The Surrealist Vista (James Howard Kunstler)

[Tace]

James Howard Kunstler -- World News Trust

Oct. 18, 2010 -- Some profound seismic infarction deep in civilization's very soul -- brought on, no doubt, by the sludgy buildup of vast swindles and frauds -- now propels deadly tsunamis toward the land masses where money dwells. And when they break over the shorelines of banking and capital, little may be left standing.

The latest rogue wave broke about ten days ago, when an orgy of foreclosure revealed massive irregularities in mortgage contracts and property titles, suggesting a slovenliness so arrant and broad that even the states' attorneys general woke from their narcoleptic raptures of golf to shut down transfers of distressed property. But this was only after the banks themselves declared "moratoria" in a perhaps vain attempt to forestall further discovery of their countless misdeeds. And somewhere along in there the title insurance industry had a whack attack.

During this period a new cliché issued from a million pie-holes: the rule of law. Well, as Joni once sang to we happy Boomers, "... you don't know what you got 'til it's gone...."

To systematically ignore the niggling, stodgy lawful protocols regarding contract documents -- notarization, due diligence, various dotted "i"s and crossed "t"s -- was easy on the way up Fraud Mountain. On the ride down, though, it turns out all those niceties comprised the braking apparatus, Now the cargo of swindles is accelerating out-of-control and breaking apart. Suddenly this cliché -- the rule of law -- begins to assert its meaning for this nation of slobs, morons, and grifters, to the degree that even lawyers begin to understand what's at stake (as opposed to just how much they can get paid), though the bankers may never learn.

more

http://worldnewstrust.com/the-surrealist-vista-james-howard-kunstler.html

[grasswire]

1. scary, as usual

"Schemes akin to a debt jubilee are already being floated -- which might sound dandy in theory, but would very neatly thrust the USA back to a standard of living equal to that in the year 1690. In other words, you can shake off your debts, but be prepared to spend the rest of your days picking stones out of your daily lentil ration before turning in on a bug-infested straw pallet next to the hog-pen, care of which is your new career."

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Clusterf*ck Nation

http://kunstler.com/blog/