Money is money but credit is liquid. This is why we talk about liquidity levels when discussing banking businesses. And being liquid, it flows with gravity and of course, if a bunch of banking gnomes are busy digging ditches to divert profits from credit creation, we get very rich bankers and a very poor public. I also tear apart an analysis by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard of England. He is unable to understand the difference between debt owned by a country and debt owed to foreign powers. There are few people who seem to catch the vital difference. But in Asia, they know very well, which is what.
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Financing Government in Dark Hits Taxpayers With No-Bid Deals – Bloomberg.com
The commissioners of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, found themselves in a predicament when they pressed Gentile-Meinert & Associates Inc., not to raise prices this year on a $10,000-a-month contract for security guards at the county’s nursing home because of the recession while the elected officials lost as much as $2.8 million by selling bonds without seeking competitive bids. .
That amount is the difference between the underwriter’s price for $72.7 million in bonds at a Jan. 8 sale and the higher prices investors paid later that day. The offering capped a 13- year borrowing saga that pushed taxpayers deeper into debt, county records show. Throughout, Beaver County kept doing business with Commonwealth Securities and Investments Inc., of Pittsburgh….
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…More than 85 percent of the $308.9 billion in new tax- exempt bond issues this year were sold without competitive bidding, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Such negotiated issues, for which borrowing costs are set privately, show how public officials do financing in the dark in the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market. .
No-bid sales made up 68 percent of new bonds in 1982 and 17 percent in 1970, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
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Here is a little graph I drew showing the growth of these contract sales. Note that it is like all the other graphs and charts we see in the banking sector: straight upwards to 100% or infinity.
Now, why would governments ‘do in the dark’ these sorts of deals that always end up costing the taxpayer more money? Well, this all goes back to corruption: when the US began to redesign our economic systems so that bankers would get very rich, very fast, the more money the bankers got, the more they spent on either running for office, themselves, or bribing politicians.
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This is a direct result of the goofy floating fiat currency/free trade/cut taxes on the rich game we are in today. Despite this game destroying everything in its path, we have seen no repudiation of this strange troika of troubles. Of course, the entire point of doing these ‘dark deals’ is very simple: it redirects money from the public to the bankers! And we have to pay for this…via taxes! And of course, we then grouse about the taxes so the bankers tell us to cut our spending on social services (NOT the military which protects the banker’s international business!) and the vicious cycle continues.
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Due to a collapse in tax revenues due to the depression created by these self-same bankers, we are seeing a slew of stories about these little nickel and dime operations set up to pick the public’s pockets. But the fact remains, the present system can’t be suddenly reformed, one tiny bit after another. We have to go to the core issues which is to change free trade, fiat currency production and of course, raise taxes on the rich. The raising of taxes is actually very easy: the politicians have to pass a bill changing the tax code so the rich pay more!
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So far, the corrupt politicians have simply put on a show, talking about taking away the illicit gains of the bankers but this is not serious. And the US public isn’t serious about this problem, either. This is thanks to free trade: Asia bankrolls our debts. And since the interest rate on these debts is virtually zero percent per annum, we have no incentive to change things. And so the appearance of a free ride continues.
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But this ride isn’t free at all. I didn’t post a story yesterday due to being outside for another 12 hours, working frantically on water control systems before winter hits. That is, I was using the backhoe and blade to move immense amounts of dirt around and was sculpting the mountainside so water flows change.
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It is a common practice to talk about money using hydraulic terminology. That is, money is ‘liquid’. What is really ‘liquid’ is credit. Credit isn’t something real, it is a concept. It is all about probability of repayment over time due to income streams. Now, the US government has this income stream and it is you and me and even the bankers. What the bankers are very careful to do is, complain about high taxes while at the same time, making big profits off of the high government debt so they don’t mind, really, higher taxes so long as government debts grow even faster than the taxes.
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That is, they benefit if the government runs in the red. They will move heaven and earth to keep the government debt growing at a very high rate because this increases their own bonuses and profits. Since credit is like water, they know that all they have to do is divert a small amount and over time, more and more credit will flow where the diversion is. For example, if I were to cut a very small line across the road, when it rains, the water will run along the cut rather than downhill. Eventually, this will grow into a chasm. The bankers are constantly seeking places where they can eke a small amount of illicit profit and then they know this small thing will expand in size and get deeper and deeper over time while no one is looking.
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Back when the fiat currency was launched by Nixon, the government used to pay off debts. But after 1971, no one bothered and all our debts, national, business and personal, have grown massively. The above example of the secret, non-competitive bidding process, is typical. It gains us nothing except more debts and it gains the brokers and bankers infinite wealth.
Now, on to Evans-Pritchard’s latest confused screed. I used to like reading him but now that we are deep in a ditch and up a creek without an oar, I notice that Ambrose is going insane. I suspect, this is due to wishful thinking coupled with blatant fear. He thinks, if he sings ‘La, la, la’ the big bad wolf won’t eat the US/UK imperial complex.
