Weekend Economists Salute The Texan Who Conquered Russia March 1-3, 2013

[Demeter]

Harvey Lavan "Van" Cliburn Jr. ( July 12, 1934 – February 27, 2013) was an American pianist who achieved worldwide recognition in 1958 at the age of 23, when he won the first quadrennial International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow, at the height of the Cold War.

His mother, an accomplished pianist who had studied under a student of Franz Liszt, discovered him playing at age three, mimicking one of her students, and began his lessons. He developed a rich, round tone and a singing voice-like phrasing, having been taught early on to sing each piece.

Van Cliburn toured domestically and overseas. He played for royalty and heads of state, and every U.S. president from Mr. Eisenhower to Mr. Obama. He was the first classical recording artist to have an album, his recording of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, sell more than 1 million copies.

Early life

Cliburn was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and at age three began taking piano lessons from his mother, the former Rildia Bee O'Bryan, who had studied under Arthur Friedheim, a pupil of Franz Liszt. When Cliburn was six, his father, who worked in the oil industry, moved the family to Kilgore, Texas. At age twelve Cliburn won a statewide piano competition which enabled him to debut with the Houston Symphony Orchestra. He entered the Juilliard School at age seventeen and studied under Rosina Lhévinne,[ who trained him in the tradition of the great Russian romantics. At twenty, Cliburn won the Leventritt Award and made his Carnegie Hall debut.

Moscow

It was his recognition in Moscow that propelled Cliburn to international fame. The first International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1958 was an event designed to demonstrate Soviet cultural superiority during the Cold War, on the heels of their technological victory with the Sputnik launch in October 1957. Cliburn's performance at the competition finale of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3 earned him a standing ovation lasting eight minutes. When it was time to announce a winner, the judges were obliged to ask permission of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to give first prize to an American. "Is he the best?" Khrushchev asked. "Then give him the prize!" Cliburn returned home to a ticker-tape parade in New York City, the only time the honor has been accorded a classical musician. His cover story in Time proclaimed him "The Texan Who Conquered Russia". ---wikipedia

[Demeter]

1. Poland, in Crisis, Cuts Public Transport, Stranding Thousands By Pawel Wita

http://www.nationofchange.org/poland-crisis-cuts-public-transport-stranding-thousands-1362152467

Teresa Mikołajczak is a retiree living in Wojnowo in the west of Poland. The next town is six miles away. To visit the doctor she needs to travel 10 miles. Teresa has no car. She used to make the trips by bus but these days that's an impossibility..., because there are no buses in Wojnowo anymore.

Poland was widely praised as the European state least touched by the financial crisis in 2008. Its economy grew even when all of its neighbors, including Germany, were in recession. With the wave of funds provided by the European Union in recent years, the country managed to connect its major cities by freeway and improve its infrastructure with shiny new sports fields. At the same time, Poland climbed in education to 14th worldwide, according to the most recent PISA ranking by the Organization for Economic Cooperation, putting it ahead of the U.S., Sweden, France, Germany and the U.K. But these types of development are only one side of the coin, as Teresa's experience shows. In Poland's version of modernization, like in many other places, the biggest advantages have gone to cities while the countryside has become ever more marginalized. This might be a positive trend -- if Poland's rural population did not still include 40 percent of its inhabitants. And in the case of losing public transportation, things here couldn't appear more backward.

“At the beginning of the year we waited for a bus with some of my neighbors. A few people were going to work, others had various errands," Teresa explained. "The bus had a relatively huge delay, so I decided to call the company to find out what was happening. A man told me that the connection had been suspended. It was such a shock for us that I started to cry. They left us without any bus connection.”

A similar shock awaited people far beyond Wojnowo. PKS, the company responsible for commuting people by bus in the region, suspended 88 connections at the beginning of 2013. The simple reason, according to a PKS spokesperson: “We couldn't afford to maintain these connections." And that same economic excuse has, more recently, also justified the closure of commuter rail lines by the Polish National Trains company. On February 18, the national trains company, PKP, published the list of rail lines that will close over the course of the year. In total, some 2,000 kilometers of track will go out of use. Train stations on the closed lines will be sold. According to the list, PKP will lose 800 train stations. This is part of an ongoing, decades-long process. Since the transition from communism to democracy that began in 1989, PKP has closed around 5,000 kilometers of rails, which connected predominantly small cities and communities that were forced to bear the brunt of the impact.

Granted, the quality of public transport in Poland has never been very good; even in the past, the schedules of buses and trains weren't frequent enough. When Poland joined the E.U. in 2004 and customs agents on the border with Germany disappeared, used and cheap cars from Germany became widely available. Since then, the number of passengers taking public transportation has decreased while the number of private cars on the roads has risen dramatically - a trend that further justifies the government's prioritizing investments for roads while neglecting the railway system. The negative economic impacts on average people, again, have been felt strongest in rural areas. For one, it is far more expensive to travel by car then by public transport, forcing families with modest means to make hard new decisions about how to spend their money. In the case of Teresa, and so many others, owning a car is not even a financial option...Poland's income gap is growing steadily. Country schools and libraries are struggling to remain open. So are post offices and police stations. Now, as the country's "modernization" comes at the cost of a further tax on its poorest citizens, thousands if not millions of people risk being literally, physically, left behind.

The fact that Teresa and so many others like her will have to beg for a ride, or risk being cut off from the rest of the world, is a significant step for Poland. And make no mistake: the step is backward, not forward.

[Demeter]

2. The Chinese Bond Meme That Refuses to Die —By Kevin Drum

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/02/chinese-bond-meme-refuses-die

Robert Solow had an op-ed in the New York Times yesterday "emphasizing six facts about the debt that many Americans may not be aware of." For example, half our debt is owned by foreigners; it's owed in dollars, which is our own currency; and while this debt could spark inflation and soak up private savings that would otherwise go into useful investment, that's not going to happen in a weak economy like the one we have now. CFR president Richard Haass tweets that Solow isn't pessimistic enough about rising interest rates and the "ability of a hostile foreign govt to pressure US," but Dan Drezner thinks that, if anything, Solow is painting too grim a picture:

As for Haass, I'm not exactly sure what "rising rates" he's talking about, as just about any chart you can throw up shows historically low borrowing rates for the United States government. Indeed, the U.S. Treasury is exploiting this fact by locking in U.S. long-term debt at these rates. As for foreign governments pressuring the United States, the fear of foreign financial statecraft has been overly hyped by the foreign policy community. And by "overly hyped," I mean "wildly, massively overblown."

The bias in foreign policy circles and DC punditry is to bemoan staggering levels of U.S. debt. This bias does percolate down into the perceptions of ordinary Americans, which leads to wild misperceptions about the actual state of the U.S. economy and U.S. economic power. I'd like to see a lot more op-eds by Solow et al that puncture these myths more effectively.

This claim that China will be able to blackmail or extort America because of all the U.S. debt it owns is a zombie idea that just won't die. The truth is that China's holdings of U.S. treasuries give it no leverage to speak of; pose no danger to America; and China's recent actions demonstrate pretty conclusively that they know this perfectly well. Hell, China's share of U.S. debt has gone down for the past two years. This whole meme really needs to die.

[Demeter]

3. Van Cliburn, Cold War Musical Envoy, Dies at 78 NYT OBIT

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/arts/music/van-cliburn-pianist-dies-at-78.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


...Mr. Cliburn was a naturally gifted pianist whose enormous hands had an uncommonly wide span. He developed a commanding technique, cultivated an exceptionally warm tone and manifested deep musical sensitivity. At its best his playing had a surging Romantic fervor, but one leavened by an unsentimental restraint that seemed peculiarly American. The towering Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter, a juror for the competition, described Mr. Cliburn as a genius — a word, he added, “I do not use lightly about performers.”

But if the Tchaikovsky competition represented Mr. Cliburn’s breakthrough, it also turned out to be his undoing. Relying inordinately on his keen musical instincts, he was not an especially probing artist, and his growth was stalled by his early success. Audiences everywhere wanted to hear him in his prizewinning pieces, the Tchaikovsky First Concerto and the Rachmaninoff Third. Every American town with a community concert series wanted him to come play a recital.

“When I won the Tchaikovsky I was only 23, and everyone talked about that,” Mr. Cliburn said in 2008. “But I felt like I had been at this thing for 20 years already. It was thrilling to be wanted. But it was pressure, too.”

His subsequent explorations of wider repertory grew increasingly insecure. During the 1960s he played less and less. By 1978 he had retired from the stage; he returned in 1989, but performed rarely. Ultimately, his promise and potential were never fulfilled, but his great talent was apparent early on...

[Demeter]

4. Resistance From a Cage: Julian Assange Speaks to Norwegian Journalist Eirik Vold

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/14835-resistance-from-a-cage-julian-assange-speaks-to-norwegian-journalist-eirik-vold

This is an exclusive English translation of an interview published Saturday, February 16, 2013, in the Norwegian news outlet Dagens Næringsliv.


...This is not the first time that WikiLeaks has come under attack, Assange tells me.

"We had been through a couple of fights. With a commander at the Guantanamo base. We were sued by a Swiss bank. One of my cryptographer friends was ambushed by intelligence agents in a parking lot in Luxembourg. They tried to make him tell them things about WikiLeaks."

A cryptographer friend? Does that sound a bit like having a "hobbit friend" to you? Then let this be a warning: If you are not used to a modern Internet vocabulary, the story of Julian Assange is full of characters that may seem like they are out of a science fiction novel: cryptographer friends with vital secrets looking over their shoulders in order not to get caught; eccentric professors about to conjure up a quantum mechanics machine with the power to destroy all of cyberspace if it falls into the wrong hands; tiny torrent files, floating around in abstract space, unintelligible and meaningless when separated, but powerful information packages able to knock down governments if sewn together the right way and delivered to the masses. And they are all real and alive. Just as real and alive as the Swedish prosecutors and their extradition request for Assange or the CIA agents on a mission to stop WikiLeaks from leaking - as real as the heavy wooden door I just opened on my way into the Ecuadorian embassy in London and then shut carefully behind me. Aside from the will of a controversial South American president, that door is now the only barrier between Julian Assange and me on the inside, and the police officer from Scotland Yard (London Metropolitan Police) waiting patiently on the outside with handcuffs, a gun and orders to arrest and deport my interviewee.

...Assange does have a special background. He was born on July 3, 1971, in the medium-sized town of Townsville on the tropical northern coast of Australia. The French-sounding surname, Assange, is said to be an Anglification of the Chinese name Ah Sang. A Taiwanese pirate, it is said, brought that surname to Australia. Assange grew up with his mother. They lived in hiding for about five years due to a conflict over the custody of Julian's half brother and moved about 30 times before Julian was 14. Some describe Assange as a distrustful person, at times bordering on paranoid. Is that why he started the interview by asking me questions about my Spanish, as he heard me make small talk with someone who I thought was an Ecuadorian embassy employee? "Where did you learn your Spanish? Why do you speak with a Cuban accent?" His voice and body language, however, reveal curiosity rather than distrust. Assange has always asked questions - and was always willing to go all the way to get the answers.

It was during his youth that Assange started to take advantage of the opportunities that come from growing up in a First World country: literacy, sufficient money to buy a computer, and access to the Internet. Meet Mendax, the online pseudonym of the 16-year-old hacker Julian Assange. Today Assange is seen by many as the world's first great "ethical hacker." His hacker team, called "the international subversives" had strict rules for their activities: "Don't damage computer systems you break into (including crashing them); don't change the information in those systems (except for altering logs to cover your tracks); and share information." Others believe the pseudonym Mendax, which is Latin for "deceitful," is the most precise way of describing Assange's personality. Everyone, however, seems to agree that he was an extremely talented hacker.

..................................................

