Weekend Economists' Whole New World January 28-30, 2011

[Demeter]

We never know what the weekend will bring until we get there!

This weekend brings great stirrings in the depths of oppression and despair, as a large swath of the world rises up and says:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WINDtlPXmmE



And so the dictators take wing, like tardy snowbirds; the streets fill with noise, demonstrations, violence, blood and fire, and above all: CHANGE!

This change has been a long time coming.

The film in question "Network" dates from 1976, the 200th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It took 35 years, or 1.5 generations, to percolate through the global consciousness to today's seminal events.

But Disney said it best (sorry Tansy)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8VfN2BhJA8



It feels like Spring today--outside, and inside hearts. A new beginning.

Tell me what you've found for "green shoots".

[Demeter]

1. About our theme(s)

"Network" is a 1976 American satirical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a fictional television network, Union Broadcasting System (UBS), and its struggle with poor ratings. The film was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet, and stars Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Peter Finch and Robert Duvall and features Wesley Addy, Ned Beatty, and Beatrice Straight.

The film won four Academy Awards, in the categories of Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen.

Network has continued to receive recognition, decades after its initial release. In 2000, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 2002, it was inducted into the Producers Guild of America Hall of Fame as a film that has "set an enduring standard for U.S. American entertainment."<1> In 2006, Chayefsky's script was voted one of the top ten movie scripts by the Writers Guild of America, East. In 2007, the film was 64th among the Top 100 Greatest U.S. American Films as chosen by the American Film Institute, a ranking slightly higher than the one AFI gave it ten years earlier.

Plot

Howard Beale (Peter Finch), the longtime anchor of the UBS Evening News, learns he has just two more weeks on the air because of declining ratings. Weary from misfortunes and sorrowful, he is treated to a night of drinking with his boss and friend, Max Schumacher, followed by mention of his desire to kill himself. The following night, he actually announces on live television that he will commit suicide by shooting himself in the head during next Tuesday's broadcast. UBS fires him after this incident, but — after some persuasion from UBS News' old guard president and Beale's best friend, Max (William Holden) — lets him back on the air, ostensibly for a dignified farewell. Beale promises he will apologize for his outburst. However, once on the air, he launches into a rant claiming that life is "bullshit". Beale's outburst causes the newscast's ratings to soar.

Much to Schumacher's dismay, the upper echelons of UBS decide to exploit Beale's antics rather than pulling him off the air. In one impassioned diatribe, Beale galvanizes the nation with his rant, "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" and persuades Americans to shout out of their windows during a lightning storm. Soon Beale is hosting a new program called "The Howard Beale Show", top-billed as a "mad prophet." Ultimately, the show becomes the highest rated program on television, and Beale finds new celebrity preaching his angry message in front of a live studio audience that, on cue, chants Beale's signature catchphrase en masse: "We're as mad as hell, and we're not going to take this anymore."

Beginning as a producer of entertainment programming, Diana Christensen's (Faye Dunaway) desire to produce a hit show for the network results in her cutting a deal with a group of radical left-wing terrorists (a parody of the Symbionese Liberation Army, called the "Ecumenical Liberation Army") who film themselves robbing banks, footage to be used as the cold-opening for a new series based on terrorists for the network that she wants developed for the upcoming fall season. When Beale's nervous breakdown–fueled rants bring in high ratings, Christensen approaches Schumacher and offers to help him "develop" the show. He says no to the professional offer, but not to the personal one, and the two begin an affair. When Schumacher decides to end the "Howard as Angry Man" format, Christensen convinces her boss, Frank Hackett (Robert Duvall), to slot the evening news show under the entertainment division so she can produce it; Hackett agrees, arm-twists the UBS executives into getting the show turned into an entertainment style show, and fires Schumacher at the same time. The romance withers as the show flourishes, but in the flush of high ratings, the two ultimately find their ways back together, leading to Schumacher leaving his wife of over 25 years for Christensen. But Christensen's fanatical devotion to her job and emotional emptiness ultimately drives Max back to his wife, warning his former lover that she will self-destruct at the pace she was running with her career. "You are television incarnate, Diana," he tells her, "indifferent to suffering, insensitive to joy. All of life is reduced to the common rubble of banality."

Meanwhile, another crisis looms for UBS. When Beale discovers that CCA, the conglomerate that owns UBS, will be bought out by an even larger Saudi Arabian conglomerate, he launches an on-screen tirade against it, encouraging viewers to send telegrams to the White House telling them, "I want the CCA deal stopped now!" This throws the top network brass into a state of panic because the company's debt load has made merger essential for survival. Beale is then taken to meet with CCA chairman Arthur Jensen (Ned Beatty), who explicates his own "corporate cosmology" to the attentive Beale. Jensen delivers a tirade of his own in an "appropriate setting," the dramatically darkened CCA boardroom, that suggests to the docile Beale that Jensen may himself be some higher power — describing the interrelatedness of the participants in the international economy, and the illusory nature of nationality distinctions. Jensen's world view ultimately persuades Beale to abandon his populist messages. However, television audiences find his new views on the dehumanization of society to be depressing, and ratings begin to slide. Despite this, Jensen will not allow executives to fire Beale as he spreads the new 'evangel.' Seeing its two-for-the-price-of-one value — solving the Beale problem plus sparking a boost in season-opener ratings — Christensen, Hackett and the other executives arrange for Beale's on-air assassination by the same group of urban terrorists whom she discovered earlier and who now have their own UBS show, The Mao Tse-Tung Hour. It is, the voice-over assures, "the first known instance of a man who was killed because he had lousy ratings."

[Demeter]

2. I confess, I've never seen the film "Network"

But it's going on my list today. Perhaps Netflix will download it.

Sad to say, things haven't changed significantly in these modern times, as far as the plot goes...

I did, however, see Disney's Aladdin ad nauseum during my children's childhood. I can still sing the songs by heart...

