexpected shortages; the commission wanted this to be a legal obligation but the parliament and council did not accept it. This provision is insufficient to meet the funding needs that may arise from substantial losses at a large cross-border bank. An adequate solution may only come from an EU-wide deposit insurance scheme covering all cross-border banks, as proposed by Carmassi et al. (2010).

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/world/europe/greeks-dread-future-as-their-world-deteriorates.html?_r=1&ref=business

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/us/drug-money-from-mexico-makes-its-way-to-the-racetrack.html?hp

Newcomers rarely make it into the winner’s circle at the All American Futurity, considered the Kentucky Derby of quarter horse racing. Yet in September 2010, a beaming band of men waving Mexican flags and miniature piñatas swept into Ruidoso, N.M., to claim the million-dollar prize with a long-shot colt named Mr. Piloto. Leading the revelry at the track was Mr. Piloto’s owner, José Treviño Morales, 45, a self-described brick mason who had grown up poor in Mexico. Across the border, Ramiro Villarreal, an affable associate who had helped acquire the winning colt, celebrated at a bar with friends. As for the man who made the whole day possible, Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, he was living on the run, one of the most wanted drug traffickers in the world.

Mr. Treviño, a younger brother of José Treviño, is second in command of Mexico’s Zetas drug trafficking organization. Thin with a furrowed brow, he has become the organization’s lead enforcer — infamous for dismembering his victims while they are still alive.

The race was one of many victories for the Treviño brothers, who managed to establish a prominent horse breeding operation in the United States, Tremor Enterprises, that allowed them to launder millions of dollars in drug money, according to current and former federal law enforcement officials. The operation amounted to a foothold in the United States for one of Mexico’s most dangerous criminal networks, the officials said.

Using Miguel Ángel Treviño’s cash, José Treviño’s legal residency and Mr. Villarreal’s eye for a good horse, Tremor bought a sprawling ranch in Oklahoma and an estimated 300 stallions and mares. The Treviño brothers might have kept their operation quiet, given the criminal connection, but their passion for horses and winning apparently proved too tempting. In the short span of three years, Tremor won three of the industry’s biggest races, with prizes totaling some $2.5 million.

The Justice Department moved against Tremor on Tuesday morning, sending several helicopters and hundreds of law enforcement agents to the company’s stables in Ruidoso and its ranch in Oklahoma. José Treviño, his wife and five associates were taken into custody later in the day, and a total of 15 people were charged, the authorities said.

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-03-08/news/31134910_1_debt-settlement-debt-collectors-debtors

There is a smart way to default on a loan, but few debtors are savvy enough to pull it off.

It's called negotiated debt settlement.

This route is better for your credit than outright bankruptcy, and it's better for your wallet than making payment you can't afford. But most debtors never reach this option because they cave after months of harassment.

The following excerpt from The Unfair Trade by Michael J. Casey describes a smart strategy:



There's also a secret weapon for your battle:

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/06/wells-fargo-takes-revenge-on-blog-for-posting-how-its-improper-foreclosure-led-to-a-suidice.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

It appears Wells Fargo is not happy about bad press about how it has blood on its hands and is not above taking petty revenge. Even though some major sites like Barry Ritholtz’s The Big Picture have publicized the San Francisco bank’s petty and possibly illegal treatment of mortgage blog ML Implode-o-Meter, casual readers may miss the real scandal. Wells closed the blog’s bank account on dubious grounds and with no notice, and appears to have impounded customer funds. That’s tacky, but the real meat of the story, the revelations in ML Implode-o-Meter that appear to have triggered Wells to act, comes fairly late in most of these accounts.

Martin Andelman, proprietor of Mandelman Matters who sometimes has his posts picked up by ML Implode-O-Meter published a hard-hitting story about a suicide that was precipitated by an improper foreclosure action by Wells Fargo. It was picked up by ML Implode-o-Meter and was re-reported by Truthout (with attribution). The short version of this story is that Norman Rousseau paid his mortgage by cashier’s check at the branch, on time. But Wells claimed the payment had not been made and moved to foreclosure. Andelman dismissed the bank’s bogus justification:



The fact that the Rousseaus had a receipt should settle the matter. The payment was submitted on time. Nevertheless, they enter loan modification hell, rather than simply having the error corrected. And although all modification stories are awful, this one was worse than usual even before its awful denouement. This account comes from via Truthout:



Now we don’t know for certain that this story and other critical stories (see here and here) were the proximate cause of Wells closing down the ML Implode-o-Meter account, but its heavy-handedness is awfully sus (see here for details, which includes a discussion of why this action may be illegal).

Now if you are moved by the Rousseau story in a position to help, the first thing to do is make a donation to his wife and family. And other thing to do is circulate this story widely, either by e-mailing or tweeting this post, or sending the short, readable, but nevertheless gripping Truthout story along. Wells is trying to muzzle those who expose its conduct, and the best way to put a stop to that is to make those coverup efforts bring even more attention to the underlying crime...

