Jun 282019
 
 June 28, 2019  Posted by at 9:41 am Finance Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,


Salvador Dali Invisible Sleeping Woman, Horse, Lion 1930

 

56% Of Americans Are Lying Awake At Night Worrying About Money (MW)
America’s Monopoly Crisis Hits the Military (AC)
US Car Industry Is Killing Itself (WS)
Baoshang Bank Collapse Threatens China’s Economy (ABC.au)
Deutsche Bank Passes Fed Stress Test In Boost For Its US Operations (R.)
Paul Singer Warns A 40% Market Crash Is Coming (ZH)
US Gets No Commitment From NATO Allies For Help On Iran Threat (AP)
Boeing Hopes To Complete 737 MAX Software Fix In September (AP)
Large US Companies Are Getting Bigger While The Small Wither Away (MW)
CIA Finances Another Group of Fraudsters: the Venezuelan ‘Opposition’ (SCF)
Varoufakis: My Proposals Don’t Need Negotiation With Greece’s Creditors (A.)
The First Genetically Modified Animals Approved For US Consumption (AP)

 

 

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56% Of Americans Are Lying Awake At Night Worrying About Money (MW)

How are you sleeping lately? Some Americans are feeling uneasy. Consumer confidence fell to a two-year low in June, the Conference Board announced this week. It fell to 121.5 this month from a 131.3 in May. That’s the lowest level since September 2017. “The escalation in trade and tariff tensions earlier this month appears to have shaken consumers’ confidence,” Lynn Franco, senior director at the Conference Board, said in a statement. Continued uncertainty could “diminish” people’s confidence in the economic expansion, she added. Many people are living with wildly fluctuating income, a recent report from the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System said.


“Volatile income and low savings can turn common experiences — such as waiting a few days for a bank deposit to be available — into a problem.” Despite unemployment hitting a 49-year low, plus low interest rates and inflation, people are feeling skittish. “A major trade war between the U.S. and China represents our greatest economic risk,” according to Lynn Reaser, chief economist of the Controller’s Council of Economic Advisors. All of these worries are taking their toll. 78% of adults are losing sleep over work, relationships, retirement and other worries, according to a study released Thursday by personal-finance site Bankrate.com. Over half (56%) of Americans are lying awake at night worrying about money.

Read more …

Can’t make anything anymore. And now there are plans to make Europe use US nukes…..

America’s Monopoly Crisis Hits the Military (AC)

Early this year, U.S. authorities filed criminal charges—including bank fraud, obstruction of justice, and theft of technology—against the largest maker of telecommunications equipment in the world, a Chinese giant named Huawei. Chinese dominance in telecom equipment has created a crisis among Western espionage agencies, who, fearful of Chinese spying, are attempting to prevent the spread of Huawei equipment worldwide, especially in the critical 5G next-generation mobile networking space. In response to the campaign to block the purchase of Huawei equipment, the company has engaged in a public relations offensive.

The company’s CEO, Ren Zhengfei, portrayed Western fears as an advertisement for its products, which are, he said, “so good that the U.S. government is scared.” There’s little question the Chinese government is interested in using equipment to spy. What is surprising is Zhengfei is right about the products. Huawei, a relatively new company in the telecom equipment space, has amassed top market share because its equipment—espionage vulnerabilities aside—is the best value on the market. In historical terms, this is a shocking turnaround. Americans invented the telephone business and until recently dominated production and research. But in the last 20 years, every single American producer of key telecommunication equipment sectors is gone.

Today, only two European makers—Ericsson and Nokia—are left to compete with Huawei and another Chinese competitor, ZTE. This story of lost American leadership and production is not unique. In fact, the destruction of America’s once vibrant military and commercial industrial capacity in many sectors has become the single biggest unacknowledged threat to our national security. Because of public policies focused on finance instead of production, the United States increasingly cannot produce or maintain vital systems upon which our economy, our military, and our allies rely. Huawei is just a particularly prominent example.

Read more …

Well, they can still make cars…

US Car Industry Is Killing Itself (WS)

The average age of passenger cars and trucks on the road in the US ticked up again in 2019, to another record of 11.8 years, IHS Markit reported today. When I entered the car business in 1985, the average age had just ticked up to 7.8 years, and the industry was fretting over it and thought the trend would have to reverse, and customers would soon come out of hiding and massively replace those old clunkers with new vehicles, and everyone would sell more and make more. But those industry hopes for a sustained reversal of the trend of the rising average age have been bitterly disappointed:

This rising average age is largely driven by vehicles lasting longer – an unintended consequence of relentless improvements in overall quality, forced upon automakers by finicky customers in an ultra-competitive market where automakers struggle to stay alive. To make it in the US, they have to constantly improve their products, and stragglers that can’t compete are left unceremoniously by the wayside. US consumers are brutal. This unintended consequence of rising overall quality contributes to the dreadful industry problem: The US, despite constant population growth, is a horribly mature auto market. In 1999, so 20 years ago, new vehicle sales reached a record of 16.9 million units.