Reality on the Middle Eastern ground is anything but a Disney cartoon, but the hope embodied is right up his alley.

from wikipedia:

"Aladdin" is a 1992 American computer-animated adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Aladdin was the 31st animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, and was part of the Disney film era known as the Disney Renaissance. The film was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, and is based on the Arab folktale of Aladdin and the magic lamp from One Thousand and One Nights. The voice cast features Scott Weinger, Jonathan Freeman, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried, and Douglas Seale.

Lyricist Howard Ashman first pitched the idea, and the screenplay had to go through three drafts before Disney president Jeffrey Katzenberg greenlighted the production. The animators based their designs on the work of caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, and computers were used for both colouring and creating some animated elements. The musical score was written by Alan Menken and features six songs with lyrics written by both Ashman and Tim Rice, who took over after the former's death.

Aladdin was released on November 25, 1992 to positive reviews, despite some criticism from Arabs who considered the film racist, and was the most successful film of 1992, earning over $217 million in revenue in the United States, and over $504 million worldwide. The film also won many awards, most of them for its soundtrack. Aladdin's success led to many material inspired by the film such as two direct-to-video sequels, The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves, an animated television series, toys, video games, spin-offs, and merchandise.

[bread_and_roses]

26. Thanks for all the above, Demeter - this was supposed to be after your "bedtime" post, lol

Good stuff. Somehow I never saw "Network" either - keep meaning to someday.

[burf]

3. First rec !!!

It has been warmer here, but it looks like below zero (again) for the weekend and first part of next week.

Thanks again Demeter for all the work you put into SMW and WEE.

[Demeter]

4. TY and Congrats!

Sorry I'm so late--

[burf]

5. Three banks down so far.

On Friday, January 28, 2011, FirsTier Bank, Louisville, CO was closed by the State Bank Commissioner, by order of the Banking Board of the Colorado Division of Banking, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed.

On Friday, January 28, 2011, Evergreen State Bank, Stoughton, WI was closed by the Wisconsin State Department of Financial Institutions, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed

On Friday, January 28, 2011, The First State Bank, Camargo, OK was closed by the Oklahoma State Banking Department, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the public when a financial institution is closed.

[Demeter]

6. I was just getting to that ==Ahem: Total now stands at 4 Banks Down

The First State Bank, Camargo, Oklahoma, was closed today by the Oklahoma State Banking Department, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Bank 7, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, to assume all of the deposits of The First State Bank.

The sole branch of The First State Bank will reopen on Monday as a branch of Bank 7...As of September 30, 2010, The First State Bank had approximately $43.5 million in total assets and $40.3 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Bank 7 agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $20.1 million. Compared to other alternatives, Bank 7's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. The First State Bank is the eighth FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Oklahoma. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Home National Bank, Blackwell, on July 9, 2010.


Evergreen State Bank, Stoughton, Wisconsin, was closed today by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with McFarland State Bank, McFarland, Wisconsin, to assume all of the deposits of Evergreen State Bank.

The four branches of Evergreen State Bank will reopen on Saturday as branches of McFarland State Bank...As of September 30, 2010, Evergreen State Bank had approximately $246.5 million in total assets and $195.2 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, McFarland State Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $22.8 million. Compared to other alternatives, McFarland State Bank's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. Evergreen State Bank is the ninth FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Wisconsin. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was First Banking Center, Burlington, on November 19, 2010.


FDIC Creates the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Louisville to Protect Insured Depositors of FirsTier Bank, Louisville, Colorado

FirsTier Bank, Louisville, Colorado, was closed today by the Colorado Division of Banking, which appointed Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC created the Deposit Insurance National Bank of Louisville (DINB), which will remain open until February 28, 2011, to allow depositors access to their insured deposits and time to open accounts at other insured institutions.

At the time of closing, the receiver immediately transferred to the DINB all insured deposits of FirsTier Bank, except for brokered deposits, certificates of deposit (CDs) and individual retirement accounts (IRAs). The receiver also transferred to the DINB all secured deposits of public entities.

The FDIC will mail checks directly to customers with CDs and IRAs. For the brokered deposit customers, the FDIC will pay the brokers directly for the amount of their insured funds. Customers with brokered deposits should contact their brokers directly for information concerning their money.

The main office and all branches of FirsTier Bank will re-open on Saturday, January 29, 2011, and will provide limited services. The DINB will maintain limited business hours. Banking activities, such as writing checks, ATM and debit card withdrawals, can continue normally for former customers of FirsTier Bank until February 11, 2011. Official checks of FirsTier Bank will continue to clear and will be issued to customers who will be closing their accounts. All government direct deposits, including Social Security checks, will be redirected to FirstBank, Lakewood, Colorado, for 30 days after February 22, 2011, which will process them at the same time as in the past.

All insured depositors of FirsTier Bank are encouraged to transfer their insured funds to other banks during this transitional period. They may do so by asking their new bank to electronically transfer their deposits from the DINB or by writing checks for the amount in their accounts. For depositors who have not closed or transferred their accounts on or before February 28, the FDIC will mail checks to the address of record for the amount of the insured funds.

Under the FDI Act, the FDIC may create a deposit insurance national bank to ensure that depositors have continued access to their insured funds where no other bank has agreed to assume the insured deposits. This arrangement allows for uninterrupted direct deposits and automated payments from customers' accounts and allows them time to find another institution with which to do business.

As of September 30, 2010, FirsTier Bank had $781.5 million in total assets and $722.8 million in total deposits. At the time of closing, the amount of deposits exceeding the insurance limits was undetermined. Uninsured deposits were not transferred to the DINB. The amount of uninsured deposits will be determined once the FDIC obtains additional information from those customers...

The FDIC as receiver will retain all the assets from FirsTier Bank for later disposition. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $242.6 million. FirsTier Bank is the tenth FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the second in Colorado. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was United Western Bank, Denver, on January 21, 2011.

First Community Bank, Taos, New Mexico, was closed today by the New Mexico Financial Institutions Division, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with U.S. Bank, National Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota, to assume all of the deposits of First Community Bank.

