there's actually a name for the stunning display of self-confident ignorance and incompetence that Cheney Limbaugh Bush Rumsfeld et al delight in showing for all to see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning-Kruger_effect
Dunning-Kruger effect
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The Dunning-Kruger effect is an example of cognitive bias in which "...people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it"[1]. They therefore suffer an illusory superiority, rating their own ability as above average. This leads to a perverse result where people with less competence will rate their ability more highly than people with relatively more competence. It also explains why competence may weaken the projection of confidence because competent individuals falsely assume others are of equivalent understanding "Thus, the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others." [1].
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Socialist Commie Obama to take your Freedoms Away
Here's evidence of a little bit of the 1.5 million $ per day the health insurance lobbyists are throwing around to scare the fox news dittodolts into voting against their own best interests.
The socialist commie Obama is going to take your freedoms away! The freedom to go bankrupt when illness strikes! The freedom to watch your children get sick and die because you cant afford regular checkups!
Seems more and more that the chance of meaningful health insurance reform is closer and closer to a BIG FAT ZERO.
Why? Simple:
1. The Elderly
Seniors are easily spooked by simple fear mongering ads, and have nothing to gain and vote in larger percentages than the young - they already have Medicare, and if anything it may get cut, so why should they support any plan at all that would touch Medicare?
2. The 100 Billion $ Insurance Industry:
100 Billion $ can buy a lot of congress and a lot of legislation. Especially when it only takes a few million to put through the average legislative giveaway like repeal of Glass-Steagall. Insurance reform is a direct threat to their bottom line, are they going to sit by and let it happen? Fat Chance.
3. Fox News Propaganda
nuff said.
4. Apathy of the Young
Those who could really benefit dont pay attention. There would have to be riots in the streets before any significant reform could pass. What are the chances of that when the media stubbornly refuse to publicize the reality of the health care crisis killing 40000 people a year in this country of idiots.
We deserve the government the lobbyists want us to have.
Health Care Reform by the Numbers
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Trouble-With-Healthcare-usnews-1498528740.html?x=0
The Trouble With Healthcare Reform, In Numbers
By Rick Newman
On Wednesday July 22, 2009, 12:05 pm EDT
The price of healthcare is rising faster than just about anything else in our economy, placing an unsustainable burden on individuals, companies, and even the federal government. That's the main reason one-sixth of the American population--about 50 million people--don't have health insurance. And when they seek care, it tends to be the most expensive kind--at the emergency room--which raises costs for everybody else even more.
[See what Obama must do before Stimulus II.]
Congressional Democrats' first draft of a reform plan illustrates the cost problem: The plan would extend coverage to about 37 million uninsured Americans--but cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years. That scheme has landed with a thud, so newer versions of the plan will probably emerge, with a lower price tag. Still, the major battle over coming months will be over who pays for the healthcare we consume. Here are some stats that flesh out the problem:
Total U.S. healthcare spending: $2.1 trillion
Projected annual increase in spending through 2017: 7 percent
Projected overall inflation rate: 1.2 percent (through 2015)
Healthcare spending as a percentage of all economic activity: 16.3 percent
Projected in 2017: 19.5 percent
[See 6 small steps toward a more normal economy.]
Percentage of Americans covered by employer-provided plans: 61 percent
By government plans: 16 percent
By private plans: 5 percent
Uninsured: 17 percent (about 50 million Americans)
Percentage of large firms offering health coverage: 99 percent
Percentage of small firms: 59 percent (down from 68 percent in 2000)
Industries with the highest health coverage rates: government, manufacturing, transportation, communication, utilities
Industries with the lowest coverage rates: retail, service, health care
Percentage of uninsured who live in a household where nobody works: 19 percent
Who live in a household with only a part-time worker: 12 percent
Who live in a household with one or more full-time workers: 69 percent
[See 11 places with a worse economy than ours.]
Average amount of personal income spent on health care: 6 percent
On housing: 39 percent
On transportation: 20 percent
On food: 14 percent
On clothing: 4 percent
Healthcare spending as a percentage of income, for those earning less than $20,000 per year: 15.5 percent
For those earning between $55,000 and $70,000: 5.1 percent
For those earning more than $70,000: 3 percent
Average increase in employer-based health insurance premiums since 1999: 120 percent
Average increase in wages since then: 29 percent
Proportion of personal bankruptcies related to illness or medical bills: 62.1 percent
Increase since 2001 in the proportion of personal bankruptcies caused by medical problems: 50 percent.
Sources: Randcompare.org; Congressional Budget Office; American Enterprise Institute; Urban Institute; National Coalition on Health Care; Kaiser Family Foundation; American Journal of Medicine
The Trouble With Healthcare Reform, In Numbers
By Rick Newman
On Wednesday July 22, 2009, 12:05 pm EDT
The price of healthcare is rising faster than just about anything else in our economy, placing an unsustainable burden on individuals, companies, and even the federal government. That's the main reason one-sixth of the American population--about 50 million people--don't have health insurance. And when they seek care, it tends to be the most expensive kind--at the emergency room--which raises costs for everybody else even more.
[See what Obama must do before Stimulus II.]
Congressional Democrats' first draft of a reform plan illustrates the cost problem: The plan would extend coverage to about 37 million uninsured Americans--but cost more than $1 trillion over 10 years. That scheme has landed with a thud, so newer versions of the plan will probably emerge, with a lower price tag. Still, the major battle over coming months will be over who pays for the healthcare we consume. Here are some stats that flesh out the problem:
Total U.S. healthcare spending: $2.1 trillion
Projected annual increase in spending through 2017: 7 percent
Projected overall inflation rate: 1.2 percent (through 2015)
Healthcare spending as a percentage of all economic activity: 16.3 percent
Projected in 2017: 19.5 percent
[See 6 small steps toward a more normal economy.]
Percentage of Americans covered by employer-provided plans: 61 percent
By government plans: 16 percent
By private plans: 5 percent
Uninsured: 17 percent (about 50 million Americans)
Percentage of large firms offering health coverage: 99 percent
Percentage of small firms: 59 percent (down from 68 percent in 2000)
Industries with the highest health coverage rates: government, manufacturing, transportation, communication, utilities
Industries with the lowest coverage rates: retail, service, health care
Percentage of uninsured who live in a household where nobody works: 19 percent
Who live in a household with only a part-time worker: 12 percent
Who live in a household with one or more full-time workers: 69 percent
[See 11 places with a worse economy than ours.]
Average amount of personal income spent on health care: 6 percent
On housing: 39 percent
On transportation: 20 percent
On food: 14 percent
On clothing: 4 percent
Healthcare spending as a percentage of income, for those earning less than $20,000 per year: 15.5 percent
For those earning between $55,000 and $70,000: 5.1 percent
For those earning more than $70,000: 3 percent
Average increase in employer-based health insurance premiums since 1999: 120 percent
Average increase in wages since then: 29 percent
Proportion of personal bankruptcies related to illness or medical bills: 62.1 percent
Increase since 2001 in the proportion of personal bankruptcies caused by medical problems: 50 percent.
Sources: Randcompare.org; Congressional Budget Office; American Enterprise Institute; Urban Institute; National Coalition on Health Care; Kaiser Family Foundation; American Journal of Medicine
Monday, July 27, 2009
Peace From the World - Some Comments From 'Stand By Me Video'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgc5CGnjrtQ
http://www.playingforchange.com/
I posted this PlayingForChange video a few days after Bill Moyers show aired, and am surprised it has survived the YouTube copyvio police, anyway it has collected 160,000+ views so far, siphoning a few off the official video that has 12 million+ views and is the most viewed video of all time on YouTube, so I have heard.
It's been fun to see where everyone is from:
http://www.playingforchange.com/
I posted this PlayingForChange video a few days after Bill Moyers show aired, and am surprised it has survived the YouTube copyvio police, anyway it has collected 160,000+ views so far, siphoning a few off the official video that has 12 million+ views and is the most viewed video of all time on YouTube, so I have heard.
It's been fun to see where everyone is from:
deddot (7 months ago) really nice so beautiful .....peace through music ...thats what we want
evatomo4341 (7 months ago)This is a real America to me. 8 years of America be disliked from the world with that Bush policies, but for sure America has a right people like Mark Johnson and Jonathan Walls to realize this beautiful project around the world. Great people!
ucantbrakeme2210 (7 months ago) I am a 51 year old musician,I've seen a few videos. Never,Never have I seen so much heart in one video.I watch this video daily hoping we all get to the place these guys are.I will be in New Orleans in the spring and I WILL stand by Grandpa Elliot for a picture and make a donation...I only wish I could see them all and thank them for the hope they give me.
mkfior (6 months ago) we are one!
askarich1 (6 months ago) Hello 2 all from Russia with Love))))
rizzraf (6 months ago) hello everyone from Nepal as well...peace and love
Freedom544 (5 months ago)Very moving. Hello from Iraq
cletyamaruz (5 months ago)Espeluznantemente bello... Clarence Bekker............ es el mejor, le pone alma a su voz... sentimiento, espíritu y fuerza. Genial trabajo !!!!! Felicitaciones from Argentina
lowdowndoggy (1 month ago) +2 That is my Grandpa, not my biological grandfather, but my Grandpa just the same. He taught me the ropes as a new street artist there in Pirates' Alley in New Orleans, and taught my daughter many things about her instrument. He gives 24/7. Grandpa is as wonderful a person as he is a musician!
pedrofriche (1 month ago) +3 Amazing! I loved this movie. I watched this video a lot of time. It`s one of my favorite videos. We need peace in the world, because we are brothers. Pedro - from Brazil.
TrueLion75 (1 month ago) Peace from Sri Lanka
Defusion590 (1 month ago) Peace, From Argentina
simplyaddict (1 month ago) +3 Peace, from Philippines
indiagitana (3 weeks ago) +2 Peace from Brasil!
ilsmf (3 weeks ago) +2 Peace from America! :)
ByTor190 (2 weeks ago) PEACE FROM NOVA SCOTIA CANADA!
character95 (2 weeks ago) -1 pease from C0l0mb!@
vonmoose (2 weeks ago) peace from junction/high park, toronto
deedeeco1738 (2 weeks ago) Al of the videos are outstanding!!!!!!!Thank you Red eagle drum group,as i have Native American blood,and everyone that sang and played is definitely making a difference.I watch the videos over and over, all of you are great artists!!!!!!! Deanne Costello, Indiana, USA
emilionaruto (2 weeks ago) Peace from MéxicoViva Lennon
Keijz74 (2 weeks ago) Peace from The Netherlands! And you are all great musicians. And singers ;o)#
TheCombatWorld (1 week ago) Peace from Bosnia and Herzegovina
sssannab (1 week ago) Peace from Sweden <3>
Murdoch's Clown Glenn Beck is Off his Meds
This caller has done the country a great service by exposing Blecko the Clown as the psychotic he is.
This will make a great promo for his upcoming book tour too, I hope his psychotic scream follows him at every book tour stop he makes.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
All You Need to Know about Murdoch's Fox News: They Sued for the Right to Lie
http://www.brownpride.us/forum/fox-news-sued-have-right-lie-and-unbelievably-won-absurd-lawsuit-t30173.html?s=5035812f61901b8e5dfba92f30814141&s=da226463b27ccfea1f60197e1656c3ce
FOX News Sues for RIGHT to LIE
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/30/201231/262
"In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the United States.
Back in December of 1996, Jane Akre and her husband, Steve Wilson, were hired by FOX as a part of the Fox “Investigators” team at WTVT in Tampa Bay, Florida. In 1997 the team began work on a story about bovine growth hormone (BGH), a controversial substance manufactured by Monsanto Corporation. The couple produced a four-part series revealing that there were many health risks related to BGH and that Florida supermarket chains did little to avoid selling milk from cows treated with the hormone, despite assuring customers otherwise.
According to Akre and Wilson, the station was initially very excited about the series. But within a week, Fox executives and their attorneys wanted the reporters to use statements from Monsanto representatives that the reporters knew were false and to make other revisions to the story that were in direct conflict with the facts. Fox editors then tried to force Akre and Wilson to continue to produce the distorted story. When they refused and threatened to report Fox's actions to the FCC, they were both fired.(Project Censored #12 1997)"
FOX News Sues for RIGHT to LIE
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/30/201231/262
"In February 2003, a Florida Court of Appeals unanimously agreed with an assertion by FOX News that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the United States.
Back in December of 1996, Jane Akre and her husband, Steve Wilson, were hired by FOX as a part of the Fox “Investigators” team at WTVT in Tampa Bay, Florida. In 1997 the team began work on a story about bovine growth hormone (BGH), a controversial substance manufactured by Monsanto Corporation. The couple produced a four-part series revealing that there were many health risks related to BGH and that Florida supermarket chains did little to avoid selling milk from cows treated with the hormone, despite assuring customers otherwise.
