COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Buon giorno

When the Lira Was  Fun

BBC
European shares have fallen further on concerns that the debt crisis in the eurozone may spread to Italy and Spain.

Italy's main index was down 4%, while Spain's was 2% lower. German's Dax had lost 2.3% and the UK's FTSE 100 had shed 1.6%.

The yields on Italian and Spanish bonds also continued to rise as worries over the two countries grew.

On Monday, eurozone finance ministers said they were ready to pass new measures to stop the crisis spreading.

The euro was also lower, falling in early Tuesday trading to a four-month low against the dollar at $1.3958.

'Contagion risk'
The concern is that Italy and Spain may have to follow Greece, Portugal and the Republic of Ireland and seek a European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) bail-out.

Eurozone finance ministers said increased efforts to "improve the euro area's systemic capacity to resist contagion risk" would include "enhancing the flexibility and the scope" of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

This is the bail-out fund to which eurozone member states contribute.

Finance ministers also agreed to look at lowering the interest rates that Greece, Portugal and the Irish Republic have to pay, plus lengthening the maturities of their loans.

Italian cuts


Eurozone finance ministers are now due to meet later in Brussels with their colleagues from European Union nations that do not use the euro.

Concern that Italy could be the next country to require a financial bail-out comes as Italy's Finance Minister, Giulio Tremonti, announced that he would leave Tuesday's talks early so he could continue to work on an austerity budget to reduce Italy's public deficit.

He has proposed 48bn euros ($67bn; £42bn) in budget cuts over three years and aims to cut the deficit to zero by 2014 from this year's 3.9% of gross domestic product.

However, financial markets were unsettled by remarks from Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who indicated in a newspaper interview that the austerity plan might not have full cabinet support.

Shares in Italian banks continued to fall, with Intesa SanPaolo down 6.6% and UniCredit 7.1% lower.

Spanish banks also declined further, as did lenders in other countries.

Santander's stock was down 5.4%, Germany's Deutsche Bank was 5.6% lower, and in the UK Lloyds Banking Group dropped 4.7%.

In a sign that investors are growing more risk averse, the yield on Italian 10-year bonds on Tuesday increased to 5.9% from 5.6% on Monday.

Meanwhile, yields on 10-year bonds issued by the Spanish government rose to 6.3%, from 6.1%.

Analysts say both these yields are now close to levels at which the two countries will have problems servicing their debts.

Asian shares had earlier closed lower, with the situation in the eurozone being closely monitored around the world.

Japan's Nikkei index lost 1.4%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 1.4%. US shares also declined overnight, with the Dow Jones down 1.2%.

Jean-Francois Robin of French investment bank Natixis said: "We find ourselves at one of the worst moments of the European monetary crisis.

"The idea of a contagion from the Greek crisis to other eurozone countries like Italy and Spain is gaining ground."

'Effective solutions'
Eurozone finance ministers also discussed on Monday how, and by how much, banks and other financial institutions could contribute to a new rescue package for Greece.

However, no final decision was reached on this, as it also has to be agreed with the IMF.

Speaking from Washington, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said it was not yet ready to discuss terms for a second Greek bail-out.

"Nothing should be taken for granted," she said.

Meanwhile, Greece's Prime Minister, George Papandreou, called for a comprehensive solution to his country's debt problems.

"I thus believe it is time now to address our fundamental problems head on and produce a comprehensive package of solutions that clearly signals our determination not to see the European project further damaged or destroyed," Mr Papandreou said in a letter to Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the eurogroup of finance ministers.

97 comments:

  1. If we care to give Greece the credit for getting the latest round of financial jitters rolling and markets roiling, think of the implications with the contagion spreading to Italy. Italy is not just a Euro country, Italy is a G7 country.

    Italian Public Debt is about 118% GNP. Greece is around 150%.

    Who knows where US debt is?

    US Gross Debt 2010 – $14,867.5bn 97% of GDP (US Debt) (US have two figures, gross debt (97% of GDP) includes funds held by government e.g. social security. Net debt (60% of GDP) excludes this.

    Why exclude it?

    This would be a very bad time for the economic illiterates to stir up the financial markets with fun and games over the debt. The money has already been spent. The bills are due. They have to be paid.

    After all, the US is still the G1 of the magnificent G7.

    ReplyDelete
  2. .

    I am going to stop complaining over the corrupt cynicism of the GOP for a while. There are no legislators left in Washington only idealogues.

