Weaseldog's Lair

Black Friday madness reveals animalistic behavior of modern people

2011-11-25T10:56:00.001-08:00

An interesting editorial of Black Friday...

Who knew Robert Reich had a sense of humor?

2011-09-13T09:56:00.001-07:00

Report: Bank of America job cuts may hit 40,000

2011-09-09T07:45:00.000-07:00

Bank of America Corp., reeling from concerns over the size of its liability from troubled mortgages, has discussed cutting up to 40,000 jobs over several years as CEO Brian Moynihan battles to reduce expenses with a sweeping restructuring plan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.And i thought they continued to enjoy record profits from the ongoing bailout subsidy programs?I guess if the taxpayer is powering your business with free money, you don't need so many employees doing work.As we all know, nothing was fixed in the 2008 manufactured crisis. The endemic problems that provided cover for the massive bank bailout fraud continues to increase exponentially. But, we're assured, this time it's different.The last crisis was timed for the end of the election year. Perhaps this one will take place in the summer of 2012.But what will they steal from us this time? With fiscal responsibility being the election year meme, the banks may need to set their sights on other sources of wealth. There's a lot of gold hidden in IRAs, 401ks and pensions. Maybe the times has come for a little retirement raiding? It's not loike that haven't done it before.

Anders Behring Breivik

2011-07-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

July 22nd, 2011 marks another black day in the War On Terror.

This time the shot was fired from the Christian side. Radicalized Christian Anders Behring Breivik bombed several government buildings and opened fire in youth camp, killing a total so far of 92 people.

We've learned now that that he's a conservative known for anti-liberal screeds. Further he's expressed a hatred for Muslims and is in strong opposition to Palestinian statehood and the peace effort in the ME.

For this reason, he slaughtered 92 liberal Christians.

As I roamed the net looking for opinions on what people thought of this tragedy (before the shooter's motives were known), easily 15 to 1, expressed outrage against Muslims and called for genocide against all Muslims.

The sheer volume of posts by Conservative Christians who believe in the same things that Breivik believes in was staggering. For myself, I would much prefer a world that doesn't have constant ongoing religious wars between the followers of the descendants of Abraham. I read the screeds for genocide in horror.

These people didn't know anything about the assailant. But that didn't stop them from using his acts as justification to unleash even more death and misery in the world current Holy War.

A few voices spoke up now and then cautioning restraint, but they were easily drowned out.

Today some folks are ashamed that they expressed so passionately the same beliefs, that led Anders Behring Breivik to slaughter 92 fellow Christians. Others condemn his methods but continue to hold firm to their common beliefs.

Regardless, Anders Behring Breivik will be a polarizing voice in this debate. I don't think there can be any doubt that many people will see him as a hero. He hates liberals and Muslims. He turned his beliefs into acts.

Of course many people who agree with him and on the 21st might've even been fantasizing about what they'd like to to Liberals. We saw the Van Jones followers over the weekend kicked it up a notch by driving a MoveOn picnic out of a public park, then follow the folks to private property and continue their harassment while trespassing. The Sheriff was too busy to respond.

Some might take heart that Glenn Beck is out of the picture and his preachings of hate and intolerance are out of the picture, but someone will replace him soon enough. Heck, he might end up on Clear Channel...

This isn't the end folks. What Anders Behring Breivik did, won't be taken as a cautionary tale by those who hate liberals and Muslims with all of their hearts. He'll serve as a hero and an inspiration.

And for many of you that lashed out in fear and anger, then came to your senses. I'm glad you came around. Some of you have publicly expressed remorse. I applaud you for this. If the killer had escaped and remained at large, imagine what the consequences could've been for millions of innocent people, as the world cries out for vengeance against Muslims for deed perpetrated by a Christian, in his own private battle in the New Holy Crusade.

Jed Marum and a Future Fiddling Legend...

2011-07-20T11:31:00.000-07:00

Jed Marum will be playing at a local house party this weekend. If you live in the D/FW area, come out and see him and Don Gabbert http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifperforming live in a very personable venue.

Steve Hoare Found Dead

2011-07-18T12:52:00.000-07:00

The police force at the center of the bribery and corruption scandal, find nothing suspicious about the death of the man that got them busted.

From the Guardian article...

Sean Hoare, the former News of the World showbiz reporter who was the first named journalist to allege Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead, the Guardian has learned.

Hoare, who worked on the Sun and the News of the World with Coulson before being dismissed for drink and drugs problems, is said to have been found dead at his Watford home.

continued...

Some Perspective on the Calhoun Nuclear Power Station

2011-06-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

On June 21st, 2011, Stefan N. said, What you are saying is not untrue. However, much of it can be attributed to the public’s desire to know more than they are capable of understanding.

Being a publicly owned utility, we really cannot tell them to go away and let us handle it (nor should we for that matter). When dealing with complex events, there are often no 10 second sound bites that adequately describe what is going on. The public wants to know “is it safe”? Well, “safe” for who? In the current situation at Fort Calhoun; will the plant melt down spewing Chernobyl type radiation all over the Midwest killing hundreds if not thousands and polluting the water supply all the way down to New Orleans? No, not based on any currently concevable event, including the complete failure of Gavins Point dam.

Could the plant be damaged to a state that it could not start up causing economic hardship for the area. Yes, and that possibility is higher than we would like it.

In between is a wide range of scenarios. To top it off, we have the kooks like Nelson filling the public with BS, making things even more difficult. Often times this causes the appearance of untruth and people get confused. With the Fort Calhoun event, we have the company suits going on TV saying everything is OK. Even the most backward person looking at the faces of those working there know that it is not “OK”. However, we are looking at different meanings of “OK”. To the public, all they care is that no radiation escapes from the plant and that their lives are not impacted. In that regard, things are OK, for now. However, to a worker at the plant, things are far from OK. The chances for an injury are much higher than before. Half our fire exits are blocked with sandbags. There is no way to get an ambulance into the place if someone gets hurt or has a medical emergency. To top it off, if the plant is damaged to the point that it cannot be economically restarted, many of us will not have jobs when this is all over. So, we have a completely different definition of what is OK and what is not.

I have studied the accidents in the industry, including many that are unknown to the public. Many were covered up, or flat out lied about, particularly in the former Soviet Union and other plants abroad. Others, like TMI, were not lied about so much as they were not fully understood (in some ways, more of a problem). It is hard to get 100% accurate facts out, even if you want to do so, when you are dealing with a situation that nobody thought would happen in the first place.

It makes it worse when you actually believed your own BS and did not have instrumentation on hand to measure what was happening. The unintentional misinformation in those cases is really not the problem. The real problem is that with most “unforseen” events, the events were forseen and those that foresaw them were ignored. When the Fort Calhoun event is all said and done, I would be willing to bet that the story will be rather interesting.

Cooper Nuclear Power Plant

2011-06-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

River falls short of Nebraska nuke plant shutdown
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

OMAHA, Neb. – The bloated Missouri River rose to within 18 inches of forcing the shutdown of a nuclear power plant in southeast Nebraska buthttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif stopped and ebbed slightly Monday, after several levees in northern Missouri failed to hold back the surging waterway.

The river has to hit 902 feet above sea level at Brownville before officials will shut down the Cooper Nuclear Plant, which sits at 903 feet, Nebraska Public Power District spokesman Mark Becker said.

Flooding is a concern all along the river because of the massive amounts of water that the Army Corps of Engineers has released from six dams. Any significant rain could worsen the flooding especially if it falls in Nebraska, Iowa or Missouri, which are downstream of the dams.

continued...

Water Is Rising

2011-06-17T12:30:00.000-07:00

Nebraska

2011-06-16T04:13:00.000-07:00

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Debate for Governor of the Colonies

2011-06-14T05:09:00.000-07:00

The debate seemed to be a contest to see who Obama wasn't.

Which candidate do you think did the best job of proving that Obama is a different individual, somewhere else, doing other things?

Your morning radiation update.

2011-06-13T06:48:00.000-07:00

From Faire Winds Associates.

Hot Particles From Japan to Seattle Virtually Undetectable when Inhaled or Swallowed from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

CNN's John King interviews Arnie Gundersen about the Hot Particles discovered in Japan and the US. from Fairewinds Associates on Vimeo.

Free Market Capitalism

2011-05-26T11:53:00.001-07:00

How the Nuclear Industry Hides It's Death Toll

2011-05-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

Nuclear Ginza

We're sorry, but we were unable to complete your request.

2011-05-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

It looks like Google programming standards are slipping.

When commenting, without logging in first, blogger would save your work, log you in, then post your comment.

Now because of a crappy programming and lazy QA, blogger just throws the comments away.

When this first happened to me, I thought they'd fix it soon. But now it's gone on for weeks.

I assume they are having meetings every day, while they decide what to do about it.

Bronze Frogs?

2011-05-08T10:26:00.001-07:00

I think that's what they are. We're a little West of their range according to the Peterson Guide.

We've been getting toads every year since we put the ponds in. This is the first time we've seen true frogs.

I'm Walkin On Sunshine Woh! Oh!

2011-04-11T08:18:00.000-07:00

Here I am, breaking the rules of internet etiquette again.

My call for a bailouts in the first quarter of 2011, didn't come true. Sure, there are bailouts, we have POMO, we have the banks shimmed between the taxpayers and the Fed, skimming $billions in profits from gov debt, for doing nothing. these days, Welfare Queens don't drive Cadillacs. They drive high end Ferrari's, collect yachts and live in spacious Manhattan Penthouses.

but i was looking for something public. We didn't get that.

This time last year, I expect that that gasoline prices would rise in the fall. I was wrong. But they are certainly high now.

Mike Ruppert thinks the crash I was predicting, is coming by July.

We always have recessions following oil and gasoline price spikes. These price spikes drive up the cost of everything in the supply chains.

Earlier I was forecasting my impressions of where things were going and when. I got those wrong. But when it comes to major downturns after energy price spikes, that's a certainty. Mike may be right about July. i find it difficult to believe that the global economy can pay for ever increasing fuel prices into summer. Gasoline prices may hit $6/gal in parts of the USA, but I don't believe it will make it to $10/gal. We'll crash before that happens.

And now for a dedication to Henry Paulson, Timothy Geithner and Ben Bernanke.

"Empire of illusion" Chris Hedges full interview

2011-04-06T10:43:00.001-07:00

Jynxie and Dinari

2011-04-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

Two of the lions at InSync, getting acquainted.

Video of smashed interior at Fukushima nuclear plant

2011-04-04T11:36:00.000-07:00

Watch the lower left of the frame up to the 28 second mark. There appears to be the body of a person in a hazmat suit. The camera appears to be swinging on a boom, and this gives a good 3D perspective of the shape.

Video of smashed interior at Fukushima nuclear plant

So far, they are only owing up to two official deaths, caused by the actual tsunami. Five unofficial deaths were reported as of last week.

We may never know how many have died, or will die in this horrific accident.

I'm not sure why they released this video. Perhaps they didn't pay much attention to it? For me, the human form seemed to jump out at me. Other folks say it took a while to spot it. My guess is that the folks that vetted this video, didn't notice it either.

You Can't Handle The Truth

2011-04-04T10:00:00.001-07:00

h/t ZeroHedge

CNN screwed up in putting this guy up against it's Water Carriers for Fascism.

FOX would not have made the mistake of putting someone on the air, that doesn't tow the Imperial line. CNN could really learn a lesson about vetting folks, to make sure that they stay on message. First off, don't put people on the air that spend their days immersed in actual foreign policy.

High Levels of Plutonium Detected

2011-03-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

March 29, 2001

Radiation effects...
March 25, 2011

March 23, 2011

March 18, 2011

Stand And Die

2011-03-29T12:52:00.001-07:00

h/t Edgar

The title is a gaming phrase, popular in the MMORPG realm. (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game)

It comes from a combat tactic used when a battle has gone horribly wrong. Rather than running around and making the battle more dangerous for players that are recovering, or providing support roles, a player that is 'checking out', is expected to just stand still and take the death.

It seems that Goldman Sachs executives are familiar with the strategy. They are ordering their employees in Tokyo to stay there. If they get scared and want to take their families away from the danger, then they are out of GS and will never work for GS again.

Clearly it's Goldman Sachs intention to make money off of their employees all the way to the bitter end. If their employees and their families end up dying in Tokyo, well, that's just a cost of doing business I suppose.

We already knew that Goldman Sachs pretty much considers human life to be expendable. Now it's clear that the Vampire Squid sees it's own employees as being essentially valueless and expendable too.

Goldman Sachs Employees Told Not to Leave Japan

At least four Goldman Sachs executives flew into Japan last week to speak with nervous ex-pat employees about radiation fears, according to a person familiar with the situation. They also conveyed another message: don't leave Japan and don't leave Tokyo.

Employees at the investment bank's Japan offices are worried about radiation levels affecting their families, the person said. Many were asking if they could temporarily relocate out of the country or perhaps move to a location in southern Japan, farther away from troubled nuclear power plants. The were told that they should not leave Tokyo, according to the person.

continued...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42304574

New Babies

2011-03-27T09:34:00.000-07:00

My Friends Are Purrfect

2011-03-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

This is Jynxie. I had the opportunity to babysit her yesterday, after her spaying.

Willow and Her Giant

2011-03-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

A short interlude in the ongoing disaster saga.

Two dear friends of mine performing at The 2011 North Texas Irish Festival.

'Fukushima crisis eerily similar to 1979 Three Mile Island accident'

2011-03-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

Richard Thornburgh gives the Japanese a little leeway, because they got hit by a big quake and tsunami. I don't really understand why people keep acting like this is unexpected. It's never been a secret that Japan gets hit by big quakes and it will continue to get hit. It's no secret that tsunamis can be generated by big quakes.

