Weekend Economists Clean Out Davy Jones' Locker, March 2-4, 2012

[Demeter]

We have lost our beloved Monkee Davy Jones...David Thomas "Davy" Jones (30 December 1945 – 29 February 2012)

The Monkees - I'm a Believer [official music video]

The Monkees were designed to commercially rip off the Beatles and their highly successful music video "Help!"..Conceived as an American pop rock group, the Monkees might qualify as the forerunner to the Boys Bands... Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, Peter Tork, and Englishman Davy Jones. The band's music was initially supervised by producer Don Kirshner... At the start, the four actors provided vocals for the songs that were played during the television episodes and released as records, but were otherwise given extremely limited performing and production opportunities. They eventually fought for and earned the right to collectively supervise all musical output under the band's name. The group undertook several concert tours, allowing an opportunity to perform as a live band as well as on the TV series. Although the show was canceled in 1968, the band continued to record music through 1970. The group reached the height of fame from 1966 to 1968, and influenced many future artists. In 1986, their 20th year, the television show and music experienced a revival, which led to a series of reunion tours, and new records featuring various incarnations of the band's lineup.

The Monkees had a number of international hits which are still heard on pop and oldies stations. These include &quot Theme From) The Monkees", "Last Train to Clarksville", "I'm a Believer", &quot I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone", "Pleasant Valley Sunday" and "Daydream Believer". Their albums and singles have sold over 65 million copies worldwide....

During the casting process, Don Kirshner, the Screen Gems head of music, was contacted to secure music for the pilot that would become The Monkees. Not getting much interest from his usual stable of Brill Building writers, Kirshner assigned Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart to the project. The duo contributed four demo recordings to the pilot, featuring their own voices. One of these recordings was &quot Theme From) The Monkees" which helped get the series the green light.

When The Monkees was picked up as a series, development of the musical side of the project accelerated. Columbia-Screen Gems and RCA Records entered into a joint venture called Colgems Records primarily to distribute Monkees records. Raybert set up a rehearsal space and rented instruments for the group to practice playing, but it quickly became apparent they would not be in shape in time for the series debut. The producers called upon Don Kirshner to recruit a producer for the Monkees sessions.

Kirshner called on Snuff Garrett, composer of several hits by Gary Lewis & the Playboys, to produce the initial musical cuts for the show. Garrett, upon meeting the four Monkees in June 1966, decided that Jones would sing lead, a choice that was unpopular with the group. This cool reception led Kirshner to drop Garrett and buy out his contract. Kirshner next allowed Nesmith to produce sessions, provided he did not play on any tracks he produced. Nesmith did, however, start using the other Monkees on his sessions, particularly Tork as a guitarist. Kirshner came back to the enthusiastic Boyce and Hart to be the regular producers, but he brought in one of his top east coast men, Jack Keller, to lend some production experience to the sessions. Boyce and Hart observed quickly that when brought in to the studio together, the four actors would try to crack each other up. Because of this, they would often bring in each singer individually.

According to Nesmith, it was Dolenz's voice that made the Monkees's sound distinctive, and even during tension-filled times Nesmith and Tork voluntarily turned over lead vocal duties to Dolenz on their own compositions, such as Tork's "For Pete's Sake", which became the closing title theme for the second season of the TV show. Former The Turtles bassist Chip Douglas was responsible for both music presentation—actually leading the band, engineering recordings, as well as playing bass on most of the TV-era recordings.

The Monkees' first single, "Last Train to Clarksville", was released in August 1966, just weeks prior to the broadcast debut. In conjunction with the first broadcast of the television show on September 12, 1966 on the NBC television network, NBC and Columbia had a major hit on their hands. The first long-playing album, "The Monkees", was released a month later and shot to the top of the charts. The rest is history...

&feature=related

Davy Jones Interview

&feature=related

Monkees singer Davy Jones suffered heart attack in stable; spent final days riding horses

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/monkees-singer-davy-jones-suffered-heart-attack-in-stable-spent-final-days-riding-horses/2012/03/02/gIQARSW4mR_story.html



Monkees' lead singer Davy Jones reportedly to be buried in Florida

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/music/monkees_lead_singer_davy_jones_reportedly_CqDHtU8eFKfEx81U01UaYI#ixzz1o0GnbMhC


It was perhaps inevitable...smaller men are far more likely to die of heart attacks than their taller friends. I'm glad he was living the life he wanted when Death stopped for him...that's the best any man can expect.

[Tansy_Gold]

1. Thanks. n/t

[Demeter]

4. You're Welcome

(for what? Did Po send you that deleted post? Can I see it?)

[Ruby the Liberal]

19. Thanks for the videos!

Rachel Maddow had Peter Tork on tonight for a segment. Dude is 70 now and doesn't look a day over 50. Amazing.

It was a fun segment - should be up on her MSNBC page tomorrow.

[Demeter]

2. NYT OBIT: Davy Jones, Monkees Singer, Dies at 66

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/01/arts/music/davy-jones-a-singer-in-the-monkees-dies-at-66.html

...David Thomas Jones was born on Dec. 30, 1945, in Manchester, England. A child actor, he appeared on “Coronation Street,” the British soap opera that went on the air in 1960 and is still running, and in the police drama “Z Cars.” After his mother’s death when he was a teenager, he abandoned acting. Slight of build — he stood not much more than 5 feet tall in his prime — he began to train as a jockey.

Lured back into the theater a few years later, he played the Artful Dodger in the West End musical “Oliver!” When the production moved to Broadway in 1963, he reprised the role (billed as David Jones), earning a Tony nomination as best featured actor in a musical. Appearing with the cast of “Oliver!” on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” Mr. Jones had a transformative moment. After the cast sang, he heard wild cheering. But alas it was not for them: it was for the Beatles, also booked on the show that day. “I thought: Is that what happens when you’re a pop singer?” Mr. Jones told The Palm Beach Post in 2004. “I want to be part of that!” His work on Broadway led to guest roles on a few mid-’60s television shows, including “Ben Casey” and “The Farmer’s Daughter.” He was signed to a contract with Columbia Pictures/Screen Gems Television, which produced “The Monkees.”

Mr. Jones, who had homes in Hollywood, Fla., and Beavertown, Pa., spent his later years touring; acting occasionally on television shows like “My Two Dads” and “Boy Meets World”; raising horses; and recording, including the well-received solo album “Just Me” (2001), which featured his original songs.

Whatever Monkeedom still attached to him (and it was considerable) did not dismay him. “People ask me if I ever get sick of playing ‘Daydream Believer’ or whatever,” he told The Chicago Daily Herald, a suburban newspaper, in 2006. “But I don’t look at it that way. Do they ask if Tony Bennett is tired of ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco’?”

Mr. Jones’s first marriage, to Linda Haines, ended in divorce, as did his second, to Anita Pollinger. His survivors include his third wife, Jessica Pacheco; two daughters from his first marriage, Talia Jones and Sarah McFadden; two daughters from his second marriage, Jessica Cramar and Annabel Jones; three sisters, Hazel Wilkinson, Lynda Moore and Beryl Leigh; and three grandchildren. And Three More Monkees.

[Demeter]

3. Interesting Factoid

Perhaps Mr. Jones’s most enduring legacy takes the form of a name. The name belongs to another English musician, who burst on the scene some years after the Monkees. This man, too, had been born David Jones. But thanks to the Monkees’ renown, he knew he would have to adopt another name entirely if he was to have the hope of a career.

So he called himself David Bowie.

[Hugin]

42. Thanks for the Davy Jones theme this week, Demeter.

His passing this week hit me kind of hard...


I distinctly remember doing the "Monkee's Walk" with a couple of my friends way back in the Day. *sigh*


No, they weren't The Beatles... They were the MONKEES!!! They were OURS!


Maybe, it was because they were more approachable to my cohort. In my opinion, there hasn't been anything like them before or since.

More than a Music phenom, they were the first Video phenom!

[Demeter]

5. AND ANOTHER GEORGIA BANK BITES THE DUST

Global Commerce Bank, Doraville, Georgia, was closed today by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Metro City Bank, Doraville, Georgia, to assume all of the deposits of Global Commerce Bank.

The three branches of Global Commerce Bank will reopen during their normal business hours beginning Saturday as branches of Metro City Bank...As of December 31, 2011, Global Commerce Bank had approximately $143.7 million in total assets and $116.8 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Metro City Bank agreed to purchase approximately $79.0 million of the failed bank's assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition...The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $17.9 million. Compared to other alternatives, Metro City Bank's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. Global Commerce Bank is the 12th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the third in Georgia. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Central Bank of Georgia, Ellaville, on February 24, 2012.

