Black Friday = Stimulate the Chinese Economy Day
With all the Black Friday hype I got to thinking .... who, if anyone, is Black Friday helping?We are told that consumer spending drives the economy ... and therefore one would think that all this hype,...
View ArticleMy h.g.o.d. program to help with the financial crisis.
At the moment there is a serious lack of innovative ideas for helping to heal the economy. The only idea on the table at the moment is payroll tax cuts ... which for a variety of reasons are far from...
View ArticleEducation, Finland, equality, ... America is focusing on the wrong issues.
Great short article over at the Atlantic - What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success that neatly summarizes much of what I feel about the flaws in the US education system.The concept...
View ArticleObama still in bed with the banks
One of the most frustrating things about Obama (next to his not going after the torturers from the Bush administration) has been his unwillingness to make the banks pay for their misdeeds in the...
View ArticleBanks laughing all the way to ... the bank.
This is not going to be much of a diary as I am going to ask you to take a look at Naked Capitalism where Yves Smith has been doing a fantastic job fighting the Obama and Tom Miller (Iowa AG) propaganda.
View ArticleLt. Colonel - How the US military warps the truth
Pretty amazing piece out of Rolling Stone The Afghanistan Report the Pentagon Doesn't Want You to Read yesterday. The article is based on a previously unpublished report by Lt. Colonel Daniel Davis, a...
View ArticleSaturday morning diversion - can you beat the chimp at this numbers game?
I found this on the BBC Mundo website last week and thought that it was truly astounding and worth sharing.Ayumu is a chimp at the Kyoto University primate research centre. At 11 years old he can...
View ArticleWhich bank CEOs leave next?
This morning we had the surprising, but not unwarranted, resignation of Bob Diamond from the British bank, Barclays, followed shortly thereafter by the resignation of his #2, following on from...
View ArticleLibor --- OUTRAGE .... Please!!!!
The Libor scandal continues to grow, yet is making little in the way of waves in the US, in contrast to the full blown coverage in the UK. So far in the US this is all a Barclays story (see CNN Money,...
View ArticleSpanish lawmaker to the unemployed - Que se jodan. (FU)
Spanish PM Rajoy this week announced a series of drastic measures designed to reduce Spain's deficit.The prime minister's fourth austerity package in seven months will scrap a tax rebate for home...
View ArticleThe $88K BMW and the dance instructor - this will not end well.
“Life would be unimaginable without credit,” said the 27-year-old dance instructor in Beijing, who bought the car [an $88,000 BMW 530Li] in January. “I don’t see why I can’t spend future money if I can...
View ArticleSome good economic news ... and the GOP won't like it.
For a long time I have argued that one of the keys to restructuring the economy must be a reduced reliance on energy imports.For the last many years the US has run persistent trade deficits, of late in...
View ArticleOne Obama decision will set the whole tone. Pay attention!
For progressives and the millions that voted for President Obama one early decision will tell us whether or not the President is really on our side ... or whether he is going to sell out over issues...
View ArticlePrivate insurance increases health care costs for those without insurance
I live in Ontario, Canada where we have a single payer health care system. But this system, as good as it is, does not cover everything. So many working Canadians also get supplemental health care...
View ArticleHuman tracking overload - Texas students, Saudi women, underage sex.
Every once in a while as you surf the internet you stumble upon a common theme that seems to come out of nowhere. And so it was last night. The theme ... the loss of privacy due to tracking.
View ArticleLet's go over the fiscal cliff!!!
The election is over. Obama won. No need to be nice anymore. Time to push back against fiscal insanity and propaganda.Yves Smith has a good piece up over at Naked Capitalism - Obama calls on Citizens...
View ArticleToo big to jail. Hey I thought companies were people too - and people go to...
HSBC (Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp), the massive financial conglomerate and drug money launderer from recently and way way back (think China and opium), looks to have dodged a rather big bullet ......
View ArticleStupid question ... but why?
Sometimes assumptions, because they have been around for so long, are no longer questioned. Sometimes they just keep "being there", silently guiding policy ... as they have always done.Good decision...
View ArticleIn today's YMB*KM ... Goldman and AIG
In today's edition of You Must Be F&^%ing Kidding Me we have a 2 fer.1. AIG. AIG Considers Suing US Over US Bailout Of AIG2. Goldman - Secret Goldman Team Sidesteps Volcker After Blankfein Vow
View ArticleIf the system is rotten it can not recover until the rot is cut out.
I have said for some time that the recovery we are now seeing is unsustainable. The recession was a result of rot in the system and major inefficiencies in the economy (think parasitic behavior). The...
View ArticleWarren continues the assault. Why does Holder still have a job?
Once again Sen Elizabeth Warren does America proud. Once again she asks the most obvious questions (why are banks not prosecuted) and gets the same stunned responses (what, prosecute banks, you must be...
View ArticleWalMart, food stamps and the great disconnect
Two pieces of under the radar news today ... that are very much related to (dare I say emblematic of) what is still wrong in the economy.1. The USDA today announced that there were a record 23,087,886...
View ArticleThe economy is improving - just not for you
Looking at the stock market hitting new highs almost every day one could be forgiven for thinking that the economy is actually improving.In case you think there is some "real" improvement going on just...
View ArticleToday's jobs report
A little while back I did a 10 year analysis on where the jobs have been coming from. Today's jobs report simply confirms these trends .. and that continues to be worrying.BLS - break down by sector -...