Japan rolled the dice and lost. The politicians, bankers and General Electric chose to look at profits and National Pride and let those concerns, override the safety concerns. This happens all the time. It's the way humans do things. We push limits until we have a disaster. Then we back off for a while and repeat with the next generation.

Anyone who can do simple statistical calculations knows that big events will occasionally happen. They are not unexpected. People have expected a big earthquake and tsunami to hit Japan, for as long as people have understood the relationship. After all, it's happened before and it will happen again.

The folks who built the first plant forty years ago, did Ok. They were betting that the disaster wouldn't happen on their watch. They rolled the dice and won. It's a sure bet that this was going to happen. It was just impossible to predict which generation would have to deal with it. And that lack of predictability is enough to create enough doubt, that safety concerns can be ignored.

I hope that Japan can get these reactors under control and prevent these plants from turning into radioactive geysers. I'm scared for the people of Japan because the situation looks dire to me. I've learned that the seawater being pumped into the cores is turning into steam. This could lead to salt building up, and insulating the core from cooling. I hope that the pressure spray from the steam is preventing this, and blowing the radioactive salts out of the core. I don't know enough to know if this is happening.

If the salts are building up, then I fear a complete meltdown is just a matter of time.

Karl Denninger on Market Watch is making the claim that if all 21 reactors meltdown, the USA will be fine. From the sound of his argument I think he's arguing that the surface area of the USA is big enough, that if spread out, the radiation dose per acre will be small. But the weather and plumes don't work that way. Material carried by the wind from the Pacific, precipitates as rain and snow in the Rockies. the Western Watershed could become dangerously polluted by the plumes and wipe out a good amount of the USA's food supply.

Knowing our USDA / FDA though, the government will lie and declare radioactive vegetables and milk as safe to eat. We can guess that, like with the Gulf Of Mexico, they'll implement a smell test. If you can't smell the radiation, then it's safe to eat...

Another Safe Explosion That Is Different Than Chernobyl

2011-03-14T04:41:00.000-07:00

I know I'm supposed to feel better that these reactors don't have graphite control rods. So if they meltdown and spew radioactive steam high into the atmosphere, the disaster will have a different style than Chernobyl. And Different = Safer.

As it is, those reactors are being cooled with seawater mixed with boron. Take a guess where the highly radioactive waste water is being discharge. I hope the Japanese can learn to eat something other than seafood, and rice...

Loan Sharks

2011-03-13T03:05:00.000-07:00

I wasted several hours at a local car dealership yesterday. The car I was originally interested in, was of course, already sold. So I was on the verge of buying a slightly older car with more miles and features I didn't care about, for a similar price.

Everything seemed fine when working with the sales people. They worked out an interest rate and payment plan that was within my budget.

Then we get to the final guy as a 'formality'. Turns out the Welfare Whore Maggot Bankers that are still stealing hundreds of billions of dollars of public money, wanted 12.5% - 18% in loan shark interest. The humorless finance guy with a crappy demeanor, explained in so many words that the shittier the car, the more the bankers want to rape the customers. Cheaper cars cost much more than expensive cars.

Screw the thieves. They are still stealing my money through my tax dollars. I'm not volunteering to give them a bigger cut of my pay for no good reason. For no fracking reach around...

Screw Them.

I'm back to looking at bicycles. I'll fix my POS van.

Explosion At Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

2011-03-12T07:59:00.000-08:00

The word from officials is that everything is Ok. The steel shell around the core is still intact.

Just guessing here... But if all of the cooling mechanism is gone, there is nothing to prevent the core from melting down. Reactor cores require constant cooling to prevent them from melting down.

In the video he discusses applying pressurized water to keep it cool. IF the core is exposed, there is nothing to pressurize the water in. The water will be turned to radioactive steam and jet back out.

This nuclear power plant is almost in the center of Japan. If this blows, will it be necessary to evacuate the entire nation of Japan?

BBC Podcast on this disaster.

My Prayers Go Out to the Japanese

2011-03-11T04:12:00.000-08:00

At the time that I'm writing this, the tsunami is expected to strike Hawaii In one hour.

Russia Affected

Australian Seismologist

More Tsunami Footage

We Are Not The Huns!

2011-03-10T08:31:00.001-08:00

For Kitty

2011-03-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

REALLY NOT SAFE FOR WORK

One of my favorites songs from this sick and twisted bunch of Englishmen...

I think they must have watched 'Bringing Up Baby', one too many times...

Oh, another one.
Do not watch this one.
Really. Don't watch it. It's offensive.

Socialist!

2011-03-03T04:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry DB, I've been swamped by work and haven't had time to give you the rebuttal I promised. Work that pays the bills comes first. Because I'm a capitalist!

It's still on my list of things to do though.

For the next few days I'll be out of pocket for a four day weekend of music with a Michael Black concert and jam session, then an NTIF weekend complete with after hours sessions...

A couple of examples of Michael Black's talents.

And Roy Zimmerman explains why you are all socialists!

Why Gaddafi's Now a Good Guy

2011-02-22T07:58:00.000-08:00

Why Gaddafi's Now a Good Guy
By SCOTT MACLEOD/CAIRO

"Bush is saying that America is fighting for the triumph of freedom," Gaddafi said between sips of tea. "When we were supporting liberation movements in the world, we were arguing that it was for the victory of freedom. We both agree. We were fighting for the cause of freedom."

At the time, it may have sounded like the typical ramblings of the Libyan leader. But now, a year later, Gaddafi and Bush do apparently see eye to eye. On Monday, Gaddafi accomplished one of history's great diplomatic turnarounds when Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice announced that the U.S. was restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya and held up the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as "a model" for others to follow. Rice attributed the ending of the U.S.'s long break in diplomatic relations to Gaddafi's historic decision in 2003 to dismantle weapons of mass destruction and renounce terrorism as well as Libya's "excellent cooperation in response to common global threats faced by the civilized world since September 11, 2001."

continued...

The Goddess of Hypocrisy

2011-02-18T14:03:00.001-08:00

Deregulation Didn't Work

2011-02-15T07:52:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been reading more and more opinions on how government is always more expensive and less efficient than private industry.

For instance FedEx is more efficient than the Gov regulated US Post Office. The US Post Office is having money problems and Fed Ex isn't. I've heard quite a few folks suggest that the US Post Office declare bankruptcy, and go out of business. because of this.

Is this how you measure efficiency? Maximizing profits?

I just looked up letter rates to mail a letter from home to the office, using Fed Ex. They quoted me $14.98

The US Post Office will deliver the same letter for 44 cents.

Maybe the US Post Office needs to raise their rates to be more 'efficient'?

I'm beginning to think that word doesn't mean what people think it means.

ERCOT Study: Deregulation Didn’t Work

ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) – Delia Villareal of Arlington cooks three meals a day for herself and her husband, so she’s not happy to hear about a new study finding Texas residents have paid nearly $11.5 billion dollars more than they should have for electricity since deregulation in 2002.

That’s about 42 percent higher than the national average. “I find that being very ridiculous,” says Villareal. This despite the promises deregulation would trigger competition and lower prices. “Us as the elderly live on a budget, we’re on a fixed income. Of course, it’s affecting us.”

The study is called The Story of ERCOT, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which runs the state’s power grid. The study blames the high electric rates residents and businesses pay on Ercot’s bias toward the industry, and what it calls ERCOT’s alarming increases in spending and borrowing.

The study says in 2006, one company illegally charged $57 million, yet only paid a $15 million fine.

Arlington City Attorney Jay Doegey chairs two non-profit coalitions that commissioned the study. He says, “Everything is fine and if they just leave things alone, then everything’s wonderful. For them, everything’s wonderful. But it’s not wonderful for consumers.”

ERCOT declined an interview, but says the issues have been brought up before. In a statement, it says “…These are expected to be acted upon by the Texas Legislature during their current session, and ERCOT stands ready to institute any and all changes the Legislature adopts….”

The study’s author says the state legislature needs to make drastic changes to make Ercot more accountable to the public. Lawmakers may do just that. On Tuesday, a state Senate hearing will focus on the recent rolling blackouts.

As for Delia Villareal, she’s hoping the legislature will listen to people like her. “They need to get their act together. We’ve been promised lots of things. Where’s all the promises?”

On Tuesday, ERCOT’s president, the chairman of the Public Utilities Commission, and energy company executives will be among those testifying before lawmakers about the recent rolling blackouts.

Skipping Fancy Free To Bankruptcy Land

2011-02-11T11:18:00.000-08:00

Public education in Texas faces massive cuts

AUSTIN, TX -- Public education in Texas is facing billions in proposed budget cuts that would include slashing arts education, pre-kindergarten programs and teacher incentive pay as lawmakers take on a massive deficit with the promise of no new taxes.

Lawmakers got their first glimpse of what the next state budget might look like late Tuesday, including the $5 billion cut to public schools, as Republican Gov. Rick Perry and his supporters were dancing at an inaugural celebration.

Texas is facing a $15 billion revenue shortfall, and few corners of state government were spared in the draft proposal for the next two years. The Texas Constitution requires a balanced budget, and Republican leaders have vowed not to raise taxes.

But the budget does propose millions of dollars in new fees. For instance, state employees and retirees who smoke would pay a $30-a-month "tobacco user monthly premium surcharge" and the attorney general's office would charge an "annual child support service fee," a "monthly child support processing fee" and an "electronic filing of documents fee."

The budget draft, which is expected to be filed as legislation in the House later this week, would spend $73.2 billion in state money and $156.4 billion in all funds for the 2012-13 budget period.

It would shutter four community colleges and generally eliminate financial aid for incoming freshmen and new students. The Texas Grants scholarship program would drop by more than 70,000 students over the next two years.

The proposal also would reduce reimbursement rates by 10 percent for physicians, hospitals and nursing homes that participate in Medicaid -- a decrease that could eventually dry up participation in the health care program for poor and disabled Texans. In all, $2.3 billion would be cut from Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program and other health and human services.

The plan would eliminate 9,600 state jobs over the next two years, including more than 1,500 j in the prison system. The Department of Criminal Justice faces $459 million in cuts, including a 14 percent reduction in psychiatric and pharmacy care for inmates.

`'It's a catastrophe. No financial aid for kids to go to college. No pre-kindergarten for kids to learn their numbers and their letters. Health and human services slashed," said Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine. `'No Texan can be proud of this."

The Legislative Budget Board was required by law to release the budget to leaders Tuesday, the fifth business day after the session starts. The draft is just the beginning of a long process, which probably won't be finalized until next summer when the governor signs the Texas budget for 2012-13.

Perry took the oath of office earlier Tuesday for his third term. After a day of parties, he spent the evening at a celebration in downtown Austin, just a mile from the Capitol. The inaugural was paid for by donors.

Some analysts say the true shortfall could be much higher than $15 billion -- closer to $27 billion -- to account for enrollment growth in public schools and on Medicaid rolls, cost increases and other variables. That figure amounts to almost a third of discretionary state spending in the current budget.

The proposal would make public school finance reform legislation almost inevitable. It also would mean about 100,000 children would no longer have access to pre-kindergarten, schools won't get help building new science labs and would end a program that helps students earn promotion to the next grade.

The plan would slash $772 million for Texas colleges and universities, including nearly $100 for flagship universities Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin. The two-year colleges that would be closed are Brazosport College in Lake Jackson, Frank Phillips College in Borger, Odessa College and Ranger College.

The state's contributions to the state employee retirement fund would be reduced from 6.95 percent to 6 percent, less than what is needed to maintain the fund, according the Legislative Budget Board. The base budget proposes a similar cut in contributions to the Teacher Retirement Fund.

While almost every other state agency would see a reduction in employees, the average number of full-time employees in Perry's office over the next two fiscal years would go to 132 from an average of 120.

The base budget does not use money from the state's Rainy Day Fund, expected to have a balance of $9.4 billion at the end of the next biennium.

"Texas needs a balanced approach that includes using the Rainy Day Fund and adding new revenue," said Scott McCown, executive director of the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for needy Texans. "With a revenue shortfall this large, as the proposed budget shows, the Legislature cannot balance the budget through cuts alone without doing terrible damage."

Rep. Jim Pitts, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, said he would explain the proposal to the chamber on Wednesday.

"There are no sacred cows for this next biennium for our introduced bill," Pitts said last week. "So many people said, 'You cannot cut education'. You can't not cut education . . . We will be cutting every article within our budget. We will be cutting health and human, we will be cutting education and we'll be cutting our own budget in the Legislature."

Not Really New, But Good Fuel for Cornucopians....

2011-02-10T04:33:00.000-08:00

New drilling method opens vast oil fields in US

By JONATHAN FAHEY, AP Energy Writer Jonathan Fahey, Ap Energy Writer – Wed Feb 9, 4:59 pm ET

A new drilling technique is opening up vast fields of previously out-of-reach oil in the western United States, helping reverse a two-decade decline in domestic production of crude.

Companies are investing billions of dollars to get at oil deposits scattered across North Dakota, Colorado, Texas and California. By 2015, oil executives and analysts say, the new fields could yield as much as 2 million barrels of oil a day — more than the entire Gulf of Mexico produces now.

This new drilling is expected to raise U.S. production by at least 20 percent over the next five years. And within 10 years, it could help reduce oil imports by more than half, advancing a goal that has long eluded policymakers.

"That's a significant contribution to energy security," says Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Credit Suisse.

Oil engineers are applying what critics say is an environmentally questionable method developed in recent years to tap natural gas trapped in underground shale. They drill down and horizontally into the rock, then pump water, sand and chemicals into the hole to crack the shale and allow gas to flow up.

continued...

Bush Family Values

2011-02-02T10:43:00.001-08:00

We're experiencing rolling black outs here in Texas.

It's a dire power emergency that no one could have foreseen. After all, we have a Republican Governor. And Republican are constantly surprised by unforeseen events. Like the current winter storm that no one except the weather service and the media saw coming.