According to Akre and Wilson, the station was initially very excited about the series. But within a week, Fox executives and their attorneys wanted the reporters to use statements from Monsanto representatives that the reporters knew were false and to make other revisions to the story that were in direct conflict with the facts. Fox editors then tried to force Akre and Wilson to continue to produce the distorted story. When they refused and threatened to report Fox's actions to the FCC, they were both fired.(Project Censored #12 1997)"
Murdoch's Fox News Freak Show
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/24/757405/-FOX-NEWS-Is-Killing-The-Republican-Party
"The list of loonies extends to politicians like Michele Bachmann, entertainers like Ted Nugent, and of course, the talk show pundits like Rush Limbaugh, whose maniacal rantings are elevated by Fox into their version of political dialogue. It's a dialogue that is consumed with ACORN conspiracies and Manchurian presidents. The problem is that by elevating bona fide nutcases, they are debasing honest and informed discourse. The mental cases are crowding out any reasonable voices that might exist amongst the more moderate Republicans (if there are any left). Fox appears to have made a tactical decision to permit the inmates full run of the asylum.
As a result, the Fox News audience is being dumbed down by a parade of paranoid know-nothings. This strategy appears to be successful for Fox in that it has attracted a loyal viewership that is eager to have their twisted preconceptions affirmed. The conflict-infused fare in which Fox specializes is a ratings juggernaut - just like any good fiction. However, this perceived popularity is having an inordinate impact on the GOP platform. By doubling down on crazy, Fox is driving the center of the Republican Party further down the rabid hole. They are reshaping the party into a more radicalized community of conspiracy nuts. So even as this helps Rupert Murdoch's bottom line, it is making celebrities of political bottom-feeders That can't be good for the long-term prospects of the Republican Party. "
--------------------
Well, with some help it could be a lot funnier (1+ / 0-)
Recommended by:I love OCD
You're right, give the talking heads more drugs and call in an image consultant to give them a more plastic/robotic look & feel. Then pump-up the headlines, add more random insanity to marque text and use more sound effects, cartoon ballons and oddballs wandering on and off the set in their pajamas ... there are definitely possibilities.
Ask me about my daughter's future - Ko
by koNko on Fri Jul 24, 2009 at 08:13:00 PM PDT
I agree about the danger inherent (0+ / 0-)
in this incestuous system, and I fear the consequences. People are going to die because of the rabble-rousing, and that's horrifying.
I still think it's critical that moderates and independents watch this descent into madness and have an opportunity to turn elsewhere.
Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war. - A. Einstein
by I love OCD on Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 06:47:40 AM
That wasn't exactly the issue (11+ / 0-)
Someone was fired for not lying when directed to do so, and lost the wrongful termination suit. It is reasonable to regulate an entity that has access to the cable waves through government licensing, etc. to act in the public interest by not disseminating falsehoods deliberately.
The GOP: "You can always go to the Emergency Room."
by Upper West on Fri Jul 24, 2009 at 06:10:43 PM PDT
It's complicated (7+ / 0-)
Here's a link. There is an FCC policy against falsification, but (according to the FL Court) it does not protect whistleblowers, because it was "not" a "law, rule or regulation" covered by the whistleblower statute.
In a stunningly narrow interpretation of FCC rules, the Florida Appeals court claimed that the FCC policy against falsification of the news does not rise to the level of a "law, rule, or regulation," it was simply a "policy." Therefore, it is up to the station whether or not it wants to report honestly.
The GOP: "You can always go to the Emergency Room."
by Upper West on Fri Jul 24, 2009 at 06:30:01 PM PDT
http://www.brownpride.us/forum/fox-news-sued-have-right-lie-and-unbelievably-won-absurd-lawsuit-t30173.html?s=5035812f61901b8e5dfba92f30814141&s=da226463b27ccfea1f60197e1656c3ce&
I disagree (0+ / 0-)
If space aliens came to Earth and took all the republicans back to their home planet, we have enough diversity of opinion within the Democratic party to be able to rule positively and effectively.
Contemporary republicans are making zero constructive contributions to governance at this point. I don't think that the claim that they're a necessary and positive force in government can be substantiated.
George Bush and Dick Cheney are murderers.
by cybersaur on Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 06:38:03 AM PDT
Cronkite's Passing Shames Us All to see how Low We've Sunk
if Murdoch was a real human being he would quit from shame at the contrast between Cronkite and his anti-news empire
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/071909.html
"While Fox News delivers its usual right-wing fare, similar viewpoints are common at outlets like CNBC and CNN. While the Rev. Moon’s Washington Times still publishes its right-wing diatribes, the Washington Post, the flagship of the Watergate coverage in the 1970s, has evolved into a neoconservative newspaper, especially its opinion pages.
The media asymmetry is also not without real-life consequences.
Even after the resounding victories of Barack Obama and the congressional Democrats in 2008, there remains a primal fear among many Democrats from states dominated by right-wing media when votes come up on health-care reform or other progressive goals.
Indeed, it’s hard to understand why Democrats from Montana, Arkansas and other states remain so timid if one doesn’t factor in the continuing U.S. media imbalance, which is especially intimidating in parts of the country where the right-wing media dominance is almost total, where a politician can be demonized by Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and pro-Republican outlets with little opportunity to mount a public defense.
Walter Cronkite was surely not to blame for this ongoing distortion of the American media-political process. It was the failure of CBS and other mainstream news outlets to live up to Cronkite's standards that enabled the Right to take the United States down this destructive path.
The blame also must be shared by the American Left, especially liberals with deep pockets, for not backing honest journalists who told the truth despite threats of career retribution – and for not investing in a media infrastructure that could defend the principles that Cronkite left behind."
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2009/071909.html
"While Fox News delivers its usual right-wing fare, similar viewpoints are common at outlets like CNBC and CNN. While the Rev. Moon’s Washington Times still publishes its right-wing diatribes, the Washington Post, the flagship of the Watergate coverage in the 1970s, has evolved into a neoconservative newspaper, especially its opinion pages.
The media asymmetry is also not without real-life consequences.
Even after the resounding victories of Barack Obama and the congressional Democrats in 2008, there remains a primal fear among many Democrats from states dominated by right-wing media when votes come up on health-care reform or other progressive goals.
Indeed, it’s hard to understand why Democrats from Montana, Arkansas and other states remain so timid if one doesn’t factor in the continuing U.S. media imbalance, which is especially intimidating in parts of the country where the right-wing media dominance is almost total, where a politician can be demonized by Rush Limbaugh, Fox News and pro-Republican outlets with little opportunity to mount a public defense.
Walter Cronkite was surely not to blame for this ongoing distortion of the American media-political process. It was the failure of CBS and other mainstream news outlets to live up to Cronkite's standards that enabled the Right to take the United States down this destructive path.
The blame also must be shared by the American Left, especially liberals with deep pockets, for not backing honest journalists who told the truth despite threats of career retribution – and for not investing in a media infrastructure that could defend the principles that Cronkite left behind."
The Value of College - Learning How Dumb You Really Are
A valuable lesson illustrated all-too-well by such college drop-out ignoramuses as Hannity, Beck, and Limbaugh who never got the opportunity to learn just how dumb they really are (Or, maybe that explains why they all dropped out, and why they are now such hatefule and resentful anti-intellectuals):
http://media.www.ecollegetimes.com/media/storage/paper991/news/2009/07/23/News/Existential.Journey-3752788.shtml
"College is where many of us discover we are not as smart as we always thought we were. Robbins got the first C of his life as a college freshman. "Even though I was working my ass off," he says. "I just thought I wasn't smart enough to be here." College is where we learn that W(ithdrew) is actually a viable option to an F.
Guaranteed: You will meet the craziest person of all time in college, and that lunatic will be the subject of stories you tell for the rest of your life. College is the first time in our lives when everyone else is the same age as us. Until college, we live with our parents; after college, we're surrounded by people of all ages. Not until the nursing home will we again be among a group of people with whom we have so much in common."
http://media.www.ecollegetimes.com/media/storage/paper991/news/2009/07/23/News/Existential.Journey-3752788.shtml
"College is where many of us discover we are not as smart as we always thought we were. Robbins got the first C of his life as a college freshman. "Even though I was working my ass off," he says. "I just thought I wasn't smart enough to be here." College is where we learn that W(ithdrew) is actually a viable option to an F.
Guaranteed: You will meet the craziest person of all time in college, and that lunatic will be the subject of stories you tell for the rest of your life. College is the first time in our lives when everyone else is the same age as us. Until college, we live with our parents; after college, we're surrounded by people of all ages. Not until the nursing home will we again be among a group of people with whom we have so much in common."
Fox News Wont Air Obama Speech
the FCC should pull Murdoch's license to use the PUBLIC AIRWAVES, what a blatant fascist, this toad should be deported asap before he drives the country further into fascism.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200907210033
Rupert Murdoch to White House: Drop Dead
July 21, 2009 3:26 pm ET by Eric Boehlert
With its decision this week to once again ignore the White House and refuse to air a primetime press conference, Murdoch's Fox TV has made it quite clear that it's no longer going to perform any public service function whatsoever.
Despite the fact that Fox uses the public airwaves for free and banks tens of millions of dollars in ad revenues each year off those public airwaves, Fox, with a Democrat now in the White House, is walking away from even making token gestures toward fulfilling the public service mandate that all broadcasters (supposedly) agree to.
Honestly, what public service does Fox provide? It has no nightly or weekly news programs. And it's now out of the business of airing White House news events. (Fox entertainment execs have decided the events are not important enough.) It airs a poorly-rated Sunday morning talk show, and rounds up the usual talking heads on Election Night. That's it. That's its contribution to the public conversation in America.
http://www.sacbee.com/977/story/2046699.html
http://mediamatters.org/blog/200907210033
Rupert Murdoch to White House: Drop Dead
July 21, 2009 3:26 pm ET by Eric Boehlert
With its decision this week to once again ignore the White House and refuse to air a primetime press conference, Murdoch's Fox TV has made it quite clear that it's no longer going to perform any public service function whatsoever.
Despite the fact that Fox uses the public airwaves for free and banks tens of millions of dollars in ad revenues each year off those public airwaves, Fox, with a Democrat now in the White House, is walking away from even making token gestures toward fulfilling the public service mandate that all broadcasters (supposedly) agree to.
Honestly, what public service does Fox provide? It has no nightly or weekly news programs. And it's now out of the business of airing White House news events. (Fox entertainment execs have decided the events are not important enough.) It airs a poorly-rated Sunday morning talk show, and rounds up the usual talking heads on Election Night. That's it. That's its contribution to the public conversation in America.
http://www.sacbee.com/977/story/2046699.html
Friday, July 24, 2009
Obama's 'Where Da White Women at?' Moment
Sigh, he might as well have skipped the whole lecture on the importance of health insurance reform and just yelled out 'hey, where da white women at?' instead of calling the police 'stupid'.
One would think he would know better by now, having been so carefully spoken all through the campaign, maybe they served wine at lunch that day?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4TAbX5fIxkXoj9R_-Uldl6a8jygD99L4A2O1
One would think he would know better by now, having been so carefully spoken all through the campaign, maybe they served wine at lunch that day?
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4TAbX5fIxkXoj9R_-Uldl6a8jygD99L4A2O1
Most Lucrative College Degrees
"The fields of engineering and computer science each make up about 4% of all college graduates, while social science and history each comprise 16%,"
wow, I thought there were more techies than that! especially at 3x the starting salary!
Most Lucrative College Degrees
by Julianne Pepitone
Friday, July 24, 2009
CNNMoney.COM
Math majors don't always get much respect on college campuses, but fat post-grad wallets should be enough to give them a boost.The top 15 highest-earning college degrees all have one thing in common -- math skills. That's according to a recent survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which tracks college graduates' job offers."Math is at the crux of who gets paid," said Ed Koc, director of research at NACE. "If you have those skills, you are an extremely valuable asset. We don't generate enough people like that in this country."This year Rochester Institute of Technology hosted recruiters from defense-industry firms like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, as well as other big companies like Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson."The tech fields are what's driving salaries and offers, and the top students are faring quite well," said Emanuel Contomanolis, who runs RIT's career center.Specifically, engineering diplomas account for 12 of the 15 the top-paying majors. NACE collects its data by surveying 200 college career centers.Energy is the key. Petroleum engineering was by far highest-paying degree, with an average starting offer of $83,121, thanks to that resource's growing scarcity. Graduates with these degrees generally find work locating oil and gas reservoirs, or in developing ways to bring those resources to the Earth's surface."Exploration for new energy sources is high," Koc said. "The oil and gas industry has done relatively well the past year, even though oil prices are off right now."Other highly-paid engineering majors include chemical engineers, who employ their skills to make everything from plastics to fuel cells and have an average starting offer of $64,902.Left behind. Of course, not every student with an engineering degree will score a fat paycheck. RIT's Contomanolis noted that "average" graduates are feeling the pinch of fewer job offers. Still, in a tough job market, graduates with technology degrees have an advantage."It's a tech-driven world, and demand [for engineers] is only going to grow," said Farnoosh Torabi, employment expert and Quicken blog editor. "You can't say that about many fields, especially in a recession."Perhaps that's why more and more college students are picking their majors based on a field's earning power, ultimately "choosing a major that pays," Torabi said.Top non-engineering fields. Only three of the 15 top paying degrees were outside the field of engineering -- but they each still require math skills.For computer science majors, who specialize in programming and software, the average salary was $61,407. Graduates with degrees in actuarial science took home about $56,320; and jobs for students in construction management paid about $53,199. Each of these fields has paid well throughout the years, Koc said.What happened to well-rounded? There are far fewer people graduating with math-based majors, compared to their liberal-arts counterparts, which is why they are paid at such a premium. The fields of engineering and computer science each make up about 4% of all college graduates, while social science and history each comprise 16%, Koc noted.As a result, salaries for graduates who studied fields like social work command tiny paychecks, somewhere in the vicinity of $29,000. English, foreign language and communications majors make about $35,000, Koc said."It's a supply and demand issue," he added. "So few grads offer math skills, and those who can are rewarded."Copyrighted, CNNMoney. All Rights Reserved.Mining engineers start at $64,404 on average, while computer engineers, who have an expertise in both coding and electrical engineering, pocket roughly $61,738 their first year out of school.
wow, I thought there were more techies than that! especially at 3x the starting salary!
