This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
(I receive no compensation from any entry on this blog.)
The answer to enegy costs is NOT finding more carbon based fuels, its giving them up and using 'natural' forms of energy such as wind and solar.
...OPEC President Chakib Khelil said because Opec members produce about 300,000 barrels a day more than the official quota of close to 29 million barrels, the total reduction by the end of the year would be about 1.8 million barrels a day. Mr Khelil rejected the suggestion that the decision would hurt the global economy. "There's not going to be any impact on inflation, there's not going to be any impact on growth." Opec oil ministers said that they would review their decision at their next meeting in December, leaving open the possibility of further cuts beforehand if necessary....
Another Republican 'technology' wrongly applied. People are NOT consumer goods. They walk, talk and think which does not lend to 'inventory control.' Another WASTE of the USA Treasury.
Compliance Remains King among Consumer Goods Manufacturers Says ABI Research, but Other Benefits Begin to Prompt RFID Adoption (click here) Last update: 10:03 a.m. EDT Oct. 1, 2008 ...According to research director Michael Liard, "While compliance remains the primary motivator for RFID uptake in the consumer goods sector (in contrast to the overall RFID market) respondents to this ABI Research survey cited three other considerations that increasingly influence their decisions to trial and deploy the technology. They are: ease of scalability, business process improvement, and removal of human intervention."...
But is 'securing' inventory paying off? Is 'compliance adding expense to consumer products in a way that burdens inventories?
Attrition is a fact of life in the marketing of any product. That attrition should be statistically tracked and added into cost components for products. There is nothing wrong with security and maintaining the integrity of inventories from theft and fraud, however, the 'idea' that every item can be tracked to purchase is a bit 'ideological.'
There was a time when this form of 'inventory tracking' was considered a benefit to national security. Has that proven to be the case or does this overburden business costs with components of unproven fear?
At the borders of the USA, do we want machines dictating the traffic across those borders?
I don't think so. There is nothing like finger prints or retinal scans to insure compliance with indenity 'insurance.' Scanners that are also double checked by human contact.
(click title to entry. thank you) ....The information in these tags could be copied on to another, off-the-shelf tag, which might be used to impersonate the legitimate holder of the card if a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents at the border see the card itself, the researchers said. Another danger is that the tags can be read from as far as 150 feet away in some situations, so criminals could read them without being detected. Although the tags contain personal information, they could be used to track a movements through ongoing surveillance, they said. Another danger is that hackers could cause EDLs to self-destruct by sending out a certain number, they said....
Madonna never knew the security of fidelity with Richie. Will she ever?
...The singer was reportedly plagued by suspicions the British director preferred his former flame Tania Strecker - a 6ft tall model with 37 in legs - especially after Tania claimed Guy was still seeing her when he began romancing Madonna....
When the markets are this depressed, the 'incremental' issues of profit and loss turn up like sore thumbs. Fine tuning what seem like 'minor' impacts on the bottom line will only increase exponentially in their benefit of redress when markets pick up again. Kindly click on title to entry. Thank you.
...Research has uncovered a great imbalance in retailer-supplier negotiations. Using a database compiled from a group of more than 400 suppliers, over 15,000 trade promotions were analysed across 30 different categories over the past five years. Incredibly, it has found that over the past year, the leading grocery retailers held on to 86% of the total incremental profits generated from "joint" retailer-supplier promotional activity. Many suppliers may not even know the exact figure for their business. And worse still for them, this lion's share of profit being kept by retailers has grown by 10% in the past five years. What's more, the percentage of sales made on promotions are increasing each year for heavy promoters. The data shows that 46% of suppliers now sell 40% of volume on promotions - up from 16% of organisations three years ago. A Cabinet Office report earlier this year showed that £10bn-worth of food is thrown away each year, and that we should cut back our spending.The Government has claimed that buy-one-get-one-free-style promotions, key consumer goods sales tools, are a major contributory factor to this level of waste. But price promotions play an important part in driving volume through consumer goods companies' factories. Not surprisingly, therefore, the smart money is going into finding ways of redistributing the wealth - by increasing the manufacturer's share of the promotional profit pie. This is because trade spend is probably the biggest area of expenditure where there is genuine scope for immediate and significant improvement. It is the biggest "win". As they say in the US, just do the maths. A company making a bottom line 10% margin, spending 20% on trade promotions, only has to increase trade spend efficiency by 1% to generate a 2% improvement in bottom-line profitability. In spite of this, there are still consumer-goods manufacturers stuck in the past, bemoaning the rising cost of manufacturing on the one hand and the increasingly aggressive retailer on the other. The traditional, default solution is to cut "discretionary spending", and at the top of this list is usually advertising investment. The argument is that "brand preference" is less important than "promotional discount" at a time of economic downturn, and that short-term volume returns (and sometimes profit) are almost always higher for promotional activity. With the packaged-goods sector investing nearly £2bn each year in advertising, cutting back media spend in order to fuel trade promotions seems like an easy answer. But the evidence suggests that this approach may be more flawed than even the most ardent advocate of (or apologist for) media spend might imagine - not least because it makes no allowance for a long-term advertising effect. More enlightened thinking now favours looking at advertising and promotional strategy as interdependent pillars. One should not be compromised to the advantage or otherwise of the other. The advertising needs of the brand, which are usually long-term, have an enormously important role to play, provided their role is properly co-ordinated with promotions. Swapping one for the other is less effective than introducing a programme of promotional best practice which can benchmark your performance against that of your peers....