[Demeter]

6. MESSAGE FROM YVES SMITH

"I know this matters more to me than to you, but ECONNED is two years old today (well it does have a new afterword as of the paperback release late last year)."

CONGRATULATIONS!

[Demeter]

7. The global zombie shuffles on

http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2012/03/the-global-zombie-shuffles-on/

My theory for global growth this year is that it will slow from last year and any acceleration will be difficult and halting. That’s because Europe has set course for perpetual recession via austerity and a credit crunch, the US looks headed for a slowdown on lousy income growth and China is going to have its version of a balance sheet shakeout as it suppresses house prices. As such I’ve been looking for signs of weak rebounds in the PMIs. And I’ve found them.

We know of China’s and Japan’s manufacturing zombies, as well as the slowdown in growth in last night’s US ISM. Now today we can add the export bell weathers of South Korea and Taiwan. First to the ROK:

Business conditions in the South Korean manufacturing sector improved for the first time since July 2011 during February. This was highlighted by the HSBC South Korea Manufacturing PMI® posting 50.7, up from January’s reading of 49.2. Nonetheless, the latest figure pointed to only a marginal rate of growth.

South Korean manufacturers reported an increase in new business received during February, ending a six-month sequence of contraction. Nonetheless, the expansion was only marginal. Similarly, new export orders increased, but only slightly. Panellists commented that ongoing fragile economic conditions and strong competition for new business had limited the extent to which overall new work intakes increased.

So, a fairly subdued bounce. Meanwhile, in Taiwan the news was similar with a bit more upside:

The HSBC Taiwan PMI™ – a composite indicator designed to provide a single-figure snap-shot of the health of the manufacturing sector – posted 52.7 in February, up from 48.9 in January, and signalled modest growth of the sector. Furthermore, the expansion ended an eight-month period of deteriorating operating conditions.

Manufacturers in Taiwan reported a rise in new business during February, the first such increase since May 2011. Increasing almost seven points, the seasonally adjusted New Orders Index pointed to solid growth of new work intakes. Similarly, an expansion of new export business was also registered. Panellists commented that increased demand, both at home and overseas, had contributed to the rise in overall new orders. Export markets particularly noted to have shown an improvement were China, Europe and the US.

Finally, now we’ve done the rounds of the global PMIs once more, we can look at the J.P.Morgan Global PMI:

The JPMorgan Global Manufacturing PMI™ broadly held its ground at 51.1 in February, little-changed from 51.3 in January, to signal an improvement in operating conditions for the third straight month. Levels of output, new orders and employment all moved higher.

So, as you can see, not going anywhere fast and a glance at the internals is no more encouraging with forward pointing indicators weaker than headline:

We’ve averted a banking crisis in the US, more recently one in Europe, and probably one in China right now. My guess is we’ll now pay with slow growth. Everywhere.

[hamerfan]

8. Davy trivia

Davy Jones was on Ed Sullivan as The Artful Dodger with cast members of Oliver Twist the same night The Beatles were on Ed:

RIP, Davy. I'm A Bereave-er....
hamerfan

[InkAddict]

61. I watched that show...

Memories, like the corners of my mind...misty water-color memories...of the way we were...
Growing up in the 60s...

Somehow, my ever-culturally-correct mother thought I should get a new "do" and my fly-away tresses that refused to stay combed wound up on the May or Higbee's downtown department store salon floor in favor of an "Oliver" cut.

I went looking for a site that showed what an Oliver looked like and found these clips:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1913&dat=19630406&id=h7QgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vmkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4478,3797961

then the story was re-worked for this New England paper

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19630413&id=CbUrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=E_8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=3743,3902439

Check out the other creepy 60s women's style page - back in the day...OMG!

[Demeter]

9. Why the Monkees -- and Davy Jones -- should get respect By David Browne

http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/01/opinion/browne-davy-jones/index.html



Editor's note: David Browne is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone and author of "Fire and Rain: The Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story of 1970." (Da Capo)

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(CNN) -- The death of Davy Jones on Wednesday from a massive heart attack at age 66 elicited all the standard commentary about the Monkees, the band that made him a star: The Monkees were a made-for-TV boy band. They recorded tunes written not by them, but by reputable songwriters like Neil Diamond ("I'm a Believer&quot , Harry Nilsson ("Cuddly Toy&quot , and the team of Carole King and Gerry Goffin ("Pleasant Valley Sunday&quot . They were Beatles knockoffs and teen idols...Those points are all valid, but they miss two essential aspects of the Monkees' story. The first is fairly simple: Despite their undoubtedly contrived origins, they turned out to be one of pop's finest bands, arguably the most underrated in rock history. The second is deeper: Their ongoing lack of critical respect speaks to struggles within the music world — authenticity vs. artifice, pop vs. rock — that continue to this day, more than 45 years after the launch of their short-lived sitcom. It's unlikely that anyone, least of all the Monkees themselves, thought there was anything serious about the project when their TV series debuted in fall 1966. NBC and creators Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson were in search of actors to play a fictional band modeled after the Beatles in "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!" After many auditions, they chose two young show biz professionals (Jones, the sole Brit, and Micky Dolenz) and two folk-rockers who knew how to sing and play (Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith).

From the start, the Monkees had little control over their music and even album covers. Sparkling early hits like "I'm a Believer" and "Last Train to Clarksville" were written by outside tunesmiths and played by studio musicians. Fairly soon after the show's launch, the Monkees, Nesmith especially, began to chafe at their artistic constraints. In what TV Guide called "The Great Revolt of '67," they demanded control over their records, and out went Don Kirshner, the venerable publisher who had overseen their early releases. This period, what we could call Monkees 2.0, resulted in "Daydream Believer," "Pleasant Valley Sunday," and many other songs on which the Monkees were far more involved (producing and playing many of the instruments themselves).

No matter the period or who was behind the console, the Monkees could make magical records, as I was reminded when, by strange coincidence, I plowed through their "Music Box" boxed set just last weekend. The collection's four discs reaffirm the largely high quality of their material and multihued variety of the arrangements. They could do credible garage rock ("[I'm Not Your] Steppin' Stone," "Words," "She&quot , exquisite ballad-centric pop ("Sometime in the Morning," "I Wanna Be Free&quot , and quasi-psychedelia ("Daily Nightly," which features one of the first appearance on record of a synthesizer). Songs that Nesmith wrote or sang — "The Door into Summer," "I Don't Think You Know Me" — wouldn't have been out of place on more highly regarded Byrds albums of the same '66-'70 period. "For Pete's Sake," the snappy "... in this generation" song heard over the closing credits of each episode of their show, was written by Tork. The Sex Pistols and Run-DMC both covered songs made famous by the Monkees: "Steppin' Stone" and "Mary, Mary," respectively.

Jones, who had proven his stage chops before the Monkees by starring in a British production of "Oliver!", was more than just their eternally cherubic, always-on singer and maracas player. He could caress the hits ("Daydream Believer&quot , invest a song with suitable snideness (the groupie song "Star Collector&quot and even co-write a very credible pop reverie ("Dream World&quot . Yet for all that musical breadth, the Monkees still don't quite get the credit they should, which gets to the issues of credibility that swirl around them and anything considered too Top 40. By the time their show launched and became an immediate hit, it was becoming de rigueur for pop and rock bands to write their own songs, to express themselves. The Monkees did this on later albums like "The Birds, The Bees and the Monkees," but they never recovered from being seen as puppets.

They were the right band at the wrong time, and unfairly so.

[hamerfan]

11. The Monkees

had cred. End of story.
Unfortunately, we are one step closer to a world in which Peter Tork is the last living Monkee.

[Demeter]

10. Euro and Yen: Looking for a Black Cat in a Dark Room

http://www.creditwritedowns.com/2012/03/euro-and-yen-looking-for-a-black-cat-in-a-dark-room.html

Never known for being easy, the euro and yen seem particularly difficult to understand presently. During such times it is often best to return to basics. Foreign exchange reflects the cost of money. So do interest rates. The relationship between the two is not always clear and stable. Recently there have been some shifts in those relationships that market participants should be aware of.

