Monday, January 27, 2014
MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!
We had the financial crisis, the meltdown, and then a string of bad ugly economic numbers fought off by a FED with QE and the stock market climbed up significantly from the bottom it hit. Now, the economic numbers are starting to look ok, the FED is tapering QE, but the markets are shaking. Will we see an improving economic climate with a falling stock market much as we saw a declining economy with a rising stock market?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
My best guess -
ReplyDeleteThe "Economy" continues to trudge along for awhile longer;
The "Market" bobs around, kind of like the float on your fishing line when a small perch is nibbling at the bait.
I think that the "Housing Market" is the key, right here, and it doesn't look like it's going to "take off" anytime soon.
DeleteMaybe a "Large Perch." :)
DeleteDo not reference me in your inane comments, R2.
Delete"The "Market" bobs around"
And keep fishing out of it.
The last RE numbers I saw showed ten large markets having distressed property levels ranging from 30%-75%. Household formation is still far, far, far below normal. Without this key factor the market cannot recover. Moreover, very quietly, banks are still repossessing property at an unhealthy rate (the number escapes me at the moment).
DeleteThat key demographic for a successful ACA is the same one needed for a RE recovery. There is a huge pool of cash available for lending, but there are no takers.
.
ReplyDeleteIMO the market has been driven up to a large degree by an artificial bubble created by Bernanke and the FED. As that particular stimulus is reduced other factors will become more important in driving the market. It is these other factors that the FED has failed to be able to affect, jobs, the overall economy, corporate spending and investment, the world economy, especially in China and the emerging markets. Bernanke once again proved that trickle down economics just doesn't work.
IMO, the domestic factors mentioned have also been either ignored or ineffectively addressed by the Obama administration on the fiscal side.
What we've seen is that trickle down economics just doesn't work and that government stimulus was prioritized incorrectly.
As for FED decisions affecting the market, the market did pretty well after hearing that the FED would begin tapering off. And face it, the FED will continue QE for some time. I think it will take a while before FED tapering actually affects the market.
.
There is some "wealth transference" going on, and, although it's probably good in the long term, the "Market" definitely frowns on such in the "short term."
ReplyDeleteThere's been a lot of investment in China, and that story is starting to look a little wobbly.
microwave, meet popcorn.
China has serious problems, especially with its banking system. However, China has reserves that can help cushion or even disguise (for the time being) problems with building out its internal structure at the expense of export driven policies. IMO, the recent aggressive behavior of China is intended to a) focus its publics' attention inward (us against them) and b) to place territorial markers for future exploitation.
Delete.
ReplyDeleteIf my marks counted, I would give Bernanke a B. He was there when we needed him most, in 2008 and 2009. He deserves credit for stabilizing a financial system that was in free fall. However, over the past three years , his policies have been ineffective in half of the FED's mandate. While interests rates have remained stable, his policies have failed to create economic growth or jobs.
The market is up but that has contributed nothing to jobs, growth, or corporate investment.
.
.
DeleteThere are those who would gladly accept some additional inflation if it was because of more growth and more jobs.
.
Re: The market is up but that has contributed nothing to jobs, growth, or corporate investment.
DeleteHow much of the market's phenomenal growth is attributable to Fed purchases? And if about have of QE went toward the market, what criteria were used for purchases? The case of GM is pretty straightforward, but does not begin to explain a market balloon.
I believe the Fed has been buying US treasuries and Mortgage backed securities which 1: forced the interest rates down and 2: forced some of the money of others slated for those markets into others (i.e. stock market and other bonds)
DeleteAsh,
DeleteThe Fed can and has made market purchases to stablize volatility. Has it been doing so under QE?
I believe it was TARP that was used for the GM purchase and other market support at the time which was run by the Treasury (special authorization through Congress was given). QE has been run by the FED and, to the best of my knowledge, they have only bought Treasuries and MBS's. I'm sure they could buy other things but from what I've read that has been the focus of their 85 billion (now 75) spend of fresh money each month.
Delete"Congress," I have to give a Solid F, for their refusal to pass Any Jobs Legislation.
ReplyDelete"Obama?" I'm torn between "B," and "B+." (he really could have pushed a little harder for his various "jobs proposals.")
