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Saturday August
29, 2009 07:30 AM CDT
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Shades of '29 Gov't Plans to Seize Internet I've been telling you for years that one of the surest markers the Second Depression (SD/D2) would be the seizure and/or licensure of the Internet. On Friday the plans started to come into focus as it's being widely reported that in congress a "Bill would give president emergency control of Internet." Just for the heck of it, I dredged up a column I wrote back in 2006 - to underscore the point that this has been in the works for years...
Dynamics of this trend are still in place...Too early to come right out and say "Told you so!" Still, it's getting uncomfortably close. All that separates the working man from a world where the corpgov forces take over the entire internet is a terrorist attack (real or promoted) which utilizes the internet in some way to wreak even a small amount of havoc.
So, while I sit back and wait for 'surprising weather in the SE USA over the next couple of weeks (a new data bulge in the predictive linguistics research from www.halfpasthuman.com which may feed into 'diaspora'), I'm reminded that vis-à-vis last, newspaper sales revenues have continued to decline and in mid-80's marketing parlance, there's a virtual strategic alliance afoot here. --- Related: You saw where in the UK James Murdoch says unchecked BBC expansion is chilling? --- Don't want to rain on the parade of these newspapering guys, but do we really need to cut down forests so they can all report the same lock-step 'me-too' crap that all papers seem to? Electrons are recycled an infinite number of times and are much faster than the traditional 'time delay' press. World's changed guys - catch up!
The Grim Bankers, III
Some statistics to ponder here: First, the month of August should close out with 15 banks and their 589 bank branches reorganized away - unless the FDIC has another 'shoe to drop' still this weekend. This compares with only 34 branches and three banks a year ago.
On a branch basis, that means 3,628 branches have been reorganized from last July 11th, when IndyMac started the ball rolling with the latest round of closures.
Fed Disclosure Weaseling Yup - no sign of transparency in this one: A "Judge puts Fed's bailout revelations on hold." --- Why is it when I read stories about the fed-two-step that my mind replays Jack Nicholson's great line "You can't handle the truth!" Not that we don't already suspise it...
Countdown To October 25th The reported seizure of North Korean weapons, headed for Iran, is just more kindling on our expected October 25th Israeli attack on Iran. Be nice if it doesn't happen, but there are many things lining up in that period, including a possible market crash date in the week before that (more on that for Peoplenomics.com subscribers on Sunday), that it's looking downright ominous for now. Linguistically (and by the charts) that should be a helluva week. Might be worth staying home just to watch the news channels.
Tax Wrangler Gott5a love learning this: representative Charlie Rangel who's head honcho of the tax-overseeing House Ways and Committee forgot to report up to $1.3-million in outside income, according to a NY Post colu8mn out this week.
Here in the land of all-folks-is-equal, we have to wonder what would happen to one of us peons if we forgot that much dough due Uncle? --- All of which goes to my contention that people who go to Washington - ostensibly to represent We The People - should return to their districts at the end of their terms with no more net worth than they started with plus whatever inflation works out to. Too many of the disclosure statements I've read show that people go to Washington poor, come home rich, and our interests as common folks get somehow overlooked. Something like this real estate of Rangel's. Ooops. Yeah, right.
Shake & Quake Dept. Remember the predictive linguistics a while back explained that there would be all kinds of E.Q. activity this summer - so much we weren't even going to try and sort out all the media coverage? We had a bunch of quake swarming up in Oklahoma this week, a good-sized one off the Oregon coast (undersea mountain-building goes on there, I expect), and a 6.8 in the Banda Sea this week.
Golden Lining Oh sure, the decline in the US dollar this week pushed up the price of oil. But, what I'm waiting on is the gold & silver prices to start jumping if this decline continues some ways. That'll be a nice payday.
Globalist Media Control File Very interesting lawsuit has been lost by the A.P. in the Netherlands. Seems the A.P. ran some pictures of the Dutch royals which were taken in Argentina. The Dutchies didn't like the publicity, so the A.P. got sued - and lost.
I know - you're wondering "How come if the pictures were taken in Argentina, the A.P. got sued in the Netherlands?" Court says the pix had no 'news value' and were therefore were verboten since the royals claim a right to some privacy.
Whirlpool Outsourcing Kiss off another 1,100 jobs going to Mexico. --- Good thing I'm not doing Saturday updates. If I were, I'd be ticked and my blood pressure would go skyward.
Up in Smoke --- Speaking of smoke - you see where 14,500 pot plants were seized out of national forest lands up in Colorado? But wait! Outdone by the 20,000 plant bust in Utah this week - worth $60-million according to the story. --- Hand me the calculator, wouldja? Hmmm... $3,000 per plant? Is this like giant Sequoia weed? OMG do you have any idea how rich farmers could be with legalization or even decriminalization? Who'd buy booze or cancer sticks! The booze cartel would collapse - can't have that can we? --- Of course, we're not supposed to 'get' how the 'war on drugs' is a government money program. Why, defending us against dangerous plants certainly deserves our continued and increased tax dollar support. It's obvious, isn't it, that the previous 200,000 years of human history without drug wars hasn't exactly worked out, right? This will fix everything... Hand me that pipe, wouldja? Wait! Belay that - you know how to start an IV?
-- Send comments to george@ure.net The UrbanSurvival Mall: Peoplenomics This Week: S-Curves and SOC's In Saturday's free report on the UrbanSurvival site, I made a passing reference to the implications of S-curves in the study of bank failures in the US. This week, a longer term look, using the same technique. And once we've got a grasp of that, the next issue would be "What to do?" about it. Then, since we're all about new ways of looking at markets, why not apply S-curves to the recent Dow, over the past 10-years or so, and see where that points? Got'cher Cray warmed up? We're off....er...maybe that's not the right word, since people have been applying that to me for years, although I insist they are incorrect... More For Subscribers Subscription Information MyGroPonics My commodity broker JB Slear and I have written a simple book to get you started on high density hydroponics. It's an example of how someone with a little creativity, access to a few 'dollar stores' and willing to try out some new farming techniques can grow an amazing amount of produce sin a very small space - like even an apartment balcony (if it gets some sunlight). Sound interesting? It's just $10 bucks here...
Maxa-Cookie Manager No, when you tell your browser to 'empty your cookies' of web sites you've visited, it probably won't get them all. Why? Because there is a whole class of 'browser-independent' cookies that will gobble up space on your hard drive, but more important is they will sneak out information about you without you being aware of it. Ever week I get emails like this one:
Test drive it free by downloading it. To upgrade to full functionality will be $35 bucks. Is your privacy worth it?
Once you try it out, click the
upgrade button (!) on the upper right hand side for the $35
unlock to get it to remove even those nasty and highly intrusive
'non-browser specific' cookies. Bonus: You computer
may run faster. I've taken
Attn: Mac Drivers: MCM does support the Safari Browser, but that does not mean it is compatible with Mac OS. Maxa-Tools only support the Windows world....so far. Given Jens and the other engineers time...
