No mercy.

I don't have TV, but that's awesomely evil.

Welcome to SMW! Come early and often!

For those not familiar with the strip, the trash collector is a technical genius that Dilbert consults upon occasion....

http://www.the-american-interest.com/articles/2014/05/08/how-offshore-finance-sunk-western-soft-power/

Ben Judah is the author of Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell In And Out Of Love With Vladimir Putin. He is now writing a book about London.

For a long time now, the West has lived off its Cold War reputation in Eastern Europe. But this reputation is now spent, thanks to Western complicity in offshore finance’s pillage of post-Soviet states...When most people think about offshore finance, they don’t think about the future of Europe: They think about palm trees, about shell corporations headquartered in a P.O. Box, and about secret Swiss bank accounts. But this is not what people in Eastern Europe think. When Russians, Ukrainian, Azerbaijanis—I will spare the reader from a roll call of the 15 fraternal republics—when these countries think offshore finance, they think about their stolen futures. But isn’t that a good thing? Won’t that make them realize that West is best?

Not so fast. First, a few figures. The offshore economy has grown into a gargantuan parallel financial system. There may be more than $20 trillion hidden in more than fifty tax havens. The colossal treasure hidden in British tax havens alone is more than $7 trillion. And a disproportionately large share of that money is Eastern European. Take Russia’s missing $211.5 billion: That’s the conservative estimate for illicit financial flows out of Russia alone between 1994–2011. The conventional wisdom is that ordinary citizens of these states—feudally ruled, politically pillaged—will become obsessed about corruption. So far, so good: You cannot talk about politics in Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, and the rest without talking about corruption. But beyond this, the conventional wisdom—that the middle classes, the young, or the globally connected will then demand a new, Western-style government—breaks down.The reason this logic doesn’t hold is that East European corruption fighters are discovering that Western countries and their systems of offshore economies have enabled the colossal theft of their countries’ resources. Bubbling up from beneath the surface of both the Russian opposition and the Ukrainian Maidan is a new sense of disdain for the West.

Imagine you spent the past decade fighting Ukrainian corruption. The model of good governance you looked up to was Britain or Germany. You applied for European Union funds. You were trained by Western foundations and EU funded think-tanks to follow the money stolen by your state. But then you discovered something horrible: the money was flowing right back to the West. Those models of good governance you looked up to turned out to be providing money-laundering services to the very people and institutions stealing your country’s future. This is what happened to Daria Kaleniuk at Kiev’s Anti-Corruption Action Centre. The director of one Ukraine’s most important NGOs battling corruption spent years investigating how corruption actually works. But the more she learned, the more she viewed both America and the European Union as hypocrites.

Kaleniuk explains:




WOULD THAT CITIZENS OF THE USA WERE EQUALLY PERCEPTIVE



Kaleniuk’s outrage is increasingly being felt across Ukraine—and not just in the think-tank world but increasingly in politics as well. Heavily involved in activism during the Maidan protest movement, Ukrainian MP Lesya Orobets is running for Mayor of Kiev on a platform that flirts with nationalist outrage. She is enraged by Western complicity with the offshore black hole into which Ukraine’s national wealth has long disappeared:



Talk to any Ukrainian revolutionary and you soon realize that offshore finance is rapidly undermining Western soft power. Take activist blogger and journalist Mustafa Nayem, one of the most charismatic protest leaders in the early stages of the Maidan who first called out the protestors onto the streets. He is exasperated with Western offshore hypocrisy.



Behind the scenes, many in the new government feel the same way. But because they are financially dependent on the West when it comes to staving off economic collapse, few American and European diplomats have picked up on what’s really going on. Talking to revolutionary minister Dmytro Bulatov, it comes up quickly enough: “Ukrainian money was stolen and taken to Austria and Switzerland and British tax havens. But we want that money back.”

DISCUSSION OF RUSSIAN DISCONTENT CAME HERE

*************************************************
For a long time now, the West has lived off its Cold War reputation in Eastern Europe: looked to as a beacon of democracy, or the defender of the dissident underground from Moscow to Baku. But this reputation is now spent, thanks to Western complicity in offshore’s pillage of post-Soviet states. The West has gotten used to enjoying a hero’s reputation amongst Eastern European democrats. But get to know the Moscow opposition or the Maidan and you soon learn that London is now a byword for corruption, and the names of whole European countries—Luxemburg, Cyprus, Switzerland, Andorra, and even the Netherlands—are synonymous with “theft.”

