Links 6/12/12

US ‘radical’ nuns to hold Vatican talks over criticism BBC

Capture the Flag: Just Another Divine Comedy kulturCritic (René)

Plenty to Hide ACLU. Per Nathan “”Great answers to dumb questions.”

Africa Specializing in Capital Exodus? Triple Crisis

China’s mixed May MacroBusiness

Global stocks, euro fall on Spain bank bailout uncertainty Reuters

The Spailout Has Already Failed George Washington

IMF report and bailout calm banking sector Financial Times

Smaller companies heading to Bulgaria in droves ekathimerini

Tokyo Overtakes Luanda As Most Expensive City For Expats Bloomberg

Obama says he was too busy to campaign in Wisconsin recall election Washington Post. Translation: since I didn’t go there, the results means squat for my campaign. But (as least as of this hour) the WaPo has a really unattractive Obama photo with the article. Hhhm.

SCOTUS Kills Habeas Corpus Marcy Wheeler (Eureka Springs)

Unkovic to US, Corbett: Stop PA ‘corruption,’ ‘unchecked greed‘ Philly (Paul Tioxon)

Family Net Worth Drops to Level of Early ’90s, Fed Says New York Times

Gramm-Hubbard: So Many Misconceptions, So Little Time Econospeak

What’s next for the U.S. Dollar? QE3? Alex Mark (Scott)

How the Fed is Killing S&Ls, and Why You Should Care John Carney, CNBC

House Republicans Try to Create the World’s Worst Criminogenic Environment Bill Black, New Economic Perspectives

Will Globalization Go Bankrupt? Michael Pettis

Making Banks Boring Adam Levitin, Credit Slips

Treasury Confirms That HAMP Being Used for Settlement Relief Dave Daye, Firedoglake

Bankers Complain of Tension With Fed Over Pay Restrictions WSJ Economics Blog

Loophole at MF Global Is Headache for Regulators Wall Street Journal

Viewing Financial Crimes as Economic Homicide New York Times. But these were crimes against the rich, not ordinary people.

* * *

Lambert here:

D – 88 and counting*

“If you can keep your head when all around you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you….” –Rudyard Kipling, If

Occupy. Occupy Toronto retrospective: “Many people were skeptical of Occupy’s ability to hold down a camp for even one night, so when the nights continued, organizers were caught off guard by the sheer amount of work it would take to maintain and uphold that success. Because, let’s face it, while the camp was awesome, it took a whole lot of effort just to hold down a long term encampment with the constant fear of police eviction, worrying about having enough food to feed everyone at the camp, escalations between different individuals and negotiating between different political tendencies.”

Montreal. International Economic Forum: “Even police appeared befuddled by the lack of protesters. One police officer left the defensive line to talk to Mr. Marcoux and ask him where everybody was. He asked whether there was some delay, or whether droves would suddenly show up later.” Stay classy: Protester Mathieu Girard discovered the lifeless body of his sister, who died unexpectedly. The police then arrested him while he was driving to the funeral. Lawyer Veronique Robert: People accused of mischief will usually receive a summons by mail or be asked to sign a promise to appear. ‘Nothing justifies an arrest like this on Highway 20’.” Profiling: Nadeau-Dubois (CLASSE): “In the past few weeks, and especially this past weekend, there was a systematic search for people wearing red squares. This is extremely disturbing for our democracy. Wearing a red square is not dangerous.” “The hordes of people, the neighbourhood movements, spontaneous and unifying, coming onto the streets each night to bang on pots and pans are calling not only for elections or for Jean Charest’s resignation. They are clearly calling for a new social contract, a “new deal” to be based on respect and most of all on our rights to a decent life, a healthy environment and a democracy by all and for all.” First “manifestation [demonstration] à vélo [bicycle] à Montréal.” No, they’re not nude. Damn!

CO. “Strategists on the right and left point to Colorado’s key unaffiliated voters, particularly in Arapahoe, Jefferson and Larimer counties — the bloc that helped Obama to victory in 2008.”

FL. Voter purge: “‘The Florida’s Secretary of State office will be filing a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to give us that [SAVE] database,’ Scott said. The DHS representative also cautioned that even if Florida could use SAVE, it would not paint a complete picture of who is a U.S. citizen.”

IA. Obama’s “Jobs” teebee ad: “Running against the R-controlled House of Representatives may not be a bad strategy, but I can’t take this ad seriously. … Obama stiffed middle-class government workers in the name of deficit reduction, yet was willing to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans in December 2010. I don’t care how many times he calls for ‘asking the wealthiest Americans to pay a little more.’ I flat-out do not believe he will go to the mat against another extension of the Bush tax cuts for all income levels later this year.”

ME. Angus King: “‘I’ve come to realize that an unencumbered U.S. senator is a profound threat to the whole system.'” Also, too, the white moustache.

MN. “[W]e don’t know how leaners really vote. I believe the strongs are the most engaged and the most persuadable!”

ND. “Oil companies in North Dakota reported more than 1,000 accidental releases of oil, drilling wastewater or other fluids in 2011, about as many as in the previous two years combined. Many more illicit releases went unreported.” (MR)

NY. “The Conservative Party has issued a memo to legislators, warning against action to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes and to roll back laws governing how “public” pot possession is treated.”