Feeling Thorny? Want to be a thorn in the side of the Old World Order? Simply click here and send a link to this site to everyone on your distro list...Nothing more dangerous than sharp, clear-thinking upstarts who ask a lot of questions, eh? Unless you believe WTC-7 fell over on its own, of course....
"Live on $10,000" Updated I've told you in the past to order my ebook "How to Live on $10,000 a year or less..." with the rationale that "We're all going to live it shortly, anyway." Don't know as you have looked lately, but the unemployment rate is up more than 3% since I wrote the first edition of that book and underpasses have never been more homely. Worth ordering? Just visit www.liveontenthousand.com or, click this little whizzie...
It's an automatic download. It's written in an information dense style: The whole thing runs about 65 pages, but it gives you a vision of how to not only live on the cheap, but also how to migrate up the economic foodchain if you have a little hustle left... Click here for the index and details. ---- Last week's report is here. For back issues of this site, click here. (Goes back to 1997!)
Friday August 28, 2009 Personal Income I shouldn't begin this morning's report with such an openly skeptical view of an offishul gov'munt number, but here goes:
But the best knee-slapper is this part:
All these numbers make my head spin, since we know from the Fed guy yesterday at the real unemployment rate is 16% by the time you count the unemployed, and the discouraged job seekers who haven't been able to find work, not to mention people who have run out of benefits and thus become statistical eraser dust. What I can't seem to wrap my head around is that with nearly 20% of the workers in America unemployed or unable to find work, or out of bennies, how the savings rate could be claimed as 4.2%? Let's do some hypothecating here: I can think of lots of weasel-worded ways to get there. But out here in George Land, paying down a credit card is not 'savings' although I suppose someone has to have penciled up a way to take reduced forward debt burden and count it as an improvement in savings. Better? How about counting a refi of your house as 'savings' too? Why, reducing that forward interest debt has to be good for some statistical benefit doesn't it? Why, you wouldn't even need to actually get the refi - just having an imaginary rate should be all a statistical wonk would need. Besides, banks aren't doing much refi'ing are they? Much research to do. If I get some time, I'll look into it. But after all is said and done, I doubt that all of America is actually putting 4.2% of their income into 'savings'. I really, really doubt it. Not when I see homeless under overpasses and not with Social Security benefits flat lining. Maybe I oughta put some party-juice in the coffee. Bank Failure Roulette, II Gather 'round the water cooler...it's time to start laying down the bets on how many banks will fail in this week's FDIC report. Just the mechanics of posting all the changes takes many hours, but if you click here: www.fdic.gov tomorrow morning, you should be able to see the latest from the Grim Bankers.
The headline I'd draw your attention to is the remark by the president of the a private equity firm that bought UnitedBank of Florida in May, that we may see 1,000 banks fail in the next two years. You may remember that his BankUnited had 86-branches according to the FDIC in May.
If you don't subscribe to Peoplenomics.com - my weekly newsletter where I get pretty deeply into a topic - here's a chart from last week's report where I discuss some of the ramifications of S-curves on the banking outlook.
I ran the S-curves I'd done past Cesare Marchetti, who you could think of as the Godfather of S-curves and be right, and he cautions that we need several more data points on a yearly basis before the slope and finish of the current round of failures will be confirmed. But he was kind enough to share the 'fit' of the rash of bank failures (2000-2003/4).
Remember, this was only for the failures by year in the first leg down of Depression II. The next curve will reflect the second leg down.
The bottom line? My projected failure rate of branches shown here may be sadly accurate if this hedge fellow is right in his number:
We wait and watch with a kind of popcorn at the train wreck view. A couple of WaMu-sized failures in the next couple of months and I'll immodestly be reminding you of this. (More on banks and wealth preservation in today's "Coping" section.
Still not tired of banking news? Oh goody...let's slog on.
They've Got a Secret Since UBS is turning over some names of clients to the US (an act which may have criminal tax consequences for a few customers) it's interesting to note what other Swiss banks are doing. Wegelin bank is pulling out of the US. No branches in the US means no disclosure requirements here...
Banks Pay Let me see if I have this right: "Sarkozy threat to shun banks on pay draws U.S. alarm." The reason this is so alarming is that one of the O-Czarists is trying to come up with reasonable pay limits for banksters., not that we normally pay any attention to what goes on in France. --- I've always considered banking to be something akin to civil service. It shouldn't be such a rich field that people go there because it offers a huge return on investment and lifetime employment (unlike much of anything else here lately). I always figured that in return for being almost 'fire proof' and getting into phat pensions that people in government and bankers ought to work for just a bit less than those of us who are the real risk-takers in America.
Highly Speculative OK, why was it so important that the US government make an investment in AIG - a move which a new Treasury draft says was highly speculative?
Best I can figure, AIG and other holders of gobs of steamy, stinking derivatives are not out of the woods. Like highwaymen, they'll be back for more a little further along the journey. Just a matter of time. the derivatives bubble has only been patched not fixed.
Wait! What's that hissing sound I hear?
Good Memory - Bummer Story A reader sent in a link to the story that "Those who lose homes may face state tax hit" with the simple subject line "You were saying this last year..." Uh huh. Look surprised.
Shades of '29 Is it poetic justice that "Newspaper slump deepen as 2Q ad sales fall 29 pct"? Naw - who could imagine the Universe bitch-slapping the arrogant publishing aristocrats for ignoring sound finance and the interest of us plebes since the early Bushista years? --- Say, you don't think the print media would have more ad sales if they had called bullsh*t on congress for selling out the public interest on bailouts, do you? --- That a tell-it-like-it-is guy like Glenn Beck has beaten Oh Rudely shouldn't come as a shock. New paradigm trumps old paradigm right there in the living room.
Familiar Sounding Headline "Democrats accused of using Edward Kennedy's death to promote reforms". Oh I remember where I heard that....here.
Pelosi Dough I see how Nancy Pelosi is trying to raise $100-large to fight 'republican smears. --- Park the jet, fly commercial, get into Social Security instead of the phat separate congressional retirement plan, and get real about healthcare, Your Highness.
Not every critic is a republicorp. Some of us just want the Fed audited, sound money, and all those offshored jobs back. --- As long as I'm laying out the 'wish list', please call those bankster types and advise them that when it's claimed by the "Banks say disclosure [on bailout money] could cause loss of confidence", they're behind the times. Many of us have already lost confidence in the system since are balance sheet literate.
Do that (and sign on to the Fed audit bill) and I'll gladly send $25.
When You're Hot Speaking of hell freezing over - no worries about 'chilling out' in San Antonio. Folks over yonder are whining about the number of 100+ degree days this year.
A look at the US Drought Monitor shows exceptional drought in South Texas - which I take it will mean higher beef prices down the road. And then there's that ongoing drought in the fruit & vegetables state (California).