With a long history of volatility, the Nikkei took a 10% decline. But, here again is another bailout plan scheduled for 2009. A 'reserve pool' is probably a better approach and any fiscal relief from the pool can be measured before it is released in anticipation of volatility.
East-Asian leaders set up regional economic safety net (click here) Albuquerque Express Friday 24th October, 2008 East Asian leaders have agreed to set up an 80-billion-dollar fund by mid-2009 to fight the global economic crisis. A major Japanese share fall during the week provided the impetus for the meeting, in which leaders of South Korea, China, Japan and the ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, agreed to accelerate multilateral cooperation to create an 80 billion dollar fund and establish an independent market surveillance organization for the entire region. The new fund will take the place of the Chiang Mai Initiative, which came into being in 2000 in the wake of the 1997/98 East Asian financial crisis.
2008-10-24 00:51:58 BEIJING, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- China welcomed the scheme to establish a foreign exchange reserve pooling arrangement under the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as China, Japan and Republic of Korea, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said here on Thursday. "The ASEAN members plus China, Japan and Republic of Korea, had unanimously agreed on the arrangement," he said at a regular press conference....
Former Minnesota Two Term Republican Governor endorces Barak Obama. (click here) Arne Carlson has been a bit of a maverick as he became a Republican after first signing on as a Democrat. His turn in the Governorship was hard fought and he won by a narrow margin of 3%. He served for two terms while staving off a hostile and ultra-conservative Minnesota Republican Party. He was not his party's favorite, but, he was the people's favorite.
We face serious problems, and he's shown the idealism, but also the discipline, to address them. By ARNE H. CARLSON Last update: October 23, 2008 - 7:17 PM
Without question, this election will be the most important in my lifetime. Traditionally, national campaigns have focused on which party and which candidate could best improve our lot in terms of peace and prosperity. Today, I truly believe our very survival as a successful and independent nation is at stake. This may all sound dramatic, but consider the following: •We are engaged in a war that should never have been launched and does not lend itself to an easy exit. •Our true national deficits when put on the accrual system of accounting exceed $53 trillion, or $450,000 per household. Much of that debt is owned by other nations, including Japan and China. •Since the 1970s we have promised ourselves that we would significantly reduce our dependency on foreign oil, but every effort toward success was offset by the allure of cheap oil, SUVs and massive trade deficits, and our dependency has increased. •The American dream of a growing middle class continues to be threatened. In April of this year, the Pew Research Center found that "for decades, middle-income Americans had been making absolute progress" and then concluded, "but since 1999, they have not made economic gains." In the six months since that finding, the middle-class plight has significantly worsened, with the mortgage and liquidity crisis along with growing fears of a deep recession. Politically, the Republican Party and its candidates are in full flight from this wreckage and the name "Bush," while Democrats continue to pin the tail on the elephant. It had been my hope that Sen. John McCain would have seen these series of challenges as an opportunity to redefine the Republican Party as Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower had done. This would require a global vision, financial discipline and a sense of confidence reflecting the best in American idealism. The choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as a running mate, and the resultant shallow campaign based on fear and suspicion, looks frighteningly similar to the politics of Karl Rove. Sen. Barack Obama arrived on the political scene as a wind of freshness, unity and idealism. He saw America as it could be if we reached across all divides. This long, grueling campaign has revealed a remarkably disciplined and focused leader who has the potential to become a truly great president. President John F. Kennedy spoke of the opportunity of America to pass the torch of leadership to a new generation. This is entirely appropriate for today's history, in that we need the benefit of a longer-term vision on the compelling issues of our time, ranging from global warming to exercising financial discipline. Obama is the right choice for these challenging times. Arne H. Carlson was governor of Minnesota from 1991 to 1999.
If it weren't so hippocritical she could probably get away with it. But, this is typical Republican Welfare and I don't buy it for one minute that if she were ever to be elected all the clothes would go for a charity auction.