On the other hand, he "did good" with healthcare, and taxes.
DeleteRufus IIMon Jan 27, 11:44:00 AM EST
Delete"Congress," I have to give a Solid F, for their refusal to pass Any Jobs Legislation.
Can you be more specific as to particular jobs intervention by the Congress. I will not disagree with your grade, although my "F" is based on more than jobs solely, as I suspect your's is as well. If I could have my way, I would like to see everyone of the .... returned to private life.
I think there is still a lot of risk aversion in the 'market' but still a desire for yield. If interest rates climb a bit then a lot of money will go to the safety of bonds with a little bit of yield putting downward pressure on the stock market. The current flight from emerging markets could provide additional liquidity to US markets as they are perceived as 'safe'. The risk for the US, though, is a rising dollar compared to the rest of the world. Ironic in that critics of QE have thought the value of the dollar would crash...
ReplyDeleteGoing long term, the fundamentals are not solid. I would be tempted to call them mushy if I didn't know better. Taxes, as always, take quite a bite, and this is unlikely to change. With imports things are coming into the country, and with exports things are leaving the country. The desperately needed pipeline from Canada may or may not be built. And the conditions in Europe are mixed. China is, as always, China, and Japan is Japan. And Russia is mystery, the Gulf Area unstable.
ReplyDeleteThat is how I see it from here.
Practical advice?
Get on food stamps now while the getting is good.
I disagree Ash. People don't want 'yields'. They aren't farmers, they want some money. People don't like to risk their money, that is true, except the welfare checks at the Casino, and the last of the mortgage money and the child support.
DeleteGet on welfare, and trade those soda cans around.
.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting question but one which the article never answers:
Why is the US helping China look for oil in the South China Sea?
One can argue that with oil being fungible, the more oil added to the world's global supply is a good thing. However, everyday we see stories about the growing tension between China and its neighbors, Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines over suspected oil in the South China Seas. Wouldn't the discovery of actual reserves intensify the issue?
By the way, the map kind of explains the issues there. China is pretty much claiming the entire South China Sea as its Roman Lake.
http://qz.com/170916/why-is-the-us-helping-china-look-for-oil-in-the-south-china-sea/
.
Do they have the cojones to pull it off?
DeleteWhat will Japan do?
Vietnam will invite us back in, and the huk huks will continue to crucify themselves on Easter, leaving the rest of the year to the Chinese.
"Why is the US helping China look for oil in the South China Sea?"
DeleteI think the oil companies don't really care what country is involved as long as they are themselves involved so they will do what them must to keep their finger in the pie. It sounds like the research body is government funded but the US portion of that funding is pretty low. I wonder how much influence the oil companies have on the distribution of funds by that funding body?
Re:
DeleteWhy is the US helping China look for oil in the South China Sea?
It suggests a disconnect between the military policy of the PLA and the policy of China's civilian leadership.
.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting article reflecting on the internal politics in Iran and three possible scenarios for the IRGC after the eventual passing of Khamenei.
Since its inception, there has been ongoing tension between the IRGC and the clerics.
Although IRGC officers enthusiastically followed Ayatollah Khomeini, they have also persistently had a hard time coping with the clerics appointed by the supreme leader as his representatives within this "ideological army." It is emblematic that this ongoing tension has consistently been tipped in favor of the "revolutionary children," resulting in frequent changes of clerical appointees.
http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2014/01/27/iran_after_khamenei.html
.
2.2 million Obamacare enrollments.
ReplyDeleteOnly 11% of these were previously uninsured, according to the McKinsey firm, using data from insurers.
4 million signups for the new Medicaid expansion. Only 7.5 are getting coverage due to Obamacare rules. The rest would have cycled into the program anyway.
The young bucks who are supposed to bear the burden of the old geezers don't have to sign up until they're 26. The ones that are 26 and over are eating the fines, because it's cheaper than insurance premiums. This is the biggest no brainer in the history of Earth.
How would YOU have liked being Uninsured when you were informed that You had Cancer?
DeleteOh, and those other numbers are "PlumbdumbPolling" nonsense.