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Coping: What's Wealth Anymore? People have asked me, now and then, "George, where should I put my money so that I can sleep nights know it is in a good bank?"
Damned if I know. Both of my dollars are safely squirreled away; the other two are in a bank. The problem we all have as we contemplate the odds of Global Financial Meltdown, Part II this fall is that we have day-to-day needs to conduct business (checking accounts linked to credit card accounts being the most common and easiest to manage) so at least a little money in a bank for cash management makes sense.
But, which bank?
Something extraordinary happened in our ongoing banking catastrophe here (don't worry, it's still on the upswing); we saw a Spanish bank (BBVA) entry into the mix of bailer-outers. Hmmm...foreign bank buying market share in the US? Wonder if they are related to that Spanish outfit that's involved in toll road leasing here in Texas? But, I digress.
Global Finance Magazine has a list of the 50 safest banks worldwide. Aside of the BBVA bailout deal, you've got to drop down to #31 - Mellon Bank - before you find a USA based bank.
That I can only count five out of the top fifty as being in the US is somewhat disturbing to me.
Perhaps it's my age, though. I'm old enough, you see, to remember how well US banks were regarded before we got rolled up, merged, free-marketed, and outsourced to death. Them's was the good old days. --- I'm reminded of Bucky Fuller's way of measuring wealth as a pretty good one: It's the number of days of forward survival that you are assured up. Based on this measure (non-monetary, for sure) most people don't have much real wealth saved up. Oh, sure, lots of people have notional values accruing all over the place, but consider just how notional they are.
One of my best measures of future wealth is looking at future energy that you personally own, since energy (whether solar or diesel-fired) seems likely to be one of those assets that will appreciate in time, along with well water from your own property, although even this seems like to be collectivized.
Perhaps the best things to invest in are non-monetary; things that the non-producing segments of society (lawyers, accountants, government, and other 'overhead') have little interest (yet) in acquiring.
An email from Chile sounded pretty inviting, on this score. "You must come visit, George, " it observed. "It's like California, but without all the people."
All of which gets me thinking about buying up some land in Chile. Something of about 200-acres on a river, preferably something with enough vertical drop to it that I could cobble up a hydro power system and use upland water for down hill irrigation.
We already know that at least one former presidential family (and I think three, if I've got it right) has been buying up land in Argentina and Paraguay. They can have it, me? I've already got a friend with substantial holding in Chile.
The way I've got it figured, if I were to buy land in Chile and then obtain dual citizenship, that might be a very interesting kind of hedge against future possible futures in the USA. Since dual citizenship is already practiced by a large segment of folks in Washington, no reason I should take my cue from them and start buying overseas land and go the dual citizenship route.
Yep. A nice piece of resource rich land in South America and a second passport seems to make sense. Why, throw in a Rosetta Stone Spanish language series and I might be able to walk there. Seems that may be as good as 'money in the bank', depending of course on how addicted to zeros you are. If you really like them, you might want to consider land in Zimbabwe or the US.
Memes & Themes An email from a friend in Prague who is recovering from kidney stones (aided by some super good opiates, I hear) offers this:
Flying Notes The Aircraft Owners & Pilots Association reports today that 154 instrument approaches could be on the chopping block.
Thursday August 27, 2009 Durables Leap Rally food? From the Census folks this morning, against the report that new jobless claims dropped a bit we read that:
While this might sound good, there's a bummer in the latest GDP figures out just in the past few minutes:
Time to Bail? Latest from my friend Robin Landry to other professions in the investment industry - not investing advice - is potentially important if you follow Dow Theory:
Robin's email is rlandry@allegiance.tv. If I were in the market and the Tuesday 9,620 print on the Dow holds, I'd be edging out. But I'm already out...
Truth Leak What's this? A Fed official says the real unemployment rate is 16%? Gee, wonder if he's a reader?
Housing's Toll Toll Brothers lost almost a half billion in Q3. Happy talk: It was only -$472 million.
Another Dimension to the Banking Crisis Word that the FDIC may slip into the red by the end of this year is making the rounds today. I'm expecting the agency will take a two-pronged approach: Try to raise fees charged to participating banks and try to get the federal government to make good on its federal backing. Should be interesting revelations later on today.
Flavor of The Depression I've credited my friend Jas Jain on many occasions with pointing out that the best indicator of where the economy is going may be had by simply reading the Fed's G.19 report. The mechanics of this are simple: This is a debt-based economy. Either debt grows, or you put your bets on collapse.
Latest confirming indicator: "In the tank forever": U.S. consumers, retailers in "death Spiral," Davidowitz says is a must watch video. Howard Davidowitz knows retailing in and out.
"As a country, we're out of control..." "This is a 10-year issue..." Really? We are so surprised...
Global Warming Trial There's a dandy piece in the L.A. Times Wednesday about plans of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to put Global Warming on trial in 'Scopes' - like manner. --- I've got an open mind on this one, or more properly I had an open mind until the plans came along to monetize warming with carbon credit exchanges and the like. Kind of like setting up credits for wife-beating, one columnist explained.
The objectivity of those promoting taxing cow farts is certainly suspect. Aren't these the same folks in Washington who didn't see the Second Depression coming?
The sun drives all, as anyone who has wandered through Maunder knows.
Rally Round the Dead Department If I were writing a macabre movie about the ultimate perversion of advertising jingoism got berserk, I couldn't have come up with this one: "'Win One for Teddy,' Say Dems Pushing for Health Reform" Yup. they're calling it KennedyCare.
Where did I put my crack pipe?
Govt. Approved Reporting Think that the right to a free press is firm and well-defended? Then how would you reconcile that kind of belief (or hallucination) with the headline that says "Files prove Pentagon is profiling reporters"? --- Then there's the headline in the Times Online today that reads "Four British soldiers die for sake of 150 votes." Let's grade that reporter 'positive', shall we? --- "August tied for deadliest month in Afghanistan." Hmmm...grade this guy neutral. --- "Nato attack on Afghanistan clinic." What? No byline to file on?
Pentagon Power Grab Don't know if you're following this, but the Pentagon (under the guise of homeland security one supposes) is trying to appropriate control over local troops. I must be the only guy ever to read the history of Posse Comitatus.
Well, except maybe for the head of the South Dakota National Guard who says "Pentagon control of local troops would create chaos."
This is what, class? Federal/centralists doing a power-grab from state sovereignty! Unconstitutional, but tisk, tisk, we live in a 'dangerous world' right? It will be unopposed by the MSM since the sheep are easily stampeded thanks to all that zero-think time in front of the foxnotizer.
Gosh, maybe we could make local police federal too. Why, we'll catch up with Mexico in no time!
Build Your Own 'Master Race' Department People universally defile Adolph Hitler, right? I mean all the talk about pure Aryan genes and whatnot. But look: Today we read headlines like "Breakthrough: Gene therapy for the unborn" and "The monkeys that prove babies can be born to THREE parents... and may be the key to halting genetic illness."