The 38 branches of First Community Bank will reopen during their normal business hours beginning Saturday as branches of U.S. Bank, National Association...As of September 30, 2010, First Community Bank had approximately $2.31 billion in total assets and $1.94 billion in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, U.S. Bank, National Association agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $260.0 million. Compared to other alternatives, U.S. Bank, National Association's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. First Community Bank is the eleventh FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in New Mexico. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was High Desert State Bank, Albuquerque, on June 25, 2010.

[Fuddnik]

24. That spam will kill ya!

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/01/28/5942012-spam-text-kills-a-suicide-bomber-saves-hundreds

Spam text kills a suicide bomber, saves hundreds

By Athima Chansanchai

A spam message wishing a Russian woman happy new year may very well have killed her, and saved hundreds of intended targets, according to an account by The Telegraph's Moscow correspondent, Andrew Osborn.

The woman, dubbed "The Black Widow," who authorities suspect was part of the same militant group that killed 35 people at Moscow's Domodedovo airport on Monday, was at a house preparing for the attack, which would have occurred on New Year's Eve at Red Square. Instead, the woman's mobile phone, which served as the device's detonator, was activated hours early by a spam message wishing her a happy new year. She was killed, while a man and woman also in the house and suspected of being accomplices, escaped.

Russian security forces told The Telegraph that phones are usually kept off until the last minute for detonation, but in this case, "the terrorists were careless."

[Fuddnik]

27. Ooops posted in wrong spot. Too late to change it.

[Demeter]

28. ESTIMATED LOSS FOR THE WEEKEND: $545.9M

[CatholicEdHead]

29. Stoughton WI?

That is just outside Madison in one of the bluest counties in the state (and country).

[Demeter]

32. Things are tough all over

The total non-recovery (if you aren't too big to fail) is killing us.

Obviously, this bank wasn't too big to fail...

[Demeter]

7. Could Bernanke Spark a Run on the Dollar? By Mike Whitney

FRANKLY, I DON'T THINK UNCLE BEN WILL HAVE TO LIFT A FINGER (AFTER ALL, WHY START NOW?)

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27364.htm



January 27, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- Treasury yields are "blinking red", but the Fed keeps acting like nothing's wrong. What's the deal?

Let's explain: Fed chairman Ben Bernanke's bond purchasing program (QE2) has sent the yield on the 30-year Treasury skyrocketing. At the same time, the the 2-year Treasury is stuck at a lowly 0.61. That means, the "yield curve" between the two bonds has grown steeper, which normally happens at the beginning of a recovery because investors are moving out of "risk free" bonds to riskier assets like stocks. Typically, the yield on the long-term bond will start to go down on its own because investors expect the Fed to raise short-term rates to curb potential inflation. But that's not happening this time. Why? And why should we care?

The reason we should care is because the yield curve is signaling one of two things; inflation or default. What it is NOT signaling is a robust recovery.

Remember, the Fed's main job is "price stability" which means keeping a lid on inflation. When the yield on long-term bonds spikes, then it's up to Bernanke to show the market he'll do what's necessary to fight inflation, that is, raise rates. It's a question of credibility.

But Bernanke isn't interested in credibility. In fact, he's not only said that he will keep rates low for an "extended period of time" but also pledged to continue his $600 QE2 program until there's a "significant improvement in labor market." He was joined in his commitment by all of the active members of the FOMC.

Now, granted, QE2 has boosted stock prices, but the extra liquidity has also inflated commodities prices (making it harder on consumers) and wreaked havoc in emerging markets forcing trading partners to control capital flows or raise rates to tamp down inflation. But QE2's greatest shortcoming is that is really doesn't create jobs as advertised. It's just more supply side, "trickle down" monetary theory designed to goose the market while workers languish in unemployment lines. Here's how the Wall Street journal's Kelly Evans summed it up:

"...the limits of monetary policy are becoming clearer. History suggests any further easing probably would do too much for the stock market and asset prices, and too little for jobs...MUCH MORE AT LINK

[Demeter]

8. We Can't Let the Banksters Walk Away from Their Crimes By Danny Schechter

Although the financial crisis that swept the world may have started on Wall Street, it has brought down governments and shredded economic security worldwide.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27363.htm

All over Europe and in much of the rest of the world, a new fictional hero has engaged the fascination of millions of readers. His name is Mikael Blomkvist, and he’s the protagonist of the late Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy.

These thrillers, set against the background of high financial crimes and misdemeanors, have become global best-sellers, doubtless in part owing to their gripping plots, elaborate mysteries and engaging characters. But their success is also indisputably a by-product of the macroeconomic chicaneries of our era and the human catastrophes they have wrought.

Larsson understood that financial crimes are far from victimless. They have upended millions of people’s lives, even if most of the victims don’t understand how they’ve been shortchanged and who is responsible.

Although the financial crisis that swept the world may have started on Wall Street, it has brought down governments and shredded economic security worldwide, resulting in the loss of millions of jobs and homes as businesses collapse, foreclosures grow, credit tightens and communities are devastated.

Estimates of the damage run into the trillions.

MORE AT LINK

[Demeter]

9. Justice Department Seeks to Have all Web Surfing Tracked

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27362.htm

Mandatory data retention 'raises serious privacy and free speech concerns'

The US Justice Department wants Internet service providers and cell phone companies to be required to hold on to records for longer to help with criminal prosecutions.

"Data retention is fundamental to the department's work in investigating and prosecuting almost every type of crime," US deputy assistant attorney general Jason Weinstein told a congressional subcommittee on Tuesday.

"Some records are kept for weeks or months; others are stored very briefly before being purged," Weinstein said in remarks prepared for delivery to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security.

He said Internet records are often "the only available evidence that allows us to investigate who committed crimes on the Internet."

Internet and phone records can be "crucial evidence" in a wide array of cases, including child exploitation, violent crime, fraud, terrorism, public corruption, drug trafficking, online piracy and computer hacking, Weinstein said, but only if the data still exists when law enforcement needs it.

"In some ways, the problem of investigations being stymied by a lack of data retention is growing worse," he told lawmakers.

