HurricaneZoo.com

Our Recession officially ended in June 2009 so where is the recovery.?

We have 17 million unemployed and 8 million foreclosures coming in the next two years (Realtytrac.com)

The fed’s current policy of “Quantitative Easing” may have unintended consequences.  We are paralleling Japan’s 20 years of economic stagnation in our economy.
John Hussman and Mike Shedlock provide some insight as to what is happening and why. See “Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis” Oct 26, 2010

This policy is causing the next asset bubble in commodities, especially precious metals and the stock market which some are now saying is overpriced.

Mish states we should not have thrown trillions of tax dollars at the banks but should  have allowed them to go to bankruptcy.  This is actually what the law says we should have done.

So why did our Congress not follow “the law”?  In two words “Scare tactics”  They were told (by the bankers) there would be “a financial crisis of biblical proportions”  So instead we bailed them out . FYI we are preparing for another bailout of the banks, A second TARP.

In essence the investors (stock holders) would have been wiped out and the bond holders ( the wealthy) would have taken a hit BUT the banks would have reorganized with clean balance sheets and the ability to make loans overnight. The so called ”toxic assets” would have been removed from the bank’s portfolios and allowed a market readjustment of their value.

Note: Mark to Market valuation of assets is now a major contention with  Wells Fargo and other major banks, with the Accounting Board’s GAAP proposal changes. If the banks are forced to report current housing asset values (which have dropped up to 50%) their balance sheets will be in the dumpster and they will be forced to declare bankruptcy.

Yes, the economy would have gone through some rough time maybe 6 months to a year until people realized “the sky was not falling” but we would have already started a true recovery. Instead the banks are not lending to people who need the money to expand business AND can pay it back!!

Paulix

I woke today around seven. I am sleeping better now than I have in the past. I use to wake up around 4am. I said I liked getting up early, but I really wished that I could have been sleeping.  I am glad to be sleeping in a little longer. I don’t know why I just feel better.

The sleeping pills probably help. I only take a half at a time; even with a whole one I can only sleep three to four hours. So I take a half, and then the other half when I wake at 2am. I scan the TV channels and look at late night programming, while I wait for the sleeping pill to work. The only thing entertaining is reruns of Glen Beck on Fox.

Beck is a serious snake oil salesman, with his blackboards and his time-lines and his cardboard cutouts. He needs to start his show by walking on screen pulling a handcart, a gipsy-wagon with all his props in tow. Then he could break out the Ouija board and see the future. I have seen him in a red bandana and black cumber-bun, a mystic, magical look for him; add a turban and he’s done. It is hard to believe there are people out there that take him serious, Jesus that is a scary thought. I think he will eventually follow in Ron Parsleys footsteps and be a TV evangelical preacher. I am certain as I can be, sitting here in my backyard  writing this down, that he will be a success. Hell, I might even buy a sweat anointed prayer cloth from him.  Strictly as an investment to sell to one of his devoted followers on eBay.

I turn off the TV and go back to bed. Funny, late night TV use to be off beat, the strange hours, now it’s reruns of Glen Beck. Just knowing that will help me sleep nights.

David Helmericks

We are global now there can be no doubt. Capitalism is inserting its hand into the pocket of the undeveloped world and raising its ugly head. The current US economic crisis helped bring this into focus. The American dream is struggling to find a different way, a change in philosophy, a new kind of truth. A way for more of mankind to prosper and share the American dream… if it still exists?

 Prosperity isn’t a bad thing and there is no reason why more people on a global scale can’t participate. The planet certainly contains the resources for all to live a prosperous life.  The ideas will have to be reworked, maybe with a brutal hand, for a more benevolent implementation of capitalism. America exports its particular brand of capitalism to the rest of the world with little regard for the local inhabitant and their customs. America always bring the heavy equipment.

Expansion is needed to continue the pace of corporate growth and more importantly corporate profit. Remote locations with untapped resources are always in the cross hairs of multi-national corporations. And never let the lack of an invitation stop the advance of capitalism.  The development of new untapped markets is a must. And if anyone raised an objection, a few strategic pay-offs to malcontents and officials in high places can over-come most obstacles to development. And those that money can’t buy? A special group of negotiators will be flown in after dark to deal with these holdouts. And negotiations this sensitive take place in remote locations behind close doors were no sounds can be heard. America knows what the rest of the world needs…Capitalism.

  The Caterpillar D11T rains down unimaginable devastation to the forest, looking like a monster to the natives. With its 22ft blade the D11T clears enough land to make a two-lane road in the most remote wilderness on the planet. Development is a sign of progress to many. To others, like the native Tawahkan tribe, it is devastating to their way of life. But these are small detail and have never stopped America’s expansion. They know what is best for progress and the new frontier. For good or ill, it is dam the torpedoes and full speed ahead.

 The torpedoes will come in the form of protest and outrage from liberals and tree huggers. People who disagree with US expansionist policies, and people with too much time on their hands. Protest is fine if you have the media’s ear and the pen of the press to write your story. If not, other factors come into play. Questions arise? Who will finance the journey, what is needed to get there, and where are the accommodations? It is never easy to get into these remote locations. The most over looked factor, when considering a campaign of this nature, is the weather. Nobody wants to be in the jungle at the start of the rainy season. Mudslides and flash floods will fuck you every time. 

 The indigenous population, stripped of their land and way of life, will be guaranteed economic partnership in the new development. This partnership will come in the form of employment, entry-level low paying jobs. People who use to live in complete harmony with nature, in tune with the rhythms and mysteries of the rain forest, are reduced to bellhops, bus boys, and maids. The children of the indigenous people are given exclusive rights to rummage the trash, of course.

 It is hard for the indigenous people to understand what has happened. The destruction of the forest, their homes, and their way of life is complete. Days of living as Mother Nature’s children are gone forever. This makes them sad.  In fact, missionaries will be flown in to deal with this emotion, swiftly. Bringing with them bags of trinkets, cheap plastic widgets, and other meaningless trash. Group counseling on Christ, hygiene, and dressing in proper attire, will be mandatory. Little brown people running around half naked will make some nervous and be bad for business. It is all done in the name of progress.

 When it is all said and done, nothing displays expansion and opulence more than a 75-story Casino glistening in the sun above the jungle canopy, whatever the cost.

David Helmericks

More than 56,000 square miles of forest are lost each year.