OH. “House Bill 278 [gave] the Ohio Department of Natural Resources sole authority to regulate oil and gas wells, stripping local governments of any authority over placement or permitting of wells. Nearly 400 new wells have been permitted in [Cuyahoga County] since passage of the state law, according data provided by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.” “Ohio State’s Board of Trustees is moving toward privatizing the parking at the university. Despite opposition from faculty, and students, it appears that the decision has been made for a 50 year agreement with an Australian company, QIC.” Who’s advising the Trustees? William Daley? “After slashing and burning their way into control of the ORP, supposedly to rid it of corruption, Kasich’s people have hired Matt Borges as Executive Director, a guy who pled guilty to political corruption charges, and Dave Luketic, one of the individuals specifically named in the complaint that initiated the Kasich-focused FBI investigation.”

PA. “The panel charged with redrawing state House and Senate maps passed its final plan Friday, voting 4-1 to in favor of those submitted by R members. It’s the second time the Legislative Reapportionment Commission sent a proposal to the PA Supreme Court for approval; its initial maps were rejected by the Court.”

TX. “Public aversion to the term [“fracking”] likely results from the harsh consonants and perhaps the obvious similarity to a certain other four-letter word.”

WI. Obama explains recall no-show: “The truth of the matter is that as President of the United States, I have a lot of responsibilities.” He’s not that into you! “[S]ome union members continue to question the union’s pre-primary endorsement of Kathleen Falk and donations to her campaign after polls showed her behind eventual D nominee Tom Barrett. ‘Rage is what it is — absolutely, completely,’ [Dan Meehan] said. ‘My members don’t feel they’ve got a voice anymore.'” “[T]he Occupational Safety and Health Administration has twice fined [pizza maker] Palermo’s for safety violations that resulted in workers having a body part amputated.”

Grand Bargain™-brand Catfood watch. John Ellis, strategery : “The framed choice for the white voters who will decide this election is this: Who do you think will better protect the interests of working-class and middle-class families when the inevitable cuts are packaged? Only a D can be trusted to properly right-size the great D social welfare programs. This is, at least, potentially, a winning argument for the president. This is, at least, potentially, a winning argument for the president. More to the point, it’s the only argument, politically speaking, that he has left.” Only Nixon can go to China; only Obama can gut Social Security. Sounds plausible! (also). Andrew Sullivan, strategery: “Obama should say to voters what Clinton did: we all know we’re going to have to sacrifice.” Whaddaya mean, “we”? And that’s exactly what Obama promised in his inaugural. And speaking of sacrifice: “The Federal Reserve said the median net worth of families plunged by 39 percent in just three years, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010.”

Inside Baseball. “The argument of free-market economists that productivity determines wages and profits is mistaken. Productivity determines the over-all size of the pie. How it is distributed depends on a variety of factors, including relative bargaining strength, international competition, labor laws, and the results of elections. Economics and politics aren’t separate spheres.” Americans Select: “Just for the sake of the historical record, the eleven candidates who received the most clicks are: Buddy Roemer 6,293; *Rocky Anderson 3,390; Michealene Risley 2,351; Lawrence Kotlikoff 2,027; T. J. O’Hara 584; Mike Ballantine 425; Blake Ashby 269; Dwight Smith 229; Stuart Hillman 180; Beck Sanderson 170; *Merlin Miller 148; Michael Levinson 136. [* = still running] Predicting the future: Emory study: “Only the stock market really matters. … Cause and effect are tricky here. According to the Emory team, it’s not actually the stock market that causes voters to vote for or against the incumbent. Instead the researchers believe stock market up or down trends simply reflect the national mood” (compare).

Policy. ObamaCare: Handy chart on health exchange progress. Immigration: [“T]he policy of deporting primarily those with a criminal record had in practice been turned on its head. The study, based on court records, found that the number of deportations ordered because of criminal activity had in fact decreased in the past 12 months and that the ‘agency continues to be headed in the opposite direction from its stated goal.'”

Jawbs. “Without this hidden austerity program, the economy would look very different. If state and local governments had followed the pattern of the previous two recessions, they would have added 1.4 million to 1.9 million jobs and overall unemployment would be 7.0 to 7.3 percent instead of 8.2 percent” (keen chart). EJ Dionne: “It is past time that we affirm government’s ability to heal the economy, and its responsibility for doing so.” Tuesday, January 20, 2009 was the time for that. “Doing fine”: “That was an unfortunate line. The president bungled the line. The truth is, the private sector is doing better than the public sector, which is not well enough,” said Krugman on CBS’s “This Morning.”

The trail. Tomasky: “The Obama people may not be up against a good candidate. But they are up against a strong campaign team and a large and bumptious class of rich people who are stupid or selfish enough to think that what Obama has been doing amounts to war on them.” You tell ’em, Mikey! It’s not war on the rich at all! Rahm: “It’s five states, 500 precincts. That’s what I believe” Or wants you to. Gun walking: “CBS News has learned the House Oversight Committee will vote next week on whether to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.”

Romney. “Mitt Romney will begin a five-day bus tour through small towns in six battleground states this week.”

Obama. Obama’s first black radio ad: “Four years ago we made history. Now it’s time to move forward and finish what we started together. We have to show the President we have his back.” “The television markets for [Obama’s] interviews are in R-leaning parts of presidential election swing states — Green Bay, WI; Roanoke, VA; Jacksonville, FL; Sioux City, IA; Colorado Springs, CO; and Reno, NV — as well as Fresno in solidly D CA, and Greenville in solidly R SC.”

* 88 days ’til the Democratic National Convention feasts in a Petit Trianon-styled soup kitchen on the floor of the Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, NC. The modern piano has 88 keys.

