BIG BEND BIKERS FOR FREEDOM

Old School Biker Rodeo

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:50:00 +0000

BAND member Wild Bill in the slow race

As always the Old school Biker Party in the pasture was just that, OLD SCHOOL and one hell of a party. This event put on by Scooter Goods Magazine is rated in the top 5 Old School Biker Parties in the country. Unfortunately, based on the number of RV's and golf carts that showed up this year it is becoming known.

Our hope is this isn't the end of the "old school" flavor Scooter Magazine has worked hard to protect.

This has got to be one of the friendliest events we have been to. Everybody treats everybody with respect which is hard to come by now days. The staff works hard to insure the events run smoothly and the Bands are always most excellent. We can not say enough about this event so we will let the pics do the talking. For Some of the tamer pics click here. Bit even then be advised, there is nudity, if that bothers ya don't click.

I personally want to thank Ms. J for showing off some of my ink work and second place in best color tatt and second place in best black and grey.

Thanks to Spirit for driving the chase vehicle and Z and TZ for saving the camp during the big wind. Good music, good times w/ kick ass brothers an sisters. You can be sure we will hit it again.

BAND Members pervet and texas Mike having a good time.

P.S. Don't forget to visit our Biker Lifestyle pics page for tatts and other Biker related pics. And then just imagine the pics we do not post.

Ride on!

Zen Biker, My election day video

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 16:29:00 +0000

your time is worth 90% less than 40 years ago

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 19:07:00 +0000

Talk about your minimum wage.

This is what one hour of your wages is worth priced in Gold. In the 40 years since Nixon's 1971 fiat-fiasco, the value of the average hourly earnings for US citizens has dropped 90% in terms of Gold. Chart starts with Nixon, ends with Obama. And you thought there was a difference between republicans and democrats. Thank you to Zero Hedge.

Presidential Elections, Wall Street already won

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:57:00 +0000

Naomi Prins is a whose who in the world of Wonks. Meaning she is smart. Before becoming a journalist, Naomi worked on Wall Street as a managing director at Goldman Sachs, and ran the international analytics group at Bear Stearns in London. Which means she has been there and done that! In our previous post, Bank of America accused of BRAZEN Fraud, and so?, we talk about the Bull illusion the the government tries to create that they are actually going to hold anyone accountable for the travesty called "economic downturn" created by our banks. Here Ms. Prinz reveals that the games are still in full swing, emphasis ours:

Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 7:00AM

Before the campaign contributors lavished billions of dollars on their favorite candidate; and long after they toast their winner or drink to forget their loser, Wall Street was already primed to continue its reign over the economy.

For, after three debates (well, four), when it comes to banking, finance, and the ongoing subsidization of Wall Street, both presidential candidates and their parties’ attitudes toward the banking sector is similar – i.e. it must be preserved – as is – at all costs, rhetoric to the contrary, aside.

Obama hasn’t brought ‘sweeping reform’ upon the Establishment Banks, nor does Romney need to exude deregulatory babble, because nothing structurally substantive has been done to harness the biggest banks of the financial sector, enabled, as they are, by entities from the SEC to the Fed to the Treasury Department to the White House.

In addition, though much is made of each candidates' tax plans, and the related math that doesn’t add up (for both presidential candidates), the bottom line is, Obama hasn’t explained exactly WHY there’s $5 trillion more in debt during his presidency, nor has Romney explained HOW to get a $5 trillion savings.

For the record, both missed, or don’t get, that nearly 32% of that Treasury debt is reserved (in excess) at the Fed, floating the banking system that supposedly doesn’t need help. The ‘worst economic period since the Great Depression’ barely produced a short-fall of an approximate average of $200 billion in personal and corporate tax revenues per year, according to federal data.)

Consider that the amount of tax revenue since 2008, has dropped for individual income contributions from $1.15 trillion in 2008 to $915 billion in 2009, to $899 billion in 2010, then risen to $1.1 trillion in 2011. Corporate tax contributions have dropped (by more of course) from $304 billion in 2008 to $138 billion in 2009 to $191 billion in 2010, to $181 billion in 2011. Thus, at most, we can consider to have lost $420 billion in individual revenue and $402 billion in corporate revenue, or $822 billion from 2009 on. The Fed has, in addition, held on average of $1.6 trillion Treasuries in excess reserves. That, plus $822 billion equals $2.42 trillion, add on the other $900 billion of Fed held mortgage securities, and you get $3.32 trillion, NOT $5 trillion, and most to float banks.

(Our NOTE: Throw Romney and Obamas 5 trillions mentions out the window)

The most consistent political platform is that big finance trumps main street economics, and the needs of the banking sector trump those of the population. We have a national policy condoning zero-interest-rate policy (ZIRP) as somehow job-creative. (Fed Funds rates dropped to 0% by the end of 2008, where they have remained since.)

We are left with a regulatory policy of pretend. Rather than re-instating Glass-Steagall to divide commercial from investment banking and insurance activity, thereby removing the platform of government (or public) supported speculation and expansion, props leaders that pretend linguistic tweaks are a match for financial might. We have no leader that will take on Jamie Dimon, Chairman of the country’s largest bank, JPM Chase, who can devote 15% of the capital of JPM Chase, which remains backstopped by customer deposit insurance, to bet on the direction of potential corporate defaults, and slide by two Congressional investigations like walks in the park.

Pillars of Collusion

A few months ago, Paul Craig Roberts and I co-wrote an article about the LIBOR scandal; the crux of which, was lost on most of the media. That is; the banks, the Fed, and the Treasury Department knew banks were manipulating rates lower to artificially support the prices of hemorrhaging assets and debt securities. But no one in Washington complained, because they were in on it; because it made the over-arching problem of debt-manufacturing and bloating the Fed’s balance sheet to subsidize a banking industry at the expense of national economic health, evaporate in the ether of delusion.

In the same vein, the Fed announced QE3, the unlimited version – the Fed would buy $40 billion a month of mortgage-backed securities from banks. Why – if the recession is supposedly over and the housing market has supposedly bottomed out – would this be necessary?

Simple. If the Fed is buying securities, it’s because the banks can’t sell them anywhere else. And because banks still need to get rid of these mortgage assets, they won't lend again or refinance loans at faster rates, thereby sharing their advantage for cheaper money, as anyone trying to even refinance a mortgage has discovered. Thus, Banks simply aren’t ‘healthy’, not withstanding their $1.53 trillion of excess reserves (earning interest), and nearly $900 billion in mortgage backed securities parked at the Fed. The open-ended QE program is merely perpetuating the illusion that as long as bank assets get marked higher (through artificial buyers, zero percent interest rates, or not having to mark them to market), everything is fine.

Meanwhile, Washington coddles and subsidizes the biggest banks - not to encourage lending, not to encourage saving, and not to better the country, but to contain harsh truths about how badly banks played, and are still playing, the nation.

The SEC’s Role

According to the SEC’s own report card on “Enforcement Actions: Addressing Misconduct that led to or arose from the Financial Crisis”: the SEC has levied charges against 112 entities and individuals, of which 55 were CEOs, CFOs, and other Senior Corporate Officers.

In terms of fines; the SEC ‘ordered or agreed to’ $1.4 billion of penalties, $460 million of disgorgement and prejudgment interest, and $355 million of “Additional Monetary Relief Obtained for Harmed Investors. That’s a grand total of $2.2 billion of fines. (The Department of Justice dismissed additional charges or punitive moves.)

Goldman, Sachs received the largest fine, of $550 million, taking no responsibility (in SEC-speak, “neither confirming nor denying’ any wrongdoing) for packaging CDOs on behalf of one client, which supported their prevailing trading position, and pushing them on investors without disclosing that information, which would have materially changed pricing and attractiveness. (The DOJ found nothing else to charge Goldman with, apparently not considering misleading investors, fraud.)

Obama-appointed SEC head, Mary Shapiro, originally settled with Bank of America for a friendly $34 million, until Judge Rakoff quintupled the fine to $150 million, for misleading shareholders during its Fed-approved, Treasury department pushed, acquisition of Merrill Lynch, regarding bonus compensation. (Merrill’s $3.6 billion of bonuses were paid before the year-end of 2008, while TARP and other subsidies were utilized). Still embroiled in ongoing lawsuits related to its Countrywide acquisition, Bank of America agreed to an additional $601.5 million in one non-SEC settlement, and $2.43 billion in another relating to those Merrill bonuses. Likewise, Wells Fargo agreed to pay $590 million for its fall-2008 acquisition of Wachovia’s foul loans and securities. These are small prices to pay to grow your asset and customer base.

Citigroup agreed to pay $285 million to the SEC to settle charges of misleading investors and betting against them, in the sale of one (one!) $1 billion CDO. Judge Rakoff rejected the settlement, but Citigroup is appealing. So is its friend, the SEC. Outside of that, Citigroup agreed to an additional $590 million to settle a shareholder CDO lawsuit, denying wrongdoing.

JPM Chase agreed to a $153.5 million SEC fine relating to one (one!) CDO. Outside of Washington, it agreed to a $100 million settlement for hiking credit card fees, and a $150 million settlement for a lawsuit filed by the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists retirement fund and other investors, over losses from its purchase of JPM’s Sigma Finance Hedge Fund, when it used to be rated ‘AAA.’

There you have it. No one did anything wrong. The total of $2.2 billion in SEC fines, and about $4.4 billion in outside lawsuits is paltry. Consider that for the same period (since 2007), total Wall Street bonuses topped $679 billion, or nearly 309 times as much as the SEC fines, and 154 times as much as all the settlements.

The SEC & Dodd Frank Dance

The SEC embarked upon 90 actions, divided into 15 categories, related to the Dodd-Frank Act that amount to proposing or adopting rules with loopholes galore, and creating reports that summarize things we know. Some of the obvious categories, like asset backed related products or derivatives, don’t even include CDOs, which got the lion’s share of SEC fines and DOJ indifference.

Rather than tightening regulations on the most egregious financial product culprits; insurance swaps, such as the credit default swaps imbedded in CDOs, the SEC loosened them. It did so by approving an order making many of the Exchange Act requirements not applicable to security-based swaps. In one new post-Dodd-Frank order, it stated, a “product will not be considered a swap or security-based swap if ,,, it falls within the category of…insurance, including against default on individual residential mortgages.” Thus, credit default swaps, considered insurance since their inception, warrant no special attention in the grand land of sweeping reform.