Turning to the euro first, we note that yesterday the US-German 2-year differential poked through the 10 bp level. The US 2-year yield moved above Germany’s in mid-December 2011 and has remained generally above there this year except for a brief exception in early Feb. The US premium yesterday was the high for 2012 and even now at 8 bp it is about 2x the 20 day moving average. Yet the euro has trended higher. We find this to be an anomaly. On a 30-day rolling basis since early February, a wider premium for the US has been correlated with a stronger euro. This positive correlation (conducted on the level of the euro and the level of the interest rate spread) is rare. It occurred twice briefly last year and once in 2010. The correlation stands just below 0.43 today, which is the highest since Jun 2009. The last time the correlation was positive was in the second half of Aug 2011. We know with the benefit of hindsight that the correlation broke down and, as interest rate differentials moved more in the US favor, the euro fell. In a somewhat less rigorous fashion, we find it is more the case that the euro is overvalued relative to the change in the 2-year interest rate differential, than the interest rate differential is too wide given the euro’s level.

That said, there are a number of observers suggesting that the backing up of US rates in the past couple of days is largely a function of Bernanke, who in congressional testimony seemed less dovish than in the recent past. Some have gone further and claim the risks of QE3 have declined. We have maintained that the bar to QE3 was high in any event and we did not think it was the most likely base case. However, we do not see anything in Bernanke’s testimony to suggest a change in his stance: Economic growth is disappointing and more stimulus may be needed, even if not immediately, for the Fed to meet its statutory objectives. Indeed, most recently we have argued that the rise in oil prices and gasoline prices presents a new headwind for the economy, which if sustained, could provide the doves at the Fed (and they include most of the governors and several presidents) a new reason to expand the balance sheet. Realpolitik considerations suggest that the Fed will not deny itself a policy tool that it argues has been effective while it still plays up the downside risks to the economy. In a larger sense, the use of central bank balance sheets may be a permanent addition to their tool kits going forward. Just like the Great Depression led to a permanent role for the government to support aggregate demand, so too the Great Recession has produced a policy response that may have been unorthodox, but may become part of the orthodoxy.

Let’s look at the yen. The BOJ governor acknowledged less than a year ago that the dollar-yen rate was highly correlated with 2-year interest rate differential. That differential reached 19 bp earlier today, which is the highest since last August. The correlation between the yen (yen against the dollar, not dollar against the yen) is -0.90 today. That means as the interest differential widens, the yen tends to depreciate. That inverse correlation is the strongest since last May. In the last two months of 2011, the correlation was positive not inverse...Between the relatively constructive US economic data, higher oil prices, and now some ideas that Bernanke is signaling a shift in stance, US yields have risen. The 2-year remains anchored by the near zero overnight interest rate and the belief that rates will not be hiked any time soon. Still, the US 2-year yield has risen from about 20 bp at the end of last month to 30 bp in recent days. The BOJ surprised the market by extending its asset purchase program on Feb 14 and decline in the 2-year Japanese yield that it spurred also served to widen the spread. However, the recent Japanese data, including retail sales and industrial production suggests an economic recovery in the current quarter. The risk then is that the 2-year interest rate differential between Japan and the US narrows and that this weighs on the dollar against the yen.

[Demeter]

12. What the Monkees Meant to Me

Last edited Fri Mar 2, 2012, 09:44 PM - Edit history (1)

I was the target age when the Monkees came out...my classmates raved about them...while I didn't particularly crush on them (my heart belonged to Vulcan) I liked the comedy, and the songs were singable. The best part was, the Monkees looked like they were having fun.

Not too many people were having fun in the '60's, especially the young men. Vietnam sucked the joy out of everything and everyone.The search for comedy brought the Monkees, Laugh-In and many other tours de force to the public.

And joy is something we lack even more these days. Our comedians are trying too hard and come across as far too serious: Colbert, Stewart, Maher: they are serious because they are satirists. Slapstick is left to the GOP, who can't really handle it effectively. Consider Limbaugh, for example...get the hook! Or take Santorum, please!

Maybe vaudeville is finally dead. T'would be a pity if it were.

[Hugin]

45. ...

Please, see my entry above for my thoughts... Very similar. I should have posted here.

[hamerfan]

13. Musical Interlude

The Monkees. Valleri:

[Demeter]

14. ART CASHIN: We May Have Just Witnessed The Presence Of Artificial Intelligence In The Stock Market

YVES SMITH REMARKS: If this is how Skynet awakens, I’m not impressed.

MAYBE NOT, BUT I'D BE TERRIFIED...

http://www.businessinsider.com/art-cashin-artificial-intelligence-stock-market-2012-3?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Triggermail&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Business%20Insider%20Select&utm_campaign=BI%20Select%20Recurring%202012-03-01

Wednesday morning, there was a violent sell-off in stocks that seemed to start exactly at 10:00 AM. This had some New York Stock Exchange floor traders scratching their heads.

Art Cashin, UBS Financial Services' director of floor operations, caught some of the trader chatter and reported it in this morning's Cashin's Comments.

It seems that the supernatural speed of the sell-off had traders thinking two words: artificial intelligence.

Here's an excerpt from this morning's Comments:

Algo My Way By Myself Or Open The Pod Doors, HAL - As noted, the instantaneous nature of the selloff around 10:00 raised lots of questions. First of all, Mr. B does not usually mention QE3. He might vaguely allude to further easing and other such code phrases. Further, if it was a quick review of the prepared remarks by thousands of traders, how could the reaction be so instantaneous and uniform?

Those questions prompted an intriguing hypothesis that began circulating in early afternoon. The hypothesis postulated that the speech had been instantly parsed by a computer using artificial intelligence.

Recall that for several months now the Fed has been stressing its “dual mandate”. It stressed that it couldn’t be tied down to worrying about inflation and a firm dollar with the economy still staggering. The very weak labor market meant that they had to keep stimulating under its charge in the “dual mandate”.

Now, if you pick up your copy of Bernanke’s prepared statement, please read the first four paragraphs. Note that paragraph three begins:

We have seen some positive developments in the labor market. Private payroll employment has increased by 165,000 jobs per month on average since the middle of last year, and nearly 260,000 new private-sector jobs were added in January. The job gains in recent months have been relatively widespread across industries….

Then paragraph four starts out:

The decline in the unemployment rate over the past year has been somewhat more rapid than might have been expected, given that the economy appears to have been growing during that time frame at or below its longer-term trend….

The jobs portion of the dual mandate looked suddenly less compelling. You wouldn’t need much artificial intelligence to see that quickly and clearly.

So was the selloff started by someone’s version of HAL 9000? We don’t know for sure. There are said to be such experiments on trading desks at hedge funds and elsewhere. And, it certainly fits the action to a tee. We’ll check around the watering holes.

[Demeter]

15. THE BEATLES MEET THE MONKEES

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Meeting the Beatles

Critics of the Monkees observed that they were simply the "Pre-Fab four", a made-for-TV knockoff of The Beatles; The Beatles, however, took it in their stride and hosted a party for the Monkees when they visited England. The party occurred during the time when The Beatles were recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band; as such, the party inspired the line in the Monkees' tune "Randy Scouse Git", written by Dolenz, which read, "the four kings of EMI are sitting stately on the floor." Nesmith attended the "A Day in the Life" sessions at Abbey Road Studios; he can be seen in The Beatles' home movies, including one scene where he is conversing with John Lennon. During the conversation, Nesmith had reportedly asked Lennon "Do you think we're a cheap imitation of the Beatles, your movies and your records?" to which Lennon assuredly replied, "I think you're the greatest comic talent since the Marx Brothers. I've never missed one of your programs."[15] George Harrison praised their self-produced musical attempts, saying, "It's obvious what's happening, there's talent there. They're doing a TV show, it's a difficult chore and I wouldn't be in their shoes for the world. When they get it all sorted out, they might turn out to be the best."[15] (Tork was later one of the musicians on Harrison's Wonderwall Music, playing Paul McCartney's five-string banjo.)

Dolenz was also in the studio during a session, which he mentioned while broadcasting for WCBS-FM in New York (incidentally, he interviewed Ringo Starr on his program). Paul McCartney can be seen in the 2002 concert film Back in the U.S. singing "Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees", the theme from The Monkees show, while backstage.

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

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[Demeter]

16. Wolf Richter: Deep Trouble at the Core of the Eurozone

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/03/wolf-richter-deep-trouble-at-the-core-of-the-eurozone.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

In France, new vehicle registrations have been plunging. Already down 17.8% in December and 20.7% in January compared to prior year, they sank 20.2% in February. Year to date, the results were even worse than they appear. With 43 selling days in 2012, against 41 in 2011, sales per selling day were down 24.2%. French automakers suffered the most. In February, PSA Peugeot Citroën was down 29.2% and Renault 28.5%.

Last year, the prime à la casse—the cash-for-clunkers à la Française—was doping sales through March 31, 2011. The CCFA (Comité des Constructeurs Français d’Automobile) expects the nosedive to accelerate next month. It also estimates that sales for the entire year will decline by 7-10%, which may be a tad optimistic, given the headwinds France faces.