MORE AT LINK

Maybe he got a bonus for signing up? Chase sends me offers all the time...$100 for opening an account, etc.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/06/serious-questions-for-jamie-dimon-in-occupy-the-secalternative-banking-senate-letter.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

As many readers may know, Jamie Dimon WENT before the Senate Banking Committee to explain how a so-called hedge produced losses that are almost certain to exceed the $2 billion the bank has ‘fessed up to. But this is likely to be at most a ritual roughing up. First, the hearing is only two hours, and that includes the usual pontificating at the start of the session. By contrast, Goldman executives were raked over the coals for 10 hours over their dubious collateralized debt obligations. The comparatively easy treatment is no doubt related to the fact that JP Morgan is a major contributor to the five most senior committee members. Per American Banker:



Second is that the format of these hearings, with each Senator getting only five minutes each per witness, makes it difficult for a questioner to pin an evasive or clever witness. It won’t be hard for Dimon to either run out the clock or bamboozle his interrogators. But he might, as he did in his hastily-called press conference announcing the losses, make more admissions to the effect that he and senior management weren’t on top of what the group was doing. That would support the notion that JP Morgan’s risk controls were inadequate, which would mean that Dimon’s Sarbanes Oxley certification for 2011, and potentially earlier years, was false.

In the hope of improving the caliber of questions, Occupy the SEC and the OWS Alternative Banking Group drafted a joint letter to the Senate Banking Committee chairman, Tim Johnson. It consists of a general discussion, and then some background for each of its questions. This letter came out of last Sunday’s Alternative Banking meeting and the signers of the letter did the heavy lifting of creating a final document.

SEE ATTACHED POST FOR LETTER

http://www.scribd.com/webber3292/d/96864392-Occupy-the-SEC-Alternative-Banking-Letter-to-Senate-on-JP-Morgan

After years of failed promise, solar power is finally becoming affordable. San Antonio is betting that solar energy will be the next big thing.

http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/the-sun-will-come-out-tomorrow

...In 1999, at the tender age of 85, Sinkin founded the nonprofit Solar San Antonio. The group advocates for solar energy and has tried to convince city leaders and citizens that the Alamo City could be a leader in the field. Solar energy, he thought, was ready for the big time.

But the solar breakthrough never happened. The high upfront costs of setting up solar panels deterred serious investment, and the industry didn’t garner the buzz associated with wind power. While Sinkin never stopped promoting solar, few were willing to buy into the idea. “Everybody says, ‘Solar’s great,’” Sinkin told the San Antonio Express-News in 2000, “but everybody says, ‘Show us first.’”

Now, at the cusp of his centenary, Sinkin hasn’t seen his maximalist vision of solar panels sprouting on every roof. Of the 600,000 rooftops in San Antonio, just 600 of them are equipped with panels. San Antonio’s city utility has just 14 megawatts of solar power in its Blue Wing installation—enough to power 1,800 homes. As a state, Texas, drenched in sunlight more than 200 days a year, gets just 3/100th of a percent of its electricity from solar power. New Jersey, that land of endless summers and abundant sunshine, has more than four times more installed solar generation than Texas.

Skeptics argue that solar power looks good only on paper, and doesn’t hold up in the real world where it must compete with oil, natural gas and coal. Exhibit A in the case against solar power is Solyndra, the Department of Energy-backed California panel manufacturer that went bankrupt last year. President Obama had singled out Solyndra in 2010 as an example of a company that was “leading the way toward a brighter and more prosperous future.” A year later, the company filed for bankruptcy, leaving taxpayers on the hook for over half a billion in loan guarantees. Thanks to non-stop media coverage and congressional Republicans, “Solyndra” has become virtually synonymous with “solar power” and “failure.”...

Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley among the Wall Street giants that have continued to buy up bonds in debt-laden Italy and France. Hopefully these risky moves pay off. Because Wall Street never makes bad decisions...

http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Reformed-Broker/2012/0612/Wall-Street-s-high-stakes-love-affair-with-Europe-continues

Your favorite insolvent-but-for-the-grace-of-god-and-the-taxpayer banks are still in the game, player. Don't you worry about that...

From Fortune:

Maybe these bets are sound ones? Maybe (hopefully) Europe can stay together through a combination of bailouts, treaty rewrites and poetic speechifying, in which case these bond holdings may pay off handsomely for the US banks.

And so what if they don't - write 'em off and play a different game! It's not like any of this is real money we're talking about, just blips on a computer screen...

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2011/1202/The-eurozone-crisis-explained-in-5-simple-graphs/Debt-as-a-percentage-of-GDP



The maximum debt allowed by the European Union is 60 percent of gross domestic product. None of the countries pictured meet that standard.



The maximum deficit spending allowed by the EU is 3 percent of GDP. As shown here, countries sometimes approached zero, or even spent less than they took in, but none of them are breaking even in 2011. Deficit spending has declined with the implementation of strict austerity programs across the EU.