But there is a bright spot. Our new stadium in Arlington is exempt from the blackouts for security reasons. To make sure that the Stadium doesn't lose power, and get unsecured... Oncor (Bush family business), is cutting power to local hospitals.

Oncor understands that property is valuable, as is money. If the stadium loses power once in a while, it might cost some money. That would be bad.

But hospitals take care of human. These have no value to Oncor. The Stadium and it's property needs, outweigh the needs of the many.

Stadium losing power, BAD BAD BAD
Hospitals losing power, WHO CARES? Oncor doesn't. ERCOT doesn't.

Gettin' Stuff Done

2011-01-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

I've been shoveling compost today. I have a garden area that I want to plant in it, more acid loving plants. Our soil is heavy in clay, so they don't do so well.

A few years back I tried an experiment with a garden bed of just building it up chopped twigs, branches and leaves. I put clay soil on top, that I had dug from another part of the yard.For the first two years it seemed to malinger. I didn't think it had worked out so well. Then suddenly the plants that had been struggling in this mix erupted into greenery and flowers. The mix had finally found an ecological balance.

I'm following a similar plan for a larger garden.

Here's a photo on the ongoing project as it was when I started...

And the compost pile I've been digging into...

And finally, after shoveling maybe 20 wheel barrel loads, it still looks about the same. :)

And the compost pile...

I'd finish today, but I'm going to see some friends' perform at a local house concert.

I am running out time if I want the upcoming rains to soak in before spring...

Michael Dittmar on Nuclear Reactors and Uranium

2011-01-26T14:15:00.000-08:00

What is the POMO?

2011-01-25T10:45:00.000-08:00

What's Growing in Weaseldog's Garden?

2011-01-24T20:24:00.000-08:00

Fresh Rocket!

Russell Means: Welcome To The Reservation

2011-01-17T13:53:00.000-08:00

Welcome To The Reservation

Tragedies Divide Us

2011-01-10T10:58:00.000-08:00

My heart goes out to people in Arizona who have suffered harm at the hands of Jared Loughner. By the accounts I've seen, he seems to be a mentally troubled young man that believed the government was putting thoughts in his head. He rambled on about the government changing the meaning of wards to change reality.

That part is unfortunately true. Political propaganda has twisted the meaning of words, and used code words to distort the truth, since the beginning of civilization. We've all grown up with this, we all deal with it day by day. The constant lies coming from the Government and media is now being projected at a deafening roar. I'm tempted to say that the public doesn't fall for it, but a little conversation on various blogs, shows that people pick and choose from this stream of misinformation, what they wish to believe and disbelieve. The wide variety of disinformation provides any given individual with tailored facts and information, that are pleasing to their line of thinking.

Republicans get a line of propaganda that pleases them and Democrats get a line that reinforces their beliefs. And in both, enough code words and phrases are sprinkled in, to incite anger at the other faction and keep us divided as a people.

Already both sides are claiming that the shooter belongs to the other side. Democrats are blaming the Republicans for their angry rhetoric. Sharron Angle's call for 'Second Amendment Remedies' to solve the Tea Party's problems with Democrats, certainly adds fuel to this fire. Sarah Palin's use of gun sights on her map of political opponents doesn't help. Her aide explains that they were never intended to be viewed as rifle sights. But she doesn't explain what interpretation these gun sights should have.

I believe that they never intended to have any murdered. Calling for constituents to use guns to remove Democrats from office, is just excited hyperbole, right? Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I think Sarah Palin's aide is on the level.

But on Sharon Angle's remark..., If I started arguing for Second Amendment Remedies, I don't doubt for a second that I'd be put under a law enforcement microscope, with personal visits from my local police department. I guess if I were running for public office, then I'd get a free pass on something like this.

On the Republican side. A listing of Jared's books, looks like something thrown together to impress people. From the sound of things, it seems he did read them. The list is a hodgepodge of authors and political leanings. It include George Orwell, Ayn Rand, and Adolf Hitler. But it's a book by Karl Marx that has Republicans convinced that he's a Democrat. Perhaps Ayn Rand is considered a Democrat?

So their position is that they are the real victims in this tragedy. The left is unfairly blaming them for their strong rhetoric. And the shooter wasn't even a Republican, he was clearly a Democrat, as evidenced by one left wing book out of several right wing books. Really it's the Democrats that are the embodiment of pure evil as they are spewing hate at Republicans.

*******************************************************************

As both sides seek to position themselves to gain political profits from this tragedy, it's becoming clearer that Jared doesn't ascribe to either political party. He's known to be a heavy pot smoker, and to suffer paranoid delusions. He blames the government for trying to steal his dreams when he is sleeping, and for putting thoughts in his head. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, quite likely just represented the most accessible representative of the US Federal Government that he knew.

Both parties are looking for a way to polarize this event to benefit them. The reality that the shooter is a mentally unstable drub abuser with no political affiliations, doesn't help either side. But I doubt that will stop both parties from finding ways to exploit this tragedy.

*******************************************************************

For the families of the real victims and the survivors of this crime, my heart goes out to you. My brother was shot and killed when he was seventeen. I understand your pain.

It's Just a Matter of Time

2011-01-04T08:16:00.000-08:00

I can't really see what benefit these provide over current police tools. They are expensive, they still need a pilot on the ground to operate them.

I can't see how they'll save manpower, reduce costs or provide a benefit. It looks like Houston has lot of extra money to waste on toys.

John Cleese on Creativity

2011-01-03T13:55:00.000-08:00

Pretty Cool Instrument

2010-12-29T13:49:00.000-08:00

Some Nazi Posters With Relevance To Today's Issues

2010-12-09T08:02:00.000-08:00

From the German Propaganda Archive.

"Shame on you, chatterer! The enemy is listening. Silence is your duty."

Before World War II began, Germans were allowed to listen to foreign radio broadcasts. This was banned once the war began, and by the end of the war people were executed for listing to enemy radio stations. In this poster, a Marxist looking chap broadcasts from London, Moscow, and other enemy states, while a German listens in the darkness, trying to conceal his crime.

“Before: Unemployment, hopelessness, desolation, strikes, lockouts. Today: Work, joy, discipline, comaradarie. Give the Führer your vote!”

Some Terrorists Produce Breast Milk

2010-12-08T07:58:00.001-08:00

h/t Kitty

But the TSA will keep us safe.

WikiLeaks

2010-11-29T05:12:00.001-08:00

This WikiLeaks story of leaked cables is really picking up traction.

I'm not sure what the worry is, after all as Homeland security films our bedroom activities with cameras that see through walls, and record all of our phone conversations, and internet activity, they tells us, if we're doing nothing wrong, then we have nothing to hide.

Many folks tell me our government does nothing wrong, so obviously, it has nothing to hide. There is no need for secrecy if you're not lying and double dealing.

But I think the real story is the one the media doesn't cover.

Which of our government agencies is providing WikiLeaks with this information and why?

And what does this mean for our fractured government as it begins to fight itself, and various factions vie for supremacy?

Alex and Baby Huey

2010-11-27T08:45:00.001-08:00

Are You a Terrorist?

2010-11-22T12:20:00.000-08:00

Refer to this handy list to find out.

Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN)

DANGER! Airline Travel Is Extremely Dangerous!

2010-11-22T07:29:00.000-08:00

Our government has been carefully weighing the evidence and has clearly determined that airline travel in the USA is incredibly dangerous and vulnerable to terrorist attack.

Dick Cheney and many others in our government have warned us, again and again that they know for a fact that more terrorist attacks are coming. They know all about the attacks and they know these attacks cannot be prevented.

The new TSA scanners and the procedures where TSA personnel now massage our genitalia, looking for weapons of mass destruction is further proof that our government knows the danger is imminent. The incredible expense the government is going to, to buy these expensive machines and to train their staff to fiddle about with the genitalia and men, women and children proves that the threat is of unparalleled magnitude. Further, the USA is the only country where the danger of terrorism is so great. The government strip searches so many thousands of Americans every day, because it understands that many, many Americans are terrorists.

Israel doesn't have such invasive security measures in place, and yet it has suffered more terrorist attacks than the USA. The fact that Americans need such an invasive security demonstrates that our government knows a massive attack, led by terrorist Americans, is coming.

Yet our government hasn't thought of the simplest solution. Why not take the weapons away from the terrorists? Why continue to make aircraft available to them? Our government knows that our aircraft are a very real and pressing danger to the security of our nation. They are flying bombs, weapons of mass destruction. Further, no matter how vigilant we are, eventually the terrorists will find a way to use these bombs again.

It's time to abolish commercial air flights in the USA. So long as average Americans are allowed to fly, there will be more exploding airplanes, and aircraft flying into buildings. The massaging of genitalia and photographing of naked Americans (at least from the perspective of using radiation viewing, in TSA scanners), has potentially stopped many thousands of attacks every week. But for how long?

It's time to end all commercial air travel within the United States of America. If we don't then, Dick Cheney's prediction of a massive terrorist attack will definitely happen.

Write your Congressman today. Ask him to end all commercial air travel in the USA. Help make the skies safe again. The USA is the most dangerous country in the world to live in. Let's make it the safest.

GM Paid Their Debt In Full, Only Owes $26 Billion Now

2010-11-18T05:02:00.000-08:00

The $26 billion assumes that the shares sell for what the Gov expects, of course. Anyone want to buy stock in a corporation which legally belongs to the bond holders and not the Gov that stole it?

GM Commercial in which GM announces they repaid their debts in full, five years ahead of schedule.

Nick Gillespie explains their math.

Remember when investors got screwed in the bailout? How bondholders were by law, supposed to be first to get repaid, and they ended up holding the bag? How the bankers got most of the money and the common stock holders got hosed?

Good news then! You can buy back in! So go to the Fed, take out a big zero interest loan and use it to buy GM stock! When it opens to the markets, you may be able to turn it around for instant profit as the sheeple buy in!

Investors display voracious appetite for GM shares

Oh, and the taxpayer still owns 40% of GM...

Peak Oil Debunked

2010-11-12T11:06:00.000-08:00

The Criticality Draws Near

2010-11-12T07:24:00.000-08:00

It's been an amazing journey this last year. I have to give it the White House and the Federal Reserve. They've done an amazing job of keeping their wealth through the power of the printing presses, while the rest of the economy continues to swirl around in the bowl. Heck'of a job Larry Summers! (And friends)

The following graph is provided, courtesy of William Tamblyn.

William pointed out an error in my post.

I had originally posted that the the revision was downwards, in fact they are repeatedly revising it upwards.

I'm curious if this trend will hold. Usually the EIA numbers are optimistic. They make downward revisions, but take their time getting them out. Why the rush to make upward revisions?

I'm still suspicious. Our system is so screwed that I don't know what information can be trusted. And the EIA has never been a trustworthy source for recent data.

I continued the rest with that misreading of his analysis.

If we couple this with the explosive growth in the economics and fraud in the financial industry, we can see that we have a perfect storm brewing.

If you haven't read it, I highly recommend you read, 'Matt Taibbi: Courts Helping Banks Screw Over Homeowners'. It details the extent of the crime and fraud that has become the court system in Florida's new Rocket Dockets. In these new dockets, the judge's job is to get homeowners thrown at out at the fastest pace possible. And as Matt details, very often there is no cause to throw them out. The banks have just been sloppy in keeping track of payments and documentation.

The reason for foreclosing on homeowners that have kept up with their payments, is that the banks are drowning deep under fathoms of red ink. They've been committing fraud and have amassed a nuclear powder keg of liabilities that they will never be able to cover. All the government can do to keep the massive fraud from putting the rotting undead corpses of the banks in their graves, is to help them commit more frauds, in a great Ponzi scheme of ever increasing frauds.

Make no mistake with the $billions in free Fed money still flowing like great rivers into the major banks, they still have a great deal of power over their pawns in the seats of power in our governments. There is likely to more ways that they can think of to steal more money. But as the world economy continues to contract at the street level, the money flows and the great black holes of unquenchable debt from fraud, are in a collision course.

When the world oil supply begins to drop again at the pace it did in 2001, all hell will break loose. A trigger event will occur and the world of finance will see a dramatic state change.

I still believe that the early part of next year will see another massive bailout of the banks. If that is coupled with a downturn in world oil production (likely I think), then 2011 is going to be a very exciting year.

***********************************************

Followup, William Tamblyn just sent me this snippet from the EIA site...

Notice: The Energy Information Administration is discontinuing the publication of the International Petroleum Monthly in its current format. The December, 2010 issue will be the last one to be available as a separate publication. Beginning with the January, 2011 issue, you may access the data in this report, as well as energy data for all fuels for over 200 countries, on our International Energy Statistics website . If you have any questions, please contact the National Energy Information Center at 202-586-8800 or infoctr@eia.doe.gov.

The EIA stopped publishing timely data in 2001, and did not publish any indication of the downturn that followed until the severe dip in oil production was over.

I believe it's safe to conclude that the EIA is doing this again, because oil production is taking a dive. And further, they know it will last a while.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair Greenlights Fraud

2010-10-27T05:34:00.000-07:00

There is no way that Shelia Bair believes that the foreclosure problems are 'mostly procedural'. But as a banking regulator in the USA, it's her job to do the bidding of the major banks. And they want this problem to go away.

She knows that the problems involve thousands of counts of fraud for every day since the housing bubble began. We have liars loans that the banks eagerly signed off on or purchased. An epidemic of ;'lost chain of title', where the banks didn't bother to notify any local governments of title changes and as the mortgages chained hands multiple times, no one bothered to put wet ink to to mandatory paperwork. We also have many instances of the banks selling the same mortgage multiple times to different clients and likely to the same clients as bundled securities.

The bankers aren't drooling knuckle dragging morons that eat gum from under desks, like they are trying to portray themselves. They knew what they were doing and they were not fooled by janitors and hair dressers. They knowingly signed off on millions of counts of fraud because it made them money.

