STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 27 April 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 27 April 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 26 April 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 26 April 2012
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Dow Jones 13,204.62 +113.90 (0.87%)
S&P 500 1,399.98 +9.29 (0.67%)
Nasdaq 3,050.61 +20.98 (0.69%)



[font color=red]10 Year 1.94% +0.01 (0.52%)
30 Year 3.12% +0.02 (0.65%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = [/font][font color=red]12[/font]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison



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[font size=3][font color=red]This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]

[Tansy_Gold]

1. Regarding the toon

replace the challenger with the incumbent. . . .




we're still stupid. . . . .

[Demeter]

2. Same policy, different sock puppet

We're still screwed. Can't even flee the country, now.

[Demeter]

3. #@$%^* Condo Board!

I swear to the gods and goddesses, they are ineducable. Not sure that's a word, but spellcheck says it is....

They would rather throw $4000 away on Tuesday than do the right thing, for fear that the bogey man is gonna sue them. The bogey man hasn't a leg to stand on in court, but that doesn't matter. TWO law firms have said buy the note, but they won't. I've got the president convinced, but the damn CPA is raising ridiculous non-issues, confusing the less knowledgeable, and her "professional prestige", which in this instance isn't good enough to blow one's nose in, lets her fake out the rest of the board.

If my hair weren't thinning out with stress, I'd be tearing it out.

There are days I want to quit the board, but I'd have to sell and move (and I vowed I'm never moving again), because I'm not willing to be governed by fools...and then, there are days I'd like to blow something up, because selling and moving wouldn't be satisfying. This is one of those days...

Well, we had another miracle, courtesy of Uncle Ben's Quick Rise. (In monetizing debt).
Somebody stop him, before he inflates another asset!

Talk me down, so I can sleep sometime tonight! Please!

[Demeter]

30. If that weren't enough grief, the forecast is "chance of snow" on Saturday

which means little or nothing, but I swear they post such stuff just to cause derangement.

Looks like another "super cell" Low forming over Montana. The previous one still hasn't cleared New England, either.

[DemReadingDU]

51. I can sympathize with you

While we don't have a condo board to fight with, we are up against the village, police chief, mayor, and now the schools. And we don't even have kids in the district anymore. And everyone wants to cover-up the injustices to make us look like the bad people for bringing up issues. It's a nightmare that won't end.

[Demeter]

4. I don't even have a theme for the Weekend

Do I? Please remind my burned-out brain, or just provide a plausible subject for this weekend. Something escapist, if you can.

[DemReadingDU]

42. Escapist - Houdini?

I can't remember if we have done magicians yet

[Demeter]

56. Tony Curtis! Old Black Magic!

That's CERTAINLY escapist!

I think I did something about Houdini, but that was YEARS ago. You got it! (Much better than a dystopia, which was what was floating in the brain earlier).

In reviewing my threads, it was Tony Curtis that was the theme, and he did a film on Houdini's life. So we can do it the other way around. Thanks so much!

[Demeter]

5. Obama sets rallies to kick off campaign

The president is to kick off his general election campaign against Mitt Romney as Newt Gingrich withdrew from the Republican nominating race

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/KC2844/2OJ7DX/XBAN6/30X3FN/62PWOX/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

OH GOODY. JUST WHAT WE NEED. MORE CIRCUSES...LESS BREAD, SINCE WE ARE SO OBESE....

[Demeter]

6. South Korean growth slips to 2.8%

South Korean economic growth has slipped to the weakest level in two and a half years

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/KC2844/2OJ7DX/XBAN6/30X3FN/C4BEZN/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

AH, THE BEAUTY OF GLOBALIZATION...WHAT GOES AROUND JUST KEEPS ON GOING...

[Demeter]

7. Draghi calls for Europe ‘growth compact’

ECB chief strikes a more downbeat tone than even a few weeks ago, scaling back his hopes for an early economic rebound in the single currency bloc

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/KC2844/2OJ7DX/XBAN6/30X3FN/7AUX0J/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

IN DRAMA, THIS IS CALLED "THE REVEAL"

The Reveal
"What a twist!"
— M. Night Shyamalan, Robot Chicken

The pivot in many plotlines is The Reveal. A character is revealed as another character's mother, a god, or secret suitor or arch nemesis in disguise. More broadly, the audience is given new information which had been withheld to create suspense. The Reveal changes the nature of the plot, often pushing it from suspense towards action. A good reveal will also create a new set of questions and further suspense. On some occasions, The Reveal Prompts Romance.

A key moment in most Gambit Pileup plots, when the heroes or the audience discover how the villains have been manipulating everyone. Can also be used to make a cliffhanger more dramatic. Myth Arc and Mind Screw series love springing these; Jigsaw Puzzle Plots pretty much require them. Eventually necessary for a Mysterious Employer.

The Reveal is in fact a rather easily explained trope. A lot of mystery stories wouldn't work without either the criminal or the detective explaining how the crime was committed, and a lot of other plots would leave people with more questions than answers if they never bothered to explain the plot to other characters...and by extension, the viewers. It's easy to explain it off-screen, but doing so would confuse the viewer and make them think they missed something.

A Super Trope to Emerging From The Shadows.

If you're set up for this but it's then subverted by not revealing it, it's The Unreveal. When made too obvious ahead of time, it's The Untwist. If it comes out of nowhere and serves no purpose other than to be a twist, it's a Shocking Swerve and/or a case of The Dog Was the Mastermind. If the thing revealed is named in the title, then its The Namesake. If a Driving Question is involved, this is where it's finally put to rest. Can overlap with Remembered Too Late.

Aristotle referred to it as anagnorisis (generally translated as "discovery" or "recognition&quot in his Poetics, making this one Older Than Feudalism.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheReveal

THAT MIGHT MAKE A GOOD THEME...BUT IT MAKES LOUSY ECONOMICS AND POLITICS.

[Demeter]

8. Barroso plan for EU budget rise sparks outrage

A proposal for a 6.8% increase for next year’s EU budget put forward by the European Commission provoked harsh reactions from member states

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/KC2844/2OJ7DX/XBAN6/30X3FN/2OR7BA/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

[Demeter]

9. Exxon and Chevron raise dividends

The move by the two largest US oil companies by market capitalisation is a sign of confidence in future earnings

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/16S7Z6/MJTKN/ORGKTI/ORMTNH/ZH/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

OR THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME...

[Demeter]

10. GE suffers activist shareholder revolt

Investors in the US industrial group almost approved a measure giving them more control over the company, against the wishes of the board

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/16S7Z6/MJTKN/ORGKTI/5V3WAJ/ZH/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

SORRY GUYS, "ALMOST" ONLY COUNTS IN HORSESHOES....

[Demeter]

11. China sales fall short of Caterpillar forecasts

The earthmoving equipment maker is diverting machines to the Middle East and other developing markets because of a build up in inventories

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/16S7Z6/MJTKN/ORGKTI/DWG9XM/ZH/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

A TRUE LEADING INDICATOR

[Demeter]

12. Mexico launches Walmart investigation

The federal authorities have announced their own inquiry into how the US retailer obtained permits at the centre of corruption allegations

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/16S7Z6/MJTKN/ORGKTI/ORMTN1/ZH/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

THAT'S WHAT I'D LIKE TO SEE...TAG-TEAMING THE MULTINATIONAL, GLOBAL GOLIATHS.