The "shadow economy," also known as the "underground economy," is largely untaxed because transactions occur outside the normal channels, which undermines the government's ability to collect revenue. The shadow economy is not just the black market – it can include things like domestic work that employers pay for in cash.



Part of Europe's problem is that today few of the countries have major export bases. Germany remains an export-based economy, but that is not the case in most of the eurozone. A key question when looking at the eurozone, says Kirkegaard, is “Does this country have anything that the world wants to buy?” In many cases, the answer is, "Not much."



Europe's public sector workers have historically received generous pensions and health care, among other benefits of the welfare system, which in some cases has exacerbated the countries' debt problems. A key facet of austerity plans has been cutting both the size of the public sector and the generosity of the benefits public sector workers receive.

During Q1 of 2012, U.S. public debt rose by 359.1 billion dollars.

U.S. GDP only rose by 142.4 billion dollars.

http://www.americablog.com/2012/06/breaking-victory-for-minneapolis-mom.html

John wrote the other day about Nick Espinosa's mom. She was behind on her mortgage, finally was able to get the money together, but Citibank said "no" - they refused to accept her mortgage payment, and instead were going to sell her house tomorrow. That is, until Nick and a lot of his friends stepped up and saved the day.

Nick Espinosa is an organizer with Occupy Homes MN, where he's helped people facing foreclosure and eviction fight off the bank and keep their homes for the last eight-plus months. Nick is also well-known in activist circles for being the creator of the Glitter Bomb as a tactic in support of LGBT rights. In short, he's a great activist who's putting his full being into helping others.

Unfortunately while Nick had been helping other families in his community, his mother, Colleen McKee Espinosa, received a foreclosure notice.

After briefly falling behind on her payments, Colleen had repeatedly asked Citibank to let her become current on her mortgage, but they wouldn't let her pay. Instead the bank moved to take the home, with a Sheriff's Sale set for Wednesday, June 13th.


Thanks to organizing by Nick and other Occupy Homes MN activists, OccupyOurHomes.org (which I help run), and countless supporters around the country, Citibank has come to the table and found a solution for Colleen and Nick, stopping the sale....

The election is Sunday, and WEE will try to catch every nuance as the Cradle of Democracy squares off against the Huns.

I've posted everything current that I've got...I've been sulking for having such a miserable morning. Hope you all have a restful night, and that we survive to prevail over the banksters and the drones.

What with the morgue getting all the love on the hill as of late.

But if the weekend vote creates some Lehmanesque heartburn lets not forget it was GS that put together the currency swap that concealed enough of the Greek sovereign debt for acceptance into the EZ.

The Vice Chairman and Managing Director / Goldman Sachs International (at a minimum) had to have gotten the memo. The name behind that title at the time was Draghi. The same Draghi now controlling the throttle on the ECB mobile

The Gupta / Galleon case.

I don't think he's having fun.

Blankfein, the biggest name the trial has brought to the courtroom, spent three days testifying -- without his beloved BlackBerry.

At times during his days in court, Blankfein was left sitting on the witness stand while the judge, prosecution and defense lawyers engaged in lengthy sidebar conversations to decide procedural matters. These moments were particularly awkward, since Blankfein -- with cell phones banned from the courtroom -- had no choice but to sit on the stand, silently facing the jury and audience. At times, Blankfein would sit for upwards of 15 minutes, looking around the room and grinning widely. On his way out of the courtroom Friday, the Wall Street titan said he was happy to be finished. "There's only so many times you can count the number of stars" on the courtroom flags, he said.

Rajat Gupta, the former Goldman Sachs director, was found guilty of passing confidential information he learnt while serving on the bank’s board to his former friend and hedge fund manager, Raj Rajaratnam, handing the government its latest victory in its crackdown on insider trading.

The jury returned the verdict finding him guilty of four of six counts of securities fraud. Mr Gupta could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/8ZHAK1/4VXHZ/16KICY/QNDQCV/E4/t?a1=2012&a2=6&a3=15

In fact, I'm going to modify TODAY's front page to reflect it.

In fact, it should be like 15 or 16 maybe....I never could keep track of that stuff. I'm not sure there's a master list, either.

I'll revise my template for Monday's thread and just remove the numbers.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0615/breaking8.html


Moody's has cut the ratings of 11 European banks and said it would cut again if Greece ditched the euro, kicking off a long-awaited round of downgrades for major European institutions.

The move kicks off a long-awaited round of downgrades for major European institutions.

Moody's Investors Service said today it had taken action against five Dutch banking groups, three French banks and one each from Belgium and Luxembourg.

Investors shrugged off the news after central banks from major economies had indicated they were prepared to take steps, including coordinated action, to stabilise markets in the wake of Greece's election on Sunday.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0615/1224317982154.html

SPAIN’S BORROWING costs spiked to a euro-era high yesterday after the nation was downgraded by Moody’s and concerns grew that it would require external assistance to fund its sovereign financing requirements.

Meanwhile Italy was forced to pay 5.3 per cent on three-year bonds at an auction yesterday morning, which represented an increase of 1.4 per cent on last month.