Bair is worried that her clients in the banking industry will get in trouble or go to prison for their crimes. She's doing what she can to protect them from the law.

And don't get confused, in the old days, like the 1980s, banking regulators prosecuted crimes in the banking sector. They prevented epidemics of fraud. But after Clinton, Bush and now Obama have spent decades transforming the office, the banking regulators act as defense attorneys for the banks. Shielding them from the law. And that's what we're seeing here.

Sheila Bair has green lighted the fraud. She's giving the bankers the thumbs up, to exponentially expand their criminal activities.

The bankers are saved. They won't have to go to prison and they can increase the rate at which the break the law, with no fear or interference or prosecution.

We can all thank Sheila Bair for letting us know where the Federal Government stands on the epidemic of banking fraud.

You go girl! You're gonna retire a multi-millionaire! I can feel it!

*********************************************************

FDIC Head Sounds Alarm on Foreclosure Litigation
Reuters | October 25, 2010 | 03:39 PM EDT

Litigation arising from foreclosure paperwork problems could be "very damaging" to the housing market, a top U.S. banking regulator said Monday.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp Chairman Sheila Bair said she did not believe legislation would be needed to address concerns over whether the paperwork was properly done so long as investigations show the issue was mostly "procedural."

State and federal officials are investigating allegations that for years banks have not reviewed foreclosure documents properly or have submitted false statements to evict delinquent borrowers.

"I fear that the litigation generated by this issue could ultimately be very damaging to our housing markets if it ends up unduly prolonging those foreclosures that are necessary and justified," Bair told a housing conference in Arlington, Virginia.

"The regrettable truth is that many of the properties currently in the foreclosure process are either vacant or occupied by borrowers who simply cannot make even a significantly reduced payment and have been in arrears for an extended time."

Bair argued it is important to move foreclosures quickly because until they have been cleared out of the system, the housing market will continue to struggle.

She said the volume of foreclosures requires a "global solution" that involves all interested parties.

Those parties often include servicers, borrowers, lenders, second-lien holders and investors in securities backed by troubled mortgages. Foreclosures and modifications can be held up when the interested parties do not reach agreement on how to handle a delinquent mortgage.

Bair said one part of a global solution could be extending legal protection, providing a "safe harbor," to foreclosure proceedings if the property is vacant or if the servicer offered a meaningful payment reduction, such as 25 percent, and the borrowers could still not perform on the loan.

Missed Warning Signs

The state attorneys general are investigating the use of "robo-signers" — people who sign hundreds of affidavits a day — by banks and companies that collect monthly mortgage payments. It is alleged they did not properly review the documents they were signing.

Bank of America [ BAC 11.30 +0.00 (+0.00%) ], JPMorgan [ JPM 37.20 +0.00 (+0.00%) ] and Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage are among the servicers whose practices have come under fire.

Bair said regulators and market participants missed clues about poor mortgage servicing. She said they should have questioned how mortgage servicers were able to keep up profits without sacrificing quality, even as servicing fees were declining significantly.

"In retrospect, there were warning signs that servicing standards were eroding," Bair said.

She also said the robo-signing controversy underscores how expensive and time-consuming the foreclosure process is, meaning modifications should be actively pursued before foreclosure proceedings.

"We know from experience that reducing the monthly payment through modification raises the chance that the borrower will make good on the loan," she said.

Covered Bond Support

Bair expressed qualified support for legislation intended to create a more robust covered bonds market. Potential issuers of these bonds, including banks like Bank of America, argue that a legislative framework could boost the market and provide a safer method for banks to raise funds to lend to consumers for mortgages and other loans.

Covered bonds are debt securities backed by cash flows from loans but they remain on the issuer's balance sheet and thus are seen as safer than non-guaranteed mortgage securities.

Bair made clear that her support for such legislation depends on losses being covered by investors and not, ultimately, her agency's deposit insurance fund, which guarantees deposits and meets costs associated with the FDIC seizing a failed bank.

"This would result in decreased market discipline from investors who know that their risks are essentially back-stopped by the FDIC," she said.

Piling On....

2010-10-20T13:24:00.000-07:00

As I peruse the financial news today, I learn that Britain is going broke and shedding services and gov employees in massive cuts. They are getting rid Harriers, Aircraft Carriers, and many servicemen. The USA is pretty much alone in it's continued wars against Afghanistan and Iraq.

And now the USA is hell bent on fighting a currency war as China speeds the rate at which it is getting out T-Bills.

Then I see that my joking prediction from 2006 or so, was already common practice...
It appears as though many loans and other mortgage-related assets have been double and even triple-pledged to various constituencies.

And another one... I've been pointing out since 2000 that the USA would eventually enjoy some IMF style looting. Well it's here. I know some folks welcome the privatization of public services. Privatization for them is always a good thing, so long as it happens to someone else. Just wait until you start going months boiling all of your water before you drink or cook with it, and you can't stand the smell of it. That's the norm in many place where public water supplies have been privatized. Now it's coming the USA.
U.S. Debt Woes Expose Hidden Austerity and Looting of Public Assets

I'm seeing bad news on every front, with the banks exposed for engaging in fraud on a massive scale taking center stage. And of course they will be granted immunity from prosecution and lawsuits in their upcoming bailouts. As you can see, all of this crappy news is bolstering the markets. The markets of course are bolstered by good and crappy economic news.

This is it. This is a slide in my view that's worse than anything we've seen in months, and I think it's just getting started. Perhaps before the month is out, we'll even see the market experience some effects from the crappy economy and crappy state of business and banking. But don't put any serious money on it. I'm sure that that any perceived relationship between the markets and the financial health of our economy are purely coincidental.

And finally, for the kids that like to read and report on their parent's online activities...
NSA’s Newest Recruiters: Cartoon-Leopard Twins

It's October 13th...

2010-10-13T14:26:00.001-07:00

Except for the Chilean miners, news all around has been fairly bleak.

Employment figures as predicted are actually much worse than the gov has been letting on.

Bankruptcies are matching the 2005 high.

And we've heard that waitresses and floor sweepers make up the paid professionals, that have been reviewing and signing off on foreclosure documents. I've been saying for many years our financial professionals don't understand their own paperwork and financial instruments, and it turns out, I was correct.

But the stock market ignores all of this and remains resilient in the face of poor economic tidings. Perhaps the fact that Goldman Sachs has now put a freeze on foreclosures because of the massive fraud uncovered in it's own robo-signing departments has been uncovered, is the reason?

There are only 18 more days left in the month. Though the economic news is as crappy as I expected it to be, we haven't seen any sort of recognized downturn. So far, my prediction has not come true.

It would be nice if it didn't, and the fundamentals improved. Still, even if I missed this call, the continued degradation just increases the severity of the correction to come. It's better for us to take our lumps as they come, rather than put them off until they become disasters. But that not how we do things in the USA.

Emperor Obama Has Brit Teen Banned From His Personal Empire

2010-09-15T10:23:00.000-07:00

After getting pissed (drunk) and sending a naughty email to Emperor Barack Obama (Owner of 385+ million American Slaves), a British Teen is banned from entering Obama's Personal Empire for life. The news was passed on from Obama's personal man servants at the FBI, who relayed the messages to patsy in Britain, who then made a personal visit to the naughty teen to inform him that he's not allowed to enter Obama's personal empire, for all eternity.

Silsoe - A British teenager has been told that he won't be allowed to enter the US for life, because of an abusive email he sent to President Barack Obama.
Following an investigation in the US, the FBI contacted the London Metropolitan Police, and Luke Angel (17) – who lives in the quiet village of Silsoe, in Bedfordshire, England – was visited by local officers.
The Sun claims that after watching a TV documentary about the 9/11 terror attacks, the 17-year-old became critical of the US government, and was prompted to send the email.
In the email to the White House, Angel apparently referred to the President as a "p***k". However, when questioned by the police, the teenager couldn't recall exactly what he'd written.
He told the paper: "I don't remember exactly what I wrote as I was drunk. But I think I called Barack Obama a p***k. It was silly – the sort of thing you do when you're a teenager and have had a few.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Bedfordshire Police confirmed: "The individual sent an email to the White House full of abusive and threatening language. We were informed by the Metropolitan Police and went to see him."
When confronted by the police, Angel reportedly owned up, saying, "Oh dear, it was me." However, according to the report, he believed the FBI response was "a bit extreme". "The police came and took my picture and told me I was banned from America forever. I don't really care but my parents aren't very happy."

Random Observations....

2010-09-01T07:25:00.000-07:00

I'm currently looking at a 236.51 rise in the DOW. It was getting dangerously close to the magic 10,000 mark. This comes on the heels of Obama announcing a new phase of our 'mission' in Iraq. As the market is increasingly a construct of manipulation between the banks and the Federal Government, the Obama declaration is as good a cover as any to inject new taxpayer debt into it. The bankers need to see their income continue to grow. As Americans continue to see their wages slide, the only way for bankers to see their standard of living rise, is through direct Fed intervention.

So we went from a War on Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein, to 'Mission Accomplished', to 'Current Mission Phase Over'? Of course, the term 'War' doesn't fit a never ending slaughter. Wars are meant to be won. Then you agree to terms. Then you have peace.

The USA defeated Saddam's government. The USA deposed Saddam. The USA won. But the USA didn't want to just win the war, it needed to conquer the people. The people need to be beaten and broken.

The USA continues to fight the people of Iraq for control of the country. It was largely won by killing over 1.5 million Iraqis and forcing 3-4 million to flee the country. We are told this is worth it, because 'Saddam killed thousands of his own people.'

We've now gone from major combat operations, where we shell city blocks with phosgene or bust down doors and machine gun families to death, to outsourcing these activities. Now Iraqis who who enjoy being part of death squads, and hired mercenaries who enjoy slaughtering families for money, can do the heavy lifting of making sure the people understand the meaning of defeat.

*******************************************************

In local news, Dallas county is raising the property tax rate 1.5%. Home values have been declining as unemployment rises. The County, which like most government entities, only plans for ever brightening economic news. So it's finding itself in a bind. Passes for DART (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) are seeing a big fare increase. They've essentially doubled in price over the last couple of years. The new fare looks to be a break even for me on vehicle drive costs and riding the trains. For many people, getting back on the road will likely be cheaper. DART is partly financed by sales taxes. Revenue is down as incomes decline. DART is working on some major expansions, and being squeezed by the increasing poverty of it's riders, and increasing expenses.

And it looks like Homeland security is taking an interest in DART.
Passengers report presence of Homeland Security guards on trains this morning.

I've seen them brings dogs onboard in the past. I notice, because with all of the animals I care for, they all home in on me. I'm a smorgasbord of scents for their sensitive noses.

Back on the county tax hike, a woman whose husband is a county employ was interviewed. She's relieved about the increase as she has two children and if they saw a pay cut, she doesn't know what she'd do. As I thought about how the one year anniversary of my 20% pay cut, just passed by in July, I found it difficult to summon any sympathy for her fears. Those of you on the government payroll, you've got it better than the rest of us. But if you're not Federal, you should be putting in applications. City and County jobs may seem safe now, but tax raises only help if people have money to pay them. As private industry continues to decline, revenue will decline and your jobs will be shed.

If you're a Federal Employee, then your salary is fueled by the Federal Government's infinite borrowing capacity. an infinite quantity of money can be borrowed from banks, that borrow from the Fed, that has an infinite money making machine. So you can be assured you'll have a job, and regular raises, no matter how high unemployment goes.

*******************************************************

Hurricane Earl looks worrisome. Many of coastal cities that it could be hitting, haven't seen a hurricane in some time. Our Federal Government's ability to respond to crisis that don't involve slaughtering civilians, has been eviscerated by Bush, and left in a state of disrepair by Obama. Obama is comfortable sending the military out to slaughter innocent people in other countries, or printing pallets of money to give to rich friends, but he doesn't seem to have any real interest in domestic concerns. If the Coastal States are hit hard, the death toll and misery in the aftermath could be staggering. Obama's unlikely to step up and show any leadership if this occurs.

Let's keep our fingers crossed that the hurricane becomes a non-event. Much as I'd like to see the world recognize that Obama is a passive empty suit, I'd prefer is didn't happen with a natural disaster.

*******************************************************

Food prices keep going up. With the grain shortage in Russia from the failed crop, the US has been shipping a significant tonnage overseas. Bread prices are already rising in my area. Soon we should see rises in other foods as the price increases trickle up into other products.

*******************************************************

Over on Peak Oil Debunked, the fact that demand hasn't bounced back quickly is touted as proof that demand destruction is a myth. At least on poster isn't even sure if there is an economic crisis. Others explain that energy and economics have no connections. They exist in separate worlds, with separate rules. In their view, what happens in energy has no effect on economics. As they also explain, current trends show that the world doesn't need growing energy supplies. After all demand is low and we have a supply glut. Obviously, everything is hunky dory! Fred Hutter is posting there now. He gave me a lot of crap about my predictions in 2000 and 2001 that we were about to see a peak. He's continuing to argue the old EIA mantra that demand drives supply. So in his view, we'll peak in 2030 or so.

Rest In Peace Cody

2010-08-26T13:25:00.000-07:00

I just got this sad news in my email today. Cody is a cougar at InSync Exotics.

I haven't worked with the cougars yet, so I don't really know them well. Cody was getting prepped to go to Texas A&M before I left on Monday. At that time, the staff was looking for an air conditioned ride that would hold his cage.

**************************************************************

I'm afraid I have some very bad news. We lost Cody today.

If you aren't up to date on his story, he stopped eating so he was taken to our local veterinarian, Dr. Kerin. Chest x-rays showed a mass on his lungs, which wasn't there on his x-rays taken just 4 months ago. The mass could have been either cancer, or an abscess.