This record was broken in 2000, with 17.3 million units. Then sales tapered off. By 2007, they’d dropped to 16.1 million units. Then the Financial Crisis hit, GM and Chrysler went bankrupt, Ford almost did, and peak-to-trough, sales plunged 40% to 10.4 million units by 2009. The recovery has been steep, and in 2015, finally the old record of the year 2000 was broken, but barely with 17.48 million units, and in 2016, the industry eked out another record of 17.55 million units. And that was it. Sales have fizzled since then. So far in 2019, the data indicates that sales are likely to fall below 17 million units, according to my own estimates, bringing the industry right back where it had been 20 years ago in 1999:

Read more …

Nothing a little QE won’t fix?!

Baoshang Bank Collapse Threatens China’s Economy (ABC.au)

Up until a few weeks ago the Baoshang Bank’s prospects seemed bright enough. According to Baoshing’s most recent regulatory filing, the smallish lender based in Inner-Mongolia, made a $600 million profit in 2017. It had assets of around $90 billion, non-performing loans were modest — under 2 per cent — and its capital buffers would fit comfortably with the global demands of a Tier1 bank. Then it collapsed. That set off a series of events rarely, if ever, seen in Chinese banking. Regulators seized Baoshang, the first action of its type since 1998. That may have shaken the foundations of Chinese banking, but of far greater significance was the collapse caused by China’s first recorded interbank default.

It is yet to be a “Lehman moment” — where the credit market freezes, banks stop lending to each other and the economy teeters above the abyss —but it has, as Societe Generale’s Wei Yao noted, “triggered severe liquidity tensions in the interbank market”. “The Baoshang incidence has challenged one fundamental belief of China’s financial system; interbank defaults are not possible thanks to 100 per cent implicit guarantees,” Ms Yao said. “Now that credit risks and counter-party risks have finally descended on this very core market in China’s financial system, all the key players in the system have to figure out how to price risks in the new paradigm, and quickly.”

Ms Yao said the understandable consequence was “a big and unpleasant wave of risk repricing”, with major banks shying away from doing business with smaller lenders. And that’s a worry, as small-to-medium sized banks combined have balance sheets as big as the big banks combined, but are far more dependent on interbank funding. The central bank (PBoC) immediately pumped around 600 billion yuan ($125 billion) into the system and halted a run on the banks by guaranteeing 100 per cent of all retail deposits.

Read more …

Not the Onion.

Deutsche Bank Passes Fed Stress Test In Boost For Its US Operations (R.)

Deutsche Bank’s shares rose as much as 4.8% on Friday after Germany’s biggest bank passed an annual health check by the U.S. Federal Reserve, in a boost to its Wall Street operations. But the Federal Reserve placed conditions on the U.S. operations of Credit Suisse, knocking its shares 1% lower after identifying weaknesses in its capital planning. The tests assess whether it is safe for banks to implement their capital plans, including using extra capital for stock buybacks, dividends and other purposes beyond providing a cushion against losses. They are designed to avoid a repeat of the taxpayer bailouts of the 2007-2009 financial crisis.


Deutsche Bank, whose U.S. business has been plagued by litigation, underperformance and regulatory investigations, topped the German bluechip index .GDAX in Frankfurt after its U.S. shares were up as much as 6% in after-the-bell trading on Thursday following the Fed’s news. The German bank maintained a large presence on Wall Street after the 2007-2009 financial crisis, while Credit Suisse made big cuts. But Deutsche’s efforts to compete with U.S. rivals have been hampered by litigation and regulatory investigations. Deutsche Bank Chief Executive Christian Sewing, who is battling to turn the bank around, said the Fed’s decision was “excellent news” in a memo to staff on its website. “Achieving success here was one of the key goals we set a year ago. It is a huge step forward for our business in the U.S. and globally. A strong operating platform in the Americas is essential to our clients,” he said.

Read more …

Lowballing.

Paul Singer Warns A 40% Market Crash Is Coming (ZH)

Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, billionaire investor and Elliott Management founder, Paul Singer, warned that the global economy is heading toward a “significant market downturn” cautioning that “the global financial system is very much toward the risky end of the spectrum.” While Paul Singer’s traditionally downcast outlook is hardly surprising, as it permeates every investor letter published by the successful investor who has been particularly clear in the past decade that the Fed’s monetary experiment will end terribly, he sees two particular reasons why the economy is approaching a tipping point: “global debt is at an all-time high.