Weinstein noted inconsistencies in data retention, with one mid-sized cell phone company not keeping records, a cable Internet provider not tracking the Internet protocol addresses it assigns to customers and another only keeping them for seven days...MORE

[Demeter]

10. Afghanistan needs 30-year commitment, EU envoy says

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/southasia/news/article_1614562.php/INTERVIEW-Afghanistan-needs-30-year-commitment-EU-envoy-says

The international community - including increasingly hostile public opinion in the European Union - needs to face the fact that Afghanistan will need support 'for the next 30 years rather than 30 months,' the bloc's envoy to Kabul has said.

Under a target set by President Hamid Karzai and backed by NATO, Afghanistan is expected to take care of all of its own security by the end of 2014, while US President Barack Obama said that a gradual drawdown of US troops is to begin in mid-2011.

But while recognizing that 'the military footprint will change and will be reduced overall,' EU Special Representative Vygaudas Usackas warned that 'we should not speak about 30 months, but probably think in terms of 30 years.'

'We have to be honest with ourselves that there are no quick solutions in this country,' the former Lithuanian foreign minister told the German Press Agency dpa in a telephone interview from Kabul on Tuesday...

[Demeter]

11. 3 giants launch venture to fund energy tech startups

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/7401582.html

GE, Conoco­Phillips and NRG Energy have partnered to create a venture to invest $300 million in early-stage energy technology firms.

The partnership, Energy Technology Ventures, will help fund 30 companies over the next four years, focusing on investments in North America, Europe and Israel.

Target technologies will include renewable power generation — an area where GE is already busy - as well as smart grid technology, energy efficiency, oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear energy, emission controls, water and biofuels.

"Ten years ago energy was getting just a fraction of that venture capital, one-tenth of one percent," said Kevin Skillern, the head of venture capital investing at GE Energy Financial Services. "The statement these three companies joining together makes is that there is a lot of opportunity for such investments today. And it's not just a one- or two- year trend, it's a generational thing."

MORE

[Demeter]

12. FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"The guiding principle (for American government) is that as long as the public
is under control, everything is fine," - Noam Chomsky

[Demeter]

21. Union Members Disrupt Mortgage Banksters Meeting in DC (VIDEO)

http://workinprogress.firedoglake.com/2011/01/19/union-members-disrupt-mortgage-banksters-meeting-in-dc-video/

Awesome activism from members of the Sheetmetal Workers union (SMWIA), 200 of whom burst into a private meeting of mortgage bankers to protest layoffs by a homebuilding company that got a $900 million in federal funds intended for job creation. The banksters fled the scene, though one said he would have engaged the workers if they had “worn a suit.” (Watch CNBC’s coverage of the protest at the top of this post.)

The protest — aimed at the Pulte Group, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders — quickly turned into a scrum as workers wearing hardhats and shouting through bullhorns overwhelmed the security staff at the JW Marriott, bursting into a crowded conference room before a stunned crowd of bankers.

Shouting “Where are the jobs?” and “Where is the money?” the protesters from the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, many in overalls and helmets, said taxpayers have provided $900 million in tax breaks to Pulte with the aim of creating jobs. They said they haven’t seen the results they were promised.

“Those tax breaks were supposed to create jobs,” Wayne Peworchik, one of the protesters, said. “That was President Obama’s and Congress’s intent.”

“Instead, Pulte laid off workers,” Peworchik said.

Hilariously, the banksters fled. Scared of the little people, obviously.

SEE VIDEO AT LINK

[Demeter]

22. LOGICAL CONCLUSION: THINGS ARE NOT FINE

[bread_and_roses]

23. I loved this -

THIS is what we (unions) should be doing every day! Not issuing statements that usually try to stroke up Obama while objecting to his policies. THIS! Every day. Every town and city.

[Citizen Worker]

30. Not just the Unions, but all of the working class.

[Fuddnik]

35. The line in the sand was drawn long ago.

When Reagan got away with firing the Air Traffic Controllers. Lane Kirkland, who was head of the AFL-CIO back then could have stopped that and future transgressions in their tracks by threatening, and calling if necessary, a General Strike.

Firing PATCO proved they could get away with anything.

The propaganda about evil public sector and teachers unions is at an all-time high right now. If they get away with demolishing them, that's the final victory. They win.

If it takes a Democratic administration to nail the lid on the coffin of organized labor, I don't think it's beyond reason to call a General Strike on a Democratic administration.

It's labors last chance. Do they fight back or do they surrender?

[Tansy_Gold]

38. I'm with you on this, and I'm not a union member

I had a brief conversation with the BF the other evening about objectives and policies, and how you can tell if a puke is lying about their objectives.

1. What's the stated objective?

2. What are the policies put in place to reach that objective?

3. Is it likely -- based on logic as well as historical fact -- that those policies will achieve said objective?

If the answer to #3 is "no," then the puke is lying. And that goes for pukes with D after their name.

4. If it is unlikely that the policies will achieve the stated objective, what objective WILL they achieve? You can bet your bottom dollar that's the true objective, rather than the stated one.


TG, TT

[bread_and_roses]

39. Yep

If they bring down the Public unions, it's curtains.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/23/business/23labor.html

Most U.S. Union Members Are Working for the Government, New Data Shows

...In its annual report on union membership, the bureau undercut the longstanding notion that union members are overwhelmingly blue-collar factory workers. It found that membership fell so fast in the private sector in 2009 that the 7.9 million unionized public-sector workers easily outnumbered those in the private sector, where labor’s ranks shrank to 7.4 million, from 8.2 million in 2008...

... According to the labor bureau, 7.2 percent of private-sector workers were union members last year, down from 7.6 percent the previous year. That, labor historians said, was the lowest percentage of private-sector workers in unions since 1900.

The long-standing agenda to utterly destroy organized Labor proceeds apace. "And what rough beast....?"

[plumbob]

44. Excellent. More like this, please.

Years ago, a congressional hearing on poverty was interrupted when actual poor people entered the room - the Congress critters literally rant out the back. I need to see if I can find that link.