Most Lucrative College Degrees
by Julianne Pepitone
Friday, July 24, 2009
CNNMoney.COM
Math majors don't always get much respect on college campuses, but fat post-grad wallets should be enough to give them a boost.The top 15 highest-earning college degrees all have one thing in common -- math skills. That's according to a recent survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, which tracks college graduates' job offers."Math is at the crux of who gets paid," said Ed Koc, director of research at NACE. "If you have those skills, you are an extremely valuable asset. We don't generate enough people like that in this country."This year Rochester Institute of Technology hosted recruiters from defense-industry firms like Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, as well as other big companies like Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson."The tech fields are what's driving salaries and offers, and the top students are faring quite well," said Emanuel Contomanolis, who runs RIT's career center.Specifically, engineering diplomas account for 12 of the 15 the top-paying majors. NACE collects its data by surveying 200 college career centers.Energy is the key. Petroleum engineering was by far highest-paying degree, with an average starting offer of $83,121, thanks to that resource's growing scarcity. Graduates with these degrees generally find work locating oil and gas reservoirs, or in developing ways to bring those resources to the Earth's surface."Exploration for new energy sources is high," Koc said. "The oil and gas industry has done relatively well the past year, even though oil prices are off right now."Other highly-paid engineering majors include chemical engineers, who employ their skills to make everything from plastics to fuel cells and have an average starting offer of $64,902.Left behind. Of course, not every student with an engineering degree will score a fat paycheck. RIT's Contomanolis noted that "average" graduates are feeling the pinch of fewer job offers. Still, in a tough job market, graduates with technology degrees have an advantage."It's a tech-driven world, and demand [for engineers] is only going to grow," said Farnoosh Torabi, employment expert and Quicken blog editor. "You can't say that about many fields, especially in a recession."Perhaps that's why more and more college students are picking their majors based on a field's earning power, ultimately "choosing a major that pays," Torabi said.Top non-engineering fields. Only three of the 15 top paying degrees were outside the field of engineering -- but they each still require math skills.For computer science majors, who specialize in programming and software, the average salary was $61,407. Graduates with degrees in actuarial science took home about $56,320; and jobs for students in construction management paid about $53,199. Each of these fields has paid well throughout the years, Koc said.What happened to well-rounded? There are far fewer people graduating with math-based majors, compared to their liberal-arts counterparts, which is why they are paid at such a premium. The fields of engineering and computer science each make up about 4% of all college graduates, while social science and history each comprise 16%, Koc noted.As a result, salaries for graduates who studied fields like social work command tiny paychecks, somewhere in the vicinity of $29,000. English, foreign language and communications majors make about $35,000, Koc said."It's a supply and demand issue," he added. "So few grads offer math skills, and those who can are rewarded."Copyrighted, CNNMoney. All Rights Reserved.Mining engineers start at $64,404 on average, while computer engineers, who have an expertise in both coding and electrical engineering, pocket roughly $61,738 their first year out of school.
Minimum Wage Increase Good News for all Except Corporate Media
here's a good example of corporate bias in media, when the present economic crash was a direct result of 20 years of suppression of middle class wage parity increases with productivity increases, causing increasing debt loads for low wage families, the minimum wage not having increased for decades while at the same time congress is voting themselves pay raises multiple times each year, corporate media has to paint this long overdue correction for the bottom 50% of wage earners as scary news so that they may better serve their top 1% who dictate what they write
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Great Moments in Limbaugh Pwnage
The Brainwashed Nazi call, all-time-greatest call:
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/rush-limbaugh-gets-pwned-caller-you-han
Olbermann Pwnage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Ef739Vlkg&feature=related
The 1990 TV audience revolt:
http://www.thedailybanter.com/tdb/2009/03/rush-limbaugh-pwned-in-1990.html
Lisa from Atlanta Hall of Famer Uber Pwnage:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_042408/content/01125107.guest.html
http://sugarfreak.typepad.com/mobtownshank/2009/04/shanktv-pwning-boss-limbaugh.html
http://crooksandliars.com/john-amato/rush-limbaugh-gets-pwned-caller-you-han
Olbermann Pwnage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53Ef739Vlkg&feature=related
The 1990 TV audience revolt:
http://www.thedailybanter.com/tdb/2009/03/rush-limbaugh-pwned-in-1990.html
Lisa from Atlanta Hall of Famer Uber Pwnage:
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_042408/content/01125107.guest.html
http://sugarfreak.typepad.com/mobtownshank/2009/04/shanktv-pwning-boss-limbaugh.html
Loud Mouthed Buffoon Club
http://kilburnhall.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/the-loud-mouth-buffoons-club/
A good essay on the weird media phenomenon of Limbaugh, Murdoch, Hannity, that are dragging America into fascism. It is truly a wonder to behold how they dominate the media, when any educated and intelligent reader of history would recognize these people as classic BUFFOONS. But we have lost the meaning of the word as the media's level of intelligence is dictated by the lowest common denominator of advertising.
buffoons
One entry found.
Main Entry:
buf·foon
Pronunciation:
\(ˌ)bə-ˈfün\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle French bouffon, from Old Italian buffone
Date:
1585
1 : a ludicrous figure : clown 2 : a gross and usually ill-educated or stupid person
— buf·foon·ish \-ˈfü-nish\ adjective
A good essay on the weird media phenomenon of Limbaugh, Murdoch, Hannity, that are dragging America into fascism. It is truly a wonder to behold how they dominate the media, when any educated and intelligent reader of history would recognize these people as classic BUFFOONS. But we have lost the meaning of the word as the media's level of intelligence is dictated by the lowest common denominator of advertising.
buffoons
One entry found.
Main Entry:
buf·foon
Pronunciation:
\(ˌ)bə-ˈfün\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle French bouffon, from Old Italian buffone
Date:
1585
1 : a ludicrous figure : clown 2 : a gross and usually ill-educated or stupid person
— buf·foon·ish \-ˈfü-nish\ adjective
Still #2 in Google for Murdoch Treason
I think I was #1 for a little while, but the #1 now is a good article that no doubt will be seen as all-too prescient in the (god-forbid) not too distant future.
Deport Rupert Murdoch for treason before it is too late!!!!!
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=murdoch+treason&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/7828
Good Odds that Rupert Murdoch Will be Responsible for the Next Timothy McVeigh or Assassination Attempt
Submitted by mark karlin on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 9:43am.
EditorBlog
THE BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOGby Mark Karlin
"Yes, with the civil war talk on the program of the recently acquired FOX News demagogue, Glenn Beck, inflammatory talk by Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh's nativist rants that equate Obama to something akin to an amalgamation of Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler, the right-wing media is stirring up the dangerous angry white male resentment to a dangerous frenzied pitch.
And we all know where that ended up with Timothy McVeigh and the militia movement of the '90s, which was enabled by the right-wing media barons -- such as Rupert Murdoch -- to create a literal armed militia movement against the government of the United States.
Call it treasonous, call it demagoguery, call it treachery: it is what comes down the pike when the wealthy Democratic elites are more content to fund organizations that criticize the apocalyptic, brown-shirted Murdoch media barons rather than buying up media and delivering an alternative message that emphasizes loyalty to the truth, Constitution and democracy.
Sure, we love Media Matters, but they are just a fly on a donkey's butt as far as Rupert Murdoch and the gang are concerned. Media Matters will get an occasional correction of factual errors -- if they pull out all their guns for one, but it's too little a compensation for the energy put into the effort. And the people who take in the corporate media remember the misleading assertion, not the rare convoluted retraction.
The reality is that the only thing that matters in media is owning it. Murdoch knows that and couldn't give a horse's fart for what Media Matters has to say, nor does CBS which just hired a Democratic-hating Republican stalwart as their senior communications executive.
Nor do any of the mainstream corporate media: including radio, television and print. They will just keep on doing what they are doing because they own it and they know what they want: an oligarchy.
The troops for this formidable army of images, mistruths, and emotional manipulation are the angry white males, the guys who have felt displaced by minorities and women and immigrants ever since the Civil Rights and Feminist upheaval began in the '60s.
And these displaced white guys are armed to the teeth, courtesy of the NRA and the senators and representatives who lie down like doormats for the gun lobby in Congress.
And bristling with guns -- including the .50 caliber sniper rifle that is legal in all but California -- they feel enabled and patriotic in rising up against the legitimate Constitutional government of the United States.
As rabid as Hannity and Beck and Limbaugh may seem, their ratings have actually gone up since Obama's election. The white male who has been shafted by the wealthy elite, pickpocketed and left in humiliation, falls prey yet again to the siren song of the Murdoch/Ailes stable of Goebbels disciples and their cohorts such as Limbaugh and Savage.
This is no exaggeration. Glenn Greenwald discusses it as do the superlative FOX trackers at FOX Newshounds.
And its impact is seen drilling down to discussions on Sean Hannity's website of armed rebellion, military coup, and secession.
Those Obama supporters who think I am being hyperbolic have a short sense of history. This is what we saw in the Clinton administration that led to the domestic terrorist Oklahoma bombing and trumped up impeachment.
And before the right-wing media was as consolidated as it is today, we saw our liberal leaders gunned down one by one in the '60s, resutling in the election of Richard Nixon -- and the beginning of the well-funded corporate mainstream media consolidation owned by people beholden only to the oligarchy, not the American public.
Yes, there are exceptions, but they are few in number, far too few.
And Murdoch may do his own non-apology about his New York Post's thinly veiled racist incitement cartoon of two white police officers shooting a chimp representing -- in full bigoted Murdoch fashion -- Obama.
But when the armed angry white males decide to act because of the Murdoch/Limbaugh et al. incitement to rise up ringing in their ears, the blood will be on the hands of Rupert and his fellow right-wing corporate media barons -- and he won't be sorry for it.
He'll only feel one thing: Mission accomplished.
Deport Rupert Murdoch for treason before it is too late!!!!!
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=murdoch+treason&aq=f&oq=&aqi=
http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/7828
Good Odds that Rupert Murdoch Will be Responsible for the Next Timothy McVeigh or Assassination Attempt
Submitted by mark karlin on Fri, 02/27/2009 - 9:43am.
EditorBlog
THE BUZZFLASH EDITOR'S BLOGby Mark Karlin
"Yes, with the civil war talk on the program of the recently acquired FOX News demagogue, Glenn Beck, inflammatory talk by Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh's nativist rants that equate Obama to something akin to an amalgamation of Karl Marx and Adolf Hitler, the right-wing media is stirring up the dangerous angry white male resentment to a dangerous frenzied pitch.
And we all know where that ended up with Timothy McVeigh and the militia movement of the '90s, which was enabled by the right-wing media barons -- such as Rupert Murdoch -- to create a literal armed militia movement against the government of the United States.
Call it treasonous, call it demagoguery, call it treachery: it is what comes down the pike when the wealthy Democratic elites are more content to fund organizations that criticize the apocalyptic, brown-shirted Murdoch media barons rather than buying up media and delivering an alternative message that emphasizes loyalty to the truth, Constitution and democracy.
Sure, we love Media Matters, but they are just a fly on a donkey's butt as far as Rupert Murdoch and the gang are concerned. Media Matters will get an occasional correction of factual errors -- if they pull out all their guns for one, but it's too little a compensation for the energy put into the effort. And the people who take in the corporate media remember the misleading assertion, not the rare convoluted retraction.
The reality is that the only thing that matters in media is owning it. Murdoch knows that and couldn't give a horse's fart for what Media Matters has to say, nor does CBS which just hired a Democratic-hating Republican stalwart as their senior communications executive.
Nor do any of the mainstream corporate media: including radio, television and print. They will just keep on doing what they are doing because they own it and they know what they want: an oligarchy.
The troops for this formidable army of images, mistruths, and emotional manipulation are the angry white males, the guys who have felt displaced by minorities and women and immigrants ever since the Civil Rights and Feminist upheaval began in the '60s.