She defined herself as 'folksy. One of the little people. Then she turned right around and dresses like she owns the dress shop. Who was that actress? She went to the Academy Awards wearing a white t-shirt from The Gap. Sorry, it was a black t-shirt. Sharon Stone (click here).There is something to be said about 'Being Brave' and Sharon Stone was exactly that. She took the opportunity to be 'in the spot light' with a simple t-shirt from The Gap and who knew? Sharon could get away with anything and look great.
The Republicans are playing 'the glamour' card and they are trying to 'display' Palin as a women in control. In control of her family, her career and her money. When in fact the money isn't her money. It belongs to those "Joe the Plumber" folks and Hockey Moms that send the RNC $100 or $25 on campaign stops. It's outrageous. It simply is exactly that.
If the clothing were paid for by her it would even be a different discussion, but, it is paid for by contributions from people that donate to their campaign. I don't care if Republicans think its great she looks like the ultimate Republican Barbie Doll, it is a matter of principle. But, alas, if Republicans had principle we won't be looking to spending billions upon billions on illegal wars and bank bailouts.
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...They included a whopping $75,062 shopping spree at Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, one for $49,425 from Saks Fifth Avenue, $4,902 at Atelier, a stylish men's store, and even a $92 romper and matching hat with ears for baby Trig at Pacifier, a Minneapolis baby store....
Tina Fay get ready. This SNL should be one to die for !
"Plumbers for Obama" (click here) - T-shirt $30.00 and change. Doesn't go to any campaign. Its just for the fun of having a T-shirt that support "Plumbers for Obama."
At the Web page "YesWeCarve.com," users can submit photos of their political pumpkin carvings or upload stencils so others can create their own campaign advertising for their door step (Photo from YesWeCarve.com).
Ex-Bush Aide McClellan Praises Stone's `W' as `Fairly Straight' (click here) By Alison Fitzgerald Oct. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Former White House press secretary Scott McClellan praised director Oliver Stone for trying to ``play it fairly straight'' in his new film about President George W. Bush, `W.' ``Even if he misses the mark sometimes, he deserves credit for the glimpses of inner truth he provides, which can only be instructive, especially as we prepare to elect a new president,'' McClellan said in a posting on the Web site ``The Daily Beast.'' ``Stone tries to play it fairly straight.'' McClellan was a public face and voice of the White House, first as deputy press secretary then as chief spokesman, for the first six years of Bush's presidency. This year he published a memoir in which he said the president used a ``political propaganda campaign'' to justify going to war in Iraq. McClellan, 40, said Stone's film gives an exaggerated portrait of Bush as simple-minded and ``merrily oblivious.'' He said Bush is a man of ``deep personal faith who may have felt a calling to enter politics, but he never came across to me as presuming to know God's will.'' Overall the film is ``good, not bad,'' McClellan concludes. To contact the reporters on this story: Alison Fitzgerald in Washington at Afitzgerald2bloomberg.net; Last Updated: October 17, 2008 12:46 EDT
8,691.25 +172.04 +2.02% About 8500. Any losses in the markets globally haven't gone over 4% except for one in South America. Even with Japan dumping cash into their markets yesterday.
Maybe, the fluctuations have slowed a bit.
Let's see....yep. The currencies haven't settle down yet. I think they will. The USA Dollar is over valuated right now.
CURRENCIES Dollar gives back gains as Dow recovers (click here) By Lisa Twaronite, William L. Watts & Nick Godt, MarketWatch Last update: 5:02 p.m. EDT Oct. 23, 2008 SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The dollar slipped against major rivals Thursday, as foreign exchange markets took their cue from volatile equities trading and rising risk appetite as U.S. blue chips managed to end a whipsaw session higher....
Halliburton Brings Strong Quarterly Revenues, Remains Optimistic About Oil and Gas Industry, an Industrial Info News Alert Posted 22 October 2008 @ 07:15 am EST SUGAR LAND, TX -- (Marketwire) -- 10/22/08 -- Researched by Industrial Info Resources(Sugar Land, Texas) -- On Monday, October 20, Halliburton Company(NYSE:HAL) (Houston, Texas) reported its earnings for the third quarter of2008. The company brought in consolidated quarterly revenue of $4.9billion, up 24% from the third quarter of 2007. Halliburton's net incomeof $687 million, however, represented a decrease from the $727 million ofrevenues earned in 3Q07, a quarter in which Halliburton took advantage ofpreviously unrealized tax credits. Additionally, in a new releaseregarding the earnings, Halliburton stated, "The hurricanes in the Gulf ofMexico negatively impacted third quarter revenue by approximately $74million." Industrial Info is currently monitoring more than $1 billion ofHalliburton's projects in the U.S., as well as other internationalprojects.