[jotsy]

45. I caught wind of these and thought it a hoot!

So I'll pipe in with a couple of goodies here, I hope that suits!

First, about Pulte Homes? An interesting bit of video from 2007, titled Workers Get Soaked by Pulte Homes

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml00gVWhSGY>

And then...The footage on the recent matter, I got was via CNBC. A lady commentator sure was quick to suggest the group was there about Debra Still, and addded "...so it had nothing to do with the Mortgage Bankers Association or their event, but that comment got caught up on my 'really?' hook, so I did just a tad bit of look sees.

This is a link to the association where Miss Still now works as a figure of some authority. It's a busy site, chocked full of enlightening tid bits and even a segment of more of their events and conferences. Perhaps more will choose to visit these events in similar fashion if the info is more public?

<http://www.mbaa.org/default.htm>

As always, a meaty thread which I rec'd. Friday night.

Thank you Ms. Demeter

[Demeter]

13. New-home sales in 2010 fall to lowest in 47 years

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_new_home_sales

...Sales for all of 2010 totaled 321,000, a drop of 14.4 percent from the 375,000 homes sold in 2009, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. It was the fifth consecutive year that sales have declined after hitting record highs for the five previous years when the housing market was booming...

[Demeter]

14. Syria Internet Disrupted As Egypt Blackout Catches On In Middle East

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/28/syria-internet-down_n_815337.html

On the same day that Egypt has suspended online activity, Syria has also blocked internet service, according to reports. ..

[Pale Blue Dot]

37. Saudi Arabian Stocks Tumble Most in Eight Months as Egyptians Defy Curfew

Saudi Arabian shares retreated the most since May on concern political unrest could spread in the Middle East after Egyptian protesters clashed with police and the North African country’s president refused to resign.

The Tadawul All Share Index tumbled 6.4 percent, the most since May 25, to 6,267.22 at the 3:30 p.m. close in Riyadh. All but one of the 146 shares fell. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., the world’s largest petrochemical maker, slumped 7.5 percent. Savola Azizia United Co., a food producer with subsidiaries in Egypt, dropped 10 percent, the maximum fluctuation allowed in a single trading session.

“There is a lot of worry looming among investors that we’re going to see a domino effect across the region,” said Amro Halwani, a trader at Shuaa Capital PSC in Riyadh. “That is pushing investors away from equities and straight into cash. It is panic selling across the board.”

Stocks worldwide plunged the most since November, with the MSCI World Index declining 1.4 percent yesterday, and crude oil posted the biggest jump since 2009 after protesters posed the biggest challenge to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year rule. Egyptian stocks on Jan. 27 tumbled the most in more than two years, with the EGX30 Index plunging 11 percent. The Egyptian bourse and banks will be closed tomorrow due to the unrest in the country, Egypt’s state TV said today.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-29/saudi-arabian-stocks-tumble-most-in-eight-months-as-egyptians-defy-curfew.html

[Demeter]

15. Egyptian Riot Police Using Tear Gas “Made In The U.S.A.”

http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/egyptian-riot-police-using-tear-gas-made-in-the-u-s-a/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+OTB+%28Outside+The+Beltway+|+OTB%29

It’s already pretty well-known that the United States provides billions of dollars of military and economic aid to Egypt every year, and numerous polls have shown that the general Egyptian public doesn’t exactly have a solicitous opinion of the United States. Nonetheless, one has to wonder what the average Egyptian out in the streets over the past several days protesting an authoritarian and corrupt regime thinks when they look down at the tear gas canister that was just fired at them, and see (MADE IN USA)...

[Demeter]

16. The Enumerated Rights Are Hanging By A Thread By Paul Craig Roberts

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27368.htm

While people in Tunisia and Egypt have taken to the streets in attempts to gain their liberty, Americans are losing their liberty with minimal protest. Even the American Civil Liberties Union seems unfocused. At a time when we are being surrounded by a police state and the federal judiciary is being taken over by the Federalist Society and unitary executive theory that places the president above the law, we need a heightened appreciation of civil liberty and the Constitution on the part of the American people. The American people need to come together and to take a united stand against the police state and unaccountable executive branch power.

During my many years of writing in defense of law as a shield of the people instead of a weapon in the hands of the state, I have identified two important reasons that Americans are losing the protection of the legal principles that made them free. One reason is that a significant portion of the population, especially among those who think of themselves as conservative, there is indifference and even hostility to civil liberties. The other reason is that Benthamite thinking has made inroads into the Blackstonian conception of law that is the basis of the Constitution. Jeremy Bentham argued for pre-emptive arrest before a crime is committed, for torture in order to obtain confession, and for subverting the attorney-client privilege. Bentham’s views, fiercely hostile to those of our Founding Fathers, are now represented on the federal bench (federal appeals court judge Jay S. Bybee, for example) and in prestigious law schools (John Yoo, UC Berkeley, for example)...

[Demeter]

17. Police Alone Can't Keep Rulers in Power. Egypt's Battle Is On

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27367.htm

It was an unforgettable day for me. I joined the demonstrators in Cairo, along with the hundreds of thousands across Egypt who went on to the streets on Tuesday demanding freedom and bravely facing off the fearsome violence of the police. The regime has a million and a half soldiers in its security apparatus, upon which its spends millions in order to train them for one task: to keep the Egyptian people down.

I found myself in the midst of thousands of young Egyptians, whose only point of similarity was their dazzling bravery and their determination to do one thing – change the regime. Most of them are university students who find themselves with no hope for the future. They are unable to find work, and hence unable to marry. And they are motivated by an untameable anger and a profound sense of injustice...

[Demeter]

18. A Manifesto for Change in Egypt By Mohamed ElBaradei

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27371.htm

When Egypt had parliamentary elections only two months ago, they were completely rigged. The party of President Hosni Mubarak left the opposition with only 3 percent of the seats. Imagine that. And the American government said that it was “dismayed.” Well, frankly, I was dismayed that all it could say is that it was dismayed. The word was hardly adequate to express the way the Egyptian people felt.