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Dollar hegemony for another century – Telegraph Blogs
Ambrose Evans Pritchard
The aging crisis in Asia — and indeed the outright demographic implosion in Japan and China, not to mention China’s water crisis — will soon be obvious to everybody. Talk of Oriental supremacy will start to sound overblown at first, and then preposterous.
. Japan is about to go bankrupt. It is on the cusp of a fiscal crisis that will change perceptions of Asia dramatically. The IMF says gross public debt will reach 218pc of GDP this year. This is compounding very fast. It will be 246pc in 2014.
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Here is where I get very irritated with Anglo-centric analysis: the US and UK have both gone very, very, very deeply into debt to Asian powers. Not Asian bankers, but also Asian GOVERNMENTS. 90% of Japan’s national debt is owed to the Japanese people. Nearly 50% of US debt, which in volume, dwarfs Japanese debts, is owed to Asian governments! One of which is JAPAN!
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The US and UK own virtually no Japanese government debts. Ditto on owning no Chinese debts. Japan’s debts are running in the ZIRP system so accumulating principal doesn’t matter so much to the government since it still controls the debts, it is not owed to foreign powers. But the US debt held overseas is nearly all short-term debts that have to be rolled over. And so it is very vulnerable to higher interest rates in the future. And all of this is due directly to the dollar being the main floating fiat currency.
. The Hatoyama government is spending as if there is no tomorrow. It plans to issue ¥50 trillion or $550bn in fresh bonds. I have no idea when this will spiral out of control. It could take another two or three years. It could start next week. Yes, I know that Japan has been borrowing merrily at ever lower rates for 20 years without the sky falling. The 10-year yield is 1.3pc. What happens when it rises to global levels of 3pc to 4pc? People made the same sort of arguments about the global boom before it suddenly tipped over.
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I want to spank Ambrose here. Bad boy! Naughty, naughty! Why on earth should ZIRP Japan worry for one second about interest rates rising globally???? Eh? Does Japan sell its national debt to foreign devils? NO!!! So obviously, Japan doesn’t give a hoot about international interest rates. It is OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM. Unlike the US and UK.
. This blog does not attempt market timing, nor does it offer investment advice. But I am absolutely certain that pundits consigning the dollar to its death have missed an even more dramatic currency and debt story in Japan. The yen will top ¥200 to the dollar before this is over. Jim O’Neill from Goldman Sachs has already begun to hint at this….
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HAHAHA. The Japanese hope this happens! They can’t wait! They desire this greatly. Alas for them, the Chinese have a different plan for the yen and this is why the yen is stubbornly strong against the dollar. That is, thanks to heavy trade between China and Japan, China has been able to hold more and more yen in its formidable FOREX holdings and this is keeping the yen strong.
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…The fact that Asian central banks are accumulating $600bn or more a year in reserves by running huge trade surpluses is proof enough that their (mostly rigged) currencies are undervalued by 30pc to 40pc against the West. To that extent, I agree entirely with HSBC currency guru David Bloom that this is untenable. If these countries continue to resist currency appreciation they will overheat and succumb to asset bubbles — if they haven’t already in China….
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When playing games with someone, it is important to play the same game. The UK and US wanted to play the floating fiat currency game in such a fashion that both could run up debts and print dollars while not raising taxes or paying off any debts. This stupid game was played with the Asian team who did the exact opposite: keeping debts at home and sucking down the debts generated by the US/UK team. And guess who is winning?
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The US and UK got stuck with all the vampiric banking gnomes who sucked up all the capital and wealth while Japan and China got the profits and capital from international industrial production! DUH! And over time, who wins? Not the US or UK. We got stuck with the vampiric gnomes.
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…Charles Dumas from Lombard Street Research says Washington must be chuckling as the weak dollar gives it time to rebuild America’s industrial core. The “inflationistas” — ie, those convinced that the dollar is being debauched despite the fact that core inflation in the US is falling and that the M3 money supply is contracting — are playing straight into the hands of the United States.
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Ambrose is nuttier than a squirrel. What on earth has this guy been drinking lately? He better sober up. His contention here that the US is ‘chuckling’ over our internal industrial growth is pure fantasy and here is typical proof I pulled up yesterday before running out to dig ditches:
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Omaha.com – The Omaha World-Herald: Metro/Region – Electrolux plant closings to cost 850 Iowa jobs
Appliance maker Electrolux announced Friday that it would close two Iowa plants by spring 2011, putting 850 people out of work as operations are moved to Mexico…. .
…“Industry sales of laundry products have been impacted by the global economic crisis, and we’ve basically seen the continued decrease in consumer demand,” Reiss said. “We’ve got too much capacity, and we’ve had to make the decision — the tough decision — that is necessary given the economy and the competition to consolidate.”