And these displaced white guys are armed to the teeth, courtesy of the NRA and the senators and representatives who lie down like doormats for the gun lobby in Congress.
And bristling with guns -- including the .50 caliber sniper rifle that is legal in all but California -- they feel enabled and patriotic in rising up against the legitimate Constitutional government of the United States.
As rabid as Hannity and Beck and Limbaugh may seem, their ratings have actually gone up since Obama's election. The white male who has been shafted by the wealthy elite, pickpocketed and left in humiliation, falls prey yet again to the siren song of the Murdoch/Ailes stable of Goebbels disciples and their cohorts such as Limbaugh and Savage.
This is no exaggeration. Glenn Greenwald discusses it as do the superlative FOX trackers at FOX Newshounds.
And its impact is seen drilling down to discussions on Sean Hannity's website of armed rebellion, military coup, and secession.
Those Obama supporters who think I am being hyperbolic have a short sense of history. This is what we saw in the Clinton administration that led to the domestic terrorist Oklahoma bombing and trumped up impeachment.
And before the right-wing media was as consolidated as it is today, we saw our liberal leaders gunned down one by one in the '60s, resutling in the election of Richard Nixon -- and the beginning of the well-funded corporate mainstream media consolidation owned by people beholden only to the oligarchy, not the American public.
Yes, there are exceptions, but they are few in number, far too few.
And Murdoch may do his own non-apology about his New York Post's thinly veiled racist incitement cartoon of two white police officers shooting a chimp representing -- in full bigoted Murdoch fashion -- Obama.
But when the armed angry white males decide to act because of the Murdoch/Limbaugh et al. incitement to rise up ringing in their ears, the blood will be on the hands of Rupert and his fellow right-wing corporate media barons -- and he won't be sorry for it.
He'll only feel one thing: Mission accomplished.
Spitzer - is Goldman Good for the Economy?
Kelli K said: Jul 14, 4:27 PM@DPS,
You may be onto something. In another age he would have been a great politician and no one would have cared what he did in his spare time (cept his wife). The greatest British PM of the modern age, William Gladstone, liked to bring East End hookers back to his rooms and lecture them, then he would whip himself as punishment for being aroused. How would that play in '09?
Still, this is a FANTASTIC interview. Maybe he can run when IT is old and withered
http://www.businessinsider.com/spitzer-on-goldman-taibbi-and-the-vampire-squid-2009-7
Goldman Sachs - Government Welfare Queen
14.
marie burns
fort myers, fl
July 17th, 2009
6:23 am
Your suggestion that Goldman worked its miracles by being clever is disingenuous. As the Times own Gretchen Morgenson demonstrated, Government Sachs worked it miracles by sitting down at the private table with goverment decision-makers -- like its old boss Hank Paulson --& hammering out recovery program that benefitted Goldman & whenever possible maimed or killed its competitors (bon voyage, Lehman brothers). If Goldman is corrupt, its Toadies in Treasury T-shirts are worse. Geithner & the top Goldman alum who run Treasury should all be fired, & Goldman should never again enjoy the special status it has acquired through well-placed veterans. There can never be honest & effective regulation when Goldman & its revolving bureaucrats decide what & who is to be regulated. The change we can believe in come from leaders who serve the people; not those who serve big banking.The Constant Weader at 222.RealityChex.com
Recommended Recommended by 756
marie burns
fort myers, fl
July 17th, 2009
6:23 am
Your suggestion that Goldman worked its miracles by being clever is disingenuous. As the Times own Gretchen Morgenson demonstrated, Government Sachs worked it miracles by sitting down at the private table with goverment decision-makers -- like its old boss Hank Paulson --& hammering out recovery program that benefitted Goldman & whenever possible maimed or killed its competitors (bon voyage, Lehman brothers). If Goldman is corrupt, its Toadies in Treasury T-shirts are worse. Geithner & the top Goldman alum who run Treasury should all be fired, & Goldman should never again enjoy the special status it has acquired through well-placed veterans. There can never be honest & effective regulation when Goldman & its revolving bureaucrats decide what & who is to be regulated. The change we can believe in come from leaders who serve the people; not those who serve big banking.The Constant Weader at 222.RealityChex.com
Recommended Recommended by 756
Paul Krugman Dissects the Vampire Squid
How does it feel to be a sucker, sucker?
Financialization - the end stage of capitalism, where finance no longer exists to foster real productive activity, but is an end in itself, destroying the institutions of real productive activity as a side effect of its need for higher and higher returns that cannot be realized by traditional productive activities like construction, farming, and manufacturing.
Krugman:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/opinion/17krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
"The American economy remains in dire straits, with one worker in six unemployed or underemployed. Yet Goldman Sachs just reported record quarterly profits — and it’s preparing to hand out huge bonuses, comparable to what it was paying before the crisis. What does this contrast tell us?
First, it tells us that Goldman is very good at what it does. Unfortunately, what it does is bad for America.
Second, it shows that Wall Street’s bad habits — above all, the system of compensation that helped cause the financial crisis — have not gone away.
Third, it shows that by rescuing the financial system without reforming it, Washington has done nothing to protect us from a new crisis, and, in fact, has made another crisis more likely.
Let’s start by talking about how Goldman makes money.
Over the past generation — ever since the banking deregulation of the Reagan years — the U.S. economy has been “financialized.” The business of moving money around, of slicing, dicing and repackaging financial claims, has soared in importance compared with the actual production of useful stuff. The sector officially labeled “securities, commodity contracts and investments” has grown especially fast, from only 0.3 percent of G.D.P. in the late 1970s to 1.7 percent of G.D.P. in 2007.
Such growth would be fine if financialization really delivered on its promises — if financial firms made money by directing capital to its most productive uses, by developing innovative ways to spread and reduce risk. But can anyone, at this point, make those claims with a straight face? Financial firms, we now know, directed vast quantities of capital into the construction of unsellable houses and empty shopping malls. They increased risk rather than reducing it, and concentrated risk rather than spreading it. In effect, the industry was selling dangerous patent medicine to gullible consumers.
Goldman’s role in the financialization of America was similar to that of other players, except for one thing: Goldman didn’t believe its own hype. Other banks invested heavily in the same toxic waste they were selling to the public at large. Goldman, famously, made a lot of money selling securities backed by subprime mortgages — then made a lot more money by selling mortgage-backed securities short, just before their value crashed. All of this was perfectly legal, but the net effect was that Goldman made profits by playing the rest of us for suckers.
And Wall Streeters have every incentive to keep playing that kind of game.
-------------------
Andrew McIntyre
Calgary
July 17th, 2009
6:23 am
For more in depth analysis of Goldman Sachs' slimy business practices I recommend:1. Matt Taibbi's "Vampire Squid" take on Goldman Sachs in the latest Rolling Stone: http://bit.ly/hwCbZ2. CBC's 30 minute interview with Pulitzer-Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston on Goldman Sachs & Gov't. Here's the MP3: http://bit.ly/ZzLFm
7.
soso
Canada
July 17th, 2009
6:23 am
Like yesterday, Warren Buffett, a famed investor, told the nation that there had been a heart attack to the financial system and immediate government bailout was the only cure. The rest is history, especially Goldman Sachs excels at creating bubbles repeatedly, causing a crisis, and openly looting the hard working and honest people before, during and after each time. Clearly they are ready for another round gleefully.The real question is, where the hack is Obama and his economic geniuses?"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson"When the people and the government fear Goldman Sachs, there is economic dictatorship that will destroy the very fabric of our existence as a civilized society." - Mike Morganhttp://www.goldmansachs666.com/
ORS
Toronto, Ontario
July 17th, 2009
6:23 am
The reason why Goldman is now churning a profit is because:1. They received 100 cents on the dollar for their counterparty risk exposure from AIG, to the tune of $13 billion (this is bailout money!), while other AIG claimants are still waiting for their money.2. The FDIC still guarantees a good chunk of their debts.This is madness! It is time we had a special tax for firms like Goldman.
Justin said:
Jul 16, 11:00 AM
@pfastfoot Profit is not bad when its created by adding value to an economy. That's not where Goldman's "profits" come from. It comes from first access to free credit, and stealing pennies from day traders who don't realize that the game is rigged. Goldman's profit is actually a net drain on the economy. Its akin to stealing.
shano said:
Jul 16, 11:01 AM
Spitzer is right as usual. Taibi is not saying profit is 'bad', he is saying Goldman is making pure profit from incredible deals on relatively 'free' money from the government and a hell of a lot of the goverment 'deciders' have been closely associated with Goldman. I wish I could 'borrow' money from the goverment on the same terms Goldman is getting. And I want the goverment to cover any losses I may have from gambling, too. The game is rigged, and now we have a statement from Goldman that their computer trading program may enable anyone to manipulate the market? No, move along, nothing to see here....its all the free market and the best and brightest
Financialization - the end stage of capitalism, where finance no longer exists to foster real productive activity, but is an end in itself, destroying the institutions of real productive activity as a side effect of its need for higher and higher returns that cannot be realized by traditional productive activities like construction, farming, and manufacturing.
Krugman:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/17/opinion/17krugman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
"The American economy remains in dire straits, with one worker in six unemployed or underemployed. Yet Goldman Sachs just reported record quarterly profits — and it’s preparing to hand out huge bonuses, comparable to what it was paying before the crisis. What does this contrast tell us?
First, it tells us that Goldman is very good at what it does. Unfortunately, what it does is bad for America.
Second, it shows that Wall Street’s bad habits — above all, the system of compensation that helped cause the financial crisis — have not gone away.
Third, it shows that by rescuing the financial system without reforming it, Washington has done nothing to protect us from a new crisis, and, in fact, has made another crisis more likely.
Let’s start by talking about how Goldman makes money.
Over the past generation — ever since the banking deregulation of the Reagan years — the U.S. economy has been “financialized.” The business of moving money around, of slicing, dicing and repackaging financial claims, has soared in importance compared with the actual production of useful stuff. The sector officially labeled “securities, commodity contracts and investments” has grown especially fast, from only 0.3 percent of G.D.P. in the late 1970s to 1.7 percent of G.D.P. in 2007.
Such growth would be fine if financialization really delivered on its promises — if financial firms made money by directing capital to its most productive uses, by developing innovative ways to spread and reduce risk. But can anyone, at this point, make those claims with a straight face? Financial firms, we now know, directed vast quantities of capital into the construction of unsellable houses and empty shopping malls. They increased risk rather than reducing it, and concentrated risk rather than spreading it. In effect, the industry was selling dangerous patent medicine to gullible consumers.
Goldman’s role in the financialization of America was similar to that of other players, except for one thing: Goldman didn’t believe its own hype. Other banks invested heavily in the same toxic waste they were selling to the public at large. Goldman, famously, made a lot of money selling securities backed by subprime mortgages — then made a lot more money by selling mortgage-backed securities short, just before their value crashed. All of this was perfectly legal, but the net effect was that Goldman made profits by playing the rest of us for suckers.
And Wall Streeters have every incentive to keep playing that kind of game.
-------------------
Andrew McIntyre
Calgary
July 17th, 2009
6:23 am
For more in depth analysis of Goldman Sachs' slimy business practices I recommend:1. Matt Taibbi's "Vampire Squid" take on Goldman Sachs in the latest Rolling Stone: http://bit.ly/hwCbZ2. CBC's 30 minute interview with Pulitzer-Prize-winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston on Goldman Sachs & Gov't. Here's the MP3: http://bit.ly/ZzLFm
7.
soso
Canada
July 17th, 2009
6:23 am
Like yesterday, Warren Buffett, a famed investor, told the nation that there had been a heart attack to the financial system and immediate government bailout was the only cure. The rest is history, especially Goldman Sachs excels at creating bubbles repeatedly, causing a crisis, and openly looting the hard working and honest people before, during and after each time. Clearly they are ready for another round gleefully.The real question is, where the hack is Obama and his economic geniuses?"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." - Thomas Jefferson"When the people and the government fear Goldman Sachs, there is economic dictatorship that will destroy the very fabric of our existence as a civilized society." - Mike Morganhttp://www.goldmansachs666.com/
ORS
Toronto, Ontario
July 17th, 2009
6:23 am
The reason why Goldman is now churning a profit is because:1. They received 100 cents on the dollar for their counterparty risk exposure from AIG, to the tune of $13 billion (this is bailout money!), while other AIG claimants are still waiting for their money.2. The FDIC still guarantees a good chunk of their debts.This is madness! It is time we had a special tax for firms like Goldman.
Justin said:
Jul 16, 11:00 AM
@pfastfoot Profit is not bad when its created by adding value to an economy. That's not where Goldman's "profits" come from. It comes from first access to free credit, and stealing pennies from day traders who don't realize that the game is rigged. Goldman's profit is actually a net drain on the economy. Its akin to stealing.
shano said:
Jul 16, 11:01 AM
Spitzer is right as usual. Taibi is not saying profit is 'bad', he is saying Goldman is making pure profit from incredible deals on relatively 'free' money from the government and a hell of a lot of the goverment 'deciders' have been closely associated with Goldman. I wish I could 'borrow' money from the goverment on the same terms Goldman is getting. And I want the goverment to cover any losses I may have from gambling, too. The game is rigged, and now we have a statement from Goldman that their computer trading program may enable anyone to manipulate the market? No, move along, nothing to see here....its all the free market and the best and brightest
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Can Obama Explain Health Care to the American Public?