Derivatives are at an all-time high and it took all of this monetary easing to get to where we are today and I don’t think central bankers, or policymakers or academics are in any better shape to predict the next downturn and I think we are the high end of the risk spectrum.” He then ominously added that “I’m expecting the possibility of a significant market downturn.” How bad would the crash be? According to the Elliott Management CEO, there will be a market “correction” of 30% to 40% when the downturn hits, although unlike Goldman – which gave a timeline of 12 months in which the next major market will materialize, Singer said he couldn’t predict the timing.

In the panel discussion, Singer also said the market meltdown late last year after interest rates spiked in the 4th quarter was the first hint of a pending slump, as it indicated that the Federal Reserve and other central banks were now victims of their policies, something he has been warning about for years. “December supported the notion that they’re trapped,” he said. “What they should have done, and what they should do now, is try to restore the soundness of money. They should not be cutting rates right now. They should be calling on the congresses and parliaments around the developed world to take steps to deal with the economic slowdown in growth.”

Read more …

Europe likes Iran just the way it is.

US Gets No Commitment From NATO Allies For Help On Iran Threat (AP)

NATO allies gave the U.S. no firm commitments that they will participate in a global effort to secure international waterways against threats from Iran, acting Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Thursday, wrapping up his first alliance meeting. Esper said the U.S. will come back next month and provide reluctant allies more details on exactly how the Iranian threat has escalated in recent months, and how nations can work together to deter further aggression. “At the end of the day what our ask is here, near term, is to publicly condemn Iran’s bad behavior,” Esper said as he prepared to leave Brussels. “And in the meantime, in order to avoid a military escalation, help us maintain the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian Gulf and wherever.”


Esper, who didn’t have high expectations for firm commitments coming in, got little of either, though he said that some allies privately expressed interest in hearing more. Esper’s visit to NATO, just days after he took over at the Pentagon, came amid sharply increased tensions between the U.S. and the Islamic Republic. The Trump administration has blamed Iran for recent attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, as well as bombings in Iraq. Iranian forces also shot down an American drone that it said had flown into its airspace, which the U.S. disputes. Earlier this week, as he headed to NATO, Esper said his goal was to persuade allies that the confrontation with Iran is a global challenge requiring an international response, and that it is “not Iran versus the United States.”

Read more …

“There are many families here who will not want to participate in mediation until they know what Boeing knew, when they knew it, what they did about it, and what they’re going to do about it..”

Boeing Hopes To Complete 737 MAX Software Fix In September (AP)

Boeing says it expects to finish work on updated flight-control software for the 737 Max in September, a sign that the troubled jet likely won’t be flying until late this year. The latest delay in fixing the Max came a day after the disclosure that government test pilots found a new technology flaw in the plane during a test on a flight simulator. The plane has been grounded since mid-March after two crashes that killed 346 people. Preliminary accident reports pointed to software that erroneously pointed the planes’ noses down and overpowered pilots’ efforts to regain control. A Boeing official said Thursday that the company expects to submit the software update to the Federal Aviation Administration for approval “in the September timeframe.”

Once Boeing submits its changes, the FAA is expected to take several weeks to analyze them, and airlines would need additional time to take their grounded Max jets out of storage and prepare them to fly again. Airlines were already lowering expectations for a quick return of the plane, which has been grounded since mid-March. Southwest Airlines, the biggest operator of Max jets, announced Thursday that it has taken the plane out of its schedule for another month, through Oct. 1. Earlier this week, United Airlines pulled the plane from its schedule through early September.

While Boeing engineers continue working on the plane’s software, company lawyers pushed Thursday to settle lawsuits brought by the families of dozens of passengers killed in the October crash of a Lion Air Max off the coast of Indonesia and the March crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Max near Addis Ababa. Boeing and the families of Lion Air Flight 610 victims agreed to mediation that could lead to early settlements. However, the families of some Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 passengers are resisting mediation. “There are many families here who will not want to participate in mediation until they know what Boeing knew, when they knew it, what they did about it, and what they’re going to do about it to prevent this kind of disaster from occurring again,” said Robert Clifford, a Chicago lawyer who filed lawsuits on behalf of nearly two dozen victims of the Ethiopian crash.

Read more …

Concentrate.

