AP Writer Calvin Woodward’s got it right in “PROMISES PROMISES: Obama tax pledge up in smoke…“
Welcome to the world of non-change change. We elect someone on the promise of bringing change and instead get higher taxes, an administration chock-full of ex-Clintonistas, a crappy economy and moving more troops to obscure places. So, where’s the change? I mean besides trying to disarm Americans and erase what’s left of the tattered Constitution that the Patriot Acts didn’t didn’t already dismember on the republicorps’ watch?
Oh, I’m sorry: Yes, there is change. I apologize. Now the government can ask for the head-on-a platter of a CEO if a big company doesn’t toe the mark. We haven’t seen the end of that yet, or so it seems from reading the CBS piece on Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s vision of a planned economy. Want to know how it all turns out this fall? Ever read a history of the Soviet Union.?
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Meantime, it doesn’t help, of course that the republicorps are doing their damnedest to scuttle any would-be economic recovery, since they were able to foist a steaming lump-o-crap economy off on the new kids (the Obama crew less Clintonistas). In fact, it sez right here — and this comes from Karl Rove so you know it must be true (sound of el Don being poured) that “The president is ‘keeping score‘” referring to his former boss.
And the evils of partisanship were further underscored as former veep-Dick “Cheney emerges from cave to attack Obama”. Ah, such behavior provides plenty of visual content for our resident cartoon genius Rebecca Price...
And so are we…for change. But, the more things ‘change’ the more they stay the same, huh?
Gee 20
One “demonstrator dies and 87 arrested following clashes with police” in the London where the G20 is trying to scheme their way out of global mass consumption paradigm crackup by coming up with a finer kind of paper.
One Brazilian official has spilt (sic) the beans that the G20 will raise funding of the International Monetary Fund by $1-trillion. Guess who’s gonna be writing that check?
Now, why do you suppose the IMF needs a trillion dollars? Well, a Wikipedia entry here oughta give you a clue:
“The role of the Bretton Woods institutions has been controversial since the late Cold War period, as the IMF policy makers supported military dictatorships friendly to American and European corporations. Critics also claim that the IMF is generally apathetic or hostile to their views of democracy, human rights, and labor rights. The controversy has helped spark the anti-globalisation movement. Arguments in favor of the IMF say that economic stability is a precursor to democracy; however, critics highlight various examples in which democratized countries fell after receiving IMF loans.[6]
In the 1960s, the IMF and the World Bank supported the government of Brazil’s military dictator Castello Branco with tens of millions of dollars of loans and credit that were denied to previous democratically-elected governments.”
So if you’re thinking to yourself “Are you saying mean this is all just to buy more old paradigm defending?” Hell yeah, fool! Here, take a green star for your efforts.
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And, as of this morning, it just got cheaper for the IMF and World Bank to make “loans” to developing countries, in return for which corporations seem to end up in control of public utilities and waterworks and such, as the ECB cut interest rates by 0.25%. And Trichet says it could go lower. yee-haw! Load up on free financial for third world assets!
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Lesson Learnt? The PTB has learned that the time to buy (or seize) assets is when blood is running in the streets. And unfortunately that’s not a figure of speech anymore, is it?
George The Book Pimp
Thanks to the rickety time machine project, I’ve enjoyed a pretty clear view of where things are headed here in the Land Of the… for almost 9-years, and for longer thanks to a ton of study in the field of longwave economics. But you don’t need a time machine…just an eye for good books will get you a leg up on the rest of the lemmings & sheep running about.
Not often I will come right out and pimp a book, but the arrival recently of Michael Panzner’s newest (which he forgot to autograph!!!) prompts me to come right out and endorse it because it will help you navigate through the crapstorm of ‘change’ going on all about.
Since this morning’s headline provide such a fine backdrop, here’s how the inside flap begins:
“Once the embodiment of prosperity, the United States now finds itself in a precarious position. With its financial system in shambles and global standing on the wane, many believe we are witnessing the end of the American era. In When Giants Fall, author Michael Panzner puts the coming age of post-American dominance in perspective, and addresses the far-reaching effects it will have on our lives, as well as the economic opportunities that will arise from it.
With this timely guide, Panzner describes how widespread economic changes—the product of growing conflict and wars, shortages, logistical disruptions, and a breakdown of the established political and monetary order—will impact businesses as well as investors, and discusses why individuals will be forced to rethink livelihoods, lifestyles, and living arrangements. He makes the case that for many people this will be nothing short of a modern Dark Ages, where each day brings fresh anxieties, unfamiliar risks, and a sense of foreboding.