* * *

Antidote du jour:

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69 comments

    1. Aquifer

      The gator – “Rats, they just purged me from the roles – again! Thought i was a croc … Idiots, don’t they know I always vote Rep.!”

  1. rjs

    re: Family Net Worth Drops to Level of Early ’90s, Fed Says

    this cites the Fed consumer finances report:
    http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/scf/scf_2010.htm

    can anyone explain to me why the household net worth in this consumer finances report is so much lower than the household net worth reported last week by the Fed’s “flow of funds”?
    http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/default.htm

    the former cites a figure around $77K; the latter gives national household net worth at $62.9 trillion, around $200K per…

    1. Goin' South

      Median vs. mean.

      And the scale of the difference emphasizes the huge and growing inequality in the country.

  2. fresno dan

    “Plenty to Hide ACLU. Per Nathan “”Great answers to dumb questions.”

    The thing that gets me is the sheer hypocrisy. The Police arrest people who photograph them while they are doing their job. The police are PUBLIC employees, being paid, on public streets, doing a job that can cause the imprisonment or even execution of a citizen, for which the most important aspect is objective REALITY. WHAT DO THEY GOt TO HIDE?????
    And yet, their is no group that wants more to disguise what they are doing….unless it is the conversations between our congressmen and the people who influence legislation.

  3. FrankB

    Obama flew from Minnesota to Illinois during the recall campaign. Wisconsin is flyover country.

    1. ambrit

      Dear E.S.;
      I’m still trying to understand how Luanda ever got on that list to begin with. Do you have to hire ‘live in’ bodyguards or somethin’?

  4. Feculent Vomitus

    This spotlight on kleptocratic looting of our wealth (-39%!!) makes it clear that this president, like his predecessor, is going to be an ablative for public outrage. The banks are going to burn him to shield their mafiya state. Let them throw the bum out, give the proles a little catharsis to keep the racket going. The onset of recession is ideally timed to make him a manifest failure. It’s going to be great fun watching them make a punching bag of this supercilious phony and his party of sleazy quislings. You need a brutal rout of Dems to clear the way for programmatic NGOs and internationalism from below and other crucial purgatives.

      1. F. Beard

        I reckon Obama is doomed if American’s vote their pocket-books?

        Serves him right, of course, for being timid when bold action is required.

        1. Nathanael

          Not really. It’s a situation like several in the Gilded Age; neither candidate seems particularly attractive and they both have records. Obama could easily win just because Romney “likes firing people” (actual quote).

  5. Walter Wit Man

    Thierry Meyssan reports that the United States is preparing a psychological attack against Syria. As they did in Libya, they intend to take over the airwaves and knock any Syrian television off air.

    http://www.voltairenet.org/NATO-preparing-vast-disinformation

    There have evidently been meetings to prepare the operation.

    We have already seen the West’s dirty work in Syria where they have used the media, like CNN, to air propaganda blaming Assad for violence in order to justify an attack on Syria.

    1. Nathanael

      Uh, whatever. Assad is actually responsible for massive violence in Syria, as *independent* Middle Eastern media confirms. The US has done nothing much and because Russia doesn’t want the US to, the US will probably do nothing much.

      1. Walter Wit Man

        “Independent” my fanny. You mean like the “independent” Egyptian television show I link to below where they call on your “freedom” fighter friends to kill women and children? That one?

        You are pushing blatant falsehoods. If anyone is getting paid to promote killing–it is you.

        I have no natural inclination to support Assad. I don’t care about him. I knew next to nothing about him a year ago. But I can use my brain and pay attention.

        And Assad is getting rolled by the West. Syria is getting rolled. The innocent civilians of that ancient state are going to get killed. The West IS SLITTING THESE KIDS’ THROATS in that village you sick apologist for murderers.

        If you have taken the time to look into the reporting, like you claim, then you have no excuse to be pushing your falsehoods.

        1. citalopram

          Take a deep breath.

          Inhale…….exhale.

          Inhale…….exhale.

          Feels better, doesn’t it?

  6. jsmith

    Here’s a great read:

    It appears that a British journalist is reporting that the Syrian “rebels” set him and his crew up to be killed by the Syrian army so they could be used to further the march to war.

    Instead of leading the journalists back to safety, those noble freedom-loving souls of the Syrian rebels led them into a free-fire zone.

    Oops.

    Surely an accident.

    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jun2012/thom-j12.shtml

    Would some world leader get some f*cking courage and stand up to the fascist American empire and its war criminal leaders?

      1. Walter Wit Man

        This is subtle propaganda. You have to look closely to see it.

        He’s basically trying to give the impression of an independent reporter. And it’s true, he does enjoy more independence than other Westerne “reporters,” like at CNN. He is one of the few that have actually gone in officially and were able to travel the country more freely. And like those others, he’s reporting critically on “rebels.”

        Thierry Meyssan, who I cite above, has also reported from both sides. He reported during the “seige of Homs, earlier this year, that the FSA were holding civilians hostage and executing people who tried to escape.

        Anyway, I suspect Mr. Thomson is only pretending to be critical of the FSA in order to push his propaganda that the Assad “regime” is slaughtering its citizens and cutting the throats of children. Believe it or not, there is more evidence the U.S. is engaging in these crimes. In fact, liberal Americans giving money to Avaaz may even be indirectly responsible.

    1. Walter Wit Man

      Finally read the blog post, thanks.

      I find it very odd that the journalist recounts his harrowing tale about the FSA but at the end implies it was the Syrian government who was responsible for cutting the necks of children.

