Society, Living and the Economy  

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Home sweet rental: No longer buying into the American Dream [12/31/09] " Home ownership has often been considered a critical part of the American Dream -- an unwritten privilege of living in America bestowed on its financially secure citizens. Owning a home was (touted as ) " the ticket to financial security" and, for several years earlier this decade with home values soaring, seemingly the best investment Americans would ever lay their hands on. But in the wake of the housing crisis -- with home values down 35 percent or more and with little robust growth seen on the horizon -- it may be time to ask whether buying a home is still so vital to financial happiness. ... The current economic environment is making a strong case that renting a home and smartly investing your savings can be just as rewarding .... Renting in today's market and investing your savings will allow you: * To diversify your savings, something buying a home prevents you from doing. * To keep your assets liquid, a real security blanket, particularly in times of stress...."   

Federal appeals court sets limits on police use of Tasers [12/30/09] "A federal appeals court on Monday issued one of the most comprehensive rulings yet limiting police use of Tasers against low-level offenders who seem to pose little threat and may be mentally ill. ... As lawsuits have proliferated against police and Taser International, which manufactures the weaons, the nation's appellate courts have been trying to define what constitutes appropriate Taser use. .... In the summer of 2005, Carl Bryan, 21, was pulled over for a seat-belt violation and did not follow an officer's order to stay in the car. That's when Coronado Police Officer Brian McPherson, who was standing about 20 feet away watching Bryan's "bizarre tantrum," fired his Taser, the court said. Without a word of warning, he hit Bryan in the arm with two metal darts, delivering a 1200-volt jolt. Temporarily paralyzed and in intense pain, Bryan fell face-first on the pavement. The fall shattered four of his front teeth and left him with facial abrasions and swelling. Later, a doctor had to use a scalpel to remove one of the darts. Bryan sued McPherson, the Coronado Police Department and the city of Coronado, alleging excessive force in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights. The officer moved to have the claim dismissed, but a federal trial judge ruled in Bryan's favor. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit affirmed the trial judge's ruling on Monday, concluding that the level of force used by the officer was excessive. McPherson could have waited for backup or tried to talk the man down, the judges said. If Bryan was mentally ill, as the officer contended, then there was even more reason to use "less intrusive means," the judges said. "Officer McPherson's desire to quickly and decisively end an unusual and tense situation is understandable," Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote for the court. "His chosen method for doing so violated Bryan's constitutional right to be free from excessive force." Some lawyers called it a landmark decision. Eugene Iredale, a San Diego lawyer who argued the case, said it was one of the clearest and most complete statements yet from an appellate court about the limits of Taser use. Sgt. Norm Leong, spokesman for the Police Department, said his agency's policy on the use of stun guns mainly covers safety considerations. It doesn't list behaviors or situations that warrant using the devices, he said. "Ideally, in every circumstance, we try to gain compliance verbally, and force is the last option we ever want to use," he said. ..." 

Metro areas get chunk of rural U.S. aid  [12/28/09] "More than $2.7 billion of stimulus aid for struggling parts of rural America has gone to the nation's biggest metropolitan areas. That's nearly a quarter of the $12 billion in rural assistance the government has paid out so far under President Obama's economic stimulus package, a USA TODAY review shows. It went to small, far-flung suburbs in metropolitan areas with more than a million residents, including growing towns around Atlanta and Phoenix. The spending reignites a long-standing debate over what "rural" really means in an increasingly urban nation.  ..."   

Australians Rack Up Record Debt [12/28/09] "Australian households are in record levels of debt, and for the first time have surpassed American levels. Reserve bank figures show household debt – the combination of personal and mortgage debt – is equivalent to Australia’s GDP. That means every adult owes an average of $74,000. Analysts warn that the financial crisis that rocked Main Street in America could well hit Australian families in 2010. Economics Professor Steve Keen at the University of Western Sydney says it is a sign that families are under financial stress. “We now have an enormous proportion of income that has to be devoted to paying back interest payments,” he said. “Even if you leave aside the interest payment fact, if you want to reduce your debt now where it would have taken you on average for Australians back in 1990 it would have taken just a few months, now it would take them a year to get back down to the zero mark.” However the Council of Social Service says there is already a debt crisis and it will only get worse unless the Federal Government steps in, with the numbers of new families asking charities for help set to increase next year. The council’s director, Alison Peters, says the Government needs to boost its support. “We think there needs to be more support given to organisations like local neighbourhood centre like the major charities to be able to assist those people who are really desperate for assistance,” he said. “A number of our organisations have already reported to us and indeed to the Government that they are seeing not only new families coming forward seeking assistance but many families are coming back again and again for assistance because they really are struggling ..."     

US: Midnight in the food-stamp economy [12/27/09] "At 11 p.m. on the last day of the month, shoppers flock to the nearest Walmart. They load their carts with food and household items and wait for the midnight hour. That's when food stamp credits are loaded on their electronic benefits transfer cards.  ... "Once the clock strikes midnight and EBT cards are charged, you can see our results start to tick up," says Tom Schoewe, Wal-Mart Stores Inc's chief financial officer. As food stamps become an increasingly common currency in a struggling U.S. economy, they are dictating changes in how even the biggest retailers do business. From Costco to Wal-Mart, store chains are rethinking years of strategy as they watch prized customers lose jobs and turn to this benefit, the stigma of which is disappearing not just in society, but in corporate America. Besides staffing up for the spike in shoppers on the first day of the month, retailers are adjusting when and what they stock, updating point-of-sale systems to accept food stamps and shifting expansion plans to focus on lower-income shoppers. Take Costco Wholesale Corp, a warehouse club operator that caters to middle income Americans who must pay $50 a year to shop in its stores. Nudged along by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who threatened legal action, Costco began accepting food stamps at a few New York stores in May. It now plans to clear the payments in all of its 413 locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. "Our view was ... we would not get a lot of food stamps because our member on average is a little more upscale," Costco Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti said in October. "Well, I think that was probably a little bit arrogant on our part." As of September, a record of more than 37 million people were enrolled for the government benefit, federal officials told Reuters, an increase of nearly 35 percent since the U.S. slid into recession at the end of 2007 ...."   Graphic of Food Stamp Use

How to Live Without Health Insurance -- 7 Tips to Avoid Medical Expenses [12/27/09] "Either the Federal Reserve needs to start printing more money or you had better get some Flintstones vitamins, because the $25 billion worth of federal subsidies that Congress ponied up in March to help the unemployed make COBRA payments is apparently about to run out. If you're currently uncovered, you know it's a minefield out there, with potentially costly accidents and afflictions around every corner. Fortunately, we've come up with the seven best ways to protect yourself from financial ruin if you don't have health insurance."

29% of Americans say religion ‘out of date’ [12/27/09] "A Gallup poll of Americans' attitudes towards religion released on Christmas Eve found significant recent increases in those responding either that they have no religious preference, that religion is not very important in their lives, or that they believe religion "is largely old-fashioned or out of date." .... It seems as though over the last ten years a significant number may have gone from believing that religion is a positive factor in the world, even if they're not particularly religious themselves, to seeing religion in a far more skeptical or even negative light. ..."   

American workforce has lowest mobility rate since WWII [12/26/09] "The recession has tethered many people where they are, reducing their employment options. That gives businesses a smaller labor pool and may make it difficult to shrink the unemployment rate. One of the hallmarks of the American worker has been mobility -- the speed with which people like Holguin have moved to find opportunities. But the recession of the last two years has produced a profound change, creating conditions that have tethered many people where they are. Since 2007, the nation's mobility rate has fallen to its lowest level since World War II, says William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. His findings are consistent with the Census Bureau's report this week that population growth has slowed sharply in Sun Belt states, while the outflow of residents from California, New York and breadbasket states such as Nebraska and North Dakota has eased. Frey and other experts believe that the U.S. will eventually return to its traditional pattern of robust mobility and migration -- from North to South and West, and from the industrial Midwest to the coasts. But as the nation struggles out of the recession and hiring slowly resumes, there are signs that many people will stay where they are, rooted by mortgages, other financial issues or age. For employers, that means workers may be harder to find and thus costlier. And that could make it tougher to reduce the nation's double-digit unemployment rate. "Economically, it means labor will be less accessible," Frey said.  ..."   

The Secret Lives of Amazon's Elves [12/25/09] "If Amazon is Santa, 400 folks living in RVs outside the Coffeyville, Kansas fulfillment center this winter are the elves. A few years back Chris Dunphy and Cherie Ve Ard flipped the bird to their desk jobs, packed their belongings in a custom 17-foot solar-powered fiberglass camper, and hit the road to live "at the intersection of Epic and Awesome." A couple months ago, while staying with friends, they noticed that Amazon was luring RVers to Coffeyville, Kansas, the site of the retail giant's original and largest fulfillment center. "We were located in San Diego at the time," explained Cherie. "We're part of a community of younger full-time RVers on Nurvers.com, a group of non-retired-age folks who are living the mobile lifestyle and kind of going outside the norms of 'Wait for retirement to travel.'" They noticed other RVers were flocking to Kansas to work for Amazon. The pay wasn't great—just above $10-an-hour, typically—but Chris and Cherie were planning on being in St. Louis for the holidays. Why not kill a month in Kansas working for Amazon? Fast forward a couple of weeks, and the self-styled "technomads" were putting down stakes at a state park about 20 miles from the four enormous but dull warehouses that comprise the Coffeyville hub. ..."   

USA: Many U.S. state and local government pensions are not totally funded [12/25/09] "U.S. state and local governments face more than $530 billion in unfunded public pension liabilities and most do not have funds set aside to pay for them, a government report showed on Wednesday. As of June, state governments were on the hook for around $405 billion and 39 of the country's largest local governments must come up with around $130 billion for their other post employment benefits, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said. ... The congressional watchdog said that only around 35 percent of the 89 governments it reviewed reported having set aside at least some assets to cover their liabilities. This means that "most state and local governments included in our review are paying for their OPEB liabilities for active and retired workers in a given year from their current revenues." The most common actions that municipalities took to address the shortfall were changes to their contributions to the benefits, such as reductions to the amount of health insurance premiums paid for by the government. Other actions included changes to the type of retiree health benefit plan and a tightening of the eligibility requirements to qualify for retiree health benefits...."    

How To Preserve Herbs [12/25/09] VIDEO [unknown length] "Patti Moreno, also known as the Garden Girl, shows us all about green garden DIY on her show about urban sustainable living. In this episode, she shows us how to preserve fresh herbs in the freezer."  Note:  Turn sound down for intro to clip - level is high.

USA: Recession Alters Migration Patterns  [12/25/09] "The recession has had a profound effect on migration patterns in the U.S., reversing the flow of people to former housing-boom states such as Florida and Nevada. ... In the year ending July 1, 2009, Florida -- once the top draw for Americans in search of work and warmer climes -- lost more than 31,000 residents to other states, the Census Bureau reported Wednesday. Nevada lost nearly 4,000. .....The exception amid the Sunbelt states is Texas, which has managed to avoid much of the housing malaise and unemployment that have plagued other states. In the year ending July 2009, Texas gained 143,423 more residents from other states than it lost, making it the nation's biggest draw for the fourth year in a row. With no income tax and relatively inexpensive housing, Texas has attracted both entrepreneurs and large corporations. The bank Comerica Inc. moved its headquarters from Detroit to Dallas in late 2007, and BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion opened its U.S. headquarters in Texas soon thereafter. Surging energy prices in early 2008 helped the state's oil industry, and the state's large medical centers have provided stable employment. ..."   

UK: Families hit by the worst wages crash in 50 years [12/24/09] "Total wages and salaries paid to British workers fell from £163.7billion in the third quarter of 2008 to £161.6billion in the third quarter of 2009. But yesterday’s figures revealed that households also saved the most on record, hoarding £21.4billion in bank accounts and investment plans between July and September this year. That compares with £2.2billion of gross savings in the same period of last year. The surge in savings means Britons are spending much less, which is acting as a drag on economic growth. The economy has now shrunk by 6 per cent since the recession began in early 2008. That means the downturn has been marginally worse than the slump under the Conservatives at the start of the 1980s, and the deepest since the Second World War. Britain is the only member of the G20 group of leading nations to remain in recession. NOTE: Ha! When ALL of the G7 ARE in recession, it's a transparent trick to try and seem and make it better by comparing the UK to G20 countries who were not as stupid with their involvement with ethereal financial instruments. ..."     

Small-business bankruptcies rise 81% in California [12/23/09] "With credit tight and consumers still pinching their pennies, many business owners find they can't go on. ..."  

Mexico City legalizes same-sex marriage [12/23/09] "Mexico City has legalized same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples. ..."   

Estate tax gap could result in lawsuits [12/22/09] "Congress’s failure to fill a one-year gap in the estate tax could result in serious litigation over inheritances, according to tax experts. The estate tax is set to disappear on Jan. 1 for one year before being reinstated in 2011 at a higher maximum rate of 55 percent. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) this week said Democrats will seek to retroactively extend the tax upon the Senate’s return to Washington next year. But in the meantime, deaths, trust terminations or trust distributions involving substantial amounts of money inevitably will occur, according to a research note by Deloitte Tax. And that’s likely to lead to extensive litigation if and when Congress re-imposes the tax on grounds that the Constitution forbids Congress from retroactively collecting the tax. ..."    FAQs on the Death of the Estate Tax

Ford Offers Buyouts, Early Retirement To All 41,000 UAW Workers [12/22/09] "Ford, the healthiest of Detroit's three automakers and the only one to avoid government aid and bankruptcy protection, still has more workers than it needs to produce cars and trucks at current sales levels, said company spokesman Mark Truby. He would not say how many workers Ford expects to take the packages, which include cash payments and other incentives such as vouchers to buy cars and short-term health insurance coverage. "We're just going to try to right-size our manned capacity and align it with demand," Truby said. ..." 

Many Americans scale back seasonal trips or stay put [12/22/09] "More than half of U.S. residents who wanted to travel during the holidays have significantly cut back their plans or canceled trips altogether because of the fragile economy, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll shows. Americans are suffering from high unemployment, income reductions and financial insecurity that continue to undermine the travel business, even as the economy shows tepid signs of recovery, according to economists and poll respondents.  ..."  

 USA: 40 States To Run Out of Unemployment Money by 2011 [12/22/09]   "The recession's jobless toll is draining unemployment-compensation funds so fast that according to federal projections, 40 state programs will go broke within two years and need $90 billion in loans to keep issuing the benefit checks. The shortfalls are putting pressure on governments to either raise taxes or shrink the aid payments. Debates over the state benefit programs have erupted in South Carolina, Nevada, Kansas, Vermont and Indiana. And the budget gaps are expected to spread and become more acute in the coming year, compelling legislators in many states to reconsider their operations." Related: States' jobless funds are being drained in recession  "The recession's jobless toll is draining unemployment-compensation funds so fast that according to federal projections, 40 state programs will go broke within two years and need $90 billion in loans to keep issuing the benefit checks. The shortfalls are putting pressure on governments to either raise taxes or shrink the aid payments. Debates over the state benefit programs have erupted in South Carolina, Nevada, Kansas, Vermont and Indiana. And the budget gaps are expected to spread and become more acute in the coming year, compelling legislators in many states to reconsider their operations. Currently, 25 states have run out of unemployment money and have borrowed $24 billion from the federal government to cover the gaps. By 2011, according to Department of Labor estimates, 40 state funds will have been emptied by the jobless tsunami. ..."  

Transit ridership drops with economy as fewer go to work  [12/22/09] "After a record year in 2008, the number of people riding buses and trains dropped in 2009 as unemployment rose and fewer people traveled to work. Last year, public transit ridership hit a 52-year high of 10.7 billion rides. This year, January-through-September ridership was down 4% from the first nine months of last year to 7.7 billion trips, according to new figures from the American Public Transportation Association. The number of rides fell in 146 of 197 bus systems and in 50 of 64 rail systems from January through September, compared with the same period in 2008. William Millar, the association's president, says Americans going to and from work make up 60% of transit use, so ridership drops as unemployment increases. Yet, he says, "the ridership fall is greater than expected because unemployment rose so quickly." The national unemployment rate is 10%. L ower ridership means more lost revenue for transit agencies already struggling financially. Fares make up about a third of an agency's operating revenue. The rest comes from taxes and other local and state funding that has decreased dramatically because of the recession, Millar says. As a result, 89% of transit agencies have raised fares or cut service, a June survey by the association found. Those changes could discourage riders from returning in the future, Millar says. Transit systems are struggling ..."   

The Slimy World of Credit Card Lending [12/20/09] "Credit card companies have made it their passion to ensure that every eligible American has access to a credit card. They have also created a financial labyrinth with traps in every corner from tricky financial statements to interest rates that would make loan sharks blush. The credit card has become some form of financial rite of passage. Even colleges are plastered with credit card pushers trying to get their new batch of Americans hooked on the world of debt financing. In a way, this is an early initiation into the world of spending what you don’t have so when the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve create money out of thin air many Americans don’t find this concept foreign. Credit card companies have expanded the scope of how many Americans actually hold the mighty plastic: ..."   

"The 2010 Food Crisis" [12/20/09] "If you read any economic, financial, or political analysis for 2010 that doesn’t mention the food shortage looming next year, throw it in the trash, as it is worthless. There is overwhelming, undeniable evidence that the world will run out of food next year. When this happens, the resulting triple digit food inflation will lead panicking central banks around the world to dump their foreign reserves to appreciate their currencies and lower the cost of food imports, causing the collapse of the dollar, the treasury market, derivative markets, and the global financial system. The US will experience economic disintegration. ..."  Note:  If you look at the whole page ... some interesting facts ...

"Are Americans a Broken People? Why We've Stopped Fighting Back Against the Forces of Oppression" [12/18/09] "Can people become so broken that truths of how they are being screwed do not "set them free" but instead further demoralize them? Has such a demoralization happened in the United States? Do some totalitarians actually want us to hear how we have been screwed because they know that humiliating passivity in the face of obvious oppression will demoralize us even further? What forces have created a demoralized, passive, discouraged U.S. population? Can anything be done to turn this around? ..."   

Officials and Experts Warn of Crash-Induced Unrest  [12/17/09] "Numerous high-level officials and experts warn that the economic crisis could lead to unrest world-wide. ..."  Note: A little bit slow-witted, aren't they?

Homelessness on the Rise for Female Vets [12/17/09] "By the time she found her way to a program run by the nonprofit U.S. Vets for homeless female veterans in this Southern California city, she'd slept in San Diego on the beach or anywhere she could find after a night of partying. One morning, she woke up behind a trash bin, her pants torn, with no memory of what happened. Instead of helping her forget her six months in Iraq, where she said she faced attacks on her compound and sexual harassment from fellow soldiers, the alcohol and drugs brought flashbacks and raging blackouts. She said she tried to kill herself. ..."   

Growing Up Empty: The Hunger Epidemic in America [12/16/09] "Most Americans may find it hard to accept that millions in this nation are suffering from hunger -- an affliction most often associated with war-torn Africa or flood-ravaged Bengal. It flies in the face of everything we've been told about our nation's prosperity. First the Clinton and then the Bush administration have led us to believe that poverty is under control, pointing to the mass exodus from the welfare rolls since the 1996 reforms were launched. The $27 billion cut in food stamps? Justified, lawmakers told us, because the poor are working and feeding themselves. Hunger, it is commonly understood, has long since vanished, along with the 7 million people who no longer receive public assistance. ..."  Note: The sequential tome Time Magazine elected Ben Shalom Bernanke as its Man of the Year for 2009. How fucked up does someone's perspective really get?   It's about time for a little quote from Victor Hugo:   "Adversity makes men; prosperity makes monsters" 

The Thin Blue Whine: Petulant Police Demand Impunity [12/16/09] " Known to many people in his neighborhood as a gentle and talented man – a successful musician and artist before the onset of his mental illness – Chasse was beaten so severely by the bold and valiant guardians of the public that nearly all of his ribs were fractured. Several of them had been pulverized. He was also treated to a dose from law enforcement's favorite "non-lethal" toy, the portable electro-shock torture device (more commonly called a Taser). ..."   

Poll reveals depth and trauma of joblessness [12/16/09] "Unemployment causing major life changes, mental health issues for millions ..."   

How To Live Without A Car and Save Money [12/15/09] "I’ll spare you the environmental lecture—Just imagine your life with out a car payment. Sounds pretty nice, right? Read on to see how you can make it a reality. ..."  Note: Some interesting comments after the article.

Getting Rid of Useless Crap [12/14/09] "You know where I’m coming from: Clutter wastes money. Clutter can take up an enormous amount of space in your house or apartment. You might be living in (and paying for) too much space, just to make room for stuff you don’t need. You’ve probably spent a bundle moving stuff that was sitting unloved in your old place and is now sitting unloved in your new place. (It’s okay, I’ve done it, too.) ..."   

9 Ways to Reduce Your Monthly Grocery Bill [12/15/09] "Envy those savvy grocery shoppers that come armed with coupons and always seem to know exactly what’s on sale and what to buy where? Here are 9 ways to help save money on your monthly grocery bill, most of them as easy on the environment as they are on your wallet. ..."  

6 Steps to Relocating for Work [12/15/09] "If you’re struggling with your job search and feel you’ve exhausted every lead provided by your local network, it may be time for you to broaden your horizons. The world is a big place filled with lots of opportunities; why would you limit your career options to a single city? Of course, when we suggest that you relocate to find work, we’re not suggesting that you just pack a duffel bag and set off into the great unknown. Relocating to find work demands careful planning, especially if you have a family. These six steps will aid you in your long-distance job search as you contemplate a new life. ..."   

Food Stamps Go to a Record 37.2 Million, USDA Says [12/14/09] "Recipients of the subsidy for retail-food purchases climbed 18 percent from a year earlier, according to a statement posted today on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Web site. Participation has set records for 10 straight months. ..... In Missouri, about 100 percent who were eligible that year took advantage of the program, the highest rate in the nation, followed by residents of Maine and Michigan, at 91 percent and 89 percent, respectively, the USDA said. Wyoming’s participation rate of 47 percent was the lowest in fiscal 2007, followed by California and Idaho at 48 percent and 50 percent, according to the study. Nationwide, participation in the food-stamp program was 66 percent of those eligible for the aid in 2007, the USDA said. The department has budgeted for a rate of 68 percent in the current 2010 fiscal year. As of Oct. 1, 2008, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the new name for the federal Food Stamp Program. The new name reflects the changes we’ve made to meet the needs of our clients, including a focus on nutrition and an increase in benefit amounts. SNAP is the federal name for the program. State programs may have different names. ..."   

Cash is king now - but for how long? [12/14/09] "More holiday shoppers this year are using cash or debit cards to avoid overspending with credit cards. But what about the rest of the year? Is it possible in a credit-dependent society to get by without plastic? "Credit cards are not necessary," says Ed Fredericks, a finance professor at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles. "Originally, credit was seen as a privilege. Soon it kind of turned into something that everyone had to have. Multiple cards were mailed out to people, whether they were able to carry credit or not." The latest government figures show that the average credit card debt is $7,905 per household, down from $8,387 last year. Yet millions of consumers live without credit cards. Some never got into the habit; others have sworn off plastic after being burned. Danielle Peterson, a Web developer for the University of Maryland, Baltimore, hasn't used a credit card for two years. "It makes me feel pretty good. I really don't miss having the credit card bill come at the end of every month," she says. "I feel bad for everyone who has a credit card and is facing these interest rates and everything else." ...People spend more with credit cards because it's painless . You get what you want immediately, but the bill won't come for a month. Paying with cash or a check is painful because you see the money disappear before your eyes, he adds. Debit cards are a little less painful than cash, but they hurt, too. Proponents say that credit cards are more secure and are required by merchants such as car rental agencies and hotels. Others say you need a card to build a credit history and credit score. That reasoning is outdated ..."

America's Race to the Bottom - Economic Inequality Soars [12/13/09] "The ratio of executive salary to the average paycheck during the mid-twentieth century was about thirty to one. In the last decade it has ranged from three hundred to over five hundred to one. The richest four hundred Americans were worth an average of about $13 million each in the middle of the century, using today's dollars. Now they average over $260 million each. The top taxpayers in America now pay the same proportion of their income in taxes as those earning less than $75,000 per year. Those taxes on the wealthy went from being more than half of their income fifty years ago to about a sixth today. In the past three decades, the income of the richest Americans quadrupled, while the income of the lowest ninety percent actually fell. Today, the median wage is lower than it was in the 1970s, even though productivity has grown by nearly fifty percent. All told, from the 1930s through the 1970s, America produced the biggest and richest middle class in human history. But then many of us made the mistake - as I did - of assuming that this had become, based on a solid society compact, the default status quo for the foreseeable future. ..."    

The Class War: Public Employees vs. the Rest of Us [12/13/09] "Nick Gillespie pointed earlier to the latest evidence that federal workers have long since lapped their private sector benefactors in salary and job growth, in addition to their traditional advantages in job security and benefits. (Fun fact! Back in February 2008, before Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and George W. Bush's disaster socialism, The New York Times reported that Dubya was "in line to be the first president since World War II to preside over an economy in which federal government employment rose more rapidly than employment in the private sector.")  ..."   

Child hunger in the U.S., the 'silent epidemic,' is an increasingly complex problem [12/13/09] "A more nuanced picture is emerging as the problem has become more widespread. With the economy faltering, the number of youngsters living in homes without enough food soared in 2008 from 13 million to nearly 17 million, the Agriculture Department reported last month. In Philadelphia, researchers found that, during the first half of this year, one in five homes with a baby or toddler did not have enough food. And one of every dozen young children was outright hungry, a rate twice that of the same period the year before. Although the problem has deepened, White House and Agriculture Department officials say the president's goal remains, as one put it, "something that seems manageable." Congress increased food stamp benefits this year by $20 billion and, more recently, set aside money to test ways to feed children when school is out for the summer. The president's aides are focusing on a congressional debate, deferred from this year to next, on how to renew the nation's main child nutrition law. ..."   

Homelessness: A Connecticut Caseload Soars  [12/13/09] "The caseload at Alpha, the only emergency shelter for families in Bridgeport, has doubled, to an anticipated 350 families by the end of this year, from 170 last year, Ms. Brooks said. ..."   

Indiana: Homeless Women And Children Unable To Escape Cold [12/13/09] "The extremely cold conditions have exposed a crack in Fort Wayne's social service network and some women and children may be the ones falling through, again. ..."   

Homeless increase even in affluent areas [12/12/09] "In an area where the median family income tops $80,000, the homeless figure tops 20,000, The Orange County Register reported Friday. ..."  

Foreclosures fall, but banks bracing for next big wave  [12/12/09] "In November, for the fourth month in a row, the number of foreclosure filings in the United States declined — an 8 percent drop from October. But foreclosure experts aren’t celebrating. They’re bracing for the next wave of default notices, foreclosure auctions, and bank repossessions, which could hit early next year. ..."  

American Dream 2: Default, Then Rent [12/11/09] "Schoolteacher Shana Richey misses the playroom she decorated with Glamour Girl decals for her daughters. Fireman Jay Fernandez misses the custom putting green he installed in his backyard. But ever since they quit paying their mortgages and walked away from their homes, they've discovered that giving up on the American dream has its benefits. Both now live on the 3100 block of Club Rancho Drive in Palmdale, where a terrible housing market lets them rent luxurious homes -- one with a pool for the kids, the other with a golf-course view -- for a fraction of their former monthly payments. ..."    

Highest Tax Increases Ever: State and local governments demand that their residents 'shut up and pay up'  [12/11/09] "A new survey of state governments shows that 29 states enacted tax and fee increases this year that are expected to take almost $24 billion from their residents. Sales-tax increases are common: They will raise an extra $4 billion in California, $889 million in Massachusetts, and $803 million in North Carolina. Income taxes are going up, too: The hikes are expected to generate an additional $4 billion in New York, $1.01 billion in New Jersey, $617 million in Connecticut, $278 million in Wisconsin, and $235 million in Oregon. Higher corporate-income taxes will boost revenues by $110 million in Connecticut, $130 million in Delaware, and $25.8 million in Tennessee. Higher gas taxes will yield an additional $33.9 million in Alaska, $6 million in Maine, $2.4 million in New Hampshire. Apparently concluding that small businesses have it too easy, New Hampshire just added a new interest and dividends tax on limited-liability corporations. All of this is enough to drive you to drink, but state governments will get you there, too: Alcohol taxes are going up in New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Vermont. ..."   