The Sheep Look Up is a science fiction novel by British author John Brunner, first published in 1972. The novel's setting is decidedly dystopian; the book deals with the deterioration of the environment in the United States. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972.

The title of the novel is a quotation from the poem Lycidas by John Milton:

The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,
But swollen with wind and the rank mist they draw,
Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread ...

Plot introduction

With the rise of a corporation-sponsored government, pollution in big cities has reached extreme levels and most (if not all) people's health has been affected in some way. Continuing the style used in Stand on Zanzibar, there is a multi-strand narrative and many characters in the book never meet each other; some characters only appear in one or two vignettes. Similarly, instead of chapters, the book is broken up into sections which range from thirty words in length to several pages. The character of Austin Train in The Sheep Look Up serves a similar purpose to Xavier Conroy in The Jagged Orbit or to Chad Mulligan in Stand on Zanzibar: He is an academic who, despite predicting and interpreting social change, has become disillusioned by the failure of society to listen. This character is used both to drive the plot and to explain back-story to the reader.

By the end of the book rioting and civil unrest sweep the United States, due to a combination of poor health, poor sanitation, lack of food, lack of services, ineffectiveness of services (medical, policing), disillusionment with government/companies, oppressive government, civil unrest, high incidence of birth defects (pollution-induced), and other factors; all services (military, government, private, infrastructure) break down.

A housewife in Ireland smells smoke, and says to a visiting doctor: "We ought to call the fire brigade, is it a hayrick?" to which the doctor replies, "The brigade would have a long way to go. It's from America. The wind is blowing from that way."

Publication notes

Despite being nominated for a Nebula Award, the book fell out of print, only later being republished. The new edition contains a foreword by David Brin and an afterword by environmentalist and social change theorist James John Bell. Brin places the book in the context of Brunner's time and other writings. In the afterword, Bell treats the book almost as prophecy, drawing parallels between events in the book and subsequent real world developments: "His words have a kind of Gnostic power embedded in them that gives his characters passage into our world". He notes that "Brunner's puppet of a president, affectionately called Prexy, is a dead ringer for our Dubya". Sabotage done by the Earth Liberation Front is pulled directly from the pages of the novel. Writer William Gibson made a similar remark in a 2007 interview: No one except possibly the late John Brunner, in his brilliant novel "The Sheep Look Up," has ever described anything in science fiction that is remotely like the reality of 2007 as we know it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sheep_Look_Up

Plea to curb population to boost equality

Royal Society study shows how the issue has moved up the political agenda after the UN said last year that the number of people had exceeded 7bn

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/4RNQTT/DWBQNR/204L2/30X3FF/GDORX8/OS/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

AFTER YOU, GASTON, CHANG, CHOUDRY.....

[Demeter]

13. Mad cow in California: South Korea halts beef imports

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/04/mad-cow-in-california-south-korea-halts-beef-imports.html

The discovery of a dairy cow in California's Central Valley with mad cow disease is having repercussions worldwide. Two major South Korean retailers suspended sales of U.S. beef Wednesday following the announcement, the Associated Press reported. South Korea's No. 2 and No. 3 supermarket chains, Home Plus and Lotte Mart, said they have temporarily halted sales of U.S. beef to calm worries among South Koreans.

“We stopped sales from today,” said Chung Won-hun, a Lotte Mart spokesman, as quoted by the AP. “Not that there were any quality issues in the meat but because consumers were worried.”

South Korea is the world's fourth-largest importer of U.S. beef, buying 107,000 tons of the meat worth $563 million in 2011. AND THEY AREN'T THE FIRST NATION TO STOP BUYING US BEEF, THANKS TO REFUSAL TO TEST EACH ANIMAL...

The new case of mad cow disease is the first in the U.S. since 2006. It was discovered in a dairy cow in Hanford, but health authorities said Tuesday the animal was never a threat to the nation's food supply.
Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is fatal to cows and can cause a deadly human brain disease in those who eat tainted beef. The infected cow, the fourth ever discovered in the U.S., was found as part of an Agriculture Department surveillance program that tests about 40,000 cows a year for the disease. Tests are performed on only a small portion of dead animals brought to the transfer facility near Hanford. The cow had died at one of the region's hundreds of dairies, but hadn't exhibited outward symptoms of the disease: unsteadiness, uncoordination, a drastic change in behavior or low milk production, officials said. But when the animal arrived at the facility with a truckload of other dead cows on April 18, its 30-month-plus age and fresh corpse made her eligible for USDA testing, the AP reported.

The samples went to the food safety lab at the University of California, Davis on April 18. By April 19, markers indicated the cow could have bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. On Tuesday, federal agriculture officials announced the findings: the animal had atypical BSE. That means it didn't get the disease from eating infected cattle feed, said John Clifford, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinary officer.

It was “just a random mutation that can happen every once in a great while in an animal,” said Bruce Akey, director of the New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Cornell University. “Random mutations go on in nature all the time.”

ALL THE MORE REASON TO TEST EACH AND EVERY MEAT ANIMAL, ANY SANE PERSON WOULD THINK.

[Demeter]

16. SOME LIGHT READING: THE SHEEP LOOK UP

http://arthursbookshelf.com/sci-fi/brunner/john%20brunner%20-%20the%20sheep%20look%20up.pdf

NEW COVER ART: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yejxTbLjL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

OLD COVER ART:

[Demeter]

17. Italian companies are forced into board shake-ups

Executives give up seats ahead of new law to tackle cross-shareholdings over fears they are a threat to the country’s financial stability

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/16S7Z6/MJTKN/ORGKTI/2ORMCW/ZH/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

[bread_and_roses]

41. It's not escapist, and it's been too long since I read it, but

were it not for those small points I'd recommend Brunner's "Stand on Zanzibar" for the WE theme - also, last time I checked I think it was out of print, alas - reminder to self, look on-line for a used copy .... (it's well worth re-reading). He was brilliant and much ahead of his time.

I'm wracking my brain for a theme suggestion, with no luck so far ... I, too, would like an escapist theme, but am too mired in grim.

Next week we could consider the Kentucky Derby for a theme. There are hats, Derby parties, !%ers prancing about (no, not the horses - they prance much more prettily and naturally and exploit no one - are themselves, in fact, the exploited, somewhat like lovely young sex-slaves ... There are mint juleps for the high-born and beer for the hoi-polloi in the infield ...

... there are backstretch workers who care for the "stars" - many immigrants - who are ill-paid, there are jockeys who are "independent contractors" with no health insurance, despite engaging in what is probably the most dangerous sport on the planet.

I'll keep thinking on this week, but am probably too mired in grim.

[Demeter]

57. Okay, next week the "darby"

Does the Queen of England still enter horses?

[bread_and_roses]

63. I'll bet she does in England

I don't recall anything about a runner in the US - at least, not since I've been (to my shame, it's a secret vice) following racing, but that's only a few years.