      On the one hand he is reporting critical news about the fighters, which we usually don’t get in Western reports. Plus, he’s one of the few Westerners that applied for permission from the Syrian government. Btw, I would like for him to report on this process b/c the Western press makes it sound like Syria won’t allow them access but I don’t think this is true and the Western media sneaks in with the rebels to make it appear the government is biased–plus they are embedded with the rebels b/c they are pro-rebel.

      I would think that he would start asking more critical questions about the massacre after he saw how the rebels treated him. But instead he seems to be using his status as independent reporter to spread lies about the massacre.

        1. Walter Wit Man

          As “Syria Girl” says in a recent update, foreign powers are to blame for the war in Syria. They have been arming and organizing the attacks for over a year and they finally succeeded in getting Syria to attack itself, as Syria Girl says. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGoRec5gGJY&feature=plcp

          Note that she reports on the Syrian army operation to attack these terrorist forces–Syria has finally had enough and is stepping up the military tactics. These are basic facts the West does not report. Western media is completely corrupt and complicit and has lied to us about events in Syria. This was always a Western-backed attack sytled as a “civil war”, just like Libya. In fact, the Western media is actually working directly with the terrorists to conduct attacks and produce propaganda pieces!

          Syria Girl is right to point the blame at Clinton, Rice, Soros, Lieberman, et al. for the war in Syria.

          1. Nathanael

            This reeks of Assad propaganda.

            The Syrian Civil War appears just like most other civil wars: internally motivated. And, like several of the recent ones, triggered by “austerity” measures which reduced the standard of living.

            Some of you people think that American agents are a lot smarter than they actually are. They’re playing catch-up and trying to co-opt the situation. Maybe they’ll succeed, maybe they won’t, but *they didn’t see any of it coming*, let alone plan it.

          2. stripes

            The 1%, are nothing but war fomenters, disease spreading wealth stealing pariahs via their illumati perps.

      1. jsmith

        Disagree with you on this one, WWM, though I agree with you on most.

        Although the story he links to does say that in the title it’s the fault of the Syrian army the article is a bit more ambiguous as to casting blame.

        Also, the fact that this guy’s story has been shitcanned by the station he’s working for is a bit too subtle for our propagandists, IMO.

        I’m very wary of all war “journalists” – Marie Colvin, eg. – but when any person finds that they were setup to die for propagandistic reasons it probably would get you a tad miffed no matter if one was on the take or not.

        1. Walter Wit Man

          Good points. The more I think about it maybe you are right . . . but I’m glad you recognize the reason for my extreme skepticism regarding the news in Syria.

          “Marie Colvin” is but one example of dirty tricks in Syria (and btw, I did my own personal research on her b/c I found it so fascinating). From my 6 months of digging into the reporting on Syria there are very few, if any, sources I trust.

          Here’s why I am skeptical of the source above:

          1. As you note, the news station is spiking the story by relegating it to the reporter’s blog. I know this is probably outside the reporter’s control, but it’s a suspicious fact for a news org to spike original reports of its reporter coming under attack. Also, I think this is precisely the way perps would introduce this information if they were controlled opposition. It creates sympathy for the reporter and his cause to see this pertinent information being spiked. It makes people like us trust him more.

          2. His story isn’t that convincing. I’m not saying it’s not true, but it is not a strong description of a sabotage attack by the FSA. His description of FSA actions reads more like intimidation and harrassment, not an assassination attempt.

          3. The quote about kids necks being cut . . . maybe you’re right and I’m misinterpreting it. It’s such an emotional subject it really is hard to get a grasp on what everyone’s intentions are, etc. Maybe the reporter is upset his post is only on the blog and not a story and is trying to show his editors the “newsworthiness” of his report. Maybe he’s upset with the previous story because the headline blamed the Syrian government for the killings and he doesn’t think it’s accurate so maybe his reference to it was his was of saying maybe the rebels committed the crimes?

          I don’t know. Maybe I’m on a hair trigger and too paranoid/suspicious. Maybe.

          1. Synopticist

            I think you are.
            Not every journo is a shill all the time.
            There’s horrible people on either side, and both the Sunni Gulf arabs and the Iranians are intervening on their own accounts.

          2. Walter Wit Man

            Did I say that I thought EVERY journo is a shill ALL the time?

            No.

            But you’re wrong if you’re implying that I am too cynical about reporting on Syria. It simply is amazing. The New York Times and CNN are actually actively reporting fake news. As are most other Western reporters. They literally are working for the military to attack Syria.

            What is your evidence that Iran is intervening? How so? You mean to attack the FSA or to protect against a Turkish invasion? I don’t get the sense Iran is killing people there.

    2. Up the Ante

      Probably linked in some ancillary way to the mischief various of the Bekaa Valley.

  7. PQS

    Re: Family Net Worth:

    Every single time I get an email from Zillow, this reality is confirmed.

    Most middle class people had at least some equity in their homes prior to the GEM – now, well, it’s like that “pension” and 401K – a pale shadow of its former self.

  8. Aquifer

    The picture of the nuns in the article – may the Force be with them ….

    Pope as Emperor – now all we need is Leia Skywalker …

  9. abelenkpe

    Family Net Worth Drops to Level of Early ’90s, Fed Says

    And that is where home prices should be as well. But they aren’t.

  10. Susan the other

    Michael Pettis. Will Globalization Go Bankrupt? His article from 6 years ago was expecting the worst based on history. The history of liquidity chasing returns. The new catch phrase is ‘economic sustainability’ however. So this analysis might have run its own course.

