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."

Monday, October 21, 2013

The real lesson of the Morgan settlement isn't that justice has finally been done to the perpetrators of the crisis. That would require arresting Barney Frank and those in Congress who blocked the reform of Fannie and Freddie, plus the Federal Reserve governors who created so much easy credit.


The Morgan Shakedown

A landmark that shows how much politicians now control U.S. finance.

Updated Oct. 20, 2013 10:51 p.m. ET WSJ

The tentative $13 billion settlement that the Justice Department appears to be extracting from J.P. Morgan Chase JPM +0.29% needs to be understood as a watershed moment in American capitalism. Federal law enforcers are confiscating roughly half of a company's annual earnings for no other reason than because they can and because they want to appease their left-wing populist allies.
The settlement isn't final and many details weren't available on the weekend, but we know enough for Americans to be dismayed. The bulk of the settlement is related to mortgage-backed securities issued before the 2008 financial panic. But those securities weren't simply a Morgan product. They were largely issued by Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual, both of which the federal government asked J.P. Morgan to take over to help ease the crisis.
So first the feds asked the bank to do the country a favor without giving it a chance for proper due diligence. The Treasury needed quick decisions, and Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon made them in good faith. But five years later the feds are punishing the bank for having done them the favor. As Richard Parsons notes nearby, this is not going to make another CEO eager to help the Treasury in the next crisis. But more pointedly, where is the justice in such ex post facto punishment?
Then there's the fact that $4 billion of the settlement is earmarked to settle charges against the bank by Fannie Mae FNMA +5.19% and Freddie Mac. We are supposed to believe that the bank misled the two mortgage giants about the quality of the mortgage securities they were issuing. But everyone knows that Fan and Fred had as their explicit policy the purchase of securities for liar loans and subprime mortgages to further their affordable-housing goals. Those goals went far to create the crisis, but now these wards of the state are portraying themselves as victims.
The news reports add that another $4 billion in the settlement will go for consumer relief, and that it is up to the feds how this will be distributed. But remember that most of the charges being settled relate to Morgan's sale of mortgage securities. Even if you believe those charges, which we don't, the victims would be the institutional buyers of those securities.
To make the victims whole, the government would have to distribute the settlement proceeds to those buyers, who aren't mom and pop. If instead the feds pass out the money to consumers or their favorite advocacy groups, the fact that this is a political shakedown and wealth-redistribution scheme becomes even clearer. Perhaps the Administration will have the checks arrive in swing Congressional districts right before the 2014 election.
The tentative settlement doesn't even include the criminal probe the feds are still conducting against the bank or even how much wrongdoing Morgan will admit. You would think $13 billion, the largest such settlement against a U.S. company, would be enough. But the political left isn't satisfied these days with cash, though it will take what it can get.
But like medieval justice, the left wants perp walks, if not heads on pikes. The assumption is that if there aren't indictments, then prosecutors must be going easy on the bankers. Poor Lanny Breuer, the former head of the Justice Department Criminal Division, was vilified for not indicting enough bankers, as if he didn't try.
The truth is that he didn't indict bankers because the 2008 crisis wasn't the result of bank fraud, despite liberal mythologizing. It was a classic credit panic caused by bad government policy coinciding with the rational exuberance of bankers who were responding to the incentives for excessive risk-taking that government created.
We'd like to see Mr. Dimon fight the charges, but the political reality is that he and his bank don't have much choice. His board is eager to move on, and the government will only turn the screws harder if he resists. In a post Dodd-Frank world, banks are public utilities and no CEO can afford to resist the government's demands.
The real lesson of the Morgan settlement isn't that justice has finally been done to the perpetrators of the crisis. That would require arresting Barney Frank and those in Congress who blocked the reform of Fannie and Freddie, plus the Federal Reserve governors who created so much easy credit.
The lesson is how government has used the crisis to exert political control over even the most powerful private financial companies. The real lords of American finance are Attorney General Eric Holder, Treasury chief Jack Lew and their boss in the White House.

142 comments:

  1. What is the Palestinian history of loan repayment.Mon Oct 21, 10:55:00 AM EDT

    Obama Funding $313 Million In Mortgages For Palestinians On West Bank


    Our tax payer dollars at work? The U.S. government will not only fund $313 million in home mortgages for Palestinians living on the West Bank, but will also guarantee $110 million in loans to small and medium sized West Bank businesses. Isn’t there enough economic damage and corruption with welfare entitlement programs in the U.S.? Should we really be expanding to the Islamic territories?


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The money will end up in Paris and Switzerland as it always does.

      Delete
    2. .

      There are two questions involved.

      The first is should we be giving any foreign aid at all. I believe most here would say it is an ill-advised effort to give money away to other nations that we don't have and which needs to be borrowed especially with the many problems that we have right here currently.

      In such a case, I personally feel the only justification for it at all (if there are any) would be for humanitarian reasons.

      The second resolves around the guns vs butter issues.

      Is $313 million for homes and $110 million in loan guarantees for small and medium size businesses a better investment than giving a country say F-35s at a cost of $3 billion. My answer would be yes.

      .

      Delete
    3. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    4. Agree, on both counts. If it wasn't for us supporting fortress Israel this would not be the economic basket case that it is.saying all Palestinians are terrorists is like saying all Germans are nazis , all itLians are mafia

      Delete
    5. Israel is not the root of America's fiscal crisis.

      America's deficit this year was 668 Billion dollars..

      America gives and or spends to protect a trillion dollars a year for islamic nations. that's 1000 billion.

      The 3 billon America give to Israel for military aid is mostly spent in America,.

      If America did not support the Islamic nations of the world and protect them and provide free protection for their oil to be sold to China?

      We'd not be an economic basket case.

      America also printed 1-14 trillion dollars in qe1,2,3,driving the dollar down against oil, thus TAXING the American economy even further.

      Had nothing to do with Israel.

      Delete
    6. If it wasn't for us supporting fortress Israel this would not be the economic basket case that it is


      Pure bullshit.

      Delete
    7. saying all Palestinians are terrorists is like saying all Germans are nazis , all itLians are mafia

      The democratic people of Gaza voted in Hamas.

      No one every said that "all palestinians are terrorists"

      However terrorism IS a praised and approved policy of the elected representatives of the Palestinian people.

      Delete
    8. so to recap. Obama has raised the national debt in 6 trillion in 5 years.,

      that's 6,000 BILLION dollars.

      Some how the 15 billion we gave to israel is what caused us to be a fiscal basket case?????

      What kind of koolaid are you drinking?

      Delete
    9. The key question is the identification of a regime that practices systematic oppression and domination by one group over another.

      How then does it apply to Israel?


      To answer that, we need to clarify another concept: Israel.
      Although usually seen as residing within its pre-1967 boundaries, ...
      ... the Israeli regime exercises control over Palestinians in the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza.

      For the past 46 years, all residents within greater Israel have lived under the same regime, ...
      ...which claims to be the sole legitimate political and military authority.


      The state controls the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, ...
      .... ruling over eight million rights-bearing citizens (75% of whom are Jews) and ...
      ... four million Palestinian subjects denied civil and political rights.


      Millions of Palestinian refugees (who were born in the territory or whose direct ancestors were) cannot set foot in their homeland, let alone determine its political future as citizens.

      Delete
    10. broken record.

      Gaza is liberated! Controlled by the democratically elected Hamas.

      The West Bank, controlled by the PA and actually has a seat at the UN.

      They have declared statehood...

      Congrats...

      Delete
    11. “Only free men can negotiate, prisoners can't enter in contracts”



      Delete
    12. As to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, there is an additional factor. The so-called “Palestinian autonomous areas” are Bantustans. These are restricted entities within the power structure of the Israeli Apartheid system.

      The Palestinian state cannot be the by-product of the Jewish state, just in order to keep the Jewish purity of Israel. Israel’s racial discrimination is daily life of most Palestinians. Since Israel is a Jewish state, Israeli Jews are able to accrue special rights which non-Jews cannot do.