AND AS FOR THE "LEADER" OF THE WESTERN WORLD....?

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/16/uk-india-election-idUKKBN0DV1Y320140516

(Reuters) - Opposition candidate Narendra Modi will be the next prime minister of India, with counting trends showing the pro-business Hindu nationalist and his party headed for the most resounding election victory the country has seen in thirty years.

Modi's landslide win was welcomed with a thundering rally on India's stock markets and raucous celebrations at offices across the country of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), where supporters danced, exploded fireworks and handed out sweets.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose Congress party headed for a crushing defeat, telephoned Modi to congratulate him on his success, the prime minister's office said.

Crowds surged around Modi's car after he visited his mother's home in the western state of Gujarat. He sent a message saying "India has won," that instantly set a record as the country's most retweeted Twitter post.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/16/uk-vietnam-china-idUKKBN0DW03F20140516

(Reuters) - Anti-China violence subsided in Vietnam on Friday after the prime minister called for calm, but the United States said China's "provocative" actions in maritime disputes were dangerous and had to stop.

Thousands of people attacked businesses and factories in Vietnam's industrial parks earlier in the week, targeting Chinese workers and Chinese-owned businesses after Beijing parked an oil rig in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Hanoi. Many Taiwanese-owned firms bore the brunt because the crowds believed they were owned by mainland Chinese.

The riots risk derailing a major driver of the country's economic growth - industrial parks account for more than 30 percent of Vietnam's exports and have attracted around $110 billion in foreign direct investment.

The Vietnamese government has said one person was killed in the rioting on Tuesday and Wednesday night, but a doctor at a hospital near one area of clashes said he had seen 21 dead bodies and that at least 100 people were wounded.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/15/uk-creditsuisse-investigation-idUKKBN0DV1U820140515

(Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG CSGN.VX is expected to plead guilty and pay more than $2.5 billion (1.48 billion pounds) to U.S. authorities to resolve charges that the Swiss bank helped Americans evade U.S. taxes, people familiar with the discussions said on Thursday.

Under the terms being discussed, about $2 billion would go to federal authorities, mainly the U.S. Justice Department. About $100 million would go to the Federal Reserve, the people said.

The New York bank regulator, the Department of Financial Services, could get an additional $500 million or more, but those talks are ongoing, one of the sources said.

Credit Suisse might be willing to pay a bit more than $2.5 billion in total, though the bank is worried if it goes much higher than that figure, it could undermine its credit rating, a second source said.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/16/uk-eurozone-portugal-bailout-idUKKBN0DW0N520140516


(Reuters) - As Portugal's government toasts its exit from an international bailout that imposed years of austerity on its citizens, small business owner Alexandra Capelo is in no mood to join the celebrations.

From Lisbon's poorer neighbouring city of Almada across the River Tagus, 42-year-old mother of two Capelo is one of the nearly 800,000 people, or 15 percent of the workforce, still unemployed as the country takes back control of its finances.

"Things have gotten worse since last year, business and job-wise," said Capelo, who has relied on a home-based sweets business to supplement her jobless benefits since being laid off as a graphic designer in January.

On Saturday, Portugal becomes the second euro zone state after Ireland to exit a bailout, having stuck to the European Union's recipe of belt-tightening to beat the euro zone crisis.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/16/uk-iran-nuclear-missiles-idUKKBN0DW0K620140516


(Reuters) - Despite apparently reducing illicit purchases that breach U.N. sanctions, Iran is pursuing development of ballistic missiles, a confidential U.N. report says, posing an acute challenge to six powers negotiating with Tehran to rein in its nuclear programme.

On Sunday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described as "stupid and idiotic" Western expectations for his country to curb its missile programme. He decreed mass production of ballistic weapons, striking a defiant tone just before nuclear talks resumed on Wednesday in Vienna.

The high-stakes negotiations aim for a deal by a July 20 deadline to end a long stand-off that has raised the risk of a wider Middle East war.

Tehran's often repeated view that missiles should not be part of the nuclear talks appears to enjoy the support of Russia, one of the six global powers.

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/05/15-2


Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is still shoveling bull market bubbles after all these years. (Credit: Donkey Hotey / Flickr / cc)

Timothy Geithner’s new book about the financial crisis, “Stress Test,” is basically an argument that the Wall Street bailout succeeded. That’s hardly surprising, given that Geithner was in charge of the bailout when Treasury Secretary (as was his predecessor at Treasury, Hank Paulson), and so has an inherit interest in telling the public it succeeded.