Even with the Fox News Fascists with Limbaugh and the Savage-Weiner distorting and spinnning 24/7? Fat f-ing Chance. We are doomed to be the serfs and chattel of the lobbyist class.
http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/107380/challenge-to-health-bill-selling-reform?mod=insurance-health&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=
"Our health care system is engineered, deliberately or not, to resist change. The people who pay for it -- you and I -- often don't realize that they're paying for it. Money comes out of our paychecks, in withheld taxes and insurance premiums, before we ever see it. It then flows to doctors, hospitals and drug makers without our realizing that it was our money to begin with.
The doctors, hospitals and drug makers use the money to treat us, and we of course do see those treatments. If anything, we want more of them. They are supposed to make us healthy, and they appear to be free. What's not to like?
The immediate task facing Mr. Obama -- in his news conference on Wednesday night and beyond -- is to explain that the health care system doesn't really work the way it seems to. He won't be able to put it in such blunt terms. But he will need to explain how a typical household, one that has insurance and thinks it always will, is being harmed.
The United States now devotes one-sixth of its economy to medicine. Divvy that up, and health care will cost the typical household roughly $15,000 this year, including the often-invisible contributions by employers. That is almost twice as much as two decades ago (adjusting for inflation). It's about $6,500 more than in other rich countries, on average.
We may not be aware of this stealth $6,500 health care tax, but if you take a moment to think, it makes sense. Over the last 20 years, health costs have soared, and incomes have grown painfully slowly. The two trends are directly connected: employers had to spend more money on benefits, leaving less for raises.
In exchange for the $6,500 tax, we receive many things. We get cutting-edge research and heroic surgeries. But we also get fabulous amounts of waste -- bureaucratic and medical.
One thing we don't get is better health than other rich countries, whether it's Canada, France, Japan or many others. In some categories, like emergency room care, this country seems to do better. In others, like chronic-disease care, it seems to do worse. "The fact that we spend all this money and don't have better outcomes than other countries is a sign of how poorly we're doing," says Dr. Alan Garber of Stanford University. "We should be doing way better."
http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/107380/challenge-to-health-bill-selling-reform?mod=insurance-health&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=
"Our health care system is engineered, deliberately or not, to resist change. The people who pay for it -- you and I -- often don't realize that they're paying for it. Money comes out of our paychecks, in withheld taxes and insurance premiums, before we ever see it. It then flows to doctors, hospitals and drug makers without our realizing that it was our money to begin with.
The doctors, hospitals and drug makers use the money to treat us, and we of course do see those treatments. If anything, we want more of them. They are supposed to make us healthy, and they appear to be free. What's not to like?
The immediate task facing Mr. Obama -- in his news conference on Wednesday night and beyond -- is to explain that the health care system doesn't really work the way it seems to. He won't be able to put it in such blunt terms. But he will need to explain how a typical household, one that has insurance and thinks it always will, is being harmed.
The United States now devotes one-sixth of its economy to medicine. Divvy that up, and health care will cost the typical household roughly $15,000 this year, including the often-invisible contributions by employers. That is almost twice as much as two decades ago (adjusting for inflation). It's about $6,500 more than in other rich countries, on average.
We may not be aware of this stealth $6,500 health care tax, but if you take a moment to think, it makes sense. Over the last 20 years, health costs have soared, and incomes have grown painfully slowly. The two trends are directly connected: employers had to spend more money on benefits, leaving less for raises.
In exchange for the $6,500 tax, we receive many things. We get cutting-edge research and heroic surgeries. But we also get fabulous amounts of waste -- bureaucratic and medical.
One thing we don't get is better health than other rich countries, whether it's Canada, France, Japan or many others. In some categories, like emergency room care, this country seems to do better. In others, like chronic-disease care, it seems to do worse. "The fact that we spend all this money and don't have better outcomes than other countries is a sign of how poorly we're doing," says Dr. Alan Garber of Stanford University. "We should be doing way better."
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Immortal Rant from a Veteran Sex Worker - Take Heed All Ye Potential Clients
'Post Coitum Omne Animal Triste Est'
valuable and bitter lessons from one who paid the price that we may be spared such a fate
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/den/415707529.html
Rants and Confessions from a Denver Escort
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2007-09-06, 3:21PM MDT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First and Foremost: I work for the President (Ummm the light bulb inventor) Benjamin Franklin�.
Rants from an upscale Denver Escort who started at the bottom�the agency�.
P.S Anyone writing me hate notes after reading this....then it must apply to you, and if you are the wife of one of these idiots and bitter...I am sorry...we are all a little bitter.
This is a rant that has built up over the course of a year, and that must now be said. I cost too much for the freaks to seek me out now�. And I may run across you guys again�but you are memorable�enough for me to seek therapy anyways.
On with the RANTS!
valuable and bitter lessons from one who paid the price that we may be spared such a fate
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/den/415707529.html
Rants and Confessions from a Denver Escort
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2007-09-06, 3:21PM MDT
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First and Foremost: I work for the President (Ummm the light bulb inventor) Benjamin Franklin�.
Rants from an upscale Denver Escort who started at the bottom�the agency�.
P.S Anyone writing me hate notes after reading this....then it must apply to you, and if you are the wife of one of these idiots and bitter...I am sorry...we are all a little bitter.
This is a rant that has built up over the course of a year, and that must now be said. I cost too much for the freaks to seek me out now�. And I may run across you guys again�but you are memorable�enough for me to seek therapy anyways.
On with the RANTS!
Birthers Prove Obama is the AntiChrist!!!
ahhh, I love the smell of Alex Jones' koolaid in the morning:
http://www.examiner.com/x-16023-Sacramento-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m7d20-Woman-speaks-up-at-a-Delaware-town-meeting
Church Lady says:
I saw a close-up of the "supposed" birth certificate from the Hawaii Dept. of Health. Check it out for yourself....The Certificate Number is: 151 1961 010641 Now pay attention here.151 + 1961 + 010641 = 12753 Now add up the individual digits....1 + 2 + 7 + 5 + 3 = 18 You know what that means?18 = 6 + 6 + 6 Do I have to spell it out for you? 666 people!!!!! THE MARK OF THE BEAST!Lord Jesus, COME QUICKLY!
July 21, 12:58 PM
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/21/756131/-Birthers-May-Never-Get-Their-Wish
http://www.examiner.com/x-16023-Sacramento-Conservative-Examiner~y2009m7d20-Woman-speaks-up-at-a-Delaware-town-meeting
Church Lady says:
I saw a close-up of the "supposed" birth certificate from the Hawaii Dept. of Health. Check it out for yourself....The Certificate Number is: 151 1961 010641 Now pay attention here.151 + 1961 + 010641 = 12753 Now add up the individual digits....1 + 2 + 7 + 5 + 3 = 18 You know what that means?18 = 6 + 6 + 6 Do I have to spell it out for you? 666 people!!!!! THE MARK OF THE BEAST!Lord Jesus, COME QUICKLY!
July 21, 12:58 PM
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/born_in_the_usa.html
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/21/756131/-Birthers-May-Never-Get-Their-Wish
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Goldman Sachs - Vampire Squid or Unrepentant Swine?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jul/19/goldmansachs
"Not everybody is impressed - far from it. In Congress, senators fulminated against the divide between two Americas: Wall Street trumpeting its return to prosperity while citizens on the high street lose jobs and homes. A leading US union, the Service Employees International Union, accused Goldman of emerging from the credit crunch "unrepentant and unreformed".
An article by writer Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone magazine compared Goldman Sachs to a parasitic vampire squid squeezing the life out of humanity. The New York Times said that Goldman employees were known in New York as the "bandits of Broad Street".
The rightwing television host Bill O'Reilly referred to Goldman as "swine". And the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman weighed in, declaring that what the bank does is "bad for America". "Goldman made profits by playing the rest of us for suckers," wrote Krugman, pointing out that the firm made a fortune in the run-up to the financial crisis by betting on a collapse in the sub-prime mortgage market.
"Not everybody is impressed - far from it. In Congress, senators fulminated against the divide between two Americas: Wall Street trumpeting its return to prosperity while citizens on the high street lose jobs and homes. A leading US union, the Service Employees International Union, accused Goldman of emerging from the credit crunch "unrepentant and unreformed".
An article by writer Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone magazine compared Goldman Sachs to a parasitic vampire squid squeezing the life out of humanity. The New York Times said that Goldman employees were known in New York as the "bandits of Broad Street".
The rightwing television host Bill O'Reilly referred to Goldman as "swine". And the Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman weighed in, declaring that what the bank does is "bad for America". "Goldman made profits by playing the rest of us for suckers," wrote Krugman, pointing out that the firm made a fortune in the run-up to the financial crisis by betting on a collapse in the sub-prime mortgage market.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Alex Jones - Conspiracies Synchronicity Astrology and the Sociobiology of Pattern Recognition
Listening to Alex Jones podcasts for about 2 weeks now, I am appreciating the depths of his paranoid conspiracy world, and it reminds me of Charles Manson's paranoid schizophrenia fantasies about the Beatles 'White Album'.
Those unfamiliar with the sociobiology of the human mind and its necessity for evolving in a synchronistic world are prone to misplaced paranoia. It used to be one of the recognizable stages the old mystics cataloged on the way through the metanoia voyage of temptations and tribulations in the desert of psychic transformation.
Here's another example from Wikipedia on Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven'
"Critics of rock and roll songs (and of Led Zeppelin in particular) have alleged[34] that a backmasked message is recorded into "Stairway to Heaven." The message, which allegedly occurs during the middle section of the song ("If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now..."), is purported to contain Satanic references:
Oh here's to my sweet Satan.
The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan.
He will give those with him 666.
There was a little tool shed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.
– Most popular version of the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven played backwards[34]
The controversy originated from a prominent Baptist, who, in 1982, preached on the radio that "Stairway to Heaven" contained subliminal backward messages.[35] This theory was later primarily advanced by Michael Mills[36], Jacob Aranza, and Jeff Godwin, who offered detailed analyses asserting the existence of hidden meanings within both the "backwards" and actual lyrics. In 1982, the Consumer Protection and Toxic Materials Committee of the California State Assembly held a hearing on backmasking in popular music, during which "Stairway to Heaven" was played backwards.[37] William Yarroll, a self-identified neuroscientist, also claimed that "Stairway to Heaven" contained a message when played backwards.[23] Various versions of the alleged message exist.[38]
The band itself has for the most part ignored such claims; for years the only comment came from Swan Song Records which issued the statement: "Our turntables only play in one direction—forwards". Led Zeppelin audio engineer Eddie Kramer confirmed this, calling the allegations "totally and utterly ridiculous. Why would they want to spend so much studio time doing something so dumb?"[39] Robert Plant expressed frustration with the accusations in an interview: "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway to Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music."[40]
An informal experiment by scientist Simon Singh suggested that listeners only hear the message after prompting.[41]
Those unfamiliar with the sociobiology of the human mind and its necessity for evolving in a synchronistic world are prone to misplaced paranoia. It used to be one of the recognizable stages the old mystics cataloged on the way through the metanoia voyage of temptations and tribulations in the desert of psychic transformation.
Here's another example from Wikipedia on Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven'
"Critics of rock and roll songs (and of Led Zeppelin in particular) have alleged[34] that a backmasked message is recorded into "Stairway to Heaven." The message, which allegedly occurs during the middle section of the song ("If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now..."), is purported to contain Satanic references:
Oh here's to my sweet Satan.
The one whose little path would make me sad, whose power is Satan.
He will give those with him 666.
There was a little tool shed where he made us suffer, sad Satan.