The credit ratings category includes 20 items proposed, requested, or adopted. Under things accomplished, the SEC gave a report to Congress that basically says that the majority of rating agency business is paid for by issuers (which we knew), and proclaims (I kid you not) that a security is rated “investment grade” if it is rated “investment grade” by at least one rating agency. Further inspection of SEC self-labeled accomplishments provides no more confidence, that anything has, or will, change for the safer.

The White House & Congress

Yet, the Obama White House wants us to believe that Dodd-Frank was ‘sweeping reform.’ Romney and the Republicans are up and arms over it, simply because it exists and sounds like regulation, and Democrats defensively portray its effectiveness.

Ignore them both and ask yourself the relevant questions. Are the big banks bigger? Yes. Can they still make markets and keep crappy securities on their books, as long as they want, while formulating them into more complicated securities, buoyed by QE measures and ZIRP? Yes. Do they have to evaluate their positions in real world terms so we know what’s really going on? No.

Then, there’s the Volcker Rule which equates spinning off private equity desks or moving them into asset management arms, with regulatory progress. If it could be fashioned to prohibit all speculative trading or connected securities creation on the backbone of FDIC-insured deposits, it might work, but then you’d have Glass-Steagall, which is the only form of regulatoin that will truly protect us from banking-spawned crisis.

Meanwhile, banks can still make markets and trade in everything they were doing before as long as they say it’s on behalf of a client. This was the entire problem during the pre-crisis period. The implosion of piles of toxic assets based on shaky loans or other assets didn’t result from private equity trading or even from isolating trading of any bank’s own books (except in cases like that of Bear Stearns’ hedge funds), but from federally subsidized, highly risky, ridiculously leveraged, assets engineered under the guise of 'bespoke' customer requests or market making related ‘demand.’

When the Banking Act was passed in 1933, even Republican millionaire bankers, like the head of Chase, Winthrop Aldrich, understood that reducing systemic risk might even help them in the long run, and publicly supported it. Today, Jamie Dimon shuns all forms of separation or regulation, and neither political party dares interfere.

But things worked out for Dimon. JPM Chase’s board (of which he is Chairman) approved his $23 million 2011 compensation package (the top bank CEO package), despite disclosure of a $2 billion (now about $6 billion) loss in the infamous Whale Trade. He banked $20.8 million in 2010, the highest paid bank CEO that year, too. In 2009, Dimon made $1.32 million, publicly, but really bagged $16 million worth of stock and options. He made $19.7 million in total compensation for 2008, and $34 million for 2007. Still a New York Fed, Class A director, he’s proven himself to be untouchable.

Yet, the kinds of deals that were so problematic are creeping back. According to Asset Backed Alert, JPM Chase was the top asset-baked security (ABS) issuer for the first half of 2012, lead managing $66 billion of US ABS deals.

In addition, according to Asset Back Alert, US public ABS deal volume rose 92.8% for the second half of 2012 vs. 2011, while issuance of US prime MBS (high quality deals) fell 50.6%. Overall CDO issuance rose 50.2%. (Citigroup is the lead issuer (up 552%.))

ZIRP’s hidden losses

According to a comprehensive analysis of data compiled from regulatory documents by Bill Moreland and his team at my new favorite website, www.bankregdata.com, some really scary numbers pop out. Here’s the kicker: ZIRP costs citizens and disproportionately helps the biggest banks, by about $120 billion a year.

Between 2005 and 2007, US commercial banks held approximately $6.97 trillion of interest bearing customer deposits. During the past two quarters, they held an average of $7.31 trillion. During that first period, when fed funds rates averaged 4.5%, banks paid their customers an average of $39.6 billion of interest per quarter. More recently, with ZIRP, they paid an average of $8.9 billion in interest per quarter, or nearly 77% LESS. In dollar terms - that’s about $30.7 billion less per quarter, or $123 billion less per year.

Since ZIRP kicked into gear in 2008, banks have saved nearly $486 billion in interest payments. Average salary and compensation increased by approximately 23%. Dividend payments declined by 14.05%.

The biggest banks are the biggest takers. Consider JPM Chase’s cut. Although its deposits disproportionately increased by 46% from 2007 (pre ZIRP and helped by the acquisition of Washington Mutual) to 2012, its interest expenses declined by nearly 89%. From 2004 to 2007, Chase paid out $34.4 billion in interest to its deposit customers. From 2008 to mid-2012, it paid out $3.4 billion. JPM Chase’s ratio of interest paid to deposits of .27% is the lowest of the big four banks, that on average pay less than smaller banks anyway.

The percentage of JPM Chase’s assets comprised of loans and leases is lower at 36.04% compared to its peers’ percentage of 52.4%. Its trading portion of assets is higher, as 14.78% vs. 6.88% for its peers, and 4.23% for all banks.

Looking Ahead

To recap: savers, borrowers, and the economy are still losing money due to the preservation of the illusion of bank health. More critically, the big banks grew through acquisitions and the ongoing closures of smaller local banks that provided better banking terms to citizens. The big banks have more assets and deposits, on which they are over-valuing prices, and paying less interest than before, due to a combination of Fed and Treasury blessed mergers in late 2008, QE and ZIRP. Yet, we’re supposed to believe this situation will somehow manifest a more solid and productive economy.

Meanwhile, past faulty securities and loans will fester until their transfer to the Fed is complete or they mature, while new ones take their place. This will inevitably lead to more of a clampdown on loans for productive purposes and further economic degradation and instability. Financial policy trumps economic policy. Banks trump citizens, and absent severe reconstruction of the banking system, the cycle will absolutely, unequivocally continue.

Bank of America accused of BRAZEN Fraud, and so?

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 18:21:00 +0000

And of course we are not surprised. In October of 2008 we posted The Government can't run a whorehouse so you give them your banks. And the only thing that has changed since then is that, now the Banks own the government and everybody else is quite a bit broker. Occasionally however the government takes a stab at a bank and fines them. But the "CROOKS" never go to jail. OF course Madoff went to jail. But he wasn't a bank. He was minnow swimming in a pool of sharks. Now Bank of America is a Shark.

The U.S. is accusing Bank of America of "BRAZEN" Fraud. We will post the story here with some observations highlighted, in red, for those who do not like to read long posts. Ater all, most won't read this far. Which is why the second sentence at the beginning of this post is true! Those who also read the New York Times version will, sadly, be deprived of the astute if not meaningless, comments of this writer:

Five years after the housing market crumbled, government officials are still trying to assign blame for the problems that fueled the mortgage boom and bust.

Which of course is difficult when your watchdog agency the SEC is busy watching porn on your dime! See: America burns while the watchdogs fiddle-why we are at the mercy of the aristocracy

On Wednesday, federal prosecutors in New York took aim at Bank of America. They accused it of carrying out a scheme, started by its Countrywide Financial unit, that defrauded government-backed mortgage agencies by churning out loans at a rapid pace without proper controls. In a civil suit, prosecutors seek to collect at least $1 billion in penalties from the bank as compensation for the behavior that they say forced taxpayers to guarantee billions in bad loans.

Considering who you source for the info Bank of America has received 20 billion, 45 billion, nobody really knows billions and may still be getting billions. Pick a story. So if Bank of America is found guilty and no one goes to jail (lets get this out of the way right now o.k., NO ONE IS GOING TO JAIL) and pays 1 Billion in fines. Then Crime been good to them!

Financial firms have been battling chaotic — and at times redundant — litigation related to the mortgage mess. The cases have come from a patchwork of federal agencies, state officials and shareholder suits, some of which have been resolved in multibillion-dollar settlements.

Settlement means, we give you money and no one goes to jail. Remember what we said above???

“They never know who’s going to be coming after them next,” said Dan Hurson, a former federal prosecutor who now defends securities cases. “There’s no central traffic cop.”

Well there is, It's called the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is a government agency whose job it is, is to be sure banking and trading laws are not violated. But as we mentioned linked above, they were all watching porn. Which because they are federal employees we paid them to do!

Still, the public has been frustrated with the limited number of criminal actions that have been filed since the financial crisis. Few cases have taken aim at top executives. Even in the latest case against Bank of America, no company officials were sued as part of the complaint. Angelo R. Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, never faced criminal charges but did agree in 2010 to pay $67.5 million to settle a civil fraud case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Maybe you didn't believe us when we said above, NOBODY IS GOING TO JAIL? We currently live in a Kleptocracy. Crooks run America!

Mr. Hurson said that the government had yet to overcome the notion that federal authorities were reluctant to pursue the top rungs of Wall Street. The criminal actions to come from the crisis, he noted, have focused on “small-time operators.”

The government, however, has contended that it has aggressively pursued mortgage fraud. As the legal deadline approaches for filing crisis-related cases, President Obama formed a mortgage task force to investigate wrongdoing. The unit recently announced its first case, taking action against JPMorgan Chase over mortgage deals created by Bear Stearns, the firm that JPMorgan bought during the crisis.

Note the words, "as the legal deadline approaches"??? Ummmm, did the government not know there was a deadline? Of course they did. Are there elections coming up? Yes! So we have to have a "task force".

The legal problems for Bank of America, however, have taken a deeper financial toll, costing the bank billions in write-downs and settlements. Much of its problems stem from its takeover of Countrywide Financial, once the nation’s largest mortgage lender. The bank also struck a $2.4 billion deal in September to settle a class-action lawsuit over shareholder claims that it misled investors about the 2009 purchase of Merrill Lynch.

2.4 billion is chump change compared to what they received and none of any recovered money is going back to screwed investors. It goes to the government who via the Federal Reserve gives it back to the banks who then re-screw us.....ad infinitum.

In the lawsuit on Wednesday, the Justice Department attacked a home loan program known as the “hustle,” which the bank inherited from Countrywide in 2008 and kept alive through 2009.

Prosecutors say the venture was a symbol of Wall Street’s slipshod standards during the mortgage bubble. According to the lawsuit, Countrywide rubber-stamped mortgage loans to risky borrowers and passed them on to Fannie Maeand Freddie Mac, the two government-controlled mortgage financial giants that guaranteed the loans. The two entities were ultimately stuck with heavy losses and a glut of foreclosed properties.

Ummmm it would appear that the two government-controlled agencies were not doing their due diligence maybe?