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Far from seeing our own industrial base grow, thanks to free trade and the fiat dollar, it is shrinking! Fast! Jobs are moving out of the country, not into the country. Toyota has seen sales fall and has factories here so what are they doing? Closing them in Japan or here? Take a wild guess. Industrial production is moving out of the US and overseas because wages are lower overseas and the free trade ideology has forbidden any systems or barriers to prevent the flow of jobs, like water, to course downhill and out of our nation.
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Ambrose yaks and yaks about population growth and then claims Asia will literally die off. Wishful thinking. The Chinese are very concerned with overpopulation since their country has 4 times the numbers the US has, for example. China can’t double in size at home. But it can send immigrants outwards. And of course, some of them go to Europe and the US as well as other continents. In the US, much of the population growth has been in the underclass and many of these children end up in our immense and growing prison systems.
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This is due to them being unable to go into the industrial production system! DUH! Unlike youth in China which at least can have the hope of some sort of job in some sort of future! English youth are in the same fix as American kids: if they can’t land some job in the government or get a very good education, they are doomed to be welfare drones or work menial servant-style jobs. Or can do what many are doing today: go into crime. Now for some news from China:
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Upgrade for growth, economist advises_English_Xinhua
“China’s stimulus has effectively reversed the economic slowdown, a success for the country in the short term,” Wu said. “The long-term interests of China still lie in a better growth model, which promotes knowledge and innovation-driven development, instead of dependence on cheap labor.” .
China has just released a series of encouraging economic data. The country’s gross domestic product expanded 8.9 percent from last year in the third quarter, up from increases of 7.9 percent in the second quarter and 6.1 percent in the first three months. .
“We have achieved our short-term economic goal. But it is not sustainable if we can’t continue to create jobs and raise people’s income,” Wu said. .
“The core to realizing that is to improve the growth model and maximize profit in our companies. The priority now should be to go back to restructure the growth model, the process which started in 1995 but was weakened by the need to address the global financial crisis.”
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What a contrast with the US politicians! Here, our ‘leaders’ sigh and tell us that job growth just won’t happen. Too effing bad, everyone! But the Chinese leadership worries about jobs and growth and is actively doing something. This is superior to doing absolutely nothing at all. Both the GOP and the Democrats look at the news that yet another factory is closing in the US and moving to Mexico and shrug their shoulders. They would like us to believe this is like the weather: the water running down the road has been diverted and is now a chasm and no one can find a backhoe to fix it!
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So we are supposed to ignore it, I suppose. How this strengthens America baffles me! And why are we allowing this to happen? On the right, there is justified anger that the US population will grow by 100 million as Ambrose boasts in his article above. But this will be in the form of mostly illegal aliens who drive down wages here. And will these illegal aliens come here if there are no more jobs? Of course not. But the problem remains the loss of industrial jobs to other nations. Something Ambrose dares not even mention.
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Bill in works to let U.S. dissolve failing firms – washingtonpost.com
House Democrats and the Obama administration are preparing to introduce major legislation aimed at eliminating the devil’s choice the government faced last fall, when officials felt forced to decide between spending billions of dollars to rescue some of the nation’s most powerful financial firms or letting their failures sink the economy. .
The lawmakers and Treasury Department officials labored over the weekend to finish drafting legislation that would empower the government to seize troubled firms other than banks that are deemed “too big to fail.” The legislation would set up the Federal Reserve to oversee the largest financial firms, and eliminate the agency that regulates thrifts. The officials said the measure could be unveiled as soon as Tuesday.
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There was no ‘devil’s choice’. The devils run the government and they wanted something, that is, more money and more capital and got both. And now are rewarding themselves with record bonuses while they prevent us from shifting away from the disastrous floating fiat currency/free trade/no taxes on the rich system. So we have had zero reforms while going even more deeply into debt. The bankers want us to blame the politicians and we can march to the polls and choose one party of the other and both will be owned by the bankers who don’t want to pay taxes.
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And we will be told lies about how economic systems work. This is because the bankers make money off of the present system and even when they totally screw up everything, we will bail them all out. Way back 100 years ago, there was this big campaign to break up the monopolies. Laws were passed. The very rich were very worried. So they created the Federal Reserve which is private, not public. And this entity is immense. And taking over all systems in order to protect the international investment bankers, not the US public.
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And I say, take it away from them! Of course, the Ron Paul bill for auditing the Fed is in committee and out of the news. This is a bill the bankers are very anxious to kill. Imagine letting us know exactly what is going on there! No way in hell.
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Great analogy.
Elaine ,just a sugestion , could you make a post to put together and resume all your thinking about the economic moment ? i mean , make a post to put in a clear manner who do you think are the big players, what are their strategy and how all of this mess will envolve (if the dollar will collapse, how will we achieve pax china or if there is good things happening etc…). Is that possible ?
So it will be easy to understand your point of view. 🙂 Thanks !
China leads solar home revolution
By Ryan Rutkowski
http://atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/KJ29Cb02.html
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China is the world’s largest market for solar water heating (SWH). Since the 1990s, China has blossomed with an increase in annual
production to 114.1 million square meters in 2007 from 0.5 million square meters in 1991, accounting for two thirds of global output. According to “The China Greentech Report 2009”, the country has the world’s largest installed base of solar water heaters, at over 125 million square meters, with one in 10 families such devices.