In 2006, a year after Assange strolled out of campus for the last time, WikiLeaks was founded in the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik. During WikiLeaks' first years, Assange traveled between international conferences with geeky names like Chaos Communications Congress. WikiLeaks arranged meetings and Assange would talk to the journalists who bothered to listen. Meanwhile, the WikiLeaks staff silently stretched its probing tentacles through cyberspace in its search for secrets. Big secrets.


MORE AT LINK

[Demeter]

5. Bradley Manning deserves a medal Glenn Greenwald

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/14/bradley-manning-deserves-a-medal

The prosecution of the whistleblower and alleged WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning is an exercise in intimidation, not justice. After 17 months of pre-trial imprisonment, Bradley Manning, the 23-year-old US army private and accused WikiLeaks source, is finally going to see the inside of a courtroom. This Friday (TODAY), on an army base in Maryland, the preliminary stage of his military trial will start...He is accused of leaking to the whistleblowing site hundreds of thousands of diplomatic cables, war reports, and the now infamous 2007 video showing a US Apache helicopter in Baghdad gunning down civilians and a Reuters journalist. Though it is Manning who is nominally on trial, these proceedings reveal the US government's fixation with extreme secrecy, covering up its own crimes, and intimidating future whistleblowers.

Since his arrest last May in Iraq, Manning has been treated as one of America's most dastardly traitors. He faces more than 30 charges, including one – "aiding the enemy" – that carries the death penalty (prosecutors will recommend life in prison, but military judges retain discretion to sentence him to die). The sadistic conditions to which he was subjected for 10 months – intense solitary confinement, at one point having his clothing seized and being forced to stand nude for inspection – became an international scandal for a US president who flamboyantly vowed to end detainee abuse. Amnesty International condemned these conditions as "inhumane"; PJ Crowley, a US state department spokesman, was forced to resign after denouncing Manning's treatment. Such conduct has been repeatedly cited by the US as human rights violations when engaged in by other countries. The UN's special rapporteur on torture has complained that his investigation is being obstructed by the refusal of Obama officials to permit unmonitored visits with Manning. (Even the Bush administration granted access to the International Red Cross at Guantánamo.) Such treatment is all the more remarkable in light of what Manning actually did, and did not do, if the charges are true. For these leaks have achieved enormous good and little harm. From the start, US claims about the damage done have been wildly exaggerated, even outright false. After the release of the Afghanistan war logs, officials accused WikiLeaks of having "blood on their hands", only to admit weeks later that they were unaware of a single case of anyone being harmed. That remains true today. Even Robert Gates, the Pentagon chief, mocked alarmism over the diplomatic cables leak as "significantly overwrought", dismissing its impact as "fairly modest". Manning's lawyer is seeking internal government documents that, he insists, concluded there was no meaningful harm to US diplomatic relations from the release of any documents. None of the leaked documents were classified at the highest level of secrecy – top secret – but rather bore only low-level classification.

By contrast, the leaks Manning allegedly engineered have generated enormous benefits: precisely the benefits Manning, if the allegations against him are true, sought to achieve. According to chat logs purportedly between Manning and the informant who turned him in, the private decided to leak these documents after he became disillusioned with the Iraq war. He described how reading classified documents made him, for the first time, aware of the breadth of the corruption and violence committed by his country and allies. He explained that he wanted the world to know what he had learned: "I want people to see the truth … regardless of who they are … because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public." When asked by the informant why he did not sell the documents to a foreign government for profit, Manning replied that he wanted the information to be publicly known in order to trigger "worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms". There can be no doubt that these vital goals have been achieved. When WikiLeaks was awarded Australia's most prestigious journalism award last month, the awarding foundation described how these disclosures created "more scoops in a year than most journalists could imagine in a lifetime".

By exposing some of the worst atrocities committed by US forces in Iraq, the documents prevented the Iraqi government from agreeing to ongoing legal immunity for US forces, and thus helped bring about the end of the war. Even Bill Keller, the former New York Times executive editor and a harsh WikiLeaks critic, credits the release of the cables with shedding light on the corruption of Tunisia's ruling family and thus helping spark the Arab spring. In sum, the documents Manning is alleged to have released revealed overwhelming deceit, corruption and illegality by the world's most powerful political actors. And this is why he has been so harshly treated and punished. Despite pledging to usher in "the most transparent administration in history", President Obama has been obsessed with prosecuting whistleblowers; his justice department has prosecuted more of them for "espionage" than all prior administrations combined. The oppressive treatment of Manning is designed to create a climate of fear, to send a signal to those who in the future discover serious wrongdoing committed in secret by the US: if you're thinking about exposing what you've learned, look at what we did to Manning and think twice. The real crimes exposed by this episode are those committed by the prosecuting parties, not the accused. For what he is alleged to have given the world, Manning deserves gratitude and a medal, not a life in prison.

[Demeter]

25. Sacrifice of Bradley Manning's liberty will not have been made in vain

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/sacrifice-of-bradley-mannings-liberty-will-not-have-been-made-in-vain-8515890.html

...

History will damn the persecutors of Bradley Manning. Big powers who hide crimes away from their own people – while claiming to act in their name, of course – fear few more than those determined to hold them to account.

No wonder Manning was subjected to what the UN special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, described as cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment: left languishing in solitary confinement for months, regularly stripped naked, forced to sleep without darkness, deprived of any right to privacy. An example had to be made of a soldier who helped strip away the humanitarian pretences of US power, and revealed a far uglier reality.

Although it is Julian Assange – hiding from sex allegations in London's Ecuadorian Embassy – who has dominated the WikiLeaks story, Manning is the real martyr of the story. One of the videos released gave an insight into the horror of the US-led war in Iraq: an Apache helicopter shooting dead 11 Iraqis in a Baghdad suburb, none of whom returned fire. Among the dead was a 22-year-old Reuters' photojournalist Namir Noor-Eldeen; two children were brutally wounded. The crew laughed as they massacred: the video was one striking example of how occupations corrupt the occupier.

"For me this seemed similar to a child torturing ants with a magnifying glass," was how Manning put it. According to WikiLeaks, this exposure had a key role in forcing US withdrawal after the Iraqi government stripped US forces of legal immunity. Manning had a noble and courageous purpose: in his own words, to "spark a domestic debate on the role of our military and foreign policy in general"...MORE

[Demeter]

50. The Dangerous Logic of the Bradley Manning Case BY YOCHAI BENKLER--MUST READ

Yochai Benkler is a professor at Harvard Law School and co-Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112554#

the Manning prosecution (IS) a clear and present danger to journalism in the national security arena. The guilty plea Manning offered could subject him to twenty years in prison—more than enough to deter future whistleblowers. But the prosecutors seem bent on using this case to push a novel and aggressive interpretation of the law that would arm the government with a much bigger stick to prosecute vaguely-defined national security leaks, a big stick that could threaten not just members of the military, but civilians too.

A country's constitutional culture is made up of the stories we tell each other about the kind of nation we are. When we tell ourselves how strong our commitment to free speech is, we grit our teeth and tell of Nazis marching through Skokie. And when we think of how much we value our watchdog press, we tell the story of Daniel Ellsberg. Decades later, we sometimes forget that Ellsberg was prosecuted, smeared, and harassed. Instead, we express pride in a man's willingness to brave the odds, a newspaper’s willingness to take the risk of publishing, and a Supreme Court’s ability to tell an overbearing White House that no, you cannot shut up your opponents. Whistleblowers play a critical constitutional role in our system of government, particularly in the area of national security. And they do so at great personal cost. The executive branch has enormous powers over national security and the exercise of that power is not fully transparent. Judicial doctrines like the “state secrets” doctrine allow an administration to limit judicial oversight. Congress’ oversight committees have also tended to leave the executive relatively free of constraints. Because the materials they see are classified, there remains little public oversight. Consider the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on the interrogation torture practices during the immediate post 9/11 years: Its six thousand pages, according to Senator Dianne Feinstein, are “one of the most significant oversight efforts in the history of the United States Senate.” But they are unavailable to the public.

Freedom of the press is anchored in our constitution because it reflects our fundamental belief that no institution can be its own watchdog. The government is full of well-intentioned and quite powerful inspectors general and similar internal accountability mechanisms. But like all big organizations, the national security branches of government include some people who aren't purely selfless public servants. Secrecy is necessary and justified in many cases. But as hard-earned experience has shown us time and again, it can be—and often is—used to cover up failure, avarice, or actions that simply will not survive that best of disinfectants, sunlight. That’s where whistleblowers come in. They offer a pressure valve, constrained by the personal risk whistleblowers take, and fueled by whatever moral courage they can muster. Manning's statement in court yesterday showed that, at least in his motives, he was part of that long-respected tradition. But that’s also where the Manning prosecution comes in, too. The prosecution case seems designed, quite simply, to terrorize future national security whistleblowers. The charges against Manning are different from those that have been brought against other whistleblowers. “Aiding the enemy” is punishable by death. And although the prosecutors in this case are not seeking the death penalty against Manning, the precedent they are seeking to establish does not depend on the penalty. It establishes the act as a capital offense, regardless of whether prosecutors in their discretion decide to seek the death penalty in any particular case....This theory is unprecedented in modern American history....for 150 years, well before the rise of the modern First Amendment, the invention of muckraking journalism, or the modern development of the watchdog function of the press in democratic society, no one has been charged with aiding the enemy simply for leaking information to the press for general publication. Perhaps it was possible to bring such a charge before the first amendment developed as it did in the past hundred years, before the Pentagon Papers story had entered our national legend. But before Rosa Parks and Brown vs. Board of Education there was also a time when prosecutors could enforce the segregation laws of Jim Crow. Those times have passed. Read in the context of American constitutional history and the practice of at least a century and a half (if not more) of “aiding the enemy” prosecutions, we should hope and expect that the court will in fact reject the prosecution's novel and aggressive interpretation of that crime.

But as long as the charge remains live and the case undecided, the risk that a court will accept this expansive and destructive interpretation is very real. That’s especially true when you consider that “aiding the enemy” could be applied to civilians. Most provisions of the Uniform Code of Military Justice apply only to military personnel. But Section 104, the “aiding the enemy” section, applies simply to “any person.” To some extent, this makes sense—a German-American civilian in WWII could be tried by military commission for aiding German saboteurs under this provision. There has been some back and forth in military legal handbooks, cases, and commentary about whether and to what extent Section 104 in fact applies to civilians. Most recently, Justice Stevens' opinion in the Supreme Court case of Hamdan implies that Section 104 may in fact apply to civilians and be tried by military commissions. But this is not completely settled. Because the authorities are unclear, any competent lawyer today would have to tell a prospective civilian whistleblower that she may well be prosecuted for the capital offense of aiding the enemy just for leaking to the press.

The past few years have seen a lot of attention to the Obama Administration's war on whistleblowing. In the first move, the Administration revived the World War I Espionage Act, an Act whose infamous origins included a 10-year prison term for a movie director who made a movie that showed British soldiers killing women and children during the Revolutionary War and was therefore thought to undermine our wartime alliance with Britain, and was used to jail Eugene V. Debs and other political activists. Barack Obama’s Department of Justice has brought more Espionage Act prosecutions for leaks to the press than all prior administrations combined since then, using the law as what the New York Times called an “ad hoc Official Secrets Act.” If Bradley Manning is convicted of aiding the enemy, the introduction of a capital offense into the mix would dramatically elevate the threat to whistleblowers. The consequences for the ability of the press to perform its critical watchdog function in the national security arena will be dire. And then there is the principle of the thing. However technically defensible on the language of the statute, and however well-intentioned the individual prosecutors in this case may be, we have to look at ourselves in the mirror of this case and ask: Are we the America of Japanese Internment and Joseph McCarthy, or are we the America of Ida Tarbell and the Pentagon Papers? What kind of country makes communicating with the press for publication to the American public a death-eligible offense?

