Ending Free Trade Vital For US Survival As Nation

A cartoon I drew over two years ago.

November 4, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

Since I am 100% against letting the Republicans run things any more, I am happy that Obama is probably going to win this election. It is time the US got beyond our own dark roots which is all about slavery and racism. A harmonious nation is one that has opportunities to all people of all races and all religions. I despise ethnic/religious dictatorships like the ones that litter the entire Middle East. The US nation is a nation, not a religious enclave. This is why I totally oppose Palin. She is a religious nut who wants the Apocalypse. And McCain is a lost soul. Wealth destroyed him. 

And there is no one running at the top two parties who understands what is going on here. If Obama does understand, he is forced to play with his own cards so close to his chest, even he can't appear to see them. This is due to our media as well as our business class. The terror of our system is from these forces: they are united in trying to keep the US on track to go down into deindustrialized hell. 

Great wealth is being concentrated at the top via the modern system which is all about luring the American people deeper and deeper into debt. Collectively as well as individually, we owe more and more and save less and less. We are encouraged to do this as our entire banking and trade systems are reset so they encourage debt and destroy savings.  The virtues which we call 'old fashioned' are being reforged into a new, destructive moral code.

During the previous dozen elections, I have actually heard responsible adults say to me, 'Who cares about the next generation. I want tax cuts.' People who worry about their own grandchildren would vote for tax cuts which would burden their grandchildren's entire lives. When this is pointed out, a number of people would say, 'MY grandchildren won't have to worry!' 

There was and still is this pet belief that the grandparents would leave a great boon to the heirs and thus, make up for dumping a mountain of public debts on them. Alas, this belief is collapsing as the grandparents who voted for tax cuts are now piling debts on top of their own homes as they struggle to keep up with inflation.So an entire generation will probably inherit not only vast tax obligations but also will inherit virtually nothing. As I look along the great curve of history, it is not hard to see over the horizon. All we have to do is mentally take wing and fly into the dim future. We can see clearly if we see the past. People who live in the 'here and now' cannot foresee the future since they are often ignorant of the past.

  This collective ignorance of the past isn't the fault of the ordinary American voter. It is a fault of all the people at the very top. They are quite aware of the past. But instead of trying to understand it, they use it to justify the present. 

When 'The Decline and Fall of Rome' was written by Gibbon, this was done as a warning to the newly-born British Empire. Gibbon got bogged down in all the details of the Byzantine Empire and lost sight of the general sense of decline that afflicts all empires. But he needed to write a plain history for others, first. The historians and radical thinkers of the 19th century explored the fascinating topic of the decline and fall of all empires.  Even with this, many thinkers were filled with hubris: they thought their own empires were somehow different!

But none were. Even if an empire was built on the foundation of a democracy, they failed. We know this from history! The Athenian/Spartan imperial complex first killed off democracy and then fell to the sword of Macedonia. Then the new ruler, Alexander the Great, marched off to destroy other, older empires.  Empires that were failing internally even though they were at their own military zenith!

For this is the most startling feature of most imperial collapses: they happen when an empire is spending its greatest sums on self-defense. The British empire bled to death when it was its strongest, not weakest. WWI killed the British Empire. It continued to expand but was fatally wounded and it didn't take much a push to collapse it entirely in WWII.

In WWI, the British and French fought the Germans to a stand-still pretty quickly. In WWII, Germany swept in nearly effortlessly. Japan, in the East, rolled right over both French and English colonies with barely a pause. The lessons our 'Greatest Generation' has not learned from all this is obvious: the WWII propaganda is all about how great the West was and how our greatness defeated the Nazis and Japanese.

Not, how very weak the previous imperial rule of Europe had become. And why it was weakened.  Our Presidential candidates cannot run on a platform that discusses the loss of US military and diplomatic power. But it is a very necessary conversation for the US people! We can't evade this anymore.

England's industrial base was destroyed after WWI. Today, Britain has virtually no industries at all. They make believe that this is no tragedy. Why, Britain is just this small island complex! BUT SO IS JAPAN.  Is Japan deindustrializing itself? Obviously, not! There are now no British auto makers. There are still very big German and Japanese auto makers. No British subject runs any automobile systems. German and Japanese auto manufacturing plants are being built and run all over the planet!

 The US native auto industry is collapsing here at home. General Motors and Ford build more than half of their cars overseas. So they continue onwards. But they are deindustrializing the US relentlessly. It is only a matter of time before only foreign owners will be building any cars here. And they will do this only because it keeps political heat off of them. If they just export cars to the US, they get exposed to political calls for tariffs and barriers. 

One major feature of all imperial collapses is the problem of taxes and the increasing burden of past spending.  All empires basically go bankrupt. And a key component of this is military spending coupled with corruption at the core.  To fund the military, it ceases to be a joint effort of the people and becomes a privatized military system which protects only the wealthy and leaves the population as foreign interlopers who must be prevented from interfering with the ruling class.

We see this, again, in Britain: I read in the news this week that the government wants to bring in Gurkas from former colonies in Asia to patrol Britain!  These mercenaries are exactly like the ones Romans used to keep their own people at bay.  Bringing in foreigners who are of a different ethnic/religious group who will swear fealty ONLY to the ruling elites who pay them: this is a certain sign that the British people are finished as a political power.  They are now merely tax sheep to be sheered when necessary. 

It is a slow process: first, you let the population spend on bread and circuses.  Then, you enslave them with the burden of the debts caused by this largesse.

The United States already recruits our troops in foreign lands.  Then, our imperial overlords send these troops to other countries to occupy them and exploit the natives there.  This is tremendously expensive so the overlords merrily charge all of these expenses to the bills owed by the public at home.  That is, our grandchildren.  They will be enslaved by these military and trade bills we are charging to the future!