Federal Law Shields Jailers From Legitimate Legal Claims [12/10/09] "... Countless prisoners are being denied justice under a federal statute whose intent was to reduce frivolous law suits, two prominent legal authorities say. Law professors Margo Schlanger of Washington University, St. Louis, and Giovanna Shay of Yale indict the federal Prison Litigation Reform Act(PLRA) of 1996 for “undermining the rule of law in America’s prisons” by “preventing inmates from raising legitimate claims” against their keepers. The professors trace the subsequent “dramatic decline” in prisoner law suits to the fact that “constitutionally meritorious cases are now faced with new and often insurmountable obstacles.” What’s more, the PLRA “undermines the rule of law,” Schlanger and Shay say, “by shielding corrections officials from accountability even in situations in which law violations are clear.” ..... the law holds incarcerated youth “to an impossibly high standard of self-reliance.” “Wardens and sheriffs routinely refuse to engage inmate grievances because they commit minor technical errors, such as using the incorrect form,” Schlanger and Shay write, and “each such misstep by a prisoner bars consideration of even an otherwise meritorious civil rights action.” “Juvenile detainees,” they remind, “are young, often undereducated, and have very high rates of psychiatric disorders” and generally do not have access to law libraries...."  Note: Dogs in 'people suits' and sequentials abound in this area. 

Richard Cohen: Gay-To-Straight 'Therapist' Spars With Rachel Maddow  [12/09/09] VIDEO [17:56] Note: Ha! Entertaining, for sure.

Uganda Considering Death Penalty For Gays [12/09/09] "Proposed legislation would impose the death penalty for some gay Ugandans, and their family and friends could face up to seven years in jail if they fail to report them to authorities. Even landlords could be imprisoned for renting to homosexuals. Gay rights activists say the bill, which has prompted growing international opposition, promotes hatred and could set back efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. They believe the bill is part of a continentwide backlash because Africa's gay community is becoming more vocal. The legislation has drawn global attention from activists across the spectrum of views on gay issues. The measure was proposed in Uganda following a visit by leaders of U.S. conservative Christian ministries that promote therapy for gays to become heterosexual. However, at least one of those leaders has denounced the bill, as have some other conservative and liberal Christians in the United States. Anyone who "aids, abets, counsels or procures another to engage of acts of homosexuality" faces seven years in prison if convicted. Landlords who rent rooms or homes to homosexuals also could get seven years and anyone with "religious, political, economic or social authority" who fails to report anyone violating the act faces three years. ..." See Ugandan Bill  PDF  Note:  Fucking christian sequentials ... the plague of the galaxy. They're SO afraid of this ... of everything. They wish to prevent others from having experience 'they' don't 'approve of'. Related:  Going Undercover in the Crazy, Tragic World of Christian Gay-Conversion Therapy [12/08/09] "Ted Cox posed as a gay man to infiltrate gay-to-straight therapy programs. What he found was equal parts shocking and tragic. ..."   Note:  Delusional religious sequentials and their power trip to pretend they have 'control' over an issue that 'scares them inside' ...

Americans Financially Unable to Meet Current Debt Payments: Bankruptcy Filings up 100 Percent from 2007  [12/06/09] "The U.S. Courts released data last week closing out the 2009 fiscal year. In the release we find that bankruptcy filings are up 100+ percent from 2007. No other economic vehicle shows deeper signs of financial strain than bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is the end of the road for many Americans. Although businesses file for bankruptcy as well the vast majority of filings come from individuals simply not able to meet the demands of their monthly payments. Average Americans are looking at the recovery talks but the reality on the street is much different. ..."   

US food charities overwhelmed by demand [12/04/09] "As the holiday season begins, charities across the US are reporting unprecedented demand for food assistance. Driving the increased demand is the unemployment crisis, the charities say. They also cite state budget cuts, the foreclosure crisis, and the ineffectiveness of the federal-state food stamp program, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Feeding America, a national food assistance organization, recently released details of an economic impact survey of some of its 63,000 member food charities. It found that between summer 2008 and summer 2009, demand for food assistance increased by over 30 percent nationally. Ninety-nine percent of participating charities reported an increase in demand and 92 percent witnessed an increase of newly unemployed workers seeking assistance. Food banks and food pantries are reporting that those seeking assistance describe themselves as “middle class” or say that “never thought they would have to ask for help.” “We’re hearing from more and more middle class who have never in their life gone to a food pantry,” Diane Doherty, director of the Illinois Hunger Coalition told the Associated Press. “They’re very, very frustrated and angry.” ..."  

Elizabeth Warren: America Without a Middle Class [12/04/09] "Today, one in five Americans is unemployed, underemployed or just plain out of work. One in nine families can't make the minimum payment on their credit cards. One in eight mortgages is in default or foreclosure. One in eight Americans is on food stamps. More than 120,000 families are filing for bankruptcy every month. The economic crisis has wiped more than $5 trillion from pensions and savings, has left family balance sheets upside down, and threatens to put ten million homeowners out on the street. Families have survived the ups and downs of economic booms and busts for a long time, but the fall-behind during the busts has gotten worse while the surge-ahead during the booms has stalled out. In the boom of the 1960s, for example, median family income jumped by 33% (adjusted for inflation). But the boom of the 2000s resulted in an almost-imperceptible 1.6% increase for the typical family. While Wall Street executives and others who owned lots of stock celebrated how good the recovery was for them, middle class families were left empty-handed. ..."   

US services sector 'unexpectedly' shrinks [12/04/09] "The US services sector, the bulk of the world's largest economy, contracted in November after two months of growth amid a budding recovery from recession, a private survey showed Thursday. The Institute of Supply Management said its non-manufacturing index dropped to 48.7 percent last month, 1.9 percentage points lower than the 50.6 percent reading in October. The fall in the ISM index below 50.0 percent, indicating contraction, surprised analysts, who had forecast on average an increase to 51.5 percent in the non-manufacturing sector, which makes up more than 85 percent of the US economy. ..."  Note:  I like how they always throw in the 'unexpected' .... how could it possibly be unexpected ... this has happened a dozen times ...

College Graduates Facing Mounting Debt, Rising Unemployment [12/04/09] "College graduates face record high levels of debt and unemployment, according to a report released this morning from the Project on Student Debt. The nonprofit reports that average debt for college seniors who graduated with loans in 2008 rose to $23,200 in 2008, up from $18,650 in 2004. Roughly two-thirds of students graduate with student loans, government surveys show. Lauren Asher, president of the Project on Student Debt and co-author of the paper, says the growing debts show a “systemic change in the way our higher education system is financed.” Although student debt levels have been rising for years, 2008 collided with a rough job market. According to the survey, the unemployment rate for recent college graduates, those ages 20 to 24, rose to 10.6% by the third quarter of this year, the highest on record. ..."  67% of new grads avg. $23K debt

The Real Unemployment Rate in the U.S. is Now 22% [12/04/09] "About 600,000 people were removed from the unemployment calculations in 1994, so if you merely add those 600,000 to the current U6 number, the rate of unemployment would be much higher than 17.5% and would more accurately be reflected in the SGS Alternate unemployment rate of 22%. ..."     Related:   The Layoff List [12/04/09] "Source for Layoff Announcements and News ..." 

Just walk away from the "American Dream" [12/04/09] "A younger generation might hear Kelly Clarkson sing her song, Walk Away, while an older crowd may relate that phrase to lyrics from The Left Banke hit of 1966, Walk Away Renee. Unfortunately, “walk away” is also the lament of many current homeowners holding mortgage obligations that far outweigh the current value of their property. In fact, about 588,000, or about one in five borrowers who default, have done just that and walked away from their homes and mortgage obligation. ..."    

US Still Shedding Jobs At Significant Rate [12/03/09] "Companies in the U.S. cut an estimated 169,000 jobs in November, according to a private report based on payroll data. The drop, the smallest since July 2008, compares with a revised 195,000 decline the prior month, data from ADP Employer Services showed today. The figures were forecast to show a decline of 150,000 jobs, according to the median estimate of 32 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The report signals the job market is still deteriorating and unemployment will probably climb further even as the economy is emerging from the worst recession since the 1930s. After overestimating payroll losses by 103,000 on average in the five months to September, ADP’s initial estimate for October was in line with the government’s payroll figures. “Our economy is still a long way from adding jobs,” Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott LLC in Philadelphia, said before the report. “Labor markets remain the one area where significant improvement in economic conditions has yet to manifest.” ADP includes only private employment and doesn’t take into account hiring by government agencies.  ..."   

Teaching plan: America 'an oppressive hellhole' [12/01/09] "University outlines 're-education' for those who hold 'wrong' views ... A program proposed at the University of Minnesota would result in required examinations of teacher candidates on "white privilege" as well as "remedial re-education" for those who hold the "wrong" views, according to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. The organization, which promotes civil liberties on the campuses of America's colleges and universities, has dispatched a letter to University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks asking him to intervene to prevent the adoption of policies proposed in his College of Education and Human Development. .... Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Katherine Kersten said the developing Minnesota plan would require teachers to "embrace – and be prepared to teach our state's kids – the task force's own vision of America as an oppressive hellhole: racist, sexist and homophobic." She said the plan from the university's Teacher Education Redesign Initiative – a multiyear project to change the way future teachers are trained – "is premised, in part, on the conviction that Minnesota teachers' lack of 'cultural competence' contributes to the poor academic performance of the state's minority students." "The first step toward 'cultural competence,' says the task group, is for future teachers to recognize – and confess – their own bigotry. Anyone familiar with the re-education camps of China's Cultural Revolution will recognize the modus operandi," she said. Think What We Think, Or Else VIDEO [15:27]

COBRA Subsidies Begin Expiring For The Unemployed [12/01/09] "The stimulus act included $25 billion to help the jobless stay on their former employers' health plans for up to nine months, but the money is running out and Congress is unlikely to extend it soon. ..."  

Falling rents aid homeowners in mortgage trouble [12/01/09] "Southern California rents peaked at $1,501 in the third quarter of 2008 after 12 years of consecutive gains. Since then, rents have fallen 4.9%, to an average of $1,427 in the third quarter of this year, according to a survey of larger apartment complexes by property research firm RealFacts. The drop came as the occupancy rate of the buildings ticked down 0.8% to 93.7%. The data don't include homes converted into rental units or smaller apartment buildings. Some lenders and policy experts are looking at the rental market as a tool to keep more foreclosures off the market. ..."    

Thanksgiving Weekend Sales Rise 0.5% as Crowds Shop for Deals [12/01/09] "U.S. retail sales on Black Friday and the weekend after Thanksgiving advanced 0.5 percent from a year earlier as discounts on electronics and toys drew budget- conscious crowds, according to the National Retail Federation. Total spending rose to $41.2 billion from $41 billion a year earlier, the Washington-based trade group said in a statement today, citing a survey conducted by polling firm BIGresearch. NRF said it is sticking to a forecast for spending to fall 1 percent this season. While more people visited stores and Web sites, the average shopper spent $343.31, less than $372.57 a year ago, the retail federation said.  ..."   Shoppers spent less over "Black Friday" weekend "Consumers" spent significantly less per person at the start of the holiday season this weekend, dimming hopes for a retail comeback that would help propel the economy early in 2010. ..."  Black Friday Consumer Spending Falls 7.9%

Medicare fraudsters rake in billions [12/01/09] "Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer, who heads the Justice Department's criminal division, told the Senate Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime and drugs in May that 3 percent to 10 percent of the $800 billion spent on Medicare and Medicaid each year "is lost to waste, fraud and abuse." "As government spending on health care for the elderly, disabled and poor increases, so does the opportunity for fraud. Criminals are devising more sophisticated ways of stealing billions of dollars from federally administered health care programs, and they are stealing it faster now than ever before," he told The Washington Times. ..."

 

Food Banks Report Surge in First Timers [11/29/09] "A surge in first time visitors has contributed to the greatest demand in years at food banks nationwide, according to Feeding America, a Chicago-based national food bank association. Many of the first timers were middle class but lost jobs or had their wages cut. "They were doing pretty well," said Ross Fraser of Feeding America. "They've completely had the rug pulled out from under them." A surge in first time visitors has contributed to the greatest demand in years at food banks nationwide. Many of the first timers were middle class but lost jobs or had their wages cut. ..."  

UN investigator accuses US of shameful neglect of homeless [11/28/09] "UN special rapporteur says wealthy US ignoring deepening homeless crisis while pumping billions into bank rescues ... " Related: UN meets homeless victims of American property dream  

Sex, Beer, Heroin and Cocaine: How Prosecutors Pay Off Criminal Snitches [11/28/09] "In Chicago during the late 1980s, the U.S. attorney was prosecuting a ruthless, religiously inspired gang called the El Rukns. Federal prosecutors were so dependent on incarcerated gang leaders to make their case that six informants were permitted to make a hedonistic mockery of the criminal justice system. Henry Leon Harris was one of several who had sex with a visiting wife or girlfriend in the U.S. Attorney's offices — while guarded by Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents. ..."   

Bailed-Out AIG Forcing Poor to Choose Between Running Water and Food [11/28/09] ".... Here is how the AIG takeover went down: In 2005, flush with cash from its shady dealings in the mortgage derivatives market, AIG announced that it was in the process of acquiring Utilities Inc., a holding company that controlled scores of small water utilities across 17 different states. With just 300,000 customers, the company wasn't huge, but it boasted of being the largest privately held water utility in the country. .."     

UK: Drivers who leave engines running to clear screens face fines under 'idling offence' rules [11/28/09] "Motorists who leave their cars running on frosty mornings to warm up the engine and clear the windscreen could face being fined under anti-pollution rules this winter. Drivers are being told that leaving a car idling for more than a couple of minutes wastes fuel, and they could be served with on-the-spot fines of up to £40. However motoring groups have warned the rules should not be used to stop responsible motorists leaving engines ticking over while they remove ice and condensation from windows. Many councils now enforce the 'stationary idling offence', which was quietly introduced by the Government in 2002 ..."   

Deepening Economic Crisis: Financing the War at the Expense of Job Creation [11/26/09] "America is in the most severe unemployment crisis since - and perhaps including - the Great Depression. Obama is apparently escalating - not ending - the wars. And its not cheap. According to the White House, the cost of deploying new soldiers to Afghanistan could be $1 million per soldier. Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz says that the Iraq war will cost $3-5 trillion dollars ..."  

New Study Shows Ten States Face Fiscal Crisis [11/26/09] "California is worst off, but hardly alone. Others include Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. The 10 worst off states are examined, but close behind are Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, New York and Hawaii. Only two, Montana and North Dakota, are fiscally solvent and expect to meet their 2010 budgets, the latter because it alone has what the others don't - its own bank able to create credit for state businesses and residents at an affordable cost. As a result, with the lowest unemployment rate in the country at 4%, it's created jobs at a time they're vanishing in the other 49 and the District of Columbia. ..."   

Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years [11/26/09] "U.S. bankruptcy filings rose 33 percent in the third quarter to the highest number since 2005, government data show, as rising unemployment and tight credit made it more difficult for consumers and businesses to stay current on their debts. "With unemployment surpassing 10 percent and credit to businesses remaining tight, consumers and businesses are increasingly turning to the financial relief of bankruptcy," said Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the nonpartisan American Bankruptcy Institute, in a statement. ..." 

Dollar hits 15-month low; steepest drop since July [11/26/09] "The safe-haven dollar slid to a 15-month low against the euro, was within striking distance of 14-year lows versus the yen and dipped below parity against the Swiss franc Wednesday as markets absorbed the Federal Reserve's indication that interest rates will remain at super-low levels for a while and it was not overly concerned by the U.S. currency's decline. ..."  

78 Percent of Stimulus Money Remained Unspent by End of Fiscal 2009 [11/25/09] "The GAO reported that of the $787 billion in spending authorized by the Obama stimulus plan, only $173 billion (or 22 percent) had been spent by Sept. 30, 2009, the end of the fiscal year.  ..."  Note:  While people become homeless and starve .

Hungry in the world's richest country [11/25/09] "The Agriculture Department's official figures show that the number of people suffering "food insecurity" last year jumped by more than one-third in just 12 months, reaching the highest level since the government began reporting this statistic a decade and a half ago. About one-third of the 49 million people threatened with hunger were part of households that had what researchers call "very low food security"--meaning that one or more members of the household skipped meals, ate reduced portions or otherwise didn't get enough to eat at some point in the year. ..."   

Forced labour and rape, the new face of slavery in America [11/25/09] "Human trafficking has become a major issue in the Midwest heartland of America, causing some campaigners to dub it a modern form of slavery. Figures from the State Department reveal that 17,500 people are trafficked into the US every year against their will or under false pretences, mainly to be used for sex or forced labour. Experts believe that, when cases of internal trafficking are added, the total number of victims could be up to five times larger. And increasing numbers of trafficked individuals are being transported thousands of miles from America's coasts and into heartland states such as Ohio and Michigan. ..."    

An Unbiased View Of The Holiday Shopping Season [11/25/09] "When all is said and done after the holidays, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection may be the only option for many chains, Cohen added. “I certainly see more bankruptcies down the road,” he said. “And we will also see vacancies going up at shopping centers and malls across the country. With a limited number of conventional retail, restaurant or entertainment tenants actively looking for space, landlords will be exploring alternative uses like dental or emergency clinics or, in the case of large big-box spaces, flea markets ..."   

Commentary: Instead of Fixing the U.S. Economy or Creating Jobs, Obama Will Spend The Money in Afghanistan and Iraq [11/25/09] " The wars are unnecessary, and they are draining resources which could be used to reduce unemployment and help the economy. ..."   

Local governments fork over billions in fees on investments gone bad [11/24/09] "....Across the nation, local governments and related public entities, already reeling from the recession, face another fiscal crisis: billions of dollars in fees owed to UBS, Goldman Sachs and other financial giants on investment deals gone wrong..."    

Unburied bodies tell the tale of Detroit — a city in despair [11/24/09] “I have not seen this many unclaimed bodies in 13 years on the job,” said Albert Samuels, chief investigator at the mortuary. “It started happening when the economy went south last year. I have never seen this many people struggling to give people their last resting place.” ..."   

Fighting Hunger in a Land of Plenty: Food Banks Busier Than Ever [11/23/09] "It has been a good year for food in America: A record soybean harvest, the second highest corn harvest ever, potatoes and apples . . . all up. Good news for bad times. Because America is, more than ever, the land of the hungry. Last week, the government said 49 million Americans are unsure of where their next meal is coming from. That is almost one in six . . . and 17 million of those are kids. ..."   

Food Insecurity Is Growing [11/22/09] "Global per capita food production has been steadily increasing for decades and the number of people who are overweight has surpassed the number who are undernourished. But according to the USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS), U.S. food insecurity is at its highest rate since the USDA first started reporting on the phenomenon in 1995. What's going on? The ERS reports that in 2008, 14.6% of all U.S households had difficulty securing enough food at some point during the year, up from 11.1% in 2007. And 5.7% of all households had very low food security (eating patterns were disrupted at some point due to lack of food), up from 4.1% in 2007. As you might expect, the main reason for the drop in food security is the economy. More layoffs means higher rates of poverty, and in turn more people who don't have enough food. The government has tried to put a band-aid on the problem with nutrition assistance benefits for the 36.5 million people who participate in the USDA's Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (AKA the Food Stamp Program) and the 31 million kids who participate in the USDA National School Lunch program. But it's obviously not enough.  ..."   

Economic Crisis Is Getting Bloody -- Violent Deaths Are Now Following Evictions, Foreclosures and Job Losses [11/21/09] "An analysis of national, regional, and local news reports from 2008-2009 indicates a largely silent, nationwide epidemic of drastic measures and extreme acts for which the economy seems to have been a catalyst. News of such deeds linked to economic woes -- from armed robberies to pay the rent to financially-motivated suicides to familicides (murder/suicides in which both parents and their children die) in the face of financial ruin -- has filtered out of cities and towns in most U.S. states. Since only a fraction of these acts ever receive media coverage, what is being reported -- most of it in local newspapers -- is startling. And while it's impossible to know the myriad factors, including deeply personal ones, that contribute to people resorting to drastic measures, violent or otherwise, many press reports suggest that the global economic crisis has played no small part in a wide range of extreme acts. ..."    

Obama faces congressional anger about economy [11/21/09] "Growing discontent over the economy and frustration with efforts to speed its recovery boiled over Thursday on Capitol Hill in a wave of criticism and outright anger directed at the Obama administration. Episodes in both houses of Congress exposed the raw nerves of lawmakers flooded with stories of unemployment and economic hardship back home. They also underscored the stiff headwinds that the administration faces as it pushes to enact sweeping changes to the financial regulatory system while also trying to create jobs for ordinary Americans. President Obama's allies in the Congressional Black Caucus, exasperated by the administration's handling of the economy, unexpectedly blocked one his top priorities, using a legislative maneuver to postpone the approval of financial reform legislation by a key House committee. Two buildings away, at a session of the Joint Economic Committee, Republicans escalated their attacks on Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, including a call for his resignation. "Conservatives agree that as point person, you failed. Liberals are growing in that consensus as well," said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.). "For the sake of our jobs, will you step down from your post?" ..."   

Florida State Government: We Have No More Money To Fund Unemployment [11/18/09] "According to Bay News 9 the state government of Florida has exhausted its entire unemployment fund. Now the politicians in Tallahassee are going to increase unemployment fees to businesses by over 1,000%. Businesses in the state will see their unemployment fee jump from $8.40 per employee to over $100 per worker. NOTE: That means less jobs will be available, and the entire employment system will go askew. ..."  

49 Million Americans Going Hungry, Programs Initiating To Raise Food Security [11/18/09] "According to a new government report, the number of Americans who lack adequate, consistent access to food rose to a new high of 49 million last year. Especially discouraging is the number of children who live in households with low food security, which rose from 12 million to 17 million in just over a year. The report gives a stark look at how the economy has impacted American families, despite news over the last months that consumer confidence is improving. President Obama promised during his campaign to eliminate childhood hunger in America by 2015. As the report indicates, poverty and food insecurity don't necessarily go hand-in-hand. Many of the families who run out of food before they can afford to buy more earn above the poverty level.
  ..."   

Sadistic Greed: Widow Stuck With Bill After Insurer Approved Husband's Treatment [11/18/09] "Fanny Gonzalez's husband died in May after a five-month battle with stomach cancer, and now she's stuck with the bill, reports the Chicago Tribune's Jon Yates. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois approved the treatment and then refused to pay, leaving Gonzalez with a $161,601 bill. Blue Cross called the drug used "experimental" for her husband's type of cancer. Now Gonzalez is working with the Cancer Treatment Centers of America for help with her debt. ..."  

Blue lights installed in Tokyo train stations to stop suicides  [11/17/09] "Designed to soothe and calm, the specially-designed blue LED lights have been suspended above the platforms of dozens of Tokyo railway stations in order to stem the nation's spiralling suicide rate. Japan has long been home to a soaring suicide rate, recently exacerbated by the economic climate, with the number of people committing suicide this year expected to surpass the previous record of 34,427 deaths in 2003. And a growing number are choosing to end their lives by jumping in front of trains, with more than 2,000 such victims in Japan last year, accounting for six per cent of all suicides. While there is little scientific proof that the lights will directly impact suicide levels, some psychological experts believe that the colour blue will create a calming effect on commuters. "We associate the colour with the sky and the sea," Mizuki Takahashi, a therapist at the Japan Institute of Color Psychology, a private research centre that was not involved in the lighting project. "It has a calming effect on agitated people, or people obsessed with one particular thing, which in this case is committing suicide." East Japan Railway Co is one company that believes in this theory: the blue LED lighting has been installed in all 29 stations on Tokyo's busy central Yamanote Line, used by 8 million passengers daily. The company decided to invest around £100,000 (15 million yen) implementing the unusual lighting on its platforms after suicides at its stations rose from 42 two years ago to 68 for the year prior to this March. The anti-suicide lighting has been placed at the ends of each platform as this is the area where people are most likely to jump in front of speeding trains, according to company spokesman Norimitsu Suzuki. The blue lights were also installed in two stations operated by Keihin Electric Express Railway Co last year following two suicides within a month at one particular station. "We thought we had to do something to save lives," said Osamu Okawa, a spokesman for Keihin Railway ..."  Note: What if one is suicidal and color-blind? Too bad. 

NGA, NASBO Say States Will Continue to Face Fiscal Difficulties in Coming Years [11/17/09] "In a preliminary review of the biannual report The Fiscal Survey of States, officials from the National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) today forecasted continued fiscal difficulties for states. Overall, state revenues declined 7.5 percent in fiscal 2009, which for most states ended June 30, 2009. Revenues will likely continue on this downward trend for another one or two quarters before turning up slowly. The weakening of state fiscal conditions is reflected in the $250 billion in budget gaps faced by states between fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2011. Of the $250 billion, states closed $72.7 billion in budget gaps during fiscal 2009 and $113.1 billion before the enactment of their fiscal 2010 budgets to bring them into balance with drastically declining revenues. "These are the worst numbers we’ve ever seen in the decades of putting together this report," said NASBO Executive Director Scott D. Pattison. "States have been forced to lay off and furlough employees, raise taxes, drain rainy day funds and sharply cut state spending in ways that impact every part of state government." According to an NGA analysis titled The State Fiscal Situation: The Lost Decade, the recent economic downturn, one of the deepest and longest since the Great Depression, began in December 2007. Although the recession likely ended in August or September 2009, states struggled in fiscal 2009 and will continue to struggle through most of the decade. ..."  

Iowa girl suspended for (possession of) empty shotgun shell at school [11/16/09] "A Des Moines, Iowa, girl who brought an empty shotgun shell to school to show her science teacher was suspended for "violating the school's weapons policy". Authorities say 12-year-old Jazmine Martin brought the shell to school last week. It was a souvenir from a summer vacation to South Dakota. It was empty and had the word "blank" written on the front. ..."  Note:  These kids know this is a totally silly and inappropriate application of the 'rules', and as a result, will grow up respecting neither the rules or the useful idiot sequentials 'enforcing' them.

Union Embezzlement: From Auto Workers to Disney, Union Corruption Knows No Bounds [11/14/09] "This is why there is the Office of Labor Management Standards (OLMS), the only arm of the federal government to work on behalf of the rank-and-file union members to monitor union finances and catch fraud and abuse…too bad the left wants to cut their funding. ..."  Related:  National Legal and Policy Center: Union Corruption Updates

Nine U.S. States Face California-Type Budget Crisis, Pew Says [11/13/09] "At least nine U.S. states face similar fiscal strains brought on by the global recession as those that left California on the brink of insolvency four months ago, according to the Pew Center for the States. Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin are dealing with declining tax revenue, resurgent deficits and increasing unemployment and home foreclosure rates, the center, a public policy research group, said in a report. All but New Jersey, Illinois and Wisconsin also have been hampered by a rule requiring a two- thirds legislative vote to approve tax increases, the report said ..."  

UN investigator accuses US of shameful neglect of homeless [11/12/09] "A United Nations special investigator who was blocked from visiting the US by the Bush administration has accused the American government of pouring billions of dollars into rescuing banks and big business while treating as "invisible" a deepening homeless crisis. Raquel Rolnik, the UN special rapporteur for the right to adequate housing, who has just completed a seven-city tour of America, said it was shameful that a country as wealthy as the US was not spending more money on lifting its citizens out of homelessness and substandard, overcrowded housing. "The housing crisis is invisible for many in the US," she said. "I learned through this visit that real affordable housing and poverty is something that hasn't been dealt with as an issue. Even if we talk about the financial crisis and government stepping in in order to promote economic recovery, there is no such help for the homeless ..."  