What a coup for Al Qaeda, to have maimed our constitutional spirit to the point where we might become that nation.

[pscot]

6. He was a cultural ikon

of the Cold War. RIP, Professor.

[westerebus]

7. I have a caption for photo three.

Mr. Cliburn: Would you like to dance Mr. President?

The President: Shall I lead?

Mr. Cliburn: That would be nice.

[Demeter]

8. Ooooh! Nice Double Entendre!

How are you tonight? I'm freezing, still. March came in like an iceberg, a polar bear, Mr. Freeze...

[westerebus]

9. The dullness of winter makes my bones ache for spring.

The temps are all over the place between 50 and 20 here in Virginia. The overcast gloom is separated by a few hours of clear sky with freezing wind chills or a damp mist interrupted by not quite freezing rain. Fluacious adults and crouping hacking children being the norm with temperament to match.

Sorry you're still in the deep freeze, I left the snow belt for this "milder" climate twenty years ago. If it weren't for the humidity and the stupidity, I'd move further south. Or west possibly.

And your renovations?

[Demeter]

10. Well, the floor is mostly laid

We are waiting on some doors to be delivered. And then there's the patching, painting, and I want to replace all the outlets, which are so cheap and old that they no longer have enough spring to hold a plug, and the ceiling fixtures, which were cheap and ugly 40 years ago and haven't come into fashion since. And the light switches, and the heating duct covers....drapes, area rugs, furniture...it's a life long project, I am thinking. I sincerely doubt the walls were ever painted beyond the first coat at construction.

For some reason, perhaps as a result of all the banging, my closet fell down. All the little plastic hangers that held up the shelves snapped. It looks like a bomb went off all over, now. I'll be living out of a laundry basket for a while.

Sometimes, it gets up to 20F outside, but the windchills don't. And there was no sun at all today. I haven't met people with flu, at least. It's too cold for them to go out, and school is on flu break (they have a week off this time of year). And we've had more snow this February than all of the previous months for over a year. Drought, you know.

[westerebus]

12. Time and money. Money and time.

Then there's the weather...

Best way to downsize I know is living out of a laundry basket. Moving the books, well that's a whole other story.

My plan is to do this in segments. There are several major jobs I've decides on doing. The first major job was the kitchen. The counter tops will be done in about two weeks then the back splash gets tiled the same week. So the chaos continues.

I think you and I are may be the last two consumers supporting the building trades. Or a counter indicator. Who knew?

[DemReadingDU]

35. We need to do so much in this house

We need new carpets, new floors, new windows, new kitchen cabinets & counters, new bathrooms, new paint, etc. etc. Sometimes I think it would take less time and money, to just move to a new place. With 3 dogs now and a cat, why bother to start any project. Too much inconvenience, too much stuff to move out of the way. Besides, I hate shopping.

[westerebus]

46. Moving is still a possibility.

I'm one of those people who has to see and touch something before I can decide to buy it or not. Online browsing only adds to the information overload and nothing ever is the texture, shade, or quality that's your mind's eye thinks is on the screen. I've been pleasantly surprised many times, but in this case, there's no returns for the most part.

This place is close to being paid off and I like where I live. With rates so low and builder's upgrades to get sales, it is very tempting. I think my best bet was to do the renovations and and then compare.

[Warpy]

28. Spring hits southern NM the first week or so of February

It's not the intervening 200 miles that delays ours for another month, but the intervening 4000 feet in altitude, but the temperature is starting to creep into the 60s and I expect the crab apple trees beside the closest boulevard to pop into riotous bloom in another week or so. My own trees have swelling buds and a couple of them have mouse ear leaves just starting to peek out of the buds here and there.

It was also nice to end the week pleasantly, the Dow over 14,000 and making me temporarily wealthy. It'll be down again so it won't last, but a whole weekend of it is nice.

I wish I had more confidence in the financial situation in this country and globally, but I don't. I'm just wondering how many businesses will go under with this next round of belt tightening on the bottom while the top continues to fatten exponentially.

Anything this top heavy is going to fall given enough time.

[Demeter]

31. Spring in Minnesota! Unfair!

Michigan can't even get temps to creep over the freezing line!

[Warpy]

34. Spring in Boston was weeks of easterly wind bringing ice cold drizzle

off the North Atlantic and right into our faces. We were taunted by news reports of people in towns just 40 miles inland enjoying sunny days in the 70s, the kiddies out in their shorts and flowers in bloom everywhere.

Around the end of June the winds would shift and it would be in the 90s with 90% humidity.

Trust me, I feel for you.

[Demeter]

37. NH springs were definitive

Once they got started, they didn't waver. This Michigan winter didn't start until February, and it shows no sign of yielding to spring. 3 months of winter crammed into 28 days....it's snowing as I type. Sigh. And today I work outdoors (not by choice).

[westerebus]

54. Hindsight is 20/20.

I would have bought more when the market bounced along the curb had I any idea to what extent the FED would go to bail them out. I had expected a do over of the savings&loan crash with the consequence of prosecutions and liquidations from back in the day. Silly me. I should have realized, looking at the Rubin-Clinton money team back in power, the new normal was upon us.

We are at a balmy 36. Sunny. Trees haven't turned yet. I expect the ground is still too cold.

[Tansy_Gold]

13. That's worthy of a Golden Glob Award! n/t

[Demeter]

15. If you've got a Glob of Gold, Tansy, can I borrow Some of It?

[westerebus]

55. Thanks.

How's the roof?

[Tansy_Gold]

56. As of an hour ago

The roof is done. Yippee! And with about $300 worth of shingles to return for refund, too.

[westerebus]

57. Good on you! n/t

[Demeter]

11. Tomorrow is another day

Can't keep my eyes open...sweet dreams, all!

[Tansy_Gold]

14. So is yesterday

[DemReadingDU]

36. That is a great find

Thanks for sharing. I learn a lot on these weekend postings.

I wonder if there are some young people today who are so dedicated to music. The ones I see are all texting on cell phones.

[Tansy_Gold]

45. I spent two hours last night

Soaking up Van Cliburn videos. That one in particular, the way he worked with the kids, had me bawling my eyes out.

I'll post some more later today, or anyone can just search for 'em on YouTube, but to watch him playing, to watch his fingers on the keys, is absolute magic. I know so very little about musicianship, but as I watched a short Russian documentary about the 1958 competition, I saw a young Chinese player attack the keys as if his fingers were jackhammers. Maestro Cliburn caressed the instrument. The result was, as expected, positively orgasmic.

[Demeter]

16. Michigan to Appoint Emergency Fiscal Manager for Detroit

Governor Snyder is one of the few politicians who fully deserves the Weasel designation...I can't wait to find out what he's REALLY up to.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/02/us/michigan-appoints-emergency-manager-for-detroit.html

Over the fierce protests of this city’s elected leaders, the State of Michigan plans to send an emergency manager to repair the deeply troubled finances of Detroit, one of the largest cities ever to reach such a dire point or to face such a level of oversight. “There is probably no city that is more financially challenged in the entire United States,” Gov. Rick Snyder said on Friday as he explained why he had deemed Detroit’s woes too fundamental, too lasting and too large to be solved by the city itself. Mr. Snyder’s call for an emergency manager, who would wield sweeping powers to reshape the city, underscored a long, troubling arc for Detroit. Once the cradle of the American auto industry and the nation’s fourth most populous city, it is now less than half the size it was decades ago and has a public sector plagued by more than $14 billion in long-term liabilities and annual worries of cash shortfalls....

At a time when many municipalities are struggling financially, five cities and three school districts in Michigan alone are already under supervision from a state-appointed emergency financial manager. But municipal finance experts pointed out that Detroit is on a different scale. “Detroit is a huge and prominent American city, so anything that happens with Detroit will set a much bigger precedent,” said Matt Fabian, a managing director at Municipal Market Advisors. “There isn’t a lot of precedent with the state taking control of a city this size.”

For decades, states have used a range of methods, including oversight boards and appointed receivers, to step in and stabilize cities that appeared to be headed toward bankruptcy or default. The methods — and the powers and roles of those charged with overseeing a troubled city — vary widely from state to state, as do opinions about whether they work. A financial control board helped New York City return from the edge of crisis in the 1970s, but such intense state involvement is more often needed in smaller cities...For more than a year, Detroit leaders had raced to ward off an emergency manager. With a similar possibility looming last spring, city officials entered into a legal deal, giving the state some oversight as Detroit tried to cut spending and staff members and collect more tax revenue. It was not enough, said state officials, who re-examined the city’s books in recent weeks and said they found a pattern of overly optimistic revenue estimates, poor and conflicting record-keeping and endless borrowing to make up for shortfalls... While some Detroit residents saw state intervention as one more very public indication of a city crumbling, others hailed it as the first promising sign of real repair. The city’s business leaders lauded the plan, noting that Detroit’s private sector had experienced tangible signs of growth and reinvestment — including newly filled downtown offices and young entrepreneurs opening dress shops — even as the public sector had lagged.

“Bring it on,” Sandy K. Baruah, the chairman of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, said of state management. “This sends a positive message to business that Detroit is fixing its problems.”

But Detroit city officials, who have 10 days to seek reconsideration from the governor before a state board formally appoints a manager as early as this month, objected strenuously. Under a much-debated state law, an appointed manager would ultimately hold powers to cut city spending, change contracts with labor unions, merge or eliminate city departments, urge the sale of city assets and even, if all else failed, recommend bankruptcy proceedings. In an election year for mayor and the City Council, many candidates, incumbents and community leaders denounced the move as an affront to democracy and a state takeover, and called for legal action...

[Demeter]

17. Financial stocks shrug off sequester cuts

WHY WOULDN'T THEY? NONE OF THEIR GOVERNMENT MONEY WILL BE CUT OFF...

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/financial-stocks-fall-as-sequester-cuts-near-2013-03-01?siteid=YAHOOB

Financial stocks held their ground Friday as investors, with plenty of time to adjust their portfolios, looked past looming federal spending cuts and a raft of economic data from Europe showing weakness in some of the euro zone’s largest economies.

... American International Group, Inc. said Friday it bought back the last of the warrants it issued to the U.S. Treasury, the final stake in the company still held by the government. The insurance giant paid $25 million for the warrants, issued in 2008 and 2009. AIG was bailed out by the government during the financial crisis as the firm headed toward bankruptcy. The firm returned the $182 billion borrowed from the government during the financial crisis and a profit $27.7 billion, said Chief Executive Robert Benmosche.

AIG was downgraded to equal-weight from overweight by Evercore Partners, saying the firm would require good execution on expenses and underwriting to meet its targets for 2013. The boutique consulting firm continues to have a positive bias on AIG and raised the target price of the stock from $40 to $42. AIG shares were down 0.5%, paring earlier losses. MORE

[Demeter]

20. U.S. lurches into new budget crisis, spending cuts imminent

http://news.yahoo.com/u-stares-down-start-steep-automatic-budget-cuts-060540261--business.html

The U.S. government stumbled headlong on Friday toward spending cuts that could dampen the economy and curb military readiness, after President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to find an alternative budget plan. Put in place during a bout of deficit-reduction fever in 2011, the automatic cuts can only be halted by agreement between Congress and the White House. As expected, a deal proved elusive in talks on Friday, meaning that government agencies will now begin to hack a total of $85 billion from their budgets between Saturday and October 1. Financial markets in New York shrugged off the stalemate in Washington. Democrats predict the cuts, known as "sequestration," could soon cause air-traffic delays, furloughs for hundreds of thousands of federal employees and disruption to education. New U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the cuts, half of which will fall on the Pentagon, put at risk "all of our missions."

While the International Monetary Fund warned that the belt-tightening could slow U.S. economic growth by at least 0.5 of a percentage point this year, that is not a huge drag on an economy that is picking up steam.