    If globalization waxes and wanes with global liquidity because the returns increasingly dry up, at some point the liquidity will have to be based on actual value. Not just thin air. The part of globalization that will go bankrupt is the part that was bankrupt from the get go.

    In future the only progress will be progress based on the demand for value, not mindless manufacturing and trade; not the profits from labor arbitrage. Instability is inherent in gambling so stop the casino. Liquidity needs to be defined by the thing it will accomplish. That leaves out derivatives and other weird things meant only to protect profit, and focuses on what is to be accomplished. Clean up China’s estuaries, clean up the air in Beijing, go 100% solar and wind, bring back all the honeybees poisoned off by pesticides; fund sensible research into genetics and celllular biology. Betcha China gets there before we do because they do not worship profit. They are currently paying their SOE labor expenses with an inflation spread. That can probably go on for a long time.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      There are many reasons against globalization.

      Not sure if this one has been mentioned. We learn when we do things. There is inherent value in work other than getting paid. It satiated the soul. One acquires skills, etc.

      When you buy cheaper imports, you rob yourselves of that.

      Do we always want cheaper things?

      Does it matter if an average family can afford 50 import T shirts a year instead of just 5 if you buy domestic?

      If we protect non essential items that we current dispose of before the next season begins, does your quality of life deteriorate?

      1. stripes

        People are brainwashed into thinking they are saving money buying from the foreign owned multinationals. They don’t see the big picture. Their so called “big savings” at Wallyworld and Sam’s is contributing heavily to the lousy economy. Every dime we are spending on their monopoly board is going to support this NWO regime that wants to steal our National Sovereignty. With the few bucks they “think” they are saving they are handing to the Saudis at the gas pump and other foreign enemies of America. The utility bills, the tax money, the mortgage $$$, sporting events like going to a ballgame…all going to the haters of freedom and independence abroad. GLOBALIZATION..HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW…..?

    2. financial matters

      Not sure if Michael Pettis is making some recommendations or suggestions here or just recounting history..

      “”When that occurs, policy debates will be influenced by the less emotional and more thoughtful attacks on globalization by the likes of Robert Wade, a professor of political economy at the London School of Economics, who argues forcefully that globalization has actually resulted in greater global income inequality and worse conditions for the poor.””

      I think globalization definitely needs to be rethought out along these terms. Michael seems to be suggesting that the megabanks and corporations should be given fairly free reign as they allow some trickle down effect after gorging themselves on profits..

      Why allow the banks to suck the liquidity out of the system when other more equitable ways of sovereighnty funding are available?

  11. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

    The children…our 99% children will not be able to buy at the current home prices with they will make if they can find work.

    We are robbing of their dreams.

    On the other end, Mr Senile is stealing from seniors not on defined benefit pensions their life expectancy with his Zero Interest Rate Policy.

    But you are over leveraged corporations, you are being cared for.

  12. kevinearick

    Peer Tyranny vs Individual Initiative

    Each iteration begins with ignition of the remaining black hole, which in this case is the virtual reservation system on the global IC chip, and the natives have already recognized $17T of the $600+T in sunk costs. Where must the surplus originate to reboot the system?

    So long as the manufactured majority seeks to prosecute the elite robots employing it, the status quo collapse will accelerate. It can get quite ugly, hence FIRE and Nero.

    The politicians have been kind enough to isolate the firefighter and police unions. Let’s see what happens next. What is labor’s contribution to the economy? What has labor’s return been over the last two generations? What is the essential nature of energy stored in explicit and implicit bonds? Only your own can sell you out.

    The doctors made a ton of money off that surgeons manual, and the software engineers made a ton of money off that dc computer, but what did the tyrant learn about law enforcement in the concentration camps?

    If you run an independent surplus, peer pressure directs the robots, from the machine, to hunt you down and force you to join, making it unlawful to operate beyond the empire with common law, revoking the at-will constitution, and closing the contact set between opposite independents, which are emigrating to quantum threshold.

    Joining a group of independents, all running deficits, led by a dependent, running an artificial surplus, makes learning difficult, but it can be done, by acting uniquely beyond their perception. Ruling out that which is not unique is ALPHA.

    The womb is the HOLY GRAIL, but the p-y is not all powerful. Not every man takes the bait at the church entrance, or the gutter drain, the false choice, and it still takes two to tango. When the womb of civilization is rendered dormant by empire replication, devolution, it must be re-ignited by complimentary alpha, to create space time for its children, the OMEGA.

    The male instinct is to disperse the seed broadly. The female instinct is to mate with intellect, while deploying the male body against itself. Choose a complimentary mate to produce enduring love, in HOLY MATRIMONY, as you traverse the empire in parallel. Build your nest in the neutral return, where your children will prosper in relationship with nature, to build the KINGDOM of GOD from the remnants of empire.

    The human body is a sexual machine, with a flight or fight autonomous system. The intellect games the result with artificial repression, incrementally profiting on the positive anxiety feedback normalization. Spirit shorts the resulting empire, transferring the gain to a more effective individual sovereignty, in quantum leaps we call constitutions.

    Stupidity is the devil, robots programmed by an education system designed to short intellect, by intellects with spirits similarly shorted by empire replication. Alpha nets independent minded children. Why would any thinking person accept the Fed’s definition of productivity as the pivot assumption embedded in the reserve currency? Employ gravity or be employed by it.