Airport rules changed after Paul aide detained [11/11/09] "An angry aide to Rep. Ron Paul, an iPhone and $4,700 in cash have forced the Transportation Security Administration to quietly issue two new rules telling its airport screeners they can only conduct searches related to airplane safety. In response, the American Civil Liberties Union is dropping its lawsuit on behalf of Steve Bierfeldt, the man who was detained in March and who recorded the confrontation on his iPhone as TSA and local police officers spent half an hour demanding answers as to why he was carrying the money through Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. The new rules, issuedin September and October, tell officers "screening may not be conducted to detect evidence of crimes unrelated to transportation security" and that large amounts of cash don't qualify as suspicious for purposes of safety. "We had been hearing of so many reports of TSA screeners engaging in wide-ranging fishing expeditions for illegal activities," said Ben Wizner, a staff lawyer for the ACLU, pointing to reports of officers scanning pill-bottle labels to see whether the passenger was the person who obtained the prescription as one example. He said screeners get a narrow exception to the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits unreasonable searches, strictly to keep weapons and explosives off planes, not to help police enforce other laws. TSA was created in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to boost screening at airports, but the young agency has repeatedly bumped heads against civil libertarians, who argue officers overstep their authority. TSA spokeswoman Lauren Gaches said the new "internal directives" are meant to ensure their screeners are consistent. She acknowledged the policy on large sums of cash had changed, but wouldn't provide a copy of either document. She said the directives would not be released unless a Freedom Of Information Act request was submitted by The Washington Times. "TSA routinely assesses its policies and screening procedures to ensure the highest levels of security nationwide," she said. "Currency alone is not a threat, and TSA does not restrict the amount of currency a traveler may carry through the checkpoint." TSA had earlier defended the search, though it had criticized officers' abusive behavior. The ACLU released the September directive because TSA included it in a public court filing, but said when TSA gave it the October directive it was instructed not to publish it. That second directive tells screeners that "traveling with large amounts of currency is not illegal," and that to the extent bulk quantities of cash warrant searching, it is only to further security objectives, the ACLU said. The ACLU sued in June on behalf of Mr. Bierfeldt, who was detained after he sent a metal box with $4,700 in cash and checks through an X-ray machine at the airport. He had the cash as part of his duties as director of development for the Campaign for Liberty, the offshoot group that Mr. Paul, Texas Republican, created from his failed presidential bid. Mr. Bierfeldt recorded audio of the confrontation on his iPhone, including threats, insults and repeated questions about where he obtained the money. "Are you from this planet?" one officer told him, while another accused him of acting like a child for asking what part of the law forced him to answer their questions about the money. "The TSA has stated that their policy is going to change, which is basically what we were after all along," Mr. Bierfeldt told The Washington Times. Some civil liberties activists speculate that TSA wants passengers to be uncertain about its procedures because it gives more power to the authorities in an encounter. The new directives don't affect a situation where a TSA officer, in the performance of a regular screening, comes across evidence of illegal activity, such as a bag of illicit drugs.  ..."   

As Foreclosure Nightmares Increase, Will More Homeowners Pay Off Their Bankers in Violence?  [11/11/09] "Anger and discontent are reaching a boil as a lethal combination of economic corruption and political collusion spreads across the United States. From recent rampages in Orlando, Fla., to mortgage-related torture in Los Angeles, certain members of the citizenry seem to have had their fill of being manipulated for the financial gain of others, and they’re firing back with force. ..."  Note:  Unfortunately, it appears that this kind of violence may well escalate as people become more desperate with their circumstances.

Unions Drive Detroit to the Edge of Bankruptcy [11/10/09] "Detroit has been in trouble for decades. It has the highest taxes in Michigan, the highest murder rate in the country, and a dreadful public school system. Only 25% of high school students graduate each year. Its tens of thousands of abandoned homes offer safe haven to drug dealers and criminals. All of this has produced an exodus of businesses—there is no longer a single major department store in the city—and residents. Detroit's population is less than half of its peak of two million in the 1960s ..."  

U.S. rail traffic still down sharply: industry group [11/10/09] "U.S. rail traffic remains sharply down from a year ago, a trade group said, but shipments in some industries have shown improvement. Carloadings on major U.S. railroads in the week ended October 31 dipped 13.7 percent from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said in its weekly report. But at 275,439 carloads, traffic was down 18.2 percent from the same week in 2007 -- before the recession hit. ..."  

US: Commercial mortgage lending down 54% [11/10/09] "Commercial and multifamily mortgage lending in the U.S. fell 12 percent from the second quarter to the third quarter and is down 54 percent from year ago levels, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. The drop includes a year over year decrease in lending for all types of commercial properties. Loans for retail properties are down 62 percent. Loans for office properties are down 56 percent, MBA says. Apartment lending is down 40 percent. ..."  

Broader Measure of U.S. Unemployment Stands at 17.5%  [11/09/09] "With the release of the jobs report on Friday, the broadest measure of unemployment and underemployment tracked by the Labor Department has reached its highest level in decades. If statistics went back so far, the measure would almost certainly be at its highest level since the Great Depression. ..."   

Americans on food stamps tops 36 million, new record [11/06/09] "The number of Americans receiving food stamp assistance soared above 36 million for the first time in August, the eighth month in a row that enrollment set a record, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Wednesday. ..."   

Economic Crisis Hits States and Municipalities [11/05/09] "Crises expose the system's irrationalities and wasteful resource allocations. For example, Madoff and his many, smaller imitators reveal the tips of corruption icebergs. More important, the crisis-induced fiscal emergencies looming in most of the 50 states demonstrate several absurdities in our economic system. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) in Washington, DC monitors and calculates the gap between the fifty states' tax revenues and expenditures. The following recent CBPP chart compares the total state budget shortfalls in both the last recession and the current one. Today's record shortfalls measure how many billions states will need to raise in additional taxes or cut their expenditures (or combinations of both) in this and coming years. ..."   

U.S. companies cut estimated 203,000 jobs in October  [11/05/09] "The drop compares with a revised 227,000 decline the prior month, data from ADP Employer Services showed on Wednesday. ...Today's ADP report showed a decrease of 117,000 workers in goods-producing industries including manufacturers and construction companies. Service providers cut 86,000 workers. Employment in construction fell by 51,000, the 33rd straight monthly drop, while manufacturers cut 65,000 workers. Companies employing more than 499 workers shrank their workforce by 53,000 jobs. Medium-sized businesses, with 50 to 499 employees, eliminated 75,000 jobs and small companies also decreased payrolls by 75,000, ADP said. US Airways Group Inc., the smallest full-fare U.S. airline, was among companies cutting staff last month. The Tempe, Arizona-based carrier, said it will cut 1,000 jobs, or about 3% of the workforce, and drop some flight routes. Some companies are adding to their payrolls. Deere & Co., the world's largest maker of agricultural equipment, said last week it's recalling 452 workers, the majority of manufacturing employees laid off earlier this year at a company factory in Iowa. The ADP report is based on data from about 400,000 businesses with 23 million workers on payrolls. ADP began keeping records in January 2001 and started publishing its numbers in 2006."  

As GOP Holds Up Unemployment Extension, Nearly 200,000 Lose Their Benefits [11/04/09] "In the world outside the Senate, time is money; inside it, time is everything. Senate Republicans are taking full advantage of that reality, using every parliamentary device at their disposal to slow down an extension of unemployment insurance benefits -- even after Democrats added billions for big business to sweeten the pot. The saga is a cast study both in the difficulty of passing even popular legislation in the Senate and the lengths to which the GOP is going to slow down the process. ..."   

Tone-deaf Unisys official on why 'cloud computing' rocks [11/04/09] "Here's Richard Marcello of Unisys extolling one of what he sees as the virtues of cloud computing yesterday at the Cloud Computing Conference and Expo in Santa Clara: "We were able to eliminate a whole bunch of actually U.S.-based jobs and kind of replace them with two folks out of India." Those actually U.S.-based jobs presumably were held by actual Americans trying to feed actual U.S.-based families ... ..."  Note: Putz.

The British State Bares its Fangs (Again). Police Rebrand Protesters "Domestic Extremists" [11/03/09] "In "Mind Your Tweets: CIA and European Union Building Social Networking Surveillance System," Antifascist Calling explored the trend by security agencies in Europe and the United States to build political dossiers on dissidents by data mining their electronic communications. Taking a page from America's political police force, the FBI, the British state is beefing-up an ever-growing watch list of "domestic extremists."... ..."   

Depression link to processed food [11/03/09] "Eating a diet high in processed food increases the risk of depression, research suggests. What is more, people who ate plenty of vegetables, fruit and fish actually had a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found. Data on diet among 3,500 middle-aged civil servants was compared with depression five years later, the British Journal of Psychiatry reported. The team said the study was the first to look at the UK diet and depression ... .."  Note: Article includes video [1:15]

Illegal cig trade in Ireland reaches "epidemic proportions" after draconian regulations placed on tobacco [11/02/09] "Want to see what smoking in the UK will look like in the future? Look no farther than Ireland, which since July has banned the display of tobacco in all shops..."   

Soylent Green?: Los Angeles County's homeless population is down by 38% [11/02/09] "Los Angeles County's homeless population has dropped 38% since 2007, according to a survey conducted earlier this year by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The count, which was conducted over three days in January, pegs the region's homeless population at 42,694 -- down from 68,808 in 2007. "We know that things are changing," said Michael Arnold, executive director of the homeless services authority..."  Note: No one knows where they've gone ...

UK: Schools Penalised For Excluding Violent Pupils [11/01/09] "Guidance issued by the education watchdog says rates of suspensions and expulsions should be taken into account when judging if a school is being run properly. It also says that primary schools should avoid sending home young children and that the frequent use of exclusions of four and five year olds was an indication of “serious issues” at the school. Figures released in July revealed a growing problem with bad behaviour among very young children, with more than 4,000 aged five or under suspended last year. The guidance has been criticised by teachers and opposition politicians, who say it piles further pressure on schools not to exclude unruly pupils who assault or threaten others and disrupt the learning of classmates. It comes on top of “one in, one out” rules, imposed by councils, which mean schools that get rid of badly behaved pupils must take in expelled children from elsewhere. In some authorities, such as Bath and North East Somerset, Nottingham and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, schools are fined up to £6,000 per pupil for permanently excluding violent and persistently disruptive children. Most authorities now have “managed moves”, where pupils on the verge of permanent exclusion are simply shifted to another school, with no official record of their transfer. ..." 

US Workers Starved Into Military Service [11/01/09] "It was only a matter of time before the nation’s skyrocketing unemployment translated into new recruits for the most powerful military force in the world. With the official US unemployment rate at 10 percent and climbing (that’s more than 15 million people struggling to put food on the table) and nearly double that number if you include part-time wage-earners who need full-time jobs, never mind all of those ‘discouraged workers,’ it’s little wonder that so many of the nation’s jobless are flocking into its military recruitment offices. After all, what better way for an unemployed American worker to survive the Great Recession of 2009 than in the ‘service’ of his or her country? Americans have a long history of consuming and/or killing their way out of crisis. And it isn’t looking as if that model will be up for reassessment anytime soon. The parameters of what we like to call the “national conversation” are as narrow as ever, and they are not widening under the current leadership. So far at least, even Obama’s ‘Clean Energy Economy’ has failed to deliver enough ‘green jobs’ (or any other color jobs for that matter) to begin the process of meaningful transition. With the season of consuming just around the corner, many Americans – especially those in blue collar jobs like construction, manufacturing and retail service – are staring into the economic abyss. It is hardly surprising in such an environment that a young person with dismal employment prospects and plummeting self esteem would be easily seduced by an ad that promises “more than $49,000 in GI Bill Benefits” as does the US military’s current promo. The same ad promises that young recruits can “connect with military and veteran-friendly schools that offer VA approved education programs,” or “get information” about high-paying degrees like Criminal Justice, IT and Legal Studies. So, when the Pentagon announced on October 13, 2009 that the military had met all of its recruitment goals for the first time since 1973, and that this just happened to coincide with the highest national unemployment rate since the government started keeping track in 1976, it wasn’t surprising that the news was met with a Big National Yawn. ..."   

State Death Taxes Pose Trap for Upper Middle Class as Federal Estate Tax Recedes [11/01/09] "With the federal estate tax disappearing for most people, state death taxes have emerged as a surprise new worry. This year, the federal exemption rose to $3.5 million per individual, or as much as $7 million per married couple. At the current level, only 5,500 estates a year are federally taxable. ..."    

U.S. Home Vacancies Rise to 18.8 Million on Defaults  [10/31/09] "About 18.8 million homes stood empty in the U.S. during the third quarter as banks seized properties from delinquent borrowers and new home sales fell in September. ..."   

The coming public pension nightmare [10/28/09] "With all the fiscal problems created by Barack Obama, the public pension crisis cannot be laid at his doorstep. That's because public unions - police, firefighters, teachers, state and local workers, and transit employees - have been gouging cities and states for years, sweetening their pensions at taxpayer expense until a nightmare is now on the horizon; the inability of cities and states to pay for these diamond-studded pension plans. And that will eventually mean a taxpayer bailout to end all taxpayer bailouts. Forget rising federal taxes. The rate of increase that will be necessary to pay for these pensions in the near future will necessitate massive increases in taxes along with massive borrowing. There's just no way around it - unless the union's current defined benefit plans can be renegotiated to reflect reality. That's not likely to happen. What makes these plans so enormously expensive is the early retirement feature and the number of years one must work to be vested, or eligible for payments. Some of these plans are so generous that a retiring public worker at age 55, after having worked only 10 years (or less) in the system, is eligible for 75% or more of their highest salary - for life. Add to that the practice of ginning up salary for workers who will retire in a couple of years and what should be public service becomes public rape of the taxpayer.

South Florida homeowners walking away from underwater mortgages [10/28/09] "Andres Duque thought he got a real steal when he paid $125,000 for his Little Haiti condo. But four years later, similar units are selling for $35,000 and even less. And so, faced with the prospect of being underwater on his mortgage — owing more than the unit is worth — for the next 20 years, Duque, 33, made what seemed to him like a rational choice: to cut and run. He stopped paying the mortgage, basically forcing the lender to take the condo off his hands through foreclosure. ``I was able to pay off all my credit cards,'' said Duque, who is biding his time in the condo, waiting until they come and evict him. ``In a way, it was the best thing that happened to me because all my income is not being consumed by this freaking monster of a debt.'' Duque's game plan is known as a strategic default — when borrowers walk away from loans, even if they can afford the payments. Here is a look at the benefits, the risks and the ethics of such a move. As property values have plummeted by an average of 50 percent, such strategic defaults now make up a sizable chunk of South Florida's foreclosures. In the fourth quarter of last year, they accounted for an estimated 28 percent of all defaults in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, according to recent research from the credit bureau Experian and Oliver Wyman, a New York-based international consulting firm. That's up from 8 percent in the same quarter two years ago. With property values down even further now, researchers are certain the numbers have risen even more. With the social stigma of foreclosure eroding, experts say it is becoming easier for discouraged borrowers to justify throwing in the towel. ``People are saying, ` Everyone is doing this, and I do not feel any compunction in fashioning my own bailout,' '' said Roy Oppenheim, a Weston real-estate and foreclosure defense attorney who conducts weekly seminars that discuss strategic defaults and other financial options for distressed borrowers .... Walking away, however, is fraught with financial, legal and ethical dilemmas. Lenders, government and the credit industry are starting to pay more attention to how strategic defaulters think and behave — in an effort to convince them to tough it out. ``It's a huge problem, and it doesn't get addressed in the process right now,'' said Ron Kaniuk, a Boca Raton foreclosure and bankruptcy attorney. He said lenders are encouraging the trend by primarily offering loan modifications only to those who have fallen behind or are seriously at risk of foreclosure.

A Prepping Essential: The Grab-n-Go Binder [10/27/09] "In panic situations, which happen around my house quite often, actually, people lose their wits. The extra adrenaline produced by the human body during times of intense stress, causes confusion and can even cause some of the same symptoms as a heart attack ..."

Experts see rebounding economy shedding jobs [10/27/09] "Forget a jobless recovery. The economy may be entering a recovery with job losses. ..."  Note: Then for whom is the economy actually recovering, except for the folks in Goldman Sachs?

Police state: US cops accused of brutality and heavy-handed tactics [10/27/09] VIDEO [3:09]  

UK: Police in £9m scheme to log (political activists as) 'domestic extremists' [10/27/09] "Police in Britain have defined political activism as “domestic extremism” and are treating people who attend demonstrations as criminals, cataloguing them on multiple national databases as well as tracking their vehicle license plates to enable them to be targeted for stop and search harassment. People of any political persuasion protesting any cause whatsoever, right or left-wing, are having their details stored on a network of nationwide intelligence databases overseen by three national police units exclusively devoted to spying on those who are even mildly politically active in Britain.Police are gathering the personal details of thousands of activists who attend political meetings and protests, and storing their data on a network of nationwide intelligence databases. The hidden apparatus has been constructed to monitor "domestic extremists", the Guardian can reveal in the first of a three-day series into the policing of protests. Detailed information about the political activities of campaigners is being stored on a number of overlapping IT systems, even if they have not committed a crime. Senior officers say domestic extremism, a term coined by police that has no legal basis, can include activists suspected of minor public order offences such as peaceful direct action and civil disobedience. ..."  Related: UK: Spotter cards -What they look like and how they work  "This kind of highly confidential document – pictured above – is rarely seen by the public. These so-called "spotter cards" are issued by police to identify individuals they consider to be potential troublemakers because they have appeared at a number of demonstrations. The photographs are drawn from police intelligence files. This card was apparently dropped at a demonstration against Britain's largest arms fair in 2005. H is Mark Thomas, the comedian and political activist. Asked why it was justifiable to put Thomas, who has no criminal record, on this card, the Metropolitan police replied: "We do not discuss intelligence we may hold in relation to individuals."

UK Census to Question Subjects On Their Private Lives [10/26/09] "Controversial new forms will ask ­citizens to reveal the number of bedrooms in their homes, and the name, sex, age and address of overnight visitors. Ministers stopped short of including a question on people’s sexuality, fearing it would spark a backlash. Conservatives have branded the 2011 Census a sex snoopers’ charter. Shadow Cabinet minister Nick Hurd said: “These bedroom snoopers are ­another sign of how the Labour ­Government has no respect for the ­privacy of law-abiding citizens.” Residents can be fined £1,000 for supplying false information or failing to ­return the 32-page Census form, which aims to create a comprehensive image of social trends in the UK every 10 years. The proposals have yet to be approved by Parliament but a draft form is due to be put before MPs in the next few days. More than £500million has been spent on creating a new database as the Census set outs to determine the true level of Britain’s immigrant population..."   

Electrolux plant closings to cost 850 Iowa jobs [10/26/09] "Appliance maker Electrolux announced Friday that it would close two Iowa plants by spring 2011, putting 850 people out of work as operations are moved to Mexico. The company is consolidating its North American laundry manufacturing at a plant in Juarez, Mexico, that opened last year, Reiss said. That plant now has about 330 employees. ..."  Related: Burlington plant to close with 114 jobs moving offshore "Sandvik Mining and Construction is closing its Burlington plant and shipping 114 jobs and the production of mining equipment to China, Finland and Australia. ..."  

UK: Thousands rally in London anti-war protest [10/25/09] "As Afghanistan's eight-year-old war continues, thousands of people have demonstrated in London to show their disapproval of the unpopular occupation. ..."  

Death of American Culture: The People of Wall Mart [10/25/09]  Note: Ha! It's true. They have come out of the woods and dales around here, too. I have seen them.

UK: Secret court seizes £3.2bn from elderly  [10/25/09] "A secret court is seizing the assets of thousands of elderly and mentally impaired people and turning control of their lives over to the State - against the wishes of their relatives. The draconian measures are being imposed by the little-known Court of Protection, set up two years ago to act in the interests of people suffering from Alzheimer's or other mental incapacity. The court hears about 23,000 cases a year - always in private - involving people deemed unable to take their own decisions. Using far-reaching powers, the court has so far taken control of more than £3.2billion of assets. The cases involve civil servants from the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), which last year took £23million in fees directly from the bank accounts of those struck down by mental illness, involved in accidents or suffering from dementia. The officials are legally required to act in cases where people do not have a 'living will', or lasting power of attorney, which hands control of their assets over to family or friends. But the system elicited an extraordinary 3,000 complaints in its first 18 months of operation. Among them were allegations that officials failed to consult relatives, imposed huge fees and even 'raided' elderly people's homes searching for documents. ..."  Note: The State becomes parasitic ... 

The Feds Take A Shot At Guns [10/23/09] "For a decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been forbidden by Congress from doing research on gun-control issues. Such piddling hurdles as federal law don't matter to the Obama administration. ..."  Related: Gun Owners Think Obama Will Try to Ban Gun Sales  

Degrees in Dishonesty [10/23/09] "College education is a costly proposition with tuition, room and board at some colleges topping $50,000 a year. Is it worth it? Increasing evidence suggests that it’s not. Since the 1960s, academic achievement scores have plummeted, but student college grade point averages (GPA) have skyrocketed. In October 2001, the Boston Globe published an article entitled “Harvard’s Quiet Secret: Rampant Grade Inflation.” The article reported that a record 91 percent of Harvard University students were awarded honors during the spring graduation. The newspaper called Harvard’s grading practices “the laughing stock of the Ivy League.” Harvard is by no means unique. For example, 80 percent of the grades given at the University of Illinois are A’s and B’s. Fifty percent of students at Columbia University are on the Dean’s list. At Stanford University, where F grades used to be banned, only 6 percent of student grades were as low as a C. In the 1930s, the average GPA at American colleges and universities was 2.35, about a C plus; today the national average GPA is 3.2, more than a B. ..."   

"It's a Fantastic Time to Be a Renter" [10/23/09] "Interview, with Patrick Killelea, one of the most widely read blogs on the housing crash. ..."   

Homes: About to get much cheaper [10/22/09] "If you thought home prices were bottoming out, you may be wrong. They're expected to head a lot lower. Home values are predicted to drop in 342 out of 381 markets during the next year, according to a new forecast of real estate prices. Overall, the national median home price is predicted to drop 11.3% by June 30, 2010, according to Fiserv, a financial information and analysis firm. For the following year, the firm anticipates some stabilization with prices rising 3.6%..."   

Jobs Will Not Return Until '2017' [10/22/09] "While the National Association of Business Economists and US government have indicated that the recession is over and recovery is upon on us, the unemployment forecast from Rutger’s suggests that our fragile economy may not be as healthy as some would like us to believe....The worst of the recession may be over, but it could still take the U.S. more than seven years to reach full recovery following what has become the country’s worst employment setback since the Great Depression, according to a Rutgers University report released today. The recession’s staggering job losses, coupled with an ever-growing labor force, means it could be late 2017 before employment returns to the pre-recession levels of 2007, according to the study, conducted by Rutgers economists Jim Hughes and Joseph Seneca. “We’re not trying to be overly dramatic here — we might even be considered optimistic,” said Hughes, who is dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers. “It’s not going to be an easy slog from here.” Despite indications the pace of job losses is slowing, more than 7 million jobs have been shed since the recession began in December 2007, the report said. At the same time, the labor force grew, and is expected to continue growing, by about 1 million a year. That means more than 2 million jobs must be added every year for seven straight years. An economic expansion of that duration has only happened twice in the country’s history, the report said."     

Dubai's Dazzling New Metro Upsets Nation's Rigid Social Hierarchy [10/21/09] "Sheikh Mohammed, resplendent in royal blue robes and accompanied by the usual pomp and glitz, became the first passenger on the Arabian Peninsula's first rapid rail transit system. Built by a Japanese consortium and operated by a British contractor, the fully automated system is technologically and aesthetically dazzling. Its driverless, air-conditioned trains glide silently and serenely along elevated tracks through most of the city before dipping underground in the crowded center. Dubai is a city that caters to the ostentatiously wealthy. Like any arriviste, it has a constant need to puff up its ego with outlandish superlatives -- the world's tallest building, the world's most luxurious hotel, the world's fanciest shopping mall. A man-made archipelago, shaped like a palm tree and loaded with luxury villas, is the signature symbol of Dubai's devotion to showy opulence. .... The metro is different. No velvet rope or electrified security gate to keep out the masses. And in the few weeks since it began running, the new ride has turned into something of social leveler: privileged Emiratis suddenly find themselves in the unfamiliar position of competing for rush-hour seats with their Filipina housemaids .... ..."  Note: I can't wait to see that country fold. It's a parasitic patriarchal society of lazy control freaks who think they're entitled to dominate and enslave others for their own amusement. 

Wave Of Latin American Countries Move To Decriminalize Drug Use  [10/21/09] "Shortly after Mexico enacted its decriminalization act on Aug. 20, the Supreme Court of Argentina ruled that it was unconstitutional to punish people for personal consumption of marijuana. “The state cannot establish morality,” Argentine Supreme Court President Ricardo Lorenzetti said following that ruling. The Argentine Congress is now looking to change its laws accordingly. Then weeks later in Colombia, the Supreme Court also ruled that people could not be prosecuted for possession of narcotics for personal use, resisting pressure from conservative President Alvaro Uribe to lock up drug users. Latin American legalization advocates have been particularly encouraged by the muted United States reaction to the Mexican law..."  Note: The real point here is that the 'war on drugs', per se, which began in the Nixon era, was instituted in order to effectively militarize the police and security infrastructure -- to begin to form the basis for a significant social control paradigm. Now, after decades of corruption, populations in Latin America are taking another look at government, beginning with this and other issue.

Retailers may have a 'cutthroat Christmas' [10/21/09] "This holiday season, don't be surprised if your gifts come from discount stores -- or if some of your friends don't buy you anything at all. ... Nearly two-thirds of Americans surveyed said the economy would affect their holiday plans. Of those, 84.2% said they would spend less and 55% said they would shop for sales more ......"  

Revised formula puts 1 in 6 Americans in poverty [10/21/09] "A revised formula for calculating medical costs and geographic variations show that approximately 47.4 million Americans last year lived in poverty, 7 million more than the government's official figure. The disparity occurs because of differing formulas the Census Bureau and the National Academy of Science use for calculating the poverty rate. The NAS formula shows the poverty rate to be at 15.8 percent, or nearly 1 in 6 Americans, according to calculations released this week. That's higher than the 13.2 percent, or 39.8 million, figure made available recently under the original government formula...."  

Philly airport TSA screener admits stealing laptops [10/21/09] "Authorities say a former airport screener has admitted stealing laptop computers and a video-game system from passengers' checked luggage in Philadelphia...."  

UK: Homebuyers face questions on alcohol and smoking under new mortgage rules [10/21/09] "Homebuyers could be forced to provide detailed information about the amount of money they spend on alcohol each month to qualify for a new mortgage under a new clampdown on reckless lending. In a sweeping review of the mortgage market published today, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said lenders needed to be far more rigorous about their financial checks of potential borrowers. It said lenders should delve deeper into homebuyers' personal spending including the amount they spend on alcohol and tobacco..."  

UK: Labour abandons 'backdoor' attempt to store DNA of innocent people for 12 years [10/21/09] "Ministers have abandoned a ' backdoor' bid to let police store the DNA of innocent people for up to 12 years. They had planned to use an obscure Parliamentary rule to change the law, but dropped the idea in the face of overwhelming opposition in the Lords. Now a full Bill on the subject will be in the next Queen's Speech. Campaigners hope it will lead to a significant watering-down of the plan. ..."  Related: USA: The Bill Nobody Noticed - National DNA Databank  ""The DNA taken at birth from every citizen is essentially owned by the government, and every citizen becomes a potential subject of government-sponsored genetic research." All 50 states are now routinely providing results of genetic screenings to the Department of 
Homeland Security and this bill will establish the legality of that practice, plus include DNA. ..."  Note: Sounds like the situation in the dystopian movie "Gattaca".   

Gerald Celente-Their is NO Economic Recovery-Its A Coverup [10/21/09] "VIDEO [8:55] Note: of course, Celente is delusional about a 'revolution' ... he just doesn't see enough.

A bad attitude -- the new felony [10/20/09] "During my morning browse-fest, I am stumbling more and more over news stories in which people are charged with felonies, repeatedly tasered by police or otherwise brutalized for the crime of having a bad attitude. No act of violence, no damage to property, no threat of violence is alleged; the person is arrested pure and simply for a bad attitude. In this context, the definition of bad is that the person spoke back to authority, said 'no' to a request or did not comply quickly enough, asked a question or tried to argue...in short, the person did not immediately and with subservience obey. ..."  