At one point yesterday the yield on Spain’s 10-year bonds hovered just below 7 per cent, the mark widely viewed as a crucial trigger point, with Ireland, Portugal and Greece driven to seek international bailouts after their borrowing costs breached this level.

This escalation in pressure on the Spanish sovereign debt markets came despite last weekend’s euro zone agreement to lend Madrid up to €100 billion to recapitalise it ailing banks.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-14/the-eu-smiled-while-spain-s-banks-cooked-the-books.html

Only a few years ago, Spain’s banks were seen in some policy-making circles as a model for the rest of the world. This may be hard to fathom now, considering that Spain is seeking $125 billion to bail out its ailing lenders.

But back in 2008 and early 2009, Spanish regulators were riding high after their country’s banks seemed to have dodged the financial crisis with minimal losses. A big reason for their success, the regulators said, was an accounting technique called dynamic provisioning.


By this, they meant that Spain’s banks had set aside rainy- day loan-loss reserves on their books during boom years. The purpose, they said, was to build up a buffer in good times for use in bad times.

This isn’t the way accounting standards usually work. Normally the rules say companies can record losses, or provisions, only when bad loans are specifically identified. Spanish regulators said they were trying to be countercyclical, so that any declines in lending and the broader economy would be less severe.

What’s now obvious is that Spain’s banks weren’t reporting all of their losses when they should have, dynamically or otherwise. One of the catalysts for last weekend’s bailout request was the decision last month by the Bankia (BKIA) group, Spain’s third-largest lender, to restate its 2011 results to show a 3.3 billion-euro ($4.2 billion) loss rather than a 40.9 million-euro profit. Looking back, we probably should have known Spain’s banks would end up this way, and that their reported financial results bore no relation to reality.

IOW, they were living in Cloud Cuckoo Land!




followed by

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-15/ex-soros-adviser-fujimaki-says-japan-to-probably-default-by-2017.html

nvestors should buy assets in U.S. dollars and other currencies of strong developed nations because Japan may default within five years, said Takeshi Fujimaki, former adviser to billionaire investor George Soros.

“Japan is likely to default before Europe does, which could be in the next five years,” the president of Fujimaki Japan, an investment advising company in Tokyo, said in an interview yesterday. Japanese should hold foreign-currency products, such as those denominated in the greenback, Swiss franc, sterling, Australian and Canadian dollars, Fujimaki said.

Should the Japanese government default, the yen may weaken to 400-500 per dollar, and the yields on benchmark 10-year bonds could surge above 80 percent, according to Fujimaki. “I’m buying dollars in case of an emergency,” he said.

The yen rose 0.6 percent to 78.91 per dollar as of 6:07 a.m. in London from its close in New York yesterday. The currency touched the postwar high of 75.35 per dollar on Oct. 31 and has averaged about 103 over the past decade. Japan’s 10-year yields were little changed at 0.855 percent. Rates on June 4 dropped to 0.79 percent, the lowest since June 2003.

There's a betting race on sovereign defaults now?

Bank shares have jumped in the wake of plans from the Bank of England to launch two new stimulus packages.

The Bank of England's announcement of its plan, on Thursday, came in response to the worsening economic outlook, governor Sir Mervyn King said.

Together with the government, it will provide billions of pounds of cheap credit to banks to lend to companies.

Royal Bank of Scotland was the biggest riser, up 6.4%. It was followed by Barclays, which had risen 4.2%.

Banks will also have access to short-term money to deal with "exceptional market stresses". The chancellor said the measures would "inject confidence".

/... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18448636


The European Central Bank is ready to provide further support to the eurozone's banking system if necessary, its president Mario Draghi has said.

"The eurosystem will continue to supply liquidity to solvent banks where needed," he told a conference...

... On Thursday, UK Chancellor George Osborne unveiled a multi-billion pound stimulus programme for the economy as protection against the "eurozone debt storm".

Mr Draghi, speaking in Frankfurt, said that while financial authorities stood ready to act if necessary, it was now for politicians to take the lead...

... The euro currency needed "strengthened foundations", which would mean governments relinquishing some powers over financial and economic policy to supra-national bodies...

/... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18454851


ECB President Mario Draghi said his bank was ready to step in and fund any viable euro zone bank that gets in trouble, and painted a picture of a deteriorating economy with no inflation danger -- conditions for monetary easing.

"There are serious downside risks here," Draghi told the annual ECB Watchers conference in Frankfurt, two days before a Greek vote that could set Athens on a path out of the euro zone and stoke turmoil in financial markets.

"This risk has to do mostly with the heightened uncertainty."

Japan's top financial diplomat Takehiko Nakao warned that authorities in Tokyo would respond to unwelcome currency moves as appropriate, a clear threat of intervention if investors seeking safety push the yen too high.

The Bank of England followed up on Thursday's joint announcement with the government of a 100 billion pound ($155 billion) offer of loans to banks by saying it will start next week with a charge of just 0.75 percent.