No one wants to stop this because it is right now, painless.  We imagine that if there were another Pearl Harbor, we would just up the output of our factories and....Britain could barely crawl along during WWII and certainly has no industrial base to activate today if they needed it again.  And the US is rapidly approaching this same, dire situation.  Now, on to the news today:  

Vote for ( ) By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Unfortunately, you’d barely know that from the presidential debates. Watching them in the context of the meltdown of the financial system was like watching a game show where the two contestants were kept off-stage in a soundproof booth and brought out to address the audience without knowing the context. Since the last debate, John McCain and Barack Obama have unveiled broad ideas about how to restore the nation’s financial health. But they continue to suggest that this will be largely pain-free. McCain says giving everyone a tax cut will save the day; Obama tells us only the rich will have to pay to help us out of this hole. Neither is true.

We are all going to have to pay, because this meltdown comes in the context of what has been “perhaps the greatest wealth transfer since the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917,” says Michael Mandelbaum, author of “Democracy’s Good Name.” “It is not a wealth transfer from rich to poor that the Bush administration will be remembered for. It is a wealth transfer from the future to the present.”

This is one of my earliest Friedman cartoons.  I was just learning to draw using the Wacom pad system.  This system is very difficult to master at first so I drew stick figures.  It was hellishly hard.  Instead of direct transmission of mind to paper, I had to draw in my lap while looking at the computer screen.  Very difficult to do at first!

Friedman is a top pundit.  He is also directly responsible for the destruction of the entire US industrial base.  He is the front man for destroying our nation.  Just this week, an African man was sentenced to prison for committing international crimes when he supported illegal war efforts by his own rulers.  We punished Saddam's press staff.  We punished Hitler's press staff, too.  

They are all held responsible for the actions of the people they service!  So it is here: Friedman is serving the traitors who are rapidly destroying our nation.  He should certainly be arrested for crimes against the entire American people!  Not to mention, his many war crimes.  For he is a war monger as well as a de-industrializer sympathizer and running dog for the international bankers seeking to drive us all into debt.

My 2005 cartoon is pretty clear: Friedman is happily pushing US workers off the New World Order Flat Earth he and his buddies created for us.  Here is one of my oldest articles:

June 14, 2005: FRIEDMAN CELEBRATES JOB LOSSES

My, having a secure job that won't be outsourced certainly is fun. One can happily poke a hot poker into the ribs of fellow Americans while utterly protected. The cold blooded antipatriotism of writers like Friedman astonishes me. Do the owners of the NYT view our country this way? One wonders and one suspects. Seems many in Congress think this way, too. Certainly, most of our business owners are like this. They hate America. JUNE 24, 2005

*snip*

I will spare you all the horror of reading anymore of this tripe. This wealthy, pampered pet of the ruling class, sub group, pro-fascist Israel, thinks a 35 hr week and welfare benefits are silly Frenchie things, non? I would love to park this guy in a mud hut somewhere like in the middle of Gaza and let him fend for himself but this will not happen. So this lapdog doth yap at us mere chattel for wanting simple protections so we won't all end up in mud huts, too.

This was my reaction to a classic Friedman editorial demanding Congress not even slightly restrict imports!  He is one of the many-headed Beast of Babylon that has destroyed our nation.  He is probably one of the top enablers for globalization.  He is focused on one thing: destroying all our protections so we cannot stop a flood of imports.  Japan and China control imports!  Europe does, too, via domestic consumption taxes.

But the low-tax ideology of the US has doomed us to having absolutely no barriers to consumption.  And we consume like crazy.  There is an obvious connection between easy credit and the US public buying too much imported goods.  The cheaper credit is, the higher our trade deficit.  In turn, the Flat Earth empires exporting to us lend us more cheap money so we can continue this.

We saw this week, our own rulers cooperating with the entire planet to drive interest rates here down to sub-1% levels so we can continue to collapse into deeper debt!  And Friedman applauds all of this!

Here, again, is Culture of Life News addressing these problems long ago:

2005:  Friedman Wants US Economy Magically Fixed

So many people trust this con artist. Why are we 'a country in debt and in decline' in the first place? Before 'free trade' took over, we had no trade deficit. As I showed clearly in this week's articles detailing past Federal Reserve speeches, the US decided to cope with suppressing inflation by the neat trick of devaluing the currency abroad while simultaneously opening up the US to 'foreign competition' that was designed to force prices downwards via dropping union wages. To clinch the deal, the US media had to herd the voters into backing anti-unionist Ronald Reagan who cheerfully destroyed the right to strike. Now, strike breakers can replace striking workers permanently so no one dares to really strike anymore. Unions have had severely declining membership since Ronald Reagan's rule and now are utterly vanishing as the Old Guard are bought out with bribes and replaced with non-unionized, weaker workers who have far less pricing power and much, much lower wages and virtually no benefits.

Namely, the workers ate inflation. Free trade benefited Asia and Europe. Both saw huge trade surpluses with the US. Both saw their important industries grow massively. Both saw their sovereign wealth increase. Meanwhile, the US had little inflation but rising debts, loss of good industrial jobs, and the de-industrialization of this nation. If WWII were looming, we would have to surrender to Japan since we can't manufacture much of anything to keep ourselves going. We can make weapons but what if we have virtually no steel mills? Most of our ball bearings, fasteners and other vital things are made in Japan, China and Germany! The materials that make the wings of our fancy jets so fancy are made in Japan, not the US.

Friedman encouraged and enabled all this. For years and years, this Zionist who dreams of making Israel super-strong made America super-weak. We have to talk about this business because when we see treason, we have to answer the question, 'Which nation does this guy really work for, anyway?' Suspicions have to be aired. Of course, if anyone does this, they get censored or shoved aside in the US. We are not supposed to ask this vital question. When writers consistently push for things that destroy America, we must explore the question, 'Why?'