Then, as protests built in the streets of Egypt following the overthrow of Tunisia’s dictator, I heard Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s assessment that the government in Egypt is “stable” and “looking for ways to respond to the legitimate needs and interests of the Egyptian people”. I was flabbergasted—and I was puzzled. What did she mean by stable, and at what price? Is it the stability of 29 years of “emergency” laws, a president with imperial power for 30 years, a parliament that is almost a mockery, a judiciary that is not independent? Is that what you call stability? I am sure not. And I am positive that it is not the standard you apply to other countries. What we see in Egypt is pseudo-stability, because real stability only comes with a democratically elected government.

If you would like to know why the United States does not have credibility in the Middle East, that is precisely the answer. People were absolutely disappointed in the way you reacted to Egypt’s last election. You reaffirmed their belief that you are applying a double standard for your friends, and siding with an authoritarian regime just because you think it represents your interests. We are staring at social disintegration, economic stagnation, political repression, and we do not hear anything from you, the Americans, or for that matter from the Europeans.

So when you say the Egyptian government is looking for ways to respond to the needs of the Egyptian people, I feel like saying, “Well, it’s too late!” This isn’t even good realpolitik. We have seen what happened in Tunisia, and before that in Iran. That should teach people there is no stability except when you have government freely chosen by its own people....MORE

[bread_and_roses]

25. Heard a part of an interview on NPR in car today - with young protestor

The interviewer kept asking him "aren't you afraid" - I was cheering in the car when his answer was something like "we are strong together."

"The people, united, can never be defeated!"

[Demeter]

19. 2011: The Year For Cautious Optimism? by Edward Harrison

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/01/2011-the-year-for-cautious-optimism.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

...........

1. Europe: the sovereign debt crisis refuses to go away. The European periphery is hurting but the crisis has infected the core via Belgium and Italy. I expect the crisis to get worse before decisive action is taken because that’s how politicians usually respond. There are three options for the euro zone: monetisation, default or break-up. The question is whether this – in and of itself – deals a fatal blow to recovery in Europe, infecting the global economy. If you had asked me this question early last year, I would have said yes. Today, one year more into a cyclical recovery, it is less clear.

2. U.S. States and Municipalities: Meredith Whitney has put this crisis top of mind. My take is similar to the one on Europe: The question is whether this – in and of itself – deals a fatal blow to recovery in the U.S., infecting the global economy. Here, I have always felt that the budget issues would only become dire in a cyclical downturn as declining asset prices created public sector pension losses. In an upturn, tax revenue increases as do accounting gains from asset prices. Costs for supporting the unemployed decrease. To the degree there are budget problems, the situation is very pro-cyclical – meaning you have what MBA’s call a high degree of operating leverage on municipal and state income statements. Leverage works to magnify cyclical ups and downs. That means that, while I agree with Whitney’s alarm on munis and expect some defaults, I do not think this gets critical in 2011. I expect the next recession to bring this issue to a head.

3. Housing: House price declines have resumed in the UK and the U.S. They never stopped in Ireland and Spain. The housing double dip is in progress. Complicating matters, clearly, fraud was a big issue not only in the origination of mortgage loans in the U.S. but also in packaging and foreclosure. There is a real possibility that a systemic legal problem develops on that front in 2011. I don’t know how this problem will be resolved. At this point, I see it as the biggest near-term risk for the U.S. in 2011.

4. Currency Wars: a lot of good is done simply by having economic growth. It takes a lot of political heat off politicians. Just Monday I commented on RT Television that I believe the China state visit by Hu Jintao will not feature a lot of acrimonious protectionist rhetoric for that very reason. The currency wars are really a political event because they are caused by a lack of aggregate demand. When the pie shrinks, individual countries feel obliged to implement beggar-thy-neighbour policies to maintain their standards of living by taking a larger share of the pie. The developed economies have felt this pie shrinkage most acutely. So it is they who are driving the so-called currency wars forward. The emerging markets are merely reacting in kind. I say "First the rate reductions, then money printing, then the currency war, then the tariffs, then … hopefully economic recovery. But, as with the other problems, unless recovery is used to solve the issue of external imbalances created by our jury-rigged monetary system, the so-called Bretton Woods II, then tensions will return worse than before when recession hits. Only after a full-blown crisis will the underlying issues be addressed. So, wait for the next crisis for reform of the monetary system.

5. Commodity Price Inflation: There is a real threat to recovery from commodity price inflation. Yves also mentioned the La Niña phenomenon recently as a potential black swan event for 2011. We have already begun to see signs of food price riots, food price controls and the like in emerging markets. Even resource producers are getting hit by the rise in commodity prices. Additionally, Brent crude is at 27-month highs, closing in on $100 a barrel. Just think back to 2008; this type of commodity price inflation was toxic and sowed the seeds of its on demand destruction....

[Demeter]

20. Bedtime for Demeter

Here's some theme music to put you to sleep (if you don't mind having nightmares...)

One Jump Ahead

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPMHbUTcUXE

Arabian Nights

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEGlJP4X4vc&NR=1

[Demeter]

31. FABULOUS MARK FIORE!

http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/watch-corporations-becoming-human-att-supreme-court-case-citizens-united-animated-video-mark-fiore-animation


and not just because it's one of my favorite songs--Fiore has outdone himself!

[DemReadingDU]

42. Excellent!

I'll see what I can find financially. Seems all the news is about Egypt

[Demeter]

33. To Bailout or Not to Bailout: Mortgage Mess Endgames Emerging

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/01/to-bailout-or-not-to-bailout-mortgage-mess-endgames-emerging.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

several ideas for fixing the housing market have surfaced. One is the Third Way proposal, which appears to be an Administration trial balloon. Predictably, it is yet anther bailout, with plenty of smoke and mirrors to disguise that fact.

A second proposal, from Sheila Bair yesterday, is to establish a “foreclosure claims commission“. This is in keeping with the direction that Iowa’s Tom Miller has been pushing for with the 50 state attorneys general investigation. This scheme sounds more promising that the Third Way proposal, but is very likely to wind up in bailout territory.