Cody was taken to Texas A&M today, to hopefully perform surgery to determine what was in his lungs. When he got there, he had a collapsed lung, and they pulled 2 liters of fluid out of his lung, and then reinflated it. However, before they could start the surgery, his bloodwork showed Cody was in acute renal failure. They were going to put him on IV fluids for a few days, then try again to perform the surgery.

However, a short time ago, the abscess in Cody's lung burst. Between that and the renal failure, we just couldn't ask Cody to fight any longer. He would have been in a great deal of pain, with a very poor prognosis for recovery.

A necropsy is being performed now, to let us know what happened to our sweet Cody, and then Vicky will be bringing him home.

I'll update everyone on memorial plans once I know what they are. Thanks so much.

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The service for Cody will be held at Pet Memories Cremation tomorrow morning (Friday) at 8:30am. Their address is 2500 State Highway 66, Rockwall TX 75087. You can find directions at their website, www.petmemoriescremation.com.

Driver's Side Gas Detectors

2010-08-17T12:37:00.000-07:00

Do You Know What This Symbol Means?

Well, it's a busy picture, and I thought the article was a joke. So if there had been a multiple choice selection, I was going to pick, "Excess Passenger Gas Detected". I thought maybe it was a courtesy warning to give the other people in the car, time to hold their breath and roll down the windows.

Here's the answer...

Doom In October?

2010-08-12T08:55:00.001-07:00

Not too long ago, I was predicting another downturn in October. So far I'm not seeing anything to contradict that view. As I argued, the heavenly economic numbers that had the media elated, turned out to be dramatically wrong. The unemployment numbers enjoyed a boost from two stats that made them misleading. The unemployment benefits were temporarily cut, this dropped a large number of unemployed people off the stats, and then 'Jobs Saved' saw a big boost.

And jobs saved is probably the most bogus stat in current use. It's the measure of how many people got raises. And evidently a lot of government employees got raises, which made unemployment look better. Too bad they don't subtract the number of people who get pay cuts as jobs lost. It makes as much sense as the nonsense they push now.

We've also learned that across the board the rosy numbers touted as proof of a recovering economy, turned out to be false. Well false for everyone but the folks on Wall Street, who are enjoying our Federal Government's largess.

And the next item up that I count as an indicator of bad times on the horizon is stability in high gasoline prices. So long as gasoline prices stay high, it will eat into a disproportionate percentage of people's incomes and reduce spending on other goods and services.

I got the following chart from Gas Buddy.

Now this chart doesn't look too bad. You can see how prices dropped in May as I predicted. But they've held steady at a higher level with trend upwards. What I'll be watching for in September is another run up like we say in March and April. I don't know that we need as a dramatic of a run up as we did before, as the health of small businesses is precarious. Smaller and smaller increases in commodity prices can likely do comparable damage as the economy continues without the major correction I'm expecting the first quarter of next year.

For any of you following me from Peak Oil Debunked, this is economic behavior that I believe is driven by the fact that energy production is not growing, and thus industry is not growing, while the Gov continues to try to stimulate the economy through pure financial magic. It's like pumping the gas pedal when the fuel line is getting clogged. The engine will not run smoothly or go faster, no matter how hard you pump it. Not until the problem with supply is repaired.

There's a lot of folks over on Peak Oil Debunked that think that a new era of mega oil or mega energy production is coming in a few short years. One poster suggested that Brazil will add 5mbd to our production by 2015. He added that there were many similar fields that will be exploited. When I did a little searching on this I found that Petrobas is expecting to increase production by about 240,000bpd in 2014. This is a dramatic let down from the cornucopian viewpoint.

Since I started following the Peak Oil in 1998, I've heard many hundreds of people continually repeat the story that there will be no peak in our lifetimes. When I was engaged in conversation on USENet (remember that service?) back in 1999-2000, my research led me to believe that we'd see a short term peak in 2001 and this peak would crash the markets. I had many people cussing me out and telling me I was full of crap. I went with my research and sold most of the stock I had accumulated in the DOT Com bubble and sold in in Jan 2001. I made the same recommendation to friends and family. No one took my advice, though a High School buddy later told me that not a day goes by that he doesn't kick himself for not listening.

After 2001, things got muddy in the crystal ball department. I had posted many times on multiple forums and this blog, that the government response to Peak Oil will be to inflate a series of bubbles. The government will use fiscal policy to try to bring back back an era of endless growth. This is currently Obama's stated policy. But without growing energy supplies, industry can't grow. If industry can't grow, then pumping money into the economy will only grow those businesses that don't rely on real world goods and services. In other words, only the financial sector will grow. And while it grows, it's overarching shadow will do constant damage to other sectors of the economy.

By 2005, we began to see that the real estate market was going to be the next bubble. The question in my mind was, 'How long can it be propped up?' I honestly didn't know. As we watched the entire economy move from a dying industrial economy to a house flipper economy, We were inundated with stories about how this time it really is different. And I saw that this bubble which really started in the 1990s but gained speed at an accelerated rate after 2004 (As a White House driven stimulus plan), was becoming a world wide phenomenon. i understood that if everyone is doing it, then the likelihood that any nation would rock the boat and crash it all was lower, and it would make the bubble last longer. but how long?

This gets back to Peak Oil quickly enough. Our numbers on global oil production were really bad in those years. From 2001-2004, the EIA didn't publish the numbers on their website. They went from being very good about staying mostly up to date, to zero reporting. The rumor mill was suggesting that the numbers were bad, but you couldn't go to a public source and see it. The Peak Oil Deniers simply denied there was a drop in production.

When they finally did report the numbers, it was well after the recovery of oil production was underway. in the period between 2004 and 2009, production numbers were all over the place. The EIA has a history of trending their current numbers upwards, then correcting them a year or two later. During this period, the variance was even worse. Other sources were estimating production figures that looked like oil production had flattened out.

Because the numbers were so bad, it was impossible to use oil production as a prediction tool. We knew we were in a bubble. We knew it would crash. But we didn't have good data to determine when.

But when we look in hindsight, and see the peak in Conventional Oil in 2005 and then All Liquids in 2008, then compare those numbers to our economic time line, we get a similar correlation that we saw in the peak in early 2001, and the subsequent market crash in May. The housing market was showing strains after 2005, that the Bush financial team was able to overcome by opening the flood of money wider. In 2008 they couldn't hold it together any longer. Oil production had quit growing and demand kept rising. The subsequent fallout was a crash in our banking system, a ratcheting down of our economy as a whole and pressure for a real estate correction that is being prevented through the power of high speed money presses.

This system has not seen the correction it enjoyed in 2001. Cracks will keep opening up and weakening our economy until it does correct. But we can bet that the White House will fill in those cracks as quickly as they can and pretend they they are solving the problem with the rotting economic frame, through the judicious use of paint and plaster.

I've been waiting twelve years now for the cornucopians to produce the era of sustained and 'healthy' growth in energy production. It's always just around the corner. And yet we keep rounding corners and they say, "Well, the next corner will have a pot of gold for sure."

Maybe it will happen. I don't think it's a safe bet. I think it's highly improbable, but I can't say it's impossible.

But when will it happen? From industry reports such as this one from Petrobas, it looks like future production will not keep up with the decline.

Assuming things go as I have forecasted, after the economic dip in October and the banking crisis in the first quarter of next year, I expect things to go back to a quasi normal state, that will be a new low, but leveled again, proving that everything is fine and we would be better off, if we only picked better presidents... Well at least that's what the political talk will revolve around. I expect that the folks on Peak Oil Debunked and similar sites will continue to tell us that we're not taking into account, reserves that have not been discovered. And that will prove that we are wrong.

And yet, we do take them into account. We expect them to keep getting smaller and to be ever more difficult to produce oil from. That expectation was exactly while Colin Campbell and Jean Laherre were writing about in the May 1998 Scientific America article, "The End of Cheap Oil".

Before I end this article, it doesn't hurt to cover what the idea of 'Cheap' is. One poster on that debunking site, correctly points out that oil prices are driven upwards by monetary inflation. That is true. What he neglects to mention, and this is important, is that wages have not risen with oil prices. In fact oil prices keep going up and wages are in decline. When your income is dropping and prices are going up, then stuff is getting more expensive. This is all the theory that working man needs to understand. Knowing that the bankers are seeing prices relative to their income drop like they are in free fall, means nothing when you're counting out your change at the pump, trying to figure out how much gas you can afford to buy, or how little you can get away with until pay day.

The Era of Cheap Oil is over.

*******************************************************************

Update: The 5mbd suggested for Brazil turned out to be an estimate for the Atlantic as a whole. We had a misunderstanding. Still that figure taken out to 2015, is unlikely to cover depletion effects we'll be seeing world wide. We need dramatically faster increases in our energy supply to see a return to an era of infinite growth.

Riffing on Intolerance

2010-08-04T09:47:00.001-07:00

I saw an annoying bumper sticker the other day. Got stuck seeing in traffic for a half an hour. Just thought I'd publish my version of it. I'm only a smidgeon Cherokee. Not enough to show. I only picked them because they are the dominate tribe in my area. I'd enjoy seeing bumper stickers like this everywhere with different tribal names. I would not feel offended.

Professor Albert Bartlett and the Limits of Growth

2010-08-04T08:00:00.001-07:00

I'm reposting this, as it's worth watching again. Or if you missed it the first time, it's worth watching!

Smuggler Playing In His Tub

2010-07-30T11:07:00.000-07:00

Through The Wormhole

2010-07-29T12:57:00.001-07:00

I caught an interesting show on the Science Channel last night. It was Through the Wromhole.

It was good presentation of current scientific thought on physics and astrophysics. Morgan Freeman did a great job in hosting it.

When it came to the topic of the search for alien life, it fell a bit short though. At least if I were to compare it to Carl Sagan's Cosmos.

In TTW, a few reasons were given as to why we haven't heard from any alien life forms. And in those explanations, the most important reason proposed by Carl Sagan was missing. Those alien life forms may not have the abundant energy to broadcast signals or create a technologically advanced civilization as we have done. Further, if they did, then like us, they are likely to exhaust in a geologically short time and then fall back to a more primitive state.

Essentially, it's possible that intelligent life could evolve on a planet that is too young to produce abundant fossil fuel reserves. That species might then never build a civilization based on an energy source that is anymore concentrated than wood or charcoal. This level of civilization persisted on Earth until the Middle Ages. Though vast civilizations like the Roman Empire could be powered by this kind of fuel, a civilization like ours could never be built. we uses thousands of times more energy than forests can provide.

In the second scenario, which fits us. A species learns has high quality fossil fuels available. The fuels make it possible to produce a hi-tech civilization and a lot of food for a growing population. But then fossil fuels are limited. A little over a hundred years later, the fuel begins to run out and the technology level and population drop fast. A civilization then would have only about a century to broadcast, then it would shut down.

Finding a civilization that was formed after a planet put down fossil fuel reserves and having the timing line up so that we can hear them in their 100 year window, reduces dramatically the odds that we'll ever detect ETs.

Carl Sagan proposed that few species would use fossil fuels to solve their societies problems, and leave their planet before they run out. He proposed that our example is probably the more common one, and we're going to revert back to the iron age without migrating to the stars.

Even the physicists barely touched on the energy problem in the program. One made a comment about a super brain organism of virtual processing space inside of a machine, going on happily without interest in the universe, so long as someone keeps paying the electric bill.

It was good program if I forget this important oversight. But the oversight does demonstrate this big hole in the thinking of our greatest minds. It does not bode well for our future.

In-Sync Exotics Second Annual Tiger Trot

2010-07-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

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I'll be attending this event to support the cats. If you're in the area, please come out and enjoy the festivities.

And now for the begging... I'll be attending this event. If you'd like to sponsor me for this silly little walk, you can email me at weaseldog2001@yahoo.com.

Of course, you can donate anytime to In-Sync Exotics, and help insure that these cats continue to have a safe and nurturing environment, to enjoy for the rest of their natural lives.

I can attest that everyone at In-Sync is there for the cats, and the cats only. Every dollar donated, goes to the cats. The dedication of the staff and the good people who donate their time and hard earned money, shows in every happy feline.

Obama Promotes Surge,Citing Lack Of Justification

2010-07-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama enlists Afghan war leaks in support of policy switch

Material cataloguing blunders justifies decision to deploy 30,000 more US troops, US president says

********************************************

Obama has now made a statement in regards to the WikiLeaks release of military documents on Afghanistan.

Up to now, Obama has been clear that the war in Afghanistan is continuing to exist just fine, and we don't need to make any changes to keep it going. The war continues to be an ongoing success that isn't too hot or too cold. It perfect simmering just as it is.

With the WikiLeaks release, Obama says that nothing new has come out. The situation is unchanged.

Because nothing has changed, and WikiLeaks doesn't change anything, and the war continues to prosper, Obama tells us that the lack of change proves that he needs to order another surge.

To paraphrase, 'It ain't broke, so Obama is gonna fix it.'

I love the subtitle to the article, "Material cataloguing blunders justifies decision to deploy 30,000 more US troops, US president says". I don't understand it, but it's one of those politico gobbledy gook things that politicians say when are trying to sound smart. And you know they don't have a clue what they are say either. But it's cool baby talk. I guess it's better than him sucking his thumb when he doesn't want to answer a question.

But look out folks, i can tell you now that whenever "Material cataloguing blunders" occur, it means that Obama is gonna have to order the slaughter of a lot more innocent human beings. Someone has to pay.

And as to all of the hero crap tossed around about WikiLeaks, isn't it convenient that these leaks are all providing more justification for slaughtering more and more human beings for no good reason, except to keep the profits of war profiteers growing?

Austerity Measures in the USA

2010-07-28T08:18:00.000-07:00

h/t Mike Ruppert and Co.

I've covered this topic in the past. When the IMF imposes it's austerity programs, it sells off public utilities to private corporations. Utility rates get jacked, and maintenance suffers. Often service ends, but the bills don't. To make sure that the citizenry pay through the nose for crappy services, it becomes illegal to utilize other sources for the same services. A state mandated monopoly is imposed.