In 2007, SWH firms in China generated sales of 32 billion yuan (US$470 million). The country’s annual production of solar water heater systems is twice that of Europe and four times that of the United States.
Moreover, China has become a global leader in the manufacturing of components for solar water heater systems. According to “The China Greentech Report 2009”, over 95% of core solar water heating technology patents are held by Chinese firms. In 2005, China produced over 90% of the world’s evacuated tubes, 70% of the world’s borosilicate glass, and more than 90% of the world’s “getter” – reactive materials used for removing traces of gas from vacuum systems.
In recent years, China has begun exporting its SWH technology. In 2007, the sector’s exports grew 28%, with a total value of US$65 million, the equipment going to 50 countries and territories in Europe, the United States, Africa and Southeast Asia. China’s leading export companies are Jiangsu Sunrain New Energy Group, Shandong Linuo Solar Energy Group and Beijing Tsinghua Solar.
Solar water heater systems can be seen across China, from the largest urban metropolitan areas to the smallest rural hamlets. The systems are most common on residential buildings in urban areas, while 90% of the systems are used in single households and 10% in schools, hotels and restaurants.
Altogether, over 30 million households in China use the systems. Southwestern Yunnan province, an area known for abundant sunshine and consistent year-round temperatures, has adopted widespread use of solar water heater systems, with almost all residential buildings in cities and rural areas equipped with them.
A combination of low production costs and significant government support has contributed to the rise of the systems. A standard household system can be set up for just over 2,000 yuan (US$294), compared with 1,800 yuan for gas and as low as 500 yuan for comparable electric water heaters. However, every cubic meter of natural gas costs about 1.7 yuan and every kilowatt hour of mains electricity costs about 0.44 yuan, compared with no cost for a SWH system – a significant savings over time, especially in areas with no access to natural gas and with abundant solar energy.
According to a study by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, SWHs were the most economical domestic hot water system compared with diesel oil boilers, gas boilers, or electric water heaters. The annual operating costs of SWHs in Shanghai were 70% less than electric water heaters.
On January 1, 2006, China passed a revolutionary renewable energy law to spur local governments to support the development of renewable energy projects across provinces. In 2007, the National Development and Reform Council’s Medium and Long-term Development Plan for Renewable Energy in China called for an increase in the total installed area for SWH systems to 150 million square meters by 2010 and 300 million square meters by 2020 – of this 100 million square meters will be in rural areas.
At present, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone next to Hong Kong, eastern Nanjing, Zhengzhou and Xiamen, and Shijiazhuang near Beijing, are among cities that make SWH systems compulsory on newly built and rebuilt residential buildings at 12 stories or below. In Shanghai, the local government is also pushing for an increase in the solar collecting area.
Three types of solar SWH systems are in use in China: vacuum tube collectors, flat-plate collectors, and combined storage collectors. The vacuum tube collectors are the most prevalent, making up 88% of the market in 2004, compared with 11% for flat-plate collectors, and less than 1% for combined storage collectors. New models often have electrical heaters inside the water tank to ensure efficiency in all weather conditions. According to a study by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, under weather conditions in Shanghai, the annual solar collecting efficiency of flat panel SWH systems is about 36-40%.
The SWH manufacturing market is highly fragmented, with more than 5,000 producers throughout the country. A lack of comprehensive standards for components and manufacturing and local protectionism has kept down the costs of entry for firms.
In April this year, the Ministry of Commerce announced a “Home Electronics to Countryside” program to encourage the growth of SWH systems in rural areas with a 13% subsidy on the cost of buying a system for rural residents. Many experts view this plan as a tool to encourage consolidation in the industry through adoption of more rigid standards. Only 92 of the 133 companies that placed a bid for the program were selected.
Shandong is the world production center for SWHs, based on measured area of concentrated heat vacuum tubes, with over 100 million square meters a year and 387 manufacturers. Of China’s 30 leading makers of the products with over 10 million yuan in production value, 10 are based in the province, including some of the largest SWH producers, such as Himin Solar Energy Group, Shandong Sangle Solar Energy and Linuo Paradigma Solar Energy.
Dezhou city, home to Himin Solar, boasts that 90% of households there use SWHs and that the streets are lit with solar-powered lights.
Recently, Jiangsu province joined the drive into SWH manufacturing. Of the 92 companies selected for the home electronics to the countryside program, 15 were from the province, including Jiangsu Huayang Solar Energy Heater, Jiangsu Sunrain Solar Energy and Jiangsu Sunshore Solar Energy Industry.
Jiangsu Huayang has filed for 150 independent patents and exports products to the US, Germany, Italy, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
The industry’s growth is attracting overseas interest. On September 17, Milwaukee-based, AO Smith Corp acquired a controlling stake in Tianlong Holding, one of China’s leading water purification companies. AO Smith is a world leader in residential and commercial water heating equipment and is already the second-biggest maker of water heaters in China, posting sales revenue of US$2.3 billion in 2008.