In recent weeks: -- More than 20 million video disc copies of a film called "Obsession: Radical Islam's War Against the West" were included as advertising supplements in newspapers across the country, many in battleground states where Obama is in a close fight with Republican candidate John McCain. The film, distributed by a private group unaffiliated with the McCain campaign, features suicide bombers, children being trained with guns, and a Christian church said to have been defiled by Muslims. -- A city council candidate in Irvine, California, who is a Muslim convert, said he got a telephone call saying "I want to cut your head off just like all the other Muslims deserve," the Los Angeles Times reported. -- A mosque in a suburb of Chicago, Obama's home city, was vandalized four times in less than two months, with anti-Islamic messages left on its outer walls, and windows and doors broken...
Credit crisis sends wool price tumbling Wednesday, 22/10/2008 A wool trading company says the wool market experienced a significant drop in prices overnight, because of the global financial crisis. BWK Elders trading manager John Roberts says overnight prices dropped by 62 Australian cents, one of the biggest falls this year. He says his company didn't buy any wool overnight, because markets like China are experiencing credit problems and didn't make any orders. "This has been on the cards for a while, currency has been assisting to some extent, but I think with a very large offering this week, that's certainly released the pressure valve a bit and things started to really tumble."
Carl Leubsdorf: McCain blew it by steering off course 01:38 PM CDT on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 In endorsing Barack Obama, Colin Powell said he was disappointed and troubled by John McCain's "narrow" campaign approach and the promise of a further "rightward shift" in a McCain administration. In particular, he cited the choice of Sarah Palin as vice president and the likelihood Mr. McCain would name at least two more conservative Supreme Court nominees. Mr. Powell not only gave an insight into his own beliefs but illustrated how Mr. McCain has undercut his own candidacy. If he loses, as polls indicate is likely, the principal reason will be the advantage Democrats have enjoyed as a result of this year's poor political climate for Republicans. But a contributing factor has been Mr. McCain's decision to emulate the Bush approach in the two previous elections, with strongly conservative positions and rhetoric.
Learn the truth about Obama's experience Published Wed, Oct 22, 2008 12:00 AM I'm tired of hearing about Barack Obama's lack of experience. In the U.S. Senate, he's served on the Foreign Relations; Homeland Security; Veterans Affairs; and Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committees. He served eight years in the Illinois state Senate. He graduated top of his class at Harvard Law School and was president of the Harvard Law Review. He earned a degree in political science, specializing in international relations. He worked in Chicago as a community organizer. He helped initiate an effective job training program, college preparatory tutoring program, and a tenants' rights organization. In three years, the Developing Communities Project grew from a staff of one and budget of $70,000, to a staff of 13 and budget of $400,000. He was a civil rights attorney for nine years and a lecturer/professor on Constitutional law at the University of Chicago for 12 years. In the U.S. Senate he's sponsored 570 pieces of legislation; in the state Senate it was 823. His first law was passed with Republican Tom Coburn, a measure allowing Americans to go online to view how every dime of their tax dollar is spent. He's also been the lead voice in championing ethics reform, rooting out Jack Abramoff-style corruption in Congress. He traveled to Russia with Republican Dick Lugar to begin a new generation of non-proliferation efforts designed to find and secure deadly weapons around the world. Become educated, voters. Please don't buy into untruths and hype without checking the facts. Helaine Kinsey Lady's Island
October 22, 2008 Citizen Arrest of Karl Rove Fails Code Pink protester Janine Boneparth tried to place former Bush administration aide Karl Rove under citizen arrest at the Mortgage Bankers Association in San Francisco yesterday. As Boneparth tried to arrest him for treason while speaking on stage, Rove "elbowed the woman away as she was escorted off the stage." A total of five Code Pink activists were removed from the building, but no one was charged.