These Austerity measures have come to the USA. It is now becoming a crime to use the rain water that falls on your property. We can expect more fines and fees for activities we once took for granted was our right to engage in, as our governments become increasingly desperate for revenue to fuel their growth.

And to continue the theme that lots of crap breaks down during a downturn, we have an Oil Spill in Michigan and another New One in Louisiana.

This is the trend for the future. Higher prices, degrading infrastructure, more frequent emergencies, declining quality of service, and increasing criminal penalties for innocuous daily activities.

UPDATE:
Limited rainwater harvesting is now legal in Utah.

My Favorite Kitten

2010-07-16T13:56:00.000-07:00

Here are a few new pics of Smuggler.

And here's Mohan. One of my favorite big kitties.

You can see these cats in person at In-Sync Exotic Cat Rescue Center

Democrats Spend Less!

2010-07-16T13:03:00.001-07:00

h/t Crooks And Liars

But not so fast...

The budget deficit under Clinton did improve, but you have to look at the second order derivative to see it go negative. Lot's of trends go negative when you look at the acceleration of the acceleration. If you slow going up a hill, the second order derivative of your motion goes negative. That doesn't mean you're going backwards.

I'll give Clinton his due. He did cut a lot of military spending. As we came out of the Reagan/Bush years, we had a lot of cold war overhang. The US government was growing to expand into that new capacity. What peace dividend we were enjoying then, would've canceled out soon enough.

In the end though, Obama broke the mold. He surpassed Bush II. He proved that Democrats can waste money even better than the Waster Meister Bush.

Perhaps that can be the source of a future updated chart?

BP's Oil Gusher Capped?

2010-07-16T12:41:00.000-07:00

God let's hope so!

It is a travesty that it took 90 days to fix this. BP wasn't prepared for the disaster though they pretended they were. And as they worked on the problem, I never got the sense that their spokesmen ever portrayed a sense of urgency.

Sadly, the damage done so far isn't over. The oil already released will take time to be consumed by bacteria, which will continue to suck life giving oxygen out of the water at every depth.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I don;t have any trust in BP or that they've actually stopped the oil geyser. I'll need time and further evidence before I come to believe.

But so far, things look good. Let's hope they last.

Inside BP's Corporate Offices

2010-07-11T13:44:00.002-07:00

May Turned To Crap

2010-07-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

Once again, flat supply, economic stimulus and rising crude prices led to a criticality.

After months of great and wonderful news about the recovering economy that wasn't, our great cheerleaders have had to once again, admit that their crap does stink.

Sorry Bernie, but the world of economics does follow the physical world. It doesn't lead. It doesn't set the trends. The physical world offers up opportunities and crisis, and the world of economics reacts to them like a kitten going after a length of string.

We're coming back around in the cycle. This downturn has only just begun. It will start nailing the banks, and we'll be talking bailouts again as we get into Fall. the stress tests gearing up in Europe are a sure sign that our continually sinking recovery that wasn't, is going to starting swirling around the bowl again.

When I predicted a downturn in May all those months ago, I was only sure that it would be a criticality. I couldn't be sure that the PPT wouldn't be able to print money fast enough to keep the markets inflated. As we see from the DOW in the chart below, they couldn't seem to do it. But then, how else can the banks do any profit taking if they aren't pulling money out at higher prices than they pay in?

I certainly didn't predict the disaster in the Gulf. But chaos theory tells us that statistically speaking these events must happen. It's of course, human nature to relax standards until something breaks. We become complacent over time. We become comfortable with cost cutting. We keep cutting corners. Then one day, hell explodes in our faces.

It's how we do things. It's how we'll continue to do things. It's what we are.

Addendum:

I expect October to be a bleak month in the economics scene. Oil production will continue to decline. The market may rally some between now and then, but it will not be sustainable. Jobs and businesses will be lost at a faster rate. When October hits, the business news will be very bearish. The markets will suffer. More criticalities will occur.

Come this Fall, the White House will be in a panic. More bailouts and stimulation for rich people will ensue. While dolphins and whales continue die in the Gulf, Obama will fight with all of his might to save the Great White Males. The 'No Billionaire Left Behind' policies will be putting on a head of steam, even as the rest of the US economy disappears down U-Bend under the toilet seat.

Aerial Views of the Gulf of British Petroleum

2010-07-06T09:13:00.000-07:00

While defying laws handed down by the USA's Lord and Sovereign, British Petroleum, John L. Watham provides aerial footage of the disaster produced by British Petroleum's massive oil geyser.

Rebirth and In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela

2010-06-25T07:04:00.000-07:00

After watching both episodes of the Futurama Premier last night, I'm hopeful that the series can at least match the creativity seen during the FOX years.

'Rebirth' was a good starting episode. It picked up at the end of 'Beyond the Wild Green Yonder'. In the end of that movie we saw the characters headed for certain death. And in fact, most of them are dead at the start of the episode.

The symbolism was obvious. The series had been dead and needed to be brought back to life. The dialogue about the move to Comedy Central move right up to the edge and didn't quite get to annoying. It was reminiscent of the Cochrane quote in the movie, 'First Contact', when he exclaims, "You're astronauts...on some kind of star trek?" That line still makes me groan. It was unnecessary, didn't fit and likely could've been written better. At least with Futurama you expect to groan at some of the jokes. In fact the characters themselves often remark that some of the puns are a new low. Especially when it comes to Bender...

The episode gives a nod to the Sci-Fi channel show, 'Caprica', when Leela's and then Fry's personalities are recreated from webcam footage and downloaded into robots. Toward the end, there is a nod to the Terminator series as these robots reject their human forms and go to being pure robots, while speaking like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

During this episode, Bender gets a new power plant (actually a doomsday device from earlier episodes), and must party all of the time to burn off the excess energy. Otherwise he'll explode and kill everyone. In the end of the episode, Bender's power supply malfunctions and then operates at a lower level.

In this episode, Bender parties a lot, but doesn't drink much. And now he has a power supply that doesn't need alcohol. I hope that this doesn't adversely effect his character development in later episodes.

***********************************************************

In 'In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela', we have a vignette featuring Captain Zap Brannigan's rich fantasies. It alternates a bit between a regular color cartoon and a clunky black and white done in the early style of Disney as represented by the Steamboat Willie cartoon. This is the second episode that I can remember, that hearkens back to that earlier age of cartoons. The other one was the feature length film, 'The Beast with a Billion Backs'. That one had an interesting take on the Flying Spaghetti Monster, complete with pirates attempting to harpoon the beast... Or was it meant to be something else...? :)

In this episode, we have a Death Sphere headed to Earth. It's mission is to censor planets where naughty things happen. It's a take on V'Ger from Star Trek and the Death Star from Star Wars. The invisible stealth spacecraft was cute. Though the ship could become invisible, the occupants could be clearly seen. Nod here to Wonder Woman, and her invisible jet airplane... That made for some strange visuals as Leela and Zap share the single man cockpit with her in his lap.

They take on the Death Sphere which has the name V-GINY. It's the result of the collision of two satellites, V-CHIP and FLYING DESTINY (Air Force).

It did have a couple of lines that had me snickering out loud...
“Magnify that death sphere…. Why is it still blurry?” – Zapp
“That’s all the resolution we have. Making it bigger doesn’t make it clearer.” – Kif
“It does on CSI: Miami!” – Zapp

It continues after Leela and Zap crash land and Zap tricks Leela into thinking she's on a paradise of a planet and the Earth has been destroyed. When caught in his web of lies, Zap responds with, "My motives were pure. I just wanted to get laid."

This episode had it's moments, but seemed forced. I think it's intended to be a bit of satire directed at FOX, and represents all of the shows that were ruined by studio management when committees started rewriting plots. The last season of the original 'Star Trek' comes to mind. In that season, many of the plots didn't make sense. The characters were doing things they wouldn't normally do...

And, now that I've gotten this far in writing this cheesy review, I think that is exactly what they were riffing on! It's obvious now! It's a riff on 'The Way to Eden'.

Still in the end, I think this episode represents Zapp Brannigan's rich but pubescent imagination and doesn't reflect on the future of the show. Now that I've finally figured it out, I may have to go back and watch it again...

Good News Everyone!

2010-06-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

Futurama is back tonight with a new episode.

It's a sci-fi geek cartoon from Matt Groenig, in case you've never heard of it, and will air on Comedy Central at 9:00pm Central Time.

One of the co-writers, David X. Cohen has a bachelors degree in Physics and a Masters Degree in Theoretical Computer Science. With his input ever episode is sure to have a few sly science jokes slipped in.

And combined with science, the show has plenty of alcohol. One of the main characters, 'Bender', is a robot that runs on alcohol burning fuel cells.

If you ever catch the show, pay attention to the labels on the beer bottles, they are always interestingly geeky, like this one:

Or the less cerebral beer, brewed by Bender himself:

And finally, here is the website of a true fan. He built himself a beer making machine in the shape of the beer guzzling Bender!

Anyhoo, if you enjoy the show, then cool. If you hate it, well, you can, "Bite Bender's shiny metal butt."

Fox Tapped To Oversee Foxes Tasked With Guarding Hen House

2010-06-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

BP picked as the independent agency to oversee BP's $20b fund.

US BP executive Bob Dudley to manage oil spill crisis

Tony Hayward steps aside as Dudley is appointed head of new unit to manage response and clean-up operation

Hayward, Dudley and McKay of BP BP chief executive Tony Hayward, managing director Bob Dudley and BP America chairman and president Lamar McKay after a meeting with Barack Obama. Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Bob Dudley, an American BP executive, today became the new man in charge of handling the company's oil spill crisis, taking over from the embattled chief executive Tony Hayward.

Dudley will report to Hayward as the head of the newly created Gulf Coast Restoration Organisation, and will be responsible for managing the cleanup and evaluation of environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico, the company said.

"In the near term, my focus will be on listening to stakeholders, so we can address concerns and remove obstacles that get in the way of our effectiveness," Dudley said. "And we'll build an organisation that, over the longer term, fulfills BP's commitment to restore the livelihoods and the environment of the Gulf coast."

BP said that the newly formed organisation will manage all aspects of its response to the Deepwater Horizon incident and the oil and gas spill in the Gulf of Mexico. That includes clean-up operations, co-ordinating with the US government and local officials, and managing the $20bn (£13.4bn) escrow account.

"Having grown up in Mississippi, Bob has a deep appreciation and affinity for the Gulf coast, and believes deeply in BP's commitment to restore the region," Hayward said.

Dudley, 54, lost out to Hayward when BP chose a new chief executive three years ago. His oil industry career began in 1979 with Amoco Corp, which merged with BP in 1998.

Between 1994 and 1997 Dudley was based in Moscow, working on developing Amoco's business in Russia. From 2003 to 2008, he was president and chief executive of TNK-BP, a joint venture in Russia.

The Truth About Retail Sales, Bankruptcy Data, and Stimulus.

2010-06-11T16:31:00.001-07:00

Don't Cry For British Petroleum

2010-06-08T04:53:00.000-07:00

BP's Promo Video

I've seen some folks comment that they are incredibly fearful that this spill will adversely affect British Petroleum's profit margins. They worry that Mr. Hayward won't be able to buy a few hundred yachts next year for his personal enjoyment.

Don't worry folks. BP will make money from this. The US taxpayer pays out billions of dollars every year in subsidies to the oil majors. It's estimated that the US Tax Payer gifts BP $30 Billion / year. You see, when you're the world's most profitable industry and breaking profit records every year, you shouldn't have to pay your own bills. That's why you and I work for a living. It's our job to make sure that Hayward, a British Citizen enjoys the comforts and pleasures that real wealth can provide.

So there is no reason to believe that the you and I won't be bailing out BP at a cost plus basis. BP is going to make record profits on this spill.

Oh and the BP workers we're hearing about getting sick? They've found a solution for that. They are using our tax dollars to clean beaches that are unaffected by the spill. After all, cleaning up the real muck may eventually expose them to liabilities that will turn into multi-generational court fights.

Don't cry for BP. BP has been creating disasters in the US every year for decades. It's what they do. It hasn't hurt them yet. After all, if you have a job, a portion of your paycheck is going overseas to London, to rest in Hayward's personal bank account.

British Petroleum will be fine.

Some say the devil is dead, the devil is dead.
Some say the devil is dead and buried in the bayou.
Some say he rose again, some say he rose again.
Some say he rose again and runs a BP oil crew.

BP's Oil Crater

2010-05-25T07:51:00.001-07:00

Check out this blog..., he's been following the link and watching it live, along with his readers.

From his blog, one of the ROV's comes up for a cleaning after the eruption.

I'm guessing that the it's too late to use a relief well to fix this. The hole will keep widening, and cracks in the seabed will widen. The oil volcano will continue until it's exhausted.

We Must Have Ecological Disasters

2010-05-21T04:09:00.000-07:00

At least that's what the Tea Party members are saying online. The "Drill Baby Drill!" chant is still going strong.

We have to have oil. We have no choice and oil disasters are always an act of nature. For instance, when BP didn't inspect the Alaska pipeline for eight years, and it sprang a leak that no one knew about for weeks, that was a natural disaster. Pipes corrode and eventually leak, that's natural.

The disaster unfolding in the Gulf occurred according to the Tea Party Members, because the oil they were drilling into was under high pressure. Experts in the oil industry didn't expect to encounter high pressures at such depths. So they used gear that wasn't rated for such high pressures and that gear failed. When equipment is installed that isn't up to doing the job, and it fails, that is also an Act of Nature.

They have a valid argument is saying that without oil, the economy is going into the toilet. You've heard me make that argument for over a decade. Oil is running out. We're in the decline phase of Peak Oil. It will end the world economy as we know it. I agree with them there.