Some time ago, I showed that Israel, Friedman's home away from home, has enjoyed an international trade surplus. This is due nearly entirely because the US has a huge trade deficit with Israel. On top of paying for Israel's military, all peace initiatives and other hand outs. Israel is by far and away, the #1 recipient of US public largess. Friedman never complains about all this. He is very jolly well overjoyed about this. This is for him, good news, not bad news.

Here is another old story I wrote:

MARCH 06, 2006 Flat World Free Trade Traitors Screaming At Americans While Selling Our Security To Enemies

Back to Friedman's NYT editorial today:

A major money market fund — Reserve Primary — failed in September because the extra interest it offered customers derived, in part, from the $785 million in high-yielding Lehman Brothers commercial paper and notes it was holding. Depositors who told their congressmen to just let that greedy Lehman Brothers fail were shocked to discover this meant that their own money market would be frozen. No, we don’t need a president defending greed on Wall Street, but we do need one who can explain that we are all in the same boat, that a leak at one end can sink everyone and that while we must regulate, we don’t want to kill risk-taking and the rewards that go with that — which are essential to growing our economy.

This man is not only nuts, he is heartless.  I don't recall the public demanding that Lehman Brothers fail!  The US public would prefer that NO businesses fail!  Indeed, the #1 job of the Federal Reserve is to protect us from all of this.  And the means for this is to not allow bubbles to form OR TO LET TOO MUCH CREDIT BE CREATED!!!!

The Fed failed, of course.  Since the guys running it listen to creatures like the heartless Friedman guy, we get bad advice as well as the devotion of the Fed's officers are not aimed at protecting us but enabling people like Lehman Brothers to do stupid things.

What stupid thing did Lehman Brothers do, anyway?  HAHAHAHA.  They helped create and feed the Derivatives Beast!  Paulson wanted to save them the same way he saved Bears Stearns: by taking in the losses and handing over the goodies to JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs.

But when he tried this for Lehman Brothers, he discovered that NO ONE WANTED TO DO THIS.  It was because of the huge overhang of Derivatives Beast messes!  Anyone who sucked down this baby would go instantly bankrupt no matter how big.  And this definitely includes our Federal Reserve!

So they decided to see what would happen if they let it all just die. It instantly set AIG off the cliff!  They were forced to save AIG because this would bankrupt the entire planetary system!  Right now, we are seeing the DTCC attempt to make the Derivatives Beast a less frightful creature only even they dare not publish, in public, the actual deals and numbers.  Indeed, Mark It was launched for this purpose: to give us a mark-to-market view of the actual real value of all the SIVs and CDOs and other goofy instruments sold by Lehman Brothers and others.

I watched in amazement last year as the Mark It graphs plunged to basically $0.  They were obviously worthless.  The Treasury and Fed Reserve are still struggling to save AIG.  The bill is now nearly $200 billion and rising.  And the AIG executives are using a huge hunk of this to party and pay themselves bonuses!  All the gnomes being saved are doing this.  They are treating this as a looting expedition, not a way to save America.

Friedman's sneering at the poor savers who are losing over 90% of their savings is pure Friedman fun: he is a terrorist.

About risk taking: the Lehman investors were forced into increasingly risky ventures due to the central bankers dropping interest rates far below the rate of real inflation.  This isn't investor greed.  This is investors being denied a safe return that is realistic.  If they want more, they deserve to lose money if their bets don't pan out.

On the other hand, Friedman and his buddies all lied about risk!  They told investors that the Derivatives Beast would eliminate all risk.  So anyone who wrote positive stories about how credit default swaps ended risk should be arrested for fraud or enabling a con job.

JUNE 17, 2005 SNOW BLINDNESS

Is our economy expanding? Friedman, this last week, said he wanted Toyota to take over our entire auto industry. Because it is collapsing. I suppose next week, he will call for China to take over everything else...oops, they are. If we are "expanding," I see no sign of this. For the last thirty years, hiring in the manufacturing sector has collapsed. At first, they pretended this was due to automation. But we don't see lots of robot run factories being built, are we?

Another very early Friedman cartoon.  Note the corporate jet flying away!  Friedman isn't the only traitor who is la-de-dah about Japan destroying our auto industries.  In England, Honda is forcing the government to subsidize their plant there since there is NO English auto industries anymore.  The ones that were English are now parts of German or Japanese auto corporations!  How far they have fallen!

More Friedman Fun:

So who are the brilliant minds that will be called to talk about all this? Friedman? Kristof? A Bush person? I can't wait to see which liars or fools are called forth here.

Back to Friedman's whining about world trade:

Third, we need a president who can rally the world to our side. We cannot get out of this crisis unless China starts consuming more and unless Europe keeps lowering interest rates. Everyone is interconnected, and everyone is still looking to America to lead.

If China 'consumes more' this means someone has to consume less.  Or pay more in competition with the Chinese.  For example, oil.  If the Chinese buy more cars, they will use more oil and this means we either use less or pay more, ourselves.  And if we imagine the Chinese, who let foreign automakers build factories there, won't take over these systems one by one, we are foolish.

For this is their 50 year plan!  They told me this years ago!  They plan to have all the best factories transfered to China and then relentlessly drive out all the foreign devils who run the main offices.  This is a sly take-over that the entire government is focused on!  Trust me on this one.

Which is the exact opposite of America's ruling elites.  They want to enable foreign domination, not the opposite.

Culture of Life News, May, 2005: WHERE ARE THE EXECUTIVES? asks Friedman

Friedman: 'After six weeks of being a foreign correspondent traveling around America, the biggest question I have come home with is not "What's the matter with Kansas?" but rather, "What's the matter with big business?"'

Earth to Friedman: nothing is the matter with big business. They are doing hunky dory.