Social Programming: Perpetual public "fear of crime" has turned all into criminals  [10/20/09] "Violent crime is down America, across the board, spanning two decades. Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced that the incidence of reported rape had hit a 20-year low. Homicides are down, as are juvenile violence and crimes committed against children. Crime rates have been plummeting since the early 1990s to such an extent that explaining the drop has become something of an obsession among criminologists and sociologists. Part of the drop can of course be explained by mass incarceration—America leads the world in the percentage of its population behind bars. Putting one in every 100 citizens in jail causes its own problems, and there's plenty of debate over just how much that incarceration has contributed to the fall in violent crime. But there's no question that we've put lots of people in prison over the last 20 years, the crime rate has fallen, and part of the public likely believes (with some justification) that there's a link betweent the two .....  But there's something else going on too, picked up in the blogosphere last week by George Washington University political science Professor John Sides. According to Gallup, since 2002 the percentage of the American public who think violent crime is on the rise has been increasing, even as actual violent crime rates continue to fall. Sides notes that from 1989 to 2001, perception and reality somewhat went hand in hand. But 2002 to 2003 saw a 19 percent leap in public perceptions that violent crime was on the uptick, and the figure has been going up in the years since—to 74 percent today. What's going on? ..."     

Foreclosed Ex-Homeowners Turn to Shelters [10/20/09] "“No one could have told me that in a million years: I’d wake up in a homeless shelter,” she said. “I had a house for homeless people. Now, I’m homeless ..."  Note: Somehow I am reminded of the film entitled "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", a depression era film about people going to dance contests to see how long they could stay up, and win the cash prize so they could survive. Sad.

Renting Beats Home-Buying Remorse After Meltdown [10/19/09] "Unless you want to stay in a neighborhood for life, renting a home may make more sense. With more foreclosures and huge inventories of unsold homes looming and mortgage rates held down by the government, the housing market may not stabilize for years. It’s no longer a given that you will build home equity. The housing debacle may have depressed housing prices for a generation in all but a handful of areas. You might say renting is an implied 'put option ..."   

One industry that's booming: debt collection [10/19/09] "Across the country, dozens of established collection agencies are expanding their operations and hiring collectors, managers and support staff to keep up with the rising tide of bad debt due to massive job losses. As real estate values fall, homeowners can no longer tap their home equity to pay down debt. So antsy creditors are farming out more problem accounts to collectors after declaring them as charge-offs, or losses. With billions of dollars outstanding on millions of past due accounts, creditors want their money now and collection agencies with a track record of success are cashing in. "As banks scramble to bring in money, they're going to go with the companies they feel most safe with," said Patrick Lunsford, the senior editor at InsideARM.com, which chronicles the accounts receivable industry. "They're not going to spend a lot of time trying out new collection agencies, so companies with the strongest business relationships are getting the work.".."   

Commercial Real Estate Bust of 2010 [10/19/09] "Coming soon to a market near you: a bust in commercial real estate that will make the subprime mortgage crisis look like a picnic. The other shoe drops in 2010. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila Bair told a Senate committee on October 14 that commercial real estate loan losses between now and the end of 2010 pose the most significant risk to U.S. financial institutions. Although you can’t read it online, on October 7, 2009 Wall Street Journal reporters Lingling Wei and Maurice Tamman (Eastern edition, pg. C.1, Fed Frets About Commercial Real Estate) reported on a presentation prepared by an Atlanta Fed real-estate expert who is worried “about the banking industry's commercial real-estate exposure ..."   

Living: "How To Memorize Anything" [10/18/09] "In college, I memorized 7 chapters of my psychology textbook — over 23,000 words. Yes, I could actually recite the entire 7 chapters to anyone willing to listen. Why did I do this? My professor had challenged me with two statements on the first day of class: 1) No student had ever aced his introductory exam; and 2) all the answers could be found in the first 7 chapters of the textbook. Determined to be the first student to ace his test, I memorized all 7 chapters. If you’re looking for a way to increase the capacity of your memory or pass a test, you don’t need to memorize 23,000 words. But the technique I used to memorize those chapters can be used to memorize anything. Below is the simpler version of my system, developed to help my pupils pass history, psychology, and other information-heavy tests. ..." | 33 Ways To Get And Keep Yourself Motivated | Why People Do Dumb or Irrational Things |

Research: Leaders who feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities lash out at others to temper their own inferiority [10/17/09] "Researchers have found that leaders who feel overwhelmed by their responsibilities lash out at others to temper their own inferiority. They found that the combination of incompetence and empowerment brought out the worst of human nature – and led to bullying in the workplace. The more incompetent managers thought they were the more aggressive they became to people who worked for them, the study discovered. ..."   

Bleak U.S. job market boosts military recruitment [10/16/09] "Aided by a bleak job market, the U.S. military met all of its recruitment goals in the past year for the first time since it became an all-volunteer force in 1973, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. ..."  Note: It's pretty easy to get bodies for a war if you starve the population. It's worked for thousands of years.   Related:  Jobless flock to sign up for the military

Living: The 55 Best Herbal Remedies [10/16/09] "Herbs won't replace pharmaceuticals, but the research shows that--for many conditions--herbs work well, are cheaper than drugs and cause fewer side effects," says Mary Hardy, M.D., medical director of the integrative medicine program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "Herbs aren't quite mainstream, but they're moving in that direction. Patients are interested in them, and doctors are increasingly familiar with herb research."  Note: Good list.

Why Young Men Are Avoiding Marriage [10/15/09] By Kay S. Hymowitz. "Earlier this year, I published an article in City Journal called "Child-Man in the Promised Land." ... The piece elicited a roaring flood of mailed and blogged responses, mostly from young men who didn't much care for its title (a reference to Claude Brown's 1965 novel Manchild in the Promised Land) or its thesis: that too many single young males (SYMs) were lingering in a hormonal limbo between adolescence and adulthood, shunning marriage and children, and whiling away their leisure hours with South Park reruns, marathon sessions of World of Warcraft, and Maxim lists of the ten best movie fart scenes. It would be easy enough to hold up some of the callow ranting that the piece inspired as proof positive of the child-man's existence. But the truth is that my correspondents' objections gave me pause. Their argument, in effect, was that the SYM is putting off traditional markers of adulthood--one wife, two kids, three bathrooms--not because he's immature but because he's angry. He's angry because he thinks that young women are dishonest, self-involved, slutty, manipulative, shallow, controlling, and gold-digging. He's angry because he thinks that the culture disses all things male. He's angry because he thinks that marriage these days is a raw deal for men ...."  Related: Love in the Time of Darwinism [Kansas City Journal] |Most who get married only do it once  "For the first time in its annual community survey, the U.S. Census Bureau asked a representative sample of Americans how many times they had been married. More than 75 percent of those who said they had ever been married said they'd taken the walk down the aisle just once. About 1 in 5 said they had been married twice, and 1 in 20 said they had heard wedding bells three or more times, the recent Census study noted. In Illinois, 4 percent of men and 4 percent of women who had been married had tried it three or more times. On the national level, among Americans 18 and older, the proportion currently married, but not separated, is 55 percent for men and 50 percent for women. ..."    

Commentary: 7 Ways Your Money Will Never Be the Same [10/11/09] "Don't expect the economy to "get back on track." It's a new track, folks, and here's how to navigate it. There's a whiff of economic recovery in the air, and investors have been feeling frisky as of late. Just another bout of irrational exuberance, you ask, to be followed by another bust? One thing that's certain, however, is that the Great Recession, the credit crisis and the past year's meltdown in financial markets will change how you handle your finances. In many ways, your money will never be the same. ..."   

Failed Economic Policies and Rising Unemployment in the United States of America [10/11/09] "If the birth/death ratio is removed, U-6 is in reality 21.3% total US unemployment. The estimate is that 824,000, more jobs may be extracted from the payroll count for the 12-months ended next March. Such a revision would be the biggest since 1991. The BLS is underestimating job losses deliberately and has been for a long time. That would mean September’s loss would be some 300,000 not 263,000. Such a revision would put job losses not at 4.8 million but 5.6 million jobs. This is how government has operated for some time and will continue to as long as we allow them too ..."    

Sweatshop Conditions in US Cities [10/10/09] "The report documented flagrant workplace violations, core protections most Americans take for granted, including a guaranteed minimum wage, overtime pay, regular meal and other breaks, worker compensation for on-the-job injuries, and the right to bargain collectively for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. Overall, the study found widespread labor law violations, including: below minimum wage pay; unpaid overtime; denial of meal and other breaks;illegal pay deductions;tip stealing for tipped workers; illegal employer retaliation against workers demanding their rights or attempting to form a union; and some workers denied legal protection by being classified as independent contractors. ..."  Note: Much, much more to read in this interesting analysis of what's happening now in major US cities.

Mortgage Rates in U.S. Fall to 4.87%, Freddie Says [10/09/09] "Mortgage rates for 30-year fixed U.S. home loans fell for the second consecutive week, pushing borrowing costs to near record lows.The average U.S. 30-year rate dropped to 4.87 percent from 4.94 percent last week. The 15-year rate was 4.33 percent, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac of McLean, Virginia, said today in a statement.  ..."     

House Approves Hate-Crimes Measure as Part of Defense Funding [10/09/09] "Legislation to punish hate crimes became a flashpoint on Capitol Hill on Thursday, as a measure expanding the definition of such crimes was attached to the bill outlining the Defense Department budget and approved by the House over the strong objections of Republicans. House and Senate negotiators agreed earlier this week to attach the hate-crimes provision to the conference report for the $680 billion Defense Department authorization bill. The combined bill passed the House on Thursday, 281 to 146, with 131 Republicans and 15 Democrats in opposition. The measure must pass the Senate, in a vote that could come as early as next week, before it can head to President Obama's desk for his signature. Congressional Republicans complained that appending the hate crimes provision to a bill laying out the Pentagon's budget for the coming year was an abuse of the legislative process and made U.S. troops "political pawns" in an unrelated social debate. The provision would broaden the current definition of federal hate crimes to include attacks based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It would also create a new federal crime to cover attacks against U.S. military personnel because of their service...."  

UK: Cash-strapped jails 'ready to blow', governor warns [10/09/09] "The prison population is now so large that there is the potential for a "catastrophe of widespread disorder" by inmates as jails struggle to make savings demanded by ministers, the president of the Prison Governors' Association warns tomorrow. ..."  

Retailers’ Sales for September Only Reach 2005 Levels [10/09/09] "On Thursday morning, some of the nation’s biggest retail chains posted September sales that were better than in previous months, though that was largely because the stores had easier year-over-year comparisons..."  

10,000 applications for 90 factory jobs [10/09/09] "In the latest sign of weakness in Louisville-area employment, about 10,000 people applied over three days for 90 jobs building washing machines at General Electric for about $27,000 per year and hefty benefits..."    

Stop And Frisk: Police Stop More Than 1 Million People On Street Each Year [10/09/09] "A teenager trying to get into his apartment after school is confronted by police. A man leaving his workplace chooses a different route back home to avoid officers who roam a particular street. These and hundreds of thousands of other Americans in big cities have been stopped on the street by police using a law-enforcement practice called stop-and-frisk that alarms civil libertarians but is credited by authorities with helping reduce crime. Police in major U.S. cities stop and question more than a million people each year – a sharply higher number than just a few years ago. Most are black and Hispanic men. Many are frisked, and nearly all are innocent of any crime, according to figures gathered by The Associated Press. And the numbers are rising at the same time crime rates are dropping. ..."    

Retailers, card industry escalate fight over fees  [10/07/09] "To hear retailers tell it — on YouTube at least — the credit card industry is populated with executives who spent their childhoods pretending to be ruthless pirates and now are free to be the white-collar equivalent..."   

Dropping Rents Will Drag House Prices Down with Them [10/07/09] "The vacancy rate for rental apartments in the U.S. is now 7.8% and climbing, says the Wall Street Journal. This is the highest vacancy rate in 23 years. Worse, the vacancy rate is expected to keep climbing through the winter, ultimately hitting the highest rate on record. This is good news for renters and bad news for landlords. It's also bad news for anyone who owns and would like to sell a house. Why are rising rental vacancies bad news for homeowners? Because rising vacancies put pressure on rents, as landlords have to cut prices to woo a smaller pool of tenants. As rents drop, meanwhile, one of the key measures of house-price value--the price-to-rent ratio--also changes, and not for the good. All else being equal, when rents drop, the "Housing P/E ratio" -- price to rent -- increases as rents decrease. This is the same thing that would happen to the P/E ratio of a stock if the company's earnings began to shrink. The more the rent/earnings shrink, the more expensive the house or company is as a multiple of the rent/earnings. Will people suddenly refuse to pay as much for houses because the price-to-rent ratio rises a bit? No. But they may decide to rent instead of buy, which will remove some demand from the housing market. And, this, in turn, will put pressure on house prices. Includes video, detailing what's happening. Note: This is good news for renters and bad news for landlords. It's also bad news for anyone who owns and would like to sell a house. Notice the implicit message that affordable housing for people is BAD for the economy? 

U.S. Apartment Vacancies Hit 23-Year High of 7.8%  [10/07/09] "U.S. apartment vacancies rose to 7.8 percent in the third quarter, the highest since 1986, as rising unemployment reduced rental demand, Reis Inc. said. Actual rents paid by tenants, known as effective rents, declined 2.7 percent from a year earlier, the New York-based property research firm said in a report today. Asking rents, or what landlords sought, fell 1.8 percent from a year earlier ..."   

Study: Bush administration blocked efforts to prevent housing crisis [10/07/09] "Federal regulators in the Bush administration blocked attempts by state governments to prevent predatory lending practices that resulted in the financial crisis now stalking the American economy, a new study from the University of North Carolina says. ..."   

10 Inexpensive To Start Small Businesses [10/06/09] "Has the slumping economy got you looking for ideas to earn some extra money? If so, personal finance blog Wise Bread can help you out with their list of 10 small businesses that are free or cost little to start up. Here's the list along with their "advice to live by" for each suggestion: ..."  Related: As Layoffs Persist, Good Jobs Go Unfilled "In a brutal job market, here's a task that might sound easy: Fill jobs in nursing, engineering and energy research that pay $55,000 to $60,000, plus benefits. Yet even with 15 million people hunting for work, even with the unemployment rate nearing 10 percent, some employers can't find enough qualified people for good-paying career jobs ..."

Where New Jobs Might Come From During The Recovery [10/06/09] "... Where will the jobs come from? In the short run, a growing economy means some businesses will recall laid-off workers. But others won't. Many jobs in real estate and finance, for instance, are likely gone forever. And those in retail and leisure may be slow to return if consumers are reluctant to spend. Federal-government spending -- in research and development, in stimulus spending on the digitization of health records and energy efficiency -- will create some jobs. But that leaves open the big question of whether the private sector can create jobs when stimulus spending ebbs. Health care and education have proved resilient in the recession and are expected to be big gainers over the long run. Even if lawmakers find a way to slow health spending, adding more Americans to insurance rolls would raise demand for health care. But that would only go part of the way toward creating two million jobs a year. The Labor Department estimates health care will add about 300,000 jobs a year through 2016. The service sector will be key, particularly jobs based on analytical skills that require specialized training. "It's not manufacturing," said Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at forecasting firm IHS Global Insight. "Wherever the U.S. has a comparative advantage in brainpower will be strong sources of job growth. You have to keep generating the innovations here in order to keep generating the employment gains ..."  Note: Yes, the US actually 'produces' very little that benefits anyone alive.

Social Security Demand Shows Huge Increase Due To Recession [10/06/09] "Applications for Social Security benefits rose almost 50 percent more than expected this year because of the recession, according to the federal retirement program. “We are seeing a significant increase in both retirement and disability applications as a result of the recession,” said Mark Lassiter, a Social Security spokesman. The 150,000 extra retirees may add to the financial pressure on the entitlement program. In May, Social Security trustees said expenses would exceed revenue beginning in 2016, one year earlier than their previous forecast ..."  

How The Legal Deck Is Utterly Stacked Against Struggling Homeowners [10/06/09] "As bad as America's foreclosure crisis is -- and it's very bad, with over 300,000 homes receiving a foreclosure filing every month -- it's being made even more devastating by the lack of legal assistance available to beleaguered homeowners. According to a new study by the Brennan Center for Justice, set to be released tomorrow, "the nation's massive foreclosure crisis is also, at its heart, a legal crisis" -- with the vast majority of homeowners facing foreclosure doing so without legal counsel. For example, in New York's Nassau County, in foreclosures involving subprime or non-traditional mortgages (which disproportionately are targeted at minorities), 92 percent of the homeowners did not have a lawyer. Having legal help can be the difference between people keeping their homes and being evicted. A lawyer can stop foreclosure proceedings or put enough pressure on lenders to get them to rework the terms of the loan. A lawyer can also intervene in other ways, such as enforcing consumer protection laws or spotting legal violations by banks and lenders. According to the report, the barriers keeping homeowners from obtaining proper legal representation are twofold. The first, not surprisingly, is funding... Foreclosures are a gateway calamity, with every foreclosed home creating a whole other set of crises. The Brennan study backs this up with cold hard statistics. According to the report, an estimated 40 million homes are located next door to a foreclosed property. The value of these homes drops an average of $8,667 following a foreclosure. This translates into a total property value loss of $352 billion. And vacant properties take a heavy toll on already strapped local governments: an estimated $20,000 per foreclosure"  

Banks Denying VA-Backed Mortgages [10/06/09] " ... In a growing trend, banks are refusing to honor VA-backed loan agreements -- which do not require a down payment and are more amenable to customers with bad credit -- preferring instead to sell foreclosed homes for less money, but quick and immediate cash. Banks and VA representatives blame the high standards that houses must meet to qualify for VA-backed loans: home repairs must be completed before escrow closes, the escrow period is longer and if escrow does not close the buyer's fees are repaid. Other loans have no such requirements and make it easier to sell damaged and structurally insecure homes. ..."  

DHS Uses Fed Cash to Deploy Military LRADs in U S Cities [10/04/09] "The Log-Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) used against protesters and the residents of Pittsburgh last month were a beta test for things to come. As reported by the Washington Times on October 1, the Department of Homeland Security is doling out federal money to get police departments around the country stocked up on the LRAD weapons. With the help of Homeland Security grants, police departments nationwide looking to subdue unruly crowds and political protesters are purchasing a high-tech device originally used by the military to repel battlefield insurgents and Somali pirates with piercing noise capable of damaging hearing, write Jerry Seper and Chuck Neubauer.  .... According to San Diego-based American Technology Corp., the company that makes the devices, LRADs are not weapons. American Technology insists LRADs are to be used in order to “influence the behavior and gain compliance” from people. “It is designed to get people to do what police want. It makes them uncomfortable but does not hurt them,” he said Raymond DeMichiei, Pittsburgh’s deputy director of emergency management and homeland security ... American Technology stated in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing in September 2008 that the device is “capable of sufficient acoustic output to cause damage to human hearing or human health,” expressing concern that its misuse could lead to lawsuits. It is said the decibel range of the LRAD used in Pittsburgh was similar to standing next to an exploding IED. “The association said that at 130 to 140 decibels, damage to the ear can be instantaneous, adding that the 145 to 151 range of the LRADS is ‘the kind of sound that can cause tinnitus and hearing damage immediately.’ Tinnitus is a condition that causes ringing in the ears, sometimes permanently,” the Times reports. ...  Trends forecaster Gerald Celente has an uncanny ability to predict the future. In 1987, he predicted the stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union. In November of last year he predicted revolution in America, food riots, tax rebellions, and angry people taking to the streets as the economy implodes and the nation is wracked by mass unemployment. “America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente. It looks like the government will be prepared — to assault the desperate hordes that will gather and make demands on the government — and that is why the Department of Homeland Security is doling out wads of cash to militarized and federalized cops around the country for high-tech weapons. ..."  Related: LRAD used during a peaceful demonstration in Pittsburgh  Video Clip [1:39] "[Turn volume down to almost nothing - loud piercing repetitious chirping noise comes on at time reference 24 seconds]..." Discovery Channel Video Clip: "Future Weapons"   Video Clip [7:44] On Friday, September 4, the New York City Coalition for Accountability Now (NYC CAN) submitted 28,000 petition signatures as a supplement to the 52,000 signatures submitted on June 26 calling for a citywide referendum on the creation of a local, independent commission to investigate  ...

US: Over a quarter million jobs lost in September [10/04/09] "The US unemployment rate reached 9.8 percent and the economy lost 263,000 jobs in September, according to figures released Friday by the Labor Department. The latest figures undermine claims of an imminent economic recovery and point to the likelihood that the US economy will remain mired in recession for the foreseeable future..."   

Banks Changed Hands, Records Lost, People Unable to Cash CDs [10/04/09] "A couple of cautionary tales for those of you who have CDs with banks that are changing names due to merger/collapse..."   

US unemployed despair as benefits run out [10/04/09] "Americans value self-sufficiency and are generally suspicious of what they call "big government". But the worst recession in 50 years has knocked many back on their heels. Hard-working people who have lost their jobs are finding themselves embarrassed, but thankful for what government aid is available ... seven million people have lost their jobs in this recession, the worst in the post-war period. Unemployment benefits usually run out after six months in America, but Washington has helped pay for benefits to continue, this time. ..."    

450 Mayors Petition Obama To Adopt Broad Gun Reform [10/04/09] "A new report from a national coalition of mayors urges President Obama to adopt dozens of reforms to help curb gun violence, including steps to crack down on problems at gun shows and the creation of a federal interstate firearms trafficking unit. ..."  Note: One can see where this is going.

Personal bankruptcies up 41 percent [10/2/09] "Consumer bankruptcies soared 41 percent in September from a year before and climbed from August, as high unemployment and the housing market crash took their toll, the American Bankruptcy Institute said on Friday..."  Note: This despite the changes in the bankruptcy laws voted through during the Bush administration that made it harder for people to file for bankruptcy.

US police spark outrage by using wartime acoustic weapon to disperse G20 protesters in Pittsburgh [09/26/09] "Only a few hundreds protesters took to the streets of Pittsburgh to mark the opening day of the G20 summit of world leaders, but the police were taking no chances. Sonic weapons or long-range acoustic devices have been used by the US military overseas, notably against Somali pirates and Iraqi insurgents. But US security forces turned the piercing sound on their own citizens yesterday to widespread outrage. Pittsburgh officials told the New York Times that it was the first time "sound cannon" had been used publicly. [Warning: the video contains very loud audio from the start] The sonic weapon appear to be more effective than the Metropolitan police's highly contentious kettling tactics used against G20 protesters in London. But it is equally controversial. It is feared the sounds emitted are loud enough to damage eardrums and even cause fatal aneurysms." Related: Protesters Are Met by Tear Gas at G-20 Conference

Holiday Jobs Look Scarce as Pessimism Grips Retail  [09/25/09] "Nearly half the nation's 25 biggest retail chains expect to hire fewer holiday workers this season than they did last year, another sign that retailers aren't counting on recession-strained shoppers to relax the tight grip on their pocketbooks this year. About 40% of stores surveyed across a broad swath of retailing, including consumer-electronic chain Best Buy Inc., teen-retailer American Eagle Outfitters Inc., and luxury-goods seller Saks Inc., told the Hay Group, a human resources consulting firm, that they expect to hire between 5% and 25% fewer temporary workers this year than last, when the recession forced many retailers to trim staff in response to falling sales ..."  

Corruption 'stifling economies' [09/24/09] "Bribery and price-fixing are unduly influencing global public policy and costing countries billions of dollars in lost revenues, a report has claimed. Such activities undermined fair competition and stifled economic growth, Transparency International's latest Global Corruption Report said. Corruption was widespread, it added, and not confined to poor countries. ..."  

Analysis: Housing Crash to Resume on 7 Million Foreclosures [09/24/09] "The crash in U.S. home prices will probably resume because about 7 million properties that are likely to be seized by lenders have yet to hit the market, Amherst Securities Group LP analysts said. The “huge shadow inventory,” reflecting mortgages already being foreclosed upon or now delinquent and likely to be, compares with 1.27 million in 2005, the analysts led by Laurie Goodman wrote today in a report. Assuming no other homes are on the market, it would take 1.35 years to sell the properties based on the current pace of existing-home sales, they said. Helping to stoke speculation the housing slump has ended, an S&P/Case-Shiller index for 20 U.S. metropolitan areas showed the first month-over-month increases in values since 2006 in May and June, reducing the drop from the peak to 31 percent. Echoing other mortgage-bond analysts including those at Barclays Capital Inc., Amherst cautioned that a change in the mix of foreclosure and traditional sales over different parts of the year lifted prices in the period, as the distressed share shrank. “The favorable seasonals will disappear over the coming months, and the reality of a 7 million-unit housing overhang is likely to set in,” they said. The amount of pending foreclosed-home supply has been boosted by more borrowers going into default, fewer being able to catch up once they do, and longer time periods to seize properties because of issues such as loan-modification efforts and changes to state laws, the New York-based analysts wrote. .."    

Gag order on Medicare cuts [09/24/09] "Humana was merely informing its customers of a matter that is of extreme importance to them, as well as to the companies that offer the supplemental insurance. However, a powerful Democrat in the Senate, incensed that a company would have to gall to state the truth and exercise its First Amendment rights to free speech, used his influence to get the federal government to issue a gag order for healthcare companies, forbidding them from disclosing any information to their customers concerning pending cuts in Medicare benefits. ..."  

Commercial market headed for disaster [09/24/09] "First it was the mortgage meltdown that brought down the American economy. But now, brace yourself for something economist say, could be just as bad. Commercial real estate is the next thing to go. Nobody wants to rent it, or buy it and without money coming in, owners of malls and office buildings are being forced into foreclosure. It's so bad; the commercial market could be close to collapse. In the past two years the delinquency rate for commercial loans has skyrocketed and is only expected to rise. That could leave banks holding the bag on billions of dollars in bad loans. So far this year more than 90 smaller banks have collapsed and commercial foreclosures could sink hundreds more. "Bank failures are going to be rising for at least a year," said economist Julia Coronado. But unlike the collapse in housing, the government sees this crisis coming and is prepared to spend billions to prevent another credit crunch. ..."  Note: Better to bail out businesses than people. Inverse tortured type of logic which can only have one result.  

Canada: Natives sickened from mandatory tamiflu [09/23/09] " Last week, many of the aboriginal people in the remote west coast village of Ahousaht were innoculated with the tamiflu vaccine. Today, over a hundred of them are sick, and the sickness is spreading. In the same week, body bags were sent to similarly remote native reserves in northern Manitoba that have also received the tamiflu vaccine....it's still the law in Canada, under the apartheid Indian Act, that no on-reserve Indian can refuse medical treatments or experimentation. So it's small wonder that these reserves are the places being targeted first to be injected with untested, unsafe and potentially lethal flu vaccines ..."  Note: Problems with Tamiflu have been public knowledge for YEARS ... this is criminal negligence.  

Pittsburgh beefs up security to greet G20 protesters  [09/22/09] "Pittsburgh is beefing up security with thousands of extra police, as anti-globalization, anti-war, anti-government and anti-poverty activists descend on the city for the G20 summit Thursday and Friday. ..."  

Masked police chief sparks brief school lockdown [09/22/09] "A masked police chief planning to surprise Michigan high school students in a forensic science class ended up sparking a brief lockdown after being spotted by a cafeteria worker. ..."    

California Proposes Plan to Ban Sale of High-Energy TVs [09/20/09] "Flat screen televisions are sold in San Francisco, California California has 35 million television sets — one for nearly every man, woman and child — and television use in the Golden State accounts for 10% of each home's energy ..." 

Cursive writing is fading skill, but so what? [09/20/09] "Fewer school emphasize ‘penmanship’ as computer use increases ..."  Note: I recently got a fountain pen and some good paper to write some letters. I felt like Winston Smith in 1984.  

Parasitic Municipalities Looting Public Through Myriad of Minor Laws  [09/19/09] " .... five people did not show up to a new collections court in Sarasota County (Florida) to explain why they have not paid their fines, so the judge ordered them arrested under an aggressive new collections program. Previously, defendants who missed a payment toward their court fines would be hounded by mail by the clerk's office, which would eventually hand the case over to a collection agency .... Collecting the money is the goal for the judicial system, which started the program as a way to collect court-imposed fines to keep the judiciary system working ... Attorneys and advocates for the poor say the collections court falls hardest on people who are struggling, and jail is a harsh way to try to get money from people who might not be able to pay. Particularly now, when the economy is bad .... the judge can also ask what the debtor spends money on -- cable TV or cigarettes, for example -- and require them to end frivolous spending until the court fees and fines are paid .... Constitutional law forbids jailing people solely over fees and fines they cannot pay, but Florida officials argue that, technically, they are jailing people because they violated court orders by not showing up ... Note: This is happening all over the USA, by way of 'practical necessity', as far as they're concerned. This is also a form of open-ended taxation, because now the government has, and continues to create, a myriad of minor laws which imposing endless fines on people under the guise of "law enforcement", allowing the government to loot the people at will."   