Layoffs and plant closings will be tough to undertake during the election, as they become highly politicized. Labor Minister Xavier Bertrand issued a stern warning to Philippe Varin, CEO of PSA; layoffs as part of its alliance with GM would be out of the question. Already in November, Varin was summoned by President Nicolas Sarkozy and told to reconsider laying off 6,800 workers.

And layoffs might even be tougher to undertake after the election if socialist François Hollande wins. Last quarter, the French economy lost 31,900 jobs, the first quarterly job losses in two years, and unemployment rose to 9.8%. These trends will put immense pressure on Hollande to do something visible. And for auto manufacturers, it will mean even greater difficulties....

MORE: GERMANY'S CARS, UNEMPLOYMENT, AND THE COST OF GASOLINE...

[Demeter]

17. PERHAPS THE BEST CLOSE FOR THE EVENING

Requiescat in pace et in amore

[Demeter]

18. ISDA: Suckers Wanted By Barry Ritholtz

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/03/isda-suckers-wanted/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBigPicture+%28The+Big+Picture%29

“The International Swaps and Derivatives Association said on Thursday that based on current evidence the Greek bailout would not prompt payments on the credit default swaps.”

Here is a question for the crowd: Exactly how brain damaged, foolish and stupid must a trader be to ever buy one of these embarrassingly laughable instruments called derivatives?

The claim that Greece has not defaulted — despite refusing to make good on their obligations in full or on time — is utterly laughable.

In order to get paid on a default, you need a committee to evaluate whether or not failing to make payments is a — WTF?!? — default? Even more ridiculous, the committee is composed of biased, interested parties with positions in the aforementioned securities?

ISDA: After this shitshow, why on earth would anyone EVER want to own an asset class that requires you to determine payout? Indeed, why should ANYONE ever buy a derivative again?

[Demeter]

20. Matt Stoller: Wall Street Fixer Rodge Cohen – Big Banks Key to American Global Dominance

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/matt-stoller-wall-street-fixer-rodge-cohen-%E2%80%93-big-banks-key-to-american-global-dominance.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

By Matt Stoller, the former Senior Policy Advisor to Rep. Alan Grayson and a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. You can reach him at stoller (at) gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @matthewstoller. Cross posted from New Deal 2.0.

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

Sometimes finance executives let slip the way they really feel: that they hold the world in the palm of their hands.

It’s not often that the people in charge admit what is really going on: a global game for political dominance. I just saw an interview with Wall Street superlawyer Rodgin (“Rodge”) Cohen of Sullivan & Cromwell, the secret force behind (among other things) the expanded emergency lending power of the Federal Reserve through section 13(3). You know, that’s the law allowing the Fed to lend unlimited sums based on whatever it wants to lend, a section amended in 1991 at Cohen’s behest. He was involved in “more than 17 deals” during the crisis in 2008, including the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, the $85 billion AIG bailout deal, and the takeover of Fannie Mae by the federal government. He is, as Bill Black said, the fixer of Wall Street. Here’s his quote, at minute 3:39 of this Bloomberg interview:

Hopefully we will not see the major financial institutions in this country disappear because if we do we will also see a loss of ability to influence events not only financially but also politically throughout the world.

That’s pretty clear. It reminds me of this quote from an anonymous military officer while he was touring JP Morgan’s trading floor (emphasis added):

JPMorgan Chase yesterday hosted about 30 active duty military officers (across all branches and agencies) from the Marine Corps War College in Quantico, Va. The officers met with senior executives, toured the trading floor and participated in a trading simulation. They discussed recruitment, operations management, strategic communications and the economy. Aside from employees thanking them for their service as they passed by, they also received a standing ovation on the trading floor. Said one officer after a senior JPM exec thanked him for his service: “We promise to keep you safe if you keep this country strong.”

There are always conspiracy theories out there about a global linkage between large financial institutions and American empire. They don’t, however, usually come from the people running the place.

[Hotler]

44. Artifical intelligence plus this...

This is fucking scary. No longer can it be a conspiracy that things in this country and the world are controled for and by the rich which makes them powerful. The PTB are alive and well. Are they the "Black Hand"? That means that our elected officals and presidents are bought and paid for and told what to do. I see no hope and I see no future except to survive until I'm called like Davy Jones. I'm going to grab a workout and when I'm done I'm going to start drinking. Ciao!

[Demeter]

21. Michael Hudson: 2,181 Italians Pack a Sports Arena to Learn Modern Monetary Theory – The Economy

Michael Hudson: 2,181 Italians Pack a Sports Arena to Learn Modern Monetary Theory – The Economy Doesn’t Need to Suffer Neoliberal Austerity

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/michael-hudson-2181-italians-pack-a-sports-arena-to-learn-modern-monetary-theory-%E2%80%93-the-economy-doesn%E2%80%99t-need-to-suffer-neoliberal-austerity.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

By Michael Hudson, a research professor of Economics at University of Missouri, Kansas City and a research associate at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College

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

I have just returned from Rimini, Italy, where I experienced one of the most amazing spectacles of my academic life. Four of us associated with the University of Missouri at Kansas City (UMKC) were invited to lecture for three days on Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and explain why Europe is in such monetary trouble today – and to show that there is an alternative, that the enforced austerity for the 99% and vast wealth grab by the 1% is not a force of nature.

Stephanie Kelton (incoming UMKC Economics Dept. chair and editor of its economic blog, New Economic Perspectives), criminologist and law professor Bill Black, investment banker Marshall Auerback and me (along with a French economist, Alain Parquez) stepped into the basketball auditorium on Friday night. We walked down, and down, and further down the central aisle, past a packed audience reported as over 2,100. It was like entering the Oscars as People called out our first names. Some told us they had read all of our economics blogs. Stephanie joked that now she knew how The Beatles felt. There was prolonged applause – all for an intellectual rather than a physical sporting event.

With one difference, of course: Our adversaries were not there. There was much press, but the prevailing Euro-technocrats (the bank lobbyists who determine European economic policy) hoped that the less discussion of possible alternatives to austerity, the easier it would be to force their brutal financial grab through.

All the audience members had contributed to raise the funds to fly us over from the United States (and from France for Alain), and treat us to Federico Fellini’s Grand Hotel on the Rimini beach. The conference was organized by reporter Paolo Barnard, who had studied MMT with Randall Wray and realized that there was plenty of demand in Italian mass culture for a discussion of what actually was determining the living conditions of Europe – and the emerging financial elite that hopes to use this crisis as an opportunity to become the new financial lords carving out fiefdoms by privatizing the public domain being sold off by governments that have no central bank to finance their deficits, and are tragically beholden to bondholders and to Eurocrats drawn from the neoliberal camp...

[Demeter]

22. I HOPE THEY RECORDED IT! MUST READ

...The basic thrust of our argument is that just as commercial banks create credit electronically on their computer keyboards (creating a bank account credit for borrowers in exchange for their signing an IOU at interest), governments can create money. There is no need to borrow from banks, as computer keyboards provide nearly free credit creation to finance spending.

The difference, of course, is that governments spend money (at least in principle) to promote long-term growth and employment, to invest in public infrastructure, research and development, provide health care and other basic economic functions. Banks have a more short-term time frame. They lend credit against collateral in place. Some 80% of bank loans are mortgages against real estate. Other loans are made to finance leveraged buyouts and corporate takeovers. But most new fixed capital investment by corporations is financed out of retained earnings.

Unfortunately, the flow of earnings is now being diverted increasingly to the financial sector – not only to pay interest and penalties to banks, but for stock buybacks intended to support stock prices and hence the value of stock options that managers of today’s financialized companies give themselves. As for the stock market – which textbook diagrams still depict as raising money for new capital investment – it has been turned into a vehicle to buy out companies on credit (e.g., with high interest junk bonds) and replace equity with debt. Inasmuch as interest payments are tax-deductible, as if they were a necessary cost of doing business, corporate income-tax payments lowered. And what the tax collector relinquishes is available to be paid out to the bankers and bondholders who get rich by loading the economy down with debt...

[Demeter]

23. TRUE SUBVERSION MEANS NOT "GOING ALONG TO GET ALONG"

...Some attendees came up and explained that they had come all the way from Spain, others from France and cities across Italy. And although we did many press, radio and TV interviews, we were told that the major media were directed to ignore us as not politically correct.

Such is the censorial spirit of neoliberal monetary austerity. Its motto is TINA: There Is No Alternative, and it wants to keep matters this way. As long as it can suppress discussion of how many better alternatives there are, the hope is that the public will remain acquiescent as their living standards shrink and wealth is sucked up to the top of the economic pyramid to the 1%.