Still seems to me 'master race' building, regardless. Just this approach monetizes with less PR blowback. Alien nation just ahead. Oh, roll your sleeve up, this won't hurt a bit.
Blowing Smoke Now we see revelations that 'second-hand smoke' was used to punish terrorists. Aha! This explains why we don't see many terrorists at honkytonks here in East Texas.
Up Against Your Hard Drive The ACLU says border searches of laptops are a no-no and they want information about what's going on. Likely to lead to a lawsuit, I figure.
Way I've got it figured is this: The terrorists are just as smart as we are, so what would they bring in on a laptop that couldn't be FTP'd from a server in a foreign country via proxies? I mean this is wildly make-work stuff for the technologically brain dead. Wanna bet I can mail a dual layered DVD without it being sniffed or read? Or FedEx'ed? WTF, over?
Speaking of Proxy Servers "Iran protests not 'foreign backed" or at least 'not proven' says Iran's supreme leader.
Nope, couldn't find a Twitter account for him or his proxy servers if'n you follow me..
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Coping: Outlandish Plans & Blue Sky Elaine and I are now holders of Third Class Flight Medicals, as she continues working toward her pilot's license. We both passed with no issues on Wednesday.
Then I got to thinking: "You know, I really ought to do something really adventurous once we both are 'current' again."
Way back when, the late Seattle radio personality Robert E. Lee Hardwick, who I worked with when we were both 30-years ahead of the curve doing digital radio work at Sofcast in 1985/86, had done some really interesting things: In one of his adventures, he flew an ultralight from Nome, Alaska to Seattle, narrowly escaping death when he landed this pontoon-equipped plane on a lake and it flipped on landing somewhere in the wilds of northern British Columbia.
In another adventure, he road a jet ski from Seattle to either Kodiak or Juneau - I forget which.
My point is that I get a kick out of doing all kinds of different things and the prospect of both Elaine and I getting our flying credentials has me pondering a really wild idea: Why don't we get a simple plane, like a Cessna 172 - and fly it to Europe next year?
I figure if we left in the spring, we could pick our weather windows and puddle-hop our way North, to Wales, Alaska, before heading the 54.9 miles over Little and Big Diamede islands to Naukan, Chukot, Siberia.
From there, we'd be able to pick our way south to Mongolia and thence to China. From there, I figure we could pick our way west, over Kazakhstan and on to places which I've only read about. What better way to 'do Europe' than to go 'back door' in barn-stormer fashion?
Elaine's thinking about it. With only 4.0 hours in the left seat so far, the flying bug is still incubating, I expect. And yeah, there would be incredible planning involved in this.
My thinking, however, is that such a task is far from impossible and I could upgrade to an instrument rating (IFR) easy enough...just a matter of time, money, and check-ride, right? --- Most people don't have a lot of 'notches' on their gun. Have to tell you, having done all the things I've done in life, the more 'notches' you make, the more memories you have to take with you.
This one is just audacious enough to be worth thinking about. Got a big dream?
Cost of "Clunkers" Here's the real dope on how the Cash for Clunkers program pencils out on the scrap side from a CEO of a major steel and recycling operation who reads the site:
Gee, I can hardly wait to figure how the refrigerator and appliance deal is going to work out. Maybe if I put in a good word for us, the feds can print us up some of those billions?
Around The Ranch: Hollywood Dreams Maybe it's because of my harebrained idea to 'go flying' around the world, or perhaps it has to do with learning the Air Defense Zones over the southern parts of the US as part of getting ready for my biennial flight review -- things have changed a fair bit since I last flew in 1976 (or was it '77?). Whatever the reason, I had one of those incredible Hollywood-would-be-envious kind of dreams, I have ever so often, last night. Surround video, great sound, glorious color... --- The three major players in this are a father who is involved in some kind of top secret (way above presidential knowledge) security operations. The main character is a young man in his 20's while the third is the mother of the younger man and wife of the older.
The plot begins with a group of agents going through some kind of a chase - really more a cat & mouse surveillance operation - with the young man who is going from office building to office building followed by a 'going the wrong way' slow speed car tailing attempt in an underground parking garage or two. In several scenes, a young boy about aged 8-10 is riding a trike and we find his presence paradoxical.
In the next scenes (after several really good ones of the escape & evade variety (with a Hitchcock flavor to them) the young man finds his way to the parent's apartment or condo which is located on the top floor of a nice 4-5 story building adjacent to the commercial district in the main part of the city. Rather upscale if I got the picture right.
As this sequence of scenes begins, the young man is hearing the father defend the PowersThatBe which we learn has plans to install a large security fence along the balance of the Gulf Coast states. Tensions run high as the father explains how 'the government has no choice because of the hordes from the Caribbean and South America' who are expected to be coming to the US from that part of the world. We're left to wonder whether these hordes will be coming because of famine or weather, but it seems to matter little. The fence is in the PTB plan.
While looking at a wall map of the Gulf Coast, the young man points out "This isn't to keep them out, it's to keep us in! Can't you see that?"
The father then reveals that he - along with several others in his cadre of evil - know that what's coming is bad and that in order to whip up public support, he and several of his ilk have been tasked with setting off a small nuclear explosive devices - in multiple cities- as part of a sequence of false flag operations. The father knows it will be suicide for him (and his wife & young man) but it's all for the 'greater good' and that the young man and his wife should be honored to die serving their country.\ in this way.
What's unique about the explosive is that it turns out, it's that it has some kind of small battery pack (2 or 3 D cells) and a couple of external trigger wires (both red).
The arguing continues at a highly emotional level and at one point in the dialog the young man yells "Dad, we're doing what Hitler did" and with the mother breaking down into tears at the immediate prospects, the heads for his apartment one floor down in this same building. There, he sets about packing so he can get away from this madness.
Packed light - some money and a few clothes, the young man goes back to the parental apartment/condo and insists his mother come with him. She's only given a very short time (like 3-minutes) to pack. She is totally conflicted, pausing to put on lipstick as the young man insists that's stupid and they need to get out of there. This all builds in 'Beat the Clock' fashion until the end of the dream.
As things unravel and the dream builds to its climax, the father has come down from the top floor apartment to a kind of balcony overlooking the lobby of the building. We somehow know that the main explosive is still upstairs in the apartment in the kitchen sink, covered with coffee grounds (for reasons that are never made clear, except that there's the impression that this is somehow crude camouflage.
The father is yelling at the mother and the son that "We have to do this, don't you understand?" He's holding another explosive device which is about 18-inchest long, wrapped in yellow and red electrical tape.
Just as the mother and young man are about to leave, the father throws the explosive device down toward the lobby expecting it to go off -- presumably concealing his plans from more rational authorities).