DeleteI wouldn't like it R2. That's why I bought health insurance all my life from folks like you. In my mind, you saved my life, and the lives of countless others. Even today I pay for a private supplemental, the rest being Medicare, just like you.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
Delete.
DeleteSaw this in the opinion page at the IndyStar the other day.
However, there are proposals and they have been there for a while. Republicans have a simple reform proposal: tort reform (noticeably missing from Obamacare); no more “protected” territories for insurance companies (also missing from Obamacare) with an open market; portable insurance; no refusal/cancellation for pre-existing conditions; and vouchers for lower-income people who do not have insurance. This could probably be accomplished in 12 pages. Instead, these arrogant and incompetent hacks allowed insurance companies to write a massive law that they didn’t read and don’t understand and then they signed it
.
http://www.indystar.com/story/opinion/readers/2014/01/22/republicans-have-offered-sound-alternatives-to-obamacare/4782113/
I saw Ryan's proposal and it had nothing in it about "no refusal/cancellation for pre-existing conditions". CNN reported today that Coburn and two other Republicans had come out with a new proposal today. I likewise contained no requirement there be "no refusal/cancellation for pre-existing conditions". This is one of the key elements people like about Obamacare because without it one major illness can bankrupt a family.
.
Hey there, Lots of changes. If I get a chance to catch up I will, but am having a crazy great trip. Be well. thanks for stepping up Ash!
ReplyDeleteSend more Pictures. (aren't there any wimmin over there?)
Delete:)
I didn't want to dominate the top line but no one else stepped up this am so I figured - what the hell.
DeleteEnjoy your trip!
Ash the Dominatrix.
DeleteStay away from Sochi, Deuce.
Delete.
ReplyDeleteRe: Syria
I've seen and posted here a number of articles outlining the tragedy that is enveloping the civilian population on both sides in Syria. As was previously predicted, the Geneva II talks seem to be going nowhere in terms of its goal of establishing a transitional government. The reasons are obvious. Therefore, in order to get something substantial out of the talks, discussions have turned to the issues of suffering in the civilian populations and the establishment of truces to aid primarily the major population centers like Homs and Aleppo.
Recent articles I have seen indicate these moves would aid Assad both politically and militarily; however, there have also been other articles that argue it may work to Assad's disadvantage.
One would think a truce would be a simple thing. You declare it. If it works, fine. If it doesn't, you just resume the fighting. However, that is not always the case. The following article argues that a truce could result in the UN getting its nose under the tent and eventually that could bring down the Assad regime.
To see why, rewind to last summer after the regime massacred rebels and civilians using chemical weapons.
That was the most dangerous moment for the Assad regime, when it looked possible that the international community, in particular the United States, might actually use military force against the Syrian government, possibly toppling Assad. By handing over chemical weapons, the regime neutralised the threat of international intervention.
Now, potentially, it is back.
Look at the parallel with neighbouring Iraq. When US forces pushed Saddam Hussein out of Kuwait in 1991, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution specifying the ceasefire terms.
It was these terms, as set out in the 1991 resolution, that eventually triggered the 2003 invasion. Because when the UN Security Council met in November 2002, it adopted (the endlessly contentious) Resolution 1441, which found Iraq in material breach of the 1991 resolution, thus giving flimsy, but legally crucial, cover for the invasion.
That’s why the Aleppo truce is so important. If the opposition and its backers in the international community are canny, they will push the Security Council to adopt a resolution deciding ceasefire terms for the city.
Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/with-truce-offer-assad-has-left-his-regime-exposed#ixzz2rcbqRCSM
Wheels within wheels and nothing surprises.
.
.
ReplyDeleteHypocrisy thy name is Schumer.
Chuck Schumer the number three most powerful Dem in Congress instructed a Dem audience on how to fight the Tea Party using the Dems populist message and accusing the Tea Party of supporting the whims of the plutocrats. Yet, Schumer is one of the biggest beneficiaries of plutocrat largesse.
In 2008, Schumer’s DSCC raised more than $160 million, the all-time record for a Senate campaign committee. The DSCC’s $280 million raised over two cycles was 60 percent more than the National Republican Senatorial Committee raised over that same stretch.