The audience requested above all more theory from Stephanie Kelton, who gave the clearest lecture on economics I had ever heard – a Euclidean presentation of MMT logic. For a visual of the magnitude, see

.

At the end, we felt like concert performers.

The size of the audience filling the sports stadium to hear our economic explanation of how a real central bank should operate to avoid austerity and promote rather than discourage employment showed that the government’s attempt to brainwash the population was not working. It was not working any better than Harvard’s Economics 101 class, from which students walked out in protest against the unrealistic parallel universe thinking whose only appeal is to Aspergers Syndrome sufferers who are selected as useful idiots to train to draw pictures of the economy that exclude analysis of the debt overhead, rentier free lunches and financial parasitism.

[Demeter]

24. BP in $7.8bn settlement of gulf claims

BP and the lawyers representing tens of thousands of victims of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill have reached an $7.8bn out-of-court settlement over damages, a US judge has said, delaying the trial that had been due to start on Monday.

In a statement on Friday night, Judge Carl Barbier of the federal district court in New Orleans said “plaintiffs’ counsel and counsel for BP have reached an agreement on the terms of a proposed class settlement which will be submitted to the court for approval.”

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/NA70KK/GDHNY7/CWSVD/EXJ4RL/ZGDSST/QR/t?a1=2012&a2=3&a3=2

[Demeter]

25. Chris Cook: The Oil End Game

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/02/chris-cook-the-oil-end-game.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

By Chris Cook, former compliance and market supervision director of the International Petroleum Exchange. Cross posted from Asia Times

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

The end game is about to begin. On the one hand you have the noise and rhetoric. Greedy speculators gouging gasoline prices; mad mullahs preparing to wipe Israel off the map; bunker buster bombs and fleets being positioned; huge demand for oil from the BRIC countries; China’s insatiable thirst for oil; the oil price will head for $200 a barrel and will never again fall below $130 …

On the other hand you have the reality.

Oil Markets

The oil markets are completely manipulated and orchestrated, and the conductors of the orchestra have the benefit of having already held a rehearsal in 2008. History never repeats itself, but it does rhyme. This time around it is not demand from the United States that is collapsing, but European Union and United Kingdom demand, as oil prices in euros and pounds sterling have never been higher. In the meantime, the US is awash in oil as domestic production quietly increases, flushed out by the high prices. As I have outlined in previous articles, the culprit for the high oil prices between 2009 and 2012 – with the exception of the speculative “spike” between March 2011 and June 2011 driven by Fukushima and Libyan price shocks – has been passive investment by risk-averse investors, which enabled producers to support oil prices at high levels. Much of this passive money underpinning the market and enabling producers to monetize inventory pulled out of the market in September 2011, and another wave pulled out in December 2011.

What is now happening is the end game: an orchestrated wave of noise that is drawing in speculative money. This is enabling the producers who are actually in the know to hedge by selling production forward during what they confidently expect will be a temporary – and pre-planned – managed fall in the oil price. The smartest kids on the block knows that gasoline prices much over US$4 per gallon will be both deflationary and lethal to President Barack Obama’s re-election chances. So that won’t happen other than briefly.

I am by no means the only commentator who has pointed out the complete counter-productivity of these oil sanctions. The smart kids are well aware that oil sanctions are completely useless, and simply enable China to fill its strategic reserves at a discount to the market price at the expense of Greece and Italy in particular. But the US has been quite happy to let the EU – as useful idiots – take the economic hit. The high oil prices caused by all this noise and nonsense are actually a net benefit to Iran – which rattles its sabre loudly as elections approach. The effect of a managed decline in oil prices to, and probably over-correcting well through, $60 a barrel – which is coming fairly soon – will be extremely beneficial to the US in two ways. Firstly, it will be catastrophic in particular for Iran, Russia and Venezuela – not exactly on the White House party list – whose hugely oil-dependent revenues will collapse. The ensuing economic mayhem will open these countries up to regime change and to rescue plans which Wall Street will be dusting off. Secondly, the US population will be laughing all the way to the gas station as gasoline prices fall – at least temporarily – below $2.50 a gallon and release purchasing power into the economy, thereby doing the president’s re-election chances no harm at all...What will then happen is that members of the Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries will panic and genuinely reduce their production. The Saudis/Gulf Cooperation Council will again orchestrate the inflation of the oil price – as they did in 2009 – comfortable in the knowledge that they have been able to hedge against this temporary fall in prices at the expense of the speculators currently pouring in to the market.

That’s the game plan as I see it of the smartest kids on the block. What could ever go wrong?

A Buyers’ Strike

READ ON TO THE EXCITING CONCLUSION AT LINK! (SORRY FOR THE TEASER...)

[hamerfan]

26. Mike Nesmith

posted a brief eulogy to Davy:

"All the lovely people. Where do they all come from?

So many lovely and heartfelt messages of condolence and sympathy, I don’t know what to say, except my sincere thank you to all. I share and appreciate your feelings.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.

While it is jarring, and sometimes seems unjust, or ...strange, this transition we call dying and death is a constant in the mortal experience that we know almost nothing about. I am of the mind that it is a transition and I carry with me a certainty of the continuity of existence. While I don’t exactly know what happens in these times, there is an ongoing sense of life that reaches in my mind out far beyond the near horizons of mortality and into the reaches of infinity.

That David has stepped beyond my view causes me the sadness that it does many of you. I will miss him, but I won’t abandon him to mortality. I will think of him as existing within the animating life that insures existence. I will think of him and his family with that gentle regard in spite of all the contrary appearances on the mortal plane.

David’s spirit and soul live well in my heart, among all the lovely people, who remember with me the good times, and the healing times, that were created for so many, including us.

I have fond memories. I wish him safe travels."

[Hotler]

40. I to believe...

"I am of the mind that it is a transition and I carry with me a certainty of the continuity of existence."

[Demeter]

27. Pity the Poor Judges By: Cynthia Kouril

http://my.firedoglake.com/cindykouril/2012/02/27/pity-the-poor-judges/

Now that the 49 State AG settlement has immunized manufacturing evidence, forgery and perjury, it’s going to be a lot tougher to be a judge. After all, how can you ever rule on a motion based upon affidavits and documentary evidence if it’s now OK to lie and to manufacture phony documents? Will judges need to take courses in document forensics in order to rule on simple motions? Or will courts become even more clogged, because each affiant must be made to appear and confirm their own knowledge of the evidence in their affidavits or even that their own signature appears on the document? Will every motion now necessitate a mini trial?

This settlement corrupts the court system completely. That or it bogs it down to a point where the cost of litigation, no bargain to begin with, will become out of reach of all but the billionaires. Think about it, if every bit of testimony on every matter, including pre-trial motions, must be had live and in court to avoid perjured and forged documents; the costs of litigation increases by orders of magnitude. In that case, this settlement screws the banks themselves. Honest judges will no longer be able to accept their motions for Summary Judgment in foreclosure cases and will be forced to make the banks produce the affiants in court to testify from their own knowledge. Since these affiants are usually nowhere near the states where their affidavits are used, the travel costs alone will make the cost of foreclosing on an average house prohibitive.

No, I don’t think the formerly hold out AGs are playing eleventy dimensional chess. They sold out, got played, whatever. Yet most judges didn’t become judges because they wanted to deliberately mete out injustice. Most judges don’t want to give a verdict to a party that lacks standing. Most judges don’t want to see the judicial branch held in the same dismal light as Congress and many of the state legislatures. Time and time again, when things have gone crazy in the legislative and/or executive branches, it has fallen to the judicial branch to set things back on course. We see that with judicial rejections of regulatory settlements that render the settling agency a joke and expose its corruption by regulatory capture. We see that with judges who force the affiants to come to court to testify from their own knowledge {those are the foreclosure cases that tend to get dismissed}.

The alternative is for the judges to acquiesce to allowing forged and perjured documents in their courts. This creates its own momentum. If it’s OK to use forged and perjured documents in mortgage contract cases, then why not in other contract cases? Docx and LPS can expand their business model. If it’s OK in contract cases, what about other kinds of cases? How about opening up a new robo-signing operation to manufacture false business records to give criminal defendants alibis? Instead of a lost promissory note affidavit as we currently have, how about a lost surveillance tape affidavit? It could say something along the lines of “at the time defendant is alleged to have committed the murder, our surveillance tapes show him to have been working the fry-o-lator at Y burger franchise in X city. That tape has been lost or taped over, but before that happened, the undersigned viewed that tape and can confirm the defendant’s alibi.”