Third is a not-widely-covered plan by Senator Jeff Merkley which has two provisions that would force banks to address the fact that mortgages are deeply under water. That makes it firmly anti-bailout (or more accurately, any resulting bailouts would be explicit as opposed to buried in various mortgage market gimmies to banks). It would thus speed recognition of housing market losses, force debt writedowns, and accelerate repricing and clearing of the housing market.

The Merkley proposal is pro consumer and pro investor; the other two are pro bank. Sadly, it isn’t hard to see which is likely to prevail in the absence of public pressure.

MORE

[bread_and_roses]

48. "Loan modifications burn many homeowners"

posted by "Cass" in LBN:

http://www.news-press.com/article/20110130/RE/110129012/1076/Loan-modifications-burn-many-homeowners

Loan modifications burn many homeowners
Lenders cancel trials; borrowers surprised

McClatchy News Service • January 30, 2011

MINNEAPOLIS — Many people who sought help under a federal program created to keep them from losing their homes are instead saddled with huge, unexpected bills.

Thousands now face a stark choice: Go deeper into debt, or foreclosure.

Lenders routinely approved short-term “trial” loan modifications that reduced payments for desperate borrowers under the umbrella of the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program. But lenders continued to count the mortgages as delinquent or in default.

Now instead of granting permanent modifications, lenders often are reinstating the original loan terms and demanding big back payments...

Obama's wonderful "free-enterprise", "innovation" economy at work.

[Demeter]

49. That's Bunko, and Should Be Prosecuted as Such

[Demeter]

34. 'An Economic Philosophy That Has Completely Failed' William K. Black

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-k-black/an-economic-philosophy-th_b_810950.html

I get President Obama's "regulatory review" plan, I really do. His game plan is a straight steal from President Clinton's strategy after the Republican's 1994 congressional triumph. Clinton's strategy was to steal the Republican Party's play book. I know that Clinton's strategy was considered brilliant politics (particularly by the Clintonites), but the Republican financial playbook produces recurrent, intensifying fraud epidemics and financial crises. Rubin and Summers were Clinton's offensive coordinators. They planned and implemented the Republican game plan on finance. Rubin and Summers were good choices for this role because they were, and remain, reflexively anti-regulatory. They led the deregulation and attack on supervision that began to create the criminogenic environment that produced the financial crisis.

The zeal, crude threats, and arrogance they displayed in leading the attacks on SEC Chair Levitt and CFTC Chair Born's efforts to adopt regulations that would have reduced the risks of fraud and financial crises were exceptional. Just one problem -- they were wrong and Levitt and Born were right. Rubin and Summers weren't slightly wrong; they put us on the path to the Great Recession. Obama knows that Clinton's brilliant political strategy, stealing the Republican play book, was a disaster for the nation, but he has picked politics over substance.

...Anti-regulation proved to be a profoundly negative sum "game" in the financial sphere. Both principals -- the home borrower and the lender -- lost (negative Pareto optimality). The unfaithful "agents," however, made out like bandits. Effective financial regulation is essential to protect honest firms and consumers from the frauds -- it is distinctly positive sum. The primary purpose of financial regulation is to limit fraud. President Obama, Summers, and OMB do not understand this fundamental aspect of financial regulation -- limiting fraud...

Voluntary transactions should be positive sum -- both parties are typically made better off. Fraud causes negative sum transactions. Regulators are the "cops on the beat" in finance. If cheaters prosper, then "private market discipline" drives honest firms and officers out of the marketplace. Vigorous financial regulation is essential to the effective prosecution of elite criminals. Many of the best financial regulations impose virtually no cost. The traditional underwriting rules, for example, would have been exceeded by any honest, competent bank. Indeed, the rules reduced costs to honest firms. The rules imposed material costs only on dishonest managers -- and that reduces costs to hones firms and managers. Net, underwriting rules produce enormous net-benefits. That is equivalent to saying that they have a negative cost. The underwriting rules designed primarily to reduce fraud also reduce losses from incompetence, unrecognized risk, and mistake. This means that financial rules designed primarily to reduce fraud are essential to convert the negative sum (fraudulent) transactions that would prevail absent regulation into positive sum (honest) transactions. Because fraud can impose severe "negative externalities," this transaction-based analysis dramatically understates the net cost savings of effective safety and soundness regulation.

Obama's proposal and the accompanying OMB releases do not mention the word or the concept of fraud. Despite an "epidemic" of fraud led by the bank CEOs (which caused the greatest crisis of his life), Obama cannot bring itself to use the "f" word. The administration wants the banks' senior officers to fund its reelection campaign. I've never raised political contributions, but I'm certain that pointing out that a large number of senior bank officers were frauds would make fundraising from them awkward....Summers and Rubin remain unwilling to admit that their anti-regulatory financial policies were disastrous.


LENGTHY ANALYSIS OF OBAMA AND CLINTON POLICIES FOLLOWS...


Bill Black is an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, a white-collar criminologist, and a former senior financial regulator. He is the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One.

[Pale Blue Dot]

36. Goldman Sachs's Blankfein Gets $12.6 Million 2010 Stock Bonus

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. gave Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein a $12.6 million stock bonus for 2010, an increase from $9 million in restricted stock a year earlier.

Blankfein, 56, received 78,111 shares on Jan. 26, according to a filing yesterday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. At the closing price of $161.31 that day, the shares would be valued at $12.6 million. New York-based Goldman Sachs also raised Blankfein’s base salary to $2 million this year from $600,000, according to a separate filing.

Goldman Sachs, the fifth-largest U.S. bank by assets, reported 2010 earnings dropped 38 percent from a record in 2009 as revenue from trading stocks and bonds fell from an all-time high. The firm set aside 39 percent of revenue to pay employees in 2010, up from 36 percent in 2009, the lowest ratio ever.