China’s rapid adoption of SWH technology will help counter the country’s dependence on fossil fuels. In 2004, SWH units already provided 12% of China’s renewable energy, second only to hydropower. According to the government’s mid-to-long term plan, China could save 20 million tonnes of coal by installing a total of 150 million square meters of SWHs by 2010.
According to “The China Greentech Report 2009”, the market size for green technology in China could reach up to 15% of gross domestic product by 2013. Clearly, this is not only an opportunity for foreign firms to jump on the bandwagon of a Chinese market with astronomical growth potential, it is also a golden opportunity for Chinese firms to gain a foothold in the rapidly developing renewable energy markets in Europe and North America. China’s solar revolution is well underway, and will not be limited by national borders.
Elaine,
Evans-Pritchard must be thinking he’s as insightful as Emmanual Todd by using demography predict collapse in Asia, hahaha. A clever and funny troll on his blog named Johan de Meulemeester calls him out every time he says something silly and Anglocentric.
Incidentally, did you hear that for the first time in 15 years Russia recorded more births than deaths in a month? Predictions of their disappearance might have been a tad overblown.
Hi Isha, Thanks for the great information on the Chinese solar industry!
Money today is not money. IT IS DEBT OWNED TO PRIVATE BANKERS.
Anyone who wants to keep our current system alive can not be trusted.
Wu Wei wrote:
“Money today is not money. IT IS DEBT OWNED TO PRIVATE BANKERS.
Anyone who wants to keep our current system alive can not be trusted.”
Very well said!
As I keep saying, money is magical, the real money is digits on a spreadsheet and this is created via ‘lending’ which is money made out of thin air. Bankrolled by the taxpayers.
Russia reports 4 swine flu fatalities.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091028/156623330.html
If banks fail as private institutions (as they have in pretty much every country now and then), why not just stop it all and make them all public government operations?
I mean, just basics: taking savings and granting loans that are deemed to have little risk? Why not?
…as they have failed in every country every now and then, I mean.
Selling missiles to China http://urbansurvival.com/week.htm
“Presidential Determination No. 2009–31 of September 29, 2009 Presidential
SEC. 1512.
CERTIFICATION OF EXPORTS OF MISSILE EQUIPMENT OR TECHNOLOGY TO CHINA.
‘I want to spank Ambrose here. Bad boy! Naughty, naughty! Why on earth should ZIRP Japan worry for one second about interest rates rising globally???? Eh? Does Japan sell its national debt to foreign devils? ‘
I am not sure which sort of personal proclivities you are exhibiting here. Leaving that aside, you could not be more wrong. Japan does not have currency controls. Japan has to compete with every other currency for investment from the Japanese. China does, and I suspect I know who is responsible for that.
Lately you have been talking up a recovery. I have been waiting for K- Sea to report their quarter, since I do not have preternatural abilities. KSP is a Jones Act shipper of petroleum products, which is the best gauge of economic activity in my tally book. Only American flagged vessels can ship between domestic ports. KSP is down 38% today, kicking off debt covenants and offering this tidbit as an explanation: ‘absence of any meaningful recovery in petroleum demand is causing further reductions in refinery utilization and thus further reductions in waterborne product movements, including a reduction in the number of new term charters.” Reuters, today.
I have been plainspoken here about the danger to our petrochemical industry, the lack of demand and consequently lack of recovery. Kunstler has nailed it again this week. Maybe you would care to explain the basis of your theme of recovery, Dear Author?
I never said, ‘recovery’ anywhere. I constantly say, ‘Return to the PREVIOUS status quo.’
Japan’s ZIRP system generated continuing downward pressure on its currency balanced by increased exports and repatriated profits.
A U.S. ZIRP system will likely devalue the dollar and/or boost U.S. exports, both of which would upset the Japanese ZIRP equilibrium.
Given how ruthlessly our ruling class eviscerated our auto industry in the concerted effort to restart the old “status quo”, we will likely be prevented from “naturally” expanding our export economy due to a falling dollar.
My guess is that all the players will use every artifice to keep the dollar high for as long as possible.
followed by a race to the bottom
illegal aliens?
sad that you have to use such an insulting and dehumanizing phrase instead of the more mundane “undocumented immigrant”
Guess “undocument immigrant” just doesn’t have that negative connotation your looking for?
Yes those criminal space aliens crossing an imaginary line in the dirt and then stealing our low paying jobs.
Its dishonest and ignorant to pretend that “aliens” or “illegals” are driving down our wages.
Its so easy to blame the powerless and downtrodden instead of laying the blame where it belongs.
We are the ones that want cheap crap and don’t want to take any responsibility for the consequences of our collective actions. We are not a hapless country being over-run by a horde of criminal space aliens. We dump subsidies agriculture in Mexico and you complain that those illegals are lowering our wages. Yeah, like those all-powerful “illegals” are the ones responsible for the enforcement of our immigration laws.
wah wah wah someone call the wahbulance elaine would rather blame “illegals” instead of our collective actions for international wage arbitrage. Like we are not the imperial center that sucks up the wealth of the periphery.