Schumer, to fund his own elections, taps deep into the plutocracy he condemns. In the 2010 election, Schumer ran basically unopposed. Still he was the No. 1 Senate recipient of money from the insurance industry, private equity, hedge funds, Wall Street, real estate, the cable industry, and hospitals. Schumer was No. 3 in money from lobbyists, Hollywood, and mortgage bankers.
Schumer's Senate office seems to have its own revolving door that exits straight onto K Street. He is tied for third place, in all of Congress, for having the most staffers in the Center for Responsive Politics' revolving door database. Only Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., beat him on the revolving door scoreboard.
And Schumer knows how to profit from this revolving door action. In January 2007, when his party took charge of the Senate, he gathered some of America's wealthiest hedge-fund managers in a Manhattan restaurant and told them, in effect, start lobbying and giving money to politicians...
http://washingtonexaminer.com/timothy-p.-carney-on-chuck-schumer-voice-of-the-little-man-courtier-of-plutocrats/article/2542886
.
.
ReplyDeleteTo any who think the president doesn't take his drop in ratings among millennials seriously,
Then, three days after his State of the Union address on Tuesday, the president will chat with youngsters in what Google is promoting as the first “Presidential Hangout Road Trip.”
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/26/curl-white-house-panics-as-millennials-wise-up-bai/#ixzz2rckaklMj
This is do in part to the following stats
Just how bad is it? Just 24 percent of the new enrollees to Obamacare are between 18 and 34. The entire plan was predicated on a sign-up rate of nearly 40 percent, the idea being that healthy young people will pay more — much more — than they once did to offset the unhealthy elderly signing up for Obamacare.
In some states, the sign-up rate for millennials is abysmal: Arizona and West Virginia saw just 17 percent of the age group enroll. The White House, of course, predicts that number will grow as the deadline to sign up nears at the end of March (if you’ve got a millennial kid, you know they only do things at the last minute).
But the situation is far worse than just flagging enrollment of Obamacare, and the president knows it. Young people, who turned out in droves in 2008 and put the first-term Illinois senator in the White House, have grown increasingly disillusioned, seeing him now as just another politician who makes promises he has no intention of keeping.
Just 41 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing — down 11 points from April — and 54 percent now disapprove, a Harvard poll found. A whopping 57 percent disapprove of Obamacare (just 38 percent approve). Worse, 40 percent say health care will get worse (18 percent think it will improve) and 51 percent think costs will rise (34 percent say costs will stay the same; just 11 percent think costs will decrease).
Much, much worse: 54 percent of 18-24-year-olds say they would vote to “recall and replace” the president — in Washington, that’s called “impeachment.”
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jan/26/curl-white-house-panics-as-millennials-wise-up-bai/#ixzz2rcl5fJiZ
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
.
Democrats running for Congress next year don't want to be seen or photographed with the fool.
DeleteCruz comments on D'Souza edited out of 'FACE THE NATION' Broadcast...
ReplyDelete'SCHINDLER'S LIST' Producer: 'I Never Feared My Govt Until Now'... ...drudge
*********
Ex-Marlboro Man dies from smoking related illness.......drudge
.
ReplyDeleteJust like that turkey drop in WKRP in Cinncinnati, it seemed like a pretty good idea.
Vatican dove drop turns violent.
http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_24997960/heres-how-pope-franciss-gesture-peace-turned-violent
.
.
ReplyDeleteTed Cruz reminds me of Ken Marino who played the team leader in cable's Party Down show and he acts just as clueless.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_Down [Look at the picture in the main cast section. Marino is the guy on the far right.]
If the GOP doesn't get some new blood to replace current cast that is running, they might as well hand it to Hillary. I like Rand Paul but a magazine recently argued because of his strength in Iowa and New Hampshire that he might get the GOP nomination. Given how these guys keep shooting themselves in the foot who knows. Heck, most were subpar to begin with.
.
.
ReplyDeleteBen Bernanke Ultimately Came up Short
Robert Samuelson's views on Ben Bernanke
http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2014/01/27/bernanke_ultimately_came_up_short_100861.html
.
.