Officials from the G20 nations, whose leaders are meeting in Mexico next week, say numerous central banks are preparing to take steps to stabilize financial markets - if needed - by providing liquidity and prevent any credit squeeze...

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/15/us-eurozone-crisis-idUSBRE85D0CA20120615


... Financial stocks rose sharply after officials from G20 nations told Reuters that central banks were ready to take steps to stabilise markets, if needed, by providing liquidity and preventing any credit squeeze after Sunday's Greek election.

The STOXX European banking index rose 1.5 percent, although the index remains down by around 2 percent since the start of 2012...

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/15/markets-europe-stocks-midday-idUSL5E8HF3Y920120615

The sweetener is envisioned for a new government only if it is led by Antonis Samaras, head of the pro-bailout centre-right New Democracy party

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/4CP6JS/XBAN6/KQBBRH/XHJFVB/KI/t?a1=2012&a2=6&a3=15

WELL, I'D SAY THE GERMANS WERE IN TOP FORM--RIGGING ELECTIONS! WHAT NEXT?

THINK IT WILL WORK, MARKETEERS?

Europe ‘in a race with the markets’ to turn its monetary union into a political union, German chancellor tells Berlin parliament

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/4CP6JS/XBAN6/KQBBRH/7AHGKY/KI/t?a1=2012&a2=6&a3=15

MERKEL IS CREATING HER OWN MARKET...BUYING ELECTIONS! IF IT AIN'T ILLEGAL, IT OUGHT TO BE.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-14/irish-tell-spain-to-imagine-the-worst-in-banking-bailout.html

Ireland has this banking advice for Spain: imagine the worst and double it.

Like Ireland, Spain sought a bank bailout after being felled by a real-estate crash. Now, just as the Irish did, the Spanish are awaiting the results of outside stress tests gauging the size of the hole in the banking system.

“Think of the worst possible scenario on banking losses: then double it,” said Eoin Fahy, an economist at Kleinwort Benson Investors in Dublin. “Adopt the most conservative assumptions.”

Nine hundred miles northwest of Madrid, Irish analysts wring three lessons from its own banking crisis, among the worst in history. First, quickly present an accurate estimate of the bad loans. Second, force banks to face up to losses, possibly through the creation of a so-called bad bank. Third, share as much of the loss as possible with bank bondholders.

“Spain should face the economic reality, even if they have to value property loans at discounts of 40, 60 or even 80 percent,” said Alan Ahearne, former economic adviser to Brian Lenihan, the finance minister who presided over Ireland’s response to the near-collapse of its financial system. “If the real losses aren’t faced up to, who’s that going to fool?”

Spain’s government already ordered banks to set aside provisions equivalent to 45 percent on the nation’s 307 billion- euro ($387 billion) book of loans linked to real-estate developers, Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said May 11. By bringing in outside experts to examine the banks, signs are that Spain is drawing some lessons from Ireland’s mistakes. After agreeing to a bailout of as much as 100 billion euros for its lenders, the Spanish government is awaiting the results of an audit of the banks by international firms Roland Berger Strategy Consultants and Oliver Wyman Ltd...It took Ireland 2 1/2 years after guaranteeing the financial system in 2008 to bring in outside experts to comb through the banks’ books.

In October of 2008, Lenihan called the Irish guarantee the cheapest bailout in the world, as the state had injected nothing into its lenders at that point. Two months later, he said the banks may need much as 10 billion euros. Two years later, the central bank ordered lenders to raise a further 29.2 billion euros. In September 2010, they needed a further 12.1 billion euros, as loans were sold to the country’s bad bank.

http://www.alternet.org/story/155875/lakoff%3A_why_the_conservative_worldview_exalts_selfishness_?page=entire

In his June 11, 2012 op-ed in the NY Times, Paul Krugman goes beyond economic analysis to bring up the morality and the conceptual framing that determines economic policy. He speaks of “the people the economy is supposed to serve” — “the unemployed,” and “workers”— and “the mentality that sees economic pain as somehow redeeming.” Krugman is right to bring these matters up. Markets are not provided by nature. They are constructed — by laws, rules, and institutions. All of these have moral bases of one sort or another. Hence, all markets are moral, according to someone’s sense of morality. The only question is, Whose morality? In contemporary America, it is conservative versus progressive morality that governs forms of economic policy. The systems of morality behind economic policies need to be discussed.

Most Democrats, consciously or mostly unconsciously, use a moral view deriving from an idealized notion of nurturant parenting, a morality based on caring about their fellow citizens, and acting responsibly both for themselves and others with what President Obama has called “an ethic of excellence” — doing one’s best not just for oneself, but for one’s family, community, and country, and for the world. Government on this view has two moral missions: to protect and empower everyone equally. The means is The Public, which provides infrastructure, public education, and regulations to maximize health, protection and justice, a sustainable environment, systems for information and transportation, and so forth. The Public is necessary for The Private, especially private enterprise, which relies on all of the above. The liberal market economy maximizes overall freedom by serving public needs: providing needed products at reasonable prices for reasonable profits, paying workers fairly and treating them well, and serving the communities to which they belong. In short, “the people the economy is supposed to serve” are ordinary citizens. This has been the basis of American democracy from the beginning.