[bread_and_roses]

67. PS I should also say -

I won't be around on next Sat to post - have to work in the AM and then there's the Derby - but I promise to enthusiastically participate Fri and Sun on Derby theme - all such promises, of course, subject to life intervening .... (life, and single-mom daughter, and g'daughter, and old crumbling house, and cat, and and and .... as you know all too well)

[AnneD]

80. A few years back when Liz and Phil came here on tour.....

on of the places she visited was horse breeding spots in Va. She is an avid racer and wages. I bet she has a race form, a wager stub and a pound or to in that bag she carries with her.

Some day I will tell you about when I saw the Queen in London-twice in one day!

[Demeter]

14. US banker pleads guilty to China bribes

The former Morgan Stanley adviser admitted conspiring to evade the bank’s internal controls to win lucrative real estate investments

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/16S7Z6/MJTKN/ORGKTI/DWG9KP/ZH/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

[Demeter]

15. Blankfein says he will stay on at Goldman

Lloyd Blankfein’s return to the public eye and signal of intent to stay at the helm will not be welcomed by all of Goldman’s senior employees

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/16S7Z6/MJTKN/ORGKTI/HY0FEU/ZH/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26

[AnneD]

81. The last thing we need ....

is another person on the jobless roles

[Demeter]

18. Mark Malloch-Brown - Taylor verdict shows future despots have nowhere left to hide

Leaders usually cannot get away with mass crimes against citizens anymore. Even if their own judicial and institutional systems are too weak to hold them to account, there is now a higher international authority that will.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/OZMCDD/KQVUUE/WH2F8/HYPZND/62PYGP/1G/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=26


NONSENSE! ONE SWALLOW DOESN'T MAKE A SUMMER, AND ONE CONVICTION DOESN'T BRING UNIVERSAL JUSTICE.

LET'S SEE THE ICC TAKE ON AN AMERICAN DESPOT. OR EVEN A LOWLY WAR CRIMINAL. CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, THERE'S A GOOD PLACE TO START!

[Demeter]

19. "Just" Banking Presentation

http://www.debtdeflation.com/blogs/2012/04/21/just-banking-presentation/

POWERPOINT SLIDE SHOW

[Demeter]

20. Farmers demand World Bank & Wall St stop grabbing their lands at opening of Bank’s DC conference

http://www.grain.org/article/entries/4486-farmers-demand-the-world-bank-and-wall-street-stop-grabbing-their-lands-at-opening-of-the-bank-s-annual-conference-in-washington-dc

The World Bank is playing a leading role in a global land grab, say farmers' movements and their international allies. The World Bank’s policies for land privatisation and concentration have paved the way for corporations from Wall Street to Singapore to take upwards of 80 million hectares of land from rural communities across the world in the past few years, they say in a collective statement released today at the opening of the World Bank’s Conference on Land and Poverty in Washington DC.

"Rural people are losing control over land and water because of this global land grab," says Honduran farmer leader Rafael Alegria of the international farmers' movement La Via Campesina. "We want the land grab stopped and the lands taken to be returned to the local communities. In Honduras, we demand that the law for rural modernisation promoted by the World Bank be canceled and that a new law for agricultural transition be adopted".

The World Bank will be meeting with government officials and private sector investors during its annual conference, where they will discuss large-scale farmland acquisitions by foreign corporations in developing countries. The World Bank will be promoting its controversial Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment (RAI).

"The World Bank's RAI principles are an attempt to legitimise corporate land grabs and the expansion of an industrial model of agriculture that is destroying people’s livelihoods and the planet," says Giulia Franchi of Campagna per la Riforma della Banca Mondiale. "Decades of World Bank programmes promoting market-based approaches to land management have set the stage for a massive takeover of peoples' lands, massive environmental destruction, and a massive backlash by farmers and other frontline communities."

The global land grab was denounced at over 250 worldwide protest actions on April 17th, the International Day of Peasant's Struggle. Tomorrow another major farmland investor conference in New York City involving the World Bank and big money managers like the Canadian Pension Fund, TIAA-CREF and PensionDanmark, will be targeted for protests by New York’s Ethiopian Community, Occupy Wall Street and others.

"U.S. farmers, particularly young and beginning farmers, can't afford the rising costs of good land and are in no position to compete with speculators and Wall Street investment schemes,” says Bob St.Peter, Director of Food for Maine's Future and Executive Committee member of the National Family Farm Coalition. “Here in the U.S., 400 million acres of farmland are going to change hands over the next 20 years. Whether those lands will support diversified family farms or multi-national corporations is one of the most important political questions in the U.S. today."

[Demeter]

27. New Film Exposes the Devastating Impact of World Bank Backing for Land Investments

&feature=player_embedded

[Demeter]

21. US home prices drop for 6th straight month

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-home-prices-drop-6th-130235133.html

Home prices fall in most US cities for sixth straight month, as housing struggles to recover...The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index shows that prices dropped in February from January in 16 of the 20 cities it tracks. The steepest declines were in Atlanta, Chicago and Cleveland. Prices rose in Phoenix, San Diego and Miami. They were unchanged in Dallas.

The declines partly reflect typical offseason sales. The month-to-month prices aren't adjusted for seasonal factors. Still, prices fell in 15 of the 20 cities in February compared with the same month in 2011. That indicates that the housing market remains far from healthy despite the best winter for sales in five years.

The steady price declines have brought the nationwide index to its late 2002 level. Home prices have fallen 35 percent since the housing bust.

MORE

[Demeter]

22. Is there a drone in your neighbourhood? FAA forced to reveal 63 launch sites across U.S.

AS REPORTED IN A BRITISH NEWSPAPER, AS USUAL FOR ALL OUR LOCAL NATIONAL NEWS.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134376/Is-drone-neighbourhood-Rise-killer-spy-planes-exposed-FAA-forced-reveal-63-launch-sites-U-S.html

Unmanned spy planes are being launched from locations in 20 states and owners include the military and universities...There are at least 63 active drone sites around the U.S, federal authorities have been forced to reveal following a landmark Freedom of Information lawsuit.

The unmanned planes – some of which may have been designed to kill terror suspects – are being launched from locations in 20 states.

Most of the active drones are deployed from military installations, enforcement agencies and border patrol teams, according to the Federal Aviation Authority.



Exposed: Location of sites where licences have been granted for the use of drones within the U.S. There are 63 active sites based in 20 states. Red flags show active sites and blue show those locations where licences have expired since 2006



Unusual: The University of Connecticut - one of 19 educational institutions to own spy planes - is the drone site closest to New York City. The North East is the region with the highest concentration



Concentration: The Beltway around Washington DC has the highest concentration of urban and suburban drone sites, including the U.S. Marine Corp base as Quantico Station, Virginia

The authority revealed the information after a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by Electronic Frontier Foundation. Its website hosts an interactive map that allows the user to zoom in to the area around where they live to see if any sites are nearby. However, the FAA is yet to reveal what kinds of drones might be based at any of these locations. The agency says it will release this data later.