DeleteBernanke's policies fall short in a number of ways. Theoretically, the easy money policies should encourage companies to take the money and invest it in expansion thus creating jobs. However, it hasn't. The companies took the money but didn't invest it in expansion and job creation. In fact, most of the profits generated by companies over the past few years were generated through cost savings mainly productivity increases and headcount reduction. Due to lack of demand growth, manufacturing companies didn't invest in new plant and equipment but rather in acquisitions which typically resulted in more jobs being cut. This was especially true of banks where the larger ones became even 'too bigger to fail'. The money they didn't use for acquisitions here they used for purchases overseas or for purchases of asset based derivatives, the same thing that got us into trouble in the first place.
The Fed created its own carry trade. Why should any of these companies take on risk when they can get money for nothing and make money on what they borrowed risk-free?
The same factors are involved with the Fed's recent purchases of mortgage backed bonds. Their plan was to drive up home prices which it did. However, due to strict lending requirements the only people who could take advantage of the policy were those who were mostly speculators who were in a position to pay cash.
At the same time, given the risk aversion created by the financial crisis coupled with the Fed's low interest rate policies, the little guy suffering from lack of jobs and the elderly on fixed income took it in the ass.
Bernanke helped stabilize the financial system and deserves credit for that but his later efforts based on the principle of trickle-down economics has down nothing for the little guy except exacerbate the continuing income disparity between the 1% and everyone else.
Heard a factoid yesterday (not sure if it was on CNN or CNBC) that since 2009, 95% of all the wealth generated in the US went to the top 1%.
.
.
DeleteWith regard to the stock market, both Bernanke and his critics say that Fed policies have driven up the value of the stock market. I agree with their views. However, some disagree. I saw McKinsey and Co. put out a study arguing that there is no evidence QE drove up stock market prices. They based that on the assumptions: one, that everyone was aware that QE had to be temporary so they wouldn't expect it to continue forever; two, that there is no the shift into equities from bonds due to low interest rates that everybody thinks, and third, that lower borrowing costs aren’t as big a factor in corporate profits as everyone seems to think.
I disagree to varying degrees with each of McKinsey's three points. McKinsey talks about the actions of the 'rational investor', however, I disagree with his description of rational. When the Fed says it will do 'whatever it takes for as long as it takes' do you really have to expect QE to last forever or even for the next three years to invest for the profits it brings in the short term or over the next year? On the second point, even if McKinsey is right and the typical bond investor won't necessarily switch over to equities, the Fed's easy money policies along with the safety factor of the US market encouraged major investment from overseas sources. Third, I kind of agree that lower borrowing costs might not really affect the corporate profits for normal operations but it does affect profits in certain sectors such as financials and it also provides risk-free investment opportunities that inhibit investments that might actually create jobs.
.
You actually listen to CNN?
DeleteCNBC?
If so, you have identified your own problem.
Re: Heard a factoid yesterday (not sure if it was on CNN or CNBC) that since 2009, 95% of all the wealth generated in the US went to the top 1%.
DeleteI posted it yesterday.
The 85 Richest People In The World Have As Much Wealth As The 3.5 Billion Poorest
Never get out of the boat...
ReplyDeleteOn Friday, Chinese state media reported that China Credit Trust Co. warned investors that they may not be repaid when one of its wealth management products matures on January 31, the first day of the Year of the Horse.
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Bank of China sold the China Credit Trust product to its customers in inland Shanxi province. This bank, the world’s largest by assets, on Thursday suggested it will not compensate investors, stating in a phone interview with Reuters that “a situation completely does not exist in which ICBC ICBC will assume the main responsibility.”
There should be no mystery why this investment, known as “2010 China Credit-Credit Equals Gold #1 Collective Trust Product,” is on the verge of default. China Credit Trust loaned the proceeds from sales of the 3.03 billion-yuan ($496.2 million) product to unlisted Shanxi Zhenfu Energy Group, a coal miner. The coal company probably is paying something like 12% for the money because Credit Equals Gold promised a 10% annual return to investors—more than three times current bank deposit rates—and China Credit Trust undoubtedly took a hefty cut of the interest.