They also say that the disasters we see in the oil industry, are natural disasters. It's natural for man made machines to break down. It's natural that when corners are cut and safety is ignored, that there is going to be a disaster.

So get used to it folks. BP has set the standard with this one. There will be a lot more oil rig explosions, and massive oil discharges in our oceans. We have to get that oil to keep the World economy alive, even if it means that we kill the oceans.

Sure we might have to evacuate our coastal cities, but it's a small price to pay, to keep Mr. Hayward comfy in the UK.

May Is Turning To Crap

2010-05-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Back in February I first started to write about how I thought May would be a bad month.

I couldn't tell you then exactly what would happen. And the reason for that is fairly simple to explain. When complex systems are forced to simplify, they break down in complex and chaotic ways. You can predict when they'll break down, but it's often difficult to see exactly what events will occur during the break down.

In human civilizations, we see familiar patterns. when energy supplies are growing, we see our systems become more robust. Industries are amenable to paying for and installing safety measures and redundancies.

As energy supplies decline. Expenses are cut. Often in safety devices. As the system falls apart, the first things that are removed, are the things that keep it from breaking. These are considered the unnecessary components in the system. The waste and luxury items.

So we've seen all manner of industries deregulated. Laws and rules designed to keep industries from shooting themselves int he foot are removed. And those industries, then promptly shoot themselves in the foot. Then they pass the medical bills to the taxpayer.

During the Bush Administration, decades old mine safety regulations were removed. Not long after, we had our biggest mine accident in years. Now under Obama, with those regulations still removed, we topped that. Our mine safety record is reverting back to the good old days, at the turn of the century when being a miner was a game of roulette. You spun the barrel and took your chances every time you went back into the Earth.

The banks had their safety regulation removed, and promptly exploded. the taxpayers continue to borrow mind boggling quantities of money to funnel through various entities to keep these banks afloat.

Too big to fail, should be rephrased to, "Too Big To Exist." The banks are so huge now, that they can't make profits without being connected to the life support system of money presses running full bore, giving them free profits. Money for nuthin'.

Without money for nothing, they'd go bankrupt. One might be excused for thinking that anyone that needs tons of free money to stay in the black, shouldn't even be in business.

And now we learned that BP successfully lobbied to install deep water wells without mandated safety equipment. And the safety equipment they did install, was evidently defective, poorly designed, or just fake props. As a critical piece is a mile under water, we'll never know the truth.

I had hoped that this 'bell' that they tried to install over the leak would work. I didn't know that it wouldn't work. But as I noted here and there. The leak was way bigger than the capacity stated for this patch. Still I hoped that it would help a little.

After installation, we learned that it was only being placed over the smallest leak. The gusher wasn't being repaired yet. And even on the smallest of the three leaks, it failed. I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't some geologists out there that already knew it would fail and why.

But the point of BP's efforts aren't to fix the leak. But to show they are trying. After all, nobody has ever stopped a leak of this magnitude in one mile of seawater. BP doesn't know how to do it. But if they did nothing, they would get creamed in the arena of public opinion. so they must try, to fix it, even if they know their efforts will fail. It's in their best interest to even make attempts that they absolutely know are a waste of time. After all, the MSM wouldn't know the difference.

Last week, the market took a dive. Suddenly the EU prints a $trillion euros and the market magically rebounds. 60 million shares were purchased on the DOW to bring it up 440 points. Those bids were posted after hours and only took effect on the open. A savvy investor would put a limit on a bid that is going to ride through the weekend. It looks like savvy investors weren't present for this rally. From comments I'm seeing on news sites, it appears that the public thinks the market is rigged and the PPT drove the rally by pumping and dumping.

May isn't over. Nor will it be the end. It's the starting leg of a downturn. The news should continue to get exciting. there's a lot more crap that's going to break. I apologize that I can't be more specific. but this market downturn, BP and the rest all will produce a synergy that will continue wreaking havoc in unexpected ways.

Enjoy the gardening.

NYSE Blesses Goldman's Activities

2010-05-05T04:22:00.001-07:00

With only a $450,000 fine, the NYSE NSEC gives Goldman Sachs a wink and nod, and gentle admonishment for Goldman Sach's highly unethical behavior. After making $billions in profits, this fine doesn't even rise to the level of a tax. It's more of a token fee.

Now that Goldman Sachs Concubines at the NYSE NSEC have blessed their behavior, we can expect their behavior to grow even more outrageous.

Great job, you boys at the SEC! I bet the execs at GS never got such service from a prostitute before! You sure can turn a trick!

NYSE fines Goldman $450,000

By Sam Mamudi

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- NYSE Regulation and the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday fined a unit of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!gs/quotes/nls/gs (GS 149.45, -0.05, -0.03%) $450,000 for failing to abide by trading regulations. The NYSE found that from early December 2008 to the late January 2009 Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing L.P. violated rules by failing to timely close out fail-to-deliver positions in stocks, accepting short sale positions that had not been timely closed out without first pre-borrowing the stocks, and by failing to let some customers know that it had open fail-to-deliver positions in some stocks that had not been timely closed out. While neither admitting nor denying its guilt, the Goldman unit consented to the penalty and the NYSE's findings.

Governor Rick Perry is Askeered of Animals

2010-04-28T11:21:00.000-07:00

Oh My God! It's Coming right for me!!!!!

Our esteemed governor evidently hunts in the city limits with a laser sighted .380

I'd be in jail if I did this. But it's Ok if the governor does it.

Never mind that this story smells of bullshit. A coyote isn't going to attack a group men and a dog.

But then, if he said he shot it for the thrill of killing a wild and relatively helpless animal, the story wouldn't sound so sexy.

I'm still one up on him. In may last walk in the woods, my dog caught a wild boar and dragged back to me by it's head. They sure can squeal. I didn't have a gun on me so I couldn't shoot it and brag about how askeered I am of wild animals. So I told my dog to let it go, and the boar ran off back into the woods.

Good thing Perry wasn't with me. I'd be askeered he'd shoot my dog.

Texas gov. shoots, kills 'wily' coyote during jog

On this particular morning, Perry said, he was jogging without his security detail shortly after sunrise.

"I'm enjoying the run when something catches my eye and it's this coyote. I know he knows I'm there. He never looks at me, he is laser-locked on that dog," Perry said.

"I holler and the coyote stopped. I holler again. By this time I had taken my weapon out and charged it. It is now staring dead at me. Either me or the dog are in imminent danger. I did the appropriate thing and sent it to where coyotes go," he said.

Apple Gets Drunk, Loses Phone, Steals Computers

2010-04-27T04:29:00.000-07:00

I think there's a lesson here. If you see Apple Engineers taking their prototypes out for a date, and they go home without said prototype, don't pick it up. Apple will break into your home and steal your computers.

Or in other words, Apple is hard up for new technology.

Calif. police seize computers in 'lost' iPhone case

Inspiration

2010-04-16T13:16:00.001-07:00

Rolling Downhill

2010-04-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

By now you've heard that the SEC is gonna sissy slap Goldman Sachs. Speculation is already mounting that GS got advance notice, and used that information to fuel insider trading deals. What a deal if you can bet against yourself, knowing that you're gonna get dinged, and profit from it!

When it comes to comes to El Squid, who knows? Did they perhaps even ask the SEC to do this so they could short themselves?

A play like this though, rarely is a one off. I have to wonder, what's stage II? What happens next?

We're coming up into an election year. It's time for politicians to pretend that they care about the great unwashed masses. so this could be a good quarter to start prosecutions and start another wave of seizing and selling of smaller banks. To do so, the gov needs to pretend that they are acting fairly and without prejudice.

Going after Goldman Sachs now, and giving them a little smack on the hand, could well give them a bit of cover for when they start really nailing the smaller banks.

Bank of America is planning to increase the rate of foreclosures. In my opinion, it's just a ploy. They may well increase it for a short while, but this will bring pressure on the politicians, who will find another way to give BofA and the other big banks, another mountain of free money. In exchange, we can expect that the SEC will pretend to smack BofA too.

Right on schedule for my May prognostication, economic events are coming to a head. Oil and gasoline prices are rising faster. This will lead to tighter margins, and more layoffs. The systemic problems with the banks in regards to housing, mortgages, stock market gambling and derivatives exposure have grown since the last bailout.

This next round of bailouts will make the last one look like a drop in the bucket. I think now that by the time Obama is out of office, our deficit will officially be way past $50 trillion. Right now it's a paltry $12.8 Trillion. Heck, maybe it'll pass $100 trillion? That doesn't seem out of line at the moment.

Isn't that amazing though? We've added $12 Trillion in debt in such a short span of years. We've multiplied two hundred years of debt more than 12 times in about ten years. in another ten years, it should be in the quadrillions!

We're in for a wild ride and I think it's time for another big crisis. Our politicians likely want to put it off. But I thin they are out of room, for Extend and Pretend. They can go back to that after this little upcoming correction.

In the garden, my beans and squash are coming up. I have little grape clusters forming. I've been enjoying fresh asparagus and onions. Now I just need to get my tomatoes and artichokes in the ground.

Happy Gardening!

Texas Ranch House

2010-04-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I caught the last few episodes of Texas Ranch House. This is one of my rare forays into 'Reality Television'. From the start I could tell it differed quite a bit from the other 'Reality' shows that are designed to have constant contrived drama, to keep the viewers interested.

The setup in this educational reality TV series, is that a modern family and hired hands are placed on a West Texas ranch, to recreate the 1867 lifestyle.

The show highlighted for me the juxtaposition of modern day thinking and values, with those that were likely the norm in the late 19th century. It was an interesting program. I'll try not to cover too much ground, so that if you watch it in the future, this won't be too much of a spoiler for you.

So here are my impressions and observations...

Mr. Cooke, the 'landowner' in this show, is in daily life, a hospital administrator. He and his wife and two daughters play the family that owns the ranch. An experienced foreman and some of his crew are brought on to work the ranch for the season documented in the show. Additional ranch hands come from modern life, with no working experience on a ranch.

What struck me is that from the beginning, Mr. Cooke was running the ranch like a middle manager. His primary concern were profits for that season of work only. Like a typical middle manager, he often consulted with his foreman, then told his foreman what he wanted done, with little regard for the foreman's experience. Then he'd meet with his wife, who would give him new orders, and he'd go pass those orders down to his foreman. His foreman was visibly bothered by getting a conflicting series of orders, and having to go to the ranch hands and tell them of the changes. This bred a lot of uncertainty as to what they really should be doing, and a lot of talk about how Mr Cooke wasn't really wearing the pants. Further, there was much talk about how he was dishonest and kept breaking promises.

In an early episode (that I missed), it seems he had fired the first foreman because he wasn't 'loyal' enough and his crew were only loyal to him, and not Mr. Cooke. This loyalty theme, where the Rancher and his family complained that their hired hands were loyal to them, was in constant play. It never seemed to occur to them that this loyalty might be a two way street. They seemed to view themselves as plantation owners, lording over slaves.

The women in the show, didn't want to be typecast as women of 1867, and were constantly complaining that the men didn't respect them. It seemed to a small degree this was true. In a flashback scene, they showed the hands giving the two daughters a tough time, by joking about not helping them, as they tried to milk a cow. The two daughters didn't seem to know that they should tie the cow to a post before trying to milk it. It kept walking away from them.

Mrs' Cooke went so far as to hire a woman as a domestic helper, befriended her and then needled her husband into taking her on as a ranch hand, behind the foreman's back. That breach of trust didn't work out well and the cowgirl ended up bailing on the ranch hands during round ups, after she found out that it wasn't all fun and games.

Mr. Cooke showed his true colors later when Comanches kidnapped one of his hands and wanted cattle in trade for him. Cooke remarked that he didn't trade with terrorists. He'd trade for horses, but not a human being. When the Indians outsmarted him, by selling him back a horse that was the property of the ranch hand, he blamed the cowboy and proclaimed that he was keeping the horse.

I'll leave it to me readers to see what the women were doing to the ranch house, garden, etc... while the ranch hands were out 'having fun', driving cattle in the West Texas heat.

In the end, all of his ranch hands quit on him, angry about the constant betrayals. The Cooke family griped about the ranch hands lack of loyalty. The ranch hands seemed to have come out the experience a little wiser. The Cooke family learned nothing. They got a bad review all the way around by a three experts in ranch style living and 19th century living, and felt that they were treated unfairly in the assessment. The 'experts' didn't think that the Cooke family could make the ranch work for an entire year, because they were going to have a lot of trouble getting good help to replace the cowboys that they drove off the ranch.

I happen to agree with their assessment. I think that in 1867, those cowpokes would've taken their wages to the nearest town and regaled the townsfolk with tales of the wussy, running the Cooke Ranch. 'Wussy' is the descriptive term for Mr. Cooke used by the Tribal Leader of the Comanche Nation, that appeared in the show. In 1867, a man like Mr. Cooke would likely find his reputation preceding him as he went town to town, looking for new help.

Still Mr. Cooke was proud that he made a profit in that one season and failed to understand why that was no guarantee of long term performance. He saw his hired hands as replaceable slaves. A common way of thinking in the modern corporate world. He never understood that his own actions had repercussions. He found himself blameless, as did his family.

This show highlighted in my view why we Americans (Well in the USA and Canada), are going to have a tough time adapting to the energy downturn. So many of us have in the circle jerk so long, congratulating each other on how great and noble we are, simply because we were born on this continent, on the 'good' side of the Mexican border, that we completely lack the humility necessary to act as a community. In the Ranch House, the lack of sense of community and the understanding that the ranch hands were deserving of respect, would eventually lead to the Ranch's failure. This is a problem for the USA and Canada as respect for our fellow man, is in short supply. We will not be able to come together as communities for the most part, and solve our problems together.

Eventually, communities will emerge that pull together and work together. But for some time, they will be the exception.