No more taxes, no more regulation, no one stopping them from becoming agents for China. As this blog has written about in the past, the magazine, Fortune 500 had jet loads of these MIA execs flying into China to wine and dine and cut deals. They are very much in evidence...overseas. They are busy selling off factories here and shipping them off to communist China. Duh.

*snip*

Friedman at the NYT yet again:'"America faces a huge set of challenges if it is going to retain its competitive edge. As a nation, we have a mounting education deficit, energy deficit, budget deficit, health care deficit and ambition deficit. The administration is in denial on this, and Congress is off on Mars. And yet, when I look around for the group that has both the power and interest in seeing America remain globally focused and competitive - America's business leaders - they seem to be missing in action. I am not worried about the rise of the cultural conservatives. I am worried about the disappearance of an internationalist, pro-American business elite."'

Why can't Friedman find these people? I track them daily, easily. He can too, if he can't, he can read this free blog! Friedman wants to know why General Motors isn't for universal health insurance.

Taxes. This means they pay Federal taxes and they and their buddies want to kill Federal taxes. They want to kill the unions. Using the health insurance issue as a club to smash in the heads of the unions is well worth it. They have zero interest in a good health policy for all Americans. They hate this concept. They think all other industrial nations are nuts to have this, they want communism like the Chinese have. Ahem.

Poor flat earther Friedman wonders why these corporate monsters don't want a sane energy policy. Well, they won't make money on this, to build a new infrastructure will require investing in America and take away money building factories in China. So it is dead in the water. When the Chinese sell us energy systems, and they will, they are very interested in this stuff, we will buy from them. Why invest at home?

Nothing has really changed since I wrote these old articles.  Except our entire banking system has collapsed.  And since 2004, our trade deficit was nearly a trillion dollars in the red every year.  And these facts still don't faze our pundit class clowns.  They continue onwards, deliberately refusing to see reality.  Their reality is pure fun.  

I make very little money commenting here.  Thanks to wonderful readers who take the time and have the generosity to donate funds to my small news service, I get to enjoy posting, using good equipment.  But Friedman makes millions of dollars thanks to his New York Times platform.  He was put mercifully behind a 'pay to view' wall which is why I ceased mentioning him after 2005.  But that wall is down and now I can throw rotten tomatoes at this idiot again.  Thank you, New York Times.

Email this post

Culture of Life News Main Page

Comments

[Blunt Force Trauma]

U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance; MasterCard, GE Shares Rise (Bloomberg)

The DOW is up, right out of the gate, to over 180 points due to the fact that even more people are in debt.

'U.S. stock-index futures advanced, as Americans began voting for a new president, after MasterCard Inc. reported better-than-estimated earnings and money-market rates retreated.'

Voting and Mastercard reporting "higher earning" due to higher consumer debt rates are one in the same?
Okay. Sure.

Full article:

http://tinyurl.com/6huqwk

[Blunt Force Trauma]

....from the same article above (I just had to share):

``The worst is behind us in terms of the financial crisis,'' said Chloe Magnier, an equity strategist at Saxo Banque in Paris. ``Obama is the candidate markets are expecting. He represents a big change for the U.S.,'' she told Bloomberg Television.'

Delusion and free money drunkeness has taken hold in a fever pitch. Man, are we in trouble.

[Blunt Force Trauma]

No Currency Left to Buy the Big Lies
(ICH; linked from Huffington Post)

By John Cusack

'There is no more money left to loan or borrow the big lies or to sell them. No more money left to pay off the debt, the wreckage in the wake. The orgy of excess has drained every bottle, smashed the furniture and left the cupboards bare. All that's left is derivative debts -- bets between liars and lies. Trillions of dollars. It turned capitalism into a Ponzi scheme for trading worthless paper. No real value anywhere. No matter how much money Ben Bernanke prints.'

Full article:

http://tinyurl.com/5fbuv7

[PK Scott]

New Derivatives Beast sighting.

Naked Capitalism (www.nakedcapitalism.com) has an article this am about growing fears of derivatives being triggered by the drop in shipping rates. (These suckers are like leaches on EVERY productive sector of the world economy.)

"Derivatives Bets Gone Bad Worsen Shipping Industry Woes"

International shipping rates have cratered to the extent that a lot of international shipping is being done at barely break even rates. This is BAD for international shipping, because it is unsustainable. The other thing that is going on is that Letters of Credit are getting More expensive even if they are being accepted (and many aren't).

Another interesting facoid:

A lot of adjustabel rate mortgages reset based on the LIBOR rate, not the rate that the FED sets. The good news is that the Libor is easing, the bad news is that it is still HIGH.

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Elaine said:

"The United States already recruits our troops in foreign lands. Then, our imperial overlords send these troops to other countries to occupy them and exploit the natives there. This is tremendously expensive so the overlords merrily charge all of these expenses to the bills owed by the public at home. That is, our grandchildren. They will be enslaved by these military and trade bills we are charging to the future!"

...and when (or if at all) troops are called back, which, by the way; Obama will NOT do (meet the new boss, same as the old boss - the imperial overlords will STILL be in power, don't kid yourself), those troops will most likely be deployed against....YOU.

Two More U.S. Military Units Assigned For Homeland Security (Prison Planet)

'“It’s to help us manage the consequences of a large-scale event,” said Renuart. “We have one [unit] now trained and equipped and assigned to the Northern Command. We’ll grow a second one this calendar year of 2009 and a third one in the calendar year 2010 so we can provide the nation three sets of capabilities that could respond to an event of the size of 9/11 or larger.”'

Planning another, are ya?

Full article:

http://tinyurl.com/6h5gym

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Fed report: Banks tighten lending standards even more (Creditcards.com)

'Banks have become even more squeamish about lending to both consumers and businesses, according to a quarterly survey of loan officers issued Monday by the Federal Reserve.'

If this is the case, then the lamestream media has been doing it's job of lying to us (per usual) as they have been reporting in the past couple days that lending has been 'loosened' and the DOW is rising due to this reported action.