Large US Companies Are Getting Bigger While The Small Wither Away (MW)

FTSE Russell will rebalance its suite of indexes at the close of trade Friday, and the changes will reflect several broad trends in equity markets over the past year, including the resilience of large-capitalization companies, the dismal performance of smaller U.S. firms, and the emergence of new, highly valued technology companies that promise to, or already have, revolutionized their respective industries. “We reconstitute the Russell indexes annually to accurately reflect equity markets,” said Catherine Yoshimoto, director of product management at FTSE Russell, in an interview. “All the companies are ranked by total market capitalization and the break point between the [large cap] Russell 1000 and [small cap] Russell 2000 are reset.”


The dividing line between the large cap index and the small fell this year, from a capitalization of $3.7 billion to $3.6 billion, as a result of the poor performance of small cap companies, which shrunk in average market capitalization from $2.5 trillion to $2.4 trillion, as the small cap index fell 6.3% over the past 12 months, versus a 7.5% rise in price for larger companies. Steven DeSanctis, equity strategist at Jefferies told MarketWatch that today’s environment — with rising labor costs, material costs and new trade barriers — is especially difficult for small companies to navigate. He estimates that earnings for Russell 2000 companies fell 14.5% in the first quarter of this year on 3.4% of sales growth, while the second quarter will likely show small-cap earnings falling 11.5%, on 3.6% of revenue growth. “Small cap companies are getting squeezed at the margin,” he said. “A lot of companies have revenue growth but falling profits.”

Read more …

The story gets uglier by the day.

CIA Finances Another Group of Fraudsters: the Venezuelan ‘Opposition’ (SCF)

Once again, the Central Intelligence Agency has been caught financing a group of grifters and fraudsters at the expense of the American taxpayers. In the latest case, just another in the agency’s 72-year history, the Trump administration-appointed ad hoc board of CITGO, the US subsidiary of the state-owned Venezuelan oil company, PDVSA, stands accused of steering $70 million of escrowed funds, earmarked for PDVSA’s fiscal year 2020 bond, to the pockets of CIA-supported officials of the Venezuelan opposition “Popular Will” party headed by the so-called “interim president” of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó.

In addition to Guaidó, who is accused by the legitimate Venezuelan government of money laundering, treason, and corruption, other Popular Will leaders under investigation by both the Venezuelan Attorney General and the US Justice Department include Carlos Vecchio, Guaidó’s envoy in Washington; Rossana Barrera and Kevin Rojas, Guaidó’s emissaries in Cucuta, a Colombian-Venezuelan border town; Sergio Vargara, Barrera’s brother-in-law and a Member of the Venezuelan Congress; Guaidó’s “ambassador” to Colombia, Humberto Calderon Berti, opposition businessman Miguel Sabal; and Guaidó’s chief of staff, Roberto Marrero. Over two dozen other Popular Will leaders are also under investigation for fraud involving money earmarked by the Trump administration, particularly Iran-Contra scandal felon and current Trump special envoy for regime change in Venezuela, Elliot Abrams.

Barrera and Rojas are accused of spending money given to the Popular Will by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), a longtime CIA financial pass-through, for “humanitarian relief” for alleged massive numbers of Venezuelan refugees in Colombia. The Popular Will grifters reportedly used the aid money, including that which was raised by Virgin Group’s billionaire founder and obvious CIA dupe Richard Branson, for expensive hotels, fancy restaurants, nightclubs, prostitutes, and clothing.

Read more …

Varoufakis is way ahead of his time. Elections July 7, but he’ll be lucky to get any seats at all.

Varoufakis: My Proposals Don’t Need Negotiation With Greece’s Creditors (A.)

– Reduction of the public debt with an embedded growth clause: the higher the national income, the more creditors will receive, and the reverse. Varoufakis said that this will force lenders to become partners in the recovery of Greece.

– Ending austerity by a drastic reduction of surpluses. Varoufakis said that Syriza and ND have pledged to return to the lenders the equivalent of at least 7,000 euros per capita each year from the so-called primary state surpluses. MeRA25 will unilaterally reduce these surpluses by 60-100 pct, depending on the recovery rate, he added.

– Abolition of obligatory prepayment of 100% of taxes, and capping the VAT rate at 18% for cash purchases, 15% for using a credit card. Reduction of corporate tax: e.g. from current 29 pct, to 26 pct for large businesses, 20 pct for medium-sized ones and 15 pct for small businesses; capping profits on SMEs at 50 pct tax (currently at 75 pct).

– Public extra-bank reliant payment system allowing free digital transactions among citizens, businesses and the state, benefitting all: e.g. by mutual debt cancellation, tax deductions, funding of anti-poverty programs, reducting the hold of private banks and the European Central Bank on citizens and state alike.

– Establishment of a public management company of private debt, so that non-performing loans (NPLs) are transferred from banks to this organisation, in exchange for government guarantees not counted towards public debt. In addition, a ban on loan sales, foreclosure auctions, especially of primary residences and small businesses.