      Delete
  2. How do you stand with the USAMon Oct 21, 10:57:00 AM EDT

    Kuwait votesagainst the United States 67% of the time

    Qatar votes against the United States 67% of the time

    Morocco votes against the United States 70% of the time

    United Arab Emirates votes against the U. S. 70% of the time.

    Jordan votes against the United States 71% of the time.

    Tunisia votes against the United States 71% of the time.

    Saudi Arabia votes against the United States 73% of the time.

    Yemen votes against the United States 74% of the time.

    Algeria votes against the United States 74% of the time.

    Oman votes against the United States 74% of the time.

    Sudan votes against the United States 75% of the time.

    Pakistan votes against the United States 75% of the time.

    Libya votes against the United States 76% of the time.

    Egypt votes againstthe United States 79% of the time.

    Lebanon votes against the United States 80% of the time.

    India votes against the United States 81% of the time.

    Syria votes against the United States 84% of the time.

    Mauritania votes against the United States 87% of the time.

    U S Foreign Aid to those that hate us:

    Egypt, for example, after voting 79% of the time against the United States, still receives $2 billion annually in US Foreign Aid.

    Jordan votes 71% against the United States

    And receives $192,814,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

    Pakistan votes 75% against the United States

    Receives $6,721,000 annually in US Foreign Aid.

    India votes 81% against the United States

    Receives $143,699,000 annually.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Damn ingrates!

      Delete
    2. Where is Israel's voting record and aid package? I am not being defensive, but a bit of comparison among partners might prove who is the greater fool.

      Delete
    3. Israel voted 98% of the time with the USA at the UN

      Delete
    4. .

      Not to be argumentative, but the post in question pretty much makes one only one point, that being that aid dollars in a great many cases do not translate into making us friends. Of course there are other reasons for the aid dollars, attempting to buy us influence, to placate a country like Bahrain where we have a naval base, the old 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' concept, etc. But I would say in many cases these reasons are also found wanting.

      And I am not trying to be offensive, when I ask, what does Israel's vote matter? While Israel usually votes with the US, the US usually votes in support of Israel. Who gathers the greater benefit? Obviously, it is Israel.

      Israel Has a vote. The US has a BIG vote and frankly one of the few that counts, a vote on the Security Council.

      .

      Delete
    5. Israel is the ONLY nation prohibited to sit on the Security Council in the world.

      There are 15 members of the Security Council. This includes five veto-wielding permanent members—China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—based on the great powers that were the victors of World War II.[1] There are also 10 non-permanent members, with five elected each year to serve two-year terms. This basic structure is set out in Chapter V of the UN Charter. The current non-permanent members are Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Luxembourg, Morocco, Pakistan, Rwanda, South Korea, and Togo.

      So your point that Israel vote is meaningless? Maybe it would mean something if it was treated as an equal nation?

      Delete
    6. Israel Has a vote. The US has a BIG vote and frankly one of the few that counts, a vote on the Security Council.

      .

      So to your other point, non-UNSC votes are meaningless as well..

      So all of the votes by the General Assembly against Israel are as well "meaningless"

      Delete
    7. .

      Pretty much. Israel seems to think so. She ignores them.

      As to America's BIG vote, I just assumed everyone here would know when I said 'one of the few that counts' that I was talking about the veto wielding members. In the future, I will try to spell it out in a clearer and simpler terms so that everyone can understand.
      .

      Delete
    8. Most of the world ignores the General Assembly votes. No need to single Israel out.

      And since the democracy of nations (UN) doesnt mean that the nations themselves are democratic vote with their dictators bias? What good is the UN in recent decades?

      Delete
    9. China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States

      Why should France, the UK be there and not India?

      Delete
    10. .

      You're defensiveness betrays you, WiO. You are ridiculous.

      You like the rat are unable to follow the train of a simple blog stream.

      No need to single out Israel?

      Single out Israel? I was only responding to your posted question,

      So all of the votes by the General Assembly against Israel are as well "meaningless"

      Also,

      And since the democracy of nations (UN) doesnt mean that the nations themselves are democratic vote with their dictators bias? What good is the UN in recent decades?

      Is that a rhetorical question or one directed at me, and if the latter, why?

      .

      Delete
    11. .

      Why should France, the UK be there and not India?

      Why ask me?

      All I have talked about is the reality not possible alternate scenarios. I'll leave that to you.

      .

      Delete
    12. Dont compare me to Rat.

      I'll stick with the point


      And I am not trying to be offensive, when I ask, what does Israel's vote matter? While Israel usually votes with the US, the US usually votes in support of Israel. Who gathers the greater benefit? Obviously, it is Israel.


      That's what I was referencing/

      Delete
    13. .

      And had you followed the stream you would have noted that my comment was in response to Allen's comment two posts above mine

      Where is Israel's voting record and aid package? I am not being defensive, but a bit of comparison among partners might prove who is the greater fool.

      And yours which immediately preceded mine

      Israel voted 98% of the time with the USA at the UN

      Both of which specifically mentioned Israel and it's voting record in the UN.

      .

      Delete
    14. 'Desert Rat' and 'What is...' are two of the same, with some small variations..

      Rat has always been more polite to those that disagree with him. Rat uses references and provides links, often provides out of the box thinking.

      'What is ..' rants more, cusses and disrespects anyone that dares to disagree with him.

      On second thought now that I have written this down, it is evident that Rat makes more sense, presents his arguments in a more precise and thorough manner.

      ''What is ...' is right, Quirk, he does not compare to Desert Rat. He does not have the same blogging skills.

      Carry on.

      Delete
    15. Wow, you forgot to mention that Rat is always polite when threatening to kill fellow bloggers...

      Delete
    16. I hve been reading this blog for years, lurking on the fringes. Being entertained by the exchanges.

      Rat has never threatened anyone that I have seen. Rat does have a particular way of writing that often implies much more than is written on the page. There was never an explicit threat or any admission of criminal offenses by the Desert Rat.

      'What is ...' has accused Rat of murder and other crimes. When asked to provide collaboration or provide a time and date of the crimes, by Deuce and Desert Rat, 'What is ...' never provided the information requested. The only inference that can be drawn from the failure of 'What is ...' to provide that information is that those allegations were fabrication. 'What is ... reported Desert Rat to the FBI some number of years ago. From the exchanges between the two of them, nothing ever came of the complaint. This would be an indication that there was nothing of substance in the blog record that substantiated the allegations.

      The more I write and am forced to focus upon this subject, the more obvious the distinctions between the two contributors becomes. My initial observation that the two bloggers were of a similar nature, simply not holding up to review, it was a grave error and a disservice to accuracy.

      Delete

    17. .

      Rat has always been more polite to those that disagree with him.

      Why, because in the past he hasn't used four letter words? Nitwit. Rat is a crass cyber bully who picks on anyone who hasn't the brains to call him on the bullshit he posts. He has even dropped the pretense of civility now that another Anonymous has gotten so thoroughly into his head as evidenced by


      desert ratMon Oct 21, 12:14:00 AM EDT

      Fascist Fudd is which ever Anonymous fuckhead I want him to be, Farmer Fudd
      You qualify today.
      A fascist, racist fucking Farmer Fudd, that's YOU


      You can sense the hysteria behind the words.

      Perhaps, our understanding of the term 'polite' differs.


      Rat uses references and provides links, often provides out of the box thinking.

      References? Out of the box thinking?

      :)

      Well, I have to admit that one. It's likely I would have never even have known of the existence of the Tetrahedron Publishing Group if not for rat. And I admit if you are looking for thinking 'out of the box' a good place to start is with the rat. His dissociative thought processes are classic.

      ...presents his arguments in a more precise and thorough manner.

      Precise? I would say targeted is a more accurate word. Thorough? Again, I can't deny it. He has exhausted the google base of anti-Israel screeds and as he waits for more to be manufactured he repeats those he has already used, over, and over, and over, and over, and, over. His attacks have become less bothersome than the endless repetition.

      Blogging skills?