Just as the explosive is in mid air, along comes that 8-10 year old boy on a trike we caught a glimpse of in the parking garage cat and mouse game a couple of times. Unintentionally he quite accidentally catches the explosive - preventing it from going off - and everyone is shocked at this turn of events.
Everyone (except the small boy on the trike) suddenly get a revelation about the larger work of Universe and it goes something like this:
Roll credits. Screen goes up, my eyes slowly come open. I hear the coffee maker finishing it's task out in the kitchen, and I'm left wondering: "Where did that dream come from? Wednesday August 26, 2009 Depression Markers Here all this time, you thought that depression markers included sleeping 12-hours a day and compulsive use of self medications. Nope. There are others, like the report that "Japanese Exports continue to fall" and "Bernanke may redefine Fed mission in financial-market stability."
In China, the People's Daily Online edition noted that:
I just spend about 10-minutes with the S&P/Case-Schiller spreadsheet and was able to determine that:
My conclusion? We are still in the deep kimchi here.
Around 10 AM today, we should be treated to the latest new home sales figures, here. I'm halfway looking for a good numbers, not that new home sales will be up too much, but the reporting methodologies on this stuff can bend things around.
Tomorrow we get a fine tuned Q2 GDP number from the BEA and on Friday, Personal Income and Expenditures.
Consequently, with so many economic tidbits pending for the folks who believe in 'rearview economics' (the dismal science of predicting tomorrow's weather based on whether it rained last week, LOL) the market may not go much of anywhere until the home sales figures kick it one way, or t'other.
White Lies Department Stretching things a bit has always been one of America's favorite pastimes, whether it's the monster bass that got away, or the million-and-one "I could have been a contender, except..." stories.
We see this phenomena in finance, too. Why, here's a judge wondering why Bank of America corp 'misled shareholders about bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch." But, I suppose in a land where even presidents use qualifiers like 'Depends what you mean by sex..." it's trivial in comparison. --- But the real capper in the white lies this morning is the Secretary of the Treasury saying that an audit of the [not really] Federal Reserve is a "line we don't want to cross" in an interview.
Let me guess: People might see through the sham of fictional-reserve banking (which works like print-on-demand books, except they do it with paper IOU's). All of which might cause the sheeple to ask "How come we can't have banks that run like the Oakwood State Bank in Texas which has been open for 100 years." yeah, no derivatives book, or anything. 'Mazing.
Class assignment today: Read the article in American Banking News "What would be involved in an Audit of the Federal Reserve - Part Four"
Reefer Madness Department Thought 'cash for clunkers' was strange? Well, try on the subsidies for buying for energy efficient appliances, due at the reefer and washer department of the big box store down the street soon. --- A particularly conspiratorially minded reader asks an interesting question which I hadn't thought about before: "Say George, where's all the scrap steel from the clunker program going? I figure it's enough to build 13-aircraft carriers..."
Hmmm...if you have nothing to do at work this morning, why not figure out how many clunkers and then come up with a cost-per-pound of steel from them? Send your answers here. Dang. Hadn't thought about it. Where's my tinfoil hat?
Reefer Madness, 2 Remember last week I was telling you how Mexico's move to decriminalized possession of small amounts of controlled substances might spur vacationing south of the border? Now Time Magazine is headlining that "Mexico's new drug law may set example." --- But it's not stopping there: The supreme court down in Argentina has also now struck down private use of dah ganj. --- We also note that the California Senate (they get capitalized when they do smart things) has voted to ask the federales here to get real on marijuana use. Of course, no one in the MainStreamMedia is going to call the booze lobby out on backdoor support of drug laws, since that would break up their monopoly on 'legal' self medication.
As I've said before, what this country needs is a good 5¢ high. Maybe not till we're a little deeper into the Second Depression, eh?
Kennedy Death: MSM Frenzy Senator Edward Kennedy has passed on (brain cancer) at 77.
Two things to watch: One is the MSM feeding frenzy over coverage. I can hardly wait for the TV coverage of the funeral...wonder if it will be broadcast live nationally? But the real story is who will replace him and what that will do to the healthcare debate. If anything.
Imperial Retailing Officials approving a new Wal-Mart store near a Virginia Civil War Battlefield has some folks appalled.
Must Have's A reader sent this from the GATA website - and I don't think Bill Murphy & crew would mind my repost of it here:
My check's in the mail today. --- snip and save section ---
Coping: With Shady Lawyers Won't tell you what state he's in, because of legal dueling pending, nor will I use any names, but a longish conversation this week about how some personal injury attorneys work was a real eye opener. Some of the practices to be on the look-out for, according to this reader:
From all of this come several 'rules' which I'd sure think about implementing should I ever get involved in a personal injury case:
Granted, this may be impossible to get, but we can dream, eh? But how much lower would the cost of healthcare really be if hospitals were simply required to only have one fee they charge for each procedure? The discounting and going behind patient's backs with lawyers and insurance companies is a pant load of you-guess-what.
All of which is designed to do the most serious of all injuries to your wallet.
Keeping Up With Changing Bicycle Trends Bicycles, one a practical and simple form of human-powered transportation, continues to evolve in mysterious ways that were unfathomable when I was young, and yet in today's 'purpose built' world, seems to make sense. A discussion with my son Tuesday about his 'next bicycle' laid it all out for me.
"Feeling like you need to spend money, eh?"
That set-up led to the education of Dad on how road bikes have changed. Turned out his last road bike was a $3,000 Tour d' France level carbon bike that even with his Armadillo tire liners and slightly larger 120 PSI wheels for commuting, the whole thing weighed in at less than five pounds. A shocking number. "Even with the air pump and full water bottles, it's just under 7½ pounds," he reported.
Having grown up and done a fair bit of 40-mile a day riding (I was young once) on a three-speed Robin Hood three-speed 'English racer' kind of bike, this was mind bending. "Oh, you'd be amazed at how much difference that last couple of pounds makes," continued George II.
What??? A ski resort is a 'downhill run for bikes in the summertime? Sure enough, the Whistler Mountain Bike Park is the place to go up in the Pacific Northwest for serious downhill biking.
As you'd expect, from a couple of guys who will tell you what time it is - by building a watch for you - the rest of the conversation degenerated into a discussion of why bikes using upper-crust disc brakes (Hayes Hydraulics, for example) use DOT-3 or DOT-4, but some guys use DOT-5 level brake fluid. Turns out DOT 5.1 is compatible with DOT 3/4 systems, but DOT 5.0 may not be... The 930, for comparison uses DOT-4 but has never needed any. The Daewoo just uses whatever is on hand, usually DOT-3 and a fair bit of it over time, which is why I keep looking for a replacement...
All of which underscored a couple of things to me: 1) I may be getting older, since a 'mountain bike' off eBay for $200 seems perfectly adequate for riding around here which won't happen until we get down to highs in the mid 70's this fall & winter. 2) Young people today who are riding under-5-pound road bikes may be onto something but being on the verge of geezerhood, I'm not willing to pony up $3-large to find out (as in $3,000 and up).