How selfish of those fkn “aliens” to cross our border to steal the jobs of hardworking americans. They should stay on their side of the border and starve.
Do note elaine that Mexico has lost millions of manufacturing jobs to china and other low wage locales. Mexico is not a “winner” otherwise why do you think so many of them would risk their lives crossing for 6-12 dollar an hour jobs?
global wage arbritrage is a bitch and Mexico is on the wrong side. China/india account for a third of the workers of the world and Mexico’s wages are not competitive.
We are seeing the collapse of the imperial centers of the “western/white” world and the whining about not being able to hog all the world’s resources is just beginning. Its simple thermodynamics elaine, we are seeing entropy in action. We loved the law of one price but the law of one wage is going to suck.
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ELAINE: They are called ‘illegal’ because they broke the law. We have plenty of legal immigrants.
seems to me everyones upseat that banks get to access unlimited government funds because government wont stop them…. and everyone is trying to get congress involved from one standpoint or another…. but we all know their crooks and will flush this country down the toilet to appease the real ‘mob’
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so really we are fatalists as the event horizon of our accomplishments come into view
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israel will produce 35million barrels of oil per day
@Elaine: Great post. You nailed the corruption bit being the cause of all failure. Spot on. I would like to add though that it is not only corruption to blame but shortsightedness of the people calling the shots. Politicians have an excuse, their mind thinks “only in 4 year terms”, their term of office. In the case of the elite, the bankers, etc., they have no excuse, the continuity of their decisions follows them like a noose around their neck, tied to a lead weight. No matter how much slack, the rope eventually runs out, and here we are.
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About Ambrose, he is a quaint mouthpiece for MI6 and all Queen Bee concerns. The tone of his commentary gives a good read into how desperate things are at the Battenberg House.
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BTW, an interesting bit of news, Fujii says he will skip G-20 finance meeting next week in Scotland (http://tinyurl.com/yjws668). My, my, the vassals are no longer responding when summoned. LOL. We certainly live in interesting times.
Here the response to the continued US Bond sale rip-of:
1.) Iran Oil bourse inaugurated: “The oil bourse is intended as an exchange market for petroleum, gas, and petrochemicals in various currencies, primarily the euro and Iranian rial, and a basket of other major currencies.” Read @ http://tinyurl.com/ygv5fck
2.) Saudis drop WTI oil contract: “Saudi Arabia on Wednesday decided to drop the widely used West Texas Intermediate oil contract as the benchmark for pricing its oil, dealing a serious blow to the New York Mercantile Exchange. Read @ http://tinyurl.com/yfnzggb
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How this will bode for the dollar time will tell, but I do not see a positive outcome, how can it bode well when everything and everyone trading in dollars is getting skinned? Everyone except the guys who brought it on, and continue to bring it, that is.
Thanks for the Saudi news, CC! I appreciate it. This will kill the NYMEX.
Most welcome Elaine. 🙂 Saudi Aramco have decided to use the Sour Oil Index as U.S. Benchmark. http://tinyurl.com/ylm53vh
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This news has remained very muted considering they should be all over the media. Must be lot people doing cartwheels over at NYMEX.
“ELAINE: They are called ‘illegal’ because they broke the law. We have plenty of legal immigrants.”
That is a typical “white” dodge, pretending that its just a technical term. Back in the day they were called undocumented immigrants. ROFLMAO, here comes the “i’m only against illegal immigration not LEGAL immigrants” defense.
I didn’t ask why you called them “illegal” i asked why you felt the need to employ a racist phrase? Illegal = criminal, and alien = non-human; hence that brown horde are a bunch of subhuman criminals.
The question is why you choose to use a dehumanizing term “illegal aliens” and not why you call them “illegals?” Yes i’m quite aware that you will continue to dodge the issue.
Funny how you consider wanting a better life a crime. A crime is rape, treason, murder, theft but a desire for a better life is anything but.
The criminals are not refugees, the crimimals are those who employ them.
Hide behind the typical language excuse.
Fascinating that you can’t see how using such language as “illegal” and “alien” is a product of our racist culture.
i reiterate why do you feel the need to use racist terminology?
bludgeoning poor white people for haboring racist belief but ignoring your own does not reflect well on you.
I find the term to be insulting and racist but that doesn’t matter to you because only white people’s feeling are worthy of being taken into consideration.
Go ahead and continue blaming immigrants (oops “illegals”) for crime and the destruction of our way of life. Nope it isn’t employers breaking the law in hiring undocumented workers; its those fkn “illegals” for wanting a better life and refusing to respect an invisible line in the dirt.
I’m not a fan of immigration because it is immoral to poach the highly educated of another nation but to whine about having to deal with the “uncultured” ones.