      Golly, anonymous, do you go home at night and brag to your kids about your blogging skills. Who gives a flying fuck?

      You carry on to. But in the future don't bother me with your paeans to rat's 'politeness'; otherwise, I might no be so polite in my response.

      .






      Delete
    18. .

      Anonymous-obtuse.

      I see you have put up a second post while I was answering the first. Lurking on the fringes? Well, don't lurk. Come on down. You have already demonstrated your 'blogging skills'.

      Join the fun. Some day you may be able to impress your kids.

      .

      Delete
    19. .

      Anonymous

      After walking the dogs and thinking about it, I feel I should apologize.

      It is obvious we have a clear disagreement on the subject you brought up. If what you say is true, you are a newbie here and I should have been a little less personal and more circumspect in my answer.

      No doubt you have much more to offer to the blog. So welcome.

      I make no claim to being 'polite' but at least I can wait a while before challenging you in such an assertive (aggressive? makes no difference to me) manner.

      Join the conversation.

      .

      Delete
  3. That devil incarnate George W. Bush warned about Fannie and Freddie eight times, in each State of the Union Address.

    Nobody listened.

    Bwarney ought to ge in jail allrighty.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fact Sheet: America's Ownership Society: Expanding Opportunities

      "...if you own something, you have a vital stake in the future of our country. The more ownership there is in America, the more vitality there is in America, and the more people have a vital stake in the future of this country."


      -President George W. Bush, June 17, 2004

      Delete
    2. President Bush's Policies Promoting the Ownership Society

      Expanding Homeownership.

      The President believes that homeownership is the cornerstone of America's vibrant communities and benefits individual families by building stability and long-term financial security.

      In June 2002, President Bush issued America's Homeownership Challenge to the real estate and mortgage finance industries to encourage them to join the effort to close the gap that exists between the homeownership rates of minorities and non-minorities.

      The President also announced the goal of increasing the number of minority homeowners by at least 5.5 million families before the end of the decade.


      Under his leadership, the overall U.S. homeownership rate in the second quarter of 2004 was at an all time high of 69.2 percent.
      Minority homeownership set a new record of 51 percent in the second quarter, up 0.2 percentage point from the first quarter and up 2.1 percentage points from a year ago.

      President Bush's initiative to dismantle the barriers to homeownership includes:

      American Dream Downpayment Initiative, which provides down payment assistance to approximately 40,000 low-income families;
      Affordable Housing. The President has proposed the Single-Family Affordable Housing Tax Credit, which would increase the supply of affordable homes;
      Helping Families Help Themselves. The President has proposed increasing support for the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunities Program; and
      Simplifying Homebuying and Increasing Education. The President and HUD want to empower homebuyers by simplifying the home buying process so consumers can better understand and benefit from cost savings. The President also wants to expand financial education efforts so that families can understand what they need to do to become homeowners.

      Delete
    3. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040809-9.html

      Delete
    4. "This Administration will constantly strive to promote an ownership society in America. We want more people owning their own home. It is in our national interest that more people own their own home. After all, if you own your own home, you have a vital stake in the future of our country."

      - President George W. Bush, December 16, 2003

      Delete
    5. The Accomplishments

      Increasing Homeownership

      The US homeownership rate reached a record 69.2 percent in the second quarter of 2004. The number of homeowners in the United States reached 73.4 million, the most ever. And for the first time, the majority of minority Americans own their own homes.

      The President set a goal to increase the number of minority homeowners by 5.5 million families by the end of the decade. Through his homeownership challenge, the President called on the private sector to help in this effort.

      More than two dozen companies and organizations have made commitments to increase minority homeownership - including pledges to provide more than $1.1 trillion in mortgage purchases for minority homebuyers this decade.


      President Bush signed the $200 million-per-year American Dream Downpayment Act which will help approximately 40,000 families each year with their downpayment and closing costs.

      The Administration proposed the Zero-Downpayment Initiative to allow the Federal Housing Administration to insure mortgages for first-time homebuyers without a downpayment. Projections indicate this could generate over 150,000 new homeowners in the first year alone.


      President Bush proposed a new Single Family Affordable Housing Tax Credit to increase the supply of affordable homes.

      The President has proposed to more than double funding for the Self-Help Homeownership Opportunity Program (SHOP), where government and non-profit organizations work closely together to increase homeownership opportunities.

      The President proposed $2.7 billion in USDA home loan guarantees to support rural homeownership and $1.1 billion in direct loans for low-income borrowers unable to secure a mortgage through a conventional lender. These loans are expected to provide 42,800 homeownership opportunities to rural families across America.

      Delete
    6. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/achievement/chap7.html

      Delete
    7. Fannie, Freddie, and the Destructive Dream of the 'Ownership Society'
      Unwinding the mortgage giants won't cure Americans of their desire to own a home, whether they can afford it or not.

      Zachary Karabell - Aug 10, 2013


      http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/08/fannie-freddie-and-the-destructive-dream-of-the-ownership-society/278561/

      Delete
    8. More than four years ago, President Obama assumed office promising dramatic reform to the housing market.
      After all, it was the housing market that triggered the financial crisis, and the vast proliferation of low-quality loans that had fueled the housing bubble. But politics delayed those reforms, and now the president is reopening the issue with a call to wind down the two main federal mortgage agencies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

      "For too long, these companies were allowed to make big profits buying mortgages, knowing that if their bets went bad, taxpayers would be left holding the bag," the president said this week. "It was 'heads we win, tails you lose.'"

      Well, not entirely. The U.S. government and taxpayers did rescue these agencies in 2009 (to the tune of nearly $200 billion), and, after injecting them with capital and essentially nationalizing them, these companies started to turn a profit as the housing market slowly recovered.

      This month, they contributed more than $15 billion to the U.S. Treasury, and have been one factor in sharply reducing government deficits.

      Delete
  4. I wish more of our friends and allies voted against us

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anyone that voted to keep us out of another war is a friend if the American people

      Delete
    2. So America should not stand for freedom and liberty?

      A nation of cowards, hiding from our responsibilities?

      But you dont think America has any responsibilities other than ourselves?

      Delete
    3. So in a Deuce world, Iran can and should go nuclear and dominate the middle east?

      Not our business?

      Not our concern?

      North Korea should be left alone and who cares what happens?

      Not our concern!

      Delete
    4. Nuclear deterrence certainly has a superior record to counter insurgency or any other defense so far devised by mankind. It is based on a simple observation of human existence. All political leaders care more about their position of power, wealth and well being than anything else. 95% of their rhetoric is self serving bullshit. Nuclear weapons are unique in that they are power decapitators.

      Delete
  5. The British parliament helped the us people from the idiotic meddling by Fukus in Syria

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who cares about the civilians of the world being slaughtered by tyrants.

      Delete
    2. .

      Good lord, spare me.

      Only a simple dolt would believe the US has either the means or the power to save all the civilians of the world. Our recent history shows we end up killing more than we save.

      Add to that the cynicism we get from you two.

      Civilians being slaughtered?

      One only cares about Israel, right or wrong, and the other is willing to destroy the village in order 'to save it'.

      Give me a break.

      .

      Delete
    3. No, I was scolded by this blog that I said both sides sucked in Syria.

      Now that the slaughter continues I simply point it out.....

      Who said "means or the power to save all the civilians of the world"

      Save ALL?????

      LOL

      Now that's funny.

      Now one ever said America was here to save ALL the CIVILIANS of the world

      Delete
    4. .

      AnonymousMon Oct 21, 12:49:00 PM EDT

      Who cares about the civilians of the world being slaughtered by tyrants.


      What is "Occupation"Mon Oct 21, 12:49:00 PM EDT

      Right on.


      .

      Delete
    5. .

      Of course it's sarcasm. That's why I responded as I did.

      Geez.

      .

      Delete
  6. The three governments backed off because of popular opposition to another of their shitty wars

    ReplyDelete
  7. Allen saw your comment on previous post . Coincidently it is 50 year to the month tha I left Lackland . Good luck to your lad.