    Everytime I talk about these dicks, it drives my blood presure up. Not good for an old guy. I'll hold off for a couple weeks until the debt ceiling fight is over. Nothing will change in D.C. until enough of these guys get voted out, move on to high paying lobbyist jobs, or die.

    Besides at the end of the day, based on past performance, I stll expect Obama will cave. But maybe this time he will surprise me.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  3. The elites in this country made a decision to break American manufacturing. The affect has been a disaster. The justification was that the US would move into service industry and advance hi-tech. It was bullshit. They have had enough time to show us the way. It is time for us to tell them how it goes from here.

    ReplyDelete
  4. We need to put a million people to work building ethanol refineries - one in each county.

    Breaking: $50 Billion Trade Deficit in May.


    Add in 9.2% Unemployment.

    Put the skilled construction workers to work building the refineries.

    Cut our Trade Deficit in half with home-grown energy.

    The Elites are too rich. They don't see it. Shit.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The genii on tv, again this morning, kept repeating "3% growth in 2nd half of year."

    How?

    What is in place to cause this growth?

    It's mass insanity.

    ReplyDelete
  6. They're still talking 2% GDP growth for the second quarter. How? How in the hell do you have 2% GDP grow during a period when the unemployment rate steadily increased? While Trade Deficit is increasing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Crap.

    First one was another in a series of eight, but link just goes to cover.

    Rufie will just have to clik thru and find his favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Yale and Harvard, where the Boners recruit, are hotbeds of the New World Order.

    Jul 5, 2011 – Yale University has raised $3.88 billion amid tough economic times, finishing the largest fund-raising campaign in its history that will ...

    There is depth to their bench.

    While "Conservatives" are politically represented by Mrs Bachmann.

    ReplyDelete
  9. It is no small irony that his morning's assassination of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the Afghan president's half brother, politician, and perennial thorn in the side to the U.S. counter-insurgency effort, could not have come at a worse time. For years U.S. and NATO officials have made their displeasure over his outsize political swaggering, Mafioso-like behavior and suspected connections to the drug trade well known.

    Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/07/12/the-assassination-of-ahmed-wali-karzai-careful-what-you-wish-for/#ixzz1Rts0NBcl

    ReplyDelete
  10. "Pray the Gay, Away."

    That could win Iowa for Bachmann.

    Huck won it with a similar message.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Telegraph.co.uk - ‎

    Pakistan has warned it will withdraw troops from the Afghan border where they are fighting Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked insurgents if the US does not reinstate $800m in military assistance which has been suspended amid a worsening diplomatic row.

    ReplyDelete
  12. The widening in the trade deficit was led by the petroleum gap which expanded to $30.4 billion from $26.1 billion in April. For May, the price of imported oil jumped $5.52 per barrel to $108.70-the highest level since August 2008.

    We're Idiots

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well, rufus, there's an "awakening" occurring.

    Or so I've read.

    Reinforcing the binary choice that is really no choice at all.

    ReplyDelete
  14. In more important news, two were gored in Pamplona and life goes on and the sun also rises. In Pamplona now they could care not about the economy.

    dwrnl

    ReplyDelete
  15. Breaking!

    Spaniard gets drunk, gets gored by bull, doesn't worry about tomorrow.


    Video at 11:00

    ReplyDelete
  16. Republicans vote to cut grandpa's pension, maintain billions for Military Bands.


    I might vote for Ron Paul.

    ReplyDelete
  17. In a couple of weeks we get the 2nd qtr GDP Report. I think some people are going to shit.

    ReplyDelete
  18. A Bright Spot:

    Meanwhile, Hemlock and Wacker-Chemie are selling all the polysilicon they can produce, according to company spokespeople, and both have their own expansion plans in the works.

    Hemlock Semiconductor, made up of two joint ventures and majority owned by Dow Corning, announced yesterday that its $1.2 billion plant in Clarksville, Tennessee is on-schedule and due to begin producing polysilicon in late 2012. Hemlock is now looking to hire as many as 500 employees to operate the plant. The company brought a new production facility in Saginaw, Michigan on-line earlier this year.

    “Our Hemlock Semiconductor Group joint ventures continues to sell all of its production,” Dow Corning management reported in Q1, contributing to a 17% year-to-year increase in Q1 revenue that follows record-setting revenue and profit for 2010.