Obama was resigned to government budgets shrinking...At the heart of Washington's persistent fiscal crises is disagreement over how to slash the budget deficit and the $16 trillion national debt, bloated over the years by wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and government stimulus for the ailing economy. Obama wants to close the fiscal gap with spending cuts and tax hikes, but Republicans do not want to concede again on taxes after doing so in negotiations over the "fiscal cliff" at the New Year...The full brunt of the automatic cuts will be borne over seven months. Congress can stop them at any time if the two parties agree on how to do so.

No matter how Obama and Congress resolve the 2013 battle, this round of automatic spending cuts is only one of a decade's worth of annual cuts totaling $1.2 trillion mandated by the sequestration law. Given the absence of a deal, Obama will issue an order to federal agencies by midnight on Friday to reduce their budgets. The White House budget office must send a report to Congress detailing the spending cuts. The Justice Department has already sent notices of furloughs that will begin April 21 at the earliest to some 115,000 workers, including at the FBI.

[Demeter]

21. CONTINUING: Unlike previous fiscal dramas, the sequestration fight is not rattling Wall Street

...U.S. stocks rose moderately on Friday, with the Dow Industrials closing up 35 points, as data showed manufacturing expanded at its fastest pace in 20 months in February. Despite the market being up more than 7 percent this year, and near a record high, the discord in Washington has not prompted traders to cash in gains.

"Most of us believe that sequestration is not something that will make us fall off the cliff, since the cuts will be worked in relatively slowly," said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Wealth Management in Philadelphia.

CANADA FRUSTRATED

Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty expressed rare public frustration with the United States for lurching from crisis to crisis. Flaherty said he was confident Canada would not suffer too badly from the fiscal troubles its biggest trading partner is suffering from. "It is regrettable, though, that the U.S. continues to move from crisis to crisis in fiscal terms," he told reporters. Another influential minister in Canada's Conservative government, House Leader Peter Van Loan, took a swipe at the United States, saying it was up to its ears in debt because of big-spending, left-wing policies.

One reason for the inaction in Washington is that both parties still hope the other will either be blamed by voters for the cuts or cave in before the worst effects predicted by Democrats come into effect. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Friday showed 28 percent of Americans blamed congressional Republicans for the sequestration mess, 18 percent thought Obama was responsible and 4 percent blamed congressional Democrats. Thirty-seven percent blamed them all, according the online poll.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicts 750,000 jobs could be lost in 2013, and federal employees throughout the country are looking to trim their own costs...After weeks of White House warnings about the cuts causing air-traffic chaos, threatening cancer research and keeping law enforcement officers off the streets, Obama acknowledged it might be a while before effects fully kicked in.

"We will get through this. This is not going to be an apocalypse," SAID THE MAN WITH NO FINANCIAL WORRIES

"Not everyone will feel the pain of these cuts right away. The pain though will be real. Beginning this week, many middle-class families will have their lives disrupted in significant ways," Obama said.

[Demeter]

32. How the Economic Quacks Promoting Austerity Will Increase the Deficit

http://www.alternet.org/economy/how-economic-quacks-promoting-austerity-will-increase-deficit?akid=10123.227380.dMyDt7&rd=1&src=newsletter802457&t=16&paging=off

Congress will not avert the dreaded sequester – the government’s latest wheeze to deal with the phony “deficit crisis.” Never mind that the very same deficit is projected to fall under $1 trillion this year for the first time since 2008, according to the CBO. Politicians and the chattering classes rail about the deficit, while in the meantime, Americans can’t find jobs. Our neighbors, friends and fellow citizens have suffered from a persistently high unemployment rate of 8 percent through 2012, and worse, an underemployment situation of around 15 percent. Why doesn’t this very real crisis generate concern? Why all of the fuss about a nonexistent emergency?

Conservatives talk indignantly about government profligacy to justify their deficit obsession. But our large deficits (which peaked some three years ago) can almost always be expected to result from recessions because of what economists call “automatic stabilizers.” These are safeguards that have been in place since the Great Depression – things like unemployment insurance, welfare, food stamps and the like. These programs were introduced precisely to avoid the kind of human misery a great many of our citizens experienced during that earlier catastrophe. These income transfers are also the reasons -- not the bailouts to our banks -- why the economy has escaped the kind of freefall experienced in the early 1930s. A major consequence of this policy choice, which is supported by the vast majority of Americans, is that budget deficits in the US are largely automatic and non-discretionary. So recessions create budget deficits, much as private sector booms reduce deficits.

True, we are not booming by any stretch today. But even against this sluggish backdrop, over the last three years, the deficit has experienced a 30 percent drop as a percentage of GDP. That suggests the patient is slowly recovering, but not fast enough. The current rate of job creation is not only insufficient to replace the jobs lost since the crisis, but can’t even keep up with labor force growth. At the recent pace of job creation, we only fall further behind. Withdrawing the medicine prematurely risks creating a relapse in the economy. And there is much more to do. We need to use this period of historically low interest rates to borrow so as to improve our productive capacity as an economy going forward. As anybody who wanders around major American cities can see, the country has fallen into disrepair. Just ride in any New York City taxi cab and see how well your back survives the journey. But before we can rebuild our pothole-ridden roads, repair our decaying grids, or deal with energy or climate change, we must challenge and reject all of the nonsense about long-term budget deficits, national bankruptcy or insolvency, and even “fiscal responsibility” that we are hearing from Congress and the chattering classes. The real fiscal responsibility lies in understanding how we invest in the future with jobs, education and decent roads and bridges. Letting our country fall apart, on the other hand, is the height of irresponsibility...

If the US continues to make headway on the jobs front, it will do even better on the deficit front, which is why any sensible economist will tell you that deficit reduction per se should never be an object of government policy. In a market economy, employment is the main source of income for most of the population. Economic growth creates jobs. Without paying jobs, individuals are unable to pay taxes. In capitalist, wage-labor societies, therefore, joblessness creates a long list of other kinds of waste that Congress never talks about—the breakup of families, rising alcoholism and drug addiction, higher crime rates, absolute and relative poverty, damage to social status and self-respect, adverse psychological and physical health effects, stress, suicide, crime and other anti-social behavior. During WWII, the government’s deficit -- which one year reached 25 percent of GDP -- raised government’s public debt ratio above 120 percent, much higher than the ratio expected to be achieved by 2015. Further, in spite of the siren songs warning of the evils of high national public debt, US growth in the postwar period was robust—it was the golden age of US economic growth. And guess what? The debt ratio came down rather rapidly, mostly not due to budget surpluses and debt retirement, but rather due to rapid growth that raised the denominator of the debt ratio.

There isn’t, in fact, a “long-term deficit problem.” MORE...

Marshall Auerback is a market analyst and commentator.

[Demeter]

18. Buffett says $24 billion gain wasn’t good enough

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/buffett-says-24-billion-gain-wasnt-good-enough-2013-03-01?siteid=YAHOOB

Despite Berkshire achieving a $24.1 billion net gain for shareholders and the conglomerate’s book-value rising 14.4% in 2012, he deemed it a “subpar” performance.

“For the ninth time in 48 years, Berkshire’s percentage increase in book value was less than the S&P’s percentage gain (a calculation that includes dividends as well as price appreciation),” wrote Buffett, who for decades has measured Berkshire’s overall performance in terms of book value.

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index rose 16% last year, including dividends.

Buffett went on to say another disappointment was his inability to complete a major acquisition, something that’s eluded him in recent years. “I pursued a couple of elephants, but came up empty-handed,” he wrote...MORE WHINING

I'M SPEECHLESS

[Demeter]

19. UBS lays off 35 senior bankers in the Americas

http://news.yahoo.com/ubs-lays-off-35-senior-bankers-americas-233235321--sector.html

NEW YORK (Reuters) - UBS AG cut roughly a third of its Americas investment banking and capital markets group this week, including 35 senior managing directors, three sources close to the matter said. A UBS spokeswoman confirmed the layoffs of the managing directors, which occurred in the corporate client solutions group, composed of investment banking, equity capital markets and leverage finance teams. As part of the cuts in the U.S. and Canada, more than a dozen people in the San Francisco technology group were laid off, and the Swiss bank shut its Los Angeles office, one of the sources said. A handful of senior level bankers that remained in the Los Angeles office were transferred to San Francisco, the spokeswoman said.

UBS announced in October 2012 it was planning to cut 10,000 employees or 15 percent of the bank's workforce. It also said it would wind down its fixed income division. Those layoffs were on top of another 3,500 cuts the bank announced in the prior year, mostly in its investment banking division.

The staff cuts come amid a series of problems that have plagued the Swiss bank, including a $2.3 billion trading loss caused by a rogue trader and fines related to potential LIBOR manipulation.

[Demeter]

22. ‘Peer-to-peer’ lending cuts out the Wall Street middlemen By Isa Hopkins

http://grist.org/living/peer-to-peer-lending-cuts-out-the-wall-street-middlemen/

...Before she opened TopShelf, Ruiz, too, was financially flailing, suffering from a bad credit score that prevented her from financing her mobile shop. Without access to traditional loans or credit, both women turned to the same place to realize their dreams: San Francisco’s Mission Asset Fund.

The Mission Asset Fund is like a financial version of a potluck dinner: Everyone contributes something of their own, but each individual also benefits from what everyone else brings to the table. Its most popular financial product, “lending circles,” formalize the peer-to-peer lending practices common in low-income and immigrant communities. Members of a lending circle contribute small monthly amounts to a common pot, which is then loaned to a member in need. The borrower makes payments on the loan just like he or she would a bank loan, only there’s no interest or fees.

Borrowers are held accountable by the community — lending circles often include friends and even family members, so the power of peer pressure ensures timely payments. Mission Asset Fund reports the payments to credit bureaus, allowing borrowers to build credit histories and win access to traditional loans. According to the fund, the credit scores of lending circle participants have increased by an average of 49 points through the program. And if someone doesn’t pay it back? Well, it doesn’t happen. When a borrower is struggling with payments, Mission Asset Fund sets him or her up with intensive one-on-one financial counseling and resets their payment schedule. So far, the approach has worked every time: Spokesperson Tara Robinson says the lending circles’ repayment rate stands at 100 percent.

The program is similar in philosophy to Bangladesh-based Grameen Bank, founded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and a pioneer of offering microcredit to the poor, as well as recent American peer-to-peer lending programs like Prosper and Lending Club. While the latter two for-profit companies charge interest and require borrowers to meet certain credit standards, the basic goals — cutting out the Wall Street middlemen and leveraging the power of human interconnectivity to promote broad financial health — is shared by all. The origins of the Mission Asset Fund are as distinctive as the people it serves. In the early 2000s, Levi Strauss — yep, the jeans people — closed its factory in San Francisco’s Mission district. The factory had opened in 1906, shortly after a major earthquake devastated the city, and for nearly a century it helped propel the hometown apparel company into a worldwide brand. Because of Levi’s close ties to, and deep history in, the city, it decided to do something unusual at the plant’s closure: The Levi-Strauss Foundation donated $1 million to support the predominantly Hispanic community of the Mission. A board of foundation members and local activists deliberated for several months over how best to utilize the funds, until they hit on the idea of a financial nonprofit...MORE

[Demeter]

23. Senate votes to make gold and silver legal tender in Arizona

http://verdenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=52853

PHOENIX -- State senators voted Wednesday to make gold and silver legal tender in Arizona -- but not copper, cattle, cotton, citrus or climate.

SB 1439 stems from concerns by some that the paper money being printed by the Federal Reserve Bank is becoming worth less and less. So they convinced Sen. Chester Crandell, R-Heber, to give gold and silver coins created by private, for-profit mints the same legal status to pay bills, at least in Arizona.

But Sen. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, suggested that if Arizona was going to have merchants weighing and assaying gold and silver to determine its value, perhaps the state should not stop there. So he proposed an "Arizona-centric' list of additions from the "Five Cs' for which the state is known.