    ReplyDelete
  8. .

    I couldn't find a link on the main stream but I suspect the article was written by someone from the WSJ or a commentator on CNBC. I saw a panel discussion on CNBC where they all, especially Jim Cramer, were outraged that poor Jamie Dimon was being unfairly persecuted.

    IMO, Jamie Dimon ought to be in jail. His company has been promoting the same wild schemes that got us into the financial mess we are in. His company fraudulently cost his stockholders hundreds of millions of dollars on risky deals. They manipulated libor for profit. Yet, Dimon refused to admit his guilt before Congress.

    Dimon is the darling of Wall Street. He is described as a rock star. CNBC considers him a god. Maria B., the money honey, has an orgasms every time he walks in the room.

    The following is a story that would be welcomed if true,

    http://dailycurrant.com/2013/02/22/jamie-dimon-resigns-jp-morgan-put-bankers-jail/

    Retribution like revenge is a dish that can be appreciated even when served cold.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  9. In 2010, Israel SUPPORTED the US 92% of the time in the UN. By contrast, France, Canada, and the UK supported the US 70 -- 75% of the time.The Arab block voted AGAINST the US 70% of the time.

    "The UN has the image of a world organization based on universal principles of justice and equality. In reality, when the chips are down, it is nothing other than the executive committee of the Third World dictatorships." ___.Jeane Kirkpatrick

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      You will note above that I was merely talking of votes as either a measure of friendship or a measure of self interest.

      The UN only has value when it supports what you want it to do. The US praises the UN when it supports it (Iraq) and denounces it as a useless organization when it doesn't (Syria). Most countries are the same.

      .

      Delete
  10. This is why the 1400 year effort of Christians and Jews to live in their places of birth unmolested has not and will reap the desired result.

    Nearly everyday, now, some act of brutality against Coptic Christians in Egypt is being reported. At the present rate, they will find themselves in the same boat as Lebanese Christians, hiding in enclaves where terrain can slow the advance of savages.

    http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-christians-stunned-church-shooting-162412431.html

    ReplyDelete
  11. To be clear, when I wrote "places of birth", I was not thinking of Israel. Christians and Jews have been persecuted by Muslims from the Balkans to Spain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, but what have we done to deserve it?

      ...breathing, for one.

      Delete
    2. Speaking of being forced to live in enclaves.

      The second pillar of Israeli apartheid is reflected in ...

      “Israel’s ‘grand’ policy to fragment the OPT [and] ...

      ... ensure that Palestinians remain confined to the reserves designated for them ...

      ... while Israeli Jews are prohibited from entering those reserves but enjoy freedom of movement throughout the rest of Palestinian.

      This policy is evidenced by Israel’s extensive appropriation of Palestinian land, ...

      ... which continues to shrink the territorial space available to Palestinians; ...

      ... the hermetic closure and isolation of the Gaza Strip from the rest of the OPT;
      the deliberate severing of East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

      The appropriation and construction policies serving to carve up the West Bank ...
      ... into an intricate and well-serviced network of connected settlements for Jewish-Israelis ...

      ... and an archipelago of besieged and non-contiguous enclaves for Palestinians.”


      Delete
    3. In 1937 the Arabs rejected the Peel Commission plan. All efforts to reach a compromise were rejected by the Arabs. For the Arabs there were two intractable problems: 1) Arabs would have to recognize, as legitimate, a Jewish state and 2) Arabs within the Jewish state would live under Jewish control.

      In the BRITISH WHITE PAPER of 1939 the Arabs were offered a single state solution and the authority to limit further Jewish immigration. The Arabs rejected the findings of the Commission.

      Given the intransigence of the Arabs, the UK turned the matter of partition over to the UN in 1947.

      The UN established a Special Commission on Palestine (UNSCOP) to devise a solution. Delegates from 11 nations* went there and found what had long been apparent: The conflicting national aspirations of Jews and Arabs could not be reconciled.
      A majority of the delegates recommended a two state solution, joined by economic union, with Jerusalem an internationalized enclave. Despite reservations, the Jews accepted the proposal; the Arabs rejected the UNSCOP recommendations.

      In a final effort at reaching a peaceful compromise, David Horowitz and Abba Eban met with Azzam Pasha (Arab League Secretary) on September 16, 1947. He bluntly stated:

      “The Arab world is not in a compromising mood. It's likely, Mr. Horowitz, that your plan is rational and logical, but the fate of nations is not decided by rational logic. Nations never concede; they fight. You won't get anything by peaceful means or compromise. You can, perhaps, get something, but only by the force of your arms. We shall try to defeat you. I am not sure we'll succeed, but we'll try. We were able to drive out the Crusaders, but on the other hand we lost Spain and Persia. It may be that we shall lose Palestine. But it's too late to talk of peaceful solutions.”

      On 29 Nov 1947, the UN General Assembly voted in favor of a two state partition. Arab delegates walked out. Chaos soon ensued and the British government refused to maintain order or protect Jews from harm. Likewise, the UN made no effort to see matters come to a peaceful resolution. The general attitude followed the lines, “you wanted a state, now, defend it”. Do keep in mind the very effective embargo of the British on Jewish importation of arms.

      The first Arab-Jewish war began on 14 May, 1948, immediately following the withdrawal of British troops. The Arabs lost. Thus, was dashed the last hope of European fascism as the means by which to end, once for all, the “Jewish Problem.”

      IT SHOULD BE NOTED that at no time during negotiations, beginning in the 1920’s through the UN vote, did the Arabs make the argument that the League of Nations, the British Mandate, or the UN lacked legal authority to either negotiate and/or take decisive action on the division of the land.

      Delete
    4. It should come as no surprise that
      “the fear of territorial displacement and dispossession was to be the chief motor of Arab antagonism to Zionism”.

      Palestinian Arabs had seen the Jewish proportion of Palestine’s population triple from around 10 per cent at the end of World War I, while the Zionist leadership in Palestine made no bones about their political aims.

      A question worth asking then, is whether you or I would simply accept the loss of our country, ...
      ... or if we too would be ‘rejectionists’?

      A similar question can be posed about events at the Camp David negotiations of 2000.

      Contrary to popular assumptions, ...
      “Israel never offered the Palestinians 95 percent of the West Bank as reports indicated at the time”.

      The ‘generous offer’ was just another incarnation of previous Israeli plans to annex huge swathes of the OPT, ...
      ... retaining major settlement blocs ...
      “that effectively cut the West Bank into three sections with full Israeli control from Jerusalem to the Jordan River”.

      To question why the Palestinians have ‘rejected’ compromise is to look at the region’s past and present from a particularly skewed perspective.

      Palestine has been wiped off the map, its land colonized, and its people ethnically cleansed.
      Expecting those on the receiving end to be satisfied with the crumbs from the table is both unjust – and wishful thinking.”

      Delete
  12. Rufus IIMon Oct 21, 10:41:00 AM EDT
    stunney said...


    America, why won’t you listen to conservatives?

    Let’s look at the record, shall we?

    When the income tax was enacted, conservatives predicted an economic catastrophe.

    When the Federal Reserve was created, conservatives said that this monstrous socialization of our system of credit spelled our ruination.

    When legislation was passed for the health and safety of employees at the workplace, conservatives predicted it would have a disastrous impact on our economy.

    When minimum wage laws were passed, conservatives predicted economic havoc.

    When labor unions were permitted, conservatives predicted it would severely hamper our capitalist system.

    When child labor was prohibited, conservatives predicted dire economic consequences.

    When Social Security was enacted, conservatives predicted tremendous damage to our sense of responsibility.

    When unemployment insurance was introduced, conservatives predicted chaos in our labor markets.

    When the GI bill was passed, conservatives predicted a lowering of educational standards.

    When the Interstate highway system was constructed, conservatives predicted it would be a wasteful extravagance.

    When Medicare was passed, conservatives predicted it would be a socialist catastrophe.

    When consumer product safety legislation was passed, conservatives said that this unwarranted interference in the workings of the free market would have serious deleterious consequences.