“The fraudulent conduct alleged in today’s complaint was spectacularly brazen in scope,” Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said in a statement. “This lawsuit should send another clear message that reckless lending practices will not be tolerated.”

O.k. this is one of those "rolling on the floor laughing out loud" places. The lawsuits send no message other than you can engage in criminal activities if you are a bank and no one will go to jail. By the way, have we said that no one is going to go to jail? The Supreme bank declared that corporations are individuals with the same tights as the rest of us, there for, like the rest of us they have the right to go to jail if they commit a crime. Oh yeah, did we say nobody is going to jail???

Mr. Bharara filed the civil suit along with the inspector general of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The government watchdog for the bank bailout program, the special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, also joined the complaint.

In a statement, a Bank of America spokesman said the bank “has stepped up and acted responsibly to resolve legacy mortgage matters; the claim that we have failed to repurchase loans from Fannie Mae is simply false.” The spokesman, Lawrence Grayson, added, “At some point, Bank of America can’t be expected to compensate every entity that claims losses that actually were caused by the economic downturn.”

Well now, if you were part of the cause of the economic downturn................???

The case builds on a broader federal crackdown of Wall Street that continues years after the onset of the crisis. In a last-ditch effort to hold financial firms accountable, Mr. Bharara this month sued Wells Fargo over questionable mortgage deals.

The assertions in the Bank of America suit, however, do not shed much new light on the mortgage mess. The Federal Housing Finance Agency last year sued 17 big banks over losses sustained by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over different mortgage-related products. The twin mortgage finance companies, also bailed out by taxpayers in 2008 and still controlled by the government, continue to push firms like Bank of America to repurchase billions of dollars in bad loans.

The flurry of litigation, which comes on the cusp of the presidential election, has caused some on Wall Street to question whether the effort is rooted in political motivations.

OH, SO YA THINK??? NO SHIT...... NOW WE ARE FOR REAL AREN'T WE?

Other white-collar lawyers say the complaints rehash old claims put forth by private investors. JPMorgan says that the government urged it to buy Bear Stearns, a defense that does not apply to Bank of America, which acquired Countrywide as part of an aggressive expansion effort.

Still, a lawyer close to the Bank of America case, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was continuing, argued that the bank had already repaid Fannie Mae for some of the soured loans in question. Other loans, this person argued, were never before disputed by Fannie Mae.

The lawsuit threatens to impose steep fines on the bank. The Justice Department filed the case under the False Claims Act, which could provide for triple the damages suffered by Fannie and Freddie, a penalty that could reach more than $3 billion.

Steep Fines for False Claims which are against the law and Bankers got a problem with it even though.......all together now...... nobody is going to jail.

The act also provides an avenue for a Countrywide whistle-blower, Edward J. O’Donnell, to cash in. Under the act, the government can piggyback on accusations he filed in a lawsuit that was kept under seal until now.

Mr. O’Donnell, who lives in Pennsylvania, was an executive vice president for Countrywide before leaving the company in 2009. The government’s case in part hinges on the credibility of his claims.

In the 46-page lawsuit, prosecutors contend that Countrywide abandoned its lending standards in 2007 with the creation of the “hustle” program. Short for “HSSL,” or “High-Speed Swim Lane,” the program adopted the motto “move forward, never backward,” prosecutors said, citing Countrywide documents.

With the goal of generating a high number of loans, Countrywide tore down internal controls known as tollgates that were in place to slow the mortgage process and root out risky borrowers. The firm at one point removed trained underwriters from the loan process, opting instead to rely on “unqualified and inexperienced” loan processors.

At times, prosecutors claim, loan processors crossed a legal line. Some “repeatedly did manipulate” loan forms, jotting down higher incomes for borrowers so they would qualify for Fannie Mae’s standards.

BUT NOBODY WILL GO TO JAIL, u nless of course it would be you or I. Hell we would already be in Jail!

By early 2008, the lax standards started to show. More than a third of the unit’s loans were defective, a significant jump over the industry standard of about 5 percent.

Despite the poor performance, the bank sold the loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and “concealed the defect rates and continued the hustle,” the prosecutor said.

A version of this article appeared in print on 10/25/2012, on page A1 of the NewYork edition with the headline: U.S. Accuses Bank of America Of a ‘Brazen’ Mortgage Fraud.

Deck of cards=Bible, Soldier, seasons and calendar

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 17:09:00 +0000

How we are losing the middle class

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:45:00 +0000

OF two Minds by Charles Hughes Smith is rated by CNBC as one of the top yet unknown financial blogs. We find many of his posts to be thought provoking at the very least. It is not our goal on this site to present views and opinons that will motivate people to flock to our site. It is our goal to encourage the few that do arrive here to think! Thus we present the lates by Mr. Smith (emphasis ours for those that only like to read the highlighted stuff).

Generational Wealth and Upward Mobility

Advanced democracies have lost upward mobility.

Both capitalism and democracy promise the opportunity for upward mobility. Capitalism offers upward mobility to anyone with a profitable idea or productive skillset and work ethic. Democracy implicitly promises a "level playing field" of meritocracy, where talent, drive and hard work open opportunities for advancement.

Crony capitalism offers wealth to the class that already possesses it. Feudalism bestows "rights" to wealth to a favored few. In a way, upward mobility is a real-world test of a nation's economic and social order: if upward mobility exits in name only, then that nation is neither capitalist nor democratic. Stripped of propaganda and misleading labels, it is a feudal society or a crony-capitalist economy masquerading as a capitalist democracy.

Japan is an interesting case study. Some readers of last week's series on Japan noted that Japan was still very wealthy and life was good there. Indeed, some commentators have made the case that Japan has purposefully indebted itself to mask the wealth generated by its export machine: The Myth That Japan is Broke. (via Mike H.)

Here is last week's series:

Narcissism, Consumerism and the End of Growth
Japan and the Exhaustion of Consumerism
The Hidden Cost of the "New Economy": New-Type Depression
The Future of America Is Japan: Stagnation
The Future of America Is Japan: Runaway Deficits, Runaway Debts

My focus was the consequences of economic stagnation, not measuring Japan's national wealth, and this raises the issue of upward mobility: Yes, Japan remains very wealthy, but the wealth is concentrated in a specific neofeudal class; Japan's economy has lost the upward mobility of its long 1950-1990 growth phase.

We are blessed to have many young (20s and 30s) Japanese friends, single and married. Though it is not a random selection, it is geographically and socially diverse. In reviewing each friend/couple's education, financial stability, homeownership and the wealth of their parents, I realized every young person (under 40) who owns a house or flat has parents who made the purchase of their education and home financially possible.

Everyone without wealthy parents--and "wealth" means enough income/savings to pay for an entire university education in cash, and then pay 50% or more of their child's home purchase in cash--does not own a home, even those with a college education.

In other words, wealth is being transferred within the class that already earned and accumulated the wealth. It is not being earned by young people. The untidy truth is that they aren't paid enough to buy a home and accumulate wealth for their children.

What nobody in Japan dares discuss is the fact that tens of millions of young "freeters" will never make enough to get married, much less own a home or save enough to educate their children, unless they receive a lump sum of wealth from their parents while they are young enough for it to matter. If their parents don't have enough wealth to matter, then the freeters are doomed to membership in Japan's expanding underclass.

So a nation can claim $3 trillion in offshore assets or whatever wealth metric you choose, but if that nation has lost upward mobility, then the wealth is increasingly concentrated in a neofeudal structure. How "wealthy" do we say a nation is that has lost upward mobility?

Once upward mobility is lost, "social recession" sets in and the social contract frays.

How different is the U.S.? Most people who don't have physicians in their nuclear family or close circle of friends think that an M.D. is the ticket to upward mobility. In many cases, this is an exaggeration. I just received an email from an M.D. who stated that adjusted for inflation, his highest earnings were 30 years ago, in 1981. Others write to tell me that the hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans that those without wealthy parents must borrow to attend medical school take many years to pay off, even with salaries that most people consider generous.

This is an example drawn from what most assume is the top-level "surefire ladder to wealth." We could look at non-Elite graduates of Ivy League universities (i.e. the non-Elites accepted in the name of diversity) and see how they're doing in terms of wealth accumulation that can be passed down to their kids. Sure, they're "doing well" in most cases, making a comfortable living, but are they making enough to pay off their student loans, own a home that isn't 90% owned by the bank and accumulate enough savings to not only pay their children's education in cash but also help them buy their own home with at least 25% down in cash? If not, then they're not really accumulating wealth that can be transferred, they're simply consuming it.

Correspondent Chris Sullins added transferrable generational wealth to my short list of "what makes someone middle class": Priced Out of the Middle Class (June 28, 2012). How many American households can pay for their children's university education in cash and then fund their purchase of a home?

Here are the eight "threshold" characteristics of membership in the middle class:

1. Meaningful healthcare insurance

2. Significant equity (25%-50%) in a home or other real estate

3. Income/expenses that enable the household to save at least 6% of its income

4. Significant retirement funds: 401Ks, IRAs, income property, etc.

5. The ability to service all debt and expenses over the medium-term if one of the primary household wage-earners lose their job

6. Reliable vehicles for each wage-earner

7. Hard assets and cash that can be transferred to the next generation, i.e. generational wealth.

8. Ability to invest in offspring (education, extracurricular enrichment activity, etc.).

How many households meet these criteria? Not many. This is now a list for the upper-middle class, the top 10% who earn in excess of $150,000 a year. But even households with significant incomes and inheritances from their parents are losing items on this list.

What I am seeing, once again anecdotally, is the consumption of family wealth as America "eats its seed corn." Families with savings are "investing" them in $120,000 per child college educations that may not qualify the young person for a job that pays enough to duplicate their parents' purchasing power--or a job at all.

Having lost their corporate job, they're burning $12,000 to $15,000 annually buying their own health insurance.

Having drunk the debt-is-cheap Kool-Aid, they're heavily indebted, and much of their income goes to debt service and taxes.

Families that had significant cash wealth in 2000 are burning through that cash at an alarming rate. By the time the children are all educated and back living at home or in their own apartments, then Mom and Dad have to buy them vehicles, pay their dental bills, etc. because Junior doesn't earn enough to actually support himself.

The wealth that could have been transferred to the next generation has been consumed suporting a "middle class" lifestyle and providing the next generation with what was once the basis for advancement: a university education, healthcare insurance, a reliable vehicle, etc. Now that jobs are hard to find and compensation is low, the next generation still needs the accumulated wealth of the household to get by.