Most of the drones are likely to be small craft, such as the Draganflyer X8, which can carry a payload of only 2.2lb.



Florida: Mostly police and Sheriff departments are registered to use drones in the state



Watch out Canada! Border agents are registered to use drone in North Dakota, just a few hundred miles from Winnipeg, Manitoba



Remote: The University of Alaska's drones are the most distant from any major urban centres. They are, however, the closest to Russia AND SARAH PALIN'S BACK DOOR



Hotspot: Texas has one of the highest number of drone sites



West Coast: There are comparatively few drone sites in California and Western states

AND THERE'S STILL A LOT MORE TO READ AT THE LINK.

[AnneD]

82. Absolutely yes...

I watched it for at least 2-3 years before I suspected what it really was. I won't say where it is at, but I know what to look for. Even went out and bought a pair of binaculars. I just really didn't think they would launch one. But then it got leaked in the Houston Chronicle.

I grew up in the country-we always observed nature and thus always spot something out of the ordinary.

Thanks for the links. I don't think it is to ask how long before they start killing 'criminals and terrorist' in this country with drones. You know that is the next step they will take.

[Demeter]

23. A History of the World, BRIC by BRIC By Pepe Escobar MUST READ!

http://www.nationofchange.org/history-world-bric-bric-1335454608

Goldman Sachs -- via economist Jim O’Neill -- invented the concept of a rising new bloc on the planet: BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa). Some cynics couldn’t help calling it the “Bloody Ridiculous Investment Concept.” Not really. Goldman now expects the BRICS countries to account for almost 40% of global gross domestic product (GDP) by 2050, and to include four of the world’s top five economies. Soon, in fact, that acronym may have to expand to include Turkey, Indonesia, South Korea and, yes, nuclear Iran: BRIIICTSS? Despite its well-known problems as a nation under economic siege, Iran is also motoring along as part of the N-11, yet another distilled concept. (It stands for the next 11 emerging economies.)

The multitrillion-dollar global question remains: Is the emergence of BRICS a signal that we have truly entered a new multipolar world?

Yale’s canny historian Paul Kennedy (of “imperial overstretch” fame) is convinced that we either are about to cross or have already crossed a “historical watershed” taking us far beyond the post-Cold War unipolar world of “the sole superpower.” There are, argues Kennedy, four main reasons for that: the slow erosion of the U.S. dollar (formerly 85% of global reserves, now less than 60%), the “paralysis of the European project,” Asia rising (the end of 500 years of Western hegemony), and the decrepitude of the United Nations. The Group of Eight (G-8) is already increasingly irrelevant. The G-20, which includes the BRICS, might, however, prove to be the real thing. But there’s much to be done to cross that watershed rather than simply be swept over it willy-nilly: the reform of the U.N. Security Council, and above all, the reform of the Bretton Woods system, especially those two crucial institutions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

On the other hand, willy-nilly may prove the way of the world. After all, as emerging superstars, the BRICS have a ton of problems. True, in only the last seven years Brazil has added 40 million people as middle-class consumers; by 2016, it will have invested another $900 billion -- more than a third of its GDP -- in energy and infrastructure; and it’s not as exposed as some BRICS members to the imponderables of world trade, since its exports are only 11% of GDP, even less than the U.S. Still, the key problem remains the same: lack of good management, not to mention a swamp of corruption. Brazil’s brazen new monied class is turning out to be no less corrupt than the old, arrogant, comprador elites that used to run the country.

In India, the choice seems to be between manageable and unmanageable chaos. The corruption of the country’s political elite would make Shiva proud. Abuse of state power, nepotistic control of contracts related to infrastructure, the looting of mineral resources, real estate property scandals -- they’ve got it all, even if India is not a Hindu Pakistan. Not yet anyway. Since 1991, “reform” in India has meant only one thing: unbridled commerce and getting the state out of the economy. Not surprisingly then, nothing is being done to reform public institutions, which are a scandal in themselves. Efficient public administration? Don’t even think about it. In a nutshell, India is a chaotic economic dynamo and yet, in some sense, not even an emerging power, not to speak of a superpower.

Russia, too, is still trying to find the magic mix, including a competent state policy to exploit the country’s bounteous natural resources, extraordinary space, and impressive social talent. It must modernize fast as, apart from Moscow and St. Petersburg, relative social backwardness prevails. Its leaders remain uneasy about neighboring China (aware that any Sino-Russian alliance would leave Russia as a distinctly junior partner). They are distrustful of Washington, anxious over the depopulation of their eastern territories, and worried about the cultural and religious alienation of their Muslim population. Then again the Putinator is back as president with his magic formula for modernization: a strategic German-Russian partnership that will benefit the power elite/business oligarchy, but not necessarily the majority of Russians.

Dead in the Woods

The post-World War II Bretton Woods system is now officially dead, totally illegitimate, but what are the BRICS planning to do about it?

MUCH MUCH MORE AT LINK

[Demeter]

24. REPLY: Tomgram: Pepe Escobar, A Full Spectrum Confrontation World?

http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175534/tomgram%3A_pepe_escobar%2C_a_full_spectrum_confrontation_world/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+tomdispatch%2FesUU+%28TomDispatch%3A+The+latest+Tomgram%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Last December, a super-secret RQ-170 Sentinel, part of a far-reaching program of CIA drone surveillance over Iran, went down (or was shot down, or computer-jacked and hacked down) and was recovered intact by the Iranian military. This week, an Iranian general proudly announced that his country’s experts had accessed the plane’s computer -- he offered information he claimed proved it -- and were now “reverse-engineering” the drone to create one of their own.

Most or all of his claims have been widely doubted, derided, or simply dismissed in our world, and for all I know his was indeed pure bluster and bluff. But if so, it still managed to catch an urge that lay behind a couple of hundred years of global history: to adapt the most sophisticated aspects of the West to resist the West. That urge has been essential to the way our planet has developed. After all, much of the last two centuries might well be headlined in technological, economic, and even political terms, “The History of Reverse-Engineering.”

Starting in the eighteenth century, whether you were in the Ottoman Empire or China, wherever, in fact, cannon-mounted European ships appeared to break down doors and conquer countries or subject them to an alien will, the issue of reverse-engineering was always close at hand. For endless decades, the preeminent question, the crucial thing to debate, was just what could be adapted from the Western arsenal of weapons, politics, technology, and ideas, and how it could be melded with local culture, how it could be given Ottoman, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, or [fill in the blank] “characteristics” and made to check or reverse the course of events. The rise of Japan in the nineteenth century and the more recent spectacular growth of China are, without any doubt, cases of the history of reverse-engineering.

Whatever the successes and failures of that process, the question today -- as the U.S. declines, Europe stagnates, and the explosive BRICS countries head for center stage -- is perhaps this: Can reverse-engineering really take us any farther, or will it in the end simply take us down? Isn’t it time for something new in the engineering universe or perhaps for the coming of reverse-reverse-engineering somewhere on this weather-freaky, overtaxed planet of ours?

[Ghost Dog]

40. ... shared frustration with Masters of the Universe-style financial speculation...