    When the Food and Drug Administration was formed, conservatives warned it would imperil our prosperity.

    When food stamps and other public nutrition assistance programs were developed, conservatives predicted they would destroy the incentive to work.

    When the Environmental Protection Agency was established, conservatives predicted it would undermine the competitiveness of the U.S. economy.

    In each and every instance, conservatives have turned out to be right. The American economy has undergone staggering decline, investment and innovation have plummeted, and profitability has almost been destroyed. And from the heights achieved in the early 19th century, America has been turned into an impoverished wasteland and a byword for economic ruin.

    Why, America, why didn’t you listen to conservative warnings?

    If only you had, you could have had a vibrant, thriving 19th century economy, instead of the misery you now endure…

    Brought to you by:

    The Conservative Fantasy Association

    and by

    Billionaires For Stupidity

    and by

    Morons for Free Markets

    and by

    The Newt Gingrich Center for Sheer Nonsense

    and by

    Americans for Anti-Liberal History

    and by

    The Batshit Crazy Society

    Stolen , word for word, from the comment section at

    Paul Krugman's Blog

    Reply
    Replies

    Rufus IIMon Oct 21, 11:16:00 AM EDT
    Ah, that wasn't Krugman's blog. It was a Krugman article posted on the "Economist's View" blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DougMon Oct 21, 03:30:00 PM EDT

      Rufus is not stupid.

      He is abysmally stupid.

      Delete
    2. Reading Krugman to put off his awakening to reality until after he's dead.

      Delete
    3. Why not just hang out @Mother Jones, Huffpo, and the NY Times, Ruffie?

      ...be amongst your enlightened buddies, for a change.

      And quit inflicting your sorry-assed "ideas" on us.

      Delete
    4. "Conservatives predicted this, Conservatives predicted that."

      ...w/o a SINGLE cite.

      Delete
    5. I know I've seen much of the Central Valley of California turned from an agricultural paradise (w/help from Democrat Gov Pat Brown, among untold others) into a filthy, greasy, crime and illegal infested shithole by latter day "liberals" and other friends of Pat's screwball, head up his ass Jesuit Dumbshit son, Jerry Moonbeam.

      ...Plus Dianne, Barbie B. Waxman, et-al.

      Delete
    6. "Morons for Free Markets"

      Yeah, the Fed brought us the Real Estate Bubble, protecting us from the Evils of Free Markets.

      Then Ruffie cried that the World would come to an end w/o Federal Intervention into the markets when The Bubble popped.

      Bringing us Stimulus and QE Infinity, lining the coffers of Democrats and Unionista Buds throughout the land.

      ...and the most anemic "recovery" since before WWII.

      Copied word for word from Doug's brain by Doug's fingers.

      Delete
    7. I would suggest, doug, that you peruse the following piece.

      "A Supply Side Nightmare Scenario"
      http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2013/09/a-supply-side-nightmare-scenar.html

      It is no an explicitly political piece, it does attempt to explain the reasons for the anemic recovery.
      The world has never, since before WWII had such an expansion of the labor force and production capacity around the world.

      Winning the "Cold War", the results not quite what was foreseen by the majority of the American public.
      Not at all explained, before of after, by the politicians. Whether they "knew" it or not.

      There will be no old school "Economic Recovery" in either of our lives.

      Not in the cards, if the article is even half right.

      Delete
  13. WASHINGTON–Attorney General Eric Holder plans to use the $13 billion settlement with J.P. Morgan & Chase as a model for continuing probes of other large, financial institutions who sold flawed mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, according to people familiar with his thinking.

    http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/10/20/attorney-general-plans-to-use-j-p-morgan-settlement-as-model/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Deuce,

      I didn't find a link to the article:

      What did I miss?

      Delete
    2. Fixed:

      http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303448104579147881111406764

      Delete
  14. Fannie, Freddie, and the Destructive Dream of the 'Ownership Society'
    Unwinding the mortgage giants won't cure Americans of their desire to own a home, whether they can afford it or not.

    ....
    Over the past decade, we have collectively spun a story of the financial crisis.
    It goes something like this: in the 2000s, government regulation of the financial system loosened as large banks, in collusion with free-market ideologues in government, convinced regulators that risk was a thing of the past.

    They then took advantage of easy money and lax regulation and began to push mortgages to speculators and low-credit individuals, who bought homes they couldn't afford. Those mortgages were then packaged and used as the fodder for financial derivatives, which turned bad loans into a global crisis.

    Meanwhile, millions of people lost homes and jobs; the government spent hundreds of billions to bail out the banks, and those millions of citizens were left with shattered credit, no employment, and fractured communities such as Detroit.

    There is much that is true in this story.

    Its basic contours were repeated this week in the Justice Department case against Bank of America over lax lending practices in 2008. And Fannie and Freddie, independent agencies backed by the government, were the linchpins, buying up those mortgages and providing a seemingly endless backstop.

    What's missing from the story is crucial, however.
    Obama alluded to it in his speech, but he buried the details.
    Often neglected is the degree to which so many felt that they needed to own a home.

    That wasn't created by banks and government, even though it was encouraged.

    The "ownership society" had been touted not just by President Bush in the 2000s, but by Clinton, Reagan, and by Americans of all parties and ideologies since the founding of the republic.
    There is nothing more "Jeffersonian" than owning your own land and home.

    The United States pulled immigrants in part because of the availability of land and the promise of independence that owning land afforded.

    Freed slaves after the Civil War were promised -- though not actually granted -- "40 acres and a mule" ...
    ... because having land was seen as a necessary component to liberty and freedom.


    www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/08/fannie-freddie-and-the-destructive-dream-of-the-ownership-society/278561/

    ReplyDelete
  15. ... because having land was seen as a necessary component to liberty and freedom. ...


    The Desert of Israeli Democracy: A trip through the Negev Desert leads to the heart of Israel’s national nightmare

    Max Blumenthal on October 14, 2013

    ...
    Hajj al-Ahmed, an aging sheikh, described to a group of colleagues from the website Mondoweiss and me the experience of the 80,000 Bedouin living in what are classified as “unrecognized” villages. The products of continuous dispossession, many of these communities are surrounded by petrochemical waste dumps and have been transformed into cancer clusters, while state campaigns of aerial crop destruction and livestock eradication have decimated their sources of subsistence.

    Although residents like al-Ahmed carry Israeli citizenship, they are unable to benefit from the public services that Jews in neighboring communities receive. The roads to unrecognized villages like Umm al-Hiran are lined with electric wires, but the Bedouins are barred from connecting to the public grid.

    Their homes and mosques have been designated “illegal” constructions and are routinely marked for demolition.
    And now, their very presence on their own land has been placed in jeopardy.


    Under the Prawer Plan, the people of Umm al-Hiran will be among the 40,000 Bedouins forcibly relocated to American-Indian-reservation-style towns constructed by the Israeli government. As the fastest growing group among the Palestinian citizens of Israel, the Bedouins have been designated as an existential threat to Israel’s Jewish majority.

    “It is not in Israel’s interest to have more Palestinians in the Negev,” said Shai Hermesh, a former member of the Knesset and director of the government’s effort to engineer a “Zionist majority” in the southern desert.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ... because having land was seen as a necessary component to liberty and freedom. ...

      Delete
    2. Which is why you stole the Injun rich bottom land and gave them the rocks.

      People don't much like liars like you. But when hypocrisy is added to it all sympathy vanishes and only disgust remains.

      Delete
    3. The most truthful thing you've ever said here is:

      "I am a professional asshole."

      We all agree.

      Delete

    4. “A truth that's told with bad intent
      Beats all the lies you can invent.”

      Delete
  16. "The record 23,116,928 households on food stamps in June also equaled 20.16 percent—or more than one-fifth--of all 114,663,000 households nationwide in the United States as of June, according to the Census Bureau.

    The 23,116,928 household on food stamps in June was an increase of 45,908 from the 23,071,020 household on food stamps in May.