– Most popular version of the lyrics to Stairway to Heaven played backwards[34]
The controversy originated from a prominent Baptist, who, in 1982, preached on the radio that "Stairway to Heaven" contained subliminal backward messages.[35] This theory was later primarily advanced by Michael Mills[36], Jacob Aranza, and Jeff Godwin, who offered detailed analyses asserting the existence of hidden meanings within both the "backwards" and actual lyrics. In 1982, the Consumer Protection and Toxic Materials Committee of the California State Assembly held a hearing on backmasking in popular music, during which "Stairway to Heaven" was played backwards.[37] William Yarroll, a self-identified neuroscientist, also claimed that "Stairway to Heaven" contained a message when played backwards.[23] Various versions of the alleged message exist.[38]
The band itself has for the most part ignored such claims; for years the only comment came from Swan Song Records which issued the statement: "Our turntables only play in one direction—forwards". Led Zeppelin audio engineer Eddie Kramer confirmed this, calling the allegations "totally and utterly ridiculous. Why would they want to spend so much studio time doing something so dumb?"[39] Robert Plant expressed frustration with the accusations in an interview: "To me it's very sad, because 'Stairway to Heaven' was written with every best intention, and as far as reversing tapes and putting messages on the end, that's not my idea of making music."[40]
An informal experiment by scientist Simon Singh suggested that listeners only hear the message after prompting.[41]
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Ron Paul's Prescription for Hoovering the Economy
http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/282246/How-a-=
perffb - Thursday July 16, 2009 03:50PM EDT Dr. Paul's recipe would have Hoover'ed the USA into the ground during the crisis of 9-18-09. The economy is a feedback system, and without regulation, you are going to have wild swings and possible metastable states of low GDP aka Depression. On 9-18-09 the entire system was critically unstable and could easily have collapsed like the Verrazano bridge. Keynes understood that someone needs to replace the demand when the consumer shuts down 60% of the economy overnight, unless the economy settles into a semi-permanent state of Depression. But as far as following Dr. Paul's recommendations to stop trying to pretend like we are an empire with 800+ military bases worldwide, right on. THAT is a giant sucking sound if there ever was one!
keyesargentina - Thursday July 16, 2009 04:14PM EDTA Trusty Note, Ask yourself What Economy There Aint None ----The World Is Moving Too Fast, For These Big Old Tired Elephants, who we continue to elect in Washington, its like going to the Shrine Circus and seeing all those elephants lie down under the big top (Congressman) well boys they have laid down, and America will not be able to handle the future, with a shrinking job base and an excellerting debt, and with the Intellectual bankruptcy of our government and our people, We have entered the black hole and this time next year Hold On, It Will Be A Nightmare
Hassan - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:50PM EDT
Ron Paul is an idiot.... he wants to send us back to the 1930's.... I cant believe Yahoo! gives this crap a stage, or that people take his ideas minutely seriously... wait a minute... these are the same folk that voted Bush into office... twice!
report abuse
morrow_edwin - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:52PM EDT
Spot on
report abuse
Yahoo! Finance User - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:52PM EDT
Let's re elect Hoover in 2012. Where were all you Ron Paul supporters during primary time in 2008. The only thing he says that makes sense is stopping the waste of our tax dollars arround the world on people who hate America. The big banks should have been allowed to fail. NOBAMMA just told main street to ---- off when he said no to CIT BANK. Ron Paul has got the Goldwater syndrom, John Q Public will never vote for him
Don Miller - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:43PM EDT
Csn you imagine the chaos that would ensue if any of this guy's ideas actually got put into practice??...the gun nuts would love it because they would get to shoot their neighbors after the economy collapsed. Seriously..the list of things quoted above a vague generalities with the substance of a soap bubble.
report abuse
lmcgahey - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:44PM EDT
Republicans drive the country into the ditch then complain about the towing cost while Ron Paul can't even use the federally funded highways because he doesn't believe in them. He needs to cancel all the benefits he has and will receive for being in office or shut up. Ron Paul is a broken radio.
report abuse
dpscll - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:46PM EDT
Too bad the majority of Americans are ignorant and stupid. They'll vote for a GQ image over common sense everytime! I say amend the Constitution to only allow college educated people that can pass a civic's test, math test, economics test and finance test to vote. That would eliminate most of the ignorant scum from the ballot box.
report abuse
Bob - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:47PM EDT
Ron Paul is an idiot.
report abuse
blastert2 - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:47PM EDT
Ron Paul is living what he is prescribing!! He doesn't do the campaign promise BS! I know the truth hurts you libs, but you don't want solutions, you want to suck money out of the productive. We are sick of paying for Obamas F'd up version of utopia! You LIBS are only entitled to have the opportunity to support yourselves! We don't want you or your "help"!
gr8fun4me - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:39PM EDT
I hardly ever read the comments anymore because of all the ignorance that seems to be in all the message groups. Doesn't seem to matter whether it is Yahoo stock boards or this forum. Obama was and still is the right man for the job. He has chosen smart people in his cabinet. It seems like the nut cakes get all the attention though and of course the blogs love it. The 8 years of Republican administration ruined the economy, period. No more Texan's in the White House. Something bad always happens.
report abuse
dubosejack - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:39PM EDT
There is so much bad going on right now with these big government fascists I can't get my head around it all. That I think is their strategy. Do so much damage that we can't oppose any one thing.
report abuse
DTA - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:40PM EDT
I agree with some of the other posters here: education is the key and Dr. Paul is dedicated to teaching people the folly of massive spending big government, and foreign intervention. Mr. Obama has been a worse failure than his predecessor, and I won't be surprised when we find out that he's an even bigger liar.
report abuse
B - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:40PM EDT
Yes, let's deregulate! Great idea after such deregulation is the cause of the financial catastrophe that we are in now. Also, let's let all the big banks fail! That way more toxic debt can flood our financial system, credit can get even tighter, and smaller businesses can fail because they won't be able to get a loan. Sounds like a great idea to me! The national debt is the RESULT of what happened, not the cause. If our govt let all the banks fail that were going to fail, then we would be seeing an exponentially longer recovery time. But don't let your love of Ron Paul get in the way of the facts.
perffb - Thursday July 16, 2009 03:50PM EDT Dr. Paul's recipe would have Hoover'ed the USA into the ground during the crisis of 9-18-09. The economy is a feedback system, and without regulation, you are going to have wild swings and possible metastable states of low GDP aka Depression. On 9-18-09 the entire system was critically unstable and could easily have collapsed like the Verrazano bridge. Keynes understood that someone needs to replace the demand when the consumer shuts down 60% of the economy overnight, unless the economy settles into a semi-permanent state of Depression. But as far as following Dr. Paul's recommendations to stop trying to pretend like we are an empire with 800+ military bases worldwide, right on. THAT is a giant sucking sound if there ever was one!
keyesargentina - Thursday July 16, 2009 04:14PM EDTA Trusty Note, Ask yourself What Economy There Aint None ----The World Is Moving Too Fast, For These Big Old Tired Elephants, who we continue to elect in Washington, its like going to the Shrine Circus and seeing all those elephants lie down under the big top (Congressman) well boys they have laid down, and America will not be able to handle the future, with a shrinking job base and an excellerting debt, and with the Intellectual bankruptcy of our government and our people, We have entered the black hole and this time next year Hold On, It Will Be A Nightmare
Hassan - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:50PM EDT
Ron Paul is an idiot.... he wants to send us back to the 1930's.... I cant believe Yahoo! gives this crap a stage, or that people take his ideas minutely seriously... wait a minute... these are the same folk that voted Bush into office... twice!
report abuse
morrow_edwin - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:52PM EDT
Spot on
report abuse
Yahoo! Finance User - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:52PM EDT
Let's re elect Hoover in 2012. Where were all you Ron Paul supporters during primary time in 2008. The only thing he says that makes sense is stopping the waste of our tax dollars arround the world on people who hate America. The big banks should have been allowed to fail. NOBAMMA just told main street to ---- off when he said no to CIT BANK. Ron Paul has got the Goldwater syndrom, John Q Public will never vote for him
Don Miller - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:43PM EDT
Csn you imagine the chaos that would ensue if any of this guy's ideas actually got put into practice??...the gun nuts would love it because they would get to shoot their neighbors after the economy collapsed. Seriously..the list of things quoted above a vague generalities with the substance of a soap bubble.
report abuse
lmcgahey - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:44PM EDT
Republicans drive the country into the ditch then complain about the towing cost while Ron Paul can't even use the federally funded highways because he doesn't believe in them. He needs to cancel all the benefits he has and will receive for being in office or shut up. Ron Paul is a broken radio.
report abuse
dpscll - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:46PM EDT
Too bad the majority of Americans are ignorant and stupid. They'll vote for a GQ image over common sense everytime! I say amend the Constitution to only allow college educated people that can pass a civic's test, math test, economics test and finance test to vote. That would eliminate most of the ignorant scum from the ballot box.
report abuse
Bob - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:47PM EDT
Ron Paul is an idiot.
report abuse
blastert2 - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:47PM EDT
Ron Paul is living what he is prescribing!! He doesn't do the campaign promise BS! I know the truth hurts you libs, but you don't want solutions, you want to suck money out of the productive. We are sick of paying for Obamas F'd up version of utopia! You LIBS are only entitled to have the opportunity to support yourselves! We don't want you or your "help"!
gr8fun4me - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:39PM EDT
I hardly ever read the comments anymore because of all the ignorance that seems to be in all the message groups. Doesn't seem to matter whether it is Yahoo stock boards or this forum. Obama was and still is the right man for the job. He has chosen smart people in his cabinet. It seems like the nut cakes get all the attention though and of course the blogs love it. The 8 years of Republican administration ruined the economy, period. No more Texan's in the White House. Something bad always happens.
report abuse
dubosejack - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:39PM EDT
There is so much bad going on right now with these big government fascists I can't get my head around it all. That I think is their strategy. Do so much damage that we can't oppose any one thing.
report abuse
DTA - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:40PM EDT
I agree with some of the other posters here: education is the key and Dr. Paul is dedicated to teaching people the folly of massive spending big government, and foreign intervention. Mr. Obama has been a worse failure than his predecessor, and I won't be surprised when we find out that he's an even bigger liar.
report abuse
B - Thursday July 16, 2009 01:40PM EDT
Yes, let's deregulate! Great idea after such deregulation is the cause of the financial catastrophe that we are in now. Also, let's let all the big banks fail! That way more toxic debt can flood our financial system, credit can get even tighter, and smaller businesses can fail because they won't be able to get a loan. Sounds like a great idea to me! The national debt is the RESULT of what happened, not the cause. If our govt let all the banks fail that were going to fail, then we would be seeing an exponentially longer recovery time. But don't let your love of Ron Paul get in the way of the facts.
Homeowner Vitriol
seems like we need a new word to replace 'homeowner' given that for 20% of them it is a contradiction in terms.
too little too late, same old story, banks dont give a damn, they are profiting on foreclosing on the way down just like they profited on scam loans on the way up, and the public doesnt see any direct aid so calls Obama a communist and will vote for another Bush type disaster candidate like Palin, a total fascist ignoramus who will tank the economy worse than Bush but at least is not a commie.
They are too dumb to realize they have been screwed ever since Reagan, with suppression of wage/productivity parity and Wall Street M&A con artists selling off their jobs. It is a real abusive relationship, where the abused wants to stay with the smiling and affable SOB abuser like Bush/Reagan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030400911_Comments.html
At least one in five U.S. homeowners with mortgages -- or about 8.3 million households -- owed more on their mortgage than their homes were worth by the end of 2008, according to data released yesterday by First American CoreLogic. The government program does not require lenders to cut the principal that homeowners owe to current values, a costly step advocated by nonprofit groups but rejected by most lenders.
"Until you find some way to come at that head-on, you are going to avoid some foreclosures, but you are also kicking the can down the road and hoping home prices go up," said Mike Larson, a housing analyst with the Weiss Group, an economic research firm in Florida. "That is a bet that I think is a little problematic."
dewaal2 wrote:
The problem with the free-fall in the value of residential real estate is, in my opinion, due to a saturation of the market that was already a fact a number of years before the collapse that triggered the economic crash. This caused the number of ordinary mortgages issued to drop and gave cause to the lending institutions to issue the sub-prime loans to bridge the gap in income until the prime market would become more robust. However, with the poor economic actions of the previous administrations, real income to the average American remained the same or declined and the market did not survive. Housing, like anything else, is subject to the laws of supply and demand. With the supply high and the demand low and getting lower, the sub-prime approach kept the housing industry going. But when the inevitable happened, i.e. defaults by the millions, the value of the housing stock collapsed as the real demand for houses by its natural market continued to decline. The decline was aggravated by the suddenness,as the market perceived it, even though some pundits had forecasted it, and prices of homes may go below actual cost of materials and construction. It will take a steadying of our economy, before solid buyers will come back in sufficient quantities to stabilize the market and eventually drive up the prices once again. If I were in the shoes of the Treasury/Federal Reserve officials, I would value the so-called toxic assets at their intrinsic cost and buy these properties for that, while the amounts provided the banks over that amount should be considered loans. Freddie Mac and Fannie May should certainly NOT consider helping people that have more than one home, because these are - without exception - speculators.
3/6/2009 3:13:34 PM
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rodreifus wrote:
Too little too late. This is lkike everything else that comes from Washington DC. The people that caused the original problem are financially benefitting but the average Aamerican? You are getting it in the rear. Change??? There is no real change just talk of change
3/6/2009 8:01:02 AM
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plattsmo wrote:
May I ask, being a stupid individual. Who the hell is going to pay for all this?? Certainly not the goon that is in office now!? His future is taken care of. What about yours?