... BRICS cohesion, to the extent it exists, centers mostly around shared frustration with the Masters of the Universe-style financial speculation that nearly sent the global economy off a cliff in 2008. True, the BRICS crew also has a notable convergence of policy and opinion when it comes to embattled Iran, an Arab Sprung Middle East, and Northern Africa. Still, for the moment the key problem they face is this: they don't have an ideological or institutional alternative to neo-liberalism and the lordship of global finance.

As Vijay Prashad has noted, the Global North has done everything to prevent any serious discussion of how to reform the global financial casino. No wonder the head of the G-77 group of developing nations (now G-132, in fact), Thai ambassador Pisnau Chanvitan, has warned of “behavior that seems to indicate a desire for the dawn of a new neocolonialism.” ...

... The Chinese are expanding Iran’s fleet of oil tankers, a deal worth more than $1 billion, and that other BRICS giant, India, is now purchasing even more Iranian oil than China. Yet Washington won’t apply its sanctions to BRICS members because these days, economically speaking, the U.S. needs them more than they need the U.S...

... How will the nominally “communist” princelings -- the sons and daughters of top revolutionary Party leaders, all immensely wealthy, thanks, in part, to their cozy arrangements with Western corporations, plus the bribes, the alliances with gangsters, all those “concessions” to the highest bidder, and the whole Western-linked crony-capitalist oligarchy -- lead China beyond the “Four Modernizations”? Especially with all that fabulous wealth to loot.

The Obama administration, expressing its own anxiety, has responded to the clear emergence of China as a power to be reckoned with via a “strategic pivot” -- from its disastrous wars in the Greater Middle East to Asia. The Pentagon likes to call this “rebalancing” (though things are anything but rebalanced or over for the U.S. in the Middle East).

Before 9/11, the Bush administration had been focused on China as its future global enemy number one. Then 9/11 redirected it to what the Pentagon called “the arc of instability,” the oil heartlands of the planet extending from the Middle East through Central Asia. Given Washington’s distraction, Beijing calculated that it might enjoy a window of roughly two decades in which the pressure would be largely off. In those years, it could focus on a breakneck version of internal development, while the U.S. was squandering mountains of money on its nonsensical “Global War on Terror.”

Twelve years later, that window is being slammed shut as from India, Australia, and the Philippines to South Korea and Japan, the U.S. declares itself back in the hegemony business in Asia...

... The American mantra is always the same: “American security,” whose definition is: whatever happens on the planet...

... Against the guns and the gunboats, the missiles and the drones, there is economic power. Currency wars are now raging. BRICS members China and Russia have cordilleras of cash. South America is uniting fast. The Putinator has offered South Korea an oil pipeline. Iran is planning to sell all its oil and gas in a basket of currencies, none dollars. China is paying to expand its blue-water Navy and its anti-ship missile weaponry. One day, Tokyo may finally realize that, as long as it is occupied by Wall Street and the Pentagon, it will live in eternal recession. Even Australia may eventually refuse to be forced into a counterproductive trade war with China.

So this twenty-first century world of ours is shaping up right now largely as a confrontation between the U.S./NATO and the BRICS, warts and all on every side. The danger: that somewhere down the line it turns into a Full Spectrum Confrontation. Because make no mistake, unlike Saddam Hussein or Muammar Gaddafi, the BRICS will actually be able to shoot back...

/... (above link)

... And so it goes...

[Demeter]

58. It is a masterful, tour de force summary of current political realities

and one I can't really quibble with.

[Demeter]

25. Killing the Messenger: The Downsizing and Death of the Postal Service By Dean Baker

http://www.nationofchange.org/killing-messenger-downsizing-and-death-postal-service-1335445785

It is fashionable to think of the postal service as an antiquated relic of a different era in the same way that all right-thinking people regarded standard 30-year fixed rate mortgages as old-fashioned at the peak of the housing bubble. Many of the same people who assured us that we could effectively manage risk through mortgage securitization are now anxious to hand the postal service a death sentence. Death, or at least a near-death experience, is the likely outcome of S.1789, the bill to downsize the Postal Service that the Senate is scheduled to vote on Tuesday night. The bill would end Saturday delivery and also raise the target delivery time from 1-2 days to 2-3 days.

The idea is that people won't generally care if a letter takes three days rather than two to reach its destination. While that is probably true, this will certainly increase the frequency with which a letter takes a week or more to reach its destination, and people do care about and remember these instances. This additional delay is likely to seriously reduce the standing of the Postal Service in most people's eyes, leading to a further erosion of business. The certain effect of this bill is to cut 100,000 jobs over the next three years. This is somewhat better than the 200,000 job loss that would result from a bill being pushed by Representative Darrell Issa and the House Republicans, but any final bill is likely to end up somewhere in the middle. If we assume 150,000 lost jobs, that is equivalent to more than 5 weeks of job growth at the March rate.

Or, to take another comparison in the news, the Postal Service would be eliminating about 20 times as many jobs as would be created by the Keystone Pipeline. Even if the Postal Service were wracked by waste and inefficiency as its critics contend, it doesn't make sense to apply the ax at a time when the economy is still suffering from massive unemployment. The haste to reduce Postal jobs now will simply add to unemployment. But the assumption that the Postal Service is an uncompetitive basket case requires closer examination. The Postal Service has been crippled by a series of accounting rulings that have imposed enormous penalties on it ever since it was first established as a government-run company (as opposed to a government agency) in the early '70s...

I THINK THIS IS LIKE TRYING TO PRESERVE THE BUGGY-WHIP INDUSTRY.

THE POST OFFICE SHOULD BE REPLACED BY UNIVERSAL, DECENTRALIZED INTERNET IN ANOTHER 3-5 YEARS, WHICH CAN PERFORM THE SAME TASKS (ASIDE FROM PARCEL DELIVERY) AND WITH LESS GOVERNMENT INTRUSION, SURVEILLANCE AND CORRUPTION.
IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER HOW HARD THE NSA TRIES...GOVERNMENT WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO RIDE HERD ON THE INTERNET, AND FURTHERMORE, IF IT TRIES TO TAKE ANYTHING TO COURT, IT WILL BE TOSSED OUT. THAT'S THE ULTIMATE THREAT OF HACKTIVISTS AND WIKILEAKS AND GEEK POWER. THE GENIE WILL NEVER GO BACK INTO THE FASCIST BOTTLE.

[Demeter]

26. Senate Passes Postal Service Reform: Sanders Provisions Strengthen Bill

http://www.nationofchange.org/senate-passes-postal-service-reform-sanders-provisions-strengthen-bill-1335452672

The Senate today voted 62-37 for a bill that Sen. Bernie Sanders helped craft to modernize the U.S. Postal Service, save tens of thousands of jobs and spare rural post offices and scores of mail sorting plants threatened with closure.

Sanders (I-Vt.) said a processing center at White River Junction, Vt., would remain open and 15 rural Vermont post offices are likely to win reprieves under the Senate-passed measure that now goes to the House.

"This comprehensive postal reform legislation will preserve vitally important rural post offices and mail processing plants," Sanders said. "It also would give the Postal Service the flexibility that it needs to raise additional revenue in the years to come by offering innovative new products and services in the digital age.