Conservatives hold a different moral perspective, based on an idealized notion of a strict father family. In this model, the father is The Decider, who is in charge, knows right from wrong, and teaches children morality by punishing them painfully when they do wrong, so that they can become disciplined enough to do right and thrive in the market. If they are not well-off, they are not sufficiently disciplined and so cannot be moral: they deserve their poverty. Applied to conservative politics, this yields a moral hierarchy with the wealthy, morally disciplined citizens deservedly on the top. Democracy is seen as providing liberty, the freedom to seek one’s self interest with minimal responsibility for the interests or well-being of others. It is laissez-faire liberty. Responsibility is personal, not social. People should be able to be their own strict fathers, Deciders on their own — the ideal of conservative populists, who are voting their morality not their economic interests. Those who are needy are assumed to be weak and undisciplined and therefore morally lacking. The most moral people are the rich. The slogan, “Let the market decide,” sees the market itself as The Decider, the ultimate authority, where there should be no government power over it to regulate, tax, protect workers, and to impose fines in tort cases. Those with no money are undisciplined, not moral, and so should be punished. The poor can earn redemption only by suffering and thus, supposedly, getting an incentive to do better.

If you believe all of this, and if you see the world only from this perspective, then you cannot possibly perceive the deep economic truth that The Public is necessary for The Private, for a decent private life and private enterprise. The denial of this truth, and the desire to eliminate The Public altogether, can unfortunately come naturally and honestly via this moral perspective.

MUCH MORE--GOOD THINKING, SUPPORTED BY GOOD WRITING

the Calvinist religious underpinning of that conservative morality. The Calvinist "God" is the ultimate father figure, which is why so many conservatives cannot get anything past that level of brainwashing. NOTHING trumps god. They become, in effect, long-term slow-motion suicide bombers, willing and even happy to give up their personal human-here-on-earth-right-now well-being in order to serve the "greater" good of serving the god and destroy the immorality of the liberals and progressives.

You can argue with a conservative on all the points of logic you want and get nowhere, because many/most conservative followers* place no value in logic; they only place value in their faith in god. God is the ultimate decider and they do not question him or anyone who professes to speak on his behalf.


*Remember that one of the basic tenets of conservatism is that inequality is a good thing; it's a sign that God has labeled the deserving and undeserving, the saints and the sinners. Leaders and the rich (usually the same thing) are different and behave by a different set of standards that still fit the moral code.

I disagree with Lakoff that the moderates, the ones who can hold both a conservative and a liberal ideology in their heads at the same time, are the ones who will prove most necessary. I think they are the most dangerous, because they can be swayed at any given time in either direction. They have, in face, no morality at all.

I don't care for big government as in the klep-theo- fasci- semi democratic system as it is currently employed.

If that makes me amoral, all the better.

My preference is for peace and a smaller representative government at the federal level.

I haven't seen that in my life time, but, I'm optimistic we will get there eventually.

I want an economic model that insures a basic standard of living that includes universal health care and universal education.

I think it's all do able.

I don't think we will get there doing what we are doing given the absolute corruption in the political system.

So my counter side is wiling to wage resistance should it come to that.

As far as people's private lives are concerned as long as they are consenting adults it's not my place to judge.

So I'm part socialist, part radical, part conservative and part liberal.

I'm a moderate.

A moderate would be somewhere between all your points. A moderate thinks a little corruption, in moderation, is good for the system, because it allows him to slip by. A moderate is a Gentleman's C.

You want an Outstanding in everything.

And as Outstandings go, you be one too.

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/06/14/inenglish/1339674691_470788.html

Thursday saw the yield on the Spanish benchmark 10-year government bond touch seven percent for the first time since the euro came into existence, a level considered unsustainable and which has prompted bailouts in other EU economies. The record pressure on the country’s borrowing costs came after ratings agency Moody’s downgraded Spain’s sovereign rating to close to junk status on Wednesday, as doubts about the banking system and the sustainability of the government’s debt continued to reign in the markets.

The 100-billion-euro bailout for the country’s banks will push the government’s debt levels to around 90 percent of GDP, which is a major source of concern for investors, and the main reason cited by Moody’s for its decision to lower Spain’s long-term rating three notches, to Baa3.

“Stabilizing the ratio will be a key challenge for the Spanish authorities, requiring years of continued fiscal consolidation,” the agency said in a statement that was issued late Wednesday. The outlook on the Baa3 rating is negative, indicating the possibility of a further downgrade.

The yield on the 10-year bond hit a euro-era high of 6.998 percent. At the close, it was trading at 6.899 percent. The yields of other maturities also rose. Spain’s risk premium was at 548 basis points above the benchmark German bund, after equaling the maximum recorded since the single currency came into existence of 552 basis points.