"Option" mortgages to explode, officials warn [09/19/09] "The federal government and states are girding themselves for the next foreclosure crisis in the country's housing downturn: payment option adjustable rate mortgages that are beginning to reset ... Option-ARMs are now considered among the riskiest offered during the recent housing boom and have left many borrowers owing more than their homes are worth. These "underwater" mortgages have been a driving force behind rising defaults and mounting foreclosures ... The mortgages differ from other ARMs by offering an option to pay only the interest each month or a low minimum payment that leads to a rising balance in the loan's principal ... When the balance of the loan reaches a certain level or the mortgage hits a specific date, the borrower must begin making full payments to cover the new amount. The loan's interest rate also may have been fixed at a low level for the first few years with a so-called teaser rate, but then reset to a higher level ... Because the new monthly payments can be five or 10 times what borrowers are accustomed to paying, they "threaten a much greater hit to the consumer than the subprimes," Goddard said, referring to the mortgages often extended to less credit-worthy ... borrowers that fed the first wave of the financial crisis ... The mortgages tend to be "jumbo," or for significantly large amounts, Goddard said, making it even harder for borrowers to sidestep foreclosure. He said he expected to see an increase in scams as distressed homeowners become more desperate to refinance big debts ... Goddard said his office is investigating hundreds of cases where companies have made fraudulent promises, and charged large fees, to mortgage defaulters ..."   

Economic Duplicity: Recession and Record Profits [09/19/09] " .... So where do we go from here? What is the truth about the state of our economy? Do we have two parallel economies one for the rich and the other for the poor? Is the middle class being impoverished on purpose? Should we become optimistic about our economy based on Chevron’s record profits, and our corporate government’s sham forecasts? Is the recession truly over, as Bernanke the agent of the global corporation-banking cartel has proclaimed? Look at the facts and draw your own conclusion. ..."  Note: So while unemployment keeps rising, consumer spending is slumping, inflation is creeping up (food, gasoline, and other commodities), the commercial real estate is plunging into the abyss, the dollar is weakening, and the other half of the housing bubble is exploding, Bernanke remains hopeful! Could it be that Mr. Bernanke is anticipating the occurrence of a contrived international incident that will trigger an invasion of Iran ? A new war is always good for a military based economy! Or maybe Bernanke’s optimism on the economy is strictly founded on the performance of the global corporations and their profit margins?  

Only 28% Of High School Students Are Familiar With The Constitution  [09/19/09] "A Constitution Day survey commissioned by the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs (OCPA) has found that the vast majority of high school students do not know that the Constitution represents the supreme law of the United States ..."  Note: But they damned well know the official dogma of the Holocaust, Global Warming, and 9-11  

42 states lose jobs in August, up from 29 in July  [09/19/09] "Forty-two states lost jobs last month, up from 29 in July, with the biggest net payroll cuts coming in Texas, Michigan, Georgia and Ohio. The Labor Department also reported Friday that 27 states saw their unemployment rates increase in August, and 14 states and Washington D.C., reported unemployment rates of 10 percent or above. The report shows jobs remain scarce even as most analysts believe the economy is pulling out of the worst recession since the 1930s. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said earlier this week that the recovery isn't likely to be rapid enough to reduce unemployment for some time. ..."  Related: Texas unemployment rate hits 22-year record high  

Incomes of young in 8-year nose dive [09/19/09] "The incomes of the young and middle-aged — especially men — have fallen off a cliff since 2000, leaving many age groups poorer than they were even in the 1970s, a USA TODAY analysis of new Census data found. People 54 or younger are losing ground financially at an unprecedented rate in this recession, widening a gap between young and old that had been expanding for years. ..."   

Oregon:  Recession turned renter's market [09/18/09] "There's not a lot of good news to be found in this recession, but here's one positive note for some Central Oregonians: We're in a renter's market. Tim Duy, University of Oregon economist and author of the Central Oregon Business Index, says the region has a glut of housing stock right now, largely from homeowners who want to sell and can't. Many of those homes are now for rent ... Central Oregon landlords are offering discounts and specials. They're lowering their rates,” he said. “If you think about losing $600 or $700 a month in rent, that's hard. You're going to lower the rent until you can get someone in there.” Wooden says it's a great time for renters to negotiate.."   

Billions Going to Small Little Used Airfields  [09/18/09] "One of the USA's newest airports has a 5,500-foot, lighted runway, a Colonial-style terminal with white columns, and hundreds of acres for growth. But Kentucky's Williamsburg-Whitley County Airport lacks one feature: airline passengers. ..."  Note: An interesting article - what it probably means is that these airfields are for government use during national event dynamics according to some classified plan.

Sometimes Fiction More Close to the Truth than We'd Like to Acknowledge [09/17/09] Video [3:21] "An extract from V for Vendetta. An extract that remains poignant in my mind everyday that we remain under a socialist, no communist government here in Britain. Britain is becoming a police state... Just listen to the words of V and think of how much of what he says applies to Britain today. ..."  Note: Fascist is more like it.  

Canada:  Musing about a painless death got man a painful humiliation [09/17/09] "Weeks before his own bruising brush with absolute power, Bruce McArthur was ruminating to friends about the notorious arrest of the Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the burden that is incumbent upon those who wield it. It was either ironic or prescient or both. Mr. Gates, a black man wrongly mistaken for a burglar, was arrested on July 16 in his own home in Cambridge, Mass., by police responding to a 911 call; Mr. McArthur, a 75-year-old white man wrongly believed to be suicidal, was arrested on Aug. 9 in his own midtown apartment by Toronto police responding to a 911 call. If Mr. Gates's arrest prompted a nationwide debate in the United States about how police treat black men, Mr. McArthur's might spark a comparable one about how police treat those they believe are mentally ill. Now, Mr. McArthur wasn't suicidal that night. In fact, he had just returned from a pleasant day visiting his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren north of Toronto. .... He got back to his apartment, had a shower and was about to hit the sack when the phone rang. It was a 911 operator from Toronto Ambulance, inquiring delicately if he was "feeling okay" or if he was thinking of doing away with himself. He put the pieces together immediately; his daughter or son-in-law had read the last pages, misinterpreted his rumination on death as intention, and called 911. He reassured the operator he was fine, about to go to bed, and was on the phone with his son-in-law - dressing him down, I expect - when there was a knock at his door: Two paramedics were asking to come in . ..."   

UK: A slop bucket in every home: Ministers plan to impose fines if you don’t recycle food waste [09/16/09] "UK: A slop bucket in every home: Ministers plan to impose fines if you don’t recycle food waste ... The nationwide scheme will mean that households will be forced to have a separate slop bucket - or kitchen caddy as Whitehall prefers to call them - for everything from chicken bones to mouldy lettuce and left-over baked beans. Those who fail to recycle food waste and try to put it out with their general refuse are likely to face bin fines - which typically run at £110 but which can now in some cases reach £500. "  Note: Insane sequential bullshit. Look further down this page for the heading 'UK:' to see other insane things they're either doing or planning to do.

Business Groups Step Up Campaign To Block Obama's ' Consumer Protection Agency' [09/16/09] "A new federal consumer protection agency is emerging as the centerpiece of the Obama administration's financial reforms, prompting banking companies and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to step up their campaign to kill the idea. In language reminiscent of the rancorous health care debate, bankers and mortgage lenders have gone to Capitol Hill to tell lawmakers the consumer proposal is a government take-over of the relationship between companies and their customers. The U.S. Chamber has launched a $2 million advertising campaign against the plan and is stoking opposition among local chambers around the country ..."    

UK: Ministers Retreat On Childcare Database [09/16/09] "Moves to vet every adult who works with children are set to be watered down after the Government ordered a last-minute review of the controversial anti-paedophile scheme. Ed Balls, the Children's Secretary, acted amid fury that the criminal record checks would affect parents who give lifts to children on behalf of sports teams or voluntary organisations such as the Scouts. The move comes after The Independent revealed that prominent children's authors, including Philip Pullman and Anthony Horowitz, have threatened to stop visiting schools rather than subject themselves to the "insulting" requirement ..."   Related: UK: "Independent Safeguarding Authority" Will Screen People to Work with Elderly, Kids [09/11/09] "An estimated 11.3 million people – including some teenagers – will have to register with the Independent Safeguarding Authority by the time it is fully operational. Anyone who wants to carry out any sort of work in schools or health care, together with most sports coaches, clergy and charity staff must have their backgrounds checked out before they start their jobs to see if they pose a risk. Apart from the fears that the red tape and cost (£64 each unless you’re an unpaid volunteer) will deter good people from these essential roles, there is growing criticism of the impact the scheme will have on society at large. A group of authors led by Philip Pullman has threatened to stop visiting schools unless they are exempted from being vetted by the ISA, while even Sir Michael Bichard , whose Soham inquiry set the whole thing off, has expressed some reservations ... is forcing a quarter of the adult population to go through a lengthy, costly and subjective investigation into their past and their lifestyle the best way to make Britain safe? "  Stupid child protection law will turn us into outlaws

Lots of Fear Remains Over Economy, Job Losses [09/15/09] "Painful personal experiences over the past year continue to dampen the outlook of many Americans. About two-thirds of those polled say they have been hurt financially by the recession, with extensive reports that job losses and pay reductions are hitting home. Most call the economic situation a source of stress in their lives, and that anxiety also stems from apprehension of what may lie ahead for their families. Nearly six in 10 Americans are now concerned about job or pay losses in the coming months, little changed since February, and there has been no increase in the percentage who see the federal government's stimulus efforts as having an impact, even as the pace of layoffs has eased in recent months. And there is lukewarm public confidence that the government is enacting measures to stave off another financial crisis ..."     

Philadelphia Libraries To Close Due to Lack of Operating Funds [09/15/09] "We deeply regret to inform you that without the necessary budgetary legislation by the State Legislature in Harrisburg, the City of Philadelphia will not have the funds to operate our neighborhood branch libraries, regional libraries, or the Parkway Central Library after October 2, 2009. All branch and regional library programs, including programs for children and teens, after school programs, computer classes, and programs for adults, will be cancelled. All branch and regional library programs, including programs for children and teens, after school programs, computer classes, and programs for adults, will be cancelled. All library visits to schools, day care centers, senior centers and other community centers will cease. All community meetings at our branch and regional libraries, and the Parkway Central Library, will be cancelled. All GED, ABE and ESL programs held at Free Library branches will be discontinued, students should contact their teacher to see if other arrangements are being made. No library materials will be able to be borrowed after September 30, 2009 ..."  Note: But billions are sent to support Israeli madness while the US population is cast adrift.

Scientific Poll: Only 29% Of Americans Trust Mainstream Media  [09/15/09] "A new poll by the Pew Research Center has reveled that almost two thirds of Americans do not trust the mainstream media to deliver the truth, marking a 20+ year low. 63%, the vast majority of the over 1500 respondents to the survey, stated that the news media is dominated by special interests, rendering it biased and inaccurate. When Pew first asked the question in 1985, the figure was 34% ..." 

60% Canadians Live Paycheck To Paycheck [09/15/09] "The Canadian Payroll Association survey says not only are the majority of Canadians living paycheque-to-paycheque, but they have little ability to put money away for their retirement. The survey, released Monday, said 59 per cent of Canadians would have trouble making ends meet if they missed a paycheque. "We were surprised that people were that close to the line," said Patrick Culhane, president and CEO of the not-for-profit association ..."  Note: It must be nice to get a regular paycheck. 

 

Interest Only Mortgage Time Bomb [09/14/09] "$71 billion in Loans will Reset in next 12 Months. Total Loans Outstanding at $908 Billion. Average Balance of $324,000. Median U.S. Home Price $178,000 ... Interest only (IO) loans seemed like a viable mortgage option when home prices were appreciating on a double-digit basis every year. The interest only loan allowed borrowers the option of making no principal payments for 5, 7, or even 10 years. Now why would someone not make any principal payment for such a long time? The way these mortgages were pitched, people would buy a home for 3, 5, or 7 years and would sell their home before the reset period. Yet the housing bubble has burst and home prices are now below the average balance of these mortgage in many areas. Recent data has the median U.S. home price at $178,000 while the average loan amount of an interest only loan is $324,000. How many of these loans are out there? Try 2.8 million."  Note: Let's see, that's 2.8 million times 300,000 ....  

HPV Vaccine: The UK's Fascist Mask Slips [09/12/09] "Parents in the UK are being threatened with having their children taken into care after questioning doctors’ diagnoses or objecting to their medical care. John Hemming, a Liberal Democrat MP, who campaigns to stop injustices in the family court, said: “Very often care proceedings are used as retaliation by local authorities against ‘uppity’ people who dare to question the system.” ... Merck, the manufacturer of the Gardasil vaccine, insists that it protects against over 70% of the 'strains that cause Cervical Cancer'. There are over 100 strains of HPV, only 30 of which are theoretically linked to Cervical Cancer. HPV is present naturally in at least half the population without ever causing any disease whatsoever. HPV has never been proved as a pathogen for any disease. Merck originally claimed that, “ There was a strong connection between HPV and cervical cancer." Somewhere along the way, that became “is the cause of” without any medical evidence to support this claim. This is clearly more about sales and marketing than science. Merck's Gardasil and its competition, Glaxo's `Cervarix,` are made up of virus like particles from four strains of HPV. With no clinical studies whatsoever, two of these `strains` are now being touted by both Merck and Glaxo, as being responsible for 70% of all cervical cancer cases. Both make the unproven claim, that HPV causes squamous cell cervical cancer .....The question which demands answering is why the market demographic Merck chose, was pre -teen 12 year old girls, when the average age of women who contract cervical cancer is 50 years plus, so why target 12 year olds? And even Merck themselves openly state that the efficacy of the vaccine is only 5 years, making it worthless by the time the subject needs the immunity, i.e. around her fiftieth birthday. Any claimed protection will have worn off long ago .....So why are they so intent on giving it to 12 year olds, rather than what would be the correct target age group, that is, if the vaccine did have any protective value; namely women in their late forties and fifties? Merck say it’s because the vaccine hasn’t been `safety proved` for women above 26 years of age .... It appears that there is even a strong probability that this under tested and unproven drug might be carcogenic in it’s own right. We are dealing here with a vaccine which claims to prevent cancer by imitating a pathogen which causes cancer. Merck say about this: “Gardasil has not been evaluated for carcogenicity or impairment to fertility.” It is in the above statement that I believe the true motives behind this programme lie. To cause sterility and or cancer in young females thereby enabling a massive advance in the global depopulation agenda."  Note: Why indeed. Sequentials at work. Very informative article. Related: UK: 2,000 suffer suspected ill-effects from 'cervical cancer vaccine' 

UK: Children under 14 could be banned from 'factual' television shows [09/12/09] "Shows such as Blue Peter and Newsround would be impossible under government plans to ban children under 14 from appearing in factual television programmes, broadcasters warned. The Times has obtained a memo from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) that sets out the changes. It said that under 14s would be able to take part only if they were singing, acting or dancing. The review comes after public concern over the treatment of children in shows such as Channel 4’s Boys and Girls Alone, in which 20 primary school children were left without supervision for a fortnight and were shown fighting and crying, as well as the appearance of youngsters in televised talent competitions. The Government had planned to publish last month changes to the regulations, which have not been updated since 1968, but delayed publication until late next month after a lobbying effort by broadcasters. .... In a memo sent to local authorities, which licence children to appear on television, the Government said that the latest time that 5 to 16-year-olds could perform would be moved from 7pm to 11pm and that it would introduce compulsory “emotional risk assessments”, as well as a requirement for programme-makers to engage child psychologists, to ensure children’s mental wellbeing. But it is the plans to ban under 14s from factual programmes that has drawn the greatest criticism. “We will highlight the application of existing primary legislation that says that many more factual programmes must be licensed, and that children under 14 cannot take part unless they are singing, dancing or acting,” it said. The BBC said that the regulations were over-bureaucratic and would scupper a whole range of its children’s output. ..."  Note: This is what happens when sequentials, the eternal rule-makers and control freaks, get control.  

Sprinter's Gender Test Finds Both Male And Female Organs, Family Stunned [09/11/09] "Gender tests on running sensation Caster Semenya determined she has internal male sexual organs, Australian newspapers reported Friday, triggering new outrage from South Africa and her father, who called her critics "crazy" and "sick." The International Association of Athletics Federations, which ordered the testing, refused to confirm or deny the reports in the Sydney Daily Telegraph and the Sydney Morning Herald that Semenya is a hermaphrodite with no ovaries and also internal testes that produce large amounts of testosterone. The IAAF said it is reviewing the test results on the 18-year-old runner and will not issue a final decision until November. ..."  Note: Since gender is about hormones, body strength and other factors, and in terms of sports, Caster has testosterone in large amounts, Caster should be considered a 'male' for competition purposes. It's pretty simple. Although Caster personally seems to identify with the female gender, mental orientation  has little impact on biological issues, on which sports is based (physical strength and endurance), so Caster should be regarded as 'male' for competition purposes. 

UK: Trash Insanity - Families forced to use mini-bins - fined for extra[09/11/09] "Families are to be issued with 'bonsai bins' to make homeowners reduce the amount of rubbish they throw away. Under the plans, standard 240-litre bins for non-recyclable rubbish will be replaced by 140-litre versions for couples or those living alone, while households containing more than three people will receive 180-litre bins. It means that each member of a family of five would get just 36 litres of rubbish space a fortnight, compared with 140 litres for someone living on their own.  ... The scheme is being introduced in Bristol, where the Liberal Democrat council is hoping to cut the amount of rubbish it sends to landfill and 'encourage' households to put out less waste that cannot be recycled. But the pattern looks likely to be copied across the country. The city is one of the first to operate the Government's favoured model for future rubbish services - a weekly collection of food waste with other rubbish picked up by binmen once a fortnight ... Council chiefs have warned that binmen will not pick up any extra rubbish and that households that break the rules by leaving out more than their allowance will face prosecution and fines of up to £5,000 for fly-tipping. Residents and taxpayer pressure groups last night condemned the bonsai bin scheme ... " 

Census: Income fell sharply last year [09/11/09] "Household income fell sharply and poverty rates rose in 2008 as the severe effects of the recession took their toll on Americans' finances, the Census Bureau reported Thursday. Median household income dropped 3.6% to $50,303 in 2008, the bureau reported. That was the sharpest drop since at least 1967 and sent income to its lowest point since 1997 ..."  Note: I have a question. If they know this kind of stuff, then why do they need to ask any questions beyond "how many people live here' next year ... they seemingly know a lot without a national census.  

  Another 1,000,000+ Guns Added to American Homes in August [09/11/09] "Data released by the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reported 1,074,757 checks in August 2009, a 12.3 percent increase from the 956,872 reported in August 2008. So far that is roughly 9,076,205 guns bought this year ..."    

Americans Are Finally Saving -- A Disaster For Retailers [09/11/09] "After a year of economic crisis and an even longer slump, the nation's retailers are facing a consumer who's more reluctant to buy than ever before in modern times. All signs point to a new era of frugality. Whether it's because of job losses, uncertainty about employment, banks tightening lending, high debt or eroding income, the U.S. consumer is tightening her belt and doing without. That's a big problem for the U.S. economy. Consumers in recent years have accounted for about 70 percent of American economic activity, so their reluctance or inability to spend matters. With the jobless rate at 9.7 percent and expected to keep rising for months, consumers are likely to remain hunkered down ..."  Note: I have always resented the label 'consumers' ... it shows the arrogant mindset behind this fiasco.  

Effect of Government Takeover of Home Mortgage Market  [09/11/09] "The Washington Post reported September 7 that the federal government is now guaranteeing 86 percent of all new home mortgages, as default rates continue to increase and threaten to require a bailout of federal loan guarantors such as the Federal Housing Administration. The Post story explained that the Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees many loans to first-time home-owners, is getting into financial trouble as homeowner defaults have continued to increase. “FHA has been exhausting much of its loss reserves,” the Post wrote, “which are funded by premiums paid by borrowers. The reserves currently stand at an estimated 3 percent of all outstanding loans, half of what they were just a year ago. If the reserves fall below the 2 percent threshold set by Congress, they could require a taxpayer bailout.” This is precisely what free market economists — led by the Austrian School — predicted would happen. Private lenders, who would never make such risky loans if their own capital were on the line, are happy to make loans if someone else (i.e., the taxpayers) will pick up their losses. The result is that taxpayers are the losers in this transaction. The only winners are the statist corporations (who can socialize their losses and privatize the profits) and the politicians who can claim that they've “rescued” the mortgage market … until the next crash and bailout ..."   Related: Housing Recovery Has ‘Long Road,’ Fannie Mae CEO Says | Treasury: Millions more foreclosures coming 

A Nightmare  [09/10/09] "A few miles down the road from Colorado Springs, [a home to James Dobson's Focus on the Family], in the quiet bedroom community of Eldredge, a deeply disturbed young man named Matthew Murray followed the unfolding debacle at New Life Church [once under the stewardship of Pastor Ted Haggard] who with an interest that bordered on obsession. Murray, a sallow-faced, bespectacled twenty-four-year-old, had been indelibly scarred by a lifetime of psychological abuse at the hands of his charismatic Pentecostal parents. Murray's mind became crowded with thoughts of death, destruction, and the killings he would soon carry out in the name of avenging what he called his "nightmare of Christianity ..."   

Ten Things You Can Do to Start a Community Garden [09/10/09] "Band together to gain control of your own food. ..."  

Job openings down 50% from the peak in 2007  [ 09/10/09 ] "The number of open jobs fell 50% over the past two years to a seasonally adjusted 2.4 million in July, the lowest in the brief history of the data, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. In July, there were 6.05 unemployed people for every job opening, according to the most recent data on labor turnover. In December 2007, when the recession began, there were 1.72 unemployed people for every job opening. The number of workers hired in July was little changed at 4.06 million, while the number of workers separated from their jobs was little changed at 4.29 million. The hires rate rose to 3.1%, while the separations rate remained at a series-low 3.3%. In the past 12 months, hires have fallen 13.9%, while separations are down 12.8%. Layoffs were little changed in July at 2.3 million, while 1.7 million people quit their job. Layoffs have increased 15% in the past year, while quits are down 32%. In the 12 months ending in July, hires totaled 51.3 million and separations totaled 56.6 million, with a net job loss of 5.3 million.  ..."  

A year after financial crisis, the consumer economy is dead   [ 09/09/09 ] "One year after the near collapse of the global financial system, this much is clear: The financial world as we knew it is over, and something new is rising from its ashes. Historians will look to September 2008 as a watershed for the U.S. economy ..."

Fed: Consumers Slash Debt by Record $21.6B in July  [ 09/09/09 ] "Consumers slashed their borrowing in July by the largest amount on record as job losses and uncertainty about the economic recovery prompted Americans to rein in their debt. The magnitude of the drop surprised analysts ..." Note: ... and had bankers crapping in their pants. Banks NEED to keep the masses in debt. Time to start a war?

Surge in Homeless Pupils Strains Schools   [ 09/08/09 ] "In the small trailer her family rented over the summer, 9-year-old Charity Crowell picked out the green and purple outfit she would wear on the first day of school. She vowed to try harder and bring her grades back up from the C’s she got last spring — a dismal semester when her parents lost their jobs and car and the family was evicted and migrated through friends’ houses and a motel ...." Note: How do they convince a child, in such circumstances, that there is a 'bright future out there if they simply study hard', especially as this year's college graduates are taking jobs as menial labor? Experiences in hypocrisy continue.

Forty Percent Of Working-Age Californians Unable To Find Jobs  [ 09/08/09 ] "A report released Sunday says two of five working-age Californians do not have a job, underscoring the challenges in one of the toughest job markets in decades. A new study has found that the last time employment levels among this group were this low was February 1977 ..." 

Labor Day by the numbers [ 09/08/09 ] "Total jobs lost during the 'recession' .. 6.9 million ..." 

15 Best Foods to Improve Your Immunity  [ 09/07/09 ] "Not in the mood for another serving of Emergen-C? Boost your body from the inside out with powerful foods that help your immune system function optimally. Just incorporate these healthy foods into your diet to strengthen your immune system in a way your taste buds can appreciate ..." 

Teenage Jobless Rate Reaches Record High of Almost 26% [ 09/06/09 ] "This August, the teenage unemployment rate — that is, the percentage of teenagers who wanted a job who could not find one — was 25.5 percent, its highest level since the government began keeping track of such statistics in 1948. Likewise, the percentage of teenagers over all who were working was at its lowest level in recorded history. “There are an amazing number of kids out there looking for work,” said Andrew M. Sum, an economics professor at Northeastern University. “And given that unemployment is a lagging indicator, and young people’s unemployment even lags behind the rest of unemployment, we’re going to see a lot of kids of out work for a long, long, long, long time.” Recessions disproportionately hurt America’s youngest and most inexperienced workers, who are often the first to be laid off and the last to be rehired. Jobs for youth also never recovered after the last recession, in 2001. But this August found more than a quarter of the teenagers in the job market unable to find work, an unemployment rate nearly three times that of the nonteenage population (9 percent), and nearly four times that of workers over 55 (6.8 percent, also a record high for that age group). An estimated 1.64 million people ages 16-19 were unemployed. Many companies that rely on seasonal business, like leisure and hospitality, held the line and hired fewer workers this summer — a particular problem for teenagers ..."  

US families turn to food stamps as wages drop [ 09/06/09 ] "The number of working Americans turning to free government food stamps has surged as their hours and wages erode, in a stark sign that the recession is inflicting pain on the employed as well as the newly jobless. While the increase in take-up is often attributed to the sharp rise in unemployment – which on Friday hit 9.7 per cent – the Financial Times has learnt that some 40 per cent of the families now on food stamps have “earned income”, up from 25 per cent two years ago ..."  Related: Food stamp list soars past 35 million: USDA  [ 09/05/09 ] "More than 35 million Americans received food stamps in June, up 22 percent from June 2008 and a new record as the country continued to grapple with the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The food stamp program, which helps cover the cost of groceries for one in nine Americans, has grown in step with the U.S. unemployment rate which stood at 9.4 percent in July ..."   

Lights Out at the Penitentiary: States cutting costs by closing prisons [ 09/06/09 ] "For three decades, state and local governments built and filled jails to make good on promises to get tough on crime. Now, the recession and collapsing budgets are forcing an about face. Prisons are one of the biggest single line items in many state budgets, in part because nearly five times as many people are now behind bars as in the 1970s. From California to New York, officials are now closing penitentiaries and releasing inmates early. At least 26 states have cut corrections spending in fiscal year 2010, and at least 17 are closing prisons or reducing their inmate populations, according to the Vera Institute on Justice , a criminal-justice reform organization in New York  ..."  

Despite signs of recovery, some see deflation looming  [ 09/06/09 ] "The housing crash and the recession have made this a renter's market. The cost of apartments and homes for rent can only decline. Just look at the number of "for lease" signs in every L.A. neighborhood. This is deflation in action: falling prices that are, in effect, a transfer of wealth from landlords, goods producers and retailers to consumers ..." 

Labor Unions See Sharp Slide in U.S. Public Support  [ 09/06/09 ] "Gallup finds organized labor taking a significant image hit in the past year. While 66% of Americans continue to believe unions are beneficial to their own members, a slight majority now say unions hurt the nation's economy. More broadly, fewer than half of Americans -- 48%, an all-time low -- approve of labor unions, down from 59% a year ago ..."  