There you go. Alibi affidavits on demand, courtesy of your lucrative robo-signing document mill.The possibilities are endless: forged wills, forged bills of sale, forged identity documents (ending the problem of undocumented immigrants). You name it, if it can be proven in court by affidavit or assignment or allonge, you can do it with phony documents. MORE AT LINK

THIS ARGUMENT IS KNOWN AS REDUCTIO AD ABSURDUM: a form of argument in which a proposition is disproven by following its implications logically to an absurd consequence, AND IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE EXISTENCE OF SCALIA, THOMAS AND ROBERTS, I'D ACCEPT IT.

BUT AS IT STANDS TODAY, I'D ACCEPT AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE JUDICIARY IN THIS COUNTRY IS AS PRONE TO CORRUPTION AS THE EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE AND BUSINESS COMMUNITIES. WE ARE NO LONGER A NATION OF LAWS. ADJUST YOUR PLANS TO EITHER COPE, OR TO END THE CORRUPTION.

CYNTHIA CONTINUES:

WAIT A MINUTE! I just thought of something, if it is now acceptable to use forged and perjurious documents in foreclosure cases, DOCX, LPS and the other document mills have a huge new market available to them with homeowners. If forged and backdated allonges and assignments are OK, so too should be forged Satisfactions of Mortgage. Once the homeowner obtains a forged SAT from a document mill and files it with the county clerk, in theory, shouldn’t their foreclosure case be dismissed?

I take it all back, those state AGs really did provide meaningful relief for homeowners, at least for homeowners willing to commit fraud on the court. Now to pry my tongue out of my cheek.

[Demeter]

28. We are having another Massive Low and Windstorm

It's heading towards New England, having kept the roaring up all night around here so a body couldn't sleep...looks like a Nor'easter to me. This has been a Extreme Spring, lasting 4 months already.

The threat of snow in the Midwest has been greatly exaggerated...we've had rain enough to swamp out the place, but whatever snow fell this year disappeared within hours, unless piled up in parking lots.

[Demeter]

29. EVERYTHING IS A REMIX==DOCUMENTARY

http://www.everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series/

[xchrom]

30. that was a relly nice rain we had last night. how do i know? cause i've been awake since 2:15.

[xchrom]

31. Adrian Hamilton: Is there really no alternative? Let Irish voters be the judge of that

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-hamilton/adrian-hamilton-is-there-really-no-alternative-let-irish-voters-be-the-judge-of-that-7468927.html

The saddest comment to come from Europe this week was made by a senior Brussels official who declared that the eurozone crisis was now on its way to a solution thanks to the intervention of the European Central Bank to pump a further half-trillion euros into the system by way of loans to the banks.

Oh, yes? With the Irish now holding a referendum on the new fiscal pact agreed by eurozone members, with the Bundesbank openly criticising the ECB for its actions, and the markets stolidly refusing to believe in the Greek bailout or in the guarantees on sovereign debt, does anyone really believe it's over? Certainly not in the capitals of Europe, Berlin and Paris among them.

That's the trouble with the EU at the moment. It has become a case of the dog that doesn't bark. The only thing at all interesting about its summits is not what they decide but that they never quite decide anything.

Look at the latest summit in Brussels, which began yesterday and should finish today. It was supposed to set the seal on the new fiscal pact that would create a new era of fiscal responsibility and economic union. It was also intended to raise the ceiling on the bail-out funds to a level that would convince the markets that the eurozone was here to stay, solid, complete and effective.

[Demeter]

32. More Americans Rejecting Marriage in 50s and Beyond

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/us/more-americans-rejecting-marriage-in-50s-and-beyond.html?pagewanted=all&src=ISMR_AP_LO_MST_FB

.....growing number of men and women in their 50s and 60s who are opting out of marriage and venturing into old age on their own. Over the past 20 years, the divorce rate among baby boomers has surged by more than 50 percent, even as divorce rates over all have stabilized nationally. At the same time, more adults are remaining single. The shift is changing the traditional portrait of older Americans: About a third of adults ages 46 through 64 were divorced, separated or had never been married in 2010, compared with 13 percent in 1970, according to an analysis of recently released census data conducted by demographers at Bowling Green State University, in Ohio. Sociologists expect those numbers to rise sharply in coming decades as younger people, who have far lower rates of marriage than their elders, move into middle age....Susan L. Brown, co-director of the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State, said the trend would transform the lives of many older people. The elderly, who have traditionally relied on spouses for their care, will increasingly struggle to fend for themselves. And federal and local governments will have to shoulder much of the cost of their care. Unmarried baby boomers are five times more likely to live in poverty than their married counterparts, statistics show. They are also three times as likely to receive food stamps, public assistance or disability payments. “We can’t just say that older people don’t get divorced or that middle-aged people won’t grow old alone,” said Dr. Brown, who analyzed the census data with I-Fen Lin, an associate professor of sociology at Bowling Green State. The research was published online in The Gerontologist. “Now we actually need to pay attention to it, not only to the factors that precipitate it, but also to the consequences,” Dr. Brown said.

The surge in the number of older, unmarried Americans has been driven by several factors, including longevity, economics and evolving social mores, according to sociologists. People are living longer, and many couples in their 50s and 60s — faced with the prospect of a decade or more in unhappy marriages — are reluctant to stay the course. Women, who are increasingly financially independent, are more willing and able to go it alone. And many baby boomers, who came of age during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and ’70s, feel less social pressure to marry or stay married than their parents and grandparents did. (Only about 17 percent of adults over 64 in 2010 were divorced, separated or had never been married, census data show.) Being divorced or single later in life also no longer carries the stigma that it did for previous generations.

Even as they mourn their marriages and worry about financial security and retirement, many divorced people describe a sense of liberation. Ms. Dunn, who has two children, wept through her divorce proceedings. She and her husband, a carpenter whose business was battered by the recession, grew apart after 18 years of marriage, despite their efforts to reconcile. “I always wanted to be with someone for the long haul,” she said. But during this winter on her own, she has treasured her time alone, taking time to meditate on quiet weekday mornings and going on hiking trips with friends through the snowy mountains...Robert Dellaert, 55, who moved to Florida from California to be closer to his mother after he and his wife split, started a seaplane tourism business once he got used to life on his own. He also met and moved in with his current girlfriend. Mr. Dellaert is in growing company. In 2010, about 12 percent of unmarried adults ages 50 through 64 were living together but not married, up from 7 percent in 2000, census data show. “Making a new start really gave me a lot of joy,” he said...Most unmarried baby boomers are living alone, however, and many are struggling to adjust to new worries about the future. Some are grappling with the ailments of older age. Others are mourning the loss of spouses and the collapse of social circles that for decades had revolved around their married friends....William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, warns that many unmarried baby boomers will confront greater economic hardships than their married parents and grandparents, and their married counterparts. Many members of this generation, which has been battered by the recession, have fewer children and thinner financial cushions in savings and pensions. “It means a whole different world for seniors,” Mr. Frey said.

Ms. Dunn said she tries not to think too hard about retirement or getting old. She runs a campground from April through October and supplements her income by coaching lacrosse at a local high school. She has no health insurance and no pension to rely on. She lives in an 18th-century farmhouse she inherited from her father, and it needs repairs that she cannot afford. She said she will probably have to sell some land that she owns to make ends meet when she is too old or too infirm to work. THE DENIAL RUNS STRONG IN THIS ONE!

THIS IS WHAT MAKES THE CONSTANT ATTACKS ON SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, MEDICAID, THE ENTIRE SAFETY NET, SO EGREGIOUS. BUSINESSES HAVE SHED THEIR PENSION PLANS RIGHT AND LEFT. GOVERNMENTS HAVE CUT TO THE BONE THE VERY REASON FOR THEIR EXISTENCE IN THE SERVICE OF PROFITS FOR THE FEW.

THIS IS WHAT WE THE PEOPLE HAVE GOT TO TURN AROUND. OR WE ALL PERISH. INCLUDING THE 1%.

[Demeter]

34. And by the way, those living alone don't necessarily choose to

It may be that there are no reasonable alternatives.

When the personal development or maturity of the man and the woman don't even come close, a winter-spring marriage may work, but a summer-fall one won't. There are too many mature women, too many immature men, and far too many who have not made a separate peace in the battle of the sexes. The male prerogative to be the leader, a religious tenet for too many men and women alike, is a tremendous impediment.

It's part of a larger turmoil...with everything in flux, adaptability is the key. An adaptable adept would have to be nuts to take on a weaker partner in these days of crisis without a substantial cushion of money, power and privilege.