Pardon Me?: The Constitutional Case Against Presidential Self-Pardons
Brian C. Kalt August 1, 1974. As Richard Nixon's presidency rapidly neared its end, his aides outlined his options. One possibility discussed was for Nixon to pardon himself and then resign. His lawyers prepared a short memorandum concluding that a self-pardon would be legal.1 Nevertheless, Nixon decided against a self- pardon, resigned, and left his fate in the hands of President Gerald Ford.2 Christmas Eve 1992. President George Bush had lost his bid for reelection and would be in office for only one more month. Special Prosecutor Lawrence Walsh had persisted in his pursuit of Iran-Contra suspects. Bush decided to pardon several of them, leaving himself as the most prominent prosecutable figure.3 Several commentators speculated that Bush might pardon himself for his role in the scandal, and many assumed that such an act would be valid.4 One stated, "[F]or a president to pardon himself would, admittedly, be an act of unprecedented chutzpah, but the Constitution does not forbid it, containing nothing that circumscribes the power ...."5 Others disagreed, including Walsh and his staff.6 As one commentator wrote: "We have not recognized… Kalt, Brian C.. “Pardon Me?: The Constitutional Case against Presidential Self-Pardons,” The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 106, No. 3 (Dec., 1996), pp. 779-809
Veteran reporter Judith Miller joins Fox News Mon Oct 20, 2008 4:57pm EDT By Paul J. Gough NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller, who spent 85 days in jail for contempt of court during the Valerie Plame affair, has joined the Fox News Channel as a contributor, the network said Monday. Miller will be an analyst at Fox News on security and international affairs and write for FoxNews.com. Before joining Fox News Channel, Miller was a New York Times reporter for 25 years. She was jailed in 2005 when she declined to reveal the name of a confidential source to a federal grand jury investigating Plame's unmasking as a CIA operative. Miller won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting about terrorism and has written about that topic and many others. She also is an adjunct at the Manhattan Institute. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
By JUSTIN ROOD October 14, 2008 President Bush sidetracked a congressional probe by wrongly invoking executive privilege, according to a draft bipartisan congressional report released today. The outing of former CIA undercover operative Valerie Plame, left, was the focus of a congressional probe. According to a draft bipartisan congressional report released Tuesday, President Bush sidetracked the investigation by wrongly withholding documents relating to Vice President Dick Cheney's role in the affair. (AP Photos) This June, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee served a subpoena to the Justice Department for reports of interviews between FBI agents and Bush and Cheney. The interviews had been conducted for former Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald's probe into the outing of former CIA undercover operative Valerie Plame, which concluded last year. The House panel was conducting its own inquiry into the matter. The White House objected to the committee's subpoenas, and the panel dropped its efforts to obtain the Bush transcript, the draft report said. But the committee said it reiterated its request for the Cheney report, even threatening a contempt citation for Attorney General Michael Mukasey if the document was not produced.
Tue Oct 21, 2008 6:02pm EDT HOUSTON, Oct 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Justice has evidence that Albert "Jack" Stanley, former head of Halliburton Co's (HAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) KBR Inc (KBR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) unit and others may have possibly engaged in bid-rigging on foreign construction contracts, Halliburton said in a regulatory filing on Tuesday. "In September 2008, the DOJ informed Halliburton and KBR that Mr. Stanley admitted to bid-rigging, claimed that others knew about it, and stated that the DOJ feels it has a viable wire fraud case based on bid-rigging," Halliburton said in quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Stanley, a former KBR chief executive officer, pleaded guilty in September to charges involving a scheme to pay $180 million in bribes to Nigerian government officials to win work on the $6 billion Bonny Island liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant....
...``Cheney's brief, all in all, encompassed most of the core concerns of any president,'' Gellman writes. ``Angler'' reads like a series of detailed case studies, and Cheney emerges as a savvy, sometimes vengeful master of the Washington game -- a man who used his influence to redefine the U.S. presidency, giving it powers that most constitutional experts denied it had. Wiretaps Without Warrants An early test came with a directive Addington drafted after the Sept. 11 attacks. The document asserted the president's authority to sanction warrantless wiretaps on U.S. citizens. Three years later, this program led to a showdown, grippingly described by Gellman, at the hospital bedside of then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. It ended after a resignation threat by FBI Director Robert Mueller and several top Justice Department officials prompted a startled Bush to reverse his decision by giving the attorney general the right to certify wiretap requests. Unlike other reporters, Gellman doesn't argue that Cheney usurped the presidency outright. He tells of times when, as he puts it, Bush grabbed back the steering wheel....
...The addition of ABS might help slow the soaring death rate of bikers in Florida that spiked after Gov. Jeb Bush signed a law in 2000 that repealed the state’s mandatory helmet law.
Florida exempted adult motorcyclist and moped riders from wearing helmets providing they have medical coverage of $10,000. This resulted in an estimated 48 percent increase in motorcycle rider deaths the following year, and a jump of more than 81 percent in the three years after the repeal took effect according to NHTSA. In Florida from 2006 to 2007, more than 16 percent of all traffic fatalities were motorcyclists. 521 lost their lives, as well as 29 passengers of motorcycles, according to the Division of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles....
A = Popular Vote B = Electoral College In reality A = B
The way to predict that is to find the fractional differences between the two and apply it to raw polling results. Anyone applying those principles should be able to predict the outcome of the Presidential vote in November.
No, I am not going to do it for anyone. Do it yourselves. You can if you try.
HINT :: Historical Data and allow for population/voter registration changes. It isn't easy to get your mind around.