Predicting A Worsening Reality Ahead Due To The US Economic Crisis [ 09/06/09 ] ""For a decade, Russian academic (and former KGB analyst) Igor Panarin has been predicting the US will fall apart in 2010" to include an "economic and moral collapse, a civil war, and the eventual breakup of the country." For years, no one took him seriously, but no longer. He's invited to Kremlin receptions, gets interviewed twice a day, publishes books, is a frequent lecturer, and appears regularly in the media as an expert on US - Russia relations as well as the great interest in his predictions and new book titled, "The Crash of America." America's FY 2009 "budget deficit is 4.5 times the 2008 deficit, while firearms sales are up 40%. On October 1, the coupons that were given state workers are to be cashed out. When (they) realize that they are getting nothing for (them), they will take out their firearms and chaos will unfold." ..... Further, on September 30, 2009, results will be published that are "destined to shock investors worldwide. After that, and (Japan and China's) snubbing of the dollar....which will transfer 50% of (their) international operations to Yuan starting in 2010, the currency will then flow like a landslide out of style." Already nations like China, Russia, Brazil, Argentina and others are trading in their own currencies or will do so shortly. .... In Panarin's view, "the probability of the US ceasing to exist (in its present form) by June 2010 exceeds 50%. At this point, the mission of all major international powers is to prevent chaos" because what hurts America also harms them. ..... On July 14, Egon von Greyerz, Founder and Managing Partner of Zurich-based Matterhorn Asset Management AG, specializing in precious metals and other investments, said "The Dark Years Are Here" and explained why. Because of "the devastating effects of credit bubbles, government money printing (and) disastrous actions that governments are taking, (upcoming) tumultuous events will be life changing for most people in the world." They'll begin by year end, last for two to three years, then be followed by extended economic, political, and social upheaval, perhaps continuing for two decades. Greyerz cites three main concerns ..." 

Job market unlikely to recover until 2014  [ 09/05/09 ] (Never) "Unemployment for teenagers stands at nearly 26 percent. More than 758,000 workers are so discouraged they quit looking for jobs altogether, by far the biggest such number since the Department of Labor started tracking it in 1994. Damage continues to mount in the manufacturing, financial and construction sectors. In all, some 14.9 million people are out of work and looking for a job ..."  Note: A large segement of this country's citizens, out of work and desperate, do not have until 2014 to begin working again.

Students Suckered Into Borrowing More Than Ever for College   [ 09/05/09 ] "Students are borrowing dramatically more to pay for college, accelerating a trend that has wide-ranging implications for a generation of young people ..."  Note:  it's amazing how little people pay attention, especially students and their parents. In the 1950's, life seemed to be 'scheduled' to operate in a certain way. One would go to high school, college, get hired at a good job, work and retire. A college education was always touted as 'the only way to get a good job'. The problem is, now, is that it has essentially been a lie for decades ... people who do this deserve what they get - they're not paying attention. ..."  

Federal Government Needs Massive Hiring Binge, Study Finds   [ 09/05/09 ] "The federal government needs to hire more than 270,000 workers for "mission-critical" jobs over the next three years, a surge prompted in part by the large number of baby-boomer federal workers reaching retirement age, according to the results of a government-wide survey being released Thursday ..."   Note: America's growth industry. 

Stimulus work sends cash flowing out of US   [ 09/05/09 ] "After winning $2.3 million in federal stimulus money for a sewer project, officials in Auburn, Maine, wrangled another prize from Washington: permission to forgo American-made manhole covers for a design made only at a Canadian foundry. As local governments race to spend stimulus money, many are seeking exemptions from the law’s “Buy American’’ restrictions, which were intended to prevent taxpayer money from ending up in foreign pockets. The administration has granted waivers for goods as varied as steel for public housing projects, high-speed Internet equipment, and Auburn’s manhole covers, which have heavy-duty hinges to help withstand the town’s heavy truck traffic. The Obama administration could not provide a list or amount of waivers granted - which potentially could total billions of dollars - and Vice President Joe Biden’s office, which has responsibility for overseeing the stimulus, did not respond to requests for comment. Local officials and trade groups said that the drive to finish stimulus projects quickly, and the paucity of some American-made products, made the waivers inevitable ..."   

1.3 million to lose jobless benefits by year's end  [ 09/05/09 ] "These are the most unfortunate of America’s 14.5 million jobless: the ones whose benefits are drying up — in some cases after a record 18 months of government support.With savings depleted and job opportunities scarce, people who’ve run out of benefits are living with relatives and borrowing cash from friends. They are even skipping meals. Through it all, they are trying to stay positive ..."  

Where the job seekers aren’t  [ 09/05/09 ] "Even in weak employment markets, the United States has typically had a trump card to play. The nation’s workers are legendary for their willingness to travel across the country for new opportunities. The result has been a speedier recovery of job growth than in Europe and possibly a higher productivity rate, since skilled workers are better matched to openings. With the August employment report on Friday expected to show little improvement in the job market, America has never needed this flexibility more. Yet, at the risk of adding to the gloom, this advantage appears to be fading fast ... there has been a striking decline in U.S. mobility in recent years. Since 2000, the movement of Americans across state lines has halved to just 1.6 percent of the population this year — the lowest rate since records began in 1948. Even movement between counties is at historic lows ... Americans may be becoming less adventurous because they are getting older ... another factor is at work — the housing meltdown. Tighter lending standards and negative equity make it much harder to relocate ..."  

Study Reveals Psychological Anguish Of Unemployment [ 09/04/09 ] "A new survey of unemployed Americans quantifies the enormous psychological trauma inflicted on laid-off workers by the recession -- but the pain comes through most clearly in the comments of the unemployed themselves .... Only 20 percent of those surveyed think they will land a job in the next few months, even fewer expect to get their old job back (11 percent), and most people say they feel stressed (77 percent), depressed (68 percent), helpless (61 percent), and angry (55 percent).  The survey finds that 55 percent of the unemployed say it's their first bout of joblessness in five years, 60 percent were given no notice whatsoever by their employer, and only 11 percent think they'll get their old job back. Zukin said that beyond the collective psychological trauma, the numbers bode badly for the economic impact of the nation's employment situation. Sixty-three percent of respondents have dipped into their savings or retirement funds, 56 percent have had to borrow from friends or family, and 34 percent have increased their credit card debt."   Related: Stories on regular people dealing with unemployment 

All government cost studies: sheltering the homeless is most cost-effective [ 09/04/09 ] "The US Interagency Council on Homelessness has found that all cost-benefit analyses show that paying for the homeless to have minimal housing, food, health care, and job counseling costs less than public costs of their street life. The greatest savings come from decreased emergency room visits, police calls, and court time. What isn't counted, and significant, is the increase of business in areas where the homeless are vagrants. In addition, these studies show most of these participants find jobs and leave these programs. ...."   

U.S. consumer bankruptcies up 24 percent in August   [ 09/03/09 ] "Bankruptcy filings by U.S. consumers rose 24 percent in August compared with a year earlier and could reach 1.4 million this year, according to an American Bankruptcy Institute and National Bankruptcy Research Center report released on Wednesday..."

TrimTabs Estimates U.S. Lost 335,000 Jobs in August and 5.9 Million Jobs in Past Year   [ 09/03/09 ] "TrimTabs Investment Research estimates that the U.S. economy lost 335,000 jobs in August, which is nearly 50% more than the current consensus estimate of 225,000 jobs lost. In the past twelve months, the U.S. economy has lost 5.9 million ..."

A New Reason To Fear Jury Duty: Financial Ruin  [ 09/02/09 ] "Few people like jury duty. But for many people squeezed by the recession, a jury summons holds a new fear: financial ruin. Judges and court officials around the country say they are seeing the impact of the recession in their courtrooms. While no one keeps overall statistics on juror excuses, those closest to the process say that in many parts of the country an increasing number of jurors are trying to get out of service, forcing courts to call an ever larger pool of jurors to meet their needs ..."

Russian Professor: Collapse Of America Could Begin In Two Months  [ 09/02/09 ] "Russian Professor Igor Panarin says that events are continuing to confirm his doomsday prediction first made over 10 years ago, that the United States will completely collapse like the Soviet Union before the end of 2010, and warns that the chaos could begin to unfold in as little as two months ..."

Judge Taking On Lenders And Rejecting Foreclosures, "Brooklyn-Style"  [ 09/01/09 ] "The judge waves you into his chambers in the State Supreme Court building in Brooklyn, past the caveat taped to his wall — “Be sure brain in gear before engaging mouth” — and into his inner office, where foreclosure motions are piled high enough to form a minor Alpine chain ..."  

Baltic Dry Index posts steepest fall in 10 months  [ 09/01/09 ] "The Baltic Dry Index, a measure of shipping costs for commodities, posted its biggest monthly drop since October on plunging rentals for iron-ore carriers ..." Note: We touched on this in 2008, if you remember. It's a good global economic indicator, it's said. 

Dentists Drill for Dollars [ 09/01/09 ] "When the economy turned sour last year, some experts said they thought the recession might actually be good for the country’s roughly 160,000 dentists. After all, people would be grinding, gritting and damaging their teeth as they sweated about layoffs and plunging portfolios. But grinding or no grinding, the business boom didn’t materialize for many dentists, as cost-conscious consumers decided that when times are tight, tooth care can be optional ..." Note: It's the pits. 

Hospitals expanding duties of chaplains [ 09/01/09 ] "... Hospitals are caring for sicker patients who are more often grappling with questions about aggressive care and death ...“Death is a failure as far as [doctors are] concerned,’’ he said. “They have no way of explaining what I’m comfortable explaining .... " Note: There will be a lot more where that came from. 

Many Californians with medical debt were/are insured  [ 09/01/09 ] "More than two-thirds of the 2.2 million Californians who reported being in debt due to medical expenses actually had health insurance when they incurred their debt, according to a study released today by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research ..."  

Feds: "$3B Set Aside For Jobless Goes Unclaimed"   [ 08/31/09 ] "More than $3.1 billion in stimulus money for state unemployment insurance programs is sitting in a federal trust fund because 23 states haven't expanded their jobless benefits, Labor Department records show. Nearly 350,000 out-of-work Americans could get benefits if all those states revamp their unemployment systems to qualify for federal money, according to estimates from the National Employment Law Project (NELP), a workers' advocacy group. In all, the stimulus package offers $7 billion to states that make changes, which can include offering benefits to part-time workers ..."  Note: I see USA Today leaves out information on the identity of all the states.  Another side to this is, the reason states are refusing the funds is that the Fed is attaching 'strings' to the money that many states do not accept, putting the state in an awkward position, and the Fed did this intentionally in order to exacerbate the problem.

National Survey:  57% Would Like to Replace Entire United States Congress  [ 08/31/09 ] "If they could vote to keep or replace the entire Congress, just 25% of voters nationwide would keep the current batch of legislators. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 57% would vote to replace the entire Congress and start all over again. Eighteen percent (18%) are not sure how they would vote ..."  

From dust to bust, America's poor take on a new type of monster  [ 08/30/09 ] "Tulsa has seen its share of poverty and desperation over the years. In the 1930s, it saw a tide of hundreds of thousands struggling west along Route 66 to escape economic collapse in the north and the notorious dustbowl of drought and wind across the Midwest. Whether they had lost their land or their jobs, that flow of desperate humanity – chronicled so devastatingly through the fictional Joad family in John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath – struggled hard to find enough to feed and clothe their children as they trekked towards an illusory dream of prosperity in distant California ..."  Note: This is a very gritty, but real, picture, of what is happening to American's poor you will never see on the US corporate media ...

Economic Advisers Won't Rule Out Middle Class Tax Increase [ 08/29/09 ]  Note: Yes, tax the 'middle class' is intimidated with thoughts of being in the 'lower class', which makes them nervous, so they support the 'upper class'. That they have socioeconomic 'classes' is a pathetic thing ... but that's a by-product of the 'money' system that further divides a population that, if they got together, could 'conquer' the 'ruling class' in a heartbeat and do some new 'social engineering'.  Related: "The Rich Have Feelings Too -- Sort Of"

More Americans having power shut off as the weak economy makes it harder to pay bills [ 08/29/09 ] "More Americans are having their power shut off as the weak economy makes it harder to pay bills. "We see record numbers of households becoming disconnected or in danger of disconnection," says Mark Bixby, energy director of Rockford, Ill. Five years ago, his office distributed federal funds annually to about 300 households that had their power cut off. Last year, it was 1,834 households, and the number is likely to go up this year, he says: "It's families that can't find work ..."  

 Economist: Financial Parasites Have Killed the American Economy  [ 08/28/09 ] "Michael Hudson is a highly-regarded economist. He is a Distinguished Research Professor at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, who has advised the U.S., Canadian, Mexican and Latvian governments as well as the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. He is a former Wall Street economist at Chase Manhattan Bank who also helped establish the world’s first sovereign debt fund .... The giant financial institutions have already killed their host – the real American economy. Since they realize that the American economy is dead, they are trying to suck as much blood out of America as possible while the corpse is still warm Because the American economy is dead, their plan is to soon jump to another host. They will ship all of their money overseas. ..." Note: Indeed. This is what has been surmised, all along.

 Recession Finally Hits Down on the Farm  [ 08/28/09 ] "The American farm, which has weathered the global recession better than most U.S. industries, is starting to succumb to the downturn. The Agriculture Department forecast Thursday that U.S. farm profits will fall 38% this year, indicating that the slump is taking hold in rural America. Much of the sector had escaped the harsher aspects of the crisis, such as the big drop in property values plaguing city dwellers and suburbanites ..."  

Detroit jobless rate a record 28.9%  [ 08/28/09 ] "The rate rose from a revised rate of 28.3% in June. Unlike statewide rates, the rates reported for the city are not seasonably adjusted. Rates tend to rise in July because auto manufacturers lay workers off during the annual model-changeover period. And, of course, Michigan has been suffering the nation’s highest jobless rate for most of the past two-and-a-half-years. The state’s rate was 15% in July ..." Note: The US may resemble Detroit in 2010.  Related:  Rising Tide of Unemployment in America: How Bad Will It Get, And What Can We Do? [ 08/28/09 ]  Note: A very good analysis, with graphs, charts and explanatory text. Unemployment is shown to double in 2010. 

 Pathologically Disturbed Having Increasing Hayday With Exploitation of Less Fortunate in Society [ 08/28/09 ] "...In July, nearly 86,000 degrading videos of homeless people were posted on YouTube --- 15,000 more than a year earlier -- according to an NCH count. No less than 5,700 of the posts -- 1,400 more than in April 2008 -- showed self-proclaimed "bum fights," where the homeless were pushed to battle each order in return for a pack of beers or a few dollars, but also to the amusement of those shooting the videos or watching them. "This is exploiting people when they are at their lowest point," said Andrew Davis, who used to live on the streets in the nation's capital, Washington ..." Note: Guess where the pathologically disturbed go, when they die, when they go to the fourth density -- to be with other incarnational 'nodes' that are pathologically disturbed. Just desserts.

  More parents seek child-support reduction   [ 08/28/09 ] "With the economic downturn hitting men harder than women - 9.8 versus 7.5 percent unemployment - and men comprising most non-custodial parents, many dads are finding themselves struggling to make child support payments that were based on incomes they no longer earn. In a survey of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers earlier this year, 39 percent of the members reported an increase in modifications being made to child support payments, and 42 percent cited a rise in the number of changes made to alimony. "You have all these guys losing their jobs, having to take lower paying jobs or part-time work and they are flooding the courts to get downward modifications," said Glenn Sacks, executive director of Fathers & Families, which advocates for reform of the family court system. "The courts have improved to a degree, but they move much too slowly ..."

6 Ways to Fend Off Debt Collectors [ 08/27/09 ] "You owe money, and a debt collector is calling you night and day. Or maybe you don't owe money, and a debt collector is calling you night and day. Collectors are applying the thumbscrews -- often illegally -- as recent complaints to the Federal Trade Commission bear out. But the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act protects you from abusive and annoying practices on the part of third-party collection agencies -- companies that buy debts from creditors and attempt to collect on them -- and collection attorneys. The law does not cover collection attempts made by creditors (but some state laws do). Virtually every state prohibits serious harassment no matter who does the collecting. (To learn the law in your state, visit www.privacyrights.org.) Here are six steps to take when a collection agency hassles you ..."

Real US jobless rate at 16%?  [ 08/27/09 ] "Fed official counts those who've dropped from labor pool or work few hours...."

Utility Companies Taking a Dim View of Decentralized Solar Energy  [ 08/27/09 ] "In some cases, utilities are actually taking direct steps to thwart rooftop solar. Two weeks ago in Colorado, the state's biggest utility, Xcel, tried passing a surcharge on homes and businesses using rooftop solar power. The public went ballistic, and with pressure from Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter, the proposal was eventually shelved. In early July, New Mexico's biggest utility, PNM, filed an official request to dramatically reduce incentives for businesses and homeowners to install solar panels, and is now fighting with state lawmakers over whether it has the right to exclusively own solar panels systems hooked up to its grid. During California's last legislative session, Southern California Edison, which serves 13 million residents, successfully lobbied against a bill that would have allowed the city of Palm Desert to pay solar users for the excess power they generate ..."

Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Fall Less Than Forecast  [ 08/26/09 ] "Home prices in 20 U.S. cities fell in June at a slower pace than forecast, signaling the real- estate crisis that triggered the worst recession since the 1930s is dissipating ..."

Orange County, California's Public Pension Fund Withholds Data From Taxpayers  [ 08/26/09 ] "Taxpayers throughout California are on the hook for millions of dollars in public pensions. But Orange County’s retirement system doesn’t want you to know who is getting the hefty pensions. Or how much. Other agencies throughout California – including the giant Public Employees’ Retirement System — are releasing the data without a fight. The most recent court battle over pension information, in Contra Costa County, resulted in a judge ruling that taxpayers have the right to the data. The Orange County Employees Retirement System is similar to the one in Contra Costa and covered by the exact same laws. In fact, while the Contra Costa case was being argued, a lawyer for OCERS told a lawyer for The Register that OCERS would look closely at the court’s decision ..."

America's Cheapest Homeownership Markets [ 08/25/09 ] "One of the biggest lessons of the recent housing collapse is that not everyone can afford to own a home. Too many people were suckered into mortgages with zero down-payments only to be hit later by usurious interest rates. But in some markets, homeownership has become surprisingly affordable—without having to resort to smoke-and-mirror mortgages. The reason is that in these cities the annual average cost to own a home has fallen to little more—and in some cases less—than the cost of renting. Where are these places? Read on to find out ..."

Millions face shrinking Social Security checks [ 08/24/09 ] "The trustees who oversee Social Security are projecting there won't be a cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the next two years. That hasn't happened since automatic increases were adopted in 1975 ..."

'Cash is king' in market for foreclosed homes [ 08/24/09 ] "For foreclosed homes, "a cash offer that hits the target price will many times trump a higher-priced offer with a loan. The ability to close has become just as important to banks as price. The prospect of a property being tied up longer, still on their books and then falling out is costly." Cash offers close escrow quickly and easily, while offers with a mortgage now often take 45 days or longer to close and can fall through if the financing hits any snags. The result is that average consumers say they are being shut out because they can't compete against deep-pocketed investors snapping up homes to rent out or flip. The situation could have long-term repercussions as neighborhoods shift toward more heavily rental, and it has frustrated many who hoped that low interest rates and increased affordability would let them gain a toehold in the market ..."

More firms try out workers before making offers   [ 08/24/09 ] "When Oakland resident Christopher Peri applied for a senior product manager position at Bnet, the online business destination owned by CBS, he was surprised to find that the job would entail a two-month probation period ..."

Calls to tax junk food gain ground  [ 08/24/09 ] "With increasing vigor, public health experts and think tanks are calling for extra taxes on foods and drinks that are heavy in calories and light on nutrition. New York Gov. David Paterson proposed an 18% soda tax last year as a budget-balancing measure, only to abandon it three months later in the face of stiff public opposition. Lawmakers in at least five other states have gone on the record in support of the idea ..."

AZ Sheriff Arpaio Faces More Civil Rights Suits [ 08/23/09 ] "Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio faces two more civil rights lawsuits. The ACLU says America's Toughest - and most-sued - Sheriff violated the constitutional rights of two men during an immigration raid, and a police sergeant says Arpaio maliciously prosecuted him after the sergeant's police dog died ... " 

FTC Plans to Reign-In Debt Relief Services [ 08/23/09 ] "The Federal Trade Commission plans to combat telemarketers who advertise "debt relief services" that make deceptive representations to consumers ... " 

Manufacturing Jobs Drop To Lowest Level Since 1941, Below 9% of Workforce for the First Time  [ 08/22/09 ]  Note: So, less than 9% of the US work force actually makes products for sale (and remember, today the US Department of Labor considers flipping burgers a manufacturing activity), so in round numbers this means that for every American actually making a product for sale there are 11 other Americans trying to make a living by sticking stickers on that product, inspecting it, and of course filling out all the mandated regulatory paperwork the government demands be submitted for that product. And then they wonder why they cannot compete with other manufacturing nations.

  Screwing the Self Employed Out of Health Insurance  [ 08/21/09 ] "If you work for yourself, you are literally screwed out of large sums of money every year for health insurance. There are few differences in cost based on region or state regulation. Ultimately, plans in Salt Lake City and Boston cost the same, about $17,000 a year (premiums plus deductibles). Despite the costs, many self employed are grateful to just have insurance, since without it a major acute or chronic illness can bankrupt a family and the absence of care can be fatal ..." 

  California State Senate OKs plan to cut inmates: 37,000 to be released over 24 months  [ 08/21/09 ] "Over the objections of law-enforcement organizations and Republican legislators, the state Senate this afternoon approved a plan to reduce the state's prison population by 37,000 inmates over two years. The proposal, supported by Democrats and the governor, now heads to the state Assembly for a vote planned for later today ..."  

 Most Bankruptcies Because of Medical Debt? Uh, no.  [ 08/20/09 ] "To summarize, data from surveys, including the Himmelstein et al. studies, would suggest that by the respondents' own estimates, the fraction of bankruptcies caused by medical debts ranges from around 16 to 29 percent ..."

 More Empty Storefronts Ahead  [ 08/20/09 ] "The downsizing of the American retail sector has a ways to go. Retail space vacancy rates won’t top out until at least the middle of next year. About 150,000 stores across the U.S. will shutter their doors this year, with the pace of closures remaining high for months after overall economic growth turns around. In a more typical year, about 135,000 stores close and 120,000 new stores open. Last year, however, net closures ran about 40,000 to 45,000, with both more closings and fewer openings. This year should be about the same ..." Related: U.S. Commercial Property Values Fall as Rent Declines Forecast "Commercial real estate values in the U.S. fell 27 percent in the year through June and rents for offices, shops and warehouse space may continue to drop through 2010 as the recession saps jobs and consumer spending." 

 California Disease: Oregon at Risk of Economic Malady   [ 08/19/09 ] "California has been exporting people to Oregon for many years, even amid the recession in both states. Indeed, the 2005 American Community Survey report shows that California-to-Oregon migration was 56,379 in 2005, the sixth-largest interstate flow in the United States. The 2000 census showed a five-year flow of 138,836 people, the eighth-largest over that time period. Until two years ago, Oregon was managing to absorb this population with mixed results, but generally as part of an expanding and diversifying economy. But that pattern has ended, at least for now. Our analysis of California migrants has shown a gradual reduction in their earnings over what they were earning in the Golden State. There also are less quantifiable impacts. Portland, a city attractive to many unemployed and underemployed younger Californians, could well be becoming the "slacker" capital of the world. There's another major problem with the continuing California migration. Along with young people, newcomers to the state also include large numbers of the retired and semi-retired. These people generally have little interest in economic growth, whether for longtime state residents or their fellow, often younger émigrés. Instead what they bring with them are political attitudes that could slow down the state's economic recovery. Some might call this California disease. This refers to a chronic inability to make hard decisions as well as a general disregard for business and economic activity ..."

 Unemployment Spike Compounds Foreclosure Crisis  [ 08/19/09 ] "The country's growing unemployment is overtaking subprime mortgages as the main driver of foreclosures, according to bankers and economists, threatening to send even higher the number of borrowers who will lose their homes and making the foreclosure crisis far more complicated to unwind. Economists estimate that 1.8 million borrowers will lose their homes this year, up from 1.4 million last year, according to Moody's Economy.com. And the government, which has already committed billions of dollars to foreclosure-prevention efforts, has found it far more difficult to help people who have lost their paychecks than those whose mortgage payments became unaffordable because of an interest-rate increase ..."

 The rapid spread of “entertainment shopping” spurs indignation [ 08/19/09 ] "... Last year one blogger declared that Swoopo was “about as close to pure, distilled evil in a business plan as I’ve ever seen”. ... Howard Hartenbaum, of August Capital, a venture fund that has invested in Swoopo, shrugs off the fuss. He points out that Skype, another firm he backed, also caused some controversy. But he concedes that “if the customer believes there is a problem, there is a problem”. So last month Swoopo began letting failed bidders purchase the item they wanted at a discount equivalent to the amount they spent bidding. This “Swoop it Now” feature should raise revenue, but will cut into margins. But “to be a substantial business,” says Manfred Hasseler, Swoopo’s founder, “you have to make as many people happy as possible ..."

 No cash for medical bills? Bartering pays [ 08/18/09 ] "There’s long tradition of bartering for health care, particularly in rural areas, noted Ron Nelson, a physician’s assistant and co-founder of the National Association of Rural Health Clinics. In more than 30 years of working at rural clinics, he’s been offered a strange range of payments for his services. “I’ve received everything from chickens to vegetables,” he said. “I’ve had people cut up logs for me.” But the current recession has left more people more desperate, which may be driving the surge in alternative payment arrangements. “We’ve seen a significant increase in people with no resources,” Nelson said. Nationwide, two types of health care trades appear to be growing. There are direct exchanges, where the provider and patient work out specific deals, and there are barter exchanges, in which members clients earn and receive points or “trade dollars.” “Health care is definitely one of the most widely used services,” said Rob Benson, vice president of ITEX, the nation’s largest trade exchange based in Bellevue, Wash. In the past year, the number of health care providers who’ve joined the firm’s 24,000 members has jumped by 45 percent, Benson said. Overall, health care transactions have risen by 4 percent over the period, he said. Dentists, optometrists, chiropractors and podiatrists are among the most popular swapping specialties ..." 

 Travellers struggle with Uncle Sam's loopy terror lists [ 08/18/09 ] "According to the agency, a foreign traveller who feels targeted can file an online complaint on TSA's redressal programme at www.dhs.gov/trip or mail a complaint to the agency's office ..."

 More share space to shave costs in recession [ 08/18/09 ] "Facing layoffs, pay cuts and furloughs, more people have turned to shared housing to help make ends meet. Craigslist, the online classified ad giant, says that its roommate-wanted postings over the past 12 months are up 60 percent for the Bay Area, and up 85 percent within San Francisco ..."

 Job seekers are finding a crowded field in retail  [ 08/18/09 ] "Don't count on a job selling sweaters at your favorite department store. Retail jobs from sales associates to managers are harder to find as merchants close stores, lay off thousands of workers — or go out of business completely. Whenever a retailer does hire employers, it's usually inundated by people hoping for a job ..." 

 After People: 48 vacant buildings blight downtown Detroit  [ 08/18/09 ] "Some four dozen big buildings in the heart of Detroit are languishing, vacant, because demand for commercial and office space has dropped and money to demolish or renovate them has dried up. These are among the most visible ghosts in a city of ghostly buildings -- the harsh, physical evidence of a community that has lost 1 million people from its peak population of 1.8 million in the 1950s. Some are in shocking condition: sidewalks cordoned off to protect pedestrians from falling chunks of facade; trees growing from roofs ..."

 10 Things Restaurants Won't Tell You  [ 08/18/09 ] "As any restaurateur will tell you, going out to eat is never just about the food; it’s about the overall experience. At legendary Aureole Las Vegas, for example, spandex-clad “wine angels” climb up and retrieve bottles from a 42-foot-tall spirits tower. The thinking behind the spectacle: “Anything that gets patrons’ attention will get them to spend,” says restaurant designer Mark Stech-Novak. Indeed, facing tough economic headwinds, restaurants are working every available angle to maximize profits. Even fast-food outlets get into the game, setting up a high-stimulation environment for customers—“it encourages faster turnover,” says Stephani Robson, senior lecturer at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. “Specifically, the use of bright light, bright colors, upbeat music, and seating that does not encourage lolling.” Although seemingly innocent, even menus are rigged. “We list the item that makes the most profit first so it catches your eye,” says restaurant consultant Linda Lipsky, “and bury the highest-cost item in the middle ..."