    Source: Clean Technica (http://s.tt/12POx)

    Meanwhile, Hemlock and Wacker-Chemie are selling all the polysilicon they can produce, according to company spokespeople, and both have their own expansion plans in the works.

    Hemlock Semiconductor, made up of two joint ventures and majority owned by Dow Corning, announced yesterday that its $1.2 billion plant in Clarksville, Tennessee is on-schedule and due to begin producing polysilicon in late 2012. Hemlock is now looking to hire as many as 500 employees to operate the plant. The company brought a new production facility in Saginaw, Michigan on-line earlier this year.

    “Our Hemlock Semiconductor Group joint ventures continues to sell all of its production,” Dow Corning management reported in Q1, contributing to a 17% year-to-year increase in Q1 revenue that follows record-setting revenue and profit for 2010.


    Solar Silicon Prices Continue to Fall

    ReplyDelete
  19. Obama says he cannot guarantee Social Security checks will go out on August 3

    ReplyDelete
  20. Egypt's post-revolution harmony turns sour

    Los Angeles Times - ‎

    Activists who helped topple Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak just a few months ago are back at Cairo's Tahrir Square, demanding that his successor be replaced and that members of the former regime be brought to justice more quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  21. NEW YORK — A promise from Italy to fast-track austerity measures nudged stock indexes slightly higher Tuesday. Investors are still worried that Italy might become the next European country to need help managing its debts.

    A successful auction of new Italian government bonds also reassured markets that the country will be able to manage on its own without backstops from international lenders like the International Monetary Fund.

    ReplyDelete
  22. The "Awakening" continues.

    Activists who helped oust Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February are back at Cairo's Tahrir Square, demanding that the prime minister be replaced and that former regime members be brought to justice more quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  23. BRUSSELS (AP) — Moody's Investors Service says it has downgraded Ireland's government bond ratings to junk because of a growing risk the highly indebted country will need a second bailout in which private investors will be hurt.

    The rating agency cut Ireland's rating by one notch to Ba1 from Baa3 and kept a negative outlook. The downgrade follows a similar move on Portugal's debt last week.

    The European Commission, the EU's executive that oversees Ireland's exiting bailout, immediately criticized the downgrade, saying "it contrasts very much with the recent data, which support a return to GDP growth this year, and the determined implementation of the (bailout) program by the Irish government."

    The downgrade comes as concern over the eurozone debt crisis reached a new high this week.

    ReplyDelete
  24. President Barack Obama, declaring "this is the stuff of which heroes are made," Tuesday fastened a blue ribbon with the Medal of Honor around the neck of Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry, who lost his right hand in Afghanistan when he threw away a live grenade to save his fellow Army Rangers.

    ...

    He has chosen to re-enlist in the Army "indefinitely," Obama said.

    "He lost a hand, sometimes the wounds in his legs make it hard for him to stand, but he pushes on."

    ReplyDelete
  25. Rollin' up those networks and leads that we know of, hittn' 'em as we wind down.

    As the impact of cutting the Pakistani subsidy by $800 million hits home, at the Pakistani Military Academy, in Abbottabad.

    ReplyDelete
  26. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  27. For President Karzai, the death of Ahmed Wali couldn’t have come at a worse time. The senior Karzai was already confronting the fact that U.S.-NATO forces have begun working toward a withdrawal from the country and have engaged in talks with the Taliban as well as neighboring Pakistan.

    ReplyDelete
  28. (Reuters) - At least 45 suspected militants were killed by missiles launched by U.S. drone aircraft in Pakistan's northwest, local intelligence officials said on Tuesday, one of the largest death tolls to date in the controversial air bombing campaign.

    ReplyDelete
  29. “Are you prepared to walk out of these talks as well?” a reporter asked.

    “I certainly don’t want to walk out of these talks,” Cantor responded. But he indicated he still wouldn’t budge on tax increases.

    “The votes aren’t in the House to raise taxes,” he said. “If they want to vote on the debt ceiling, they are going to have to come meet us.”

    ReplyDelete
  30. The war in Libya has been under way for months, without any indication of when it might end. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s faction has been stronger and more cohesive than imagined and his enemies weaker and more divided.

    ...

    One of the roots of this phenomenon is the existence of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which became operational in 2002 in The Hague, Netherlands. The ICC has jurisdiction, under U.N. mandate, to prosecute individuals who have committed war crimes, genocide and other crimes against humanity.