Perhaps the practice of lending to one another, but not to the average citizen, according to this article.

Full article:

http://tinyurl.com/59yumx

[Gary]

THE most responsible institution for this economic mess we're in
is the Media.

I have watched with rage and fear , the relentless propaganda that
convinced so many of my neighbors and family into thinking that industrial downsizing was inevitable (and profitable for their
stock holdings)

Since the days of Saint Reagan, the media has done nothing but
appeal to our worst instincts and here we are now, a nation
culturally unable to think its way out of a paper bag. And worse yet basically unable to empathize with the plight of others. Years of relentless dumbed down violence in TV and video games has
turned us into angry ill tempered adults.

Starting with the top, WA Post, NY Times, WS Journal, we should
have media trials with the perps sent to the Aleutian Islands.

[Blunt Force Trauma]

POLITICS-US: Top Obama Advisor Has Long Ties to Neocons (IPS)

Hopefully, Obama distances himself from this person. Fast! But then again, there'll be others with agendas.

http://tinyurl.com/5cy7oz

U.S. Is Funding Iranian Nuclear Program

http://tinyurl.com/58sm8s

[Blunt Force Trauma]

You'll like this. I did.

A letter to Obama from Ilargi.

Y O'Bama

http://tinyurl.com/5ux4p3

[D.F. Facti]

I LOVE your Friedman stick figure cartoons. I won't read him any more. Too infuriating. Now watch Obama suck up to the Friedman contingent. On a hopeful note, Obama does have some "radical" associates with an actual pulse, unlike Nancy Pelosi and Rahm Emanuel, who, word has it, might be Obama's chief of staff. So ... more of the same bullshit minus Cheney.

Maybe Friedman and Lieberman will take early retirement to Haifa.

[RobG]

Things to watch today:

Nov. 4 (Bloomberg) -- The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. will publish details of the top 1,000 credit-default swaps today, bowing to regulatory pressure for more transparency in the $47 trillion market.

'U.S. to Borrow Record This Quarter to Finance Deficit' is announced today: For all of fiscal year 2008, which ended Sept. 30, the Treasury had a record net marketable borrowing of $760 billion, compared to $134 billion in 2007. For fiscal year 2008, the Fed redeemed $154 billion in U.S. government securities from its System Open Market Account, the Treasury said. (Note $760B this year - last year was $76B)

And, of course, the Taiwan deal closed with China (from the alst time when the U.S. delegation secured the additional financing).

[Blunt Force Trauma]

China's PMI Drops To Lows Not Previously Seen (Forbes)

'China's Purchasing Managers' Index slid to a record low in October, confirming that the economy of the so-called world's factory is now decelerating. Two international surveys measuring the PMI independently corroborated the evidence of a cooling Chinese industrial economy.'

Full article:

http://tinyurl.com/6bh37n

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

I already visited the DTCC web site for the information about derivatives and found out...WE CANNOT ACCESS THIS INFORMATION. Only assigned dealers may!

Dammit!

About Obama: at least he is sane. He also knows how to dine and speaks regular English and knows how to say 'nuclear'. The 8 year jackass in the White House was a Caligula Clone.

But escaping the woes of our empire: first, we have to admit there are these woes. This is the job of the media. Since they won't do it, it is being one little by little, online.

Education is what is important here. People have to learn things even if these things are harsh lessons. It helps if our pundits are sane.

But the mainstream pundits are mostly insane.

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Finding countless stories about voting machine problems - country wide (Repugnicans strategically stealing the vote?). Too many to bother with, but here a couple of examples:

Voting problems as Election Day gets underway (NBC 12)

http://tinyurl.com/6ddast

EXCLUSIVE: Obama/DNC Database Reveals Startling, Wide-Spread Vote Machine Probs in NV

http://tinyurl.com/6d6jvo

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Elaine said:

"About Obama: at least he is sane. He also knows how to dine and speaks regular English and knows how to say 'nuclear'."

LOL. Yes. Agreed on both counts.

[wuen]

In our economic system, it seem that the amount of free trade is inverse proportionally to the amount of sovereignty of a nation. Both of these notions are important for the functionning of a society. To better a nation economy is to balance this contradiction. That seem to be the logical conclusion to fix our current financial problems, but is it?

In this situation, there are three outcome. One outcome is that the nation have greater free trade for it citizen but less sovereignty over it own affair. The second outcome is that the nation have greater sovereinty over it own affair but less free trade for it citizen. The third outcome is a balance between free trade and sovereignty of a nation. Each of these outcomes can be associated with a country. The first outcome is the United State of America. The second outcome is Japan. The third outcome is China. To see which outcome will succeed is to see which of the three country will survival this financial storm the most intact.

I am open to other people point of view also. Maybe because my association about these outcome is off or the solution about balance free trade and sovereignty is not the solution. I will like to inquirer about it.

Thank you for your information.

[RobG]

Here is a real hoot:

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/1992369/

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has appointed Michael Alix as a senior vice president of the bank supervision group.

Most recently, Mr Alix worked for the Bear Stearns Companies, where he served as chief risk officer from 2006 to 2008 and global head of credit risk management from 1996 to 2006.

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Yeah, we know. Mr. Hopey Changey is going to be selected into the halls of the office of the highest corruption and that the economic woes will continue for years to come. But oil is still an ongoing topic that gets ignored. Especially now that oil is 60 or so bucks a barrel.

All Over But The Counting (rightsideadvisors)

Warning: some right-wing content here, but the writer speaks of what neither candidate spoke of during the ridiculously long campaign: Peak oil.

http://tinyurl.com/58nppd

Cassandra's lethal paradox (Guardian)

'For decades, the mainstream dismissed the environmental movement as a "bunch of Cassandras", unaware that Cassandra's lethal paradox was to be right, but to be cursed to be disbelieved. Now the gods themselves admit that peak oil is imminent. In a report entitled the Medium Term Oil Market, the International Energy Agency - an official adviser to most of the major economic powers - said there will be "a narrowing of spare capacity to minimal levels by 2013". (Important to note) Next week it is expected to announce an even worse prognosis.'