    In fiscal 2009, the year President Barack Obama was inaugurated, there was a monthly average of 15,161,469 American households on food stamps, according to the Department of Agriculture . The 23,116,928 households on food stamps in June exceeded that 2009 monthly average by 7,955,459 households—or 52 percent.

    Thus, in America in June, there were 52 percent more households on Food Stamps than there were in the average month of the first year President Obama took office.

    - See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/terence-p-jeffrey/23116928-20618000-households-food-stamps-now-outnumber-all-households#sthash.dbYq9uh7.dpuf "

    That's progress, climbing out from the Bush Disaster (Fed Real Estate Bubble) according to Rufie Duffus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Obama "Recovery"

      ...according to Rufass.

      Delete
  17. Why wouldn’t the Palestinians hate the Israelis?

    WTF, How can you defend this?


    Israeli Settlers Chop down more Palestinian Olive Trees (having destroyed 800,000 since 1967)

    Posted on 10/21/2013 by Juan Cole

    Israeli settlers over the weekend used chain saws to destroy some 100 Palestinian olive trees in Qaryut village near the West Bank city of Nablus.

    Construction of new homes by Israeli squatters on the Palestinian West Bank has increased by 70% in 2013, encouraged by the far-right Likud government. There are now 515,000 Israeli squatters in the West Bank, not counting Palestinian territory annexed to the district of Jerusalem.

    Israelis are estimated to have destroyed some 800,000 olive trees since Israel militarily occupied the Palestinian West Bank in 1967. Israel’s systematic contravention of the 1949 Geneva Convention and the 1907 Hague agreement on treatment of populations in occupied territories has long since rendered the occupation illegal (if not a crime against humanity), as well as leaving millions of Palestinians stateless and without the rights of citizenship. Their property is therefore not secure, since they have no state to back up their property rights, and their economic security is constantly threatened. It is forbidden to military occupiers to flood their own citizens into occupied territories, as result of abuses during World War II by the Axis powers.

    There is a strong psychological impact to the vandalism against Palestinian olive trees, since these symbolize the attachment of Palestinians to their land. Palestinians are descended from the ancient Canaanites and Jews and have been farming that land for millennia.

    Olive cultivation is worth $100 million a year to Palestinians, with poor villagers often being the main beneficiaries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not to worry, the usa just gave them a billion dollars....

      I love the term Israeli "squatters"

      Hmm, how does one become a squatter?

      Dont the arabs all come from arabia?

      sounds complicated.

      Are americans "squatters"?

      Were the jews thrown out of the arab squatting lands of the middle east squatter then or now.

      funny that the number of trees, MATCH the number of Jews thrown out of the arab control lands...

      800,000 jews.

      but no one here cares about human lives when they belong to jews.

      trees? they have value.

      Jews? chop them down! eh Deuce?

      Delete
    2. Re: cutting olive trees
      If true, it would be a grievous sin. Torah does not permit the wanton felling of fruit bearing trees, even in time of war.

      "Construction of new homes by Israeli squatters on the Palestinian West Bank has increased by 70% in 2013, encouraged by the far-right Likud government. There are now 515,000 Israeli squatters in the West Bank, not counting Palestinian territory annexed to the district of Jerusalem."

      All the PA has to do is lay down its arms and negotiate final boundaries. This boundary business was overlooked when Arabs attacked Israel in 1948 and when the Kingdom of Jordan illegally annexed much of the land that would have gone into the making of a PA state. Then, of course, there were the thousands of Jordanians driven from their homes in 1970 by their own government.

      As written in the partition, Palestinians were to have 3/4 of the British Mandate (that land east of the Jordan). Israel's boundaries would run from the river to the sea. While Israel was busy fighting for its survival, the Territories were stolen by the Palestinians. So, Jews cannot be squatters on their own land. They are merely asserting their rights. When next the PA joins the losing side in a war against Israel, the point will no longer be moot.

      Delete
  18. Replies
    1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svINrTLVZjA

      Delete
    2. http://mondoweiss.net/2013/10/palestinian-equivalent-destroying.html

      Delete
    3. Amazing propaganda.

      Not a single photo, not a single video of the so called "attacks"

      And not a single palestinian wounded or killed.

      did the event actually happen?

      or just another pallywood production?

      Delete
  19. Wow, not with all that press and video cameras not ONE single second was filmed of the supposed attack that went on for hours.

    Amazing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We just cannot believe a word the Rabbis say, aye

      On Sunday, two Palestinians and two Israeli volunteers working at the olive harvest in the Palestinian village of Burin, south of Nablus, were allegedly attacked and injured by masked men emerging from the nearby settlement of Yitzhar, ...
      . . . Rabbis for Human Rights reported. According to the organization, nearly 2,000 olive trees owned by Palestinian farmers have been burned or otherwise damaged by Israelis over recent months across the West Bank, ahead of the olive harvest season. ...


      The Chief Rabbinate of Israel, not a source that quot respects.
      Rabbis for Human Rights, not a source that quot believes.

      Those Rabbis, they don't know nothin'

      They taught that the Ashkenazi Jews originated with the Thirteen Tribes, were with Moses during the Exodus, ...
      ... they were wrong about that, too.
      http://www.timesofisrael.com/police-failing-to-protect-palestinian-olive-trees-ngo-charges/

      Delete
    2. desert rat said,
      "The Chief Rabbinate of Israel, not a source that quot respects."

      Oh, I am sure WiO respects the rabbi (I omitted "Chief" and capitalization because there are any number of equally worthy, recognized Jewish authorities).

      You have Judaism confused with Christianity. We have no "Pope" or other central authority; that has been the case from the beginning. Jewish congregations choose their rabbis, and fire them as well. A rabbi gains authority and respect by way of wisdom. A rabbi is known for what he does, not for whom he is. For instance, Hillel (considered by many only second to Moses) was a wood cutter by trade. Oh, I forgot to mention that rabbis were once expected to earn a living like everyone else.

      As to this nonsense of the origin of Ashkenazi Jews, you have taken the THEORY of a recent graduate looking for publicity to make your argument. He stands alone, however, as do you. Moreover, the DNA studies he says he relies on are not reproducible or falsifiable. If it turns out upon rigorous peer review that he is correct, his work will be accepted, and Jews will just keep on keeping on.

      Delete
    3. Those Israeli settlers, filled with hate and trashing Palestinians are about as representative of the Israeli population as US skin heads are to the US population. They do it because the authorities and the IDF permit it. They should be condemmed here and everywhere.

      Delete
    4. It reminds me of the jackasses that thought it was amusing to pour a bottle of ketchup over the heads of what were then negroes sitting at soda fountains waiting to be served. The photos and scenes of those bone heads were shown all around the World and brought shame and indignation on the country and the South.

      Delete
    5. Interesting the rage Deuce shows about trees being cut down. And yet? Not a word of the 3 Israelis murdered in the last couple of weeks in cold hearted attacks by Palestinians.

      Trees verses humans.

      Deuce cares more about olive trees that Jews being murdered.

      Sorry charlie, property damage just doesnt equal murder

      Delete
    6. The term "rabbi" means "teacher"

      "Rabbis for Human Rights" No I do not give a healthy crap what they do, say or teach.

      They are a disgrace.

      Delete
    7. Because a man haughtily walks about dressed like a 17thC. Pole, he is not holy or holier than thou. When so-called "saints" throw rocks at Jewish women visiting the wall, filling the air with their crude curses, they are anathema to all that is holy in my faith. Beating little Jewish girls, (tourists) who walk through their neighborhoods for the crime of dressing immodestly, demonstrates unspeakable sexual perversion, Accepting as truth that the King of the Universe can be bribed/trapped by secret incantations, drawn to those wearing blessed amulets, and trained to do our will by the selective use of our liturgy are idolaters, who will reap the darkness and pain they have inflicted on the innocent and the hungry.

      Injuring and financially ruining poor farmers is not our way; it is written," Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." Whether a crime has been committed, I do not know. Whether the Israeli authorities are covering up as scofflaws, I cannot say. But there is one who can say, and woe to the man who incurs the wrath of that judge from whom there is no appeal.