    ...

    Consider a hypothetical. Assume that in the summer of 1944, Adolph Hitler had offered to capitulate to the allies if they would grant him amnesty. Giving Hitler amnesty would have been monstrous, but at the same time, it would have saved a year of war and a year of the holocaust.


    The Hague

    ReplyDelete
  31. I'm not entirely dead certain on the exact timeline of all this, but I have a sneaking suspicion Obama's telling the truth.

    We'll probably take in $170 Billion, or so, during the month of August, BUT those Soc Sec checks (the majority, anyway) aren't due during the month of August. They're due on Aug 3rd.

    There may not be $55 Billion in the bank on Aug. 3rd. And, if it's not in the bank, they can't Pay it.

    The whole bunch of them are playing with fire. I just get the feeling that some of them haven't thought it through.

    ReplyDelete
  32. When does the meat quit arriving at the grocery store when the FDA is shut down?

    How do the ships load, and unload at the ports w/o the Coast Guard, and Customs operating?

    ReplyDelete
  33. “We keep on talking about this stuff and we have these high-minded pronouncements about how we’ve got to get control of the deficit and how we owe it to our children and our grandchildren. Well, let’s step up.

    ...

    Republicans fired back that they already are taking plenty of heat for considering an increase in the legal limit on the debt, which stands at a record $14.3 trillion. In a sign of deepening tensions, Boehner suggested that the only concession Obama should expect from Republicans is a vote to allow the Treasury to continue borrowing.

    “Most Americans would say that a ‘balanced’ approach is a simple one: The administration gets its debt-limit increase, and the American people get their spending cuts and their reforms,” Boehner told reporters at a news conference before heading to the White House. “Adding tax increases to the equation doesn’t balance anything.”

    ReplyDelete
  34. You know the National Parks are the first to go.

    ReplyDelete
  35. What happens when they start evicting disabled Vets, and mothers with children when their checks don't arrive but the "rent due" bill does?

    ReplyDelete
  36. As they say in politics/entertainment, "that'll be some nice Visuals."

    ReplyDelete
  37. An immediate $1.4 trillion cutback.

    All the Federal bonds get paid, first.
    Then the Treasury prioritizes.

    Social Security is just another welfare payment program, it is not a debt owed.

    ReplyDelete
  38. If I read Geithner, right, the guvmint till is empty on Aug 2. Those Soc Sec checks are due on the 3rd.

    The fact that the government has money coming in later in the month doesn't matter. If the checks are due on the 3rd., and you can't borrow, what can you do? Write "Hot Checks?"

    (I think there's some kind of law against that.) :)

    ReplyDelete
  39. Yeah. What is that, about a 40 million person "Voting Bloc," that, actually "Votes."

    Plus all their kids, and grandkids.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Hemlock wouldn't necessarily be any faster, but it would sure as hell be lot less painful.

    If you're a politician, that is.

    ReplyDelete
  41. All Soc Sec checks don't go out on the 3rd any more. A lot of them go out later (out to around the 13th, I believe.)

    So, the Gov could easily pay them if they delayed all checks by two weeks, or so.

    Food Stamps are probably $4 or $5 Billion/month.

    Do you shut down the Pentagon? The CIA? The NSA? Border Patrol? Coast Guard? The Corps of Engineers? TVA? Los Alamos? The Justice Dept? The State Dept? All those State Dept Contractors?

    ReplyDelete
  42. Do they close the VA Hospital? What about the VA Old Folks Homes?

    ReplyDelete
  43. Have to cut bout $110 billion per month, if it all averaged monthly, out operations.

    The 14th Amendment obligates payment of Federal debts, first.

    If you want to read it that way.

    ReplyDelete
  44. A lot of folks will be shocked to discover that those Social Security checks and auto deposits are not a "Right".

    Ignorance will not lead to bliss.

    ReplyDelete
  45. No, but it will lead to fireworks.

    ReplyDelete
  46. "Syria vigorously condemns the remarks of the US secretary of state that amount to further proof of the flagrant interference of the United States in the internal affairs of Syria," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

    "These remarks are an act of incitement aimed at continuing the internal crisis and for objectives which do not serve the interests of the Syrian people or their legitimate ambitions."

    The attacks followed several days of protests outside the US compound, triggered by Ambassador Robert Ford's visit to the flashpoint city of Hama, which angered the Assad regime.