Hmm, I bet that 2013 is now to be 2010. Just in time for GM to wither and die. Boy, has Obama got a tough battle to fight. Methinks it'll be a very short honeymoon.

Full article:

http://tinyurl.com/6fgu3t

[Blunt Force Trauma]

...more related to the above...

Oil shortage 'worst in 20 years' (BBC)

http://tinyurl.com/65atvz

Low gas prices bring Ohio spot shortages (WFMJ)

Hoarding? Again?

http://tinyurl.com/6pwcf9

Canada an environmental slouch, study says (Reuters)

Yeah, we still have too many people in Stuporbia too.

http://tinyurl.com/663anj

[Blunt Force Trauma]

For GM, bad news may be good (CNN)

"On Tuesday, barring an unforeseen event, a Democrat will be elected president, along with a Democratic Congress. Both are likely to be more receptive to a GM bailout than a Republican president-elect and a lame-duck administration. And GM's abysmal sales of late - worse than Ford's or Chrysler's and almost any foreign automaker - make it appear to be a true charity case."

Don't even think about a corporate welfare scheme!

-snip-

"If the next president, whether Obama or McCain, really wants to make a statement, he would allow GM to file for bankruptcy. Ford and Chrysler would quickly follow so that they, too, could share in the cost savings and leaner operating profile that would result."

And if bankruptcy leads to a final 'closing of the doors' - so be it! They weren't viable and the product wasn't desired. So goes the basic laws of Econ 101. No demand and oversupplied. Buh-bye. And take the greedy unions with you. They did nothing except facilitate this inevitable bankruptcy for decades and got very rich themselves in doing so off of it's members.

Full article:

http://tinyurl.com/5oh3nr

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Wow. Quiet around here. I feel like I'm 'Bogarting' this thing. Everyone must be out voting. I hope that there won't be too many horror stories about the voting polls/stations.

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Seeing the DOW's numbers at this hour, they are up 270 points to 9,590. I'm trying to recall an article that predicted a rise to 10,000 and then, following the (s)election, a sharp fall down to near 7,000 with panic setting in and a further fall to 5,000. Time will tell.

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Here's a mouthfull of a title:

Economic and Financial Alchemy: 3 Trends to Follow in the Next 90 Days: Pseudo Drop in Nationwide Foreclosures, The End of One Plasma in Every Room, and Loving Your Car a Little Longer. (Dr. Housing Bubble)

"What we will also be seeing in the weeks to come is a “surprise” drop in foreclosures. It really won’t be a surprise for those that are following the news with Bank of America, JP Morgan, and IndyMac Bank and their great experiment in mass mortgage modifications. JP Morgan recently announced a moratorium of 90 days on foreclosures on loans targeted for modifications. Why is this big? Well because they now own uber toxic mortgage dealer Washington Mutual that went buck wild here in California with the wonderful Pay Option ARMs."

Full article:

http://tinyurl.com/66g5q8

[Blunt Force Trauma]

This one's for you Elaine! You'll love it!

Fed Hires Bear Stearns Risk Boss (Clusterstock)

In a move that is sure to put to rest the notion that there are no second acts in American life, former Bear Stearns chief risk officer Michael Alix has landed a job in the office of the Federal Reserve charged with assessing the safety and soundness of domestic banking institutions.

We suppose that Alix at least has plenty of experience with unsound banking institutions. He was the chief risk officer of Bear Stearns from 2006 until 2008. So, basically, he was the guy on the mast charged with yelling "iceberg" just before the titantic introduced its bow to a floating hunk of ice. Prior to that he ran credit risk management for Bear from 1996 to 2006, Jon Keehner at Bloomberg points out. That worked out just great.

"Alix will be a senior adviser to William Rutledge, executive vice president of the bank supervision group, according to a statement on the New York Fed's Web site. Staff in the group 'assess the safety and soundness of domestic banking institutions,'" Keehner reports.

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Faux News is doing it's best to incite violence.

The most interesting part of this video is the beginning where the reporter points to the alleged 'Black Panther' but does not approach and ask him anything. But then walks over to a "voter" who is ready and details his entire experience with the 'Black Panther'.

Nothing like a planted interview to bring out the hatred and the misinformation.

Rent 'Fahrenheit 451', if you can. You'll see some similarities between it and Faux News.

Voting Intimidation By Black Panthers In Philadelphia (YouTube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCeD1RcJjAg

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Gold, other metals soar as dollar falls (MarketWatch)

'Gold for December delivery surged $31.60, or 4.4%, to $758.40 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. The contract earlier hit an intraday high of $765.'

http://tinyurl.com/68un3t

Oil, Gold Lead Commodity Surge on Election-Day Drop in Dollar (Bloomberg)

'Surging prices for oil, copper, gold and corn sent commodities rallying as a U.S. Election-Day plunge in the dollar boosted the appeal of raw materials as a hedge against inflation.'

http://tinyurl.com/5u3ejs

[Blunt Force Trauma]

Nov. 2, 2008 (EIRNS)—"The only reason that any big banks remain 'well capitalized' today is because the government provided a guarantee to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that immediately shored up the value of their mortgage-backed securities," an unnamed banker with one of the largest U.S. banks said. The statement appeared in a comment to an Oct. 30 blog entry by reporter Joe Nocera on the New York Times website—which entry itself was based upon an e-mail from the banker, in which he criticized the big banks for refusing to behave responsibly. "The big banks are enjoying their capitalization status on the backs of the taxpayer already. Do not misunderstand this," the banker said. "The government had to take over Fannie and Freddie or we would not have ANY banks in business today unless they were under the control of the FDIC" (emphasis in the original). The author of the e-mails, Nocera said, works for one of the nation's biggest banks, and agreed for his letter to be posted on condition that his name was withheld.