    Liberty is the integral, responsibility is the gate, and the empire is the derivative. Multiply the empire currency by the communal productive value of your customer, to implicitly enable community. Adjust RE to neutralize FIRE, and watch the flow of goods and services.

    NPV leverage, community health, depends upon children from nuclear families. Shift the variable derivative data of non-nuclear arrangements back to see for yourself. Agency simply misdirects outcome responsibility with RE finance under its control, insuring against loss with later dated insurance against loss.

    Children must choose of their own free will to educate themselves, which is a function of examples in the environment. Non-nuclear family is a multiplying dimension, but alone it is a dead end for NPV leverage, without which financial leverage collapses, which is what you are witnessing.

    Agency profits on the misdirection of time delayed anxiety. We all have different needs in many and growing dimensions. Fathers provide mothers with space, to raise children on the margin where organic growth originates. The snake oil salesman begins by denying opportunity cost and goes straight to equal rights, to build the cookie cutter.

    The only place you are going to find equality is hell, the DNA churn pool. Robots want profit from choice, and delay loss recognition with government insurance, to future generations, demanding equality to drive inequality. The only possible outcome is tyranny, in the form of interest and persecution.

    On the explicit corporate side, there is no individual sovereignty. The certified leader leads the ponzi robots in circles, in search of equality, measuring the economic activity of reinforcing the virtual bridge, until the debt is recognized and it collapses. On the implicit labor side, the individual with the best solution at the time it is required installs the next piece of the next bridge.

    The system distills alpha males and omega females across a space time fulcrum, which the empire requires, but cannot explicitly tolerate. We all play make-believe until we don’t, and it blows up.

    The robots have simply replicated themselves into lessor selves, in a digital cloud. Broadcast right through it. When you have completed the next set of equations and designed the ones to follow, run data through the completed set. All they know how to do is distill data to static equations for later reduction, or not. That’s it. Never defend a bridge; accelerate time.

    Love is an investment in foresight. Effective parents place children in the CAPTAINS CHAIR, which they may move at will. The ADMIRALS sit in the back, up in the balcony. Space exploration runs through the neutral line, not across History.

    While government launches preemptive cyber attacks, on itself, labor builds AI applications to ignite the next black hole. If you can build a better bridge, do so. Male, female, black or white has nothing to do with opportunity.

    At what oil price do you expect PM to become structurally convex relative to your community VIX? Be weaned off empire currency by that time.

    Pavlov Empire Control:

    Nature
    Individual fight or flight
    Individual adaptation
    Individual sovereignty
    Dopamine
    Marital NPV leverage
    Community prosperity
    Community sovereignty
    Dopamine
    Looking glass neutral return
    Near miss + empire monetary expansion
    Individual maladaptation credit
    Corporate income
    Jobs
    Dopamine
    Miss + 2Xempire
    Individual anxiety + community maladaptive credit
    Corporate income + non-performing assets
    Financial leverage
    Jobs
    Dope
    Big miss + 3Xempire
    Individual bankruptcy + community entitlement
    Individual self medication
    Jobs
    4Xempire
    Community bankruptcy
    Community self medication
    Empire bankruptcy
    The robots are here, in artificial crises; where are you?
    DNA Churn Pool

    * note multiplication into recursion, stack, hash table, & heap

  13. jsmith

    New report in German newspaper puts blame for Houla massacre squarely on the rebels.

    It appears that while being bombarded by the Syrian army our friendly rebels set about massacring all of the Shia/Alawite people in the city that they could find as the population of Houla is 90% Sunni.

    (link to FAZ within linked article)

    http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/302261/report-rebels-responsible-houla-massacre-john-rosenthal#

    I’m sure this will put the false story to bed, right?

    1. YesMaybe

      I saw this, too. Kind of surprised to see National Review post something like this, though.

    2. Walter Wit Man

      Check out this chilling interview that aired in Syria in March: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0U9Rw6tVwI

      “Interviewer: “Is it permissible to kill ‘Alawites — their women and their children — in retaliation for their actions?”

      Muhammad Badi’ Moussa: “Yes, my brother. We have issued a communiqué to the ‘Alawites, in which we gave them a strong warning, which may be the last.

      “Our brothers in the Free Syrian Army sent queries to scholars in exile, , asking whether they were allowed to raid ‘Alawite villages, like the Zahra, Eqrima, and Nuzha suburbs of Homs. […]

      “Our brothers in the Free Syrian Army asked several sheikhs and scholars for a fatwa on whether they are allowed to kill [‘Alawite] women and children, just as they are killing our women and children.”

      So this is the type of propaganda that Soros and Move On and Obama and Clinton are paying for in Syria. Then they knock all other television off the air and simply air fake news and sick propaganda like this.

      1. Nathanael

        You have absolutely no evidence that Soros or MoveOn is funding anything in Syria. Are right-wingers paying you to make these slanders?

  14. Hugh

    The DC Circuit has some real wild-eyed reactionary types on it who routinely rule against habeas corpus petitions from Guantanamo detainees in even the most egregious cases.

    The Supreme Court when it denies certiorari and refuses to hear these cases usually does so with a bare order with no explanation. Since all these petitions go through the DC Circuit, the Supreme Court has effectively established a precedent for the denial of habeas corpus to detainees in the war on terror without officially doing so.