That is not upward mobility, it is downward mobility, on a vast and largely unnoticed scale.

You can't grow hair for "locks of Love" in Canton, Ohio

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 16:02:00 +0000

Well at least Zachary Aufderheide of Canton, Ohio can't because it's against the rules. Now a quick google check will show that apparently this is a matter of great controversy across this land of Liberty. An issue I thought we had settled in school oh about 45 years ago??? Ah yes, but what goes around comes around when we forget our history doesn't it. Maybe thats why Andrew Jackson said:

"But you must remember, my fellow-citizens, that eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty, and that you must pay the price if you wish to secure the blessing. It behooves you, therefore, to be watchful in your States as well as in the Federal Government." Farewell Address, March 4, 1837

And by Thomas Paine ,"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."

But the real irony here, is that it is happening in Canton, Ohio, which we have been posting on since 2008. The home of the Hope Steffy case and other egregious acts against women. So we are just gonna throw out a little aside because after all, who really cares, Canto, Ohio must be home to Satan and love is not allowed there!
See:

Remember Hope Steffy and Canton Ohio? It gets more absurd

Paddling students for revealing prom dresses

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:20:00 +0000

Alabama students paddled after wearing revealing(?) dresses to the prom???
Helloooooo, who did the paddling???? What did the dress reveal??? It has so much foo foo on it, it looked like a blue smurf outfit. And we were worried a bout Brooksville, Fl??? See:

Mrytle Beach BIkers now denied BBQ and in Brooksville underwear and deodorant is required

Romney endorsed Murdoch on Rape

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 15:06:00 +0000

Romney endorsed Richard Murdoch on God and rape. This is why we have separation of Church and state. We know, we know, our silly expectation that people familiarize themselves with history is is delusional thinking. But we think, mind you now, we just think, that one of the reasons Europeans came to this country in mass was to escape state sponsored RELIGION!

Bill Moyers takes on O'Reilly, whoops

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:06:00 +0000

The real return on the U.S. education investment in pictures

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 21:18:00 +0000

We happen to be one who happens to think that investing in education is a good thing. However throwing money away and calling it investing in education is a bad thing. Any investment to prove it's value must demonstrate a reasonable return on the money invested. When you compare America to the rest of the world eet's a freaking joke migo's. My God people, pimps and drug dealers understand finance better than the educational system. Two graphs as examples to our point:

Need we say more migo's. Our education system is a failure.

Obama Fascist, Romney liberal, the election illusion

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 16:36:00 +0000

And we sincerely hope no one takes this as an endorsement of Romney. However there is a sweet irony here if anyone were to take a good look at the illusion being created around the upcoming Presidential Elections. And that is that the while the rabid base of each party sets out to destroy the opposing guy, the opposing guy, were they to look at their records would be their real choice. In other words Romney is a liberal, Obama is a Fascist promoting the Bush/Cheny agenda just as fast a possible and they are both pimps willing to do or say anything to disguise who they really are.

The sad thing is the Mainstream media is not paying much attention to it, though CNN is at least paying lip service to it. And the electorate is so polarized they refuse to see what is right in front of their eyes were they to step away from their hate for a moment. We saw the "tell" when Obama appointed GE's CEO Jeffery Immelt as we posted here OBama, Immelt, GE no Income tax, GE bailed out, GE jobs china, REVOLT! and further elaborated on it here Bush and Obama, the best Pair the rich could hold. Obamas ties to Wall street have been consistently reported on by the media yet without saying, "Yo, it is usually conservatives that have the closest ties to wall street!"

So is Romney the real Obama? Read the following as examples and you decide:

So, Mitt, what do you really believe?

MITT ROMNEY: A LIBERAL’S LIBERAL REPUBLICAN

Of course this does nothing but confirm what we posted here: Obama, Romney, OMG their twins.

However we ourselves are under no illusion that either candidate is going to be able to do much of anything regarding the economy. Even the Federal Reserve has said without congress getting off their asses the economy is toast. Which of course underscores the illusion of power most attribute to the Presidency. HOWEVER, and there is always one of those isn't there? There are things a President can do to muck things up.

For instance we now have two corrupt Supreme Court Justices, Scalia and Thomas, who one would wonder why they aren't in jail much less still sitting on the bench. See: Supreme court, going once, twice SOLD...... and Supreme court still for sale. But even of more concern (after all why should we be concerned with a few corrupt judges when it appears there may be a heap of them supporting the human bondage trade See: Gus Bilirakis, Royal order of Jesters, is he the only one?) is the fun a President can have with executive orders and the like and this is where Obama shows his lineage to Bush/Cheny. Excerpted from an article by George Washington because we know he would never tell a lie. Although we do recommend the whole post, we know that most are not even going to read the excerpt and continue to seek out information that feeds the lie. But hey, can ya blame a guy for trying?

From (emphasis ours)

The Real Reason America Is Drifting Towards Fascism

A Perennial Problem

While it might be tempting to blame the implementation of Schmitt and Strauss’ ideas on George W. Bush alone, this is not borne out by the historical record.

After all, Dick Cheney dreamed of giving the White House the powers of a monarch long decades before Bush became president. Likewise, indefinite detention, widespread spying on Americans, war throughout the Middle East, North Africa and Afghanistan, the Patriot Act, militarization of the police, and most of the other Bush-era abuses were launched or contemplated long before Bush was sworn in.

Indeed, the demonization of the enemy through dishonest means has been going on for thousands of years.

And these Strauss/Schmitt policies are being faithfully continued by president Obama – a supposed liberal.

Painting by William Banzai 7

For example:

Obama is implementing the Neocon plan for regime changethroughout the Middle East and North Africa

Obama has increased the number of drone strikes, labeling allyoung men in conflict zones as probable bad guys. Obama has appointed himself sole “decider” as to who lives and who dies

A top legal expert says:

President Obama … says that he can kill [any American citizen without any charge and] on his own discretion. He can jail you indefinitely on his own discretion.

Obama has continued the state of emergency declared on 911 – and renewed every year since – and may even have continued the extra-constitutional state of government declared on 9/11 (no one has given a definitive answer one way or the other)

Spying on Americans has ramped up much more under Obama than Bush

Obama has continued an economic system begun under Bush which is literally more fascist than capitalist

The government uses arbitrary, shifting definitions of enemies. For example, while Al Qaeda has been our “mortal enemy” since 9/11 … now they are our close ally. Yet the government might label anyone anywhere in the world terrorists if they do what wedo … without our permission. And government agencies under the Obama administration are labeling the most mundane, normal American behavior as potential terrorism

The federal government under Obama used such brutal violence to break up the Occupy protests (see this, this, this, this, this,this, this, this, this, this, this and this) that the Egyptian military used the crack down on Occupy as justification for the murder of protesters in Tahir Square, Egypt.

Indeed, there is overwhelming evidence that the U.S. is quickly drifting into tyranny. See this, this, this, this, this, this, this, this and this.

We would argue that the problem of tyranny goes beyond Obama, or the Neocons or Strauss or even Schmitt.

The problem is that 4% of the the population are psychopaths. Unless people evolve to the point where they can spot the sociopaths in our midst, we will continue to be controlled by them, and to suffer at their hands.

Why We Are Drifting Towards Fascism (And What We Can Do About It)

Ultimately, we are drifting towards fascism because the majority of people aren’t standing up for ourselves. We are letting the authoritarians have their way.

The good news is that the longest-running sociological study ever shows that only 25% of people are authoritarians. And most people arenot psychopaths.

The truth is that we have overwhelming numbers (and see this). If we worked together we would win.

We need not be victims to the psychopaths who would want to control us. We can evolve and empower ourselves.

At a deeper level, if we are disconnected from out own thoughts, our own feelings and our own soul, then we will look to others to tell us what to do. We will follow the strong leader protecting us from imagined crises and made up enemies, as advocated by Schmitt and Strauss.

Only a re-connection with ourselves, our communities and our souls will act as antibodies to the insane ramblings of those who would manipulate us in order to gain total control over society and to carry out their infantile fantasy of destroying all enemies.

Schmitt, Strauss, Yoo and all of the other boneheads who have adopted a crazed disconnection from reality are worshippers of “thanatos” … the “drive towards death” diagnosed by Freud and others. Many of themwrite lustfully about the beauty of the noble death on the battlefield.

Sanity lies in reconnection with the beauty of the everyday: the beauty of nature, of lovers, of children, of community, of an intellectual insight, of a brilliant engineering breakthrough, of a life of service, of art, of quiet prayer and meditation.

We need to reconnect with the beauty of life … and the fact that deep down inside (despite different clothes, languages and customs) everyone’s blood is red, and everyone wants the same basic things: a little food, a little comfort, a little love, a little inspiration.

In the end, the brutal murderers and tyrants are children. Real menstand up to fascism.

Fear makes people stupid and cowardly … and willing to follow the authoritarian leader into the depths of hell. On the other hand, real courage and strength comes from love for life and passion.

Insanity may be contagious. But courage is contagious as well. And as scared as we may be of the powers-that-be, they’re even more terrified of us.

Love and courage are the antitodes: they are what make us fully human, and able to defeat the psychosis of Schmitt, Strauss and the perennial crazies who would crush humanity.

Our Note: Take the Red Pill

A "Will-kill-ya" County Sunday or another day in the life of rc

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 00:02:00 +0000

Leon County, The Capital County seat of Florida has, at last google map count, at least 5 Walmart's. Not counting the Walmart clones and the still standing, rotting carcass, of a K-Mart that proved the immortal words, "Blue Light Special" aren't so special after all. 20+ miles south of the Florida Capital is Wakulla County. Also known as Will-kill-ya County or just, "down in the county".

Now imagine if you will, having to go to the hospital. There isn't one in Wakulla County, so you head to the county to the north and get asked, "are you from down in the county". You see, apparently there is a look, an attitude, or maybe a smell that just shouts, "These people are from Wakulla County?" Which is o.k. because it keeps plenty of space around you in the E.R. waiting room. Will-kill-ya county after all, is legend.

Now although there is no hospital in Will-kill-ya County there is a Walmart. Which just irks the hell out of Jefferson county residents because they don't have a Walmart. But they do have cows and a prison. We often fear, considering the number of folk in this neck of the woods who still pine for the Confederacy, that civil war may break out between the counties over "Will-kill-ya" county's Walmart. But then it is not for no reason that they call "down in the county", Will-kill-ya County.