[Ed-M]

Elaine, this is up your alley -

The Derivatives Beast is set to destroy global trade by bringing shipping to a halt.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1529666a-a9db-11dd-958b-000077b07658.html

"Concern over shipping derivatives losses

"Fears are growing in the shipping industry over the potentially big losses that could emerge this week on derivatives triggered by the October collapse in rates to charter dry bulk ships. Since short-term dry bulk charter rates fell 71.9 per cent in October, traders and shipowners have worried that traders might be caught out by the speed and severity of the fall. Traders in forward freight agreements – derivatives based on short term charter rates – could owe significant sums if they were betting on a rise in charter rates for ships carrying coal, iron and other commodities.

"The many shipowners participating in FFA markets could also face losses if their market positions went beyond simply covering the market exposure of their actual ships.

"If investors facing FFA market losses hand back ships they had chartered early to owners, the ships’ owners will earn considerably less than they expected. They could face problems servicing debt related to the ships."

The Beast is hungry and must be fed. Munch, munch, munch.

[DrKrbyLuv]

A big problem that I see is that the office of the US presidency has become a "winner-take-all" dictatorship. The president is simply too powerful.

This causes a great deal of fear and anger in that the people know, if the wrong person wins, they will have hell to pay. Presidential restraint and humility is greatly needed. Instead, the office has "devolved" into power grab that ignores our constitution, checks and balances and the will of the majority of the people.

Forget all traditional thinking about Repubs and Dems - both are moving to more dictatorial powers in order to protect the NWO elites. Nothing is more dangerous to the NWO bastards (Illuminati, Bildebergs, Trilaterals, Club of Rome - et al) than a thinking people and a law abiding government.
___________________________________________

Blunt Force Trauma -

Yes, I was out voting but enjoyed your posts just the same. I wrote in Ron Paul for Pres mostly because Chuck Baldwin wasn't on the ballot here in Pennsylvania. I almost voted for Ralph Nader since he was on the ballot but my respect and admiration for Ron Paul was something I needed to express even if no one notices or cares.

I voted for one Democrat, a local congressman who voted against the bail-out - twice! I promised him in an e-mail that if he voted against the bail-out the second time, I would vote for him. Unfortunately, my vote was wiped out by my wife who voted for the republican gal running against him. The rest of my votes turned out to be for libertarian candidates.

One thing that bothers me was that my wife refuses to say who she voted for pres. If she voted for Palin (by default, this vote goes to McCain) like I think she did, then I would suspect that she is sexist. Have I become a bully?

As for the results of this election, I hope that whoever wins the presidency wins by a lot. If it is close, I think you will see lots of anger over what is a most tampered election. The NWO people will use the anger to do something stupid, like injecting voter chips in all of us, and many sheople would support such a notion.

___________________________________________

I suspect we will see a steady parade of one crisis after another now that the election is over. Bush will be doubly dangerous now that he won't have to keep his mouth shut so as to minimize his danger to McCain.

Maybe the most bizarre thing in this whole process is that 300 million people effectively had to choose between Obama or McCain - is this really the best America has to offer?

[Buffalo Ken]

DKL - 2:52 pm: My vote is "no" that is why i didn't vote. My "party" can't even get access to the ballot..even had to collect signatures just to "write someone in"....the system is so biased plus rigged and it has been for awhile now. Works out fine I suppose when there is plenty of plundering to impose, but now those whove been plundered are about to turn the tide...so to speak. Good. Seems like Karma in action to me.

Hey - the "unions" and "GM" probably deserved each other. Thats how it usually happens. Still - workers paid a fair wage are the most productive. Workers need to demand a fair wage. I think the "fun" is only beginning - it might as well be "fun" cause its just about attitude - don't you think?

Peace,
Ken

[ziff house]

blunt force; great line of posts. Did you say you were Canadian?eh
likewise.

[Buffalo Ken]

Plus - A pension due is a pension due. I have probably paid over $200,000 into Social Security (I was self-empolyed and paid the full amount). I want my due.

Peace,
Ken

[Buffalo Ken]

Lastly, I'm sick and goddam tired of paying for military adventures and gnome rescues. If that is what my tax money is going for then, I refuse. I can do better with my money.

Peace,
Ken

[Buffalo Ken]

P.S. - A vote to vote "no" speaks to the health (or lack thereof...). The US of A has been most unhealthy for some time now by this criteria, but I think the somnobulance (not sure if i "spelled/typed" that correctly but it means "sleepwalking") is fixing to evaporate as if in a day.....

Really - the shit is going to be happening quick. Quicker, much quicker, than lately.

Peace,
Ken

[Buffalo Ken]

So, of course, it will "pay" to keep on your toes and to keep your fingers limber. I think the "blog is mightier than the sword".

Peace,
Ken

peoplesproclamation.com

[Buffalo Ken]

So there.

OK - for all you Canadians out there was my investment in the "maple leaf" (both the platinum and the currency of the country) worthwhile. Damn I hope so. Canada needs to get its act together and then maybe one day I'd like to move there (if they will have me...).

Peace,
Ken

[Buffalo Ken]

Incidently, for the purposes of full disclosure I have been to Canada many times (I am from Buffalo after all...). Plus, I have but one "platinum piece". A shiny beautiful and lovely one ounce maple leaf.

Come on folks, we all know, that the People choose.

Peace,
Ken

[ziff house]

move there (if they will have me...).
only if you are a war criminal, or an asian thug

[Buffalo Ken]

OK - then. I'll just stay where I am in my little house. This is my home anyhow.