Even so, the bailout clearly did succeed, if success means avoiding another Great Depression.

But another Great Depression might have been avoided if the crisis had been handled differently — for example, by allowing the bankruptcy laws to do what they were intended to do, and forcing the big Wall Street banks to reorganize under them.

In fact, the bailout was a colossal failure in several respects Geithner barely mentions in his book, or avoids completely:

(1) The biggest Wall Street banks are now bigger than ever, and no sane person on or off the Street now believes Washington will ever allow them to fail – which means they’ll continue to make big, risky bets because they know they can’t fail. And they’ll get even bigger because big depositors and lenders know they’ll never fail and therefore demand lower interest rates than demanded from smaller banks.

(2) No Wall Street executives have ever been prosecuted for what they did to the country, which means even more rampant irresponsibility in executive suites as well as even deeper cynicism in the public about the political power of Wall Street.

and not particularly fresh, either.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/14/us-sp-lawsuit-geithner-idUSBREA4D07020140514?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

A federal judge ruled that former U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner must hand over documents to Standard and Poor's relating to the ratings agency's claim that the United States sued it in retaliation for downgrading government debt.

The U.S. Department of Justice brought a civil fraud lawsuit against S&P in 2013, accusing it of inflating ratings to win more fees from issuers, and then failing to downgrade debt backed by deteriorating mortgage-backed securities fast enough.

S&P, a unit of McGraw Hill Financial Inc (MHFI.N), has claimed the lawsuit was filed in retaliation for the downgrade, and should be dismissed. Its main rating agency rivals, Moody's Investors Service and Fitch Ratings, were not sued.

U.S. District Judge David Carter denied both Geithner's request to set aside S&P's subpoena and a similar request made by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Terrence Checki, the bank's executive vice president....


THEM COWS ARE COMING HOME TO ROOST, IT SEEMS

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/15/san-francisco-protesters-target-dirty-dozen-tech-landlords-over-rise-in-tenant-evictions/

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A tenants’ rights advocacy group released on Thursday what it called a “Dirty Dozen” list of landlords from the technology sector that it said had evicted San Francisco tenants.

The list, released by a group known as the Anti Eviction Mapping Project, reflects frustrations over rising rents and cost of living that activists say are driven by the technology industry.

In recent months, grumbling has given way to blockades of the private commuter buses that pick up technology workers downtown and ferry them to their workplaces south of the city at companies such as Google Inc, Facebook Inc and Yahoo Inc.

The list included the chief executive officers of various Bay Area technology businesses, as well as several Google executives.

As California burns down, turns to dust and ashes, and blows away into the Pacific Ocean (or the Rockies, or Mexico, depending on the prevailing winds).

Of course, at that point, there will be no reason to live in California, aside from the climate....but it will belong to the meek.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/16/us/politics/obamas-had-up-to-7-million-in-assets-in-13-records-show.html?_r=0

The assets of President Obama and his wife, Michelle, were valued as high as $7 million last year, according to a financial disclosure form released by the White House on Thursday. Most of the president’s income came from royalties on his three books and investments made possible by the proceeds. His memoir, “Dreams From My Father,” published in 1995, continued to make the most money for Mr. Obama, generating between $50,001 and $100,000 in royalties, according to the disclosure form. “The Audacity of Hope,” from 2006, earned between $15,001 and $50,000, and “Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters,” released in 2010, earned between $5,001 and $15,000. Sales from Mr. Obama’s books have decreased steadily every year since he took office as president, according to the disclosure forms the White House has released.

Treasury notes held jointly by the president and Mrs. Obama are their most valuable assets, worth between $1 million and $5 million. The forms only require the Obamas to list their assets and income in wide ranges, leaving it difficult to discern the exact amount of the couple’s worth in 2013...The Obamas’ 2013 tax returns, released in April, showed they paid $98,169 in federal taxes on $481,098 in adjusted gross income. The Bidens paid $96,378 in taxes on an adjusted gross income of $407,009.

The Obama administration was the first to publish financial disclosure reports online. High-ranking government officials have been have been required to release their financial information since passage of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978...Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s publishing career earned him considerably less than the president’s totals. “Promises to Keep,” released in 2007, earned less than $201 in royalties last year, according to Mr. Biden’s financial disclosure form, also released on Thursday.

“Neither the president nor the vice president have any conflicts of interest, and their reports have been reviewed and certified by the independent Office of Government Ethics,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. “We are continuing this administration’s practice of posting these forms online here in the interests of transparency.”