View ArticleSnowden a PR nightmare for the US
The greatest damage done by the Snowden revelations has not been to US security. It has been to the US's reputation and supposed moral authority.It has been interesting to watch the overseas reaction...
View ArticleBush vs. Snowden vs. Mandela
It is sometimes important to take a step back from the relentless news cycle spin and ask a few important, bigger picture, questions.The characters: Bush - lied into a war that killed many many...
View ArticleThe US's Snowden sagas - the lowlights
The US's ability to "manage" the news cycle only seems to extend as far as its borders (where it is able to manage its MSM). In the ROTW the US is looking ... well ... a slight bit .... (pick your...
View ArticlePresident said ... would have been out of his mind not to spy on left wing...
Guesses on which President?h/t to zerohedge for dragging this NYTarticle out of the way back machine.With the daily Snowden drama it is easy to forget the main issue here, the one Snowden was trying to...
View ArticleTired of the Obama/NSA BS
The Snowden avalanche continues, as we increasingly see that the real damage is to the reputation of the US and not to its immediate security.The latest installment is the German reaction to the US...
View ArticleRethinking Voting
"If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal" - Emma GoldmanLet's be honest. Traditional voting in a democracy has very little individual benefit. This was loudly echoed by Russel Brand in his...
View ArticleUS denies entry to paraplegic going from Canada to a Caribbean cruise
This is wrong on so many levels and seem to be another example of how the US is rapidly losing what is left of its moral compass. Thank you Homeland Insecurity.Short version: Lady in Toronto goes to...
View ArticleNSA ... everything is legal, right?
If what the NSA is doing, as revealed in the latest Der Spiegel piece out today is legal ... then bloody everything is now legal - as long as it is in the name of national security, however loosely...
View Article"Isn't there anything wrong with the French health care system?" she asked
With all the continuing back and forth over Obamacare one could be forgiven for forgetting that what it offers is still miles away from what a better health care system should look like.Interestingly...
View Article“We do a very good job, and put a lot of energy, into being average,” It works!
If you are into education, into reducing inequality, and into trying to create equality of opportunity, this is a particularly interesting finding.In a nutshell here is what is going on ... In Canada...
View ArticleFascinating alternative view from Germany - West on wrong track
If you have not read this article you have missed one of the best pieces ofthe last month. This comes from the leading business paper in Germany and is a scathing denouncement of the rush towards...
View ArticleUsing our limited economic power subversively
In the capitalist world it should be no surprise that those with capital have the most power, and usually win. How else, for example, could the richest family in America make its fortune from selling...
View ArticleBrand destroys WalMart on the minimum wage
Now I know Russel Brand can trigger quite diverse reactions in people. He definitely is not for everyone ... however of late on his Trews YouTube channel he has been putting out a steady stream of some...
View ArticleUber ... uber repulsive
Rarely these days do we see someone stand up and fight back against the corporate narrative, and even more rarely do we see someone do it with flair and competence.Well sit back and spend a few minutes...
View ArticleWe need more non-politician politicians like this (fascinating guy)
This week coming up in Taiwan there will be an election for Mayor of Taipei. Even though Taipei is far away the mayoral contest is a fascinating one that we can only hope heralds a change in how...
View ArticleIs there ever a line? Not for Obama and Cameron
In yet another expose that shows that certain supposedly democratic governments really have almost zero tolerance for real dissent we have the latest from the Snowden files. More proof that governments...
View ArticleRand Paul does not subscribe to evolution
Not surprising really, but Paul's statements on abortion reveal an unwillingness to accept evolution as fact. (Note: I refuse to use the word "believe" in conjunction with "evolution", as it implies...
View Article“I felt like I needed it. It’s crazy. People will shoot you for anything,...
That one line sums up better than anything else I have seen both why gun control is necessary and why it will not happen.The line comes from a Guardian piece, the Guardian being the one news outlet...
View Article"Because it is 2015" - Justin Trudeau on gender parity
Today a new Canadian federal cabinet was sworn in - put together by the new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It was for the first time gender balanced with 15 men and 15 women. Trudeau had a great line...
View ArticleSaudi Oil Minister "“Oil has a future, but solar is the answer” .
Sometimes the powerful let slip what they are really thinking and often times it is missed in the day to day inundation of information that passes in front of our eyes. Here is one such “paradigm...
View ArticleStop helping Trump.
So far just about every approach possible to try and stop Trump’s rise has been tried, and all have failed.There is a reason for that.Start with the overall American political environment. The fact...
View ArticleTrump starts trade war ... with Canada.
www.wsj.com/…The Trump administration is taking retaliatory action against Canada over a decades-old trade dispute, moving to impose a 20% tariff on softwood lumber that is typically used to build...
View ArticleWhy Trump voters are stupid like Trump
OK, I know “stupid” is a bit harsh, and yes I know that a lot of economic and social issues played into support for Trump, BUT I think there really is something more here, something that goes right to...
View ArticleThe upside of Trump ... for Canada.
Watching the daily news from up here is a bit like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You can not help but watch, but at the same time you also realize that it will not end well.From up here the...
View ArticleTrudeau on "rights" and the duty of a politician.
Every once in a while Canada shows up on the US political radar. Not frequently, thankfully, given the insanity of the level of US media discourse these days. The latest episode was the Canadian...
View ArticleIt's a shame - Taiwan and the GOP
“Politics make strange bedfellows” is certainly true in the Taiwan - USA relationship. As a quick primer for those who may not have been paying attention — Taiwan WAS a pretty right wing country run by...
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