    What this amounts to is a gutting of the 2008 Boumediene decision which held that non-military, non-citizen persons held in the custody of the US had a Constitutional right to petition for relief under habeas corpus. Boumediene was a 5-4 decision and, as I noted at the time, Kennedy, the crucial fifth vote, had largely voted as he did because he saw the 2005 Detainee Treatment Act’s blanket denial of habeas as a violation of the separation of powers and an encroachment on judicial turf. Kennedy never struck me as interested in standing up for the rights of Boumediene. I think the denial of cert in all these cases vindicates that view. Kennedy wanted to make a point about the scope of judicial powers. Once that point was made with regard to the other two branches, he had no problem with the DC Circuit, that is the judicial branch, eliminating habeas corpus in practice.

    I do not mean to lay off all the blame on Kennedy, however. The truth is it takes 4 justices to sign off on a writ of certiorari for the Court to hear a case. To all intents and purposes that means Breyer, Ginzburg, Sotomayor, and Kagan. I wonder if Kagan is taking a pass on these cases because of her stint as Solicitor General. Believing as she does in broad Executive powers, I suspect she would have voted against cert in these and similar cases anyway. But because there is no opinion with these denials, we simply don’t know. It could be one or more of them.

  15. Walter Wit Man

    For those interested in the Nixon/Watergate discussion from the other day, here’s an interesting report from Robert Parry, http://consortiumnews.com/2012/06/12/the-dark-continuum-of-watergate/. He claims the Plumbers Unit of Watergate fame was actually created in 1968 as a way to steal documents relating to Nixon’s scuttling of a possible peace deal with Vietnam that LBJ was working on.

    Seems like disinformation to me on a first look . . .

    1. jsmith

      Although Parry’s work on Iran-Contra and other topics has been beneficial, the man really lost me when he went on a tirade against 9/11 “truthers” last year.

      http://www.consortiumnews.com/2011/011511.html

      For a person who’s detailed such conspiracies as Watergate, Iran-Contra, the Gary Webb saga, etc to so blatantly dismiss and ridicule people who have correctly come to the conclusion that the official 9/11 story is horseshit, there aren’t many options left as to what to think about said person.

      He joins the ranks of other prominent “leftists” – Hedges, Rall, Chomsky – who just can’t seem to bring themselves to the point of questioning the gospel of 9/11 and all of its shitfoolery.

      Instead of digging deeper into events that happened more than 40 years ago, Parry would do better educating himself what happened to start the War on Terror.

      1. Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan Sirhan

        Listened to Chomsky talking about it today, as it happens. His point seemed to be 1.) So get it in a refereed journal; and 2.) Suppose you prove it, whatta ya gonna do about it? All you can do – and it’s a vital first step – is to stop pretending you live in a democracy. Sure, your so-called freedom and your vox populi is so drummed into your identity that it kills ya to let it go, but then at least you can stop registering your preferences with people who don’t give a shit what you think, and face it: anything that gets done will come about through civil society or parallel government or at best, disruptive resistances.

        1. jsmith

          Yeah, I know Chomsky’s take but I really think that’s a coward’s rationalization for not coming forward and stating the truth.

          He knows full well how much respect his voice garners in certain portions of society and for him to be like ‘meh’ is a bit too much.

          If American society was shown that what happened on 9/11 was not really what we were told it would go a long way to waking some people up.

          Meh. So the Gulf of Tonkin was a false flag. Who cares?

          Meh. So Oswald didn’t solely kill JFK. What’ll it change?

          Meh. So Iraq didn’t have WMD? Piffle.

          I mean, Noam, where does that justification end and why don’t you use it when talking about ANY OTHER of the topics you discuss and research.

          Why does 9/11 get the “brush off”?

          This should have happened from the beginning – 9/12 – and people like Chomsky et al let a lot of their fellow citizens – citizens who looked to him and the others as models of truth and investigation – to twist in the wind and be labeled nuts.

          He’s at least a coward and at worst – who knows?

          1. Up the Ante

            Very good with that “9/12”, the day when new and actually even darker conspiracies were launched by truly countless numbers of ‘FAILS’.

            ta da!

      2. Walter Wit Man

        Interesting. Didn’t know that about his 9/11 gate keeping.

        Actually, as I note above about the media re Syria, I now believe most of our kulture is controlled–including people that seem to be critical like Parry. But even though people like Parry can be perps they tell like 90% truth. That’s how they earn our trust as gatekeepers.
        Often times they reveal major things in the beginning to earn our trust and then slowly lead us down a false path.

        Like the ‘no planes’ theory of 9/11 or the use of a controlled media on 9/11. Actually, there is quite a drama going on in the Truth community because Simon Shack (Hyten), one of the first guys to promote the ‘no plane’ theory, is accused of being controlled opposition. [His brother was sponsored by bin laden when he raced cars in the 80s as well as there being other odd facts]

        The people you mention above are on my “long term sleeper perp list.” Hedges . . . and Chomsky are on there. These are guys that are mostly left but have a few issues they run interference on . . . like promoting voting for Democrats for Chomsky . . . and attacking the Anarchists and disrupting Occupy for Hedges. They both poo poo conspiracy theories, which Chomsky does in a clever way. I’m also leery of having him as lead plaintiff in the test case for NDAA.

        Btw, Hedges saw jumpers on 9/11 and body parts. Bullshit. This is yet another reason I think he’s a perp. And I hate to say it, but Glen Ford was also a witness on 9/11 (he saw a van), which makes me go, huh. I can take you down the rabbit hole on that one . . . but I’ll leave it for another day . . . I like Glen Ford a lot and don’t suspect him, just one red flag so far.