MORE IDIOCY AT LINK

[Demeter]

24. Student Debt Nearly Tripled In 8 Years, New York Federal Reserve Reports

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/28/student-debt-new-york-fed_n_2783103.html

...Total student debt stands at $966 billion as of the fourth quarter of 2012, the N.Y. Fed said in press materials, with a 70 percent increase in both the number of borrowers and the average balance per person. The overall number of borrowers past due on their student loan payments has also grown, from under 10 percent in 2004 to 17 percent in 2012.

Fewer people with student loans are buying homes, according to data in the report. Of borrowers ages 25 to 30 who are taking out new mortgages, the percentage of those with student debt has fallen by half, from nearly 9 percent in 2005 to just above 4 percent in 2012.

The fed report sees a connection, stating, "The higher burden of student loans and higher delinquencies may affect borrowers' access to other types of credit and the performance of other debt."

This is what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau cited last week when it announced a new inquiry into ways to allow graduates with private student loans to refinance....MORE

[Demeter]

26. Gasoline prices, a challenge to Obama By Ralph Nader

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34141.htm

Here we go again. A sudden surge in the price of gasoline and heating oil is followed by reported expressions of frustrated despair by hard-pressed consumers in the midst of silence from the oil companies and abdication of responsibility by the elected and appointed officials of federal and state governments.

The price of gasoline is up by about 50 cents in the past month, according to AAA, making the average gallon go for close to $4 per gallon in many parts of the country. Prices are even higher in California. AAA says that this “is the most expensive we’ve seen gasoline in the dead of winter.”

Every penny increase in the annual price of gasoline takes over $1.6 billion dollars from the pockets of American consumers (Source). That doesn’t even count the higher prices for heating oil homeowners are paying.

There was a time when even a few cents increase in the price of gasoline or natural gas would provoke Congressional investigations, actions by state Attorneys General, and condemnations of the producer countries, the OPEC cartel and Big Oil from presidents and the heads of antitrust divisions of the Justice Department or the Federal Trade Commission. That is, until smooth, smiling Ronald Reagan came to Washington, D.C. with his mantra that “government is not the solution; government is the problem.”

Well, now the multi-layered petroleum cartel has become institutionalized, having “gotten government off its back” and they’ve put the New York Mercantile Exchange speculators at the gaming tables.

There seems to be an adequate supply of crude oil in this recessionary global economy. What could be the cause of this latest price spike? The news media offer a spectrum of possible factors – restrictions on exports of Iranian oil imposed by western governments, instability in Syria and elsewhere in the volatile Middle East, oil hungry China, oil speculators on Wall Street and reduced refinery capacity in the U.S.

Each price surge in recent decades seems to have different principal causes. This time it seems to have been precipitated by surging prices of crude – easily manipulated – and in the U.S. the permanent or temporary shutdown for repairs, of too many refineries.

Believe it or not, the U.S. is now a net refined petroleum importer because of the continuing refusal by the industry to rebuild or expand refinery capacity on the very sites where many refineries have been shut down, often in favor of offshore, cheaper installations.

Whenever supply and demand for refined oil products is tight, all it takes is for one or two refineries to suspend operations, other than for repairs, and the prices surge all over the country.

This happened in January to a refinery in California, due to a fire, and more prominently the closure of a key refinery in Port Reading, New Jersey, owned by the Hess company. Five dollars a gallon gas “is a real possibility,” John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital, told Yahoo! Finance, adding “this is partly being driven by the lost refinery capacity of about one million barrels per day…that’s a lot.” (The U.S. consumes about 19 million barrels a day of refined petroleum products.)

So what can our so-called representatives in Washington do about a gouge that has angered almost all conservative and liberal consumers? Well, the Democratically-controlled Senate can start by holding investigatory hearings. The President can speak out more forcefully and indicate he may release some of the government’s crude oil reserves to increase supply.

He can order his Justice Department to at the very least subpoena pertinent oil industry information for starters.

Mr. Obama can forcefully back up Gary Gensler, his appointed, savvy Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, who has been trying to rein in excessive speculation that drives up prices and punishes the motoring public.

In 2011 CFTC data showed that massive inflows of speculative money drove up prices. At that time, even Goldman Sachs analyst, David Greely, claimed Wall Street speculation in the futures market was driving up oil prices. Earlier, Rex Tillerson, the head of ExxonMobil, estimated that speculation was responsible for a more than $40 per barrel price increase when oil was just over $100 per barrel. Over the last month crude oil has ranged in price from $93-$120 per barrel.

Admiral Hyman Rickover who, more than 40 years ago, wisely said that there should always be government-owned shipyards to provide a yardstick by which to restrain the high prices and cost overruns being charged by private ship buildings manufacturing the Navy’s ships. That means, in this oil price context, that the government should own and operate some refineries for the armed forces. Any excess capacity could loosen the market with gasoline and heating oil when the corporate interests maneuver tight supplies for which they get immediately rewarded with cold cash.

Were Obama to direct some of his bully pulpit heat on those members of Congress who are marinated in oil, he might find more support from Capitol Hill for all these initiatives.

So call the switchboard at the White House comment line ( 202-456-1111 ) and tell the president that you are fed up and determined to drive less, carpool and walk more where possible, but that he, the president, must be more aggressive in taking on the staggeringly profitable and tax-favored big oil companies.


In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Information Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Information ClearingHouse endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

[Demeter]

27. THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF PEOPLE..

"There are two different types of people in the world, those who want to know,
and those who want to believe." - Friedrich Nietzsche

[Demeter]

29. Sleazy Military Contractors Are Crying Foul Over Drones -- They Stand to Lose Billions

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/sleazy-military-contractors-are-crying-foul-over-drones-they-stand-lose-billions?akid=10117.227380.myhj4t&rd=1&src=newsletter801734&t=6&paging=off

All the talk about drones focusses on their “morality.” But there's a funny thing about morality talk: most of it seems to come down to money. This time's no different.

The worst thing about drones is that they’re cheap. That’s interfering with the vacation-home budgets of a lot of very sleazy DoD contractors and their pet Texas congressmen, and that’s why you’re hearing a consensus around how “immoral” drones are.

Remember this: Drones are a threat to the sleaziest acquisition program in the history of defense contracting: the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. There have been some pretty disgusting lemons in the sorry history of the DoD — you just have to think back to SDI, also known as “Star Wars,” to find a weapons system that not only didn’t work but was never meant to work — but I’d have to say that the F-35 is an even bigger con job than Star Wars.

Don’t just take it from me — serious hawks who actually know what they’re talking about when it comes to military aviation are saying this. John McCain, who crashed a few fighter jets in his time, joined Robert Gates when he was still SecDef to go public with what every Pentagon insider already knew: The F-35 is a godawful piece of boondoggle junk, and nobody wants it...MORE

[Demeter]

30. 'Signature Strikes' On Unidentified People: The Drone War Doctrine We Still Know Nothing About

http://www.alternet.org/world/signature-strikes-unidentified-people-drone-war-doctrine-we-still-know-nothing-about?akid=10123.227380.dMyDt7&rd=1&src=newsletter802457&t=18&paging=off

The focus of the debate over drones has been the targeting of American citizens – a narrow issue that accounts for a miniscule proportion of the hundreds of strikes carried out in recent years. Consider: while four American citizens are known to have been killed by drones in the past decade, the strikes have killed an estimated total of 2,600 to 4,700 people over the same period.

The focus on American citizens overshadows a far more common, and less understood, type of strike: those that do not target American citizens, Al Qaeda leaders, or, in fact, any other specific individual. In these attacks, known as “signature strikes,” drone operators fire on people whose identities they do not know based on evidence of suspicious behavior or other “signatures.” According to anonymously sourced media reports, such attacks on unidentified targets account for many, or even most, drone strikes.

Despite that, the administration has never publicly spoken about signature strikes. Basic questions remain unanswered. What is the legal justification for signature strikes? What qualifies as a “signature” that would prompt a deadly strike? Do those being targeted have to pose a threat to the United States? And how many civilians have been killed in such strikes?

The administration has rebuffed repeated requests from Congress to provide answers – even in secret...MORE

[Demeter]

44. Pushing the wrong button: Bad button placement leads to drone crashes

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/03/pushing-the-wrong-button-bad-button-placement-leads-to-drone-crashes/


I THINK THAT'S GOOD BUTTON PLACEMENT!


...Hopefully, the FAA will take human factors into account before it starts certifying any drones to fly in US airspace. OR BETTER YET, BANS DRONES FROM US AIRSPACE ENTIRELY.

[Demeter]

59. British terror suspects quietly stripped of citizenship… then killed by (US) drones

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/british-terror-suspects-quietly-stripped-of-citizenship-then-killed-by-drones-8513858.html



The (UK) Government has secretly ramped up a controversial programme that strips people of their British citizenship on national security grounds – with two of the men subsequently killed by American drone attacks. An investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism for The Independent has established that since 2010, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, has revoked the passports of 16 individuals, many of whom are alleged to have had links to militant or terrorist groups.

Critics of the programme warn that it allows ministers to “wash their hands” of British nationals suspected of terrorism who could be subject to torture and illegal detention abroad. They add that it also allows those stripped of their citizenship to be killed or “rendered” without any onus on the British Government to intervene.

At least five of those deprived of their UK nationality by the Coalition were born in Britain, and one man had lived in the country for almost 50 years. Those affected have their passports cancelled, and lose their right to enter the UK – making it very difficult to appeal against the Home Secretary’s decision. Last night the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader Simon Hughes said he was writing to Ms May to call for an urgent review into how the law was being implemented.

The leading human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce said the present situation “smacked of mediaeval exile, just as cruel and just as arbitrary”. Ian Macdonald QC, the president of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, described the citizenship orders as “sinister”. “They’re using executive powers and I think they’re using them quite wrongly,” he said. “It’s not open government; it’s closed, and it needs to be exposed.”

Laws were passed in 2002 enabling the Home Secretary to remove the citizenship of any dual nationals who had done something “seriously prejudicial” to the UK, but the power had rarely been used before the current government took office. The Bureau’s investigation has established the identities of all but four of the 21 British passport holders who have lost their citizenship, and their subsequent fates. Only two have successfully appealed – one of whom has since been extradited to the US. In many cases those involved cannot be named because of ongoing legal action. The Bureau has also found evidence that government officials act when people are out of the country – on two occasions while on holiday – before cancelling passports and revoking citizenships.

Those targeted include Bilal al-Berjawi, a British-Lebanese citizen who came to the UK as a baby and grew up in London, but left for Somalia in 2009 with his close friend the British-born Mohamed Sakr, who also held Egyptian nationality. Both had been the subject of extensive surveillance by British intelligence, with the security services concerned they were involved in terrorist activities. Once in Somalia, the two reportedly became involved with al-Shabaab, the Islamist militant group with links to al-Qa’ida. Mr Berjawi was said to have risen to a senior position in the organisation, with Mr Sakr his “right-hand man”. In 2010, Theresa May stripped both men of their British nationalities and they soon became targets in an ultimately lethal US manhunt. In June 2011 Mr Berjawi was wounded in the first known US drone strike in Somalia and last year he was killed by a drone strike – within hours of calling his wife in London to congratulate her on the birth of their first son.

His family have claimed that US forces were able to pinpoint his location by monitoring the call he made to his wife in the UK. Mr Sakr, too, was killed in a US airstrike in February 2012, although his British origins have not been revealed until now. Mr Sakr’s former UK solicitor said there appeared to be a link between the Home Secretary removing citizenships and subsequent US actions. “It appears that the process of deprivation of citizenship made it easier for the US to then designate Mr Sakr as an enemy combatant, to whom the UK owes no responsibility whatsoever,” Saghir Hussain said. Mr Macdonald added that depriving people of their citizenship “means that the British government can completely wash their hands if the security services give information to the Americans who use their drones to track someone and kill them.”