SAY RATHER THAT ENOUGH TRANSPARENCY WOULD PUT AN END TO ALL THE GAMES THE EU AND ITS CONSTITUENTS ARE PLAYING....AND THERE WOULDN'T BE A CHANCE TO GAME IT FURTHER, OR PULL THE WOOL OVER THE POPULACE UNDER ATTACK.

OH, AND SOME BANKSTERS OR EVEN POLITICAL HACKS MIGHT GET THEIR HANDS SLAPPED, OR EVEN A TERM IN THE SLAMMER...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-14/ecb-tells-court-releasing-greek-swap-files-would-inflame-markets.html

The European Central Bank said it can’t release files showing how Greece may have used derivatives to hide its borrowings because disclosure could still inflame the crisis threatening the future of the single currency.

Bloomberg News is suing the ECB to provide the documents under European Union freedom-of-information rules. The papers may help show the role EU authorities played in allowing Greece to mask its deficit for almost a decade before the nation’s troubled finances necessitated a 240 billion-euro ($301 billion) bailout and the biggest debt restructuring in history.

Disclosing the files when Bloomberg News first sought them in 2010 would have “fueled negative perceptions about Greece’s ability to honor its debt,” ECB lawyer Marta Lopez Torres said at a hearing of the European Union’s General Court in Luxembourg today. “It’s the same now with Spain” which “isn’t able to borrow money,” she said. “Markets are reacting in very volatile ways. It’s affecting the euro economy.”

TRUTH LAYS LOW THE SCHEMES OF BANKSTERS AND HACKS, YES. AND YOUR POINT IS?

“Markets will perform better when they have transparency,” Timothy Pitt-Payne, lawyer for Bloomberg News, told the court. “The question is who knew what; and when did they know it?”

Bloomberg’s lawsuit, filed in December 2010, requested access to two internal papers drafted for the central bank’s six-member Executive Board. They show how Greece used swaps to hide its borrowings, according to a March 3, 2010, note attached to the papers and obtained by Bloomberg News. The first document is entitled “The impact on government deficit and debt from off-market swaps: the Greek case.” The second reviews Titlos Plc, a securitization that allowed National Bank of Greece SA, the country’s biggest lender, to exchange swaps on Greek government debt for funding from the ECB, the Executive Board said in the cover note. These documents “played a role” in shaping policy and “highlighted there were issues” when the ECB undertook a review of its eligibility criteria for collateral in its funding operations, the ECB lawyer told the court.

The cornerstone of the ECB’s response to the crisis is to give banks as much money as they needed in return for collateral. In October 2010, the ECB changed the rules on the asset-backed securities it accepted and gave itself more discretionary power to reject collateral if necessary...

Collateral, such as
Perhaps the current head of the ECB had a heavy hand in the original swap deal that aided the Greek sovereign debt cover-up.

Maybe Draghi is now the hand puppet instead of the puppeteer?

Or GS extortion and cover-up?

Or insider trading?

Or some toxic blend of all of this?

Exit from the euro by Greece, or by any other member state, has become a fashionable topic for academics, commentators and market participants. The analysis is most often conducted on the basis of the economic costs and benefits, and the possible social and political consequences of such an exit for Greece and for the rest of the euro area. Most recognise that, under prevailing circumstances, the costs are too high.

It is generally taken for granted, including by Mr Tsipras, that Greece can exit the euro if it decided to do so and adopted a new currency. It is, however, not that simple.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/VKY5JJ/QNKRSX/WH2F8/16KICK/DW0ARG/1G/t?a1=2012&a2=6&a3=15

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/06/14/inenglish/1339685450_514732.html

Activists from the 15-M protest movement on Thursday filed a criminal complaint against former Bankia president Rodrigo Rato at the High Court accusing him of accounting and financial fraud in connection with the government’s intervention of the commercial bank last month.

The complaint also names Bankia and its parent Banco Financiero y de Ahorro (BFA) as co-defendants.

Lawyers for the movement claim that Rato, along with others, presented false figures last year to help with its stock market flotation and rake in investors through this fraudulent scheme. They are asking that the High Court sentence Rato, a former economy minister and IMF managing director, to between one and six years in jail, bar him from conducting financial transactions for a certain period, and order him to pay fines.

“Stockholders were completely duped,” said lawyer Juan Moreno Yague, who is representing the 15-M movement in this case.