"There is no question that the Postal Service needs to become more entrepreneurial to meet the changing needs of the digital revolution, but the answer is not to make mail delivery slower. The answer is not to radically downsize the Postal Service. The answer is not to eliminate over 200,000 jobs in the midst of a terrible recession. The answer is not to devastate rural communities by closing their post offices,' Sanders added...MORE

[Hugin]

39. Lets be clear on this...

The destruction of the Constitutionally mandated Postal service has nothing to do with making delivery more efficient or modern... It's a gambit designed to destabilize the current administration and lead to a resumption of the Republican Hegemony squandered by Bush. It is being led by Issa of recall Gov Davis infamy.

[westerebus]

47. THIS ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The truth and nothing but the truth. Another assault the American working class by the 1%.

[DemReadingDU]

49. I love my post office

I know some people don't think the post office is needed any more because of the Internet, but we old folks use the post office to send the grandkids birthday and holiday cards. Actually, I know people who don't have a computer and send the bills using the post office.

Also in Ohio, there has been discussion to outlaw land-line phones. Another crazy idea because, again, some older folks don't use cell phones, and some cell phones don't get reception in rural areas.

There is clearly a need to continue the post office and land-line phones.

[Tansy_Gold]

55. I love my post office too, but. . . . .

95% of the snail mail I receive is junk mail. I could eliminate probably another 4% by switching to electronic-only bank statements, electric bills, and water bills.

I have a landline phone -- which is often not even turned on -- for one reason and one reason only. When that reason is removed (very soon, I hope) there will be no "need" for a landline.

I think it's important to think in terms of what is really "need" and what is "desire." Yes, there are people who don't use computers (my neighbors, my mother) but how long should we be expected to maintain aging, deteriorating, inefficient systems for the convenience of a few?

My post office does a great job with packages. I have some jewelry to send to Australia this morning, and I know I will get quick, courteous, affordable service when I ask questions about filling out the customs forms, how secure the packaging is, etc. Yesterday I bought stamps and asked for something "without flags" and was promptly shown several designs to choose from. I can't get that from the electronic kiosk in the lobby, at least not now. But that electronic system could easily be expanded to do more than it does. And quite frankly, it could be done in a way that would either relegate package delivery to the private systems (UPS, FedEx) or consolidate it to the postal system at a lower cost. Right now, USPS is still by far the most cost effective way for me to ship.

If cell phone service is expanded to provide clear reliable accessibility to all areas, even rural Ohio then what's the reason to maintain landline infrastructure? Sentimentality? That belongs in romance novels.

[westerebus]

65. So how much does it cost to ship FedX or UPS compared to the old post office?

That was a rhetorical question.

And what would you expect to pay if the PO went out of business, less then UPS current rates?
That wasn't a rhetorical question.

Perhaps privatizing shipping costs for small business owners is the way to go, as opposed to spreading the cost across all classes of mail.

Personally, I think when you (plural non personal) get your first Social Security check it should come with a cell phone of your choice and a modest fee of say $10 for 200 minutes a month with your local provider. I'm just sentimental like that. Just in case the mail-man finds mail accumulating in the mail box and gets no response when he knocks on the door. That way the local EMS can call to see if all is well; while the mail-man waits at the end of the drive way for the local PD/EMS to show up.

[Demeter]

60. Prohibiting Land Lines Is Beyond Stupid. It's Evil

When the power goes out locally, the land lines don't. The govt. has to get a wiretap from a court to eavesdrop on a land line (unless you have a wireless phone).

No, that's a non-starter. Or should be. In this dystopia of Obama's, though, he'd probably think that's a great idea..his drones can eavesdrop on cellular phones easily.

[Tansy_Gold]

69. The point is, however, that

too many people are shifting to cell phones, which leaves fewer and fewer and fewer people using (paying for) the land lines. Eventually, and maybe already, that infrastructure is going to start falling apart. It is VERY expensive to maintain. Who is going to pay for that? Are cell phone users expected to cough up the money to maintain a system they don't use?

As for the privatization of parcel delivery -- UPS and FedEx are MUCH more expensive than USPS. They are profit-driven. Used to be they couldn't even deliver "first class" mail, which was reserved for the post office. My recommendation would be to charge the junk mailers what it actually costs to mail that shit instead of giving them a break. THEY WOULD GO AWAY VERY SOON. Shift as much as possible to electronic, turn the USPS into an efficient, streamlined parcel handler, and good to go.

We ALL move past the antiquated technology we grew up with. Sentimentality over the rotary dial phone, the phonograph, the Ektachrome, it all belongs in a museum.

[Demeter]

70. If people give up land lines for the insecure cell phones

Then they deserve 1984 and all the other dystopias. Cable distributers are another way to have a "land line". Not protected by Constitution's 4th amendment, though, I don't think.

Land lines are superior technology for secure, noise-free and dependable communications. There's no reason both cannot coexist, and there's no good reason to dissolve the land line system. Maybe we could nationalize it, but then, the privacy issue becomes even more problematic. Encryption of email is the first thing the government fought, for just this reason.

[Tansy_Gold]

75. But land lines aren't what people want.

Cell phones may have poorer quality audio -- and as someone who listens to interviews recorded over cell phones I KNOW the audio is often crap -- but more and more and more people are choosing cell phones over land lines for other reasons.

It's not likely that land lines will be outlawed, at least not for a while, but they will probably eventually vanish simply because too few people use them. Or would you prefer that everyone be required by law to have one? That's the flip side of the same coin.

[westerebus]

77. Mainly because they aren't phones.

Younger folks text. Constantly. It's a telegraph for thumbers!

Plus: it takes pictures

streams music

has internet connectivity

shopping lists / comparative pricing

appointment calendar / birthday reminder / rolodex (there's a word I haven't used in awhile)

language translator

weather alerts

one touch 911-411

GPS

games / apps

and if you have one, mom's kitchen phone number on speed dial.

Not the same thing as a land line.

[Tansy_Gold]

78. E X A C T L Y n/t

[westerebus]

84. About that "need" vs "desire" equation...

Conversation overheard between mother and daughter:

D. I neeeedd that phone

M. You have a cell what's the problem?

D. it's old really really old it can't even text fast enough to keep up

M. that's a problem?

D. you want the kids to think i'm a dork?

M. of course not, we'll get phone for your birthday next month

D. I could die of embarrassment by then..please.. please

M. Ok, go put your bunny hat on and we will go right now

D. You're the best Mom in the whole world.

M. (Looks over at her other half gently napping in recliner while HDTV does the golf channel.) One dork in the family is plenty.

D. (Grins that knowing grin.) whatever.. can we go...

[AnneD]

83. Land lines are important.........

one thing I learned during Hurricane Ike...and thus any disaster. Cell phone communication can be easily disrupted. When the power was down for weeks, there was no cell phone service. We went to our friends that had land line to call. Remember, cells rely on satellites-satellites can be knocked out of commission easier than you think.

[Demeter]

28. Take it away...anybody

I'm going to sleep it all off....