– Inclusion under the Foundation of Social Insurance (IKA) of all freelancers who work more than 8 hours a week for the same employer. Incentives towards start-up entrepreneurs with a 5-year exemption from taxes and insurance contributions.

– Conversion of the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund to a Development Bank, abolition of all privatizations, and use of public property as collateral to create investment flows in the public sector; the new bank’s shares will be owned by insurance funds, boosting their capitalization.

Yanis Varoufakis insisted that these measures would be implemented without negotiation with Greece’s lenders and financial institutions, and underlined that the creditors might react by bringing back GRexit scenarios. In this case, which he ruled out, “it will cost them 1 trillion euros.” “If we continue to apply Syriza’s fourth memorandum there will be no young people left in our country,” concluded Varoufakis, who also reiterated that his party will not give a vote of confidence to either Syriza or New Democracy, but will nevertheless support any bill it considers fair.

Read more …

Mass suicide.

The First Genetically Modified Animals Approved For US Consumption (AP)

Inside an Indiana aquafarming complex, thousands of salmon eggs genetically modified to grow faster than normal are hatching into tiny fish. After growing to roughly 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) in indoor tanks, they could be served in restaurants by late next year. The salmon produced by AquaBounty are the first genetically modified animals approved for human consumption in the U.S. They represent one way companies are pushing to transform the plants and animals we eat, even as consumer advocacy groups call for greater caution. AquaBounty hasn’t sold any fish in the U.S. yet, but it says its salmon may first turn up in places like restaurants or university cafeterias, which would decide whether to tell diners that the fish are genetically modified.

“It’s their customer, not ours,” said Sylvia Wulf, AquaBounty’s CEO. To produce its fish, Aquabounty injected Atlantic salmon with DNA from other fish species that make them grow to full size in about 18 months, which could be about twice as fast as regular salmon. The company says that’s more efficient since less feed is required. The eggs were shipped to the U.S. from the company’s Canadian location last month after clearing final regulatory hurdles.

As AquaBounty worked through years of government approvals, several grocers including Kroger and Whole Foods responded to a campaign by consumer groups with a vow to not sell the fish. Already, most corn and soy in the U.S. is genetically modified to be more resistant to pests and herbicides. But as genetically modified salmon make their way to dinner plates, the pace of change to the food supply could accelerate. This month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to simplify regulations for genetically engineered plants and animals. The move comes as companies are turning to a newer gene-editing technology that makes it easier to tinker with plant and animal DNA.

Read more …

 

 

 

 

 

Home Forums Debt Rattle June 28 2019

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  • #48252

    Salvador Dali Invisible Sleeping Woman, Horse, Lion 1930   • 56% Of Americans Are Lying Awake At Night Worrying About Money (MW) • America’s Mono
    [See the full post at: Debt Rattle June 28 2019]

    #48253
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    Mass suicide.

    • The First Genetically Modified Animals Approved For US Consumption (AP)

    My favorite fish, further butchered beyond recognition, by insane humans bent on greed. And hopefully angering the gods to retribution for the crime against one of god’s creatures…
    Without drastic action; the wild salmon are doomed to extinction.
    Remember; whole nations existed because of the salmon; without which, they never would have thrived…
    Of course, retribution will be all the genetic scientist’s bad kharma coming back; on all of us; after all, we permitted it…

    #48254
    NooBoob
    Participant

    Google blacklisted abortion searches for the Irish elections.
    The average age at Google is 30 years.
    Never trust anyone over 30, and under 25.

    Loki’s Revenge Blog has been shadow banned by WordPress.

    If we get through 2020, we won’t get through 2024. Remembering these words by then won’t help. The biggest story in media is silence. If a tree falls in the woods, and no hears it, did it really ever fall?

    If you are 15 years old, emissions rose 30% in your lifetime.
    If you are 30 years old, emissions rose 60% in your lifetime.
    After 30 years of trying, solar and wind are just 2% of total world energy use.
    To avoid 2 C, emissions must drop 50% in 10 years, and 100% in 20 years.

    5 of 13 major tipping points are triggered like dominos below 2 C.

    When these 5 tipping points begin, they reinforce each other and trigger the other 8.

    Runaway hothouse earth cannot be stopped or reversed once started.

    The earth will take many, many thousands of years to recover.

    Runaway mass extinction cannot be stopped or reversed once started.

    The earth will take many millions of years to recover. If indeed, it does.

    Runaway mass extinction is preceding runaway hothouse climate change.

    Usually, hothouse happens before mass extinction, not this time. Nobody wants to admit it.