We still remember Walmarts opening day "Down in the county". Oh my goodness. There were bands, balloons, a parking lot jammed slap full of every known variation of a 4 wheel drive pick-up truck you can imagine, co-mingled with regular "cars" sporting the ever popular "primer color dent" motif with a smattering of Cadillacs and Lexus's for good measure. Of course there were motorcycles. But they were all parked on the sidewalk so we are not sure how to count them, or if they were for sale or not, seeing how they was all mixed in with the Garden Tractors.

It did not take long for Walmart to become the go to place for just about anything in, "down in the county". Why I even know guys that would wait until after the Friday and Saturday night Bar closings to do their grocery shopping because the WalMart "down in the county" had become the de-facto premier "hook up" spot. Of course the county being what it is, no matter the time of day or night, you always run the risk of running into a family member. So discretion, or at least "down in the county" style discretion (were talking about a place where people pee by the side of their pick up trucks during fourth of July fireworks so discretion in Wakulla County has it's own definition) is always advised. It can be embarrassing to bump into your wife at 3:00am both of you pushing empty carts dressed in your best jeans.

Not being born "down in the County" resulting in being forever labelled a foreigner, we must admit this is the ambiance we have come to admire and love. Where else can you here the words, "Diddy my bottle rocket set that man over yonders John Deere cap on fire. Did I do good?" or try to bum a cigarette from a girl who has her pack tucked into the open zipper of her Daisy Dukes only to learn she is 14? Jail Bait on the hoof. Yepper we are quite happy residing in our little drinking village with a fishing problem.

Except, EXCEPT, when you forget to never, ever, go to the "Will-Kill Ya County" Walmart on Sunday after Church has let out. Oh my God, and we mean that literally. There may only be one Walmart in the county but I think there are, oh about, 832 churches vying for the souls of every man, woman and child in the county. What use to pass for "dinner on the grounds" after the service has morphed into the "Crawfordville 500" where Methanol injection takes on a whole new meaning and wrecked pace cars rust silently on the side of the road as sinners and the saved alike race to see who without a handicap tag hanging from their mirror can grab the first and closest handicap parking space. This is the only time of the week you will see the Walmart greeters armed and in full body armor. And if you must, and I mean absolutely must, go.......... Do Not, I repeat, DO NOT take your wife with you.

And yes my friends, Silly me, forgot every last one of them rules. And though I have not had a drink in many a year, I am now sitting here contemplating the number of kegs it may take to erase the horrible consequences of my violation of the man code from my consciousness forever. But then again, it may be something I do not wish to forget for fear of doing it again!

First off we got there to late to get a shopping buggy with tires that weren't freshly aired up and had rotting banana peels in the child's seat. I got no problem with rotting banana peels. Rotting Banana peels in a childs seat however illicit's to many visuals.

Then of course while being declined coffee at the embedded Subway my ol lady immediately strikes up a conversation with a pregnant woman in one of those little electric bumper cars (NOTE: If your fat enough you can get Social Security to buy you one of those electric bumper cars. Just sayin........And please do not get me wrong. I have nothing against Fat people. It is just that I have a personal affinity for that hollowed out, gray skinned, anorexic junkie look). So I wait patiently looking at the advertisements of stuff I don't want tacked to the walls cause frankly, I don't know the lady, she is surrounded by what appears to be friends and family and I'm a bit cranked about being told Subway is out of coffee?

The conversation ends and I join the wife for a leisurely stroll down the aisles of wonder known as the "Walmart Experience" when she says, "I have no idea who that was I was talking to and I don't think she had any idea who she was talking to."

So o.k. I'm crazy, well why then were you chatting for so long. Well......did ya ever just catch someones eyes and feel like you might know them so you need to speak to them. Well I think we both did that. And I'm thinking, yet not saying mind you, and I see dead people too.

Then comes the time to look for onion seeds. Why? Because the ol lady read this is the time of year your supposed to plant onions. And that means we should plant onions??? It was then I had to remind her about all those little bitty flies covering the computer screen that are the result of all the garden shit we planted in the spring that rotted in the kitchen as it went unused. Which of course meant we still had to make our way to the garden center to look for onion seeds???

Fortunately Wal Mart is expecting an economic recovery as they have moved all there garden supplies out and replaced them with Christmas stuff. So we looked all through the Christmas stuff for Onion seeds. Go figure we don't find any. So the lady asks, did you want to ask the clerk if they have any onion seeds. Well of course dear, I want to ask the clerk if they have any onion seeds. After all onions are on the top of the list as gifts I want to give friends for Christmas cause I'm like really tired of all the little bitty fly juice that makes it hard to see the computer screen of late.

So we mutually agreed to go to ACE at a latter date for Onion Seeds which as all guys know is a way of saying, "ain't no way in hell I'm planting Onions!" Besides we came here for groceries and I haven't had a craving for an onion seed sandwich in oh, God knows how long. But then this being the Sunday after church rush, the Christian next to me goes, "God does know."

Well oh yeah, well then maybe you might want to ask God how long you got before I pull a "down in the county" stunt and pee all over the wheels of your electric bumper car grocery buggy! And I know the Christian is thinking, well if you weren't worried about Onion seeds and thinking more along the lines of the "faith of a Mustard seed.....". So I'm thinking back hard enough that they can hear me, and if you say that in your out loud voice, I'm shoving a bottle of Grey Poupon up your nose and checking the paper in the morning for folk that had to call 911 cause their ass was on fire.

We did, after admiring the way the top of a $49.00 trash can open and closed so smoothly, but agreed that we would wait until Christmas and then buy each other matching garbage cans, make our way to the grocery section. And as I mentioned, Walmart is convinced an economic recovery is on the way because "Pigs Ears" were going for $2.98 a pound. Not that I like pigs ears. I was just looking for something cheaper than hot dogs. Which really would not have mattered since all the "down in the county" folk was pushing and shoving for the best hot dog deals which of course left the Steak section clear for browsing. And though I knew I couldn't afford the $8.00 a pound if you bought 10 lbs and had two 50% percent off coupons and were willing to say three hail marys at the cash register, but thought, hey, I can have a fantasy. Food porn at it's finest. Me all alone with a whole aisle of beef because nobody down "in the county" can afford beef anymore. They can afford bullets however. And with bullets you can shoot stuff to eat when road kill days are lean.

So we did as we usually do and headed down the bean aisle where we tried to wait patiently for two sides of pork to finish chatting about how they couldn't get their ol men to grocery shop with them anymore. This of course makes me feel "whipped". Finally I could take it no longer and hollered "suey...." and they scampered off in a Pavlovian response, leaving us to peruse the various brands of fat free chili with and without beans, as we discussed the nutritional merits of each one.

We finally get to the produce aisle where I caved and bought a bag of Onions. My thinking being as follows. I will sneak out after dark and bury it. Then next time the lady wants an Onion I'll go outside, dig em and holler, Eureka, I done growed a whole bag of Onions.

Needless to say, by this point in time my caffeine and nicotine levels are getting quite low and there comes a level when Im not a particularly happy camper and am likely to say something a bit anti social and politically incorrect so we make our way to the check out lanes because my lady knows that I am quite likely to do that and finds it embarrassing at times. OF course this is Church day so the Checkout lanes reach the 24 miles to the capital. EXCEPT the self checkout lanes.

Now these self check out lanes are brilliance. Once you learn to follow the contradictory directions of the robotic voice that keeps telling you "get the frick away from the bagging space". Apparently you can not help your spouse check out. It is a one person operation. If your hand is anywhere near an empty bag the machine yells at you causing all sorts of people to look at you like, are you stupid or something?

Well stupid I may be. But even I can figure out that no matter how many of them little plastic bags made from oil they make you fill up with one or two items before they make me get another bag assuming I will think Im getting a bargain cause now I got 75 bags of stuff that would fit in 10, I ain't getting no bargain. No what I figure is, if you let me fill the 10 bags to capacity I could shove the other 65 bags in my dipstick and save myself an oil change. Which would also save me from attempting the balancing act of seeing how many little plastic bags I can tote from the car to the house once we arrive home. Which of course means as usual there will be cans of beans all over the yard as them flimsy little bags break after I drop em! No Walmart, the bargain is for you. Cause now you have figured out how to do something cheaper than hire the "slow learners" (my wife just caught a politically incorrect phrase) and senior citizens at slave wages and make me bag my own damn groceries!

Which is all enough, as my caffeine and nicotine levels sink lower, to make me want to go postal. But then I notice this chick next to us with a humongous buggy of crap doing the self checkout thing with a cell phone stuck to her ear telling somebody on the other end that she's alone this weekend.

Well bitch, look around, you ain't alone. You are surrounded by people patiently waiting for your selfish inconsiderate ass to hang up and get on with the checking out so they can get the hell out of Walmart too. In fact I think I even told my ol lady Im gonna tell the selfish little foo foo bitch what an inconsiderate little ass she is and why don't she hang up and check out cause she can't multi task worth onions. To which my wife responded, I think you just did.

Needless to say we got out of there alive. We got home alive, where I slammed a pot of coffee and just went ahead and ate 4 cigarettes. When then my wife says to me, after I finished picking up a drive way full of cans of beans spilled from broken plastic baggies made of oil "Did you think you might want to trim those bushes out by the driveway.........................."

Tallahassee's Capital City Bank and Veterans part 3

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 15:25:00 +0000

Dare we write yet another post about Tallahassee's Capital City Bank and Veterans? You bet your sweet........ Not because they are the only business in Tallahassee that claims support for Veterans when it suits their bottom line. Because they are not. At least when comes to the Veterans Day Parade. Kind of like that Car Lot that sells Jeeps and fly's a huge POW/MIA flag. Not that we would mention any names. Though we have, see: Tallahassee Businesses that refused to support veterans day parade. Please note one business has been taken off this list since first published after they, like Capital City Bank, thought it in their best interest to pony up a token donation or as we like to call "hush Money". If there are others on the linked list that have given since publication, they have not notified us. If they do we will take them off the list.

If you have not already done so please see, Capital City Bank disrespects Tallahassee Veterans-back story for more background leading up to this post.

So in light of Capital City Banks token gesture to those who have fought and died so they can make money (or in Capital City Banks case lose it) in a free capitalistic society we thought we might take a look to see if they can actually afford to give to anyone.