COME TO THINK OF IT....TANSY, WOULDN'T BOOK PUBLISHING ROYALTIES BE AN EXCELLENT WAY OF MONEY-LAUNDERING? BUY A TRUCKOAD AND HAVE ENOUGH FUEL FOR THE FIRE ALL WINTER LONG...WHILE THE AUTHOR GETS THE DOUGH...

it costs money to get books printed. A lot of money. That means the books are more expensive to buy. They require a rather large investment.

Digital publishing is far more lucrative, but it requires some form of (traceable) payment.

Can it be done? Sure. But not as simple as you might think.

That's "having a sugar daddy contract and lots of people to buy bulk."

Different animals altogether.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/the-pros-and-cons-of-%E2%80%9Cmicrojobs%E2%80%9D-165853116.html

VIDEO AT LINK

AN APPALLING STORY (HIS LIFE IS MUCH LIKE MINE)

I finally made it through the hiring process with Uber, and got their company i-phone delivered yesterday. I'll venture out with it and my car this week-end.

They've been in a dog fight with the Tampa Transportation Authority for about a month, and they're entering into negotiations, and Tampa will quit ticketing drivers. The traditional, old school taxi companies are raising holy hell because their monopolies are threatened.

I'd start tonight, but we have tickets to see a local production of Spamalot tonight.

http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2014/03/24/uber%E2%80%99s-secret-%E2%80%9Cproprietary%E2%80%9D-insurance-policy-leaked

Just be careful. It's not just what you do, but what the other idiots out there do.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/an-inside-look-at-the-european-commission-a-969129.html

It's barely nine hours into the new working week, and the European idea is, at least figuratively, already in need of a new bailout package. A handful of officials sit at a square table in the office of the European Commission's chief spokesman, discussing the fact that the press, as usual, hasn't been very friendly in recent days.

One press officer notes that a report is circulating in French newspapers claiming that the European Commission has issued a new regulation on how high children are permitted to climb on ladders. It's obviously a misinterpretation, he says -- the Commission will have to issue a correction. Meanwhile, the British media is fulminating against Brussels' red tape, even though the rules in question were imposed by the British. It seems yet another correction is needed. Finally, they address the Financial Times' editorials on the state of the euro zone. "Predictably skeptical," says one official.

Moods only seem to brighten at one point during the meeting, when they discuss an interview EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger gave the Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper. In the article, Oettinger argues that the number of EU Commissioners -- 28 -- may seem high, but a country like Germany has 180 ministers and state secretaries at the federal and state level. The headline of the interview is a direct quote from Oettinger: "In Brussels, People Work Until 8 p.m. on Fridays." There's eager nodding of heads in the room. At least they got that right, one says.

Afterwards, the civil servants disperse into their honeycomb-like offices, where alerts constantly tell them when something critical about "Brussels" pops up in Google News.

Thank you, I'll be here all week, and you may borrow the above with proper credit given....

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/utility-companies-want-public-trust-for-winding-down-nuclear-plants-a-969707.html


Germany's latest problem weighs 275,000 tons. That's the cumulative weight of the steel and cement scrap that will come out of the dismantling of the Obrigheim nuclear power plant, which is located in the town of the same name in the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg. That scrap includes pipelines, plant sections, turbines, generators and the reactor pressure vessel. It also includes 10,000 tons of potentially radioactive material that will have to be submerged in an ultrasonic bath or processed with a sandblaster to reduce its radioactivity. The most dangerous work will be conducted by remote-controlled robots.

The demolition of a nuclear power plant is a technically complicated undertaking that can take between 15 and 20 years to complete. In the case of Obrigheim, dismantling the power plant will cost energy utility company EnBW, which owns the facility, an estimated €500 million ($684 million). Compared to other plants in Germany, this pressurized-water reactor is relatively small. The dismantling of larger plants like Gundremmingen B or Isar 2 in the state of Bavaria are estimated to cost as much as €1 billion each.

Most Germans have assumed that these costs will be picked up by the energy utility companies, which have gleaned billions of euros in profits from these plants. Besides, why should different rules apply to nuclear plant operators than to normal car owners, who have to pay to scrap their car when it's no longer fit for the road?