3/6/2009 5:57:19 AM
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jbarro wrote:
I hear Obama cut a deal with the ruling elite to cut Social Security
3/5/2009 10:58:01 PM
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kypriotis wrote:
Obama needs to resign right now, before his marxist ideology destroys what little is left of America's economyand the savings that hundreds of millions of Ameriucans swated for over their lifetimes.Because Obama has ignored the financial crisis--except to EXPLOIT ITby ramming through his communist gulag society while all Americans are trembling over their jobs and their pensions--the USA is teetering on the precipice of extinction.Get out now, Mr. Obama, while there's still time for thenation to recover from the communist scam you're running!
3/5/2009 8:40:16 PM
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robtay12003 wrote:
Enough of the B.S.We already know the details of the plan.It's ludicrous.It's harmful.It's pure theft, and communism at its worse.
3/5/2009 8:32:14 PM
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NeoConVeteran wrote:
I think Thomas Jefferson should be manditory reading for thses people! "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not!" OR how about... "It is incumbent on every generation to pay it's own debts as it goes."
3/5/2009 6:13:13 PM
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Geria wrote:
Waiting for banks to cooperate is taking too long; the foreclosures continue unabated. How about freezing foreclosures so no more take place and people stay in their homes until we can sort this thing out.
3/5/2009 5:02:05 PM
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dwdm wrote:
Am I missing something, or is Obama a complete moron? His plan gives these borrowers $1000/year as an incentive for making their mortgage payments.I'm sorry, but isn't the incentive that you get to keep your house? Why do we taxpayers have to reward them on top of that?Something is wrong with this picture. Even you Obama drones must be able to see that. Then again...
3/5/2009 4:58:48 PM
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PATWN wrote:
Excellent story -
3/5/2009 3:10:06 PM
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orange2299 wrote:
I didn't have to use your interactive tool, because I can't afford a home in my area, especially in this economic climate where I have to worry about my job.But I am glad to see that my tax dollars (which totaled over a third of my income last year) will be going to help out people's "second homes and investment properties, too".Something tells me the American dream is completely messed up.
3/5/2009 2:35:07 PM
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jvandeswaluw1 wrote:
Joe Liebermann wants to censor You Tube and Google! So much for American democracy!
3/5/2009 2:02:26 PM
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jvandeswaluw1 wrote:
Abolish global trade! Global trade is for the ones who control the money.
3/5/2009 1:31:43 PM
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jvandeswaluw1 wrote:
So you think you can tell, heaven from hell?
3/5/2009 1:22:01 PM
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jvandeswaluw1 wrote:
America is "controlled" by 1% of its population. Last night-on CNN- I was told that America has 2.4 million people behind bars. Most of them for minor offences, I was shocked, really. America counts for 5% of the earth's population, but has 25% counts for having total prison population behind bars. WHY??
3/5/2009 1:08:46 PM
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jvandeswaluw1 wrote:
Rich people hate clever/smart/gifted working class people.
3/5/2009 1:01:04 PM
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jabailo wrote:
Thanks, Obama, for "helping" homeowners -- and INCREASING MY RENT.Yeah, I know, I was dumb. I didn't get a loan I couldn't afford. I rent my apartment for a low fee, the lowest I can possibly find in my high priced metro region.But I should have gone out and bought a $1 M McMansion and defaulted. Because then you would "help" me.Instead, I'll see my rent rise as you falsely increase the value of property with your giveaways.Thanks a lot, buddy.
3/5/2009 12:53:04 PM
too little too late, same old story, banks dont give a damn, they are profiting on foreclosing on the way down just like they profited on scam loans on the way up, and the public doesnt see any direct aid so calls Obama a communist and will vote for another Bush type disaster candidate like Palin, a total fascist ignoramus who will tank the economy worse than Bush but at least is not a commie.
They are too dumb to realize they have been screwed ever since Reagan, with suppression of wage/productivity parity and Wall Street M&A con artists selling off their jobs. It is a real abusive relationship, where the abused wants to stay with the smiling and affable SOB abuser like Bush/Reagan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030400911_Comments.html
At least one in five U.S. homeowners with mortgages -- or about 8.3 million households -- owed more on their mortgage than their homes were worth by the end of 2008, according to data released yesterday by First American CoreLogic. The government program does not require lenders to cut the principal that homeowners owe to current values, a costly step advocated by nonprofit groups but rejected by most lenders.
"Until you find some way to come at that head-on, you are going to avoid some foreclosures, but you are also kicking the can down the road and hoping home prices go up," said Mike Larson, a housing analyst with the Weiss Group, an economic research firm in Florida. "That is a bet that I think is a little problematic."
dewaal2 wrote:
The problem with the free-fall in the value of residential real estate is, in my opinion, due to a saturation of the market that was already a fact a number of years before the collapse that triggered the economic crash. This caused the number of ordinary mortgages issued to drop and gave cause to the lending institutions to issue the sub-prime loans to bridge the gap in income until the prime market would become more robust. However, with the poor economic actions of the previous administrations, real income to the average American remained the same or declined and the market did not survive. Housing, like anything else, is subject to the laws of supply and demand. With the supply high and the demand low and getting lower, the sub-prime approach kept the housing industry going. But when the inevitable happened, i.e. defaults by the millions, the value of the housing stock collapsed as the real demand for houses by its natural market continued to decline. The decline was aggravated by the suddenness,as the market perceived it, even though some pundits had forecasted it, and prices of homes may go below actual cost of materials and construction. It will take a steadying of our economy, before solid buyers will come back in sufficient quantities to stabilize the market and eventually drive up the prices once again. If I were in the shoes of the Treasury/Federal Reserve officials, I would value the so-called toxic assets at their intrinsic cost and buy these properties for that, while the amounts provided the banks over that amount should be considered loans. Freddie Mac and Fannie May should certainly NOT consider helping people that have more than one home, because these are - without exception - speculators.
3/6/2009 3:13:34 PM
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rodreifus wrote:
Too little too late. This is lkike everything else that comes from Washington DC. The people that caused the original problem are financially benefitting but the average Aamerican? You are getting it in the rear. Change??? There is no real change just talk of change
3/6/2009 8:01:02 AM
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plattsmo wrote:
May I ask, being a stupid individual. Who the hell is going to pay for all this?? Certainly not the goon that is in office now!? His future is taken care of. What about yours?
3/6/2009 5:57:19 AM
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jbarro wrote:
I hear Obama cut a deal with the ruling elite to cut Social Security
3/5/2009 10:58:01 PM
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kypriotis wrote:
Obama needs to resign right now, before his marxist ideology destroys what little is left of America's economyand the savings that hundreds of millions of Ameriucans swated for over their lifetimes.Because Obama has ignored the financial crisis--except to EXPLOIT ITby ramming through his communist gulag society while all Americans are trembling over their jobs and their pensions--the USA is teetering on the precipice of extinction.Get out now, Mr. Obama, while there's still time for thenation to recover from the communist scam you're running!
3/5/2009 8:40:16 PM
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robtay12003 wrote:
Enough of the B.S.We already know the details of the plan.It's ludicrous.It's harmful.It's pure theft, and communism at its worse.
3/5/2009 8:32:14 PM
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NeoConVeteran wrote:
I think Thomas Jefferson should be manditory reading for thses people! "The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not!" OR how about... "It is incumbent on every generation to pay it's own debts as it goes."
3/5/2009 6:13:13 PM
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Geria wrote:
Waiting for banks to cooperate is taking too long; the foreclosures continue unabated. How about freezing foreclosures so no more take place and people stay in their homes until we can sort this thing out.
3/5/2009 5:02:05 PM
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dwdm wrote:
Am I missing something, or is Obama a complete moron? His plan gives these borrowers $1000/year as an incentive for making their mortgage payments.I'm sorry, but isn't the incentive that you get to keep your house? Why do we taxpayers have to reward them on top of that?Something is wrong with this picture. Even you Obama drones must be able to see that. Then again...
3/5/2009 4:58:48 PM
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PATWN wrote:
Excellent story -
3/5/2009 3:10:06 PM
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orange2299 wrote:
I didn't have to use your interactive tool, because I can't afford a home in my area, especially in this economic climate where I have to worry about my job.But I am glad to see that my tax dollars (which totaled over a third of my income last year) will be going to help out people's "second homes and investment properties, too".Something tells me the American dream is completely messed up.
3/5/2009 2:35:07 PM
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jvandeswaluw1 wrote:
Joe Liebermann wants to censor You Tube and Google! So much for American democracy!
3/5/2009 2:02:26 PM
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jvandeswaluw1 wrote:
Abolish global trade! Global trade is for the ones who control the money.
3/5/2009 1:31:43 PM
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jvandeswaluw1 wrote:
So you think you can tell, heaven from hell?
3/5/2009 1:22:01 PM
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jvandeswaluw1 wrote:
America is "controlled" by 1% of its population. Last night-on CNN- I was told that America has 2.4 million people behind bars. Most of them for minor offences, I was shocked, really. America counts for 5% of the earth's population, but has 25% counts for having total prison population behind bars. WHY??
3/5/2009 1:08:46 PM
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jvandeswaluw1 wrote:
Rich people hate clever/smart/gifted working class people.
3/5/2009 1:01:04 PM
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jabailo wrote:
Thanks, Obama, for "helping" homeowners -- and INCREASING MY RENT.Yeah, I know, I was dumb. I didn't get a loan I couldn't afford. I rent my apartment for a low fee, the lowest I can possibly find in my high priced metro region.But I should have gone out and bought a $1 M McMansion and defaulted. Because then you would "help" me.Instead, I'll see my rent rise as you falsely increase the value of property with your giveaways.Thanks a lot, buddy.
3/5/2009 12:53:04 PM
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Gary Shilling Sees Bottom at 35% Lower Than Now
http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-gary-shilling-still-filled-with-unrelenting-gloom-2009-7/same-sawtooth-gdp-pattern-in-the-2001-recession-22
interesting slide show, arguing from previous sawtooth trends and target S&P P/E ratio of 15
interesting slide show, arguing from previous sawtooth trends and target S&P P/E ratio of 15
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Plastic Surgery Disasters
http://www.topsocialite.com/the-15-worst-celebrity-plastic-surgery-disasters-you-will-ever-see/
Signs of the times indeed. Whatever happened to the Hippocratic Oath?
Signs of the times indeed. Whatever happened to the Hippocratic Oath?
Goldman Sachs Hostile to Real Productive Economy
Financialization is the end stage of capitalism, look it up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financialization
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/soundeconomywithjontalton/2009462409_why_goldmans_profits_are_a_sig.html
Why Goldman's profits are a sign of continued economic trouble
Posted by Jon Talton
Top of the News: A new government report shows that the number of homeless families rose 9 percent between 2007 and 2008 -- and 56 percent in rural and suburban areas. All this before unemployment and foreclosures really gathered strength starting last December. I'm sure these folks, among millions of others, are gratified that things are looking up at Goldman Sachs.
Analysts are expecting second-quarter earnings of $2 billion from the investment bank when it reports Tuesday. Huge bonuses for top executives are sure to follow.
Yet happy days are not here again. Goldman's quick rebound, after its being saved by taxpayer TARP money, shows how the system remains sick. It epitomizes the institution so huge that it presents a systemic risk to the economy -- and one so politically connected to both parties that it can not only veto reform, but effectively dictate administration policy.
Like much of Wall Street, its profits are disconnected from the actual productive economy. In many cases, the two are at odds, as big investment banks reap fees from creating mergers that will kill jobs and competition. It also played a leading role in the dangerous, exotic investment "vehicles" whose implosion led to the crash and wiped out many retirees.
In the Great Depression, the Pecora Commission exposed the frauds and wrongdoing on Wall Street, leading to major new regulation and legislation, especially the Glass-Steagall Act, that fended off depression-causing swindles and excessive risk-taking until it was repealed in late 1990s. The "banksters" who caused the crash were exposed and in some cases forced to resign.
This time we have had nothing like a Pecora Commission, seeking to discover the causes of our crash, hold people accountable and put in place rules of the road to prevent a recurrence. Indeed, most of the major players are still standing, and profiting just fine (remember how Goldman not only got TARP and Fed money, but double-dipped from AIG?).
Meanwhile, unemployment is headed for 10 percent and the shaky edifice of financial plays that caused it remains. At this moment, little-known CIT Group -- a lender to almost 1 million smaller businesses -- is trying to avoid a bank run.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Financialization
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/soundeconomywithjontalton/2009462409_why_goldmans_profits_are_a_sig.html
Why Goldman's profits are a sign of continued economic trouble
Posted by Jon Talton
Top of the News: A new government report shows that the number of homeless families rose 9 percent between 2007 and 2008 -- and 56 percent in rural and suburban areas. All this before unemployment and foreclosures really gathered strength starting last December. I'm sure these folks, among millions of others, are gratified that things are looking up at Goldman Sachs.
Analysts are expecting second-quarter earnings of $2 billion from the investment bank when it reports Tuesday. Huge bonuses for top executives are sure to follow.
Yet happy days are not here again. Goldman's quick rebound, after its being saved by taxpayer TARP money, shows how the system remains sick. It epitomizes the institution so huge that it presents a systemic risk to the economy -- and one so politically connected to both parties that it can not only veto reform, but effectively dictate administration policy.