The campaign group CagePrisoners is in touch with many families of those affected. Its executive director Asim Qureshi said the Bureau’s findings were deeply troubling for Britons from an ethnic minority background. “We all feel just as British as everybody else, and yet just because our parents came from another country, we can be subjected to an arbitrary process where we are no longer members of this country any more,” he said. “I think that’s extremely dangerous because it will speak to people’s fears about how they’re viewed by their own government, especially when they come from certain areas of the world.”

...Ms Peirce, a leading immigration defence lawyer, said, “British citizens are being banished from their own country, being stripped of a core part of their identity yet without a single word of explanation of why they have been singled out and dubbed a risk,” she said. Families are sometimes affected by the Home Secretary’s decisions. Parents may have to choose whether their British children remain in the UK, or join their father in exile abroad. In a case known only as L1, a Sudanese-British man took his four British children on holiday to Sudan, along with his wife, who had limited leave to remain in the UK. Four days after his departure, Theresa May decided to strip him of his citizenship. With their father excluded from the UK and their mother’s lack of permanent right to remain, the order effectively blocks the children from growing up in Britain. At the time of the order the children were aged between eight and 13 months. The judge, despite recognising their right to be brought up in Britain, ruled that the grounds on which their father’s citizenship was revoked “outweighed” the rights of the children.

Mr Justice Mitting, sitting in the semi-secret Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac), said: “We accept it is unlikely to be in the best interests of the appellant’s children that he should be deprived of his British citizenship...“They are British citizens, with a right of abode in the UK.

“They are of an age when that right cannot, in practice, be enjoyed if both of their parents cannot return to the United Kingdom.”

Yet he added that Theresa May was “unlikely to have made that decision without substantial and plausible grounds”....A Home Office spokeswoman said: “Citizenship is a privilege not a right. The Home Secretary has the power to remove citizenship from individuals where she considers it is conducive to the public good. An individual subject to deprivation can appeal to the courts.” She added: “We don’t routinely comment on individual deprivation cases.” Asked whether intelligence was provided to foreign governments, she said: “We don’t comment on intelligence issues. Drone strikes are a matter for the states concerned.”

MORE OUTRAGE AT LINK

[Demeter]

33. Are Big Banks a Bunch of Organized Criminal Conspiracies? By Les Leopold

http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/are-big-banks-bunch-organized-criminal-conspiracies?akid=10123.227380.dMyDt7&rd=1&src=newsletter802457&t=4&paging=off

Are too-big-to-fail banks organized criminal conspiracies? And if so, shouldn't we seize their assets, just like we do to drug cartels? Let's examine their sorry record of deceit and deception that has surfaced in just the past two months:

Loan Sharking

You want to get really, really pissed off? Then read "Major Banks Aid in Payday Loans Banned by States" by Jessica Silver-Greenberg in the New York Times (2/23/13). In sickening detail, she describes how the largest banks in the United States are facilitating modern loansharking by working with Internet payday loan companies to escape anti-loansharking state laws. These payday firms extract enormous interest rates that often run over 500 percent a year. (Fifteen states prohibit payday loans entirely, and all states have usury limits ranging from 8 to 24 percent. See the list.) The big banks, however, don't make the loans. They hide behind the scenes to facilitate the transactions through automatic withdrawals from the victim's bank account to the loansharking payday companies. Without those services from the big banks, these Internet loansharks could not operate.

Enabling the payday loansharks to evade the law is bad enough. But even more deplorable is why the big banks are involved in the first place. For the banks, it can be a lucrative partnership. At first blush, processing automatic withdrawals hardly seems like a source of profit. But many customers are already on shaky financial footing. The withdrawals often set off a cascade of fees from problems like overdrafts. Roughly 27 percent of payday loan borrowers say that the loans caused them to overdraw their accounts, according to a report released this month by the Pew Charitable Trusts. That fee income is coveted, given that financial regulations limiting fees on debit and credit cards have cost banks billions of dollars...Take a deep breath and consider what this means... Banks like JPMorgan Chase provide the banking services that allow Internet payday loansharks to exist in the first place, with the sole purpose of breaking the state laws against usury. Then Chase vultures the victims, who are often low-wage earners struggling to make ends meet, by extracting late fees from the victims' accounts. So impoverished single moms, for example, who needed to borrow money to make the rent, get worked over twice: First they get a loan at an interest rate that would make Tony Soprano blush. Then they get nailed with overdraft fees by their loansharking bank...Let's be clear: JPMorgan Chase, the big bank that supposedly is run oh-so-well by Obama's favorite banker, Jamie Dimon, is aiding, abetting and profiting from screwing loanshark victims.

What possible justification could anyone at Chase have for being involved in this slimy business? The answer is simple: profit. Dimon and company can't help themselves. They see a dollar in someone else's pocket, even a poor struggling single mom, and they figure out how to put it in their own. Of course, everyone at the top will play dumb, order an investigation and then if necessary, dump some lower-level schlep. More than likely, various government agencies will ask the bank to pay a fine, which will come from the corporate kitty, not the pockets of bank executives. And the banks will promise -- cross their hearts -- never again to commit that precise scam again.

(Update: After the publication of Jessica Silver-Greenberg's devastating article, Jamie Dimon "vowed on Tuesday to change how the bank deals with Internet-based payday lenders that automatically withdraw payments from borrowers’ checking accounts," according to the New York Times. Dimon called the practices "terrible." In a statement, the bank said, it was “taking a thorough look at all of our policies related to these issues and plan to make meaningful changes.”)

Money Laundering for the Mexican Drug Cartels and Rogue Nations

HSBC, the giant British-based bank with a large American subsidiary, agreed on Dec. 11, 2012 to pay $1.9 billion in fines for laundering $881 million for Mexico's Sinaloa cartel and Colombia's Norte del Valle cartel. The operation was so blatant that "Mexican traffickers used boxes specifically designed to the dimensions of an HSBC Mexico teller's window to deposit cash on a daily basis," reports Reuters. They also facilitated "hundreds of millions more in transactions with sanctioned countries," according to the Justice Department. Our banks got nailed as well. "In the United States, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Wachovia Corp and Citigroup Inc have been cited for anti-money laundering lapses or sanctions violations," continues the Reuters report. My, my, JPMorgan Chase, the biggest bank in the U.S. sure does get around. And the penalty? A fine (paid by the HSBC shareholders, of course, that amounts to 5.5 weeks of the bank's earnings) and we promise – honest -- never to do it again.

Too Big to Indict?

Wait, it gets worse. Why weren't criminal charges filed against the bank itself? After all, the bank overtly violated money laundering laws. This was no clerical error. The answer is simple: "Too big to Indict," screams the NYT editorial headline. You see federal authorities are worried that if they indict, the bank would fail, which in turn would lead to tens of thousands of lost jobs, just like what happened to Arthur Anderson after its Enron caper, or like the financial hurricane that followed the failure of Lehman Brothers. So if you're a small fish running $10,000 in drug money, you serve time. But if you're a big fish moving nearing a billion dollars, you can laugh all the way to your too-big-to-jail bank.

Fleecing Distressed Homeowners SEE LINK

The Indictments Go On...

I could write a book about all the ways in which banks and their hedge fund cousins have turned cheating into a way of life. (In fact, I just did: "How to Earn a Million Dollars an Hour: Why Hedge Funds Get Away With Siphoning off America's Wealth.&quot

A SOLUTION OR TWO AT LINK

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

Les Leopold is the executive director of the Labor Institute in New York, and author of How to Make a Million Dollars an Hour: Why Hedge Funds Get Away with Siphoning Off America's Wealth (J. Wiley and Sons, 2013).

[Demeter]

38. Van Cliburn's personal life and death

In 1998, Cliburn was named in a lawsuit by his domestic partner of 17 years, mortician Thomas Zaremba. In the suit, Zaremba claimed entitlement to a portion of Cliburn's income and assets and went on to charge that he might have been exposed to HIV, claiming emotional distress. The claims were denied by a trial court, and that decision was then affirmed by an appellate court, which held that palimony suits are not permitted in the state of Texas unless the relationship is based on a written agreement.

Cliburn was known as a night owl. He often practiced until 4:30 or 5 a.m., waking around 1:30 p.m. "You feel like you're alone and the world's asleep, and it's very inspiring."

Cliburn, a member of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, attended regularly when he was in town.


On August 27, 2012, Van Cliburn's publicist announced that the pianist had advanced bone cancer. He underwent treatment and was “resting comfortably at home” in Fort Worth, Texas, where he received around-the-clock care. Cliburn died on February 27, 2013.

The Wall Street Journal said on his death that Cliburn was a "cultural hero" who "rocketed to unheard-of stardom for a classical musician in the U.S." Calling him "the rare classical musician to enjoy rock star status", the Associated Press on his death noted the 1958 Time magazine cover story that likened him to "Horowitz, Liberace and Presley all rolled into one."

[Demeter]

39. 15 ways to live well in a cheapskate retirement

Benjamin Franklin had it right—a penny saved is one you don’t have to earn. For retirement, that means if you can manage to save enough money on your expenses, you can survive—and maybe have enough to indulge in a few luxuries. From TopRetirements.com, here are 15 ideas for saving money in retirement.

I HAVE INTERPOLATED THIS ARTICLE WITH HOW AN ACTUAL ELDERLY PERSON LIVES HERE IN ANN ARBOR..

1. Move to a smaller house
   
   Real pennypinchers don’t waste money heating/cooling, painting, maintaining, and paying taxes on a house that is bigger than their needs.
   
   OR IN A PINCH, THERE'S SECTION 8 APARTMENTS; ONLY 30% OF YOUR MONTHLY INCOME (UTILITIES NOT INCLUDED, BUT NO MAINTENANCE COSTS BECAUSE THERE'S NO MAINTENANCE...). OF COURSE, YOU CAN'T PICK YOUR NEIGHBORS, YOUR DECOR, YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO AFFORD FOOD....ESPECIALLY WITH FOOD STAMPS REDUCTIONS EVERY YEAR.
   
   
2. Buy a reliable car, preferably second-hand.
   
   Buy a basic model, and keep it until big things start breaking on it. If you have two cars, get rid of the gas hog.
   
   OR MAKE SURE YOUR SECTION 8 APARTMENT IS ON A BUS LINE, OR BETTER YET, TWO. AND SIGN UP FOR THE ELDER TAXI/BUS CARD, FOR REDUCED FARES...
   
   
3. Move to a less expensive state
   
   Hopefully one with reasonable real estate costs along with lower income and property taxes. Read related story: The most tax-friendly states for retirees.
   
   BETTER TO MOVE TO A STATE THAT OFFERS A WEALTH OF SERVICES TO THE ELDERLY, IMO. SEEK OUT THE CATHOLIC, JEWISH, MUSLIM CHARITIES FOOD BANKS, APPLY FOR FOOD STAMPS, OR BRIDGE CARD AS IT'S NOW KNOWN, AND OTHER SOURCES OF BASIC FOOD STUFFS.
   
   
4. Plan your major purchases in advance
   
   Leo Babauta, author of “The Cheapskate Guide” suggests keeping a 30-day list: Don’t buy anything until it has been on your list for 30 days. That way you avoid impulse buying, and you have the time to take advantage of deals.
   
   SKIP THE WHOLE IDEA OF "MAJOR PURCHASES". YOUR LIFE AS A CONSUMER AND SHOPPER IS OVER.
   
   
5. Buy only with cash
   
   People get themselves into the most trouble with credit card-backed, sudden-urge purchases. Having to pass over a wad of $50 bills has a powerful way of promoting restraint.
   
   REDUNDANT ADVICE TO THOSE WITH NO CREDIT.
   
   
6. Use cash and get discounts
   
   Retailers hate paying credit card fees out of what they get from a sale. So offer cash; many times you’ll get a discount—if you ask.
   