    ReplyDelete
  47. "We have a lot more support right now," the congressman said. "Things are doing well for us."

    Paul, who was born and raised in Pittsburgh, served as a flight surgeon in the US Air Force in the 1960s. In 1968, he began a medical practice in Brazoria County, Texas, where he specialized in obstetrics.

    He was elected to the House in 1976, but he relinquished his seat in 1984 to return to his medical practice. He made an unsuccessful run for president in 1988 as a Libertarian Party candidate and returned to Congress in 1997 to represent Texas' 14th congressional district.

    ReplyDelete
  48. However, in the rebel-held city of Benghazi, the manager there of the Great Man-made River project, Abdel Razek al-Zlitni, said there are no water supply problems in eastern Libya.

    "The No. 1 zone, which supplies the eastern side of Libya with water, is fine and is working perfectly," he said of the reservoir there.

    Al-Zlitni said, however, that there is no communication with the besieged area in western Libya so it is unclear whether they are having water problems.

    ReplyDelete
  49. .

    Libyan Rebels Accused of Pillage and Beatings

    Rebels in the mountains in Libya’s west have looted and damaged four towns seized since last month from the forces of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, part of a series of abuses and apparent reprisals against suspected loyalists that have chased residents of these towns away, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

    The looting included many businesses and at least two medical centers that, like the towns, are now deserted and bare.

    Rebel fighters also beat people suspected of being loyalists and burned their homes, the organization said...


    But it's OK. It's for humanitarian reasons.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  50. Earlier Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), accused the president of being the main impediment to a deal.

    "After years of discussions and months of negotiations, I have little question that as long as this president is in the Oval Office, a real solution is probably unattainable," McConnell said on the Senate floor.

    After talks Sunday and Monday failed to reach agreement, top leaders from both parties in Congress will return to the White House Tuesday afternoon to continue discussions.

    ReplyDelete
  51. The comments from the Republican leaders came as both sides of the debt debate dug in their heels Monday, with Boehner insisting that tax hikes are off the table, hours after Obama expressed confidence in reaching a deal that includes revenue increases.

    For their part, many Democrats have resisted cuts to entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

    Congressional leaders are set to meet with Obama for more White House negotiations Tuesday afternoon.

    ReplyDelete
  52. https://mail.google.com/a/cableone.net/?AuthEventSource=SSO#inbox/13121d55b5c6d07f


    china men want to construct city south of Boise. Red Alert from a wolf hating friend in Montana.

    dwrnl

    ReplyDelete
  53. Rufus II said...
    If I read Geithner, right, the guvmint till is empty on Aug 2. Those Soc Sec checks are due on the 3rd.

    The fact that the government has money coming in later in the month doesn't matter. If the checks are due on the 3rd., and you can't borrow, what can you do? Write "Hot Checks?"

    (I think there's some kind of law against that.) :)

    ---

    Rufus II said...
    Do they close the VA Hospital? What about the VA Old Folks Homes?

    ---

    Rufus II said...
    I'm not entirely dead certain on the exact timeline of all this, but I have a sneaking suspicion Obama's telling the truth.

    ReplyDelete
  54. I suppose you believe Democrat Mayors also when the FIRST people they threaten and sometimes DO cut off are Police and Firemen?

    ...while continuing to pay all the worthless paper pushers and other hack public employees, all the "non-essentials" all the folks we would not even notice were gone or were being given IOU's ala California.

    Hard to believe you are really that stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  55. OTOH,

    Why should I be surprised?

    You think Obamacare will improve things!

    Jeeze

    ReplyDelete
  56. He thinks there are no real differences between the political parties, Doug.

    Fancy that.

    dwrnl

    ReplyDelete
  57. Here is the proof that there is no difference, Obama will get the "Clean Debt Ceiling legislation that he first wanted.

    Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., floated a complex formula — "a sort of a last-chance option" — that would allow Obama to increase the debt limit even if the parties can't agree on ways to reduce the debt moving forward.

    Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., floated a complex formula — "a sort of a last-chance option" — that would allow Obama to increase the debt limit even if the parties can't agree on ways to reduce the debt moving forward.

    "If we are unable to come together, we think it's extremely important that the country reassure the markets that default is not an option and reassure Social Security recipients and families of military veterans that default is not an option," McConnell said before the White House meeting.

    ReplyDelete
  58. No debt reduction, no revenue enhancement.

    Just raise the debt ceiling.