Crossing a border is not a crime elaine and not all laws are “just” or equivalent.
Wonder what Lady Justice thinks about your horrible crime of “crossing an invisible line in the ground?”
Those evil lawbreakers; like crossing a border is equal to theft, rape, or murder.
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ELAINE: You, not I, use the word ‘evil’. I simply stated the obvious truth. Illegal aliens enter a country ILLEGALLY. End of story.
@Elaine: Here, a ray of sanity in the sea of fiscal insanity: How the Nation’s Only State-Owned Bank Became the Envy of Wall Street @ http://tinyurl.com/cfbem4
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Stability in an ocean of chaos. It can be done, and it is happening.
“ELAINE: You, not I, use the word ‘evil’. I simply stated the obvious truth. Illegal aliens enter a country ILLEGALLY. End of story”
What part of its fkn partronizing, insulting, and dehumanizing do you not understand?
Illegal = criminal
Alien = Not Human
illegal alien is a loaded phrase with negative ramifications to those being targeted. It implies that this group of humanity are criminals and subhuman. i.e. they are unworthy of empathy or respect.
Why the refusal to use “undocument immigrant” instead of the dehumanizing and insulting “illegal alien?”
You are implying with “Illegal” that crossing an imaginary line in the dirt is a crime on par with theft, rape, and/or murder.
You imply with “alien” that they are not human. It implies that they are motived by “alien” desires and are not “human” like Real americans. Basically this phrase allows you to demonize and scrapegoat immigrants as “destroyers/savages/rapist/etc.”
You deny their humanity and pretend that their motivation in crossing the border is for “criminal” reasons and not a product of desperation.
I reiterate why do you choose to use “illegal alien” instead of undocument immigrant?
I have explained why it is insulting and racist; I also gave you an alternative that does not carry such a negative connotation.
Illegal alien is a racist code word for white people.
Hardworking, small town, all-american, honest = white
welfare queens, lazy, deadbeats, criminals = minorities (blacks and latinos)
Sarah palin and the republican party are notorious for using code racial language and that is why so many white people are drawn to them.
Why not use UNDOCUMENT IMMIGRANT instead of ILLEGAL ALIEN?
Ask yourself one simple question why are you so resistant to using a term without a negative or dehumanizing connotation?
No human being is illegal and no human being is an alien so why do you insist on defending the usage of an insulting term?
Illegal = against a law = accurate
alien = not native = foreign = accurate.
When the language is accurate, by all means manipulate the emotives.
The difference between an illegal alien and an immigrant is that between a party crasher and an invited guest.
@ domingo & CK – You guys are BOTH right.
The problem lies in the difference between denotation and connotation.
CK supplied the denotation of ‘ illegal alien ‘ i.e. – the literal, dictionary definition ( objective)
domingo you are using the connotation – the emotional meaning of a word ( subjective).
Now think about the use of the term ‘ conspiracy theorist’.
The denotation( dictionary definition) of the words ‘ conspiracy’ and ‘ theorist’, taken alone or used in another context, , are in no way emotionally charged. Just like the words ‘ illegal ‘ and ‘ alien ‘ , taken alone, are NOT derogatory .
But put the words together, and you have dynamite. That’s because both terms ( illegal alien and conspiracy theorist) have been highly POLITICIZED.
Because of a carefully crafted campaign of govt/media propaganda, both these terms have deviated far away from their dictionary definitions. And this serves a specific agenda.
Big business, and even many average Americans, were happy to use the cheap labor when it was to their benefit. But now that the economic tables have turned , the govt uses the ‘ illegals’ as a handy scapegoat to blame for a lot of the economic woes that govt ITSELF produced. Plus, govt likes to DIVIDE people. What better way ?
Conspiracy theorist has come to mean some kind of wacko. And this serves the purpose of automatically discrediting anyone who is bringing information to the table that goes contrary to official govt propaganda. Now the govt can keep all its past lies safely buried.And they can KEEP on lying to their heart’s content. Because anybody who challenges these govt lies is called…? You guessed it- a conspiracy theorist.
See how this works?
domingo, I’ve noticed that YOU don’t have a problem calling people wackos when you don’t agree with what they say.But then you get angry when the shoe is on the other foot.
I hear you, domingo . Do you hear me ?
Put it another way- most of us have been clumped into various boxes of one kind or another -whether it’s illegal aliens, conspiracy theorists, truthers, antivaxxers, or terrorist threats(the patriots).It doesn’t really make a difference.
Bottom line: the establishment HATES us and they twist language to pit us against each other and to conquer.
Don’t fall into their trap , because all of us little guys have something in common – they consider us all livestock.
Sky, the point you make is valid and i only disagree with the language choice of objective/subjective; A better term is literal/figurative.
“Illegal alien” is coded language and most white people do not make the connection with how language has been used to “oppress” minorities and to divide them from working together. Language has been a facet to dehumanize, oppress, and to divide the lower classes from comming together and effectively opposing exploitation from above.