If one wants to lead the less experienced, that's what children are for, and they grow up and mature. A childish adult over the age of 25-30 is unlikely and/or unable to progress in maturity. That's why there's so much divorce.

[Tansy_Gold]

54. And those who live together without benefit (?) of marriage have their reasons,

most of which coincide with everything you wrote.

Women of the immediate post-war baby boom who were children raised in the Ozzie & Harriet family model then had to transition through the 60s & 70s chaos of a sexual revolution in part fueled by The Pill and a wilderness of no-fault divorce in which most men were much more financially secure. Regardless what the rightwing pundits may say, I don't think most young women today have any desire to endure what their mothers and grandmothers did. Far too many of us are the damaged ones who somehow managed to survive, and we won't be going back into that kind of bondage ever again, and we'll do whatever we can to make sure our daughters and granddaughters -- our sons and grandsons, too! -- never have to go through it either.



TG, who knows whereof you speak, sister.

[AnneD]

66. My first experience was to a ....

Mama's boy who refused to grow up. Instead of sending him back to his wife to work things out, they took him back and coddled him. He ended up not making the transition to adulthood. A true failure to launch. He never had to learn the discipline of getting or keeping a job. He just lived off his parents. Now, his mom is at the end of her life and he will not get squat from SS or anything else. I just hope he doesn't glum on to our daughter. I can say he truly does not deserve her love or attention, but that is not what she sees, so what can I do. It is always easy to love Disneyland Dad as opposed to Responsibility Mom. Everyone wants to enjoy the birthday party but no one wants to clean up the mess.

And while I like Hubby number 2, he never raised kids and is missing the depth in character that develops from that experience. But then again, he has helped me grow in other direction than I might not have gone. I frequently tell him that if he ever dies, I will not marry ever again. I have always been a responsible person and I would like for once just to be responsible for myself ONLY. I feel I could do far better.

I raised my daughter to stand on her own because I truly believe that a woman that can stand on her own makes a better human being, wife and mother should she chose. With the exception of my Mom, most of my great Aunts and Uncles have celebrated golden and diamond anniversaries. I do's were taken seriously.

Right now my daughter is seriously dating a nice guy and someone I think is a good match with her talents and temperament. He is a homebody and will always treat her (or any other female) well. He too comes from a family that has long marriages. He is 4 years older and they are at the same maturity level. I don't want to press her, but I don't want for her to pass up an opportunity either.

[xchrom]

33. Company pension schemes fall to record low popularity {uk}

http://www.independent.co.uk/money/pensions/company-pension-schemes-fall-to-record-low-popularity-7440705.html

The number of employees saving into a workplace pension has fallen to less than half for the first time since official records began. They've slipped to a low of 48 per cent, according to the Office of National Statistics.

"We've passed an important and worrying landmark," warned Darren Philp of the National Association of Pension Funds. "Less than half the workforce is saving into a pension, and with people living longer the UK is facing a growing headache in paying for its old age."

The problem is that the Government has slashed future state pension benefits for people in the anticipation that they will save for their own retirement. But with most firms scrapping attractive final salary schemes, there's been less encouragement for people to put money aside. The net result could be an army of penniless pensioners.

There are hopes that new rules being introduced from next year that force all companies to automatically enrol staff into a workplace pension scheme will help. "But more needs to be done," said Mr Philp. "We must provide pensions that people have the confidence to save in."



*** that's the whole article.

[xchrom]

35. Spain planning to breach EU budget targets, warns prime minister Mariano Rajoy

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9119376/Spain-planning-to-breach-EU-budget-targets-warns-prime-minister-Mariano-Rajoy.html

Mariano Rajoy, prime minister of Spain, said the budget deficit would be 5.8pc of GDP in 2012 - more than 30pc higher than the 4.4pc target agreed by Brussels.

In a move that was heralded in Spain as defiance against the German-led austerity drive, Mr Rajoy said he had decided to set a new target rather than extract €44bn (£36.6bn) from the budget at a time of economic crisis. Mr Rajoy said it was now a "sensible and reasonable" target. "This is a sovereign decision made by Spaniards," he said.

Spain's appeals to Brussels to relax the targets have been rebuffed in recent days. The European Commission has reportedly insisted on investigating the reasons for Spain missing its previous targets first.

At the EU summit in Brussels this week, leaders said the targets were non-negotiable. Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt said: "The first thing that we do after the new rules [on budget stability] should not be to relax them."

[xchrom]

46. Spain defies Brussels by granting itself the leeway it was denied on the deficit

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/03/02/inenglish/1330692080_137998.html

Spain on Friday threw down the gauntlet to the European Commission by announcing a deficit target for this year of 5.8 percent of GDP, 1.4 points above the 4.4 percent goal previously agreed with Brussels.

The figure was announced just a day after Spain at a summit in Brussels failed to get the blessing of its European partners for some leeway in the 4.4-percent target. “The first thing that we do after the new rules [on budget stability] should not be to relax them, “Swedish Prime Minister Frederik Reinfeldt said.

Faced with the prospects of finding budget savings of 44 billion euros to meet the 4.4-percent target at a time when the country is heading for recession and amid growing social unrest about cutbacks and drastic reforms to the labor market that makes it cheaper and easier to sack workers, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy had pledged a “sensible” budget.

Announcing the figure on Friday in Brussels, Rajoy insisted it fell within the framework of the EU’s Growth and Stability Pact. "If you ask me if it’s in line with the regulations, I say yes, both as recommended by the European Union as well as within the Stability Pact.”

[xchrom]

47. Spanish tax authorities are cracking down on tax offenders

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_33913.shtml

Hacienda has announced it will be keeping a close eye on fiscal engineering from e-commerce firms trading on the Internet. The Agencia Tributaría will also be keeping a close watch on sportsmen and women and artists.

A new anti-fraud plan also includes alerts for contraband tobacco and the Secretary of State for Hacienda, Miguel Ferra, says they expect to recover 8.171 billion more from the measures. Hacienda has been told it cannot take on staff but it can substitute one in the retirees.

The number of inspections on elite sportsmen will go up by 14%, there will be greater control on house rental and undeclared businesses, using evidence of electrical consumption.

Hacienda is also looking more closely at people who declare themselves insolvent when they are not, when they hide their assets.

Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_33913.shtml#ixzz1o4Lnubi3

[xchrom]

36. Oil price rise a bigger threat to global economy than Greece, says HSBC

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/oilprices/9119431/Oil-price-rise-a-bigger-threat-to-global-economy-than-Greece-says-HSBC.html

With Greece disappearing, at least temporarily, from the headlines, investors have quickly found a new source of anxiety thanks to the recent surge in oil prices," Stephen King, HSBC's chief economist said. "If the trend persists, a fragile economic recovery in the developed world could quickly be derailed and inflation could return to emerging markets."

Mr King argued that investors should be overweight in energy shares as "insurance" and foreign exchange investors should buy currencies of oil-producing countries such as Norway, Malaysia, Brazil and Russia.

Other analysts agree. "A rapidly increasing oil price is beginning to threaten prospects for recovery and better growth," Bjarne Schieldrop, chief commodity analyst at Swedish bank SEB, said. "Paradoxically, recent rises are largely due to improving economic sentiment but also tight supply. In addition, outstanding geopolitical issues present further major upside risks," Mr Schieldrop added.

Brent crude surged to $128.40 a barrel on Thursday, the highest level since July 2008, as reports of a pipeline fire in Saudi Arabia spooked markets already concerned about brinkmanship with Iran over its nuclear programme. There have also been supply disruptions in Syria, Yemen and South Sudan.

However, prices eased on Friday after Saudi official denied the reports, which started in Iran. Brent crude closed down $2.55 at $123.65.

*** that's the whole article.

[Demeter]

37. Daydream Believer

&feature=related

[DemReadingDU]

38. Ohio tornado news

Ok, I am fine, but daughter's area east of Cincinnati suffered major damage. She and her husband and pets are fine. House is okay, but barn was flattened. The workers are clearing debris and restoring electric. So far, this link is the best summary that I could find.


3 videos at link from Friday night 3/2/12
Felicity/Bethel is 1:24 min
Moscow, Oh is 3:10 min
Piner, Ky is 2:19 min

Moscow is on Ohio River
Felicity is north of Moscow
Bethel is north of Felicity

Daughter's house is between Felicity and Bethel

news article also at link...
http://www.wxix.com/story/17069226/commissioners-declare-state-of-emergency-in-clermont-county



I'm sure we will be going down to help, when we are permitted in the area.

[Fuddnik]

39. Glad everyone in your family is safe.

And thankfully, it's all passed Ohio now.