    There are 25 billion chickens on earth. Humans and livestock are 98% of all land vertebrate biomass.

    10,000 years ago, humans and livestock were 0.03% of all land vertebrate biomass.

    Livestock production caused 80% of species extinctions.

    Virtual extinction precedes total extinction, where populations become too small to be sustained.

    We ignore virtual extinction.

    All male vertebrates are being biologically emasculated, feminized, sterilized, stupified and crazyfied. If you want tons of data on how and why, go to

    Loki’s Revenge Blog and read: The Withering Bones of Humanity

    *The Final Solution*

    Top 20% income earners = 70% of emissions.

    = 100% private carbon wealth fee and private dividend

    = 0% for corporations, NGOs and governments

    = 100% private universal basic income

    #48255
    V. Arnold
    Participant

    NooBoob

    The first time I read your “list”, it was interesting; but the 3rd time is somewhat pedantic, don’t ya think?
    There is a dynamic in the daily, and things do change; even when not for the better, yes?
    😉

    #48256
    Dr. D
    Participant

    “Pelosi Folds: Confirms House Will “Reluctantly” Pass Trump’s Emergency Border Bill”

    Gosh, somehow leverage appeared. 21/6, Iran [non]strike. 25/6, Democrats suddenly agree with Trump and approve border funding. Is that because the NYT themselves reported that the airstrikes, including their targets, were all leaked to Iran in minutes? And would that be Treason, Sedition, or just Espionage?

    Sadly, this border support is being vetoed by AOC and corporations: AOC has Wayfair refuse to give children mattresses (what???) and the Banks – who are regulated by the government on the grounds that they will be impartial and provide service to all equally – are refusing to fund detention centers. You can do that – really. However, you need a court order to explain why you feel you can discriminate against customers on the basis of their creed or political affiliation. Good luck getting one. If not, you’re in violation of civil rights and have your license pulled. …If anybody enforced the law anymore.

    And really: Wells Fargo and AOC WANT children sleeping on the floor? They WANT there to be no bank accounts to buy food with? Don’t know what to say. And this is after yesterday’s scandal of AOC wearing $1,000 outfit and $600 watch to do a selfie photo-op crying about “the childrens,” “concentration camps.” She was actually crying over an empty parking lot, I assume because when she showed up she couldn’t find any bad conditions at that facility, otherwise, why not some pictures of the kids? We don’t go to Dachau and take pictures of Robert Capa in his Brooks Brothers. Owens did a tour last year showing what is pretty normal US detention conditions: 3 free meals, free doctor, playing soccer and video games, watching cable TV, and with the new age, practicing yoga. Sure you need a day pass but better than Hondouras. Better conditions than Assange and Manning. Or me. Sign me up.

    But hey, if it was reported by an adult in the media, that’s your personal guarantee that it’s the exact OPPOSITE of true. As we’ve seen in the last 24 hours, anything that’s true, like 2016/2020 election-rigging by google, is purged off the media in hours. All the people de-platformed, de-banked, and slandered. Ask Assange.

    You know what the real kicker in that story was? The mattresses she was denying had been bought by a non-profit charity who were helping the kids, not an INS/DHS agency. So here people, perhaps even Republicans, are trying to donate over top of their tax dollars, but they are not ALLOWED to help immigrants even privately. That’s your #Progressives. That’s your love and caring.™ That’s how bad they want to gin up this border crisis. Then they’ll complain “death camp”, “TrumpTrump”. “Stop the hate of children sleeping on floors.” #StarkRavingMadness.

    Here’s an idea: swap your $1000 dress for Peebles, sell your watch for a Timex, and use the $1550 to buy 10 mattresses for kids wholesale instead of actively preventing ME from buying mattresses for migrant kids. And to think I thought they only wanted to help using MY money, not theirs. Nope. They actually want BOTH my money AND not to help at all. #SocialismInAction. Check 150 years of history if you think I’m kidding.

    Speaking of:
    “Large US Companies Are Getting Bigger While the Small Wither Away (MW)”

    Because #Socialism. Or #Fascism, which is the national version of #socialism, either way. Government support and control for my pals, with complete backstop and guaranteed profits, while #NOTpals, the little guys, that annoying competition to my piss-poor monopoly service, is run out of business. Bankruptcy for them, bailouts for my friends! Golf at three, Winston? Yay! Muh “private corporations can do whatever they want.” Yeah, under socialism, apparently. Under Capitalism, they’d all go bankrupt and stop being a menace.