There has to be something in their calculations that factor in the 'fractional' differences between popular and electoral college vote. I'm fairly sure that is what Zogby and AP are picking up. I don't believe they are outliers. That '1%' margin reported by AP today in favor of Obama is the 'electoral college' factor in their calculations. I don't believe that is reflective of the popular vote.
Somehow the component AP and Zogby use in relation to the 'reality' of the electoral vote which does not necessarily reflect the outcome of the popular vote is 'weighted' stronger than other 'popular' factors in their calculations. And they are correct in weighting it that way IF one wants to be the most correct in the outcome of a Presidential election. If they both did calculations without that 'weighting' factor (raw scores of popular vote polling) they would have trends in the popular vote like anyone else.
That is my take on it anyway.
Oct 23, 5:45 AM EDT By ALAN ZIBEL AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of homeowners ensnared in the foreclosure crisis grew by more than 70 percent in the third quarter of this year compared with the same period in 2007, according to data released Thursday. Nationwide, nearly 766,000 homes received at least one foreclosure-related notice from July through September, up 71 percent from a year earlier, said foreclosure listing service RealtyTrac Inc. By the end of the year, RealtyTrac expects more than a million bank-owned properties to have piled up on the market, representing around a third of all properties for sale in the U.S....
I suggest Governor Crist get his act together. Folks are complaining of issues there. I wouldn't doubt there are going to be adverse circumstances to living in the Keys, actually.
There is a problem in the Gulf of Mexico and the Carribean. I noted the other day the plight of Belize. This is a serious set of circumstances. There has been chronic turbulence over those waters and at those latitudes. Government needs to pay attention. Belize is drenched and people have died there. Evidently, the Florida Keys are experiencing some of the same kind of issues.
The mess in these areas needs relief. The flooding is a symptom of chronic conditions in the Tropics and Subtropics. Just because the Keys belong to the USA doesn't mean that they are exempt from chronic Tropical conditions that disaffect lives. I just think we have to be vigilant and that sometimes gets away from authority when it isn't a state of emergency.
That turbulence in the Caribbean right now may very well culminate into being something soon.
Six Dead as Tropical Storm Fay Lingers in Florida (click title to entry - thank you) Updated 12:30 AM CDT, Thu, Oct 23, 2008 MIAMI, Florida, August 22, 2008 (ENS) - Floridians wish Fay would just go away, but the stubborn tropical storm that never became a hurricane is still hanging around and making life miserable across the northwestern part of the state....
Haiti storm damage estimated at $1 billion (click here) Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:59pm EDT By Joseph Guyler Delva PORT-AU-PRINCE, Oct 22 (Reuters) - The storms that have battered Haiti since August caused nearly $1 billion of damage, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Wednesday. "That's a lot for a country of 8 million people and there's been a terrible loss of lives," Zoellick told journalists as he concluded a three-day visit to Haiti. "The devastation is widespread and it makes your eye pop." The loss is enormous in a poor country whose gross domestic product was estimated at about $11.4 billion last year. Zoellick urged donors to give more money to help Haiti and compared the scale of the devastation by saying, "Imagine Hurricane Katrina had affected almost the whole country (the United States) and a much poorer country." Four tropical storms and hurricanes deluged Haiti in August and September, bringing floods that killed more than 800 people....
October 21, 2008 Key West, Florida Photographer states :: storm water around my apartment
GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian stocks hit 4-year lows on economy fears (click here) * Asian stocks slump on fears about global economy, earnings * Credit spreads surge on Argentina pension move * Dollar hits 2-yr high vs basket of currencies * Oil slumps to below $70 a barrel By Kevin Plumberg and Rafael Nam HONG KONG, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Asian stocks slumped to their lowest since December 2004 on Wednesday as poor U.S. corporate results and falling commodity prices fanned worries of a protracted global economic slowdown. The U.S. dollar surged to a two-year high against a basket of currencies on expectations that central banks around the world will react to slowing growth in their economies by catching up to this year's deep interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve....
Just because it appears as though the USA Dollar is gaining in value doesn't mean the global crisis is over. It simply means that ALTHOUGH all currency is suffering losses due to the way their governments have been dumping money into circulation, the USA is trading higher today. It means NOTHING to the fact the USA dollar has grossly lost value CONSISTENTLY over the past year.
The 'thing' is this, Wall Street will trade currencies for profit as a means to maintain an edge against 'losses.' It may be that the USA Dollar is gaining in strength simply because other currenies are simultaneously lossing value due to the actions of their governments to release funds to banks.