[xchrom]

41. glad every one in your family is ok -- i'm sure it was scary for your daughter. nt

[xchrom]

43. Ratings agency Moody's downgrades Greece

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GREECE_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-03-02-19-26-53

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- The ratings agency Moody's downgraded Greece to the lowest rating on its bond scale late Friday, following a deal with private investors that would see them ultimately lose an estimated 70 percent of their holdings in Greek debt.

Moody's lowered Greece's sovereign rating to C from Ca, arguing that the risk of default remains high even a bond-swap deal with banks and other private investors, due to be completed this month, is successful.

It said it would "re-assess the credit risk profile" after Greece issues the new bonds.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's took similar action on Feb. 27.

[xchrom]

48. Tax revenues over €1 billion ahead of last year {ireland}

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0303/1224312711588.html

TAX REVENUES for the first two months of the year were more than €1.05 billion ahead of the same period last year, figures from the Department of Finance show.

The exchequer returns, published yesterday, put overall tax revenue for the end of February at € 5.9 billion, up nearly 22 per cent on last year.

Significantly, the tax take was also € 656 million or 12.5 per cent ahead of the department’s own expectation. However, the ministry warned there were two specific factors driving this “over performance”.

The large year-on-year increase was partly due to the late payment in January of more than € 250 million in corporation tax which had originally been due in December.

[xchrom]

49. Bank finds firms not getting credit

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0303/1224312711577.html

CREDIT CONDITIONS for Irish small and medium enterprises are worse that for their European counterparts, a conference organised by the Central Bank was told yesterday.

The conference also heard that though Irish SMEs may be less productive than foreign companies, they employ considerably more people.

Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan said SMEs were facing a dual challenge in terms of funding. On the one hand, there is “massive credit misallocation”. On the other, the depletion of the personal wealth of many families leaves them unable to fund start-ups and expansions with their own funds and “the lack of bank credit is likely to be a more serious drag on the recovery than it might otherwise be”.

When it comes to credit conditions, research presented yesterday shows Irish SMEs are facing tougher conditions than their European counterparts. Three-quarters of Irish firms say they must pay higher interest rates for new lending, compared with 62 per cent in the euro area, while it is also more difficult to get larger loans in Ireland and collateral requirements are also higher.

[Po_d Mainiac]

50. I saw the 'Monkeys' as

An establishment attempt to kill the 'Rock' era.

[Demeter]

51. Then the Plan Backfired, Badly

More likely, they thought they could "control" it. All groups have been trying to "control" the Boomers since we were born....the Boomer generation was probably the final impetus for the development of the Pill...

[Demeter]

52. Download Sheet Music from the Monkees

@ MusicNotes.com

[Po_d Mainiac]

55. Ayuh..'spankin the monkey'

just, just ain't

[Demeter]

53. well, guess I gotta put the long johns back on, again.

The wind is like a knife, and it's swirling snow about...but it doesn't land or stick. It is, of course, paper night...I'll see you all when it's over.

[Po_d Mainiac]

56. Stubbed a toe on me union suit in the middle of the night

Time for a change...

[xchrom]

57. sunday morning

hope it's nicer where ever you are.

[Tansy_Gold]

58. just gettin' light over the mountain

currently 53, should reach low 80s by afternoon.

and spring training has started!!!!!

[xchrom]

59. yay -- baseball! 'Baseball & Writing'

Fanaticism? No. Writing is exciting
and baseball is like writing.
You can never tell with either
how it will go
or what you will do;
generating excitement -
a fever in the victim -
pitcher, catcher, fielder, batter.
Victim in what category?
Owlman watching from the press box?
To whom does it apply?
Who is excited? Might it be I?

It's a pitcher's battle all the way - a duel -
a catcher's, as, with cruel
puma paw, Elston Howard lumbers lightly
back to plate. (His spring
de-winged a bat swing.)
They have that killer instinct;
yet Elston - whose catching
arm has hurt them all with the bat -
when questioned, says, unenviously,
"I'm very satisfied. We won."
Shorn of the batting crown, says, "We";
robbed by a technicality.

When three players on a side play three positions
and modify conditions,
the massive run need not be everything.
"Going, going . . . " Is
it? Roger Maris
has it, running fast. You will
never see a finer catch. Well . . .
"Mickey, leaping like the devil" - why
gild it, although deer sounds better -
snares what was speeding towards its treetop nest,
one-handing the souvenir-to-be
meant to be caught by you or me.

Assign Yogi Berra to Cape Canaveral;
he could handle any missile.
He is no feather. "Strike! . . . Strike two!"
Fouled back. A blur.
It's gone. You would infer
that the bat had eyes.
He put the wood to that one.
Praised, Skowron says, "Thanks, Mel.
I think I helped a little bit."
All business, each, and modesty.
Blanchard, Richardson, Kubek, Boyer.
In that galaxy of nine, say which
won the pennant? Each. It was he.

Those two magnificent saves from the knee-throws
by Boyer, finesses in twos -
like Whitey's three kinds of pitch and pre-
diagnosis
with pick-off psychosis.
Pitching is a large subject.
Your arm, too true at first, can learn to
catch your corners - even trouble
Mickey Mantle. ("Grazed a Yankee!
My baby pitcher, Montejo!"
With some pedagogy,
you'll be tough, premature prodigy.)

They crowd him and curve him and aim for the knees. Trying
indeed! The secret implying:
"I can stand here, bat held steady."
One may suit him;
none has hit him.
Imponderables smite him.
Muscle kinks, infections, spike wounds
require food, rest, respite from ruffians. (Drat it!
Celebrity costs privacy!)
Cow's milk, "tiger's milk," soy milk, carrot juice,
brewer's yeast (high-potency -
concentrates presage victory

sped by Luis Arroyo, Hector Lopez -
deadly in a pinch. And "Yes,
it's work; I want you to bear down,
but enjoy it
while you're doing it."
Mr. Houk and Mr. Sain,
if you have a rummage sale,
don't sell Roland Sheldon or Tom Tresh.
Studded with stars in belt and crown,
the Stadium is an adastrium.
O flashing Orion,
your stars are muscled like the lion.

Baseball & Writing by Marianne Moore ©

[Po_d Mainiac]

62. I thunked it was still snowball season

[xchrom]

60. since this is and will affect the economy and markets: Iran, threats and the UN Charter

http://www.salon.com/writer/glenn_greenwald/

The Washington Post‘s David Ignatius today persuasively argues that President Obama, in his interview with The Atlantic‘s Jeffrey Goldberg, issued his most absolute and inflexible threat yet to attack Iran — not if Iran attacks or is about to attack another country, but merely if it appears to be developing a nuclear weapon:

'The other point that struck me was Obama’s clarity about establishing a “red line” between an Iranian civilian nuclear program (acceptable) and a weapons program (unacceptable). . . . His message to Israel: If the Iranians cross this red line, the United States will attack. . . . Is Obama bluffing? Who can say, but if you’re an Iranian decision maker (or, perhaps more important, Netanyahu) you have to weigh a bit more heavily the possibility that the president really does mean what he says.'

And that is indeed what Obama did, as Goldberg makes clear in describing the interview:

'Obama told me earlier this week that both Iran and Israel should take seriously the possibility of American action against Iran’s nuclear facilities. “I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don’t bluff. . . . I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say.” . . . In the interview, Obama stated specifically that “all options are on the table,” and that the final option is the “military component.”'

Regardless of how one wants to rationalize these threats of an offensive military attack — they’re necessary to persuade the Israelis not to attack, they’re necessary to gain leverage with Iran, etc. — the U.N. Charter, to which the U.S. is a signatory, explicitly prohibits not just a military attack on another nation, but also the issuance of threats of such an attack. From Chapter II, paragraph 4:

'All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.'

Does this matter at all? Should we even pretend to care in any way what the U.N. Charter prohibits and whether the U.S. Government’s threats to attack Iran directly violate its core provisions? I’m not asking this simple question rhetorically but rather to hear the answer.

[Demeter]

63. Sorry for the Absence of posting today

I was exhausted by the cold yesterday....it's still colder today. Spring, oh Spring, where art thou?

[kickysnana]

64. Survived my grandaughters 3rd birthday in our Community Room.

She has 9 cousins, all boys and she is the youngest. The next youngest girl, her Dad's cousin, is in 4th grade.

Except for the round-off clip to her forehead by her 5 year old brother during set up. (He really did miscalculate and she was not paying attention) it went well.

Would have been nice to have some of that warm weather we had in February but the snow we got last week is keeping the temperatures down around freezing so it was an indoor Princess party.

[DemReadingDU]

65. All little girls are princesses