    “The First Genetically Modified Animals Approved For US Consumption (AP)”

    They already said that because of mating attraction, the release of one salmon would completely destroy the wild population in 10 generations. But when has science ever gone wrong? I mean since 1815 when Mary Shelley wrote “Frankenstein”. Every time? But not this time. This one time, nothing will go wrong again.

    #48257
    John Day
    Participant

    http://www.johndayblog.com/2019/06/as-advertised.html
    The second night of Democratic debate went to Kamala Harris, with good wordmanship and instincts. Kamala got lots of Google searches, the new measure, but also subject to Google’s “social responsibility” department… (I’m told that Tulsi Gabbard’s search wave has been attributed to “Russian ‘bots” by some). What course does Kamala have planned? Hold that thought for awhile. Medicare for all is the only thing agreed upon so far. Who has a clear vision for the upcoming economic reset? Bernie Sanders has shaped political discourse and direction. Is he just too old? (Despite his rebel persona, he has always cut good deals for business.)
    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-28/2020-race-over-post-mortem-second-dem-debate-kamala-crushes-bernie-biden

    Moon of Alabama digs into the different presentations of Tulsi Gabbard’s first night “win”/”loss” as portrayed by Google searches, alternate media, and network media/pundits. She was supposed to be nowhere, not the front of that modest pack. That place was reserved for Elizabeth Warren.
    https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/06/media-and-public-disagree-on-tulsi-gabbards-debate-performance.html

    Here is fairly broadband proof that Warrior-Sister Gabbard won the first night debate, real polls and all.
    http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=60413

    Here more of what Gabbard opposes, and the others ignore.
    Venezuela foils attempt on President Maduro’s life: government
    An attempt to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has failed, the crisis-hit country’s government said. The leader has accused the United States of being behind an alleged coup plot.
    https://www.dw.com/en/venezuela-foils-attempt-on-president-maduros-life-government/a-49368879

    CIA funded Venezuelan opposition denies it all. It’s OK, they didn’t have to be much of a part of it. Mostly out-of-that-loop.
    https://www.france24.com/en/20190627-venezuela-coup-nicolas-maduro-juan-guaido?ref=tw_i

    Pat Buchanan says Trump should trade Bolton for Gabbard as National Security Advisor. I think Trump never had that choice, and that train left the station a long time ago. Buchanan’s point goes farther, to what America wants, which is not supposed to be on America’s menu in 2020.

    Memo to Trump: Trade Bolton for Tulsi

    Poland is way hotter than central Texas! Asphalt is folding. Naked fat Germans seen on scooters. End of life as we know it!
    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-06-27/central-europe-alert-heat-wave-hell-terrorizes-france

    #48262

    The end of Deutsche as a global player. It fires half its global equities workers.

    Deutsche Bank To Fire Up To 20,000: One In Six Full-Time Positions

    While Deutsche Bank finally delivered some good news for a change to its long-suffering investors, when it miraculously failed to fail the latest Fed stress test, on Friday the chronically sick bank reverted to its “cutting into muscle” baseline when the largest German lender with the €45 trillion notional derivatives was said to be preparing “to cut as much as half its global workforce in equities trading as part of a broad restructuring to boost profitability”, according to Bloomberg with the WSJ adding that the total number could be between 15,000 and 20,000 job cuts, or more than one in six full-time positions globally.

    The cuts being contemplated by senior executives reflect an acceleration of Deutsche Bank’s downsizing and another major pullback from its global ambitions. If followed through, the reduction would represent 16% to 22% of Deutsche Bank’s workforce of 91,463 employees, as disclosed by the bank as of the end of March.

    According to the proposed plan the bank will eliminate hundreds of positions in equities trading and research, as well as derivatives trading, and is expected to start informing staff of cuts – including in the U.S. and Asia – as soon as next month. Rates trading is also affected.

    #48263
    zerosum
    Participant

    78% of adults are losing sleep over work, relationships, retirement and other worries, according to a study released Thursday by personal-finance site Bankrate.com.

    The other 22% of adults are sleep walking through life.
    ——-
    bringing the industry, (auto), right back where it had been 20 years ago in 1999:
    From where I’m sitting, that is a good trend.
    —–
    Elliott Management CEO, there will be a market “correction” of 30% to 40% when the downturn hits, …..take steps to deal with the economic slowdown in growth.

    They are and will continue to take steps to protect the 0.01% who are on the right team. I don’t know right from left much less right from wrong. /s
    —–
    • Large US Companies Are Getting Bigger While The Small Wither Away (MW)

    SIMPLE FORMULA ….. GET BIGGER …. PRINT MORE MONEY …. BORROW AT 0.0% INTEREST.
    —–
    thousands of salmon eggs genetically modified to grow faster than normal are hatching into tiny fish. After growing to roughly 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) in indoor tanks, they could be served in restaurants by late next year.