        Hell, my list got much bigger based on Syria alone. That made me realize the extent that these websites are filled with perps.

        1. Walter Wit Man

          Simon Hytten: http://letsrollforums.com/simon-shacks-brother-mario-t28060.html

          It’s quite amazing to see the discord that has been created.

          Oh, and I now think the “Loose Change” guys are gate keepers as well!

          I know it sounds crazy. That’s partly why it’s designed this way. And I love both movies from these perps! Both “Loose Change” and “September Clues” are good introductions.

          That’s why they are subtle perps. Like Alex Jones. They’re 90% right, but their mission is to mislead on the 10%.

          1. Walter Wit Man

            Not the whole world, of course. The U.S. and Britain are probably the top conspirators over the last 100 years . . . at least. They were the big winners the Global Game of Risk, and seem particularly suited to the task of conspiracies.

            Howard Zinn had it right in that we need to drastically review what we’ve been told about our history. We’ve been lied to massively. Our secret history is more important than the official history we are taught, so studying “conspiracy” theories is actually more informative and useful than consuming media “news.”

          2. Walter Wit Man

            And how can you blame people for getting suspicious when the president of the United States is going through some comedy routine, I mean reading this now I wonder if they were laughing while they were delivering their lines:

            “Do we have it?” Nixon asked his chief of staff H.R. “Bob” Haldeman. “”I’ve asked for it. You said you didn’t have it.”

            Haldeman responded, “We can’t find it.”

            National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger added, “We have nothing here, Mr. President.”

            Nixon: “Well, damnit, I asked for that because I need it.”

            Kissinger: “But Bob and I have been trying to put the damn thing together.”

            Haldeman: “We have a basic history in constructing our own, but there is a file on it.”

            Nixon: “Where?”

            Haldeman: “[Presidential aide Tom Charles] Huston swears to God that there’s a file on it and it’s at Brookings.”

            Nixon: “Bob? Bob? Now do you remember Huston’s plan [for White House-sponsored break-ins as part of domestic counter-intelligence operations]? Implement it.”

            Kissinger: “Now Brookings has no right to have classified documents.”

            Nixon: “I want it implemented. … Goddamnit, get in and get those files. Blow the safe and get it.”

            Haldeman: “They may very well have cleaned them by now, but this thing, you need to –“

            Kissinger: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Brookings had the files.”

            Haldeman: “My point is Johnson knows that those files are around. He doesn’t know for sure that we don’t have them around.”

            “Unknown to Nixon, however, President Lyndon Johnson had ordered his national security adviser, Walt Rostow, to take the file out of the White House before Nixon was sworn in on Jan. 20, 1969. Rostow labeled it “The ‘X’ Envelope” and kept it until after Johnson’s death in 1973 when Rostow turned it over to the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas, with instructions to keep it secret for decades.”

            It’s kind of hard not to blame Parry for coming up with a conspiracy theory. In fact, the main perps actually conspired to do something, burglar a building to get a piece of paper, which they tried to hide. This seems like a historical fact. But these other perps evidently secreted this piece of paper away for before the other perps could steal it and hid it for decades and decided not to tell America the real story because we can’t handle the truth?

            Whatever. It’s a confusing mix of facts. Even the official story involves a number of conspiracies. And we are supposed to be impressed because the Washington Post uncovered it. Ha.

          3. Up the Ante

            Yes, it became chic on 9/12, and yes, they are accepting volunteers ’til the end of time.

            Got time for that, does ‘ya ?

      3. Up the Ante

        “For a person who’s detailed such conspiracies as Watergate, Iran-Contra, the Gary Webb saga, etc to so blatantly dismiss and ridicule people who have correctly come to the conclusion that the official 9/11 story is horseshit, ”

        I’m sure you suspect it already, jsmith, it is simply cheek with a little bit of aging-related fatigue mixed in. Your other option is that they have gone fully insane, haha.

      1. Walter Wit Man

        Yeah, maybe Nixon and LBJ are a lot like Romney and Obama-fake fighting. Maybe this whole drama about Nixon getting involved in the peace negotiation in Vietnam was simply an excuse for Johnson to continue the war through the end of his term. Blame it on Nixon. And just like Romney, he was probably eager to take the blame.

        I also suspect Watergate and the Pentagon Papers were psychological/media operations. These were probably done to build trust in the media.

        They sold us the story that the Washington Post brought down a president for corruption. They sold us the story that a plucky reporter for the MSM can expose the ‘hard truths’ about the Pentagon and the Vietnam war, decades after they happened, and hold the politicians accountable, or something. It also made some heroes out of three guys . . .

        So yeah, don’t know if I buy the whole good guy, bad guy routine Parry is alleging here with Nixon and LBJ. He sounds like a partisan Democrat.

  16. skippy

    A song for reconstitution: Karise Eden sings Hallelujah

    Click play center screen, hit expand, HQ if your system allows and for bloody sake exit browser as soon as she is finished.

    http://www.thevoice.com.au/

    Skippy… maybe she will write a song called “The Day Altruism Died” the ashes of which make good camouflage for neocon – neoliberal cosmetic face paint…. empathy skinned to make my shiny economic rationalism suit blind everyone…. too – my – success!!!… with a chorus of…. Daddy when – I – Grow Up… can I squeeze the weak for all they got!!! Somebody got to show them how its done!!!

    PS. US tells Europe to stop bailing out their banks… HAHAHAHAHA! Whom was the first and too what tune… globally… HAHAHAHA!!!!!!

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