Sounds like a year of eating horse meat to me. Perhaps a year of firing squads.
Delete"2010 China Credit-Credit Equals Gold #1 Collective Trust Product"
DeleteWho in their right mind wouldn't immediately invest in that?
Golden Credit sounds so much better.
DeleteBernanke got all the mileage that he possibly could out of Monetary Policy, but, at some point, the government has to step in and spend some (borrowed, if necessary) money - a lot of it.
DeleteThe best spent money, of course, is on long-term, value-adding, infrastructure - and, I'm not talking about adding an unnecessary 5th and 6th lane on 4 lane highways that are already probably sufficient to meet all future demand.
Solar Panels, Wind Turbines, and Ethanol Distilleries come, strangely enough, to mind. :)
Obamacare will be a positive force, although probably not nearly as powerful one as a good hefty hike in the minimum wage, say to $10.00, or so.
DeleteFunny, the talk n Canada today was about bumping minimum wage to 14 bucks from 10.25.
DeleteA good hefty kick in the ass out of the country for 20 million illegal aliens would help immensely.
ReplyDeleteIf shrinking the economy is your idea of helping.
DeleteEmploy Americans first is my idea of helping the economy.
DeleteSay, the Beyoncé has one hell of a fine butt has she not? and certainly knows how to bounce it around. My Goodness !
You can't do a thing about the economy, Ash, and I know how you want to, that's who you are....always helpful, always concerned.....I wouldn't even have been able to post without your aid...but maybe relax and watch Beyoncé bounce her buns is as productive way to spend time when it comes to worrying about the economy.
DeleteHere Ash -
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDn1iCjd-Oo
Check them buns out......
You'll forget all about the economy.....
Beats the 'Dismal Science', eh, Ash?!
DeleteI don't frequent this place for the porn. Plenty of that on the intertubes mucho better than what Beyonce has to offer.
DeleteYou sound an expert on porn, Ash.
DeleteWhich doesn't much mucho surprise me.
So you're hanging out on the intertubes at those times when you are missing from here for days........I had suspected that, too.
Sigh...
Deleteyou are a NOOB!
Might be proud to be one too if I knew what a NOOB was........ but then the n and the b are real close on the keyboard.......could be just another of your endless typographical errors.....or it could be a sneaky underhanded attempt to get around the rules of the house against name-calling......
DeleteAshMon Jan 27, 08:48:00 PM EST
DeleteI don't frequent this place for the porn.
The Lib has porn? I didn't know.
Porn is everywhere on the net, for free even, allen
Deletehere b00b, not so easy on the phone but search engines can be your friend:
"
II. Defining 'Noob'
Contrary to the belief of many, a noob/n00b and a newbie/newb are not the same thing. Newbs are those who are new to some task* and are very beginner at it, possibly a little overconfident about it, but they are willing to learn and fix their errors to move out of that stage. n00bs, on the other hand, know little and have no will to learn any more. They expect people to do the work for them and then expect to get praised about it, and make up a unique species of their own. It is the latter we will study in this guide so that the reader is prepared to encounter them in the wild if needed."
urban dictionary provided that..
Sir Tom and guest
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteI can only dream of Little Richard and Beyoncé dancing and dueting........
For myself, I can't imagine how the female buns can ever improve over those lovelies on the back of Beyoncé.
DeleteResearch, bob, research...
Delete:-)
The best spent money, of course, is on long-term, value-adding, infrastructure - and, I'm not talking about adding an unnecessary 5th and 6th lane on 4 lane highways that are already probably sufficient to meet all future demand.
ReplyDeleteSolar Panels, Wind Turbines, and Ethanol Distilleries come, strangely enough, to mind. :)
Ethanol stills. Hey, I gotta better idea, how about the government built an 8-track tape player assembly plant in every county.
I'm for a wall mounted rotary phone factory in every county.
DeleteHey, I dusted off an old Quadraphonic amp for use in a surround sound mixing environment. No gov money involved though.
DeleteBreaking: Just In
ReplyDeleteSHOCK POLL: 63% Don't Have Confidence in Obama to Make Right Decisions..........drudge
Here's that group outside the 1% and what they face. It's worth 3 minutes.