The top road bike back 'in the day' was a Nishiki.
His recommendation: Old guys like me oughta keep an eye on BikeRadar.com for new bikes using the Panasonic lithium-ion assisted pedaling technology.
Looking for something to do over Labor Day? Head for the Seattle area and bring a bike with you. Those tree-huggers in the old stomping grounds have one of the nicest trail systems in the country, which used to ride. Until it became an overwhelming chorus of "On your Left!" as the Microsoft kids on road bikes went screaming by. Maybe one too many side trips to the Ivar's seafood bar in Bothell, just a few blocks off the Sammamish River Trail, yah think?
Just a bit over a week to make plans for Labor Day on the 7th. I'll be mowing down goat pasture.
Moron Critics Yes, we do get fan mail:
OK! Stand by your phone. Elaine & I each carry fire-steels. I may be dumb, but I'm no fool. I figure with two pocket knives (one large, one small) and a fire steel, we should be fine, thanks.
Read of the Day Reader/fan suggests this from the Bank for International Settlements: "financial Crises and Economic Activity". The abstract:
Agreed, it's an interesting paper. But, what struck me is that it's a post 1980 sample. Oh, sure, you can make an estimate of how long the stew we're in will simmer (P.17) but it doesn't get into the multinational external/exogenous factors that could 'doom the globe'. Meteor impact, global war...things like that. But, I suppose that's what makes for optimism, now, isn't it?
Tuesday August 25, 2009 LOL Dept. Mr. Ure's Odd Sense of Humor OK, finally! Someone got it!
Let the record show that it took from posting time Tuesday morning (7:55 on Urban) until 10:48 AM CDT for someone to finally notice that the Durable/Inflatable goods story was and August 5th press release!
LOL...I can't believe how people take stuff at face value! Of course, the Fekete piece is regrettably current. You ever considered something a little stronger than coffee, Bunkie? --- OK, so the Yahoo finance calendar had it wrong and I didn't catch the date...more of whatever that is you're pouring for me, too.
Durable or Inflatable Goods? We begin this morning's discussion with an eyeful of data from the Census on durable goods orders:
While this number seems good on the surface, a good class project, should you be teaching an econ class, might be to pose this series of questions as a pop quiz:
Send me the answers for grading.
Consumer confidence is due out a half hour from now. I expect it to be about flat compared with last month due to the healthcare and other swirling issues.
Coming to Terms President O is planning to nominate Ben Bernanke for another term.
As I've explained many times, the open question is not whether Ben Bernanke will be able to orchestrate a continuing 'papering over' of the Second Depression - wherein the PowersThatBe print enough hyperinflation fanning cash to just offset the incipient deflation that comes with economic collapse and hope that no one notices that lifestyles have been flushed down the crapper. Thanks to 9/11 and a couple of wars (Now playing in a Poppystan near you) they've been able to pull that off, plus or minus a bankrupt FDIC.
The real question is what happens when 76-million Baby Boomers arise in unison to proclaim "That's NOT the kind of flush we had in mind after 40-years of hard work!"
Yup - instead of the royally flush, we be getting the straight flush.
Jim Kunstler's report "Financial Crisis Called Off" is a good read. ---- I'm thinking about a new bumper sticker: "Save the Rich! More Ben!" --- State governments are feeling the pinch all over the place. Latest revelations are coming from Rhode Island (and in road hard and put away broke?). There, government is planning a 12-day shut down. --- In case you're having trouble with the macro picture, it goes like this:
There: That make it clear enough?
Camping Plans? Several readers have followed up to tell me that the Army is still advertising for internment/resettlement specialists (MOS: 31-Echo). They have, however, apparently stopped the Monster ad that we first reported in our August 1st edition.
I'm not too worried about 31-E's, as long as they are going to the Sand Box/Poppystan. But, should a large number start being assigned to NorthCom then I'd become...of, what's the word for it? Twitchery....
You got nose counts of 31-E's by command for us? Hello? Anyone there? (Besides the usual carnivores at higher echelons, I mean...)
The Race Card ABC's "John Stossel's Take" is worth reading. Way he's got it figured, no, every critic is not a racist. ---
Web Bot Hits: Secrets Revealed and that Missing Yacht Not only are we due for the Q2 confessional from FDIC later on today, but we should be seeing some curious obfuscation coming for the (not really) Federal Reserve since on Monday a judge decided that the "Fed must make public reports on Emergency Loans, U.S. judge says".
Those of us who have been involved in the ALTA and "Shape of Things to Come" series are anxiously awaiting the 'monster headlines' to come as we are now into a period where events will be released a lot of "OMG's" and we'll start being just flooded with 'secrets revealed' material. Like, oh, the headline that a special "Prosecutor to prove CIA interrogations." --- We're getting somewhere near to completion in the linguistics for the "disappearing yacht, royalty-famous people' trouble on the high seas part of the data with the report out of Europe about a "Luxury yacht in mystery shipwreck of Corsica." --- Several readers have picked up on the 'dog poet' reference, but I think this one is a prequel - not widely enough noted, IMHO. Looking for someone Dylan-eque or Guthrie-esqe to emerge and give voice musically and/or poetically to this dog pile of crap that unfolding.
What am I expecting? Maybe someone who does cross-over mainstream financial rap; you down wid dat dog?
Yeah dog...poetry.
In a pure fantasy realm (er, like this one?), someone would be writing the definite article on music genealogy tracing the coincidence between Roger McGuinn & the Byrd's doing "8-Miles High" in the 1970's and Eminem's background in the 2002 film "8-mile". If you didn't happen to be born back in time to catch the original in '66-67, YouTube has several videos including this one. Think you can play guitar, dog? --- And then there's the problem of the 'disappearing people meme' which the ever-alert (when his meds have kicked in) Mogambo Guru noted in his 8/24 column over at The Daily Reckoning:
Damn, I wish I could write like that. Oh, and speaking of the disappearing people department...
--- snip and save section ---
Coping: With Petty Detractors Not shortage of detractors who have sent emails in saying that "Your web bot project is a hoax...there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary in the way things worked out. Your work is a bunch of hooey and you should just admit you swung and missed." A few were subtly pointed...like this one:
On the other hand, there aware some pretty aware people who see this as a real hit for the project. Sharing their notes balances up accounts:
Another alert reader sent this:
The "5 Min. Forecast" listed Guaranty, more bank failures to come, and the hand-wringing and weeping that's sure to break out today when the sadly deteriorated position of FDIC's slush fund is rolled out. Best I can figure, FDIC is already skirting it's own brush with bankruptcy and being upside down, even the increase in fees to participating financial institutions will be only a small part of the solution, especially if Richard Bove's comments on Monday that another several hundred banks could fail becomes reality.