    It's all good.

    It's the Republican Way, really.

    Rhetoric does not match performance.

    ReplyDelete
  59. ... allow Obama to increase the debt limit even if the parties can't agree on ways to reduce the debt moving forward.

    The "Real Republicans" are taking charge, after the backbenchers made some rhetorical headlines.

    ReplyDelete
  60. The Federals are short $100 billion a month, more or less.

    They are obligated to pay the debt and the interest upon it, first.

    Then comes Defense and Welfare.

    Social Security is a welfare program.

    Should it be prioritized above "Defense"?

    ReplyDelete
  61. Welfare or Foreign Adventures, which should take priority for the limited Federal expenditures available?

    ReplyDelete
  62. Of more importance to me is the fact it is raining on my alfalfa bales. Dotter fell off her horse the other day no injuries except a little dust up the nose. She got right back on as you got to teach the horse who's the big cheese. She has made a deal to supply the stables with alfalfa. They have a class at NIC called Horse Psychology, and the texts are really quite interesting. My dotter couldn't give a flying f about the debt ceiling. She's happy.


    dwrnl

    ReplyDelete
  63. We had a lightning storm that moved through here last night and shock the very foundations of this condo. Really something to behold.

    dwrnl

    ReplyDelete
  64. The solar plant to nowhere
    Ed Lasky

    Evergreen Solar stock is plunging this week into a black hole of probable bankruptcy. The losers - aside from shareholders and employees - are the taxpayers from Massachusetts. Their government, just in the last few years, received $58 million in taxpayer subsidies. This slug of money was given to Evergreen to get them to open a factory on a former military base in the town of Devens. Within two years of the opening, Evergreen closed that factory and shifted operations to China. Now it looks like even that move is coming up a cropper as Evergreen seems headed to bankruptcy court.

    As I wrote in "Obama's Solar Nightmare," this subsidy was pushed by Governor Deval Patrick over opposition that it was a waste of money during a time of economic weakness. Patrick is a close friend of Barack Obama's. President Obama has been pushing the same wasteful green schemes since he assumed office. For example, a huge chunk of the stimulus money went to aid (loans, grants, subsidies) green or renewable energy ventures whose investors all too often overlap with donors to Obama and other Democrats. Many of those - like ethanol plants before them - will go belly-up as well.

    As Europe goes broke, the lavish subsidies given to boost the solar industry are being slashed. The companies that saw taxpayer money showered on them like manna from heaven are faltering. Chinese solar companies are also sliding. On the same day that Evergreen warned of bankruptcy, Chinese-based Trina Solar announced that the head of its audit committee resigned, sending its own shares sharply lower. They are down 50% in a year.

    Revelations regarding accounting shenanigans have been shellacking Chinese companies the last few months so this latest news will send even more shudders through investors in Chinese solar company shares. New York Times columnist Tom Friedman has China wanderlust. He has written a series of columns extolling China and its command and control economy and government as being a role model for America. He has also been an ardent proponent of solar power and green schemes. Will Tom Friedman now write a mea culpa?

    In fact, as more facts come to light the miracles of China are more and more appearing to be the work of public relations flaks in the West and the "journalists" who buy what they are selling. Progressives are being proven wrong. Yet, Barack Obama plows ahead, throwing more money at wasteful green schemes as he gives our money to his donors and allies.

    Unfortunately we -and our children and their children-will be paying the price for their (and especially Barack Obama's) mistakes for decades to come

    And the damage will be much more severe than $58 million.

    The media harped on the so-called Bridge to Nowhere (never built, by the way). Will they ever report on the billions and billions wasted by Barack Obama on foolish pie-in-the sky energy ventures.
    dwrnl

    ReplyDelete
  65. Every decision should be geared to re-industrialization, manufacturing and job creation in engineering science and the mechanical arts. We should set a goal of creating 2,000,000 manufacturing jobs per year for ten years. The focus should be on petroleum substitution. Bypass Wall Street and create an entire new entity of private and public finance. Ratchet down the empire, enact brutal tort reform, forget democracy nurseries, quit selling sovereign debt and we can get back to where we should be.

    ReplyDelete
  66. "Listen, I understand Mitch's frustration, you know, because we're all frustrated by where we are. And Mitch, I think, pointed out that this was -- his idea is if we can't get there, none of us believe that we ought to default on the full faith and credit of the United States government."