ReplyDeleteRonnie Dunn - Cost Of Livin'
Emphasis Nigeria: continued
ReplyDeleteThe answer, o my children, is Chrislam -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrislam
(sounds like good exercise too)
>>>Criticisms[edit]
DeleteSome have criticized Chrislam, citing irreconcilable differences between its two component religions.[5] According to Stephen Ellis, who together with Ineke Van Kessel edited the book, Movers and Shakers: Social Movements in Africa, the religion is "rather exceptional and increasingly so." According to Sidney M. Greenfield, who wrote the book, Reinventing Religions: Syncretism and Transformation in Africa and the Americas, Chrislam is a logical product of the Yoruba people because they want to be able to work out their own destiny. Because the people of Nigeria are struggling in all areas of life and Chrislam offers miracles and deliverance they see this as a good spiritual way to help them get through every day living. Others disagree with the religion because Christianity and Islam are such different religions with different beliefs.[3]
The people who practice Chrislam see no fault with mixing the two religions, because they say that God loves all people and wants us to love all people. Saka says that when people criticize Chrislam he takes solace in what Jesus says about loving others in all religions.[4]<<<
------According to Stephen Ellis, who together with Ineke Van Kessel edited the book, Movers and Shakers: Social Movements in Africa, the religion is "rather exceptional and increasingly so."------
"rather exceptional and increasingly so" - hmmph, well, yes indeed.......
An advantage of this religion is that if one is under attack by jihadis, one has already learned how to run like hell.
"Founded by Tela Tella in the 1970s,[2] the sect predominantly exists in Lagos, Nigeria. Its followers recognise both the Bible and the Qur'an as holy texts, and practice "running deliverance," a distinctive practice of spiritual running which members liken to Joshua's army circling Jericho, or the Muslim practice of circumambulating the Kaaba."
DeleteOnce when q was in Nigeria he started a spiritual running 'church' - the practice focused on the spiritual discipline of "running from the law", as he put it.
In reality, it was an off shoot of Crowley's "fuck it, and do what you will" outlook.
q put it to practical effect too, once getting out of Nigeria 'one step ahead of the law' - he was being chased for currency exchange violations, not the gun running. But, "You can't do the one without the other, Bobbo" he once confided to me.
Crowley Quotes:
DeleteDo what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. I:40
This famous statement derives from several historic precedents, including that of François Rabelais in describing the rule of his Abbey of Thélème in Gargantua and Pantagruel: Fait ce que vouldras (Do what thou wilt), which was later used by the Hellfire Club established by Sir Francis Dashwood. It is also similar to the Wiccan proverb: An ye harm none, do what thou wilt; but the oldest known statement of a similar assertion is that of St. Augustine of Hippo: Love, and do what thou wilt.
Crowley Quotes
Deletehttp://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/a/aleister_crowley.html
Even more Crowley Quotes
Deletehttp://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/3948.Aleister_Crowley
Crowley authored the noted work "The Book of Lies"
Focus: Nigeria
ReplyDeleteJihad Watch
Nigeria: Islamic jihadists murder at least 62 people, including 22 at church service
Robert Spencer Jan 27, 2014 at 1:53pm Muslim persecution of Christians, Nigeria 5 Comments
Nigerianjihadis
Shhh! “Talk about extreme, militant Islamists and the atrocities that they have perpetrated globally might undercut the positive achievements that we Catholics have attained in our inter-religious dialogue with devout Muslims.” — Robert McManus, Roman Catholic Bishop of Worcester, Massachusetts, February 8, 2013
“UPDATE 2-Gunmen kill at least 62 in Nigeria, including in church,” by Imma Ande for Reuters, January 27 (thanks to Filip):
YOLA, Nigeria, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Suspected insurgents armed with guns and explosives killed at least 62 people in northeast Nigeria, including at a church service, in a region where Islamist sect Boko Haram is resisting a military crackdown, witnesses said on Monday.
They killed 22 people by setting off bombs and firing into the congregation in the Catholic church in Waga Chakawa village in Adamawa state on Sunday, before burning houses and taking residents hostage during a four-hour siege, witnesses said.