CK an Elaine are examples of two white people pretending that language is unambigious and “innocent.” basically him and elaine pretend that their is no hidden message or negative connotation to “illegal alien.” Both are being manipulated to direct their hostility to a weaker more vulnerable group instead of the group responsible (divide and conquer is pervasive, insidious, and subtle).
illegal alien functions to dehumanize and “other” another oppressed group. Instead of finding common ground with immigrants elaine and ck are subtly influenced to “hate” and “other” them.
Instead of demanding that they be treated humanely and that the law be extended to protect them from economic exploitation; they instead insist that they are criminals and deserve nothing but scorn/hostility.
Workers of the world unite is a simple expression that if we want to successfully oppose international elite we must organize internationally. Racism, sexism, and every other “ism” out there is a means to divide the majority of the worlds population from each other while allowing the elite to avoid a unified front.
Using “undocument alien” or “unauthorized/illegal immigrant” avoids the most pernicious aspect of racialized language.
Language is not math, words can be loaded with meaning both negative and positive.
White people and Americans in general have been “indoctrinated” to dehumanize and ignore the suffering of “others” because we are the only “real” people.
They are subhuman and as such do not “suffer” as much as a real human being would.
Elaine avoided the question of why she used Illegal alien after i pointed out that it was derogatory and deeply insulting term but instead focused on the literal definition.
This is commonly known as the dictionary defense and is the last bastion of the “ignorant”.
White people when confronted with racism will use the dictionary/literal definition of racism/etc while ignoring the “spirit.”
Elaine ignored the harm/insulting aspect of the term and instead focused on how it was just a literal expression of a phenomenon. The feelings of those “beneath her” are of no importance and she does not have to apologies or even acknowledge how deeply offensive it is to latinos.
It is offensive and you callously dismiss my concern with “i don’t care how it makes you feel, i’m just using a term that is literally correct so fck off”
You were born during a time where No Negros, No Mexicans, and No dog sign were commonly seen throught the united states. You have internalized the feeling that only “white” feelings are worthy of being taken into consideration and anything a minority points out as “oppressive” is categorically false. i.e Only white people can be the judge of what is and what isn’t “oppressive.”
Illegal alien doesn’t offend elaine or CK so it cannot possibly be “oppressive.” I’m SOL and need to get over it.
I’m quite aware that it has probably never entered your mind that it is a loaded phrase with a myrid of negative insinuations for those that it targets. Its easy to be ignorant of a phenomenon that does not effect you because of your privilege.
Elaine and CK are resistant to admitting it’s dehumanizing aspect because they don’t want to acknowledge their submerged prejudice. How could I a liberal and non-racist person possibly do anything racist? We all carry prejudices and racist “feelings” because we are human beings and we are a deeply flawed species. We dehumanize “others” so that we can justify fcking them over or not opposing that exploitation.
This is our greatest weakness and allows the successful application of divide and conquer to be so “successfully employed.”
We want to live in the big house and have a bunch of peones to do our bidding. We all deep down inside harbor a desire to steal cheat and fuck over others for our sexual and material benefit. The only thing that stops us is that we are a social species and cannot tolerate being isolated/shunned.
Illegal or undocumented is like arguing potato, potahtoe, tomato, tomahtoe! The real issue should be how the system will jettison an immigrant once they are no longer looked upon as an asset. Simple. Don’t get lost in translation people. Think Germany 1932. Except this time the people who create money through hard work don’t get to keep it; the banksters learned from their Weimar Republic experiment and have changed the “gas them” technique to the “stuff and deflate” technique. The latins, blacks, and asians (in order of population size), do not get to be roasted like Jews by the Zionists. Milking cows is a more accurate term for immigrants in any country, in my opinion.
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In fact, due to the collapsing population numbers in the EU due to negative birth rates for example, the EU countries are quietly allowing huge numbers of immigrants in, why? To pay the future social security benefits of retiring Brits, Spanish, Dutch, etc. etc. How quaint.
“We want to live in the big house and have a bunch of peones to do our bidding. We all deep down inside harbor a desire to steal cheat and fuck over others for our sexual and material benefit.” Speak for yourself liberal.
Hey CK, how goes it? I think Domingo was alluding to the Spanish saying, “El listo vive del tonto y el tonto de su trabajo.” Loosely translated: the smart man lives of the stupid man, and the stupid off his labor.
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I for one have no desire to cheat, steal of f**k anyone over, having wised up a few life times ago. I learned you cannot hide, out run, or fool karma; that is one big bad wolf. It’s amusing to watch the parading circus of bankers and elite incompetents as they blissfully work their willful ignorance into stupidity in motion, prancing happily to an ignominious end of misery.
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CIRCUS, n. A place where horses, ponies and elephants are permitted to see men, women and children acting the fool.
@CC:
It goes well, another week spent on the right side of the ground. Found a very nice JET machinist’s lathe for not much money with quite a bit of tooling. When the shit hits the fan, I will be able to turn out new fan parts.
Have a lead on another Bridgeport milling machine.