    -- House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, in an interview on Special Report w/ Bret Baier talking about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s proposal to give President Obama control of incremental debt ceiling increases.


    Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/13/mcconnell-proposal-sets-tone-as-debt-meetings-continue/#ixzz1RzhTkY9W

    ReplyDelete
  67. Evergreen was a start-up that built a non-standard panel that the market did not embrace. There are well over a hundred companies in the world producing solar panels. One, a start-up, got it wrong. Stop the Presses.


    Doug, it's not the size of the Soc Sec payout, it's the size, and, most importantly, The Timing.

    ReplyDelete
  68. .

    Boehner would prefer to deal. He knows the 'big deal' he and Obama were negotiatung would have given him what he has been asking for for the last year plus he would have gotten credit for helping, actually pushing, the biggest deficit addressing deal in history. Unfortunately, he cannot control his own caucus.

    McConnell is playing the debt ceiling debate strictly from a political perspective. He pushed for radical reform as long as he thought it was politiclly viable, but when the Chamber of Congress and other business interests started pushing him to 'do his job' and negotiate, he folded and started looking for a way out.

    Rather than actually do his job, he punted, offering Obama the chance to take all the risk of upping the debt limit by himself. An easy way out in McConnell's calculation, anything to avoid what he was actually sent to Washington to do, legislate.

    Cantor, he of the sneer and the snark, is like his Tea Psrty followers (or leaders if you like), either an economic eliterate or a cynical pol who is willing to risk the fate of the US economy to gain power.

    In my opinion, it is the latter. The quote that he chose when he graduated was "I want what I want when I want it."

    What is obvious is he like most of the GOP don't really want or at least care about deficit reduction.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  69. .

    Eliterate: adj. Ideehoan farmer patois for illiterate.

    .

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  70. Gasoline Usage declined for the 16th straight week, according to Mastercard, and is dow 0.9% Year over Year according to today's EIA Report.

    Diesel demand is off 5.2% YOY.

    "Slip, Sliding, Away," we are.

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  71. Meanwhile, in spite of declining demand in the U.S., and withdrawals from the SPR, Oil/Gasoline prices are Headed Up. Today's wholesale price would translate into $3.86/gal at the pump.

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  72. America's Economy Can NOT Expand when gasoline is $3.86/gal. Not with the fleet of vehicles we have on the road, Today.

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  73. The Bright Spot: 5.4 Gigawatt Hrs of Electricity from Solar in Ca, yesterday. Ca ISO

    Most of that from projects that were completed back in the 80's, and have long since been paid for. Basically, the cheapest electricity in the world.

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  74. We have really screwed up letting our ethanol policy stall out due to criticism from faux environmentalists, financed by the Koch Bros, Exxon, and the Sauds.

    Now, we're exporting a lot of our ethanol to Brazil, where sugar cane ethanol is selling for $6.30/gal.

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  75. We are in, for all practical purposes, a Recession, as we speak.

    Yet, Oil/Gasoline Prices are Rising.

    And, this, in spite of taking oil out of our Reserve.

    Think about That.

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  76. What in hell you talkin' bout this morning Quirk?

    dwrnl

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  77. You know the difference tween English and Western and bareback out there in Deeeetroit or you always take a cab?

    dwrnl

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  78. Let's put Quirk up on sidesaddle.

    dwrnl

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  79. The Republicans, and Democrats can yell at each other all they want, but, Nothing good is going to happen until we have a sustainable recovery.

    And, we are Not going to have a sustainable recovery with $3.75 + imported gasoline.

    The EIA stated, yesterday, that Oil Demand would be 1.5 Million Barrels/Day, or so, More Next Year than this year, and that supplies would Not rise at that rate, if at all.

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  80. Links to Pakistan?

    MUMBAI, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Twenty one people were killed and over 100 were injured in three terror blasts which rocked downtown Mumbai within minutes of each other Wednesday evening, the Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Minister of Home Affairs as reporting.

    Meanwhile, Indian NDTV reported earlier the Home Ministry has confirmed it is terrorist attack and Mumbai is on high alert. NDTV also quoted Mumbai Police sources as reporting the Indian Mujahideen (IM) is suspected to be behind the attack.

    The Indian Mujahideen first came under spotlight in February 2005 when it allegedly carried out a blast in the holy city of Varanasi, killing eight people.

    The group is also suspected to have carried out a series of bombing attacks in Mumbai and other Indian cities like New Delhi and Bangalore.