However, for those enlightened few who understand what is really going on and what will likely happen next, the chaotic years ahead may well represent a singular opportunity—a time when you can realize goals you never thought possible and achieve a level of wealth and security that leaves you head-and-shoulders above everyone else. But to do this, you will have to understand how things got to where they are today and, more importantly, how they will play out in the future. When Giants Fall answers these and many other essential questions. From an examination of key economic, political, geopolitical, and social issues to the realities of earning a living, protecting and preserving wealth, running a business, and looking after loved ones, this practical guide provides a straightforward and comprehensive game plan for surviving—and thriving—in the uniquely unsettling years ahead.
The road ahead will be fraught with challenges that will be impossible for anyone to ignore or avoid—regardless of their current circumstances. But if you understand what’s going on, set out a viable plan, and remain focused, you can get through these troubled times unscathed. Engaging and informative, When Giants Fall offers cutting-edge strategies and much-needed direction that will allow you to achieve financial security and stability in an increasingly uncertain and dangerous world.
So yup, run right over to Amazon and get a copy of When Giants Fall: An Economic Roadmap for the End of the American Era
The books only shortfall? I haven’t found the reference to UrbanSurvival or Peoplenomics yet…but I’m still reading…
Implausible Deniability Department
Remember Maurice Greenberg? “AIG Problem not his fault says Greenberg: report“.
Lemme see….Greenberg left AIG in 2005 was it? And AIG-FP (financial products) unit was set up when? 1987 was it? And wasn’t Greenberg ultimately Joseph Cassano’s boss?
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Speaking of which, have you ever looked at the Famous Drexel Alumni list? The Bond Dude has been muttering about the current econopickle: “From the people who brought you junk bonds…” Shhhh…even if this is history rhyming on the South Seas Bubble….
Auto Sales What?
Suck.
NY Times notices hope. Do they put fluoride in NYC’s water?
Unemployment?
Markets?
Rally. See previous question about fluoridated water in NYC.
Fueling Controversy
North Korea is reportedly fueling its rocket that they’re about to test, much to the consternation of the Japan (and American) military types watching things.
Springtime Weather
A look at the radar over our part of East Texas at this hour shows a lot of rain coming down; so much so in fact that our satellite backup system is intermittent due to microwave absorption by the super-soggy clouds a whizzin’ by.
I see it’s storming over in Atlanta this morning, too.
And in the really really deep South – as in Australia, they’re up to their armpits and higher in flooding as the flip side of hell seems to be swimming lessons. When someplace is getting nearly 12-inches of rain in six hours, it puts even our East Texas gully-washers to shame. Not that we might not exaggerate a bit about East Texas rains, mind you. Probably wouldn’t be the first time that a Texas claim of 12 inches was claimed…er….
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Speaking of flooding and such: You saw where “Fargo resisted FEMA recommendation to evacuate”? I can’t help but wonder whether FEMA might have had a little more credibility if the KatRita disasters (not to mention illegal arms seizures) hadn’t happened? Takes a while to get over such imagery, I expect.
North Dakota is thanking South Dakota for help and Interstate 29 is reopened.
Not Yet Department
Despite a number of web sites which have popped up around the net proposing the ‘end of the world’ is coming from a solar ‘kill shot’, a sip or two of el Don features some reflection on the headline “Deep Solar Minimum” out of NASA.
“2008 was a bear. There were no sunspots observed on 266 of the year’s 366 days (73%). To find a year with more blank suns, you have to go all the way back to 1913, which had 311 spotless days: plot. Prompted by these numbers, some observers suggested that the solar cycle had hit bottom in 2008.”
All of which is not to say that the remote viewers who see such stuff in our future won’t be right at some point in the future. It’s just that the 11-year solar cycle watching ham radio operator in my (who follows this stuff because it’s what drives HF radio propagation) figures that if 2008 was the solar minima, then we have 5 1/2 years until the peak of solar activity, and even then, statistically speaking, the big flares happen on the backside of the cycle –0 after the peak. So, no, I am not putting a large hole in the ground, or looking for caves deep underground like the movie “Knowing” talked about. I may be wrong, but 2014 seems a lot more likely than 2012.
On the other hand, no one gets out of life alive, anyway so WTF.
Light’s Out
“CBS to flip the switch on “Guiding Light” which has been running for 72-years according to Guinness Book.
With more than 15-thousand back episodes (in fact almost 16,000) imagine how much hard drive space that would take up? No wonder we’ve had to develop cheap terabyte USB drives, huh?