What's more, as I outlined in last week's report, a quick study of S-curves suggests that we are now in the second of two major rounds of bank failures. The first was approximately concurrent with the first wave down of the Second Depression, which I'd place in 2001-2003, and we're in the midst of a second round of bank failures which should accompany the second big leg down which is getting organized now that the fourth wave (in Elliott terms) seems to be complete with yesterday's intraday highs.
I did explain to Peoplenomics readers, that in an email, Cesare Marchetti (who I think of as the godfather of S-curve studies) says we won't really be sure on this second wave of failures until we get a total of five data points. If Bove's comments (along with my quickie 'what if' on S-curves from last week are anywhere near right, we should have long to wait since the second round of the crisis may now be in the nonlinear part of the hockey stick curve.
Note to the White House A reader of ours received the following on a White House letterhead email and it really got his Irish up. The email said:
So mad was our reader that he sent the White House this:
We'll have to arrange a group visit for him in the camps, one of this days...
GeorgeSpeak During a conversation Monday about his recently announced wedding plans, I said to one of Elaine's boys "So, all that remains is to buy her a piece of South Africa, huh?
He sounded a bit confused by the remark...and then figured it out. That's where diamonds come from, huh? Why does no one understand me?
Around the Ranch: Humor of Hobbies Elaine is off for another flying lesson this morning, and I happened to receive a timely email with a collection of 'pilot humor' jokes. I've printed the off and gave them to Elaine with instructions to hand them all to her flight instructor, a nice retired 767 driver who just can't get enough of flying. Two of my favorites from the list seem worth repeating (although they've been around forever) since not everyone has heard them, unless you've flown long enough to have heard a bit of 'hanger humor'...
Seems like almost every hobby or profession develops its own sense of humor over time. In newsrooms, it's a kind of 'gallows humor'. Something like "Damn is a slow news day...maybe we could call the guys over at KOMO and we could all get together and go roll a car over on the freeway or something..."
One of my favorites from my sailing days went like this:
Somewhere, there's got to be a book of jokes arranged by hobby and profession, but I haven't found it yet. When I do, the first places I'll look will be under fire department humor for entries like "We saved the foundation..." and such.
Yeah, sure, we've got twisted government figures on inflation and money, and yeah, sure, the politicians in DC aren't doing as good at representing us as they are at auctioning off their votes, but as long as we can maintain a sense of humor as the times foreclose around us, the more fun moral bankruptcy should be. Which is why I keep getting back in the spiked punch line, huh?
Monday August 24, 2009 Crimes vs. Policies No shortage of readers have been asking "So, what happened on August 22nd?? We go back to the linguistics for a discussion of reading. First, and perhaps foremost, the predictive linguistics were not predicting and event - only that the nature of what will come-a-calling this fall would become much more visible by August 16 to August 22. Specifically, what's been in the forecast has been visibility which in turn leads to the erosion of confidence.
Oh, and about this period we get the leading edge of the 'new war' which is coming along this fall.
Do the headlines line up? Of course.
The federal deficit jumped $2-trillions on Friday, a number that is incredible - and enough to drive the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to suggest that without the imposition of radical spending cuts (8%, or so) the stability of government will not be assured. Naturally, this was one of the hot topics at the Federal Reserve's retreat up at Jackson Hole this weekend, too.
All of which leaves America in a very messy financial state. We know there are ballooning federal spending plans (only something like 10% of the so-called stimulus has been spent so far, most of it won't really hit the economy until the 2010-2011 timeframe) and in the usual showing of solidarity and unity, the republicorps leadership are saying via John McCain 'Nope, no tax increases'.
What's coming into focus for millions on Social Security is that there won't be a cost of living adjustment next year. That's because the cost of living adjustments (COLA) have been buried in shady statistical reporting from the government which says on average, prices haven't budged in the past year.
But wait! My truth detector is screaming "BS!" Know why? First, since the amount of money being printed up continues to increase, just holding Social Security payments steady amounts to a purchasing power reduction. Secondly, John Wi8lliams' "Shadow government Statistics" site reports that actual inflation has been running more than 4% higher than officially reported inflation.
Then we had the latest bank failures report this weekend, including Guaranty Financial Group's operations in Texas and California. If you're keeping track, that's a total of 3,610 branches involved in failure and reorganizations since the IndyMac crisis last July.
From my view of the bank failure data, I would not be surprised to see as many as a thousand more bank failures in the next year or two. However, there are some optimists left on this front, such as Richard Bove of Rochdale Securities who sees only 150-200 more U.S. bank failures. We should be so lucky. Or, I think the old Yiddish expression goes something like "His lips to God's ears..." We should be so lucky.
So, what's become visible in the past week or two? Bank crisis is ugly, Social Security recipients are getting the Big BOHICA, and government will have to 'go Zimbabwe' at the printing presses.
Nouriel Roubini writes in the Financial Times this weekend that "the risk of a double-dip recession is rising". Quick - look surprised. --- But Wait! There's still more!
Remember that in the linguistics we're supposed to see the next round of new war breaking out this fall? How does this sound for going down that road, too? Hmmm. Let's see here: The Fed will continue buying Treasuries through at least October, the new war will be costing lots of dough, as will little goodies like stimuli plans.
A reasonable question for this hour on a Monday is "Will the public confidence break at some point? " Or, a little more directly "Isn't the Federal buying Treasury products a lot like writing yourself a check, cashing it, and then spending the result before anyone catches up?
Oh sure, it is! Why, ifs you and I were to do that, it would be called "check kiting" and we'd go to jail. How does it work?
Just so we're really clear on this: If you or I were to go on a check kiting spree, we'd be tossed in the Big House for 3 to 5. However, when government does it, it's passed off by the mindless MainStreamMedia [MSM] as "sound financial policy." Doesn't anyone have to pee in a cup in Washington?
The only - and I mean the only silver lining to all this is that it supplies my pastime of documenting how the Second Depression rolls with an unlimited amount of material to write about.
Greasers and Greasees You saw where the price of oil is up to around $74 on hopes of an economic recovery? Good news and bad here: First, it's a sign the happy talk is working (so don't think too long on the check kiting deal, OK?) but the downside is that the 'get out of inflation jail' free card now turns and as energy prices recover, the cost of living will soar, which will screw over fixed income retired and Social Security recipients just that much harder. You be the greasee.
Greece Fire All kinds of grim videos come out of Greece where wildfires are burning out of control. --- Still working on your garden? Getting food is about to become globally challenging - which is why I've been writing about the need to learn gardening skills. In California, "Water cops crack down in drought areas" and in China, 5-million people are critically short of water due to drought. --- Another sign of Depression 2: America's crazy, no make that insane purchases of bottled water are slowing and economic reality drives home that tap water is just as thirst quenching as designed water.
Say Wen Of course, you're not alone in your suffering. China's premier Wen Jiabao is on major economic stimulus plan of his own. It's becoming the thing to do if you run a country and there's a Global Depression emerging.