      If Israelis have destroyed the property of their neighbors, then, let the law apply: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. In the instance money damages, at the least, are in order.

      Delete
  20. Obama's Job Approval Declines to 44.5% in 19th Quarter
    Three-percentage-point decline in approval from previous quarter
    by Jeffrey M. Jones

    PRINCETON, NJ -- President Barack Obama averaged a 44.5% job approval rating during his 19th quarter in office, a decline of more than three percentage points from his 18th quarter. That is one of the largest quarter-to-quarter declines of his presidency, behind a nine-point drop in his third quarter and a six-point drop in his 11th quarter.

    http://www.gallup.com/poll/165509/obama-job-approval-declines-19th-quarter.aspx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. For what it is worth, the "Best" GOP pollster has it ...

      Rasmussen Reports for 10/18 - 10/20
      1500 Likely Voters
      Approve = 50% / Disapprove = 49%
      Spread = +1


      The Gallop poll that Farmer Fudd references was of 1500 "adults", ...
      Not even Registered Voters, let alone "Likely Voters".

      Gallup tracks daily the percentage of Americans who approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as president. Daily results are based on telephone interviews with approximately 1,500 national adults;

      Those folk that care enough to register, that are "likely" to vote in 2014, Obama is in the more popular than not.

      Delete
    3. Rasmussen has always been the most accurate of the pollsters, going back to the 2000 election.
      He has a rack record of proven performance for over a decade.

      Gallop, it may be able to tell us who is popular, but not who can win at the ballot box.
      Not that Mr Obama is going to run for an elective office, again.

      It is a bit early to start prepping for 2014.
      That is more than a year away.

      Delete
  21. The 'Palestinians' have been running with their con game for 60 years now. It is enough. Gold Meier had it right when she said there would be peace when they no longer teach their children to hate. This will not come to be however as the glorious koran demands just that: hatred. Martha Gellhorn had it right back in those days - they worship hate, they eat and drink hate, they roll in hate.....

    Women back in those days were more clear eyed than our current crop, who seem only concerned with their sweating ovaries, and the 'problems' these may cause them.

    The 'Palestinians' could not run a functioning State anymore than Whackadoodle could run a functioning State. My sympathy has totally run its course with the 'Palestinians'. They would simply continue with what their 'Charter' demands - push the Israelis into the sea.

    And the aid money would still end up in Paris and Switzerland.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fascist Fudd's nostalgia stands as illustration of a yearning for an imagined past which never was.....

      Read all about in Fred Davis's
      "Yearning for Yesterday: A Sociology of Nostalgia"

      Delete

    2. "A simple dictionary definition for nostalgia is homesickness...

      Homesickness is an emotional longing for the earlier conditions of one's existence,
      including undoubtedly a remorse at the loss of youth and vitality."

      Delete
    3. "It is indicated from their history again and again that important segments of the American people, though driven like tumbleweed before the buffeting winds of change and upheaval, attempted to do nothing more than remain where they stood, to keep old ways familiar, even to flee the present and the future into a nostalgically golden yesteryear secluded somewhere far off among remembrances of things past."

      Delete
    4. Yep, there it is, in a nut shell ...

      Farmer Fudd, yearning for an imagined past which never was .....
      He is now secluded, somewhere far off, in fantasy world amongst those memories fabricated in his mind.

      Delete
    5. He is now secluded, somewhere far off, in .. A .. fantasy world amongst those memories fabricated in his mind.

      mea culpa

      Delete
    6. In Slant set in 2055, Greg Bear imagines Idaho to be a mecca for the sort of folks who yearn for the Good Old Days when only straight white folks voted. It has seceded from the union and stumbles along the best a red state can without food stamps or social security payments, which is to say not well at all. At least the hookers are real. "Not a prosthetute in the Republic!"

      Delete
    7. This is really funny.

      The fascist Desert Rat, who has admitted he is a professional asshole, lives in what is mostly a rural state, like mine, and has 350 acres where he goes to nostalgia. Just like I go out to my piddling little 160 once in a while.

      Everyone who has read mythology as I have knows all about nostalgia. It was a theme in Native American lore even before the whites showed up, like rats, and stole their bottom land. The game was more plentiful in the old days, they would say, and the fish runs stronger.

      Nostalgia is a world wide theme.

      After the whites they had some reason to be nostalgic, as Rat had stolen their land, their best bottom land, rich and fertile.

      Hemingway quotes an Indian fellow he met somewhere in Wyoming -

      "Was good, now heap shit." he said, with reason.

      Why don't you go back to the Philippines Miss T?

      Don't you miss your homeland and your people.

      Since you are always bashing the Jews, why not go to the Moslem part of your land, where you will be treated like a 'woman'.?

      Delete
    8. The only thing DR reads is 'Soldier of Fortune' and the porno girlie mags.

      His first wife couldn't put up with it, so she "dropped the kid" as he delightfully says, and headed for Salvador,at the first opportunity, which means right after she was released from the maternity ward, and rat hasn't paid a dime in child support since.

      Delete
    9. While discussing the Civil War, Farmer Fudd had the audacity to tell us …

      I've maintained here, only partly in jest, that the whole wind blown riffle was a literary event, a contest between two opposed readings of the Christian Bible.

      One wonders how he could show such callous disregard of the human carnage, the 600,000 dead Americans, all that pain, and treat it so lightly?

      It has been documented that Fudd is a physical coward, …
      …. a male mouse that would not even protect his daughter from a rapist.

      He told us he was only concerned with appearances, not his daughter's safety, not his community's security.
      After she was raped, there were suspicions in the community that it was a "family affair", he subsequently moved.

      His wife will no longer sleep in the same room with him.

      Delete
    10. Wow...

      Right on topic about the Morgan settlement.

      Delete
  22. .

    I saw on the nightly news with Brian Williams that the Boy Scouts of America canned the fat scout leader, the guy in the blue shirt and red hat, that pushed over the large boulder in that video taken at Goblin Valley State Park.

    The guy may have also hurt his chances in a case filed last month where he was suing the parents of a teenager who back-ended him four years ago. The suit was filed for "great pain and suffering, disability, impairment and loss of joy of life."

    Pushing over that monument seemed to add a little joy back to his life judging by the video.

    http://www.standard.net/stories/2013/10/20/utah-boy-scout-leader-who-toppled-boulder-had-sued-over-earlier-back-injuries

    .

    ReplyDelete
  23. The Jury's gotta wonder about that back.

    ReplyDelete
  24. .

    Also, I saw a report on the Obamacare rollout. Brian Williams mentioned

    - Consumers Report has come out suggesting that people stay away from the federal sign-up sites for at least a month because of all the computer system problems.

    - The problems with the system may not be fixed that quickly. It appears as many as 100,000 lines of code may need to be re-written.

    - Sites being run by the states seem less trouble free than the federal sites. In addition, you don't have to provide all the intrusive personal information that the federal sites demand you provide before you can even get into the sites much less look up price information.

    - There is no special background check for the people doing the data collection at the federal sites. A criminal record does not disqualify you. This has raised great concerns among privacy advocates because of the tremendous amount of personal information that passes through these peoples hands. Not to mention the data sharing authorized by HHS between numerous federal, state, and local agencies and departments.

    [Including one would assume the NSA, FBI, and other law enforcement agencies under DHS as well as of course the IRS]

    http://washingtonexaminer.com/obamacare-will-share-personal-health-info-with-federal-state-agencies/article/2531990

    - It was also mentioned that although the launch of Obamacare was a complete clusterfuck, the person ultimately responsible for the fiasco, Ms. Sabelius, has little to fear. This continues a tradition within the Obama administration of never holding those responsible for failure accountable.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Mea culpa.

      The state sites are more trouble-free than the federal sites.

      .

      Delete
    2. .

      Mea maxima culpa.

      Even the correction didn't sound all that clear.