 The New American Dream: Renting [ 08/17/09 ] "Until the early 20th century, holding a mortgage came with a stigma. You were a debtor, and chronic indebtedness was a problem to be avoided like too much drinking or gambling. The four words "keep out of debt" or "pay as you go" appeared in countless advice books. As the YMCA told its young charges, "If you can't pay, don't buy. Go without. Keep on going without." Because of that, many middle-class Americans—even those with a taste for single-family houses—rented. Home Sweet Home didn't lose its sweetness because someone else held the title. In any case, mortgages were hard to come by. Lenders typically required 50% or more of the purchase price as a down payment. Interest rates were high and terms were short, usually just three to five years ..." 

 Path to Work Ends in Rural, and Job-Rich, North Dakota   [ 08/16/09 ] "The state, once known primarily for its remoteness, is enjoying a new reputation as a haven amid economic collapse nationwide. It has the country's lowest unemployment rate at 4.2 percent, a budget surplus of $1.2 billion and more than 9,000 unfilled jobs. North Dakotans, conservative by nature, avoided risky loans that elsewhere wreaked havoc on banks and real estate, and the state's agriculture and energy industries continued to grow at record pace. Here, this is what passes for an economic problem: "We've been presented with the challenge of filling a wide array of open jobs," said Shane Goettle, the state's commerce commissioner ..." 

U.S. Employers Grow More Optimistic  [ 08/16/09 ] "Major U.S. employers are growing more optimistic, with few planning additional layoffs and many planning to reverse course in coming months on cost-cutting initiatives such as salary freezes, according to a new survey. But recent cuts in health-care benefits may become permanent ..."  Note: But, it's probably delusional: U.S. Stocks Fall on Concern Rally Outpaced Recovery Prospects  

 The Pentagon Wants Authority to Post Almost 400,000 Military Personnel in U.S.  [ 08/16/09 ] "The Pentagon has approached Congress to grant the Secretary of Defense the authority to post almost 400,000 military personnel throughout the United States in times of emergency or a major disaster ..." 

Programs to help unemployed college graduates with debt  [ 08/15/09 ] "New public, private and college-based programs are targeting a grim and growing market: unemployed college graduates who can't afford to repay their student loans. This week, BridgeSpan Financial, a start-up based in Washington, D.C., introduced SafeStart, a product designed to protect borrowers from the risk of defaulting on their loans. For an upfront payment of $40 to $60 per $1,000 of student debt, SafeStart will provide an interest-free line of credit that borrowers can use to repay federal student loans for up to five years after graduation ..."   Note: Yet, the Obama administration want more people to go to college .

No Wonder the Poker Game is Ending: The Wealthiest Have Taken All of the Chips  [ 08/15/09 ] "A new report by University of California, Berkeley economics professor Emmanuel Saez concludes that income inequality in the United States is at an all-time high, surpassing even levels seen during the Great Depression ..."

U.S. consumer prices flat, inflation pressures muted  [ 08/15/09 ] "U.S. consumer prices were flat in July versus June, but fell over the past 12 months by the most since 1950, according to government data that suggested benign inflation pressure even amid signs the recession may be winding down. The Labor Department said on Friday its Consumer Price Index was unchanged after rising 0.7 percent in June, in line with market forecasts for a flat reading ..."

Major US cities hail crime reduction  [ 08/14/09 ] " ... DC is not alone. Across America, major cities have experienced a significant drop in violent crime, a definition which includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. They include once-notorious crime hubs like New York and Los Angeles, both of which are on track for their lowest homicide rates in 40 years. Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Minneapolis are among other cities seeing notable reductions in murders. Some experts warn that police departments may be celebrating prematurely, however. "I'm sceptical about the claim that violent crime is down because policing has got better," says Andrew Karmen, a criminologist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and author of New York Murder Mystery. "The truth is that not all violent crimes are down in all cities." Baltimore, Denver and Dallas are among cities experiencing a higher number of homicides compared with last year. According to experts factors contributing to a rise in crime include poverty, unemployment, the size of the police force, the efficiency of the local criminal justice system in identifying and locking up repeat offenders and whether there is an entrenched gang, drug and gun culture. Despite some regional discrepancies, most observers agree, however, that the drop in violent crime in many cities is significant. The trend also cast doubt on the widely-held view that crime increases during times of economic hardship. Criminologists point out that crime rates were relatively low during the Great Depression compared with the Roaring Twenties, when there was more violence across America ..."

US Foreclosure Activity Hits New Record [ 08/14/09 ] "Foreclosure activity in the US hit a new record in July, setting its third monthly record in five months, RealtyTrac is reporting. Foreclosure filings - which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions - hit 360,149, an increase of 7 per cent from June and 32 per cent on the year. One in every 355 US homes received a foreclosure filing in July ..."

Retail sales 'drop unexpectedly in July'  [ 08/14/09 ] Note: Same old 'tune'. No, it wasn't 'unexpected', any more than it was in the previous months, and it will be that way from now on. 

Bankruptcy Filings Up 35 Percent Over Previous Year  [ 08/14/09 ] "Individuals and businesses filed 1.3 million bankruptcy cases in the year ended June 30, an increase of 35 percent over the previous year, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said today. It is the third consecutive annual increase, as the recession has forced thousands of businesses to close shop and as job losses and rising debt have caused individuals to seek protection from creditors. Business filings increased 63 percent, while individual filings were up 34 percent. The increase cuts across all types of bankruptcy, according to numbers from the Administrative Office. Chapter 7 filings, the most common type for individuals, were up 47 percent, while Chapter 11 filings, the most common type for businesses, were up 91 percent. And the most recent numbers give little sign that filings will slow down ..."

Bankruptcy Judges, Justice Dept. Rip Mortgage Companies   [ 08/13/09 ] “Systemic abuse [1].” “Extraordinary incompetence [2].” “Reckless [3].” In a growing body of legal cases, judges and the Justice Department are breaking from legal jargon to starkly chastise mortgage companies ..."

Airlines Set to Ask For Extra Information To Prevent Watch-List Mismatches  [ 08/13/09 ]  Note: It took them eight years to figure this out. This is what happens when you have sequentials 'in charge'.

Five-Second Touch Can Convey Specific Emotion, Study Finds  [ 08/13/09 ] "Researchers have found experimental evidence that a touch can be worth a thousand words, that fleeting physical contact can express specific emotions — silently, subtly and unmistakably ... Scientists led by Matthew J. Hertenstein, an associate professor of psychology at DePauw University, recruited 248 students, each to touch or be touched by a partner previously unknown to them to try to communicate a specific emotion: anger, fear, happiness, sadness, disgust, love, gratitude or sympathy. The person touched was blindfolded and ignorant of the sex of the toucher, who was instructed to try to convey one of the eight emotions, and both participants remained silent. Forty-four women and 31 men touched a female partner, while 25 men and 24 women touched a male partner. Afterward, each person touched was given the list of eight emotions and told to pick the one conveyed. There was also a ninth choice, “none of these terms are correct,” to eliminate the possibility of forcing a choice of emotion when none were truly felt. The touchers were instructed to touch any appropriate part of the body, and they chose variously to touch the head, face, arms, hands, shoulders, trunk and back. Accurate understanding ranged from 50 percent to 78 percent, much higher than the 11 percent expected by chance and comparable to rates seen in studies of verbal and facial emotion ... “These findings have strong implications for the power of touch. Most touches were only about five seconds, but in these fleeting moments, we’re capable of communicating distinct emotions, just as we are with the face. This is a sophisticated differential signaling system that we haven’t previously known about ..." 

The 'Second American Revolution' Has Begun [ 08/13/09 ] "The natives are restless. The third shot of the "Second American Revolution" has been fired. History is being made. But just as with the first two shots, the third shot is not being heard. America is seething. Not since the Civil War has anything like this happened. But the protests are either being intentionally downplayed or ignorantly misinterpreted. The first shot was fired on April 15, 2009. Over 700 anti-tax rallies and "Tea Parties" erupted nationwide. Rather than acknowledge their significance, the general media either ignored or ridiculed both protests and protestors, playing on "tea bagging" for its sexual innuendo. Initially President Obama said he was unaware of the tea parties. The White House later warned they could "mutate" into something "unhealthy." Shot #2 was fired on the Fourth of July, when throngs of citizens across the nation gathered to again protest "taxation without representation." And as before, the demonstrations were branded right-wing mischief and dismissed. The third volley, fired in early August, was aimed point blank at Senators and House members pitching President Obama's health care reform package to constituents. In fiery town hall meetings, enraged citizens shouted down their elected representatives. It took a strong police presence and/or burly bodyguards to preserve a safe physical space between the politicians and irate townspeople ..."   Related: Town Hall Citizens Rage At ObamaCare | Health care town hall anger rages on 

Wyoming: Town Up In Arms Over Tasering Of 76-Year-Old Man [ 08/13/09 ] "Glenrock residents packed their town hall Monday to voice outrage over the tasing of a 76-year-old man by police officers at a parade ..." 

UK: Food crisis could force wartime rations and vegetarian diet on Britons  [ 08/13/09 ] "The British people face wartime rations and a vegetarian diet in the event of a world food shortage, a new official assessment on the UK’s food security suggests today. Even though the nation is 73 per cent self-sufficient in food production, higher than during the 1950s, the food chain is at risk from global influences such as a worldwide increase in population, climate change bringing extreme weather patterns, higher oil prices and more crops being grown for bio-fuel instead of food. Supplies in future may also be disrupted by animal disease outbreaks, disruption of power supplies, trade disputes and interruptions for shipping and at ports ..." 

Surviving Recession: Opportunities grow for house sitters  [ 08/12/09 ] "Across the country, house-sitting and caretaking have become a versatile new profession for people who want alternatives to the rat race – or who have been cut loose from it by retirement or the economic downturn. Gary Dunn, the Texas-based publisher of "The Caretaker Gazette," where people seeking house-sitting opportunities can find people looking for house sitters, said his subscriber base has risen 30 percent in two years. The hard-hit real estate markets in California and Florida represent a boom for him. "We're getting listings from real estate investors who are stuck with homes," said Dunn. "We never used to hear from them. But I don't need to tell you what happens with real estate investors' vacant homes. They need somebody to live in the homes they wanted to flip, so they can avoid the next break-in. "And we're getting a lot of subscriptions from people who've lost jobs because of the recession. They're looking for someplace they can live rent-free if they've lost their job or home or both." What better way to survive joblessness, after all, than by living for free in someone else's house? The definition of house- sitting is broad, from a two-day stint dropping by a nearby residence to feed the pets to living for weeks, months or even years in an exotic locale ...Trusted friends and family may still be the top sitters of choice, rewarded with a nice gift brought home from the vacation. But now, any number of online sites – www.caretaker.org, www.housecarers.com and www.mindmyhouse.com, among others – help match property owners with sitters for a fee." 

US cities criminalize homelessness [ 08/12/09 ] "As the economic crisis continues to intensify, scores of US cities are enacting undemocratic laws that criminalize homelessness and trample on the rights of the growing number of homeless individuals and families who reside in these cities, according to a report released last month. The level of homelessness has been increasing rapidly since 2007, and attacks on the democratic rights of homeless individuals are also on the increase, according to the report entitled, "Homes Not Handcuffs," which was issued on July 13 by the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP) in coordination with the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH). In Denver and Atlanta, for example, 30 percent of the homeless populations are newly homeless. The report notes that 19 out of the 25 cities surveyed by the US Conference of Mayors for its annual Hunger and Homelessness study reported an increase in homelessness from 2007 to 2008, with the average increase around 12 percent. Home foreclosures and the economic crisis in general are contributing to skyrocketing levels of homelessness in many US cities, the report notes ..." 

Consumer, Celebrity Bankruptcies May Hit 1.4 Million  [ 08/12/09 ] "Consumer bankruptcies show no sign of abating after rising more than a third this year and may hit 1.4 million by Dec. 31 as jobs are lost and loans are harder to get, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. More than 126,000 consumers filed for bankruptcy in the U.S. last month, 34 percent more than in July 2008, the ABI said in its latest report on Aug. 4. The increase came after a 36.5 percent rise in personal bankruptcies nationwide in the first six months, to 675,351, according to the ABI research group, which interprets data collected by the National Bankruptcy Research Center ..." 

Towns Learning To 'Tolerate' Homeless Encampments During Recession  [ 08/11/09 ] "Last summer, police responding to complaints about campfires under a highway overpass founTrusted friends and family may still be the top sitters of choice, rewarded with a nice gift brought home from the vacation. But now, any number of online sites – www.caretaker.org, www.housecarers.com and www.mindmyhouse.com, among others – help match property owners with sitters for a fee.d dozens of homeless people living on public land along the Cumberland River. Eviction notices went up -- and then were suspended by Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, a Democrat, who said housing for the homeless should be found first. A year later, little has been found -- and Nashville, with help from local nonprofits, is now servicing a tent city, arranging for portable toilets, trash pickup, a mobile medical van and visits from social workers. Volunteers bring in firewood for the camp's 60 or so dwellers. Nashville is one of several U.S. cities that these days are accommodating the homeless and their encampments, instead of dispersing them ..."

Around 2 million warrants exist for Houston Texas residents for minor violations  [ 08/11/09 ] "Nearly 2 million warrants worth more than $340 million are outstanding in the Houston area, and in most cases they're not for hard-core criminals. They're for average residents who haven't settled minor traffic and ordinance citations. The class C misdemeanor offenses, punishable by fines only, can be resolved by showing up at a municipal or justice of the peace court to answer the charge. But when people fail to comply with the law, judges are forced to issue warrants for their arrest. The figures, based on information provided to the Houston Chronicle from a select number of courts in Houston and five surrounding counties, document only a snapshot of the widespread problem, which overwhelms some courts and law enforcement agencies. Judges and police officials say managing thousands of case files and tracking down scofflaws is a never-ending task. As soon as warrants are cleared, more roll in ..." Note: Obviously, this is the case to some degree, everywhere in the US.

Spike in suicide calls due to economy [ 08/10/09 ] "Economic woes are weighing heavily on some Americans - so much so that the federal government is boosting financial support for suicide prevention centers around the nation. Richard McKeon, the lead health adviser for suicide prevention at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, says calls to suicide crisis centers have increased sharply in the past year - with more than 57,000 calls in July alone. He said about a quarter of the calls were linked to economic distress. McKeon said SAMHSA plans to provide more than $1 million in additional money this year to help up to 20 crisis centers facing a big uptick in the number of calls for help as well as possible state and local budget cuts. "We know that every single day, there are people calling who are in the midst of a suicide attempt," McKeon said in an interview late Tuesday. "Any delay in getting that call answered could be tragic." SAMHSA helps fund the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which routes calls to about 140 crisis centers across the country that provide suicide prevention services. McKeon says it usually provides a grant for the lifeline of about $2.9 million a year. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-TALK."

OPED: Is It Now a Crime to Be Poor?   [ 08/10/09 ] "It's too bad so many people are falling into poverty at a time when it’s almost illegal to be poor. You won’t be arrested for shopping in a Dollar Store, but if you are truly, deeply, in-the-streets poor, you’re well advised not to engage in any of the biological necessities of life — like sitting, sleeping, lying down or loitering. City officials boast that there is nothing discriminatory about the ordinances that afflict the destitute, most of which go back to the dawn of gentrification in the ’80s and ’90s. “If you’re lying on a sidewalk, whether you’re homeless or a millionaire, you’re in violation of the ordinance,” a city attorney in St. Petersburg, Fla., said in June, echoing Anatole France’s immortal observation that “the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges ... In defiance of all reason and compassion, the criminalization of poverty has actually been intensifying as the recession generates ever more poverty. So concludes a new study from the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, which found that the number of ordinances against the publicly poor has been rising since 2006, along with ticketing and arrests for more “neutral” infractions like jaywalking, littering or carrying an open container of alcohol. The report lists America’s 10 “meanest” cities — the largest of which are Honolulu, Los Angeles and San Francisco — but new contestants are springing up every day. The City Council in Grand Junction, Colo., has been considering a ban on begging, and at the end of June, Tempe, Ariz., carried out a four-day crackdown on the indigent. How do you know when someone is indigent? As a Las Vegas statute puts it, “An indigent person is a person whom a reasonable ordinary person would believe to be entitled to apply for or receive” public assistance ..."  Note: Because some meddling jerk believes someone 'looks like' something does not make it true.

Commentary: Wealthy "Holster Their Weapons", Boycott the Economy   [ 08/09/09 ] "Affluent Americans – defined as the top 20 percent of U.S. households by income – spent about 10 percent less in 2008 than they did in 2007, according to a study by luxury-goods researcher Unity Marketing. And those households with incomes of $250,000 or more are cutting back on spending even more than all affluent households overall. 54 percent of these consumers are spending even less in 2009 than in 2008 ... This is also the first calendar year in at least a decade in which I’ve gone 7 months without buying so much as a single stitch of new clothing. Not a necktie, not a sports-jacket, not a shoelace. Not because I lack the financial ability. And not because I lack interest ... Business owners, CEO’s and entrepreneurs are resistors too. Fred Smith at Federal Express has outright stated his company’s order for a fleet of jets is pending and subject to cancellation should the speed-to-unionization scheme Obama supports be enacted – in effect, another epic tax on businesses like his. More CEOs need to step up and make similar threats. If the President will threaten business, why shouldn’t business threaten back? ... "  Related: More customers are showing up at repair shops  "Auto repair shops say they're busier than ever, and auto parts companies such as AutoZone, which caters to do-it-yourself consumers and repair centers, are seeing sales spike as people look to extend the life of their cars. In its most recent quarter, AutoZone said earnings grew by 9.5 percent from the previous year. “We're breaking records here,” said Mike Anders, who works at Smitty's Service, a car repair shop in Normal Heights. “It used to be '$1,500 for a repair? Forget it. I'll sell it and get a new one.' Now, it's '$1,500? Do it.' ” Even appliance repair shops, once thought of as a nostalgic throwback, are seeing an uptick in business as customers' attitudes have changed." 

Freaky Sleep Paralysis: Being Awake in Your Nightmares  [ 08/09/09 ] "Sleep paralysis was first identified within the scientific community by psychologist Weir Mitchell in 1876. He laid down this syntactically old-school, but accurate description of how it works. “The subject awakes to consciousness of his environment but is incapable of moving a muscle; lying to all appearance still asleep. He is really engaged in a struggle for movement fraught with acute mental distress; could he but manage to stir, the spell would vanish instantly ... But the condition lived in folklore long before anyone tried to subject it to even semi-rigorous study. The various responses have fascinated some researchers and they were cataloged in the 2007 book, Tall Tales About the Mind and Brain. In Japan, the problem was termed kanashibar. In Newfoundland, people called it “the old hag.” In China, “ghost oppression” was the preferred nomenclature. A study released earlier this year found that more than 90 percent of Mexican adolescents know the phrase “a dead body climbed on top of me” to describe the disorder. More than 25 percent of them had experienced it themselves. Having an element of REM sleep mix with your consciousness is scarier than it sounds. I experienced sleep paralysis on several occasions when I was in college. I can testify: It’s run-to-your-mama scary. In my case, it would happen right as I was falling asleep on the two twin beds that I had taped together. The most vivid time, I “woke up” with the uneasy feeling that something awful was to my left, on the border of my peripheral vision. I couldn’t really see it, but I knew that it was evil and coming closer to me. I felt true terror, like you experience when you are about to get in a car crash. I was sure it was going to hurt me ..."

MA:  Judge sides with lawn care firm - workers cannot smoke on or off job  [ 08/09/09 ] "Scott Rodrigues had been working as a lawn-care employee for The Scotts Co. for only about two weeks when he was fired in 2006 after a drug test found nicotine in his urine, a violation of a company policy forbidding employees to smoke on or off the job. He promptly filed a lawsuit that argued, among other things, that the company violated his right to privacy. Now a federal judge has dismissed the Bourne man’s suit, ruling that Rodrigues’s smoking was not a protected privacy interest because he never kept his puffing a secret. In granting Scotts’s motion for summary judgment, US District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. said that Rodrigues admitted in a deposition that he smoked while walking down the street and in a restaurant parking lot and was caught by a Scotts supervisor with a pack of cigarettes on his dashboard. “It is clear from those admissions that Rodrigues has not attempted to keep the fact of his smoking private,’’ O’Toole wrote ..." 

Coming out of retirement at 65  [ 08/09/09 ] "There were 450,000 people age 65 and over actively looking for work in July, a whopping 60% increase from a year ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics ..."

Mental health, happiness improve with age, studies say  [ 08/09/09 ] Note: The studies, however, don't account for stupid sequentials mismanaging society, which doesn't go a long way improving either mental health or happiness.

Hunger hits Detroit's middle class [ 08/08/09 ] "The food crunch is intensifying, and spreading to people not used to dealing with hunger. As middle class workers lose their jobs, the same folks that used to donate to soup kitchens and pantries have become their fastest growing set of recipients. "We've seen about a third more people than before," said Jean Hagopian, a volunteer in Roseville, a suburb some 20 miles northeast of Detroit. Hagopian said many of the new people seeking assistance are men, former breadwinners now in desperate need of a food basket ..."

Another hurdle for the jobless: credit checks [ 08/08/09 ] "Digging out of debt keeps getting harder for the unemployed as more companies use detailed credit checks to screen job prospects ... “There’s no relationship between being a personal trainer making $12 an hour” and having a good credit history, said Janet L. Newcomb, a career counselor in Huntington Beach, Calif. “People are being turned down for jobs on the basis of things that really have nothing to do with qualifications .. That is the complaint of Kevin Palmer, 49, who for months lived at the same homeless shelter in Santa Ana, Calif., as Mr. Ochoa. After an interview that seemed to go well one day in June at a property management company, a manager walked him around the office the next day, introduced him to other employees and showed him an available desk. A credit check later, the offer vanished. It was “a glorified clerk’s job, taking homeowners’ complaints,” Mr. Palmer said of the opportunity, which paid about $39,000 and could have gotten him back on his feet after losing his condominium to foreclosure and filing for bankruptcy. Last month, he says he found a job at a property management company in San Francisco — a company that did not run a credit check on him ..."  [Article consists of 2 Pages] ... "It is generally legal to run credit checks on job applicants, but some states have restrictions. In Washington, which has perhaps the most stringent requirement, a candidate’s credit history must be substantially related to the job under a law that took effect in 2007 ... Federal law requires employers to get the consent of job applicants before running credit checks, said Pamela Q. Devata, a lawyer in the Chicago office of Seyfarth Shaw ..."   Note: Another example of flawed thought.  People who lose their jobs can't pay bills, affecting their credit ... and they're going to punish them forever for losing their job by not making it possible to work again because their credit was affected.  

America's Fastest-Dying Cities [ 08/08/09 ] "The turmoil of the mortgage market granted a temporary reprieve from hearing about the woes of America's Rust Belt. That doesn't mean things are better. Despite a decade of national prosperity, the former manufacturing backbone of the U.S. is in rougher shape than ever, still searching for some way to replace its long-stilled smokestacks. Where's it worst? ..."

U.S. Food Stamp List Tops 34 Million for First Time   [ 08/07/09 ] "For the first time, more than 34 million Americans received food stamps, which help poor people buy groceries, government figures said on Thursday, a sign of the longest and one of the deepest recessions since the Great Depression. Enrollment surged by 2 percent to reach a record 34.4 million people, or one in nine Americans, in May, the latest month for which figures are available. It was the sixth month in a row that enrollment set a record. Every state recorded a gain in participation from April. Florida had the largest increase at 4.2 percent. Food stamp enrollment is highest during times of economic stress. The U.S. unemployment rate of 9.5 percent is the highest in 26 years. Average benefit was $133.65 in May per person. The economic stimulus package enacted earlier this year included a temporary increase in food stamp benefits of $80 a month for a family of four ..."

Recession's job losses may take years to recoup [ 08/07/09 ] "There’s growing optimism about signs of life in the economy — expected to be capped with Friday’s report showing continued slowing in the pace of job losses. But this recovery, when it comes, won’t feel like any in memory. The reason is that consumers — the mainspring of the economy — remain hunkered down. Growth is still coming from cost-cutting and federal spending, not from a pickup in real demand. And with 7 million workers sidelined by this recession, that headwind likely will be blowing for several years. “We're not going to go back to where we've come from," said Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of PIMCO, a global investment management firm. "There's still an assumption out there in the marketplace that somehow this was a very nasty cyclical fall, and we're going to go back to where we've come from. That's not what’s going to happen.”..."

Credit card issuers pile on new fees   [ 08/07/09 ] "For months, issuers have raised credit card rates and fees at a dizzying pace. Now, a growing number are starting to tack on new card fees for inactivity or purchases made outside the U.S. In June, Fifth Third Bank began charging a $19 fee if credit card borrowers have no account activity in 12 months. Discover now levies a 2% fee on purchases made outside the U.S., and Chase has introduced a $30 annual fee on its popular Freedom credit card.  ..."

Drop in homeownership likely to continue   [ 08/07/09 ] "The rate of homeownership is forecast to keep tumbling in the next decade to lows not seen since the 1980s, a trend that could redefine a key element of the American dream even after the housing market recovers. The percentage of households that own homes hit a peak of almost 70% in 2004 and 2005. By the second quarter of this year, that slipped to 67.4%, according to the Census Bureau. Now, a University of Utah analysis projects it'll drop to about 63.5% by 2020 — the lowest since 1985. "It will fall steadily by about half a point per year," says Arthur C. Nelson, director of the university's Metropolitan Research Center. "We'll have far more renters in the future."..."

Food Bank Demand Spiking, Even In Well-Off Suburbs  [ 08/06/09 ] "As the national unemployment rate nears 10 percent, more and more people are turning to food banks for help keeping food on their plates. Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief charity, reports that demand at food banks across the United States is up 30 percent from last year ..."

Study: 88 million would lose private, employer-based coverage under federal plan  [ 08/06/09 ] "A new study examining the impact of the July 15 federal health care proposal finds that 88 million Americans would lose their private, employer-based health insurance coverage. The Heritage Foundation commissioned the private health care policy firm The Lewin Group to conduct the study analyzing the impact of the legislation nationally on Americans with private health insurance and employer-based coverage. The study also examined the bill's impact on privately insured individuals in six states, including Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Among the key findings ... (lists) ... Senate Democrats and President Obama remain resolute in their desire to overhaul the country's health care system this year. However, as noted in yesterday's post, town hall meetings on the subject have been met with tremendous public outcry about the proposals ..."

Florida: Medicare to cap payments amid rampant fraud [ 08/06/09 ] "Fueled by massive fraud, home healthcare providers in Miami-Dade County are raking in more Medicare money than their colleagues in the rest of the country combined -- thanks to bogus billings for patients with diabetes, authorities say. Now, Medicare is taking tough steps to stop agencies from filing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in false claims. The federal agency is proposing a nationwide cap that would reduce Medicare reimbursements to any agency treating homebound patients with diabetes or other chronic ailments. The proposed limit: 10 percent of the bill. Though national in scope, Medicare's plan is really aimed at shutting down hundreds of home healthcare agencies in Miami-Dade suspected of submitting phony claims for twice-daily insulin injections by a visiting nurse, officials said ..." 

About half of U.S. mortgages seen underwater by 2011  [ 08/06/09 ] "The percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will nearly double to 48 percent in 2011 from 26 percent at the end of March, portending another blow to the housing market, Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday. Of prime conforming loans, 41 percent will be "underwater" by the first quarter of 2011, up from 16 percent at the end of the first quarter 2009, it said. Forty-six percent of prime jumbo loans will be larger than their properties' value, up from 29 percent, it said ..."

Rules to Regulate Home Appraisals Stymie Industry, Home Buyers  [ 08/06/09 ] "As of May 1, new legislation called the Home Valuation Code of Conduct makes getting an appraisal costlier and more time-consuming for would-be buyers to procure — and the added time can even prevent purchasers from getting the best possible mortgage on their new home. This creates a stumbling block for home buyers at a time when the market can ill-afford to discourage buyers. And that’s not even the worst problem ... Advocates for the appraisal industry say that a move towards less-qualified appraisers prompted largely by the requirements of the new regulations mean that already depressed home prices are being undervalued even further. The problem has gotten so severe that even real estate trade groups that called for enhanced oversight in the first place are now working to dismantle its key provisions. And the controversy, some say, also shows how difficult it can be to reform even some of the most egregious practices blamed for creating the housing bubble in the first place ..." Related: Mortgage Modifications Can't Catch Foreclosures "Lenders have modified more than 235,000 mortgages under an Obama Administration program, but the first half of 2009 saw 1.8 million foreclosures ..." 