THE ACTUAL 'value' of the currencies globally are masked by the turbulent reaction of the markets to escalating devaluation of currency with ever increasing debt. For the USA Treasury and or Federal Reserve to view any of these increases in US Dollar 'revaluation' as something substantial while still dolling out billions upon billions of 'unsecured' deficit spending is simply going to bring a larger collapse to the USA Dollar as other currencies begin to realize their folly and start to rein in their deficit 'free fall.'
The current Administrations in DC are riding the 'potential' of sustaining a revaluation of the USA currency, when in FACT it is NOTHING but margin and attempting to justify their actions in doing so. This 'free handed frenzy' at the Fed has to stop.
This is an article from a year ago that illustrates better what I am trying to convey.
April 13, 2007 Surprise Currency Trends in 2007 (click here) ...The U.S. dollar, which is down 2.1% versus the euro, has dropped 4.4% against the Hungarian forint, one of Europe's most heavily indebted currencies. Also, the Norwegian krone, one of the better-managed European currencies and a major oil exporter, has gained 3.8% this year -- no surprise there. But look at the Turkish lira, an EU candidate over the next few years. The Turkish unit has rallied 2.9% in 2007 against the dollar. But the best-performing European currency is the Slovak koruna, up 5.1% this year. Now that's a surprise, considering what a tiny economy the Slovak Republic sports compared to her larger European majors....
The Fed and US Treasury needs to stop playing Russian Rolette with global currencies if we are to stop this slide. They can't keep 'upping' the odds by their continued dumping of monies into the economy. As the USA Dollar increases in value, it isn't because the economy or assets of the USA has improved. It is because everything else is devaluating as well based upon the increase of debt abroad to assist stabilizing the markets.
The point is that this 'strategy' is NOT a good one. It is devaluating global currency on a slippery slope to what they 'hope' is stabilization. There is no guarantee to that and it looks more and more like guess work all the time. This needs to stop to acquire a plateau.
The assets of countries are even in flux. If you look to the OPEC nations as they find the demand for their product dropping; oil will not serve as an asset that continues to add stability to any currency. As a matter of fact, two years ago at a global sustainability summit, the OPEC nations wanted to know what will be done to add support to their economies when oil was no longer in high demand.
It isn't as though these folks don't understand that CHANGE is needed in the energy sector. These countries are aware of the frank reality of Climate Change and contribute to the enthusiasm to finding better energy and transportation solutions.
But, from the perspective of having 'stable' currencies, when the assets of a nation change in value on a daily if not moment to moment basis there is no 'real' way to stop the roller coaster ENOUGH to counter destabilizing trends.
What appears to be 'attempts' by US Treasury and Federal Reserve to bolster stability is done with haphazard optimism than real understanding of what is actually going to bring about currency and economic stability. Its a strategy conceived and conducted in 'hope' without real foundation in reality.
The infrastructure of the USA must be rebuilt to re-establish a solid base of income to its Treasury through a sustainable widened base of taxes. That is ONLY done through job creation and a re-invigoration of the USA consumer economy.
IF the USA debt begins to look manageable 'in the long view', as its economic optimism takes place, the national debt can even begin to look like a surplus and inflationary trends can be headed off at the pass, as other countries such as China continue to grow its infrastructure to accommodate its own economy and prosperity fueled by 'internal' need of its people as they achieve higher levels of quality of life.
Feeding off economies whereby there is no sustainable growth or job creation isn't even treading water so much as continually losing ground to 'real currency value.'
Bernanke and Paulson are wrong. This has to stop. They can't continue to allow debt based on the value of 'air.'
DTCC is a holding company established in 1999 to combine The Depository Trust Company (DTC) and National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC). (click title of entry above)
DTCC of U.S. to Buy LCH.Clearnet for EU739 Million (Update1) (click here) By Nandini Sukumar Oct. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. of the U.S. agreed to buy London's LCH.Clearnet Group Ltd. for 739 million euros ($951 million) to form the world's largest processor of trades in stocks, bonds, currencies and derivatives. DTCC will buy all of privately held LCH.Clearnet for as much as 10 euros a share, the companies said in an e-mailed statement today. Euroclear, LCH.Clearnet's largest shareholder, with 15.8 percent, has agreed to support the merger ``in principle.'' LCH.Clearnet has come under pressure as some of its largest customers, such as Intercontinental Exchange Inc., Europe's largest energy market, and NYSE Euronext's Liffe derivatives market, prepare to defect. The company has also faced competition from new rivals in Europe, including DTCC. The combination comes as regulators seek a central clearing house for credit-default swaps after unprecedented volatility in markets worldwide....