Like much of Wall Street, its profits are disconnected from the actual productive economy. In many cases, the two are at odds, as big investment banks reap fees from creating mergers that will kill jobs and competition. It also played a leading role in the dangerous, exotic investment "vehicles" whose implosion led to the crash and wiped out many retirees.
In the Great Depression, the Pecora Commission exposed the frauds and wrongdoing on Wall Street, leading to major new regulation and legislation, especially the Glass-Steagall Act, that fended off depression-causing swindles and excessive risk-taking until it was repealed in late 1990s. The "banksters" who caused the crash were exposed and in some cases forced to resign.
This time we have had nothing like a Pecora Commission, seeking to discover the causes of our crash, hold people accountable and put in place rules of the road to prevent a recurrence. Indeed, most of the major players are still standing, and profiting just fine (remember how Goldman not only got TARP and Fed money, but double-dipped from AIG?).
Meanwhile, unemployment is headed for 10 percent and the shaky edifice of financial plays that caused it remains. At this moment, little-known CIT Group -- a lender to almost 1 million smaller businesses -- is trying to avoid a bank run.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Goldman Sachs to Announce Record Profits and Bonuses in the Midst of the Second Great Depression it Created
surprised? duh. Will middle america blink at this news blip, yawn, and go back to watching American Idol? yep. There's a word for that, it's called 'plutocracy', look it up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutocracy
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/business/13goldman.html?hp
"Analysts predict the bank earned a profit of more than $2 billion in the March-June period, because of its trading prowess across world markets. If they are right, the bank’s rivals will once again be left to wonder exactly how Goldman, long the envy of Wall Street, could have rebounded so drastically only months after the nation’s financial industry was shaken to its foundations.
The obsessive speculation has already begun, along with banter about how Goldman’s rapid return to minting money will be perceived by lawmakers and taxpayers who aided Goldman with a multibillion-dollar cushion last fall.
“They exist, and others don’t, and taxpayers made it possible,” said one industry consultant, who, like many people interviewed for this article, declined to be named for fear of jeopardizing business relationships.
Startling, too, is how much of its revenue Goldman is expected to share with its employees. Analysts estimate that the bank will set aside enough money to pay a total of $18 billion in compensation and benefits this year to its 28,000 employees, or more than $600,000 an employee. Top producers stand to earn millions. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutocracy
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/business/13goldman.html?hp
"Analysts predict the bank earned a profit of more than $2 billion in the March-June period, because of its trading prowess across world markets. If they are right, the bank’s rivals will once again be left to wonder exactly how Goldman, long the envy of Wall Street, could have rebounded so drastically only months after the nation’s financial industry was shaken to its foundations.
The obsessive speculation has already begun, along with banter about how Goldman’s rapid return to minting money will be perceived by lawmakers and taxpayers who aided Goldman with a multibillion-dollar cushion last fall.
“They exist, and others don’t, and taxpayers made it possible,” said one industry consultant, who, like many people interviewed for this article, declined to be named for fear of jeopardizing business relationships.
Startling, too, is how much of its revenue Goldman is expected to share with its employees. Analysts estimate that the bank will set aside enough money to pay a total of $18 billion in compensation and benefits this year to its 28,000 employees, or more than $600,000 an employee. Top producers stand to earn millions. "
Bankster in Chief Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs
it helps to put a face on the giant squid on the face of humanity:
Matt Taibbi Takes on the Vampire Squid Goldman Sachs
I love the smell of napalm in the morning ... Taibbi is hot on the trail of the bankster-in-chief Goldman Sachs
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/29127316/the_great_american_bubble_machine
http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/26/747045/-The-great-vampire-squid-wrapped-around-the-face-of-humanity
Goldman Sachs as the Heart of Darkness?
6:05 PM, June 28, 2009
Matt Taibbi, the Rolling Stone magazine contributing editor who in March wrote a brilliant and searing piece on the collapse of insurance giant AIG ("The Big Takeover'), now turns his attention to Goldman Sachs Group.
If you've read or heard Taibbi before, you know he's not writing a profile that is likely to be excerpted in the next Goldman annual report to shareholders.
Here's how his story in the latest issue of RS begins:
"The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere. The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."
The theme of Taibbi's takeout on Goldman is that the firm has, by design, been at the center of the biggest investment bubbles since the Depression. He includes the tech-stock bubble of the late-1990s, the housing bubble of this decade, and the oil bubble of the first half of 2008.
He writes:
"The formula is relatively simple: Goldman positions itself in the middle of a speculative bubble, selling investments they know are crap. Then they hoover up vast sums from the middle and lower floors of society with the aid of a crippled and corrupt state that allows it to rewrite the rules in exchange for the relative pennies the bank throws at political patronage. Finally, when it all goes bust, leaving millions of ordinary citizens broke and starving, they begin the entire process over again, riding in to rescue us all by lending us back our own money at interest, selling themselves as men above greed, just a bunch of really smart guys keeping the wheels greased."
Of course, he's describing the modus operandi of Wall Street in general. His assertion is that no one does it better than Goldman, and that no firm has enjoyed the political clout of Goldman, given how many of its alumni have landed in positions of power in government -- from Robert Rubin, who was Bill Clinton's Treasury secretary, to Henry M. Paulson, who held the same post under George W. Bush, to William Dudley, now president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
A Goldman spokesman, Lucas Van Praag, told The Post in an e-mail message: “[Taibbi's] story is an hysterical compilation of conspiracy theories. Notable ones missing are Goldman Sachs as the third shooter [in John F. Kennedy's assassination] and faking the first lunar landing.”
“We reject the assertion that we are inflators of bubbles and profiteers in busts, and we are painfully conscious of the importance in being a force for good,” Mr. Van Praag added.
And it didn’t stop there. Goldman’s response so infuriated Mr. Taibbi, that he wrote a length rebuttal on his blog Tuesday, saying that “you’d have to be absolutely crazy…not to accept the notion that Goldman shouldered a significant portion of the blame for the Internet mess. They were, after all, the leading underwriter of Internet I.P.O.’s during the Internet boom years.”
On Goldman’s role in residential mortgages, Mr. Taibbi continues:
“[W]hile their ‘former competitors’…were dumb enough to hold their mortgage paper and be sunk by it, Goldman shorted their own crap, which means…they knew that what they were selling was a loser. So while they maybe weren’t the biggest player, they were still a major player, and one can easily make the case that they were the most obnoxious player, given that they dove into this muck with their eyes wide open, unlike so many other idiots on Wall Street.”
Goldman, whose alumni appear all over the financial map, from Washington to Wall Street, survived the financial meltdown last fall, but not without help. It took $10 billion from the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. It also received a $5 billion investment from Warren E. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that came with a strong endorsement from Mr. Buffett.
Go to Article from The New York Post »
Go to Item from Matt Taibbi’s Blog »
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/29127316/the_great_american_bubble_machine
http://trueslant.com/matttaibbi/
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/6/26/747045/-The-great-vampire-squid-wrapped-around-the-face-of-humanity
Goldman Sachs as the Heart of Darkness?
6:05 PM, June 28, 2009
Matt Taibbi, the Rolling Stone magazine contributing editor who in March wrote a brilliant and searing piece on the collapse of insurance giant AIG ("The Big Takeover'), now turns his attention to Goldman Sachs Group.
If you've read or heard Taibbi before, you know he's not writing a profile that is likely to be excerpted in the next Goldman annual report to shareholders.
Here's how his story in the latest issue of RS begins:
"The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere. The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money."
The theme of Taibbi's takeout on Goldman is that the firm has, by design, been at the center of the biggest investment bubbles since the Depression. He includes the tech-stock bubble of the late-1990s, the housing bubble of this decade, and the oil bubble of the first half of 2008.
He writes:
"The formula is relatively simple: Goldman positions itself in the middle of a speculative bubble, selling investments they know are crap. Then they hoover up vast sums from the middle and lower floors of society with the aid of a crippled and corrupt state that allows it to rewrite the rules in exchange for the relative pennies the bank throws at political patronage. Finally, when it all goes bust, leaving millions of ordinary citizens broke and starving, they begin the entire process over again, riding in to rescue us all by lending us back our own money at interest, selling themselves as men above greed, just a bunch of really smart guys keeping the wheels greased."
Of course, he's describing the modus operandi of Wall Street in general. His assertion is that no one does it better than Goldman, and that no firm has enjoyed the political clout of Goldman, given how many of its alumni have landed in positions of power in government -- from Robert Rubin, who was Bill Clinton's Treasury secretary, to Henry M. Paulson, who held the same post under George W. Bush, to William Dudley, now president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
A Goldman spokesman, Lucas Van Praag, told The Post in an e-mail message: “[Taibbi's] story is an hysterical compilation of conspiracy theories. Notable ones missing are Goldman Sachs as the third shooter [in John F. Kennedy's assassination] and faking the first lunar landing.”
“We reject the assertion that we are inflators of bubbles and profiteers in busts, and we are painfully conscious of the importance in being a force for good,” Mr. Van Praag added.
And it didn’t stop there. Goldman’s response so infuriated Mr. Taibbi, that he wrote a length rebuttal on his blog Tuesday, saying that “you’d have to be absolutely crazy…not to accept the notion that Goldman shouldered a significant portion of the blame for the Internet mess. They were, after all, the leading underwriter of Internet I.P.O.’s during the Internet boom years.”
On Goldman’s role in residential mortgages, Mr. Taibbi continues:
“[W]hile their ‘former competitors’…were dumb enough to hold their mortgage paper and be sunk by it, Goldman shorted their own crap, which means…they knew that what they were selling was a loser. So while they maybe weren’t the biggest player, they were still a major player, and one can easily make the case that they were the most obnoxious player, given that they dove into this muck with their eyes wide open, unlike so many other idiots on Wall Street.”
Goldman, whose alumni appear all over the financial map, from Washington to Wall Street, survived the financial meltdown last fall, but not without help. It took $10 billion from the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. It also received a $5 billion investment from Warren E. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that came with a strong endorsement from Mr. Buffett.
Go to Article from The New York Post »
Go to Item from Matt Taibbi’s Blog »
When Apple forces you to do something, it's for your own good. What flavor is your Kool-Aid?
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10266147-37.html
An article that appeared on Apple's support site Tuesday doesn't appear to be directed at any other company in particular--unless you read between the lines.
Titled "iTunes: About unsupported third-party digital media players," the article addresses the claims of "some third parties" that their digital media players are able to sync with iTunes. By "some third parties" they clearly mean "Palm," which has manipulated the new Pre smartphone to sync with Apple's music software. Palm execs showed off the iTunes sync feature at last month's D: All Things Digital conference.
The article reads: "Apple is aware that some third parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players."
That can be taken as a none-too-subtle threat that Apple can break the Pre's iTunes sync capability with a simple iTunes software update any time it wants to.
Apparently Palm's chief investor Roger McNamee didn't see this coming. When he and Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein introduced the feature, he acknowledged that Apple could take legal or technical steps to block the feature, but said, "I find it hard to believe they are going to get bent out of shape."
by Renegade Knight June 16, 2009 5:43 PM PDT
That would be like MicroSoft breaking iTunes ability to sync contacts on a PC. Companies don't win when they start pulling the plug on their users. If apple makes iTunes less useful than it is. That doesn't help their cause.
Reply to this comment
by Brian June 16, 2009 8:36 PM PDT
I agree.Apple is all about profit.As long as iTunes is more available to the public, that's more iTunes music downloads from the App Store.
by DanRobinson June 20, 2009 4:27 PM PDT
Not so.One reason Windows sucks is because it has to run on every POS out there. Apple only needs to make sure things work on its own products. Making sure your own particular POS hardware works with Apple is your problem . . . not their's.
by fleurya June 16, 2009 5:45 PM PDT
So ,at what point does this become a legal issue. Isn't this similar do everyone's gripe again MS and IE and soon to be release of Win 7 sans IE?
Reply to this comment
by nastynewt June 17, 2009 6:24 AM PDT
When Apple forces you to do something, it's for your own good. What flavor is your Kool-Aid?
by bsorli June 17, 2009 8:48 AM PDT
I'm not expecting anything from Apple legal or changing iTunes. Changing the code to block 3rd parties is simply a waste of Apple's time. Palm is smart enough to make it work without stepping on copyright law and the last thing Apple wants is HUGE sanctions like Microsoft is getting from the European Union....can you say Monopoly!!! Apple an iTunes have been heading toward regulation issues for years and Palm Pre access simply shows they are willing to work with other providers. Apple, don't cut your nose off to spite your face... Sorli...
by kelmon June 18, 2009 2:57 AM PDT
Question: why should Apple be legally compelled to support devices that they do not make in their own software?
by Seaspray0 June 18, 2009 8:58 AM PDT
@kelmon. Because they fall under the definition of a monopoly for both mp3 players and digital music distribution markets. They have more than 50% marketshare in both. Now go back and read your own comments regarding companies that are monopolies.
by gggg sssss June 16, 2009 5:46 PM PDT
RIP apple
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