Still - Canada could so get its act together and be "up-and-coming"....

Peace,
Ken

[Buffalo Ken]

Hey --- Looks like the "Looney" did OK today! Maybe I have glorified views of Canada - they did kick out those who became the "Cajun". Still, Canada is so wide open and has so much vast and beautiful territory. So does Alaska for that matter.

Doesn't the "Peace River" originate from Canada around Wood Buffalo National Park. I'd like to go there one day even if I didn't move to Canada.

Peace,
Ken

Peace,
Ken

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

Fall is my busiest time of the year. This year, in particular. I have to finish building the house due to old age creeping up on me.

So I am a bit laggard.

Got phone calls about shortage of voting machines. This is due to a long range problem of not providing proper service to inner city neighborhoods!

More about that matter, later. I hope the Democrats are more interested in preserving democracy. I will be hassling them all about this matter. More about that later.

[Buffalo Ken]

Incidently - Elaine, I ordered "The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers" (Kennedy) per your suggestion. I actually ended up getting 2 copies along with a copy of the PC game "City Life" on a whim (Amazon is undeniably convenient). This looks like a rather lengthy book, but I'll give it my best shot.

[GK]

YES! Now we are getting to the root of who the real terrorists are.

If you look at the concept of globalization, no trade barriers, it seems to me the long-term consequence is GLOBAL MONOPOLIES.

If you can get the cheapest resources and slave labor from anywhere in the world and sell it anywhere in the world, you will be able to CRUSH all competitors.

So this makes Freakman's comment about giving auto industry to Toyota more clear.

Once Toyota has a global monopoly on Auto Manufacturing and have de-industrialized all competitors, they will finally be able to maximize profits by cutting R+D and raising prices.

If any upstart threatens then, they can call their buddies at the GLOBAL BANK to prevent them from borrowing the $200 Billion to build a new factory, and their buddies at the GLOBAL CONGRESS to pass 'safety' laws against the upstart.

This is much cheaper than (GASP!) lowering prices to (HEAVEN FORBID) compete.

Let's take a more 'green' industry like Organic Carrots.

Under globalization, if China can pay slave labor $1 per day and fertilize with organic human waste, they will be able to put out of business EVERY OTHER CARROT FARMER IN THE WORLD.

And you and your happy family will get to eat nice shiny orange Slave-Picked Shit Sticks in your local Hyper Mart.

Which will be a global monopoly as well.

[Buffalo Ken]

Who the hell in the US of A would want to eat a farkin fefferly carrot from China. They can eat their own carrots, and I can grow my own and sell it locally. So can many others. The local carrot will taste so much better and cost less to make plus deliver to the market.

Peace,
Ken

[Buffalo Ken]

Now if they could make a damn lighter worth a crap in China, I might buy that, but the ones I got just recently were conceptially incredible (and kind of complicated), but most flawed from an implementation standpoint. They fell apart and in the end weren't worth much. I betcha a could make a better lighter locally.

Just need a little upfront funding.

Peace,
Ken

[GK]

If you have any doubt that this is planned for the US, look at the 'New Silk Route' that these criminals are promoting.

Notice how it allows the Chinese to use their Panama Canal to SKIP THE WEST COAST and dump their crap in the depopulated CIA headquarters of New Orleans.

British controlled Canada provides the other drop off points for the financial invasion of the US by these GLOBAL PREDATORS.

http://g.fool.com/art/shop/newsletters/18/SA-headline_map.gif

[Buffalo Ken]

GK - Thanks for the map. Awesome.

poem
______
The predators can have all their plans.
The drones can fly up way high.
But in the end....
The People choose.
_____
end of poem

Peace,
Ken

[Blunt Force Trauma]

DrKrbyLuv said:

"Yes, I was out voting but enjoyed your posts just the same. I wrote in Ron Paul for Pres mostly because Chuck Baldwin wasn't on the ballot here in Pennsylvania."

Good. You registered your protest vote. It seems people who are voting-in their 'Messiah' have short memory spans for events such as this:

Obama, not McCain sides with Bush on banking bailout #CanWest - Sept. 19th, 2008)

http://tinyurl.com/59w8dx

Ziff: Yup, I am Canadian - a Torontonian! Well, I'm Mazatlan, Mexico right now and will be until April-ish.

[Blunt Force Trauma]

DrKrbyLuv said:

"Yes, I was out voting but enjoyed your posts just the same. I wrote in Ron Paul for Pres mostly because Chuck Baldwin wasn't on the ballot here in Pennsylvania."

Good. You registered your protest vote. It seems people who are voting-in their 'Messiah' have short memory spans for events such as this:

Obama, not McCain sides with Bush on banking bailout (CanWest - Sept. 19th, 2008)

http://tinyurl.com/59w8dx

Ziff: Yup, I am Canadian - a Torontonian! Well, I'm Mazatlan, Mexico right now and will be until April-ish.

[Buffalo Ken]

OK - so, first I'd need to find someone who knew something about making lighters (flik the bik and such). Then someone who could provide molded plastic or the know-how to make simple molds. Maybe someone familiar with small-diameter tubing and required connections for a flame. Three or four folks plus someone who knew about abandoned industrial equipment still in decent working order. Then we make a customized design that "connects" with the local community (artistry is critical). We keep optimizing it until the quality is what it needs to be (high quality in every way possible). Then we find a propane supplier.

At first, our lighter might cost about twice (or maybe three times) as much as the cheaper ones, but we promise to hire local citizens in the factory. Our lighter can be refilled many times. We promise to return a substantial portion of any profits to the local community. Our books are open for all to inspect. We stay out of debt. If the product doesn't sell, we go out of business and only the upfront capital is lost. This could work for carrots as well (maybe even better for carrots).

Simple business model and it keeps the funds local where they belong. Those who work get paid a fair wage.

Peace,
Ken