Considering they do give to the following:

List of Former Grant Recipients

At Capital City Bank, we pride ourselves on strengthening the communities where we live. As a result, our Foundation has funded a diverse group of organizations over the years. These include:

SPRING 2011

ALACHUA

ORGANIZATION NAME

Autisim Oasis for Kids

Shands Teaching Hospital and Clinics

BIBB

ORGANIZATION NAME

Boy Scouts of America, Central Georgia Councuil

Goodwill Industries of Middle Georgia

Macon Area Habitat for Humanity

Rebuilding Macon

Theatre Macon

BRADFORD/CLAY

ORGANIZATION NAME

Arc of Bradford County

Communities in Schools of Bradford County

CITRUS/INGLIS

ORGANIZATION NAME

Citrus Hearing Impaired Program Services

Nature Coast Ministries

The Path of Citrus County

United Way of Ctirus County

DIXIE, GILCHRIST, SUWANNEE, LEVY

ORGANIZATION NAME

Dixie Education Foundation

Village Art Studio

GRADY

ORGANIZATION NAME

American Red Cross, Georgia Wiregrass Chapter

Grady County Fine Arts Project

Grady County Habitat for Humanity

Plantation Trace Dance Council

HERNANDO/PASCO

ORGANIZATION NAME

Arc Nature Coast

For Each 1 Reach 1 Mentoring Program

Habitat for Humanity of Hernando County

Junior Achievement of West Central Florida

Pasco-Hernando Community College Foundation

Standing Tall for Veterans

YMCA of the Suncoast

JEFFERSON/MADISON

ORGANIZATION NAME

Main Street Monticello Florida

LEON

ORGANIZATION NAME

The Alzheimer's Project

American Red Cross, Capital Area Chapter

America's Second Harvest of the Big Bend

Big Bend Habitat for Humaity

The Boys' Choir of Tallahassee

Capital City Youth Services

Chosen for a Purpose

Communities in Schools of Leon County

Elder Care Services

Florida Sheriff's Association

James Madison Institute

Leon County 4-H

Leon County Humane Society

Literacy Volunteers of Leon County

New Destiny Church of Christ in Heaven

Oasis Center for Women and Girls

Office of the Public Guardian

Operation One Voice, North Florida

Southern Scholarship Foundation

Tallahassee Citizens' Police Academy Alumni Association

Tallahassee Community Chorus

Tallahassee Watercolor Society

Theatre A La Carte

TROUP/CHAMBERS

ORGANIZATION NAME

H. Grady Bradshaw Chambers County Library and Codd Memorial Archives

Lanier High School Historical Society

New Horizon Community Theatre

Valley Haven School

WAKULLA

ORGANIZATION NAME

National Alliance on Mental Illness, Wakulla Chapter

Wakulla Academic Boosters, Inc

Count if you will, the number of Veterans Organizations listed as recipients in 2011. Now count the number of arts and other similar types of organizations that received donations. "Tallahassee Water Color Society?", "Theatre A la Carte?", "Village Art Studio?"

So yes, it does look like they can afford to give. After all, it is tax deductible. BUT WAIT A SECOND, CAN THEY? We went here and found this:

HOW HEALTHY IS THIS BANK?

Capital City Bank

HEADQUARTERED IN TALLAHASSEE, FL

THE TROUBLED ASSET RATIO

1. A "troubled asset ratio" compares the sum of troubled assets with the sum of Tier 1 Capital plus Loan Loss Reserves. Generally speaking, higher values in this ratio indicate that a bank is under more stress caused by loans that are not paying as scheduled. Each bank graphic is on it's own scale: use caution when comparing two banks.

2. The graphs are for comparing this bank to the national median troubled asset ratio. Because the ratio varies so widely among banks across the nation, the scale is not consistent from bank to bank and the graphs should not be used to compare banks to one another.

FINANCIAL DETAILS FOR CAPITAL CITY BANK

Line item

Assets

Deposits

Loans

Loan loss provision

Profit

Capital

Reserves

Loans 90 days or more past due

Non-accruing loans

Other real estate owned

Capital plus reserves

Total troubled assets

June 30, 2011

$2,572,994,000

$2,114,450,000

$1,656,522,000

$7,678,000

$4,198,000

$243,589,000

$31,080,000

$41,000

$61,075,000

$61,016,000

$274,669,000

$122,132,000

June 30, 2012

$2,621,566,000

$2,162,037,000

$1,526,307,000

$10,536,000

$-2,344,000

$241,367,000

$29,929,000

$170,000

$74,771,000

$58,059,000

$271,296,000

$133,000,000

Note: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. insures deposit accounts up to $250,000. The "troubled asset ratio" is not an FDIC statistic. It is derived by adding the amounts of loans past due 90 days or more, loans in non-accrual status and other real estate owned (primarily properties obtained through foreclosure) and dividing that amount by the bank's capital and loan loss reserves. It is reported as a percentage. For example, a bank with $100,000 in "troubled assets" and $1,000,000 in capital would have a "troubled asset ratio" of 10 percent. For a fuller explanation, see our methodology.

Loan loss provisions don't come close to outstanding loans, loans past due have increased, Capital and reserves have decreased, Total troubled assets are almost half of Capital plus reserves and LOOK AT THAT PROFIT HIT WILL YOU. Though our initial question was, why would any Veteran keep their money in a bank that disrespects them, asked here, To Tallahassee Vets, Why do you use Capital City Bank??? , our question now becomes, why is anyone keeping their money in what looks like to be a bank in trouble?

A banks first responsibility is to it's shareholders. We suspect their are many Veterans who own stock in Capital City Bank. We suspect we not many that are aware that Capital City Bank gives money to things like "the Tallahassee Community Chorus," or the "Tallahassee Watercolor Society" while dissing their own hometowns veterans day parade? Now call us crazy, but we could justify donating money to those who have put their lives on the line so that your business can exists. We have a hard time justifying giving money to people who may or may not sing and paint pretty pictures for you! MOST ESPECIALLY WHEN IT IS OBVIOUS YOU ARE LOSING MONEY! Then again, every corporation has board members with wives who will say, give money to my pets my pet or else!

NOW, and who is the bank employee that raised the ire of our little, misunderstood, ranter, i.e. this writer? Well we looked "Ryan" (the name given us) up and found him various places, such as Access Tallahassee. You know thats what young professionals do. Plaster themselves everywhere they can talk nice about themselves. So here is what Young Ryan had to say (emphasis ours):

Ryan , a personal banker with Capital City Bank, says he loves his job because he appreciates the company he works for and the city he now calls home.

“I fell in love with Tallahassee right away and knew I wanted to stay here,” said Ryan, a Macon native and graduate of Georgia Southern University. ”But I quickly knew that I wanted to get involved in the community — go beyond and be proactive and make a difference.”

The best way to accomplish that? Join Access, of course.“Access Tallahassee has been a great launching pad to get me involved with like-minded, hard-working people in this community,” Poole said. “It also is a place for future leaders to meet with and pick the brains of current leaders. It has been very rewarding.”

Access also has been a great way to engage with others in the same place in their career, he said. “Access allows us to grow together with younger professionals and build bonds and relationships — and establish relationships over time that are helpful and fruitful both personally and professionally.”

Poole says he also like what the program means to the community. “Access helps us retain talent in Tallahassee and show new graduates just how great Tallahassee is.”

In addition from Linked In:

Interests:

I enjoy spending time with friends and family. In my spare time I am involved with athletic activities such as tennis and golf. I'm also an avid reader of biographies, trade journals, and business books.

Groups and Associations:

Access Tallahassee and Leads Group B (Current Vice Chair), Network of Young Professionals (Past Board Member), Tallahassee Seminole Club, Tallahassee Tennis Association

Interesting words from an individual who during our conversation Wasn't sure he knew where Lake Ella Was, wasn't sure why the veterans day parade was cancelled, didn't know the Veterans day Parade was no longer run by the city, so therefor had no idea why it was no longer run by the city, and wanted to know what the Veterans Day Parade had done for the city that deserved it a place on Monroe street, and felt the people who are now running the parade should give it back to the city?????

THIS FROM A YOUNG PROFESSIONAL BANKER WHO WANTS TO GET PRO ACTIVE WITH THE COMMUNITY AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE????????????????? SOUNDS LIKE BULLSHIT TO THIS WRITER! SO WE ASK IS THIS THE KIND OF PERSON YOU WANT HANDLING YOUR MONEY, VETERAN OR NOT??? IS ANY ANY ORGANIZATION THAT WOULD PUT SUCH A PERSON ON THEIR PAYROLL AND GRANT THEM ANY RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER THE TYPE OF ORGANIZATION YOU WANT HANDLING YOUR MONEY???? COME ON PEOPLE IS NOT AMERICA IN BAD ENOUGH SHAPE ALREADY, THAT WE GOT TO MAKE IT WORSE BY SUPPORTING THE LIKES OF THESE..........

O.k. please excuse our little rant. But we do feel better now.

NOW what we hope you will do, is join us in a little campaign to Educate Capital City Bank and close your account until they get the message. Tell them why you are closing it to insure they get the message. Write the ceo/president of Capital City Bank, Bill Smith smith.bill@ccbg.com so he knows why you are doing it.

For those who are veterans or family members of service men and women there are banks that appreciate you. You can bank by mail with them. Tallahassee businesses take their checks. We know because we use them. One would be Tyndall Federal Credit Union.

And to Tallahassee Dodge Chrysler and Jeep, take the flag down! After all the two top American made cars are the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord!

To Tallahassee Vets, Why do you use Capital City Bank???

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:46:00 +0000

Capital City Bank is one of the Florida Capitals last community owned banks. That doesn't necessarily make it a good bank. For all we know it might make it a very bad bank. Consider unlike other local banks it has yet to be bought out. But then we do not know about these things. What we do know is that at least one of their employees, one who will be first to bust his ass to meet, greet and try and sell an account to you has a very low opinion of Veterans. You can find our back story on the disrespect for veterans shown by at least one of their employees here: Capital City Bank disrespects Tallahassee Veterans-back story.