...In the United States, naked short selling is covered by various SEC regulations which, as of September 2008, prohibit the practice.[2] In 2005, "Regulation SHO" was enacted to curb the practice, requiring that broker-dealers have grounds to believe that shares will be available for a given stock transaction, and requiring that delivery take place within a limited time period.[3][4] As part of its response to the crisis in the North American markets in 2008, the SEC issued a temporary order restricting fails to deliver in the shares of 19 financial firms deemed systemically important.[5] Effective September 18, 2008, amid claims that aggressive short selling had played a role in the failure of financial giant Lehman Brothers, the SEC made permanent and expanded the rules to remove exceptions and to cover all companies.[6][7] Some commentators have contended that despite regulations, naked shorting is widespread and that the SEC regulations are poorly enforced, although the SEC has denied these claims. However, the SEC and others have also defended the practice in limited form as beneficial for market liquidity.[3] Its critics have contended that the practice is susceptible to abuse, can be damaging to targeted companies struggling to raise capital, and has led to numerous bankruptcies....
THE PROBLEM IS THIS. The Washington Republican Elite want people to believe that deregulation is the answer to all problems financial.
"W"RONG.
Deregulation CONTRIBUTES to global instability and abuses in the Financial Sector. Part of this 'movement' to deregulate at all costs, is based in frank greed !
We need to return markets to 'reasonable' growth rather than this 'Poker Game' that goes on today. I don't care if Wall Street is hitting its highest "Joy Button" since the markets exceeded $1000. It is causing grotesque problems in the lives of people and potentials of fiscal collapse of nations.
We need to stop providing impetus to instability. We need leadership with a steady hand and basic decency. In the case of DTCC, they will state they are not a regulatory agency and can't be responsible for issues relating to its 'clearing-house' activities. I basically find that an evasion of responsiblity by the courts, however, if institutions such as DTCC require regulation and guidance and complain they are not to blame because of the lack it, then let's provide exactly that and plenty of it ! We need a clear Democratic Majority in both houses and in the Executive Branch to bring this mess under control. The Republicans will never exhibit enough dicipline to do it themselves and the world is their osyter REGARDLESS of the state of the country or countries involved.
ENOUGH !!!
...DTCC subsidiaries clear and settle trades. (click here) Short selling and naked short selling are trading strategies regulated by the marketplaces and the SEC. DTCC is involved after a trade is completed at the marketplace. DTCC does not have regulatory powers or regulatory responsibility over trading or to forcing the completion of trades that fail. As the SEC has stated, fails can be the result of a wide range of factors. The SEC has also pointed out that their efforts, in promulgating Reg SHO to effectively safeguard extended fails associated with short selling or naked short selling have been successful in achieving their goal....
It is easy to tell when the global economy lost its footing. It started June 30, 2008.
One of the first places global instability is noted is in the chroncially turbulent African Rand. The Rand always is somewhat volatile simply because so much of its value falls in the area of commodities based in Consumer demands such as diamonds and oil. The fall of the Rand has never been this dramatic or profound. The global economy is a mess. Completely. We need a change in DC and we need it NOW !
...South Africa's currency also weakened as equities in Africa's biggest economy dropped. The benchmark FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index fell for a third day, headed for a fifth weekly decline. The rand had its biggest one-day slump since at least the end of apartheid in 1994, when it lost almost 18 percent on Oct. 15. Yesterday it reached the lowest level since August 2002....
BLOG: McCain backers heckle early voters (click here) Monday, October 20, 2008 PRINCETON, W.Va. — Over the last few days I've been through Southwest Virginia, down in North Carolina and now back up into the mountains on the West Virginia side near Bluefield for some stories about the political climate in red states....
GOP shifts gears in voter registration battle with secretary of state (click here) By William Hershey Staff Writer Wednesday, October 22, 2008 COLUMBUS — Ohio Republicans are bringing in state Attorney General Nancy Rogers and the U.S. attorney general in their ongoing squabble with Democratic Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner about mismatched voter registrations. On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Republican David Myhal withdrew his lawsuit from the Ohio Supreme Court asking that Brunner be compelled to instruct county boards of elections not to process or count absentee ballots cast by voters registered after Jan. 1 before reviewing them for mismatches....
No match, no vote and other election myths dispelled (click here) Sunday, October 19, 2008 (Bay News 9)--Pinellas County supervisor of elections Deborah Clark has heard the rumors circulating: no campaign clothing allowed at the polling place... your driver license address must match your address on file or you can't vote... absentee ballots aren't counted unless the race is close... and on and on and on. "This type of thing happens every presidential election, but these rumors and other issues need to be cleared up," Clark said. "We don't want voters to be discouraged from voting by mail or going to the polls on Election Day." Here are the most recent myths and issues, along with Clark's responses: Someone came to my door offering to deliver my ballot to the Elections Office. The Supervisor of Elections office was notified of two recent instances of individuals going door-to-door offering to deliver ballots to the Elections Office....