    Crops are failing due to higher highs and lower lows.
    Choice: Eat what’s available or don’t eat

    Coming to your corner store ….. GMO birth control ….
    ——

    #48264
    anticlimactic
    Participant

    Koyaanisqatsi

    This is a Hopi Indian word used as the name of a film which is a collection of film clips in timelapse and slomo to a soundtrack by Philip Glass. I think it is a film which can change how you see the world.

    According to a Hopi Dictionary koyaanisqatsi is defined as

    “life of moral corruption and turmoil”
    “life out of balance”

    The film also defines the word as

    “crazy life”
    “life in turmoil”
    “life disintegrating”
    “a state of life that calls for another way of living”

    To me the key word is ‘balance’ [or ‘fairness’]:

    – True capitalism may be the most efficient way to manufacture goods, but socialism is needed to make sure the benefits are spread fairly.

    – Defence is important to a country but not when the cost leaves the country in a ramshackle state.

    – Industry does need to have some influence on governnment but not to such an extent that it controls the government

    – People should be allowed to express their point of view but not to use their influence to stop other people expressing their point of view.

    – Security is important for a country but not when it turns it into a surveillance state.

    Wherever you look things seem out of balance and there does not seem to be any effective forces trying to get things back into balance.

    #48265
    zerosum
    Participant

    @ anticlimactic
    Trump said, “Drain the swamp”
    Still waiting.
    Democrats are saying, We have got to stop Pharma, med., wall street, buying politicians, etc.”
    Still the same thing.
    Still waiting.
    Sanders says, The people have got to revolt against the inequalities and scamming.

    Like you said, “Wherever you look things seem out of balance and there does not seem to be any effective forces trying to get things back into balance.”

    #48266

    It’s a little bit amusing to see someone bring up Koyaanisqatsi as if it’s something new here, when i’ve referred to it so many times. Example from Sep 2017:

    The Koyaanisqatsi Economy

    Due to its initial success, Reggio and Glass made two sequels to the film, Powaqqatsi (1988), meaning “parasitic way of life” or “life in transition”, and Naqoyqatsi (2002) which means “life as war”, “civilized violence” and “a life of killing each other”. If you haven’t seen them, they come highly recommended.

    Koyaanisqatsi is a fitting term to describe not only our world in general, but also our economies. They are severely out of balance, and getting more so every day. But economies, like nature, need at least a minimum in balance. If that disappears, this lack of balance will tip them over. It is somewhat strange that this is not being recognized, and not even discussed.

    It’s as if people think that when almost all wealth goes to a select very few, an economy can still continue to function. It can’t. The rich getting continually richer means the poor getting poorer (as overall growth is slow or non-existent), until the latter reach a point where they can no longer afford even basic necessities. That’s when parts of an economy will start dying, in the same vein that parts of a living body, an organism, die off when the supply of blood, nutrients and oxygen is cut off.

    #48270
    PlanetaryCitizen
    Participant

    I’m not exactly sure what it is that you say is not being discussed about an economy being out of balance when that’s pretty much all Bernie and Elizabeth Warren talk about. As does AOC in her House questioning putting on full display how the rules allow and in fact support corruption in Congress.

    You can buy that watch on Ebay all day long for $138 and if you’ll notice in the photo of her, everyone was wearing white and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a $1000 outfit. God forbid a pretty woman running for Congress would dress stylishly. And by the way, the press takes pictures of AOC in a vein similar to most celebrities. Children in prison camps, not so much.

    #48271
    VietnamVet
    Participant

    Boeing pretty much encapsulates what went wrong with the financialization and globalization of the West that has been spurred on by exploding inequality. Workers and the environment are eliminated from economic decisions. With global corporations and trade pacts superior to nation states; a multitude of anomalies are now baked into human society.

    When people don’t matter there is no incentive to design and build safe airplanes. That costs money. Workplaces become toxic. The life expectancy in the UK and USA declines. The US dollar becomes a military weapon. Monopolies buy up innovation. Breaking the law is punished by fines which are added to the cost of doing business, not jail time. The environment (that has no concern about the fate of the human beings) bites back. Families migrate to survive. Nationalist and globalist oligarchs go to war over the spoils. Last week the global economy was 10 minutes away from collapse by an American air attack on Iran.

    #48281

    Good summary, VVet:

    When people don’t matter there is no incentive to design and build safe airplanes. That costs money. Workplaces become toxic. The life expectancy in the UK and USA declines. The US dollar becomes a military weapon. Monopolies buy up innovation. Breaking the law is punished by fines which are added to the cost of doing business, not jail time.

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