      The federal sites are clearly fucked up. The states sites not so much.

      .

      Delete
  25. Spy Chief Distances Saudis From U.S.
    Prince Bandar's Move Raises Tensions Over Policies in Syria, Iran and Egypt



    RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—Saudi Arabia’s intelligence chief told European diplomats this weekend that he plans to scale back cooperating with the U.S. to arm and train Syrian rebels in protest of Washington’s policy in the region, participants in the meeting said.

    Prince Bandar Bin Sultan al-Saud’s move increases tensions in a growing dispute between the U.S. and one of its closest Arab allies over Syria, Iran and Egypt policies. It follows Saudi Arabia’s surprise decision on Friday to renounce a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

    The Saudi government, after preparing and campaigning for the seat for a year, cited what it said was the council’s ineffectiveness in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian and Syrian conflicts.

    Diplomats here said Prince Bandar, who is leading the kingdom’s efforts to fund, train and arm rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, invited a Western diplomat to the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah over the weekend to voice Riyadh’s frustration with the Obama administration and its regional policies, including the decision not to bomb Syria in response to its alleged use of chemical weapons in August.

    “This was a message for the U.S., not the U.N.,”
    Prince Bandar was quoted by diplomats as specifying of Saudi Arabia’s decision to walk away from the Security Council membership.

    Top decisions in Saudi Arabia come from the king, Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud, and it isn’t known if Prince Bandar’s reported remarks reflected a decision by the monarch, or an effort by Prince Bandar to influence the king. However, the diplomats said, Prince Bandar told them he intends to roll back a partnership with the U.S. in which the Central Intelligence Agency and other nations’ security bodies have covertly helped train Syrian rebels to fight Mr. Assad, Prince Bandar said, according to the diplomats. Saudi Arabia would work with other allies instead in that effort, including Jordan and France, the prince was quoted as saying.

    U.S. officials said they interpreted Prince Bandar’s message to the Western diplomat as an expression of discontent designed to push the U.S. in a different direction. “Obviously he wants us to do more,” said a senior U.S. official.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met in Paris on Monday with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al Faisal. Officials familiar with the meeting said Mr. Kerry urged the Saudis to reconsider their U.N. decision but said Prince Saud didn’t raise Prince Bandar’s concerns. Officials said this may suggest that there are divisions within the monarchy about how to pressure the U.S. to play a more hands-on role.

    The U.S., fearing arms will wind up in the hands of al Qaeda and other extremist factions in Syria, has advocated a cautious approach in strengthening the moderate opposition in Syria, frustrating key allies, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Saudi officials say they, too, are concerned about arming extremists in Syria and are working only with moderate rebel factions.

    Tensions between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have grown sharply in recent months. President Barack Obama authorized the CIA to provide limited quantities of arms to carefully vetted Syrian rebels, but it took months for the program to commence. In July, the Saudis undercut the U.S. by backing the Egyptian military’s overthrow of that country’s democratically elected president.

    The monarchy was particularly angered by Mr. Obama’s decision to scrap plans to bomb Syria in response to the alleged chemical-weapons attack in August and, more recently, tentative overtures between Mr. Obama and Iran’s new president.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Diplomats and officials familiar with events recounted two previously undisclosed episodes during the buildup to the aborted Western strike on Syria that allegedly further unsettled the Saudi-U.S. relationship.

      In the run-up to the expected U.S. strikes, Saudi leaders asked for detailed U.S. plans for posting Navy ships to guard the Saudi oil center, the Eastern Province, during any strike on Syria, an official familiar with that discussion said. The Saudis were surprised when the Americans told them U.S. ships wouldn’t be able to fully protect the oil region, the official said.

      Disappointed, the Saudis told the U.S. that they were open to alternatives to their long-standing defense partnership, emphasizing that they would look for good weapons at good prices, whatever the source, the official said.

      In the second episode, one Western diplomat described Saudi Arabia as eager to be a military partner in what was to have been the U.S.-led military strikes on Syria. As part of that, the Saudis asked to be given the list of military targets for the proposed strikes. The Saudis indicated they never got the information, the diplomat said. The Pentagon declined to comment.

      “The Saudis are very upset. They don’t know where the Americans want to go,”
      said a senior European diplomat not in Riyadh.

      “The United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have a long-standing partnership and consult closely on issues of mutual interest, including preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, countering terrorism, ensuring stable and reliable energy supplies, and promoting regional security,” said White House National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan.

      A senior administration official said the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have a “strong and stable relationship” on core national-security issues.

      “While we do not agree on every issue, when we have different perspectives we have honest and open discussions,” the senior administration official said.

      In Washington in recent days, Saudi officials have privately complained to U.S. lawmakers that they increasingly f
      eel cut out of U.S. decision-making on Syria and Iran. A senior American official described the king as “angry.”

      Another senior U.S. official added: “Our interests increasingly don’t align.”


      : “Our interests increasingly don’t align.” ......

      Great News!

      Delete
    2. Guess the Saudi were not ready to row their own boat.

      The Saudis were surprised when the Americans told them U.S. ships wouldn’t be able to fully protect the oil region

      The Saudi-Israeli Axis of Aabraham is not used to rejection!

      That Obama, he is performing well beyond expectations, way, way beyond!


      . . . . . Drive On! Mr President Drive On! . . . . . .

      Delete
    3. Now if he would only approve the Keystone pipeline, we could kiss the Saudis adieu.

      Delete
    4. Jeebus, Teresita, ALL of that oil sands oil IS getting to the U.S., already.

      The Keystone just gets it to the Gulf more cheaply, to make it more valuable to the export market.

      Delete
    5. Rufus, you of all people would appreciate the elegance of transporting cumbustibles without internal combustion.

      Delete
    6. I'm not "against" the keystone, T. But, it don't "cure cancer." It's just another pipeline (we have a few thousand, or somesuch, already.)

      Delete
  26. Sometimes you have more influence when you exercise less.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You certainly have more influence over what items are offered by McDonalds when you exercise less.

      Delete
  27. Re: nostalgia

    Skype beats type, and phone too.

    See, I'm up to date.

    Rat never uses Skype as no one wants to look at him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Now get a tablet and Skype in such a way that you can walk around and show off your spread.

      Delete
  28. Anybody want to read the IANDS NDE of the Month?

    By a cardiac anesthesiologist.

    If anyone says yes I will put it up, but it is quite long.

    And I may not get to it till tomorrow or the next day.

    I see Whacky is still slandering folks, and Deuce condones it, day after day.

    I feel compelled to whack Whacky back a little. Surely no one wants to read this shit.

    If he would quit then I would have nothing to respond to, so the stupidity would stop. At least on that level.

    g'nite, had big day today

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. “Never ruin an apology with an excuse.”

      Delete
  29. While discussing the Civil War, Farmer Fudd had the audacity to tell us …

    I've maintained here, only partly in jest, that the whole wind blown riffle was a literary event, a contest between two opposed readings of the Christian Bible.

    One wonders how he could show such callous disregard of the human carnage, the 600,000 dead Americans, all that pain, and treat it so lightly?

    It has been documented that Fudd is a physical coward, …
    …. a male mouse that would not even protect his daughter from a rapist.

    He told us he was only concerned with appearances, not his daughter's safety, not his community's security.
    After she was raped, there were suspicions in the community that it was a "family affair", he subsequently moved.

    His wife will no longer sleep in the same room with him.

    ReplyDelete
  30. .

    May I offer this post up to the Anonymous above who sang the paeans to the rat.

    Please come back and let's discuss it in depth.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  31. WiO: Why don't you go back to the Philippines Miss T?

    Don't you miss your homeland and your people.


    I'm a Native American. I was born in Vancouver. Washington, USA, aka "The Couve" or "Vantucky" across the river from liberal P-town, where all the Oregonians go to shop at one of four WalMarts.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Got a date for that Ms T?

      Or are you just trolling thru past posts?

      Remember when all you did was talk about your "homeland" with your female "partner"? Remember when you had that fake persona?

      Delete