Chief Financial Officer David Viniar, President Gary Cohn, and Vice Chairmen J. Michael Evans and John S. Weinberg each also received 78,111 restricted shares, according to separate filings. For 2009, Blankfein was awarded 58,381 restricted stock units, the amount given to those four deputies.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-28/goldman-sachs-s-blankfein-gets-12-6-million-2010-stock-bonus.html

[Demeter]

40. That's Called Gilding the Gold Man

Why don't they invent some more valuable way of keeping score?

[Demeter]

41. Study Points to Windfall for Goldman Partners OUTLINES TERMS OF PARTNERSHIP AND ODDS

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/01/18/study-points-to-windfall-for-goldman-partners/?hp

Goldman Sachs executives have long been among the most richly paid on Wall Street in the best of times. They are now poised to reap a windfall that was sown in the dark days of the financial crisis in 2008.

Nearly 36 million stock options were granted to employees in December 2008 — 10 times the amount issued the previous year — when the stock was trading at $78.78. Since those uncertain days, Goldman’s business has roared back and its share price has more than doubled, closing on Tuesday at nearly $175.

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

At the center of Goldman’s lucrative compensation program is the partnership. Unlike other Wall Street firms, Goldman retained a partnership system when it became a publicly traded company in 1999. Goldman’s partners are its highest executives and its biggest stars. Yet while Goldman is required to report compensation for its top officers, it releases very little information about this broader group, remaining tight-lipped about even basic information like who is currently a partner.

The documents illustrate just how much wealth the partnership owns and has cashed out over the years. Goldman has almost 860 current and former partners, the documents show. In the last 12 years, they have cashed out more than $20 billion in Goldman shares and currently hold more than $10 billion in Goldman stock.

LOTS MORE DETAIL ON THE PARTNERSHIP PONZI SCHEME...SEE LINK

[DemReadingDU]

43. Egypt - All banks closed Sunday in Egypt, stock market closed in Egypt

Meanwhile, the consequences of the unrest started becoming apparent Saturday as Egypt's Central Bank announced the closure of all banks as well as the stock market on Sunday, state-run television reported.

buried in the middle of this article
http://mw.cnn.com/snarticle?c=cnnd_world&p=0&aId=20110129:egypt.protests:1


<2:11 p.m. Cairo, 7:11 a.m. ET> The Egyptian government has announced that the Egyptian stock market and all banks will be closed Sunday, which usually is a normal business day in the Middle East.

click to read latest headlines in Egypt
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/01/29/latest-developments-in-egypt-protests/

[Ghost Dog]

47. Egyptian Bourse, Banks Will Be Closed Today, State TV Reports

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- The Egyptian bourse will be closed today following clashes yesterday between thousands of protestors and police in central Cairo, the fifth day of unrest. Banks also will be shut, State TV said.

The North African country’s benchmark stock index had tumbled 16 percent in the prior two trading days, and Egypt’s dollar-bonds fell, pushing yields to record highs on Jan. 28. Fitch Ratings said it may cut the nation’s credit rating. The exchange is North Africa’s second-largest market by capitalization after Morocco.

“No one expected this to take place and at such a fast sequence of events,” said Mohamed Radwan, head of international sales at Cairo-based Pharos Holding for Financial Investment. “The critical time frame for the market is from now until the implementation of economic and democratic reforms demanded by the people.”

/... http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ar.5YRaiWRos&pos=3

[Ghost Dog]

46. New Tunisian government makes Davos debut

AFP - Tunisia's fledgling post-revolt government tried to reassure global business executives that its economy is stable Saturday as it received a warm welcome at Davos.

The new governor of Tunisia's central bank, Mustapha Kamel Nabli, and the just-appointed Transport Minister Yacine Brahim were given warm applause when introduced at a seminar at the World Economic Forum.

...

"Democracy is taking root. Even given the lack of democratic traditions in the country and so on, but the people have shown a high degree of maturity and a high degree of responsibility," Nabli told reporters.

"The security situation is back almost to normal, I would say not completely normal, we still have some places where events are taking place here and there," he said, urging investors not to turn away.

/... http://www.france24.com/en/20110129-new-tunisian-government-makes-davos-debut

[Demeter]

50. That was Obscenely Quick

I smell a bankster at work...

[kickysnana]

51. K & R so I can find it again. Too much news this weekend. n/t

[Demeter]

52. Folks, Sorry to Be So Skimpy This Weekend

My father's in the hospital--gallstones, on top of everything else. It sounds like he has the same condition as the Kid had two years ago. Of course, she was and is in excellent health...they are going to have to get him in shape before even contemplating surgery.

So February is turning out to be a horribly stressful month...and to think, it doesn't even start officially until Tuesday.

Next weekend is Lunar New Year for the Orient...

[bread_and_roses]

53. I am sorry to hear of this new trouble, and sorry I haven't posted here either

... ended up unexpectedly busy and when I could get to computer for a few minutes have been riveted to Al Jazeera. Hope all works out well for your family. And that you get some rest.

[Demeter]

54. Just to Finish It Off: Goldman Sachs Raises CEO Blankfein's Annual Base Salary To $2 Mln

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS: News ) has raised Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein's annual base salary to $2 million from $600,000, according to a regulatory filing Friday.

The New York-based investment bank also raised the annual base salary for Chief Operating Officer Gary Cohn, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar, and two vice chairmen J. Michael Evans and John Weinberg to $1.85 million each, the filing showed. Each of them had an annual base salary of $600,000 previously.

The new salaries are effective January 1.

A separate filing showed that Blankfein has been granted 78,111 restricted stock units, valued at $12.6 million based on Goldman's closing stock price Friday. The units will convert into Goldman stock over the next three years but Blankfein will not be able to sell them until January 2016.

Last week, Citigroup Inc. (C) raised CEO Vikram Pandit's annual base salary from a symbolic $1 per year to $1.75 million.

http://www.rttnews.com/Content/BreakingNews.aspx?Id=1539172

[Demeter]

55. And a moral

http://imgsrv.gocomics.com/dim/?fh=d0f5895e99f648cd0e5c0d3e03c23eaa

[Hotler]

56. kicking n/t