    It is also suspected to be the mastermind of an attack upon a German bakery in the western city of Pune in February 2010, which killed more than ten people including foreigners.

    Police sources said an improvised explosive device (IED) was used to carry out at least one of the three blasts.

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  81. Don't give up



    Whatever it takes.

    That's what the lady at The Rock Store, in Gatlinburg, said when I told her I would be back next year and she said I needed to come back sooner.

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  82. Maharashtra state's chief minister said that 13 people have been killed and 81 wounded. The interior ministry said that 10 people were killed.

    No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the so-called Indian Mujahideen is the prime suspect. India's Intelligence Bureau has previously denied that the Indian Mujahideen exists. Instead the Bureau has claimed the terror group is a creation of the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, or HUJI-B, an al Qaeda affiliate. HUJI-B created the Indian Mujahideen to confuse investigators and cover the tracks of the Students Islamic Movement of India, or SIMI, which provides logistics for the attacks.

    SIMI is a front group for the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and Lashkar-e-Taiba inside India. It receives support from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and is an al Qaeda affiliate. SIMI provides logistical support for attacks in India.

    Mumbai was the scene of the November 2008 terror assault that was carried out by a team of Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives who were trained in Pakistan. The terror assault shut down Mumbai for three days as Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives fanned out and struck multiple targets, including hotels, a train station, a police station, and a Jewish center. The terrorists killed 166 people during the siege. Pakistan's ISI has been directly implicated in the attack.

    Today's attack in Mumbai is rumored by The Times of India to be a "birthday present" for Mumbai attacker Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving member of the suicide assault team. Kasab, a Pakistani member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, was born on July 13, 1987. Kasab has been convicted of murder by an Indian court and has been sentenced to death.


    Read more: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/07/13_killed_in_mumbai.php#ixzz1S14e6g00

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  83. the big election news was the candidates’ quarterly fund-raising reports, and it was all good for Obama. His $86 million dwarfs the $35 million Republicans have raised. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, four years ago at this time, 10 GOP presidential candidates had raised more than $118 million.

    GOP Debt Limit Game Plan a DUD!

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  84. The "Money's" waiting for Palin, and/or Perry. :)

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  85. So who is the number one holder of US debt? The Federal Reserve, not China. So why doesn't the Federal Reserve just forgive the debt? It's all a bunch of numbers anyway. It's like your left pocket owing your right pocket money.

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  86. The fourth consecutive day of debt meetings between President Barack Obama and congressional leaders from both parties ended abruptly with Obama walking out of Wednesday's meeting, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said.

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  87. Nonetheless, the attack comes at a critical juncture in U.S.-Pakistani relations as the United States is trying to accelerate a withdrawal of its military forces in Afghanistan. The 2008 Mumbai attacks revealed the extent to which traditional Pakistan-based Islamist militant groups, such as elements from the defunct Lashkar-e-Taiba, had collaborated with transnational jihadist elements like al Qaeda in trying to instigate a crisis between Islamabad and New Delhi.

    Such a crisis would complicate U.S.-Pakistani dealings on Afghanistan, potentially serving the interests of al Qaeda as well as factions within Pakistan trying to derail a negotiation between the United States and Pakistan.

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  88. Democratic congressional leaders responded positively Wednesday to a top Republican’s “backup plan” for raising the federal debt ceiling amid a new warning from the nation’s central banker that failure to do so could trigger “a huge financial calamity.”

    ...

    By all accounts, negotiators made little headway during the two-hour session at the White House on Tuesday. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner opened with a sobering account of the consequences of default.

    ...

    McConnell also gave details of what he called his “backup plan” if the two sides fail to reach an agreement. Under the proposal, Congress would change the rules surrounding the debt limit for the remainder of Obama’s first term.

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  89. Moody’s also has placed on review several companies that enjoy implicit backing of the federal government, most notably the mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

    A senior Treasury Department official pointed to the Moody’s announcement as evidence that Congress needs to act to raise the debt ceiling.

    “Moody’s assessment is a timely reminder of the need for Congress to move quickly to avoid defaulting on the country’s obligations and agree upon a substantial deficit reduction package,” said Jeffrey A. Goldstein, the Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, in a statement.

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  90. Ron Paul had floated an proposal that made that similar point, gag.

    Not considered "serious", you know.

    The Ron Paul Option

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