But the heads of Germany's three major electric utility companies -- E.On CEO Johannes Teyssen, RWE chief Peter Terium and EnBW head Frank Mastiaux -- have come up with what they think is a brilliant plan to transfer the billions in risks related to dismantling nuclear plants. They want to punt responsibility to the state and taxpayers.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/16/jill-abramson-salary-pay-discrimination-evidence_n_5335469.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business

Another bombshell report about the salary paid to Jill Abramson, the ousted former New York Times editor, alleges that she was consistently paid less than her male predecessors throughout almost her entire career at the paper.

The New Yorker's Ken Auletta, who sparked an initial firestorm when he first reported that Abramson had complained about a pay gap between herself and Bill Keller, whom she had succeeded as executive editor, posted another article on the magazine's website late on Thursday night.

In it, he addressed the efforts by Times management—including by the man who fired Abramson, publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.—to rebut the highly damaging notion that Abramson was the subject of sexist wage practices. Sulzberger sent Times staffers a memo stating that this notion was "misinformation," that Abramson's pay was "comparable to that of earlier executive editors," and that, "In fact, in 2013, her last full year in the role, her total compensation package was more than 10% higher than that of her predecessor, Bill Keller, in his last full year as Executive Editor, which was 2010."

"Total compensation" is often a mixture of a base salary along with money from stocks and bonuses, meaning that, unless the Times releases those figures, it is hard to know exactly what mix of each contributed to Abramson's full pay package. Whatever the case, Auletta reported that the paychecks Abramson was taking home were significantly lighter than those of her male counterparts — at every step of her career at the Times, and that she had hired a lawyer to get to the bottom of things:



SHE SHOULD BE MADE PART-OWNER; FROM ALL APPEARANCES SHE SUPPORTED THE NYT SINGLEHANDEDLY WITH HER INVOLUNTARY SUBSIDY.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/05/15/violent-anti-china-rallies-in-vietnam-pose-huge-dilemma-for-the-u-s/


The outbreak of deadly anti-China protests in Vietnam raises the stakes for the United States, which has rallied behind Beijing’s neighbors but faces ugly new realities.

Demonstrations have spread to a third of Vietnam’s provinces, with workers attacking Chinese workers and factories, in a wave of nationalist outrage after Beijing moved a deep-water drilling rig into waters claimed by Hanoi.

The escalation came despite months of U.S. cajoling for an easing of tensions in the myriad disputes in the South China Sea and a separate conflict between China and US ally Japan in the East China Sea.

President Barack Obama has put a high priority on building relations with Southeast Asia, seeing the region as economically dynamic and eager for warmer U.S. relations faced with China’s rise.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-16-05-27-49

HONG KONG (AP) -- Indian stocks jumped Friday as preliminary results from national elections indicated the pro-business opposition had won a landslide victory. Other global markets were subdued following lackluster economic indicators.

Indian stocks have been rising since voting in the world's most populous democracy got underway six weeks ago. Investors have been anticipating of a victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies.

Narendra Modi, the party's candidate for prime minister, has campaigned on a pledge to revive economic growth amid widespread dissatisfaction with the ruling Congress party after a decade in power. Full results are expected later Friday.

The Sensex stock index in Mumbai surged in early trading, jumping as much as 6.1 percent to touch an all-time high of 25,375.63, before paring gains. It was 1.3 percent higher at 24,192.77 in afternoon trading. India's currency also strengthened. The dollar fell to 59.05 Indian rupees from 59.46 rupees Thursday.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_GOOGLE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-16-07-20-51

BERLIN (AP) -- Germany's economy minister says Google may have such a dominant market position that a breakup of the company "must be seriously considered."

Sigmar Gabriel says such a move would be the "ultima ratio," or last resort, in an effort to prevent the Internet giant from systematically crowding out competitors.

Gabriel's comment Friday in an op-ed for German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung comes a day after 400 companies submitted a competition complaint against U.S-.based Google to the European Commission.

Gabriel said corporate breakups had previously been necessary in the electricity and gas supply industries to prevent a single company from abusing its dominant position.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_PORTUGAL_END_OF_A_BAILOUT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-16-07-41-25

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -- A thousand days on from its near-economic collapse, Portugal is ready to stand on its own again and is promising not to go back to its bad old spend-happy ways.

On Saturday, after an internationally-mandated makeover, Portugal will become the second country that uses the euro as its currency, after Ireland, to officially shake off its bailout shackles.

Three years ago as the debt crisis fires were engulfing Europe and threatening to derail the whole euro currency project, Portugal's government was down to its last 300 million euros ($413 million) and facing the imminent prospect of bankruptcy.