   TAKE ADVANTAGE OF "SENIOR DAY" PRICING. SCROUNGE A NEWSPAPER, IF ONE IS STILL PRINTED IN YOUR AREA, FOR COUPONS. LEARN HOW TO FIND COUPONS ON LINE AT THE LOCAL LIBRARY TERMINALS...
   
   
7. Take all available discounts
   
   If you travel, get an AAA card. You’ll usually save 15% on motels. Senior discounts are everywhere—ask if you don’t see them. If you live in a tourist area ask for the local discount; most places give them. Or, just ask, “Do you have any discounts?” You’ll often be surprised.
   
   I'M LAUGHING SO HARD, I CAN'T TYPE. TRAVEL IS BY AMBULANCE, TO CLOSEST HOSPITAL....
   
   
8. Take advantage of free entertainment
   
   Read the newspaper and online guides; you’ll be pleased with how many free (and good) events there are. Many museums have one day a week or month that’s free. Use your DVR to record your favorite TV shows and classic movies. Just about every good movie gets on TV someday. Libraries have many free programs and resources.
   
   THIS GOES WITHOUT SAYING...IF YOU ARE IN AN URBAN COLLEGE TOWN, SUCH THINGS EXIST. IF YOU CAN FIND A RIDE.
   
   
9. Manage your communication expenses
   
   Cable TV, Internet access, home telephone, cell telephone, data plans, Netflix and Sirius radio can add up to astounding fees. Consider consolidating: get rid of the land line, get a family cell plan, put phone/cable/Internet with same supplier. Cancel your cable and watch TV online. Talk on Skype or Facetime. You should be able to be cut something.
   
   IN A MONOPOLY, YOU HAVE TWO CHOICES: PAY, OR GO WITHOUT
   
   
10. Stay healthy
    
    Copays, drugs, and other out-of-pocket expenses can actually drive you into bankruptcy. So save big bucks. Get yourself into shape, cut down your vices, take your medicine, and generally take care of yourself.
    
    THIS APPLIES TO EVERYONE
    
    
11. Travel by bike—or walk
    
    At $4 a gallon, every car trip you take costs you money. We guarantee you will enjoy a short bike ride or walk a lot more, and it will be free.
    
    IF ANYTHING IS WITHIN WALKING OR BIKING DISTANCE, AND YOUR KNEES OR HIPS HAVEN'T RETIRED BEFORE YOU....
    
    
12. Practice frugal gifting
    
    Think ahead about what gifts you need to purchase in the coming year. Buy when they are on sale, or knit, draw, or build something more meaningful at a fraction of the cost. Last-minute excursions to buy gifts almost always cost you more.
    
    OR JUST GO WITHOUT
    
    
13. Cut smoking, alcohol, and sweets
    
    Besides killing you, the price of a pack of cigarettes is obscene. Cut down or stop your consumption of alcohol and sweets, both of which can turn out to be a pretty big (and unhealthy) part of your budget.
    
    PEOPLE WITH SEVERE ADDICTIONS LIKE THESE DON'T LIVE LONG RETIREMENTS...
    
    
14. Maintain your stuff
    
    You paid a lot of money for your car and household appliances. Read the manual and take the simple steps they outline to preserve their long life and cut down on repair bills.
    
    GET HOUSEKEEPING SERVICES FROM THE WELFARE AGENCY, SO THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIVE WITH SQUALOR FROM AN INABILITY TO LIFT OR CARRY OR PUSH THE VACUUM ANYMORE...IF YOUR STATE HAS ANY SUCH THING.
    
    
15. Make more money
    
    The corollary to saving money is to make more of it so you have it to spend. Looking for a paying job that is fun or rewarding can give you the wherewithal to have some extra spending fun in your life.
    
    AH, YES, I KNOW SEVERAL 70+ IMPOVERISHED WOMEN WHO HAVE GONE BACK TO WORK: CLEANING OFFICES, CHECKOUT LINE AT GROCERY STORE, HOME HELP CARE, SUBSIDIZED PAPER-PUSHING FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICE....GREAT IDEA! AT LEAST THEN YOU CAN AFFORD THE CAT FOOD....
    
    http://www.marketwatch.com/story/15-ways-to-live-well-in-a-cheapskate-retirement-2013-03-02?siteid=YAHOOB

[bread_and_roses]

40. Food fight on Science Friday (there is an economics connection)

Quite amusing exchanges yesterday on Science Friday segment: Seeking a Grain of Truth in "Whole Grain" Labels
http://www.sciencefriday.com/segment/03/01/2013/seeking-a-grain-of-truth-in-whole-grain-labels.html

The two guests were

Joanne Slavin
Professor, Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota

David Ludwig
Professor, Pediatrics, Director, New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center, Boston Children's Hospital

I was in and out of the car so did not hear the whole segment, but did catch a good bit of it. Professor Ludwig spoke about the why whole grains are healthier than refined, but also pointed out that eating grains at all was a relatively recent development in human history (approx 6,000 yrs I think, with the transition to settled agricultural communities), and that humans actually had no nutritional need for grains at all. This made Professor Slavin (note where she works and take a guess where her loyalties lie) clutch her pearls and quite sharply remind him that national guidelines specified three (or whatever it is ) servings of grains a day. She also - while giving the nod to the greater benefits of whole grains - went to pains to reassure listeners that really, any grain at all was good grain. If you want to eat couscous (nutritional content - http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5699/2 - not much better than processed white bread http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/baked-products/4872/2), why that's just fine.

Right at the end, with about thirty seconds left, a caller pointed out how expensive real whole foods are, and asked what lower-income people were to do? (Now, he was shopping for really high-end "natural" foods at "Whole Foods" type prices but it's true - good unrefined foods in almost all cases cost significantly more than processed foods cooked to death and loaded with sugars and salts and cheap unhealthy fats). What was Professor Slavin's response? Why, words something like "whatever your cultural norms are for grain products, that's fine!"

Which, you will all note, did not answer the question - which is an important one. Oh, and did I mention that I really detest that industry vampires get to make donations to "research" institutions that advise gov & public - and then we're all supposed to believe they are independent and unbiased? More capitalism at it's ever ghoulish finest.

[Demeter]

41. I caught a bit of that discussion, too

My policy is: if it's on sale, and you like it, buy it. Learn how to cook, so you don't have to buy the frozen prepared, or buy that only on sale. Flour, oatmeal, other grains aren't expensive, it's the packaging, freezing, and pre-preparation that cost.

Personally, I doubt that I could go carbohydrate-free, and I don't think it's healthy, either. The 6000 year theory is just that...theory. It's not like there'd be archaeological samples older than that...and the 6000 year old samples indicate that it was quite a thriving concern then, not a struggling fad. Why the hell else would people get into settled agriculture, if they weren't eating like that, and thriving, in the first place?

Whole Foods is 90% BS. Unless you personally grew it, you cannot know, or trust a retailer about the "organic-ness"..

There's one piece of advice I really believe: If your grandmother (or great-grandmother) wouldn't have recognized it as food, it probably isn't. You can extend that to grandmothers of other cultures, if you are gastronomically adventurous.

It's more the lack of exercise, really. If you use large muscle groups, you need to eat. If you don't...you are either on a perpetual starvation diet or ballooning up, and you cannot build or maintain muscle mass that way, which is the first requirement of health, full functionality and longevity.

[bread_and_roses]

52. LOL, I am someone who lives by "bread is the staff of life"

I think carbs are fine too - in moderation and reasonably whole and unprocessed. (I have to add the "reasonably" because I truly dislike 100% whole grain bread. When I baked my own, I used roughly 1/3 whole wheat to 2/3 unbleached white and threw in a little toasted wheat germ. It was delicious. Especially when I used the potato recipe - marvelous for toasting and loading up with butter.

I think hunter-gatherers probably gathered a few wild grains when they were ripe, but I doubt they were a significant part of their diet. Not that I couldn't be wrong - I'm no expert. The Professor was not trying to say that all grains were harmful - though he was pretty fierce on refined processed grains and their effect on digestion/sugar levels/all that sort of thing. But he quite clearly seemed to think they should not be the major food intake for anyone who wants to be healthy. With which I do agree.

There's one piece of advice I really believe: If your grandmother (or great-grandmother) wouldn't have recognized it as food, it probably isn't. You can extend that to grandmothers of other cultures, if you are gastronomically adventurous.

Overall, yes. However, if your cultural norm is a diet composed of 90% white rice, that's not really healthy for a largely sedentary population, I think.

Having people in my family who have the barrel-middle, muscled but also adds fat readily genetic body type (endomorph?) I have noticed that they simply cannot eat a lot of carbs of any sort and not get fat. Whereas I, with a different genetic make-up can eat anything at all - whole chocolate milk, loads of pasta - in any quantity and stay lean.

[Demeter]

42. Report from YVES SMITH of naked capitalism

ECONNED is three years old today (March 1). I am finally getting microscopic royalty checks. Since most books never earn back their advances, this means yours truly wuz robbed! But I became friends with Tom Adams, Richard Smith, and Andrew Dittmer (as well as got to know people who helped in smaller capacities, plus had my first two whistleblowers of sorts on Magnetar) so it was worth it in the end.

CONGRATULATIONS, YVES!

[Demeter]

43. More Criticism in Internal IMF Report

...GRABEL: Well, something else which is really fascinating about the report is that the report indicts the technical capabilities of IMF economists in one particular way. Since 2011, during the time when the IMF became really obsessed with this matter of excess reserve accumulation, its staffed developed a metric, essentially a measurement to tell them when countries have too many official reserves. And the new Independent Evaluation Office report indicts the quality of the IMF's own measurement techniques, suggesting that there is no academic basis for the measurement techniques that the IMF actually uses in order to make a case that countries have accumulated official reserves. That's something which is not terribly surprising to a lot of IMF critics, who have on many different occasions over the last many years indicted the IMF's—just the quality of its work and whether its economists really can measure the kinds of things that they say that they can measure and develop policy advice on the basis of those metrics.

JAY: Right, 'cause you're going to use the word excessive, you've got to have some measurement what's excessive. And if the math don't work, then it's just some opinion, their saying it's excessive.

GRABEL: Exactly. Exactly. And it takes away the claim that this excess reserve accumulation is something that could really be objectively measured by the IMF. They don't actually have a metric that allows them to do so, even though they pretend that that's the case.

JAY: And I guess part of the reason the IMF doesn't like this is these countries don't have to borrow any money from the IMF, so they don't have to listen to whatever the IMF says anyway.

GRABEL: Exactly. And some of these same countries now have actually come to lend money to the IMF during the crisis. There have been two occasions during the global financial crisis when developing countries for the first time in the history of the IMF have actually started to lend money to the IMF rather than borrowing money from the IMF. And that's really shaking things up at the institution...

ONE WOULD HOPE SO! IF EVER THERE WAS NEED OF A GOOD SHAKING....

[Demeter]

47. Wall Street's Been So Obsessed With Elizabeth Warren It Missed The Real Threat In The Senate

http://www.businessinsider.com/sherrod-brown-safe-banking-act-2013-3

Any time Senator Elizabeth Warren speaks, Wall Streeters pay rapt attention to see, waiting for clues as to what kind of action she'll take to rein in the financial services industry. The problem with that is it may have created a bit of tunnel vision. While Warren certainly has been outspoken in Senate Banking Committee hearings, other Senators have been taking action.

Yesterday, Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and David Vitter (R-LA) both gave presentations on the floor of the Senate about ending "too big to fail." Here's part of what Brown said (you can read the full text on his website):

Wall Street has been allowed to run wild for years. We simply cannot wait any longer for regulators to act.

These institutions are too big to manage, they are too big to regulate, and they are surely still too big to fail.