[Demeter]

29. The Japanese Seem to be Giddy at the Imminent Removal of Marines from Okinawa

Can't say I'd blame them. It's the first good news for their nation since Fukushima.

I wonder....is the removal of Marines related to the nuclear disaster? I know Okinawa is a bit distant but...

at 1151 miles and in the wrong direction for wind and water carrying radiation to Okinawa, I'd guess NO. Japan must have put its foot down in some typical Japanese polite way and told Uncle Sam to bug out. It's about time.

[Demeter]

31. The Joy Was Short-Lived

C'est la Vie

[Demeter]

32. US hires top lawyer to lead Google case

The US has turned up the heat in its antitrust investigation of Google, bringing in the lawyer who secured the death penalty for bomber Timothy McVeigh

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/AML9S3/EKRAI/IIU73T/B5HJSC/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=27

DOES THIS SEEM AS IRRATIONAL TO YOU AS IT DOES TO ME? PROSECUTING A MASS MURDERER IS NOTHING LIKE PROSECUTING AN ANTI-TRUST CASE...

[Demeter]

33. Amazon shares leap on strong sales

The online retailer’s performance calms market worries over a slowdown in its growth as investors shrugged off a 35 per cent fall in net income

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/AML9S3/EKRAI/IIU73T/R3W00T/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=27

[Demeter]

34. Avon auditor resigns amid bribery probe (YES, DING-DONG AVON CALLING)

The former head of the group’s internal audit team resigned this month after the audit department that she led was placed under investigation

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/AML9S3/EKRAI/IIU73T/AMTS9S/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=27'

FROM LAST YEAR:

Internal investigators at the door-to-door beauty seller have turned up millions of dollars of questionable payments to officials in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, India and Japan in amounts that are "not insignificant," this person said.

The possible wrongdoing happened as recently as last year (2010) and as far back as 2004...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704322804576303302214411400.html

IS THERE NO CORPORATION UNCORRUPTED?

[Demeter]

35. Goldman banker in new Galleon probe

US prosecutors are investigating whether a former Galleon manager was tipped off about pharmaceutical mergers by Matthew Korenberg

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/AML9S3/EKRAI/IIU73T/TUKVVU/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=27

[Demeter]

36. Barclays and Deutsche in Maiden Lane buy

The two banks, which were among the biggest beneficiaries of AIG’s rescue, returned to buy assets formerly held by the insurer

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/AML9S3/EKRAI/IIU73T/SPXC0B/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=27

SOMETHING'S ROTTEN IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...AND IT'S NOT THE POTOMAC

[Demeter]

37. Chesapeake to end contentious incentive plan

US’s second-largest producer of natural gas is to end remuneration programme that gave its chief the right to take stakes in all the company’s wells

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/AML9S3/EKRAI/IIU73T/YBQM7S/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=27

NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT....

TANSY HAS ORDERED ME TO BED, SO GOODNIGHT, ALL!

[Demeter]

38. ONE LAST POST: GM chief’s pay triples to $7.7m

The company has warned that US government restrictions on executive pay could limit the carmaker’s competitiveness

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/J0VG55/AML9S3/EKRAI/IIU73T/MSZBHO/FW/t?a1=2012&a2=4&a3=27

[xchrom]

43. morning

Sunny Morning Doughnuts Recipe


Ingredients
4-1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup 2% milk
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons orange juice
4 teaspoons grated orange peel
Oil for deep-fat frying
Confectioners' sugar
Directions
In a large bowl, combine 4-1/2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Combine the eggs, milk, oil, orange juice and peel; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Turn onto a floured surface; roll to 1/2-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. doughnut cutter.
In an electric skillet or deep-fat fryer, heat oil to 375°. Fry doughnuts, a few at a time, until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Dust warm doughnuts with confectioners’ sugar. Yield: 20 doughnuts.

[DemReadingDU]

61. Yum donuts!

Not something I usually eat, but I'm hungry!

[xchrom]

44. Merkel Blasts Hollande as Spain Worries Increase

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,830090,00.html

With the dark clouds of the ongoing euro crisis thickening over Spain this spring, German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday staunchly defended her focus on euro-zone austerity and once again insisted that the EU fiscal pact, signed in March, would not be revisited.

In comments clearly aimed at French presidential candidate François Hollande, Merkel told Germany's WAZ media group that the pact "cannot be renegotiated." The Socialist Hollande has suggested that, if he emerges victorious over French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the second round of elections on May 6, he would ask for changes to the agreement. The fiscal pact, which imposes strict new rules governing budget deficits and sovereign debt, was signed by 25 of the 27 European Union member states. The UK and Czech Republic declined to join.
Hollande's reply was not long in coming. Speaking to broadcaster France 2 on Thursday evening, he said: "It is not Germany that will decide for the entirety of Europe." When asked what he plans to say to Merkel should he win the election, he said: "I will tell her that the French people had made a decision that envisages a renegotiation of the pact."

The media back-and-forth comes as the US-based ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Thursday downgraded Spain's long-term credit rating by two notches to BBB+. The agency also gave Spain a negative outlook, meaning that further downgrades could come in the near future.

In making the downgrade, S&P cited the "increasing likelihood that the government will need to provide further fiscal support to the banking sector." The agency likewise noted its view that "the strategy to manage the European sovereign debt crisis continues to lack effectiveness."

[Fuddnik]

64. I'm sure France really appreciates "input" from Germany.

That's always worked out so well in the past.

[xchrom]

66. i was SO hoping somebody would say that...

[Demeter]

71. Make a great theme for two week out....

http://www.ww1photos.com/WW1MusicIndex.html

&feature=player_embedded

[xchrom]

45. Spain Rules Out Bailout as De Guindos Says Banks Funded

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-27/spain-not-under-pressure-to-seek-bank-bailout-de-guindos-says.html

Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos ruled out seeking a bailout hours before Standard & Poor’s cut the country’s credit rating to three levels above junk and a report showed unemployment jumped close to a record.

“Nobody has asked Spain, either officially or unofficially” to turn to Europe’s bailout mechanisms, he said in an interview in Madrid late yesterday. “We don’t need it.”

Spanish unemployment, already the highest in the European Union, rose to 24.4 percent in the first quarter, just below the 24.55 percent record of March 1994, the National Statistics Institute said today. The increase in first quarter joblessness will mean 953 million euros ($1.3 billion) of lost revenue for the government, the tax inspectors association said today.

De Guindos spoke at the end of a month that has seen Spanish bond yields rise above 6 percent for the first time since early December on concern that banking losses will swamp the government. That sparked speculation that Spain will need to seek an international rescue for its lenders and prompted one minister to call on the ECB to buy the country’s bonds.

[xchrom]

46. Spanish unemployment hits record 5.64 million

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17866382


Spanish unemployment has hit a new record high, official figures have shown.

The number of unemployed people reached 5,639,500 at the end of March, with the unemployment rate hitting 24.4%, the national statistics agency said.

The figures came hours after rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Spanish sovereign debt.

Official figures due out on Monday are expected to confirm that Spain has fallen back into recession.