Now what we know, is that almost immediately after our bringing this to the attention of Capital City Bank Officers a small check, very small check, from a bank that gives so much (see just who they give it to in the above link) to community organizations whose value to the community is arguable and is more likely the favored, ego stroking hobby of some Directors wife. So in our mind that "very small" check arriving so quickly might (note that word) be construed to be "Hush Money" to the Organization that puts on the Veterans Day Parade Every Year, Veterans Events Tallahassee. After all they do not want community veterans to know they really don't give a damn do they?

We can only surmise that veterans who still use Capital City Bank have yet to learn just how it is their bank feels about them. So we bring it up again because here is what we are thinking.

As we all know it is hard enough for veterans to get the services promised them by their own country. There are any number of Faux veterans organizations (see: Confronting Disabled Veterans Foundation at Starke BIkefest) out there that are stealing the public blind under the guise of helping veterans.

For the most part area public support of veterans consists of going to the beach and sitting under a red white and blue umbrella while they knock a few back and listen to a ball game on their latest and greatest electronic wiz bang gadget or, to drunk to drive to the beach, are BBQ'ing in the back yard of whatever the kleptocrats have left them after asking our sons and daughters to die for their right to be screwed over when they come home.

Do you taste the cynicism here? Hmmm, let me try harder. Lets all go to a Capital City Bank Board meeting and see if we can find any of those little flag lapel pins people are so fond of wearing to "PROVE" they are God Fearing Patriots willing to ship there sons and daughters off to war as opposed to a theater group luncheon where the worst threat they may face is a rubbery shrimpette. Don't worry Bif, I'll save you!

But seriously Veterans, aren't you tired of being screwed over and disrespected? WHY NOT strike a blow for your own self esteem, hop on down to your local Capital City Bank and pull your damn money out? My God, you faced enemies with guns, IED's, children armed with hand grenades and survived. You have seen horror's most can only imagine as most run from them. Imagine the feeling, if you walked into you Capital City Bank Branch and said to them, "I am a vet, I am proud to be a Vet, now close out my account, give me money or I will show you just what a vet can do? I mean like, were just sayin............

Most Corrupt members of Congress 2012

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:41:00 +0000

Unfortunately we are of the contention that any official connected with the Royal Jesters of Mirth (See here : Gus Bilirakis, Royal order of Jesters, is he the only one?) should get top billing and be thrown into the general population of any major prison yard for a dose of what they give. However it would appear that the Major News Media big time is kinda passing this story up. Who knows, maybe a number of reporters are members also??? Minus that we are left to present you with the following:

Following is Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington Report on this years year most corrupt Congressmen/women. There are 4 Democrats and 8 Republicans. Our own Contention is they are all corrupt, both parties. However there are those who dispute anything put together by CREW labeling it a front group of the Democratic party.

So a word about their documentation: To create this report, CREW reviewed media articles, Federal Election Commission reports, court documents, and members’ personal financial and travel disclosure forms. We then analyzed that information in light of federal laws and regulations as well as congressional ethics rules.

You will also find that the allegations are heavily footnoted should you wish to research the data yourself. Now you can say, "it's all lies" because you did not hear it on your favorite corporate sponsored mass media news source. Or you can do the research. We suspect all to many are to lazy to do the research and just choose to disbelieve that which they do not choose to believe. CREW's Most Corrupt Members of Congress 2012

Why Spain is the United States

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 13:21:00 +0000

Spain is a Democracy. Spain is suffering from massive debt, unemployment, an increase in poverty and ever widening wealth gap. Spain plans to fix this situation through "austerity" measures that will affect the middle class the most. Some quotes from a story by the Miami Hurricane:

“People are mad because there is no alternative,” explained Julia Fernandez Cadenas, a 23-year-old recent graduate of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and lifelong Spanish citizen. “In the past, when a crisis happened and there were no jobs, people returned to high schools and universities as an alternative. But our government has decided the great debt is must be paid by “us” as the “middle class.”

“Wherever you go in Spain – from angry Barcelona to angry Bilbao to angry Andalucia, Valencia, the seething estates at the edges of Madrid – you hear outrage at what is seen as economic injustice: hitting the incomes and services of the poorest while bailing out the banks that had become political playthings for the elite,” Mason wrote in his Oct. 2 article, “Unrest drags Spain towards buried unpleasant truths.”

"Studying in the public university costs double of what it used to cost and consequently, no alternative is now possible. Young people are trapped; their parents are unemployed so they can no longer afford university. No jobs, no money, no education.

In the last few weeks Spain has been experiencing some brutal riots resulting in numerous injuries to protestors.

Note the similarity of Spanish Police Uniforms and American riot police uniforms. Ostensibly to protect the police from injury, such dress also inhibits the ability of those police who cross the line to be identified.

While the United States has the "Patriot act", Spain has the "Public Security law". Now from El Pais:

The director general of police, Ignacio Cosidó, announced on Thursday that the authorities are studying the possibility that the next update to the Public Security Law could include an article prohibiting the recording, processing or circulation on the internet of police officers performing their duties, if doing so would endanger them or the operation in which they were engaged.

The police chief said the reform to the Public Security Law, which is being studied by the Interior Ministry, would seek to “strike a balance between the protection of the rights of citizens and those of members of the security forces. Only in recognition of the immense labor of the security forces are we able to progress toward achieving a more just, safer and peaceful society.

In other words Police State!

There is a sane voice to heard from in Spain. The Judges for Democracy have said:

Judges for Democracy (JpD), a professional association of judges and magistrates, questioned the legality of preventing citizens from recording photos and videos of police officers on duty. The association’s spokesman, Joaquim Bosch, said the proposed reform was “extremely ambiguous and in no instance should be used to prevent the circulation of excesses on the part of police.”
Bosch also pointed out that the constitutional right to transparency of the actions of police officers takes preference over the right of security agents not to be photographed or filmed.

Countered by the Interior ministry who echoes what we have already heard and see on our own shores:

The Interior Ministry later clarified that the reform is still in the preliminary stage and its objective is not to prevent people taking photographs or recordings in protests on public streets, but will be applied in those instances when the presence of a television crew could place a police operation in danger, interfere with the arrest of a suspect, or increase the risk to on-duty officers. The ministry added that the proposed reform would not contradict the right to freedom of expression or information.

In other words, if you didn't see it or hear about it, it never happened. When the elite of the world conspire to have the police to their bidding regardless of constitutional restraint, under the cover of darkness and without transparency we have entered the era of Fascism. It is in these time we always refer to the United States Declaration of Independence.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

But then we wonder how many on facebook have,
A. Read this document,
B. Have any honor left?

Americans could be a Kenyan Proverb

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 02:45:00 +0000

“Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable". Kenyan Proverb which is also tied to an Aesop Fable.

THE FABLE:

An old man on the point of death summoned his sons around him to give them some parting advice. He ordered his servants to bring in a tied bundle of sticks. He said to his eldest son: "Break it."
The Son tried with all his might by was unable to break the bundle. The other sons also tried, but they two were unable to break the bundle.
'Untie the bundle", the old man said, "and each of you take a stick".
When each had done so he then said, "now break your stick."
Each was ably to do so. You see my meaning said the old man? UNITY!

We Are Unbreakable

Rabbi Marc Gellman
A Prayer for America, Yankee Stadium, September 23, 2001

The Talmud and the African tribe, the Masai tribe, both teach a wisdom for our wounded world. They both taught:
Sticks alone can be broken by a child, but sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.
The fears and sorrows of this moment are so heavy, they can break us if we try to bear them alone. But if we are bundled together – if we stick together – we are unbreakable.
And we shall do far more than merely survive. We shall overcome. We shall overcome the forces of hatred, without allowing hatred to unbundle us. We shall overcome the forces of terror, without using fear to unbundle us.
So in all our comings and our goings, from this time forth, let us remember: That the person next to you, in front of you, behind you, is not merely an obstacle to your free and unfettered life. They are a part of this bundle, that keeps you and each of us from breaking.
Let us never again view our fellow New Yorkers, our fellow Americans, our fellow citizens of the world, as limitations on our life or freedom. But rather as the moral twine that binds us, and saves us, and delivers us from evil.

The Eagle and the Arrow – An Aesop's Fable
An Eagle was soaring through the air. Suddenly it heard the whizz of an Arrow, and felt the dart pierce its breast. Slowly it fluttered down to earth. Its lifeblood pouring out. Looking at the Arrow with which it had been shot, the Eagle realized that the deadly shaft had been feathered with one of its own plumes.

Moral: We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.

You will note that in the left talon of the eagle in the Great Seal of the United States there are 13 arrows.

The balance or the yin and yang of the olive branches relationship with the arrows is representative of being prepared in war and peace.

Of a nation, of a community, of a family, of an individual.

Our strength in all things is strengthened by our unity. As one voice is but a whisper a thousand is a roar (Julia Garwood, paraphrased).

There are those who would silence any whisper that threatens to become a roar. There are those that would seek to keep stick from being bundled. Why? Why would divisiveness be a goal? Why would one seek to sow the seeds of separation, division, discrimination, alienation, isolation. Why would one seek to blind others to their commonality with the human spirit on earth and beyond. What selfish ends do they seek?

And have you become their pawn!

If we allow ourselves to buy into the propaganda that we can not fight the Machine, then we allow ourselves to become sticks. Broken souls easily broken irretrievably to never heal because we have lost our roots.

Certain cultures spend much time communing with the dead. It is there connection to a strength that transcends the frailties of the human. They are the bundle that can not be broken. They will soar on wings of Eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint! Isaiah 40:31

Once again apple profits on the backs of children

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 13:31:00 +0000

We have written any number of posts about how the darling of investors, the young and the forever chic are supporting what ostensibly passes for Free Enterprise through their love of Apple products. But in reality this is facade. Apple, as we have demonstrated in past posts is one of the number one perpetrators of off shoring American jobs, Offshoring cash to avoid American taxes, enslaving the chinese power young and old until they are so crippled they can not work anymore and polluting the surrounding countryside so as to render unusable.

But to no avail as Apple mania continues to grip the land of the Home and the Free and the Brave. Because you see all those things are good, i.e. free and bravery, as long as they belong to you and you profit off those to who it does not belong is just words. So while we rant about how the "government" is fucking up our lives. We not only remain silent, but support the destruction of other lives. All so we can save a few bucks on a cell phone. At some point in time Karma will bite us in the ass. In the meantime continue to kill your sons, daughters and loved ones as you drive around time with slave made toys strapped to your selfish heads.