On Monday, a separate assault by suspected members of the shady sect killed at least 40 people in Kawuri village, in remote northeastern Borno state, security officials said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for either attack.
President Goodluck Jonathan is struggling to contain Boko Haram in remote rural regions in the country’s northeast corner, where the sect launched an uprising in 2009.
Boko Haram, which wants to impose sharia law on a country split roughly equally between Christians and Muslims, has killed thousands over the past four and a half years and is considered the biggest security risk in Africa’s top oil exporter and second largest economy after South Africa.
Its fighters’ favourite targets have traditionally been security forces, politicians who oppose them and Christian minorities in the largely Muslim north.
The spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Yola, Reverend Father Raymond Danbouye, confirmed 22 people killed in the church were buried at a funeral on Monday.
The military and police did not respond to requests for comment but one army source confirmed the church attack, asking not to be named because he wasn’t authorised to speak with the media.
VILLAGE RAZED
Waga Chakawa is near the border with Borno state, in which the second attack occurred that killed at least 40 people.
Several witnesses put the figure at 50, although none had counted the numbers of bodies themselves. They added that the militants had burned down the village and set off multiple explosions, shooting anyone trying to flee.
“The whole village has been razed by Boko Haram and there were still loud explosions from different directions as I left, with bodies littering the village,” said resident Bulama Kuliri, who narrowly escaped….
.
SHOCK POLL: 63% Don't Have Confidence in Obama to Make Right Decisions...
ReplyDelete---
"If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.
If you like your Doctor you can keep your Doctor."
Rufus likes to see others eat shit so he can tell them to get their mind right and enjoy it.
And then rattle off his latest "plumbdumb whatever" inanity, which he regards as brilliant.
I regard him as our Village Idiot.
In short, Rufus likes liars.
DeleteEsp if they are half-white and never admit it.
DeleteUPDATE: Patients Losing Their Doctor to Obamacare Miss Out on WALMARTWALGREENS Prescription Drug Giveaway...
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD cancels 'family' policies for gay couples in NC...
Michelle O wants $10 donations 'to help protect Obamacare'...
CA: Only One-Third Have Regained Insurance Lost...
Children Unable To Be Included In Parents' Plans...
Retiring House Dem Slams Healthcare Law...
Republicans Pitch Obamacare Alternative...
Medicaid Overpays Millions -- for Diapers...
A+++ Performance.
Delete...in RufieWorld.
DeleteUPDATE: Patients Losing Their Doctor to Obamacare Miss Out on WALMARTWALGREENS Prescription Drug Giveaway...
BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD cancels policies for gay couples in NC...
Michelle O wants $10 donations to help protect Obamacare...
CA: Only One-Third Have Regained Insurance Lost...
Children Unable To Be Included In Parents Plans...
Retiring House Dem Slams Healthcare Law...
Republicans Pitch Obamacare Alternative...
Medicaid Overpays Millions -- for Diapers...
"CA: Only One-Third Have Regained Insurance Lost.."
ReplyDeleteThat must be more of that plumbdumbfuck stuff Ruffie II writes about.
Mitt and Fallon on Obama, Gangland Style.
ReplyDeleteThe Washington Post, not exactly Romney’s biggest fan, gave the appearance rave reviews:
DeleteFrom Gangnam style to slow jams to selfies with Zach Braff, Mitt Romney is well on his way to winning one of those “World’s Coolest Grandpa” mugs.
On Friday’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” the former Republican presidential candidate, whose new documentary “Mitt” is available now on Netflix, “slow jammed the news.” In the running gag Fallon teams up with a serious seeming boldfacer–a Brian Williams or a Barack Obama–and ad-libs Barry White-style as his guest sums up the week’s headlines.
Romney, dubbed “Roma lama ding dong” by the “Late Night” crew, offered the audience a pretty decent primer on Tuesday’s State of the Union speech. On the menu? Unemployment, debt, immigration reform and “wide spread wire tapping.” And that’s where Fallon comes in.
“Ah yeah,” intoned Fallon. “President Obama looked at the American people up and down and said, ‘I’d tap that.’” Kudos to Romney for keeping a straight face for the next two minutes.