To avoid that ignominy, sclerotic Portugal - like overspending Greece and overleveraged Ireland before it - asked and got an emergency financial rescue package from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_STOP_AND_START_GLOBAL_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-15-17-54-16

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The global economy is plodding ahead in fits and starts as the largest countries struggle to achieve consistent growth.

Europe is faltering again. Japan is suddenly surging. China is cooling. The U.S. is strengthening.

In the background, central banks are aiming to administer just the right amount of stimulus - not too much, not too little. Their efforts have yet to benefit many ordinary people facing job shortages and stagnant wages.

The unevenness of the global recovery was thrown into sharp relief Thursday, when the 18 European nations that use the euro reported unexpectedly weak growth for the year's first three months. A separate report said Japan's economy grew in that same quarter at the fastest pace in nearly three years.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_YELLEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-15-18-11-47

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is spotlighting the fact that U.S. small businesses have accounted for more than half the job gains during the nearly 5-year-old economic recovery.

The economy has regained 8.6 million jobs since early 2010, leaving it about 100,000 jobs short of the 138.4 million that existed in January 2008 near the start of the recession. More than half those jobs came from companies with fewer than 250 employees, Yellen tells small business owners in a speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Yellen says the Fed has tried to foster the conditions for job creation by keeping interest rates near historic lows, but that "overwhelmingly, it is businesses that create jobs."

By contrast, governments have shed 2.6 percent of their workers since early 2010.

and we will be having a big splash (I'm not doing anything else tonight)!

drop in and see if I left it here and say hi. Have a good and weekend everyone.

If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.

Hi Hotler! Drop in for the Weekend, you're sure to get a laugh, at least.


Nope, I looked: no abandoned minds over on this thread....

I thought I left it next to the vodka bottle, but I think Rosco took it out to the back yard and buried it.

it's having fun bouncing around to Grace Jones.

https://news.yahoo.com/bitcoin-foundation-hit-resignations-over-director-050126774--sector.html

putting the fun in dysfunctional...I don't know, Max Keiser, I think Bitcoin's still got a ways to go before it's ready for real time.

https://news.yahoo.com/u-regional-banks-tip-toe-commodities-wall-street-052124739--sector.html

o when will they ever learn?

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/25534186/feds-recommend-prison-sentence-for-ex-detroit-water-chief


Federal prosecutors are recommending an 18-month prison sentence for the former head of Detroit's water department who admits rigging contracts while working for then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. Victor Mercado returns to federal court next Wednesday. While on trial with Kilpatrick in 2012, Mercado suddenly pleaded guilty to conspiracy. At $240,000 a year, he was among the highest-paid public officials in Michigan, even making more than the governor.

Mercado wasn't accused of taking bribes. But in a court filing Thursday, prosecutors say he was an "indispensable part" of Kilpatrick's corruption by ensuring that contractor Bobby Ferguson got millions in city work.

The 62-year-old Mercado hopes to get probation. His lawyers say he was under duress and never profited from Kilpatrick's crimes.

Kilpatrick is serving a 28-year prison sentence.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2014/04/moral-police-your-checking-account-chase-bank-shuts-down-accounts-adult



In the latest example of a troubling trend in which companies play the role of law enforcement and moral police, Chase Bank has shut down the personal bank accounts of hundreds of adult entertainers.

We’ve written before about the dire consequences to online speech when service providers start acting like content police. These same consequences are applicable when financial services make decisions about to whom they provide services.

Just as ISPs and search engines can become weak links for digital speech, too often financial service providers are pressured by the government to shut down speech or punish speakers who would otherwise be protected by the First Amendment. It’s unclear whether this is an example of government pressure, an internal corporate decision, or some combination.

Chase has yet to give an official statement on why the accounts are being closed. At least one of the customers affected by Chase’s decision to shut down adult entertainers’ accounts, Teagan Presley, was told by Chase that her account was being shut down "because she’s considered 'high risk.'" According to NY Daily News, her husband Joshua Lehman (whose account is also being closed) reports receiving conflicting information from Chase about why the accounts were being shut down:



This isn’t the first time Chase has been under fire for morality-based account closures....

HE FELL DOWN THE WELL TOO MANY TIMES







https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7N3Is0mhmcY/UZki0aIB0RI/AAAAAAAAFuo/iwt60yo5hcY/s400/well+and+no+lassie.jpg


http://www.alternet.org/economy/robert-reich-why-timothy-geithner-deluded-about-bailout?akid=11814.227380.YkzLeP&rd=1&src=newsletter993002&t=3