6/14/12 Plunging Empire Manufacturing Index Confirms Ongoing Economic Slide, Imminent Central Planner Intervention

Recall last month's soaring Empire Manufacturing Index which jumped far above all expectations, and was the last of the "baffle them with bullshit" series? Well no more need for baffling: we are in NEW QE mode. In June the Empire Manufacturing plunged from 17.09 to 2.29, on expectations of a 12.5 print: the lowest in 7 months. Confirming the crash in the economy, New Orders, Shipments, Unfilled Orders, Inventory, Prices Paid, Prices Received, Employees and Workweek, or all the subcomponents were lower in June than in May. Gold soars as the NEW QE becomes more and more obvious on the horizon, as there has now not been an economic indicator beat in weeks. So much for the 2012 recovery. Without the central banking CTRL-P'ing, the US, or any other country, continues to be in free-fall mode. Hopefully that can kill any debate about a "virtuous cycle" once and for all.

more...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/plunging-empire-manufacturing-index-confirms-ongoing-economic-slide-imminent-central-planner-in

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-financial-equivalent-of-the-cuban-missile-crisis-2012-6

Harvard professor Niall Ferguson told Bloomberg TV this morning that a Lehman moment could be nearing for the euro crisis as elections in Greece threaten to undermine European stability.
"If there's going to be a Lehman moment in the crisis it's going to be next week," he explained, saying that the back-and-forth between Athens and Berlin is "a game of chicken" that will not be resolved until the power structure in Greece has been decided.
He explained what will happen with another frightening analogy:
"It's not clear who's going to blink at this point. My guess is that, in the end, there will be a bit of blinking on both sides. This is the financial equivalent of the Cuban Missile Crisis. And the missile is really a bank run, which ultimately even the Germans can't be completely immune to. Not that there will ever be a run on German banks, but the effects of a bank run right across Southern Europe are going to be felt by the economy. German policymakers know that; they're just having to say one thing to their own voters and another thing privately to other European leaders."
While Ferguson waxed optimistic about the likelihood that Greece will stay in the euro and that EU leaders will find common ground after the Greek elections, he warned against putting too much faith in central banks.
Referring to the huge rally yesterday following rumors of coordinated central bank action, he said:
"In the end, the central banks can't do this on their own. And I think for the markets to assume that this can be fixed by yet another round of quantitative easing or whatever you want to call it—LTRO—I think that's not realistic, because this is no longer just about liquidity. It's about the solvency of governments, the solvency of banks."


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-financial-equivalent-of-the-cuban-missile-crisis-2012-6#ixzz1xryzONwB

http://www.businessinsider.com/italy-trembling-on-the-brink-2012-6

“I believe, no,” is how Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti answered the question if Italy would seek a bailout—lacking the bravado and vehemence with which Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had claimed for the longest time that Spain wouldn’t need one. Until it needed one.
The question was hot. It followed the kerfuffle that ensued when Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter had let it slip Monday that Italy, given the high rates it has to pay on its debt, might also need “support.”
Monti was addressing restive German taxpayers on Bavarian public radio: He understood that Germans were looking at Italy as “a merry and undisciplined country,” but Italy was much more disciplined than other countries, he said, and wasn’t all that merry.
Italy is paying twice, he said: for the bailouts of other countries and very high rates for its own sovereign debt. Germany pays only once, namely for the bailouts, because it pays practically no interest on its debt. But he promised his German listeners: “The budget deficit this year will be low, only 2%.” And next year, a surplus is scheduled. “The country is changing,” he said.


Read more: http://www.testosteronepit.com/home/2012/6/13/italy-trembling-on-the-brink.html#ixzz1xs0m6t33

Empire State Index tanked
Industrial output down
Consumer Sentiment worst since Dec


Markets up 0.50%.


uhhhhh...


Markets pricing in a QE3?

and they are doing a handsome job of it. And since the City of London is THE financial viper's nest of the world...

Missed this place this week.

Been at TechEd in Orlando hanging out with my fellow programming and networking geeks. Learned some cool new stuff that should make my work even more...enjoyable.

I see this week has been a lot of "oh, maybe this" or "oh, dangit" but nothing really solid seems to have happened.

Persistent rumor mill tripe, iow.

There were a bunch of revelations and some solid analysis this week. Mostly legal stuff. Filling in the missing pieces.

I know what you mean about rumor mill tripe--I try not to post it unless it's novel or reality-based....can't stand those that keep insisting that we not look behind the curtain...

Source: BBC

15 June 2012 Last updated at 15:30 GMT

Italy selling off state assets to reduce debt mountain

The Italian government hopes to raise 10bn euros (£8.1bn; $12.6bn) selling off three state-owned companies, in a bid to reduce its crippling debt mountain.

Prime Minister Mario Monti described the measures, which include a reduction in the number of state emloyees, as "very robust".

The companies, Fintecna, Sace and Simsest, are all owned by the country's economy ministry.

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The government is also reducing the size of its military forces and plans to sell off property released by this process.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18460638

Two people in my immediate family got lay off notices on long term jobs and two other people had a first seizure, not in the same household so it probably wasn't environmental.

The weather was cool but the southern part of Minnesota got wind, hail and rain and there was some flash flooding and crop damage to go with the apple blossom freeze earlier this year. On the other hand the strawberries will be as big as apples this year and a lot of lakes that have been considered low are now full but the millfoil is terrible already interfering with swimming and boating. There is still a severe drought up in a few counties in the Red River Valley NW corner of the state. They raise a lot of potatoes up there but maybe not this year.