"When Will Consumers Start Spending Again?" [ 08/06/09 ] Note: People aren't 'consumers', and the answer is N.E.V.E.R. Only idiots would do what has been done in the United States, to the country and people, and they have the nerve to ask this question.

AG Eric Holder to States: Stop Building Prisons [ 08/06/09 ] "The country's top federal law enforcement official says there are too many people in prison. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder made the remark in Chicago yesterday to members of the American Bar Association. Holder says one out of every hundred Americans is in prison. He says that comes with a huge social and fiscal cost and he says it isn't even bringing down crime rates ..."  Related:  California must craft plan to reduce prison population in 45 days [ 08/06/09 ]  "A federal court panel ordered California today to reduce the population of its overcrowded prisons by 40,000 over the next two years to meet constitutional standards, and said it could be done without releasing dangerous inmates to the streets ..."  Note: Do you see a pattern here ... writing on the wall ... and what the result will be (desired by the system)

One Nation Under Lock and Key: America Leads the World Again  [ 08/05/09 ] "Yes, once again, the latest annual rankings of the world's prison population are in, and, once again, 2008 found the good old US of A the winners by a country mile. No other nation in the world comes close to imprisoning more of its own people -- not in terms of raw numbers or by proportion of the population ..." Related: Ready 4 Prison | "... Ready 4 Prison is a prison consultation service that mainly focuses its attention on white collar defendants facing lengthy prison sentences for the first time ..."

Service Industries Shrank at Faster Pace in July  [ 08/05/09 ] "Service industries in the U.S. shrank more than forecast in July, and companies cut another 371,000 jobs, indicating rising unemployment will erode spending ..."

Hawaii's homeless, rousted from parks, now living in remote areas  [ 08/04/09 ] "These areas are increasingly favored by homeless who want no part of the shelter system. That's because of an incorrect perception that these locations are outside the jurisdiction of Honolulu police enforcing the effort to keep reclaimed city beaches free of tent city populations. While homeless-service workers say the number of tent dwellers has increased in these locations, precise figures have been elusive. A City & County of Honolulu Point-in-Time Count of Homeless conducted in May noted that volunteers along the Wai'anae Coast did not survey "homeless individuals residing in areas that they felt were unsafe to visit ..."

After Buyouts, GM Will Still Cut Thousands Of Factory Jobs  [ 08/04/09 ] "About 6,000 General Motors Co. blue-collar workers have taken the latest round of early retirement and buyout offers, but it fell short of the company's goal, meaning more layoffs are likely. GM has about 54,000 factory workers and wants to end the year with 40,500, a cut of about 13,500. Monday's report means that about 7,500 too few workers took the offers, setting the stage for more layoffs. The automaker announced in June and July that it would close 15 U.S. factories employing about 22,000 workers by end of 2012 ..."

IEA's Chief Economist: World Markets Can't Sustain A Further Rise In Oil Prices [ 08/04/09 ] "The world economy cannot sustain any further rise in the oil price, the International Energy Agency’s chief economist warned as oil prices rose toward a record high for the year. Fatih Birol told the Financial Times that prices higher than about $70 could dampen a world economic recovery ..."

State shortfalls across U.S. total $160 billion [ 08/03/09 ] "The red ink is spilling across the country. California is laying off thousands of teachers. Pennsylvania hasn't been able to pay state employees because of a budget impasse. Delaware raised taxes on income, tobacco and businesses. Unlike the federal government, nearly all states must balance their budgets - and they have been slashing spending, increasing taxes and raiding reserves to address deficits for the fiscal year that began July 1. A handful of states still haven't agreed on a spending plan; others, including Maryland, face new shortfalls that opened after budgets were set ..."

Geithner: New Taxes Coming for 95% of Middle Class Americans  [ 08/03/09 ] "To get the economy back on track, will President Barack Obama have to break his pledge not to raise taxes on 95 percent of Americans? In a “This Week” exclusive, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told me, "We’re going to have to do what’s necessary ..."  Note: After they robbed the country ... now they want more ... and now that little pipsqueak ... 

Slice of central US safe from recession shrinking  [ 08/03/09 ] "A prudent financial bent, matched with the high prices paid for crops and energy in the past few years, has largely protected Goshen County and a core group of several hundred other counties in 10 states from the recession's chokehold. The Associated Press Economic Stress Index shows they make up a "safe zone" that covers a long swath of middle America, from the Great Plains south to Texas. But the safe zone is shrinking. Energy production and prices are sliding, especially for coal and natural gas. Crop prices are dropping, too, as there's less demand in Asia for American wheat, corn and soybeans. There were 800 counties in the safe zone a year ago, a number that dropped to about 300 counties in May and slid further to 200 counties in June ..."

United States Industrial Capacity Use Hits Record Low [ 08/01/09 ] "Falling production idles nearly a third of nation’s factories, mines, utilities ..." To keep the numbers form looking any worse, the government now includes flipping burgers at the local fast food joint under "manufacturing jobs." It's a 'service industry' job ...

Crumbling Bridges Forgotten, Stimulus Money Spent on Safer Spans [ 08/01/09 ] "Tens of thousands of unsafe or decaying bridges carrying 100 million drivers a day must wait for repairs because states are spending stimulus money on spans that are already in good shape or on easier projects like repaving roads, an Associated Press analysis shows ..."

National Guard Jobs: Corrections Officer Internment/Resettlement Specialist [ 08/01/09 ] "As an Internment/Resettlement Specialist for the Army National Guard, you will ensure the smooth running of military confinement/correctional facility or detention/internment facility, similar to those duties conducted by civilian Corrections Officers. This will require you to know proper procedures and military law; and have the ability to think quickly in high-stress situations. Specific duties may include assisting with supervision and management operations; providing facility security; providing custody, control, supervision, and escort; and counseling individual prisoners in rehabilitative programs. ..."  Note: Resettlement .... hmmm

Miss. cops spin 'wheel of fortune' to decide who to arrest  [ 07/30/09 ] "Police in Picayune, Miss., have turned to a unique method of determining how to arrest individuals on outstanding warrants: They have created a Wheel of Fortune-type spinning wheel, to which they attach the names of persons wanted on arrest warrants. Whoever the wheel lands on gets arrested, reports the Biloxi-Gulfport Sun-Herald. According to the paper, the police force made its first "Wheel of Justice" arrest Tuesday, taking into custody Dewayne Allen Bester, Jr., who was wanted for selling crack cocaine near a schoolyard...." 

Crooked Cops Caught Plotting To Frame Motorist [ 07/30/09 ] "Four Florida police officers are seen in the dashboard camera plotting to blame a traffic accident on the woman one of them had hit with their patrol car. WTVJ-TV's Amara Sohn reports ..." 

Billion For Cops To Be Given Out By Obama Administration  [ 07/28/09 ] "The Obama administration on Tuesday announced $1 billion in grants to help keep police officers on the beat during the economic downturn – and tried to assure cities not getting aid that they won't be stiffed. The aid announced by Vice President Joe Biden and Attorney General Eric Holder is just a fraction of what police departments across the country had hoped to get ..."   Note: Just imagine if they gave that 1 billion to people who needed help in their lives --- there is no mechanism for that, though, not without establishing another hierarchy of some kind, and there's no time.

Alabama Police Use Taser On Deaf And Disabled Man  [ 07/28/09 ]  "Officers who used pepper spray and a Taser to remove a man from a store bathroom found out only later he was deaf and mentally disabled and didn't understand they wanted him to open the door, police said Tuesday. A spokesman for the Mobile Police Department said the officers' actions were justified because the man was armed with a potential weapon – an umbrella. But relatives of Antonio Love, 37, have asked for a formal investigation and said they plan to sue both the police and the store ..."  Related:  New Taser can shock 3 at once   "Arizona-based Taser International said in a statement the company’s new X3 “electronic control device” was the first new handheld weapon since 2003 and featured enhanced safety details. Taser International chief executive Rick Smith said the new multi-shot Taser would “increase officer safety through the ability to recover from a missed shot or even simultaneously stop up to three separate targets.” The company said the new weapon included a “pulse calibration system” for allowing electricity to be distributed across the outer layers of the skin of the target rather than deep into the body. A video demonstration of YouTube showed three volunteers being floored by three successive shots before getting to their feet apparently unhurt ... "   Note: Why not just kill everyone on the planet and get it over with?

Mass Layoffs: The Continuing Devastation   [ 07/27/09 ] "Stock market investors shrug off a disaster in our midst: mass layoffs. Investors act as though it will soon be business as usual. Companies cut costs by firing employees that have been with them for decades. Then the companies can report higher earnings from cost-cutting measures. The media then proclaim an increase in earnings. But how will these increases be sustained? How will an unemployment rate of 11% help get the economy back on its feet?..."

Flip That "Worthless" House [ 07/26/09 ] "Unbelievable example of how out of control the housing bubble got ..."

Is the U.S. Economy Close to Hitting Bottom? No  [ 07/26/09 ] "Most experts are of the view that the worst of the US recession may be over by year's end. Common opinion holds that the key reason for the expected turnaround is the positive effect that the policies of the government and Fed have on various economic indicators. The pace of monetary pumping by the US central bank jumped from 4% in September 2007 to 152% by December 2008. With respect to fiscal stimulus, aggressive government spending has resulted in a record deficit of over one trillion dollars in the first nine months of fiscal year 2009. Careful examination shows that, rather than protecting the economy, it is loose monetary policies that are the key source of boom-bust economic cycles. Loose Fed and government fiscal policies have only weakened the wealth generators' ability to grow the economy. Aggressive policies have inflicted severe damage to the sources of funding that support real economic growth. Hence, we are doubtful that the US economy is on the verge of a solid economic recovery. On account of massive monetary pumping, the growth in momentum of various key economic data is likely to strengthen in the months ahead. We maintain this may prompt Fed policy makers to consider curtailing the pace of monetary pumping, and we suggest that this will set in motion a new economic bust ..."  

Millions wait for delayed jobless checks  [ 07/25/09 ] "Years of state and federal neglect have hobbled the nation’s unemployment system just as a brutal recession has doubled the number of jobless Americans seeking aid. In a program that values timeliness above all else, decisions involving more than a million applicants have been slowed, and hundreds of thousands of needy people have waited months for checks. And with benefit funds at dangerous lows even before the recession began, states are taking on billions in debt, increasing the pressure to raise taxes or cut aid, just as either would inflict maximum pain ..."

Ford posts $2.3 billion profit  [ 07/24/09 ] "Ford Motor Co. announced Thursday a quarterly profit on one-time gains, as it narrowed its operating loss to 424 million dollars in results better than market expectations ... The only one of the Big Three Detroit automakers to survive without a government bailout, has nonetheless been struggling with the collapse in auto sales in the US and other markers, losing 14.5 billion dollars in 2008 ...."

'Record number' of US life sentences  [ 07/24/09 ] "One inmate in 11 gets life in prison, nearly third with no chance of parole."

UK: Police numbers reach record levels  "Police numbers have hit a record high in England and Wales, with 143,770 officers in post in March this year, according to official figures out today. The Home Office said this was an increase of 1,911 officers over the previous 12 months and included 1,200 constables. The increase includes 648 police community support officers, who have a patrolling role, to bring their total to 16,331. The number of such officers has grown rapidly from only 1,176 when the role were introduced in 2003 ...."  Related: Can the police give up confrontation? 

UK: Proposed Plan - All parents to sign 'behaviour contracts' under proposed plan  [ 07/24/09 ] "All parents will be forced to sign "contracts" to ensure their children behave at school, the Government has announced. Contracts, known as Home School Agreements, will also establish parents' responsibilities for the first time. They face court action and possible fines of up to £1,000 for repeatedly breaking rules. The contracts will become compulsory in all English state schools under plans laid out in a Government White Paper. Under the White Paper, parents may be hauled before the courts by local authorities if they repeatedly break the contract. They can be served with civil "parenting orders" by magistrates' courts, forcing mothers and fathers to attend parenting courses or counselling sessions and ensuring children are at home at night or kept clear of bad influences. Orders are backed by fines of up to £1,000. "Headmasters will be able to say to the recalcitrant parents, if you do not sign this or make sure they do the homework, or support discipline, then we will take that as evidence in the magistrates' court ...."  Another Crazy Gov't Scheme - Worst families in Britain will be put in 'sin bins' Under the Government scheme, members of "Shameless" families are given intensive 24-hour supervision to make sure children attend school, go to bed on time and eat proper meals. Parents are also given help to stop them leading dysfunctional lives and to combat drug or alcohol addiction. There should be Family Intervention Projects in every local authority area because every area has families that need that support." The projects are operating in around half of all council areas, but Children's Secretary Ed Balls said he wanted every local authority to fund them ...." 

States Where the Unemployed Are Giving Up  [ 07/23/09 ] "In some U.S. states, nearly half of the job seekers who have stopped looking for work have done so because they simply don't believe they'll find anything. Indeed, the number of discouraged workers nationwide has more than doubled in the past year. This trend won't be reflected in the widely publicized unemployment rate, as discouraged workers aren't included among the unemployed. Still, in states as diverse as Mississippi, South Dakota, and New York, the span of this often invisible slice of workers signals a population losing its hope..." And a short memo to congress: there is no such thing as a "jobless recovery".

Detroit: The Post-Apocalyptic Future of American Cities?  [ 07/22/09 ] "Here’s a glimpse of a Turn Key Approach to Urban Wasteland Management ™. Last week I had a chance to talk to a friend who just got back from Detroit and boy did he get an eyeful of America’s Future. After listening to him describe Detroit , it’s obvious that it has all fallen apart. First of all, there’s very little civil authority or regular civil government remaining and in operation. Almost everything has been turned over to these so-called Private Management Companies. And this is how it’s being done. They block out areas, in which 80% or more of the houses have been foreclosed on, which happens to be almost the entire city and county. They have selectively begun to bulldoze the properties which have been foreclosed on. The rest have been boarded up ..."

D.C. Lobbyists Paying Homeless To Stand in Line for Them  [ 07/21/09 ] "Once he roamed the streets, moving from shelter to shelter. Now, Oliver Gomes rubs shoulders with Washington's elite. Squatting next to a white wall outside a Senate hearing room recently with a cell phone glued to his ear, Gomes is being paid to hold a place in line for a lobbyist at a hearing on the climate-change bill. Gomes -- 6 feet tall, with long curly hair pulled back, wearing a polo shirt and shorts -- is one of the contracted men and women holding places in line for this hearing. Many have been waiting since midnight to ensure their clients a seat. By 9 a.m., more than 100 people are lined up for the hearing. Only 10 seats are available to the public, and the first 10 spots are held by line-standers. The rest are shut out. Though the practice is controversial, Gomes said it has lifted him from life on the street ..."

Roubini: Economic Recovery to Be 'Very Ugly'  [ 07/21/09 ] "Nouriel Roubini, the economist whose dire forecasts earned him the nickname "Doctor Doom", told CNBC Monday that the economic recovery is going to be "very ugly." "The recovery is going to be subpar," Roubini said. "I see a one percent growth in the economy in the next few years. There will also be 11 percent unemployment next year and the recovery is going to be slow. It's going to feel like a recession even when it ends." Asked about his comments in a speech last week about the recession ending in 2009, Roubini said, "I've been saying all along the recession is going to last 24 months. It started in December of 2007 and my view is that it won't be over until December of this year." Roubini has said those comments were taken out of context. Several business news outlets, picking up on a report initially from Reuters, cited Roubini as saying that the worst of the economic financial crisis may be over. When asked about the economy Monday, Roubini said, "We may be out of a freefall for the financial system," said Roubini. "We have seen the worst in that sense. But in my view there is a sluggish U shaped recovery that might go into a W double dip if we don't fix the problems in the economy." ..."

Can The Economy Recover?  [ 07/19/09 ] By Paul Craig Roberts  "There is no economy left to recover. The US manufacturing economy was lost to offshoring and free trade ideology. It was replaced by a mythical “New Economy.” The “New Economy” was based on services. Its artificial life was fed by the Federal Reserve’s artificially low interest rates, which produced a real estate bubble, and by “free market” financial deregulation, which unleashed financial gangsters to new heights of debt leverage and fraudulent financial products. The real economy was traded away for a make-believe economy. When the make-believe economy collapsed, Americans’ wealth in their real estate, pensions, and savings collapsed dramatically while their jobs disappeared  ..."

Australia: Monopoly blocks swine flu vaccine  [ 07/19/09 ]  "A small Adelaide firm that has created a "superior" swine flu vaccine will be forced to sell its product overseas because of a monopoly on the market by a company contracted by the Federal Government. Vaxine, based at Flinders Medical Centre, will start human clinical trials of its vaccine next week, at the same time biotechnology company CSL, which is preparing 21 million doses of vaccine for the Government, will begin its trials. Vaxine director Professor Nikolai Petrovsky says his award-winning company's vaccine is safer. "(CSL's) vaccine is last-century manufacturing technology," he said ..."

Atheists Sue To Keep 'In Dog We Trust' Off Capitol Visitor Center  [ 07/18/09 ] "... "It really is a Judeo-Christian endorsement by our government, and so Lungren is wrong," said Dan Barker of Madison, Wis. , a co-president of the foundation. "Lungren and others are pro-religious, and they want to actually use the machinery of government to promote their particular private religious views. That is unconstitutional, and that's what we're asking the court to decide ..."  Note: Yep ... addiction to the use of mock external deities in a control hierarchy is a hard loop to break, while clawing ones way to the 'top' ... because everyone in the hierarchy is expendible.

1.5 Million To Exhaust Unemployment Benefits By The End Of The Year  [ 07/18/09 ] "More than 500,000 Americans will exhaust their unemployment benefits by the end of September. And by the end of the year, the number will near 1.5 million, according to a report released Friday by the National Employment Law statement."

Senate approves expanded hate crimes law  [ 07/18/09 ] "People attacked because of their sexual orientation or gender would receive federal protections under a Senate-approved measure that significantly expands the reach of hate crimes law. The Senate bill also would make it easier for federal prosecutors to step in when state or local authorities are unable or unwilling to pursue hate crimes ..."

Unemployment: The Worst-Hit States In June  [ 07/18/09 ] " Michigan continues to lead the nation in unemployment with a rate of 15.2 percent in June, the government announced on Friday. Michigan, which saw the largest increase of any state since last month, is also the first state to surpass 15 percent unemployment since West Virginia did in 1984. Sixteen states now have unemployment rates above 10 percent. After Michigan, Rhode Island had the next-highest rate, 12.4 percent, followed by Oregon with 12.2, South Carolina with 12.1, and Nevada with 12. Overall unemployment ticked up to 9.5 percent in June. The Federal Reserve reported this week that its leaders don't expect things to get better any time soon: Most participants indicated that they expected the economy to take five or six years to converge to a longer-run path characterized by a sustainable rate of output growth and by rates of unemployment and inflation consistent with the Federal Reserve's dual objectives, but several said full convergence would take longer ..."

Foreclosures at record high in first half 2009 despite aid  [ 07/17/09 ] "U.S. home foreclosure activity galloped to a record in the first half of the year, overwhelming broad efforts to remedy failing loans while job losses escalated ..."  Note: Cultural reality in the USA is like a horse race .. round the paddock turn, neck and neck, as the sequentials race for the 'ultimate prize' of their own obscurity, taking everyone else down with them, as they bury themselves buying into their own bullshit.

Police chief denounces 'cowardly' iPhone users monitoring speed traps  [ 07/17/09 ] "Area drivers looking to outwit police speed traps and traffic cameras are using an iPhone application and other global positioning system devices that pinpoint the location of the cameras.  Note: This is far more about revenue than it is about safety; the citizens living in these areas know that ..." 

America’s ‘disappeared’: The homeless of the big cities  [ 07/17/09 ] "Although the best-case scenario is that these unfortunate people have, in fact, been relocated to other areas, the spokesman ended the interview on a chilling note. He said with federal camps and a high demand for any usable body parts by the lucrative transplant industry, he feared the worst may have befallen some of DC’s “invisible residents ..." 

Brit Households Pay £1m In Lifetime Bills  [ 07/16/09 ] " ... £941,954.00 will disappear from the bank account in direct debits, cheques and standing orders over an adult lifespan of 52 years ..." 

Michigan Unemployment Rate Soars To 15.2%  [ 07/16/09 ] "The struggling economy combined with the ailing auto market means Michigan has been hit harder than other states."

California, The Myth and Reality: Land of the Vultures  [ 07/14/09 ] "At the end of World War II, millions flocked to California for the weather and the jobs. With its great natural resources - it is the third largest agricultural nation in the world - and its proximity to the burgeoning economies of Asia, it seemed to present a golden opportunity for millions of Americans. Obviously, they needed to live some place, and developers obliged by carving out vast tracts of land and inundating them with cookie-cutter built homes that all looked alike. To ensure local planning approval, they created homeowner associations, whereby they could say to the local municipality that they were generating massive amounts of new revenue, while simultaneously reducing the tax burden of these municipalities because the homeowner associations would take care of their own streets, lighting etc. In addition, they generously lined the pockets of local and state legislators with what are euphemistically called "campaign contributions". Others might say bribes ... So, homeowner associations became a powerful income stream for all layers of California government. - and as students of government know, you do not mess with income streams. This income stream was used to fund, for example, the lavish incomes of politicians and judges. The salaries of Los Angeles County supervisors are the highest in the nation. The salaries of California judges are the highest in the nation. This explains why homeowners in California who have sued their homeowner associations invariably lose. Judges realize that homeowner associations must be defended at any cost even if it means breaking laws and subjecting homeowners to extortions of millions of dollars, and foreclosures and imprisonments by rogue homeowner association lawyers. All this in order to continue the revenue stream that makes their high salaries possible. "   Note:  Judges realize that homeowner associations must be defended at any cost even if it means breaking laws and subjecting homeowners to extortions of millions of dollars, and foreclosures and imprisonments by rogue homeowner association lawyers. All this in order to continue the revenue stream that makes their high salaries possible.

House Financial Services Committee adopts amendment to allow guns in public housing projects  [ 07/14/09 ] "The amendment, by Tom Price , [R-GA], would bar any housing authority from restricting legal ownership of guns. It was adopted, 38-31, as the committee continued its markup of a housing bill (HR 3045) that the panel is expected to approve next week. “Seniors and other individuals have the right to protect themselves,” said Joe Baca of California, one of 13 Democrats who voted for the amendment. “Those guns would be registered, and those individuals have a right, in public housing or any other place, to protect themselves.” While the Department of Housing and Urban Development does not have a specific policy concerning guns in public housing, several local agencies have banned them in an effort to reduce violent crime in housing projects. Major urban centers began to adopt gun bans in the 1990s, and advocates of such steps argue that the bans have improved the safety of public housing. “There was a time during the ’70s and ’80s when public housing developments were considered killing grounds,” said Emanuel Cleaver II , D-Mo., who grew up in public housing. “It is just foolhardy to place guns in developments of poor people, many of whom are unemployed, and place these guns around children. . . . Why would we try to put guns in the most densely populated areas in the urban core? It’s just unbelievable.” Note: Why not? When things get bad, they'll kill each other fighting over resources, and it also provides justification to initiate 'anti-gun' measures when it goes wrong. Why else would they do this, and also some states allow guns in bars. It's a set-up.

Recession Forcing Americans To Swap Homes For Motels  [ 07/12/09 ] "Some Americans are swapping homes for motels as the ranks of the homeless swell during the recession, crowding out shelters and forcing cities and states across the country to find new types of housing. In Massachusetts, a record number of families are being put up in motels due to high unemployment and the rising number of homes going into foreclosure, costing taxpayers $2 million per month but providing a lifeline for desperate families. "I feel like this has saved my life," said Tarya Seagraves-Quee, a 37-year-old former nurse. Seagraves-Quee has lived in a cramped one-bedroom suite in a hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with three of her four children for nearly two months. "I'm managing the best way possible. I've learned to make things in the microwave oven." In Massachusetts, homeless shelters are at capacity. State law requires temporary accommodation for those without shelter, leading authorities to place 830 families, including 1,125 children, in 39 motels -- an unprecedented number. "This truly is the highest we have ever seen it," said Nancy Paladino, director of the family team for the Boston Health Care for the Homeless ..."

Homeless numbers include more families  [ 07/10/09 ] "The face of homelessness in the United States is changing to include more families and more people who live in the suburbs and rural communities. The number of homeless has remained steady since 2007, but within the overall count are trends that can tell officials where federal resources would do the most good, the Housing and Urban Development Department says in its annual report to Congress being released Thursday. About 1.6 million people used a homeless shelter or lived in transitional housing between Oct. 1, 2007, and Sept. 30, 2008 — about the same as the year before. But within that group, the number of families grew 9 percent, from about 473,000 to 517,000 ..."  Related: Highest rates of homelessness 

Australians Ban Bottled Water  [ 07/10/09 ] "First popularized in the 1980s as a convenient, healthy alternative to sugary drinks, bottled water today is often criticized as an environmental menace, with bottles cluttering landfills and requiring large amounts of energy to produce and transport" ... Australians spent 500 million Australian dollars ($390 million) on bottled water in 2008 _ a hefty sum for a country of just under 22 million people ... "I think what this town is doing is taking it one step further and recognizing that there's safe drinking water coming out of our taps ..."   (As long as it's fluoridated)

Down, Not Out: Unemployed And Happier Than Ever  [ 07/10/09 ] " ... I don't worry. Isn't that weird? ... Don't you ever just know that things are going to be OK?"

 Massachusetts: First state to sue feds over marriage law  [ 07/09/09 ]  "Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage, sued the U.S. government Wednesday over a federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. The federal Defense of Marriage Act interferes with the right of Massachusetts to define and regulate marriage as it sees fit, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said. The 1996 law denies federal recognition of gay marriage and gives states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Massachusetts is the first state to challenge the federal law. Its lawsuit, filed in federal court in Boston, argues the act "constitutes an overreaching and discriminatory federal law." It says the approximately 16,000 same-sex couples who have married in Massachusetts since the state began performing gay marriages in 2004 are being unfairly denied federal benefits given to heterosexual couples. "They are entitled to equal treatment under the laws regardless of whether they are gay or straight," Coakley said at a news conference. Besides Massachusetts, five other states - Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine and Iowa - have legalized gay marriage. Gay marriage opponents in Maine said Wednesday that they had collected enough signatures to put the state's pending law on the November ballot for a possible override ...."

 Up to 12,000 laptops are lost in United States airports each week  [ 07/09/09 ]  Most laptops are lost at security checkpoints.

 True unemployment rate already at 20%  [ 07/08/09 ]  "... John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics specializes in removing these questionable tweaks to the government's statistical data to better align current numbers with the methodology used to gather historical data ..."

 Massachusetts: Widened mental benefits pose test  [ 07/07/09 ]  "Tens of thousands of Massachusetts patients who grapple with some of the most intractable mental health problems - eating disorders, addictions, autism, and post-traumatic stress - should face fewer barriers to treatment under a state law that went into effect July 1. But the cost of the state’s latest healthcare expansion remains an open question ..." Note: Massachusetts is kind of a 'test case' for a specific kind of social health concept, so this is being watched by those who care. Massachusetts state policy contributed to the concept of fining people who couldn't afford to buy a state sanctioned health plan. The US Senate has been looking at a similar concept, now, for the whole country, to raise $36 Billion in fines from people who have little to spare. V for Vendetta is not far away.

 Higher minimum wage coming soon  [ 07/07/09 ]  "Federal wage floor will rise to $7.25 an hour on July 24. Hike will be felt in 29 states. Can the job market handle it? ..."   What job market? It's not enough to live on, anyway.

 D.C: Federal Agencies Could Add 120,000 Area Jobs [ 07/05/09 ]  "... an estimated 600,000 positions over the next few years. ..." Note: All the jobs are in positions supporting the protecting of you from yourself. Bu