A little study will suggest that the whole globalist economy was designed and built on the 'constant expansion model' which presumes that growth can continue in perpetual motion machine-like fashion. Well, don't tell anyone this, but at some point, given constraints and bounds, the only way out is check kiting. Robert Mugabe just happened to go hyperinflationary first. He won't be the last.
Brown Knows Let me see: Gordo the Gold-Seller Brown meets with Libya's Gaddafi, gets oil and gas deals signed (since the North Sea oil fields are in fast decline now) and then releases the Lockerbie bomber who gets a hero's welcome in Libya.
You were wondering why I don't bow to royalty and view Brown with contempt?
News From the Throne Room Reader's Digest is going through a restructuring. Not sure, but based on an informal survey, I think this may be the most-read publication in bathrooms across America...Would have thought they'd have been flush enough to avoid bankruptcy. (rimshot)
Wave Goodbye You see where a rogue wave from Hurricane Bill dragged 20-people out to sea off the coast of Maine? Killed a seven year old girl...
Wanna But A Gun? Here's a new kind of circular reference: Police in Colorado Springs have seized enough guns from the bad guys that the cash strapped city is looking at selling them at auction. $10-grand a year or more, they're figuring.
Wonder if the city fathers (& mothers) have considered a City eBay & CraigsList Office? You just know that such offices would more than pay for themselves in the big towns like L.A., Chicago and Dallas. Far too simple, I'm sure. Let's appoint a committee to study this for five years, first.
See? I'm not a gloomster - always ready to lend fresh thinking and positive courses of action, LOL...
But, seriously, why aren't GSA disposers of stuff putting it on eBay so the rest of us can get a shot at the goodies without middlepersons making the phat? --- Certainly oughta be looked at in Philly where a doomsday budget is being eyed.
--- snip and save section ---
Coping: Feelings and Memeering The headline in the NY Times about the "Mining the Web for feelings, not facts" has gotten me to thinking about the curious role the web plays in feeding back to us how we're doing.
Once upon a time, people were very much in direct contact with how they were doing. Back in cave man (and cave woman) days, if you were very hungry, you weren't working very hard. On the other hand, if you were able to work little and eat well, that was a good thing. Your five senses told you how you were doing.
Then came tribal formation, and with it, the first taste of government. Other members of the tribe began to impose their assessment of how you were doing; laying it on you. If you didn't agree, and more particularly if you didn't conform, the tribe would take action against you.
This tradition continuers today, except the 'tribal' decision-making is now embodied in government - which still claims (often) spurious rights to impose its will on how you should live.
Since in the modern world, we can't just wander off from the 'tribe' (world's too crowded for that) about all individuals can do is go join groups that will give them the kind of feedback and mirroring that they're really after. Which explains FaceBook and other social network successes.
People don't spend much time pondering such things, figuring they are probably obvious. But next time you click a web site, ask yourself this: "Is the web site providing me with useful/actionable information, or am I going there because I am basically a weak-willed sheep who needs to get reinforcement from others of a particular stripe in order to validate my lousy life?"
The crazy part is that living in a world where everything is being monetized (including as the Fed buying Treasuries proves, we're even now monetizing the monetizing), even your feelings are being bundled up and so back to you.
Is this a great country and is technology cool, or what?
Feelings on the Web, 2 OK, so having your feelings and habits tracked on the web is old news. But what happens when people get angry at one another and put up web sites calling each other out?
That's what seems to have happened as the so-called "Skank blogger demands $15 million from Google" as a couple of models went at it over the net.
And here you thought flame-wars on fora were interesting...
Monday Management Notes: Word Up Something to keep an eye on next month: The lawsuit over Microsoft's use of XML is headed for court. This is a biggie because a judge in East Texas has ordered Microsoft to stop selling Word in 60-days following the suit by Canadian i4i.
I mention this because I have been thinking about a new computer
for a while. I replace my computer every two years and
upgrade software at the same time, and at the moment I'm
inclined to install Microsoft Office Standard 2007 FULL VERSION
Still, with the suit pending, I find myself looking at the feature set in OpenOffice 3.1 (video of the feature set improvements here).
The idea of going OpenOffice means going Open Source and if I do that, there are some compelling reasons to consider going to Linux for an operating system, perhaps with Ubuntu 9.04.
Top be sure, not all manufacturers of computers are putting Linux compatible drivers out, and getting things like a wifi card to work can be a bit mysterious if you're used to the relatively straightforward wireless networking within XP or Vista.
What's really disappointing though, is that I can't seem to find a really powerful computer with huge storage capability that comes in the 17" (or larger) laptop format. One of the reasons for upgrading is that my hard drive demands are immense. A dozen web sites, years and years of files and so forth.
But, manufacturers of laptops seem to be unable to comprehend that the Open Source movement is real...and the average Linux laptop that comes plug & play wifi ready seems to have a hard drive of a wimpy 80-GB.
Monday research project: If price were no object, where would you find it? I put in laptop plus 500 GB on eBay and I get more than 400 results. Add 'Linux' to that and the results go to zero.
Would I contemplate Linux is it came with 500 GB, a 17" or better monitor, and wifi ready with OpenOffice installed? Sure! But for now, looks like a quad core Vista box with 64-bit may be the answer. But I'm hopeful that the Second Depression will be good for open source.
Why not install Linux myself and tune it up? Sorry, when I write a check for a solution, I want to hit the ground running and not have any screw around time. I buy solutions, not new kinds of problems.
Wonder if OpenOffice handles the new .docx and .xlsx formatted documents?
Before the chart, a little background: Once upon a time, a long while ago, I observed during my quest for 'truth' in economics, that the PowersThatBe, the talking heads on the teeve, and the other information sources that actively engage in the programming of humans not to think, had conveniently swept several trillions of dollars that disappeared in the Internet Bubble's bursting (since spring 2000) under the rug. Surely, it wasn't unnoticed by the thousands of people who called brokers and said "Where is my money?" "Gone, but hang in there as you're a long term investor!" was about all they heard back.
So one of our charts for Peoplenomics subscribers oughta be widely circulated - it shows that if you line up the peak of the Dow in January 2000 with the peak in early September of 1929, we're on a very very close replay track. Much closer than even the chart shows if you were to back out inflation, and put in the effects of 1929 deflation, but that'd be real work, and I'm sort of lazy if the truth be told.
No, it's not a perfect replay of 1929, but history doesn't repeat exactly, it only rhymes. So think of this as the rhymes and the crimes chart:
"George, that's only a coincidence!" your monkey-mind will protest.
Why sure it is...you bet. A 9½ year long coincidence...yessir....just a coincidence, I'm sure...
Write when you get rich,
George Ure, The People's Economist |
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because I use Outlook to pretty much run my life. At under
$300, it's good software and being a bit of a power user, I
really find many of the functions quite useful.