We cannot rely on the financial market to fix itself because the rules of competitive markets and creative destruction do not apply to the Wall Street megabanks.

Megabanks’ shareholders and creditors have no incentive to end “too big to fail” – they get paid out when banks are bailed out.

Taking the appropriate steps will lead to more mid-sized banks – not a few megabanks – creating competition, increasing lending, and providing incentives for banks to lend the right way.

Cam Fine, the head of the Independent Community Bankers of America, is calling for the largest banks to be downsized because he sees that his members are at a disadvantage.

Just about the only people who will not benefit from reining in these megabanks are a few Wall Street executives.

Congress needs to take action now to prevent future economic collapse and future taxpayer-funded bailouts.

I want to thank my colleague, Senator Vitter, who recognizes this problem and is joining me in doing something about it.

I am pleased to announce today that we are working on bipartisan legislation to address this “Too Big to Fail” problem.

It will incorporate ideas put forward by Tom Hoenig, Richard Fisher, and Sheila Bair.

Yep, legislation inspired by the writing of former FDIC Chairwoman, Sheila Bair. She's made no secret of her desire to see banks more regulated. Politicians have been talking about ending too big to fail a lot more recently too. Ben Bernanke was grilled about it during testimony in the Senate and the House this week.

Another important thing to note about Brown that makes his speech that much more important, is that in 2010 he sponsored the SAFE Banking Act. The law was defeated by a vote of 33-61, but its passage would've been crushing for Wall Street. The law put a 10% cap any bank's liabilities, leverage, and share of deposits in the United States, just to name a few measures. So it looks like Brown's crusade has been reinvigorated and he has a Republican on his side too (Wall Street loves the word 'bipartisan'). Sure, Elizabeth Warren is someone to watch, but Wall Street better keep an eye on Brown and Vitter too. They're already on the move.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/sherrod-brown-safe-banking-act-2013-3#ixzz2MObkMb1j

VIDEO AT LINK OF BROWN'S PRESENTATION

[Demeter]

48. Sherrod Brown Teams Up With David Vitter To Break Up Big Banks Amanda Terkel

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/28/sherrod-brown-banks-david-vitter_n_2782665.html

Multi-trillion dollar financial institutions continue to get richer, exerting more and more control over both America's economy and its political system. The top 20 largest banks' assets are nearly equal to the nation's gross domestic product.

Now, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), along with unlikely ally Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), is launching an effort to break up the taxpayer-funded party on Wall Street.

"The best example is that 18 years ago, the largest six banks' combined assets were 16 percent of GDP. Today they're 64-65 percent of GDP," Brown said. "So the large banks are getting bigger and bigger, partly because of the financial crisis, partly because of the advantages they have."

"The system is such that the big banks have far too many advantages, bestowed in part by the marketplace, because investors understand and the market understands that government might in fact bail them out, so there is lower risk for investors, and that means that they can borrow money at a lower cost than anybody else can," Brown said, explaining why small- and mid-sized banks are at a disadvantage.

Brown and Vitter announced on Thursday that they were working together on bipartisan legislation to address this problem.

"I think the fact that Sen. Brown and I are both here on the floor echoing each other's concerns, virtually repeating each other's arguments, is pretty significant," Vitter said Thursday in his Senate floor remarks. "I don't know if we quite define the political spectrum of the United States Senate, but we come pretty darned close. And yet, we absolutely agree about this threat."

In his floor remarks, Brown underscored the urgency -- and the challenge -- in breaking up the biggest banks.

"Just about the only people who will not benefit from reining in the megabanks are a few Wall Street executives," he said.

MORE

[Demeter]

49. What do you want? The Volcker Rule! When do you want it? Last summer when you said we’d have it!

http://ftalphaville.ft.com/2013/03/01/1406172/what-do-you-want-the-volcker-rule-when-do-you-want-it-last-summer-when-you-said-wed-have-it/?

...According a press release on Wednesday:

Occupy the SEC (OSEC) has filed a lawsuit in the Eastern District of New York against six federal agencies, over those agencies’ delay in promulgating a Final Rulemaking in connection with the “Volcker Rule”

The branch of Occupy that’s filing this suit is the same branch that submitted a 325-page comment letter to the agencies on the Volcker Rule back in February 2012 — and no, it wasn’t that it was in really big font or something, though admittedly the note which the press took of the page count was a bit weird.

The content of the letter from last year set forth arguments in support of a strong implementation of the rule, complete with penalties. And it was critical of what it referred to as the “lax regulatory posture” of the agencies tasked with turning Dodd-Frank into a reality. The letter also answered a considerable number of the questions posed by the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR).

As Yves Smith of Naked Capitalism noted at the time, most of the comment letters responding to NPRs are from the industry itself and various lobby groups, so it was refreshing to see such a thorough effort on behalf of the 99 per cent — to stick to the strap-line of Occupy for a moment...

[bread_and_roses]

61. To this and the post below: ABOUT EFFING TIME! (n/t)

[DemReadingDU]

62. yes indeed, totoally agree

[Demeter]

51. We who are about to go freeze off major portions of our anatomy salute you!

I'll get back to posting when (if) I thaw out....

Stay warm, stay dry, keep on posting!

[bread_and_roses]

53. that would include me

Have a work obligation that requires me being outdoors for about four hours today...in -30 F and a good wind ....

[Demeter]

58. Came in from the Cold

Had home-made clam chowder in a bread bowl....made it Friday. My recipe makes over two gallons, so I've been giving it away, freezing it, and most especially, eating!

Because strawberries are going for $1/lb and this is the last day, bought rhubarb, too. And pie shells. Strawberry rhubarb pie on Monday. It may not look like it, but I will pretend it's spring. Now, if only I had enough energy to cook the asparagus....

[kickysnana]

60. We walked on the wild side tonight and ordered from China Tiger

Last edited Sun Mar 3, 2013, 03:55 AM - Edit history (1)

The economic news there is that they were out of cream cheese wontons before 5:30pm. And they had little bitty green peppers cut in quarters. I was afraid at first they were hot peppers. My mouth likes hot peppers but the rest of me no longer does.

We used to order there about once a month but the last couple years it has been about 3 times a year.

PS We do tip.

[bread_and_roses]

63. 'Screw the Troika!' Portugal's Streets Flooded With Message: 'Austerity Kills'

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/03/02-1

Published on Saturday, March 2, 2013 by Common Dreams
'Screw the Troika!' Portugal's Streets Flooded With Message: 'Austerity Kills'
- Andrea Germanos, staff writer

Over 40 cities across Portugal on Saturday were filled calls by the thousands denouncing the austerity imposed by the Troika—the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank.

Carrying banners reading "Screw the Troika" and "Austerity Kills," protesters marched under the slogan, "It is the people who lead," a line from Grandola, Vila Morena, a song that became the anthem of the 1974 "Carnation Revolution" against dictatorship.

The demonstrations, BBC News reports, coincide with a visit by inspectors from the EU and the IMF, which demanded austerity measures as a condition for a 78bn-euro (£64bn) bailout in 2011.

"This government has left the people on bread and water, selling off state assets for peanuts to pay back debts that were contracted by corrupt politicians to benefit bankers," Fabio Carvalho, a movie-maker taking part in the protest in Lisbon, told Reuters.

Bears repeating, even though we all know this is the story:

"This government has left the people on bread and water, selling off state assets for peanuts to pay back debts that were contracted by corrupt politicians to benefit bankers,"

[bread_and_roses]

64. "shaking the foundations of ... economics: There's Such a Thing as "Human Nature," Right?"

This is long and fairly dense but I think important reading. Of course, I do have a bias ... I have, ever since my days as a caseworker, been dubious and in the end contemptuous of what seemed to me very shaky certitudes coming out of schools of Social Work (and those, I presume, based on the type of research discussed below - if one can assume they were based on anything at all other than some anecdotal graduate student experiences) that were supposed to guide our work. I was contemptuous enough to decline the opportunity to get an MSW at next to no cost - I knew I could not pretend to take seriously the sorts of precepts that were treated as gospel by the MSWs we had working with us. While I do not pretend to have the seriousness or discipline to undertake the "hard" sciences, I did develop a permanent distrust of the "soft" - anthropology, psychology, economics. I kept noticing that their newest certitudes often contradicted their last, yet were nonetheless trumpeted with the same pompousness.

http://www.alternet.org/culture/theres-such-thing-human-nature-right

Pacific Standard [1] / By Ethan Watters [2]
There's Such a Thing as "Human Nature," Right?
February 26, 2013

Joe Henrich and his colleagues are shaking the foundations of psychology and economics—and hoping to change the way human behavior and culture is understood

While the setting was fairly typical for an anthropologist, Henrich’s research was not. Rather than practice traditional ethnography, he decided to run a behavioral experiment that had been developed by economists. Henrich used a “game”—along the lines of the famous prisoner’s dilemma [5]—to see whether isolated cultures shared with the West the same basic instinct for fairness. In doing so, Henrich expected to confirm one of the foundational assumptions underlying such experiments, and indeed underpinning the entire fields of economics and psychology: that humans all share the same cognitive machinery—the same evolved rational and psychological hardwiring...

... never mind that the test subjects were nearly always from the industrialized West... A 2008 survey of the top six psychology journals dramatically shows how common that assumption was: more than 96 percent of the subjects tested in psychological studies from 2003 to 2007 were Westerners—with nearly 70 percent from the United States alone. Put another way: 96 percent of human subjects in these studies came from countries that represent only 12 percent of the world’s population.

... As Heine, Norenzayan, and Henrich furthered their search, they began to find research suggesting wide cultural differences almost everywhere they looked: in spatial reasoning, the way we infer the motivations of others, categorization, moral reasoning, the boundaries between the self and others, and other arenas. These differences, they believed, were not genetic. The distinct ways Americans and Machiguengans played the ultimatum game, for instance, wasn’t because they had differently evolved brains. Rather, Americans, without fully realizing it, were manifesting a psychological tendency shared with people in other industrialized countries that had been refined and handed down through thousands of generations in ever more complex market economies. When people are constantly doing business with strangers, it helps when they have the desire to go out of their way (with a lawsuit, a call to the Better Business Bureau, or a bad Yelp review) when they feel cheated. Because Machiguengan culture had a different history, their gut feeling about what was fair was distinctly their own. In the small-scale societies with a strong culture of gift-giving, yet another conception of fairness prevailed. There, generous financial offers were turned down because people’s minds had been shaped by a cultural norm that taught them that the acceptance of generous gifts brought burdensome obligations. Our economies hadn’t been shaped by our sense of fairness; it was the other way around.

bold emphasis added

Lots more - particularly important the ways that the near total absence of interaction with the natural world in US (and presumably other Western Industrial Societies shape perception and responses .... very disturbing and ominous, given our hegemony of power and the current dire state of the ecosystem ....

In the end they titled their paper “The Weirdest People in the World?” (pdf) [10]By “weird” they meant both unusual and Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. It is not just our Western habits and cultural preferences that are different from the rest of the world, it appears. The very way we think about ourselves and others—and even the way we perceive reality—makes us distinct from other humans on the planet, not to mention from the vast majority of our ancestors. Among Westerners, the data showed that Americans were often the most unusual, leading the researchers to conclude that “American participants are exceptional even within the unusual population of Westerners—outliers among outliers.”

bold emphasis added

Just staggering when one considers that we have not only dominated the entire world with our brand of economic religion but have, in our sciences, decided that OUR culture is not, actually, culture - which by definition is not hardwired and is malleable - but that our culture actually defines the "norm" of "human nature" - based on universal genetic make-up. As men were once considered the "norm" for humanity, and women a sort of sub-species...

on edit - meant to add, I am not about to take all this as gospel either - although the research strikes me as better than most of the junk I've read coming out of the social sciences over the years - but I do think it is great food for thought, especially the economics example, given our determination to spread the gospel of Capitalism around the globe.