For today and the foreseeable future, we are dividing by our owners, into groups that are set as enemies. We choose our tribes, and then our tribal leaders in the MSM, tell us what to think, how to think, who to hate and who to blame. And of course, they set us upon each other.

Just look at the talk on the financial forums about how the taxpayers are going to have to pick up the tab for the retired workers. Aren't the taxpayers and the workers the same people? How did we come to identify with the uber-wealthy, to wage an idealogical and economic war against ourselves?

Too many of us are the Cooke family, write large across America. At times I saw a bit of Mr. Cooke in myself. and I didn't necessarily like what I saw.

*******************************************

Update: I found this viewer exchange in which Lisa Cook defends her role on the show. It's worth a read.

Plan To fix the California Economy

2010-04-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

From Bush's Base...

Genius Plan to Fix California Economy - Watch more Funny Videos

As our energy supplies continue to diminish and our civilization collapses, evolution is going to be tough on many people.

I've said before, that we are a self selected group in the Peak Oil community.
You have to have some intelligence in order to understand the concepts behind limits to growth. Actually it helps to be above average, as you have to be able to solve problems on your own, have confidence in your projections and have an interest in even bothering.

Most of the people I know and meet, don't have the curiosity to even look up such things when they hear about them.

The gal above isn't very well informed, but she is not unusual. She is however, a good example of why I am very pessimistic about how things are turning out. Keep in mind that our bankster overlords have her beat in only one department. They have a talent for stealing money. Outside of that, most of them know very little additional expertise. The accumulation of money is their only interest. The side effects, the wreckage they leave behind, is just collateral damage. You have to break billions of people, to build a pyramid made of hundred dollar bills.

Fed: Recovery may lose steam

2010-04-07T14:20:00.000-07:00

The Recovering Economy.

Fed: Recovery may lose steam

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Federal Reserve policymakers are worried that the economic recovery may lose steam going forward, despite recent moderate improvements, according to minutes from their recent policy meeting released Tuesday.

Though the latest data suggest an uptick in economic activity, Fed members believe that some sectors of the economy could stifle overall growth, the minutes from the March 16 meeting said.

Fed says "extended period" may last a long time

2010-04-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

This is no surprise. The US Gov depends on the banks to loan it money to operate, as it's debt flies into outer space on a parabolic trajectory. It has no choice. Each round of borrowing has to be grander than the last.

To keep this borrowing going, now that the Chinese, Saudis and others have lost interest in financing our eternally expanding debt, the Fed has no choice but to loan money at near zero rates, so the banks can make easy no risk profits, by lending it to the US Gov.

This gives the pretend illusion that the Fed isn't just printing money at fantastic rates and just giving it away to the taxpayer. Nope, it's creating easy profits to keep the banker's mountains of riches grow.

And of course, the taxpayer is backing both ends of this trade and is on the hook for the money our Gov borrows. If this goes sour, the taxpayer will have to cover the losses in triplicate. Of course this is more money than exists in the world. But that's just a technicality.

Silly prediction: In less than 20 years, our national debt will be measured in the hundreds of trillions by 'official' gov stats. Unemployment will be dramatically worse.

I'm still looking for a severe economic dislocation in the Merry Month of May.

Fed says "extended period" may last a long time

h/t FTW

In response to the worst financial crisis in generations, the Fed not only cut short term interest rates to near zero but also undertook a host of emergency measures aimed at reviving credit markets in the past three years.

Monsanto GM-corn harvest fails massively in South Africa

2010-04-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

In the article below, Monsanto says that the corn was insufficiently fertilized in the laboratory. That is their explanation as to why the plants didn't produce seeds. In this case, seeds are the yellow kernels on an ear of corn. The plants weren't producing any corn on the cob.

I don't have any idea what they mean by 'insufficiently fertilized'. The fertilization happens in the fields, when pollen blows in the wind to be picked up by the stigma attached to an embryonic corn kernel.

A better explanation may well be that the genetic manipulation by Monsanto, provided a variety that can't produce seeds in the second generation. Monsanto is big on terminator seeds and seedless fruits.

One means of introducing new genes into a plant, involves plasmids carried by plant viruses. One theory might be that Monsanto's corn crops have been inadvertently infected by viruses intended for other crops.

Or could simply be that through genetic manipulation, they've broken the plant's reproductive system.

If Monsanto has produced a virus that carried the terminator gene and it's gotten out into the wild, we could possibly see a dramatic shortage in food supplies worldwide. Wouldn't that be a kicker?

Monsanto GM-corn harvest fails massively in South Africa

South African farmers suffered millions of dollars in lost income when 82,000 hectares of genetically-manipulated corn (maize) failed to produce hardly any seeds.The plants look lush and healthy from the outside. Monsanto has offered compensation.

Monsanto blames the failure of the three varieties of corn planted on these farms, in three South African provinces,on alleged 'underfertilisation processes in the laboratory". Some 280 of the 1,000 farmers who planted the three varieties of Monsanto corn this year, have reported extensive seedless corn problems.
Urgent investigation demanded

However environmental activitist Marian Mayet, director of the Africa-centre for biosecurity in Johannesburg, demands an urgent government investigation and an immediate ban on all GM-foods, blaming the crop failure on Monsanto's genetically-manipulated technology.

Willem Pelser, journalist of the Afrikaans Sunday paper Rapport, writes from Nelspruit that Monsanto has immediately offered the farmers compensation in three provinces - North West, Free State and Mpumalanga. The damage-estimates are being undertaken right now by the local farmers' cooperative, Grain-SA. Monsanto claims that 'less than 25%' of three different corn varieties were 'insufficiently fertilised in the laboratory'.

80% crop failure
However Mayet says Monsanto was grossly understating the problem.According to her own information, some farms have suffered up to 80% crop failures. The centre is strongly opposed to GM-food and biologically-manipulated technology in general.

"Monsanto says they just made a mistake in the laboratory, however we say that biotechnology is a failure.You cannot make a 'mistake' with three different varieties of corn.'

Demands urgent government investigation:
"We have been warning against GM-technology for years, we have been warning Monsanto that there will be problems,' said Mayet. She calls for an urgent government investigation and an immediate ban on all GM-foods in South Africa.
Of the 1,000 South African farmers who planted Monsanto's GM-maize this year, 280 suffered extensive crop failure, writes Rapport.

Monsanto's local spokeswoman Magda du Toit said the 'company is engaged in establishing the exact extent of the damage on the farms'. She did not want to speculate on the extent of the financial losses suffered right now.

Managing director of Monsanto in Africa, Kobus Lindeque, said however that 'less than 25% of the Monsanto-seeded farms are involved in the loss'. He says there will be 'a review of the seed-production methods of the three varieties involved in the failure, and we will made the necessary adjustments.'

He denied that the problem was caused in any way by 'bio-technology'. Instead, there had been 'insufficient fertilisation during the seed-production process'.
And Grain-SA's Nico Hawkins says they 'are still support GM-technology; 'We will support any technology which will improve production.' see

He also they were 'satisfied with Monsanto's handling of the case,' and said Grain-SA was 'closely involved in the claims-adjustment methodology' between the farmers and Monsanto.

Farmers told Rapport that Monsanto was 'bending over backwards to try and accommodate them in solving the problem.

"It's a very good gesture to immediately offer to compensate the farmers for losses they suffered,' said Kobus van Coller, one of the Free State farmers who discovered that his maize cobs were practically seedless this week.

"One can't see from the outside whether a plant is unseeded. One must open up the cob leaves to establish the problem,' he said. The seedless cobs show no sign of disease or any kind of fungus. They just have very few seeds, often none at all.
The South African supermarket-chain Woolworths already banned GM-foods from its shelves in 2000. However South African farmers have been producing GM-corn for years: they were among the first countries other than the United States to start using the Monsanto products.

The South African government does not require any labelling of GM-foods. Corn is the main staple food for South Africa's 48-million people.

The three maize varieties which failed to produce seeds were designed with a built-in resistance to weed-killers, and manipulated to increase yields per hectare, Rapport writes.

Rolling Over Loans, Federal Prosecutions - Open Letter

2010-04-05T18:00:00.000-07:00

Hello..,

As a concerned citizen I've been very worried about all of the free money that mayor has said that city is getting from non-tax revenue.

Anytime someone starts bragging about money for nothing, you know there's always a catch. I assumed at the time that I heard it, that the city was rolling over loans, so they would balloon and explode later. I knew that municipalities and governments were doing this, as I keep up with topical financial issues and enjoy researching economics and science.

After all, when people who are accustomed to living in a certain way, find their costs going up, it's typical for them to begin running up debts. They start using their credit cards for income or take on a second mortgage, in hopes that their personal downturn is temporary. This is fine so long as the downturn is temporary.

In our current nation's downturn, I cannot find a single reason to believe that recovery is co,ming in the next few years. Sure the Federal Government shows happy figures demonstrating that we're being flushed down the toilet at a slower rate. But later, like clockwork, they come out with the corrected reports that tell us that the flushing is going faster.

In fact, none of the problems that led to our nation's crisis has been repaired. Instead, the Federal Government has given their rubber stamp of approval to continued fraud on multiple levels. The Federal Government has no choice. Foreign investors have been dropping out of the Treasury Auctions. Our Federal Government's parabolically rising deficit, is being supported by a form of rollover refinancing. Much the same sort of shgenaighan that many US cities are doing. The same sort of creative financing that brought down Greece. The same sort of financing, that I suspect, but cannot prove, that The City Of Irving is getting it's 'free' money from.

What the Federal government is doing is guaranteeing loans from the Federal Reserve to the major banks, at effectively 0% interest. These loans are guaranteed by the taxpayer and will have to be repaid by the taxpayer, if the banks don't pay it back. The banks then loan this free money to the Federal Government at 4% interest. The taxpayer is on the hook of course to pay this back and to make interest payments, effectively on money it loaned to the banks. When these banks run into financial trouble again, and they will, then the taxpayer will have to repay $Trillions of dollars to the Federal Reserve. $Trillions to the banks when they call the loans. Then $Trillions again to bail out the banks. The US Gov will likely just speed up the rate of borrowing in order to pay this off. Rolling over debt is like that. It tends to go parabolic and the borrowing has to increase in speed with every crisis.

In the mean time, the biggest banks are operating with effectively no reserve requirements. They are marking dead beat loans at full value, and Goldman Sachs is actually front running trades, by illegally operating computers inside the Exchanges to to act as an illegal middle man to suck the difference out of third party trades. The Federal Government has sanctioned all of this, while buying up toxic loans at face value, not market value, to cut their losses and transfer them to the taxpayer. The Federal Government has allowed this in order to help banks, that are actually too big to profit from business dealings on a finite planet, to keep growing.

When the next crisis comes, the Federal Government will have to find even more outrageous ways to keep the majors growing.

I know this email is getting long, but I'm getting to my point. This next crisis increase the rate of job loss and do more damage to state and city revenues. Irving, because it's in the middle of the country (East West Vantage), sees a lag in the nation's economic problems. But as you well know, it's not immune. In the upcoming downturn, I expect Irving to take a bigger hit.

If as I suspect, Irving is rolling over loans in some creative accounting games, the banks are likely to call the notes. They have been doing this in city after city already. They know that they have been selling time bombs to our nation's cities. And they make counter bets that these creative loans will fail. Counter bets that they know will be guaranteed by the US taxpayer. It's fraud that they are engaging in. But it's government sanctioned fraud. Even as city council members and contractors in cities all over the USA are going to prison for taking these deals, the bankers themselves appear to have immunity from the law. The US Gov owes them so much money, it dares not hold them accountable.

I've been worrying about how the upcoming crash is going to affect my city. I suspect that the city is getting this free money through such creative accounting tricks, even as it's residents see their jobs lost and salaries cut. I could well be wrong. Our Mayor and his lavishly salaried City Manager buddy, may have found a magical money tree. But the lack of transparency in their statements about where the money is coming from, has me assuming the worst.

And have you followed the City of Birmingham Alabama? According to a recent Matt Taibbi article, almost everyone in the upper levels of the City government and many in the county, went to prison for their dealings with the banks. "If you go into the county courthouse," says Michael Morrison, a planner who works for the county, "there's a gallery of past commissioners on the wall. On the top row, every single one of 'em but two has been investigated, indicted or convicted. It's a joke.". The bankers ran off with the money and no persecutions.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/32906678/looting_main_street/print

I heartily suggest that you read Matt Taibbi's article. When the City of Irving crashes financially, Federal Prosecutors will be combing the personal records of everyone in the city government. I hope and pray that our city leaders are not engaged in the same shenanigans that have swept our nation like a cancer. But the odds are, that the City of Irving has walked into the same trap that many other cities have walked into.

If my suspicions are correct, then it's not a matter of if, but when. Because you can't keep rolling over loans on a declining income. Eventually, you'll come up short and you'll fall into arrears. The banks have really done a number on our economy, just as they did in South America in the 1990s. There is no reason to believe that we'll fare better.

I hope that I am wrong. I hope that our city has not fallen for these traps. When the decision to give the City Manager a princely luxury salary was made, at the beginning of our crisis, I have to admit, my hopes were all but lost. When magical non-specific reassurances of free money were announced, I began to fear the worst.

I wait now, for the next wave crisis to wash over our nation, to see if my fears will be confirmed.

Are you ready for the upcoming mass layoffs the city will have to engage in, to cover the bonds?

Sincerely,
An Irving Resident.

Smuggler

2010-04-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

This cutie was found recently by the border patrol near Mexico. He was found in a cage in the desert with no food or water. The theory is that smugglers dumped him to avoid being caught with contraband.

He's currently doing very well in his new permanent home at In-Sync.

I had the chance to visit with him this last Monday. He was very playful and affectionate. It was easy to see that the volunteers working with him, really wanted to give him hugs, and play with him, but that's a bad thing to get a young tiger used to. After all, they grow up.

Buy Buy American Pie

2010-04-02T06:54:00.001-07:00