Foxconn Admits Employing 14-Year-Old Interns

Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, admitted on Tuesday that it had employed interns as young as 14 years old at one of its factories in China.

The admission will likely draw further criticism of how the manufacturer of Apple’s [AAPL 644.6136 ] iPhone device is treating its workers. Foxconn has been struggling to make its operations compliant with Chinese labor laws, given both its own huge scale and deep-rooted habits of violation across the country’s manufacturing sector.

Responding to Chinese media reports and a statement by China Labor Watch, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization, Foxconn said that an internal investigation had found some participants in a student internship program at its plant in Yantai in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong were under the legal working age of 16 years.

“Our investigation has shown that the interns in question, who ranged in age from 14 to 16, had worked in that campus for approximately three weeks,” the company said. “This is not only a violation of China’s labor law, it is also a violation of Foxconn policy, and immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions.”

Foxconn pledged to conduct a full investigation and fire any employee found to have been responsible for the violations. The company also said the Yantai facility “has no association with any work we carry out on behalf of Apple”.

Gus Bilirakis, Royal order of Jesters, is he the only one?

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:54:00 +0000

We have all heard the rumors related to secret Masonic and Shriner rights. And often
times we just pass them off as that, Rumors. Our bet is at the moment Florida congressman
Gus Bilirakis wishes they were rumors. Then maybe the investigation that he has been using
campaign funds to pay for his membership in the secret organization that provides politicians, judges, law enforce and others who enjoy having a good time on your dime, with prostitutes, human slaves, and underaged children would go away, whoops?

What we found particularly interesting regarding this story was there was little coverage of the child/human slavery aspects of this story but the emphasis was on whether or not this is a violation of campaign law????? Now do not get us wrong. What you do behind closed doors is your businesses. Unless it includes taking advantage of those who can not defend themselves, i.e. raping mind, bodies and souls. But then the elite of all societies in decline over history have allowed themselves these minor indiscretions paid for by the proletariat who then goes hungry and grows more subservient by the day.

For more on the Royal Jesters see the following links:
The Shriners' Dirty Little Secret - Royal Order of Jesters (ROJ ...
Masonic Leaks » royal order of jesters
The Royal Order of Jesters
Royal Order of Jesters and bizzare sex acts. : Freemason ...

Americans like the TSA-WTF?

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 03:18:00 +0000

When we published, Are you really a Patriot? Of what? We suspected that we might be pissing in the wind by doing so. We had not yet seen the Gallup poll indicating that Americans actually like the TSA. A concept, idea, government agency that betrays everything this country, the bill of rights and the constitution theoretically stand for. Theoretically is the word we insert to differentiate between what should be fact and what really is. One statement we saw is as follows:

Younger Americans have significantly more positive opinions of the TSA than those who are older. These differences may partly reflect substantial differences in flying frequency, with 60% of 18- to 29-year-olds reporting having flown within the last year, compared with 33% of those 65 years and older.

Although we have not researched it and can not state it as fact we would speculate the words we highlighted in red are pure bullshit. The number of times a persons flies should have no bearing on their knowledge of individual liberties and freedoms. If they have studied history then they, at some time, must have stumbled across Ben Franklins warning:

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety

Of course this may be of little concern to a generation programmed to feel secure within the walls of 24 hour immersion in a cyber world where so many threats are mere illusions sold to them by game makers.

But what is extremely disturbing is the illusion of safety from terrorism people easily fall victim to.

Will the actions of the TSA keep a plane from being blown out of the air by a passenger. Maybe, but with borders that can not, despite the pandering of politicians, be sufficiently hardened against against terrorist infiltration (Consider we can not keep a truckload of pot or illegal immigrants from crossing the border. How can we insure against one lone terrorist with a ground to air missile launcher capable of taking out a jetliner?). So often the unthinkable becomes reality and we respond in shock.

Never mind airliners. The U.S. is strewn with soft targets from coast to coast. With roads to get to them and signs pointing the way should one get lost. You can see them from any interstate which itself is a soft target.

What are we to do, install TSA agents at every intersection? Laughable as it may sound we have posted on traveling roadblocks with stop and seizure capabilities. But of course those things never happen to us. Until they happen.

We guess we may have to go back and review the documents upon which our country was founded and the documents which gave birth to those documents, as we are unable to recall words to the effect that freedom and liberty are "safe" pursuits? For they are not. They are roads fraught with threats and dangers at every turn. Our constitution and the Supreme Court which is to uphold the constitution were not designed to insure your safety. They were designed to insure your individual rights. The U.S. Government was not born to be your baby sitter. You exist as the babysitter of the constitution to protect it from those who would harm it.

But then that is what was and not what is. What is, is that the mothers of American soldiers cry when their sons and daughters die to protect an illusion!

See: Americans' Views of TSA More Positive Than Negative

FBI going Dark-another public service

noreply@blogger.com (aka rc) — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 02:26:00 +0000

For those concerned with issues of privacy, censorship, freedom od expression and born with a genetic predisposition to abhor totalitarian ism in all it's forms may be interested in FBI's interest in going dark. Can the government legally go illegal? You have to ask?

(U//LES) FBI Going Dark: Law Enforcement Problems in Lawful Surveillance

September 14, 2012 in Federal Bureau of Investigation

The following report was released on September 7 by WikiLeaks. For more information on the FBI’s efforts to extend domestic electronic surveillance see our article on the Domestic Communications Assistance Center’s vision statement recently released by Cryptome.

FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION SITUATIONAL INFORMATION REPORT

4 pages
Law Enforcement Sensitive
June 29, 2011

(U//LES) ‘Going Dark’ is a Law Enforcement (LE) initiative to address the gap between the legal authority and practical ability of LE to conduct lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance. Problems highlighted by the Going Dark initiative include LE’s difficulty in receiving information from some technology companies, and criminal’s use of advanced technologies and techniques that can complicate carrying out of lawfully-authorized court orders to conduct electronic surveillance.

(U) This Situational Information Report (SIR) is being provided to state and local Law Enforcement Officers (LEO) in response to questions asked about the Going Dark initiative. The intent of this document is to explain basic information on the initiative and a small sampling of the technologies and techniques that may pose problems during lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance. This product reflects the views of FBI Albany on problems state and local LE may encounter and has not been vetted by FBI Headquarters.

(U) There are many sophisticated technologies and techniques that can complicate lawfully-authorized electronic surveillance. Additionally, it is possible to use these technologies and techniques in tandem, for instance, a criminal may encrypt their web traffic and use a proxy server to hide their location.

(U) Compliance Issues

(U//LES) LE’s ability to monitor sophisticated technologies is complicated by the companies that sell the technologies. Some companies are unable to comply with LE requests for lawful intercepts due to a lack of knowledge regarding LE authority, a belief that they are not subject to the laws providing LE intercept authority, or a lack of technical capability to provide the requested information. Due to the Internet and the ease with which consumers are able to purchase/use items from around the world, other companies are sometimes located outside the United States and not subject to US electronic surveillance legislation. Additionally, some companies simply do not keep the documentation necessary to comply with legal requests, either because they are not aware of the requirements or because they purposely seek to protect privacy or impede LE activities.

(U) Hiding Data

(U//LES) Encryption is one of the most common techniques and it is extremely difficult for LE to decrypt information without cooperation. Encryption is the process of applying an algorithm to a set of data that alters the data into an unrecognizable format. Only users with the decryption keys are able to decrypt the data. Through the use of hardware and software-based encryption, consumers are able to use encryption to secure individual files, hard drives, removable media (CDs, USB sticks, etc.), e-mails, instant messages, text messages and even phone calls. Encryption can be achieved through a wide variety of software and smartphone applications, that are typically user friendly. LE may be able to decrypt some data without cooperation due to poor user practices, including notes and e-mails containing passwords, and decryption keys contained in computer memory (RAM); however, frequently LE receives encrypted data, but has no way to decrypt it.

(U//LES) Steganography is a tool that physically embeds a set of data within another set of data. Methods exist to embed data inside of digital images and may allow for steganography to be applied to streamed content, like videos, music, and phone calls. The existence of the embedded data is invisible to a user unless the LEO has special training in what indicators to look for, and even if LE knows about the data, it may be impossible to retrieve the embedded data.

(U//LES) Some Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services encrypt voice traffic. The use of these technologies means that criminals carry on phone conversations that LE has difficulty intercepting, and even if the calls are intercepted, LE some data may be encrypted and unable to be analyzed.

(U) Hiding Originator Information

(U//LES) When encryption and steganography is deployed, LE can determine who the sender and receiver is, however, there are technologies and techniques that prevent LE from determining who sent and/or received the information. A Proxy server is an intermediary for another computer to connect to the Internet. Typically, the destination computer only sees that the request came from the proxy server and does not know who originated the request. To find both the destination and originator information, LE must identify and work with the proxy server owner, who could be in another country, and are frequently unwilling to cooperate with LE requests. Proxy servers may or may not keep log files that can aid Law Enforcement in determining where the traffic originated. The Onion Router (Tor) is a sophisticated network of proxy servers that allow Internet users to route their traffic through multiple intermediaries (Tor nodes), completely masking the originating computer. Tor is specifically designed so that no single computer in the chain knows both the destination and origination information, and the Tor network is comprised of multiple home and business users throughout the world, making it almost impossible to find the originating and/or destination computer.

(U//LES) While not always considered Going Dark issues, the following are worth mentioning due to their use in recent local cases and the difficulties they caused investigators.

(U//LES) Anonymous remailers prevent the identification of an e-mail writer, allowing the writer to send an e-mail without any originating information. The program accepts the properly formatted e-mail and forwards it to the recipient without any information about the sender. Some remailers will forward the e-mail at a random date and time, up to seven days after the writer hits “send” to prevent anyone from using the date-time stamp to identify the sender. Many of these services do not keep log files, which can make it impossible to trace the e-mail back to the sender.

(U//LES) Communication companies offer phone number spoofing and voice changing services, which allow callers to mask their identities. When a phone number spoofer is used, the application/service hides the number of the caller and provides false caller identification information. Some applications allow the caller to choose what number they want displayed, which makes it easy to impersonate another person or company.

(U//LES) FBI Albany is interested in information regarding criminal use of sophisticated tradecraft to counter LE activity.

Tags: Domestic Surveillance, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Government Surveillance, Law Enforcement Sensitive2 Comments »

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