[Roland99]

48. US Futures carrying on yesterday's momentum

S&P 500 1,400.50 +3.75 0.27%
DOW 13,185 +25.00 0.19%
NASDAQ 2,732 +11.75 0.43%

[DemReadingDU]

52. Futures at 0.0

never seen that before

[Demeter]

72. Somebody lit a rocket at 1:40 pm

Utter nonsense. Up like a rocket, down like a rock.

[xchrom]

50. Italy's borrowing costs climb

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0427/breaking11.html


Italian 10-year borrowing costs climbed to 5.84 per cent at a key auction today, 60 basis points above a comparable bond sale in March, after a ratings downgrade of Spain added to markets concerns.

Italy sold €5.95 billion of bonds, near the top of a planned issue range of between €3.75 billion and €6.25 billion.

Analysts said the Treasury had widened the range size and lowered its bottom end to hedge against risks of weak demand at the sale in the face of highly volatile euro zone bond markets.

Italy offered new tranches of its May 2017 and September 2022 bonds. It also sold two lines maturing in April 2016 and February 2019 which it no longer issues on a regular basis.

[Roland99]

53. Today's Economic Reports (GDP) >>>>

* U.S. Q1 GDP up 2.2% annualized vs. 2.7% expected
* Q1 PCE core price index up 2.0% vs.1.4% in Q4
* Q1 PCE price index up 2.4% vs. 1.2% in Q4
* Q1 consumer spending up 2.9% vs. 2.1% in Q4

GDP slowing...ruh roh.

[Roland99]

54. Big GDP Miss: 2.2% Vs Expectations Of 2.5%, Composition Even Uglier

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/big-gdp-miss-22-vs-expectations-25

So much for the +3.0% GDP whisper number. Instead of printing at the expected number of +2.5%, the first preliminary GDP data point (two more revisions pending) came out at 2.2%, a big disappointment for a quarter which had a substantial boost from the weather. And while of the 2.2%, Personal Consumption came in strong - as expected, as it was precisely the factor most impacted by pulling in demand forward courtesy of "April in February", 0.59% of the 2.2% was an increase in inventories, something which was not supposed to happen as it means that the quality of the economic growth in Q1 was far worse than expected. Cementing the ugly composition of Q1 GDP was fixed investment which added just a paltry 0.18% - this is the number which is critical for ongoing cashflow generation and unfortunately, the very low print means that growth outlook for Q2 is now even worse than before and we expect economists will promptly trim their already bearish predictions for Q2 GDP. Finally, government "consumption" subtracted just 0.6% from the total number, a decrease from the 0.84% in Q4, which means that once again the government is starting to become less of a detractor to growth - a dagger in the heart to anyone who claims there is "quality" in GDP growth. And the number you have all been waiting for: At March 31, US Debt/GDP was 100.8%.

[xchrom]

59. Depression Symptoms: What’s Behind Europe’s Spike in Suicides

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/13111/depression_symptoms_suicide_and_economic_crisis/

The metaphor of suicide has been used to depict the downward spiral surrounding countries bludgeoned by the economic crisis—particularly U.S. and Eurozone communities plagued by epidemic joblessness and a rash of budget cuts. Now the term literally describes the psychological dimension of the crisis, according to studies on suicide rates.

***snip

The BBC summarized:

During the period, there was a rise in unemployment by a third.

Only Austria saw suicide rates fall. This was put down to the country being less exposed to the financial crisis than the others.

Of the risers, Finland fared best while Greece had the worst record. The UK saw a rise of 10% to 6.75 suicides per 100,000 people.

Dr David Stuckler, one of the researchers, said: "There was a complete turnaround. Suicides were falling before the recession, then started rising in nearly all European countries studied. Almost certainly these rises are linked to the financial crisis."

And he added it was also possible there would be other health consequences from the economic problems as the impact on heart disease and cancer rates was not likely to be seen for many years.

In a way, such studies confirm the obvious: as life gets harder, people beset by hopelessness begin to question whether it’s worth it. Still, the data underscores the senselessness of a crisis fueled by the gambling of financiers--high on irrational exuberance and a sense of corporate invincibility--with such grave potential consequences for ordinary people, far from Wall Street, who essentially played by the rules. The lethal impacts speak to the malaise rotting society’s political and economic organs. Suicide starts to seem a strangely rational measure of life’s cheapness in a monetized society--people’s logical response to a loss of control over their destinies.

[xchrom]

62. Slower China economy a worry for Western firms

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/04/27/uk-china-analysis-economy-idUKLNE83Q00620120427

(Reuters) - As China's economy cools, some big U.S. and European companies are losing what had been one of their surest growth bets.

Caterpillar Inc (CAT.N), 3M Co (MMM.N), United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) and ABB Ltd (ABBN.VX) are among the manufacturers that have reported weak performances in China in the first quarter, as economic growth slowed to a near three-year-low.

That is making investors nervous, though some Western chief executives predict a return to rapid growth in China, fueled by the government's easing monetary policy and expansion into faster-growing cities inland.

Caterpillar's sales in China fell by $250 million to $300 million in the first quarter, forcing the world's largest maker of earth-moving equipment to export about 20 percent of its China-made equipment to other countries this year.

[xchrom]

68. World food prices just keep rising

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46964691/ns/business-us_business/#.T5qztO1qP8s

Global food prices rose in March for a third straight month with more hikes to come, the UN's food agency said on Thursday, adding to fears of hunger and a new wave of social unrest in poor countries.

Record high prices for staple foods last year were one of the main factors that contributed to the Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as bread riots in other parts of the world.

The cost of food has risen again this year after coming down from a Feb. 2011 record peak.

The FAO index, which measures monthly price changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy, meat and sugar, averaged 215.9 points in March, up from a revised 215.4 points in February, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.

[just1voice]

73. Here's another example of laughable CNBC propaganda

According to CNBC, ""The dagger (from the GDP letdown) came from a second straight steep drop in federal government spending due to plunging defense outlays," observed Pierpont economist Stephen Stanley. "Boy, wait until these budget cuts start to kick in."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/47205997


Oh yeh, that's the big problem with America alright, we stopped wasting billions on "defense outlays". LOL.

[Demeter]

74. Thanks for delurking and welcome!

Yes, it's the "nobody could have foreseen" syndrome. If you like debunking the m$m and Big Brother, you are in the right place. Set and stay a while, and don't forget the Weekend Economists, same forum, different days.

[Fuddnik]

76. What's going on in Greece?

I just stopped by the produce stand to pick up some bananas and apples. It's a small place run by a Greek family. They had a english language greek news show on the radio. It really sounded like the shit is ready to hit the fan over there. Revolutionary shit. Complete with FRSP's.

[Demeter]

79. Can you blame them?

I'm taking notes....just in case.

[AnneD]

86. That would be a good theme....

It would be nice to have links etc. and background, like Argentina.

[AnneD]

85. Everything I have heard....

from the Greek community here is the same. I am talking military junta civil war revolution shit. People think that because it is not on the evening news, it isn't happening and every thing is ok. Put this way....I don't think politicians need to worry about retirement packages as much as they should worry about security.