“Brush With Death” by Corridor Digital is a short action video about a battle between a painter and mysterious graffiti men. The video features some very clever use of visual effects trickery
Coming to Kindle and Smashwords
November 2013
Nov 30, 2011
real steampunk...
Behold, the fearsome Japanese War Tubas, used as "acoustic locators" by the Imperial Army
the ape speaks.....
O.K., I own it, I am a progressive, old school, pro union, butter not guns, support the downtrodden ect,ect.
This September I thought Obama had maybe a thirty percent chance of winning reelection. Maybe....
Numbers stacked against him, nine percent unemployment a hard hurdle to get over.
I feel personally how the economy does during a presidential term is mostly about timing. This year the economy is going to run about 14 trillion, the budget of the US government is going to run around 3.7 trillion any tweaking the congress or the president does will have little effect. We are in a transitional period, manufacturing as first world employment is done. Hey we had a good run, from 1945 when any competition lay in ruins (and we got to rebuild at a hefty profit) till the late seventies when Japan figured out they could turn a wrench cheaper and just as well as us. Now it's China and their work force are starting to unionize and demand better wages and conditions so companies there are now shifting to Malaysia (who can turn a wrench cheaper and just as well as the Chinese) a pattern that will repeat itself anon until we run out of third world hell holes.
Objectively Obama has done well. January 1st, 2008 the economy was shrinking at six percent, we were losing 400,000 thousand jobs a month, the financial, housing and car manufacturing industries were on the verge of collapse and Osama was thumbing his nose from his summer place in Pakistan. Things are better the banks and auto industry has stabilized (housing going to take a generation, sorry) we are adding jobs and Osama sleeps with the fishes(literally) but to be honest things still suck. So if meat gravy is watery and your name is on the sign it doesn't make a difference if you made it or not you not goin to move pasta.
Which brings me to what is happening now. I suspect that when the President is alone in the oval and reads the polls that have Gingrich ahead in South Carolina and within closing distance in New Hampshire, that for a moment he feels warm and fuzzy inside. Considering the fetid field Gingrich rose out of there could not be a more flawed and handicapped foil to beat Rommney over the head. All the Republicans had to do to win was pick someone who could put a coherent sentence together and not zip his dick up in his fly onstage and it was a easy walk into the endzone.
Go Newt Go.....
Nov 26, 2011
Nov 23, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving....
What's the differnce between a Mexican and A Texan?
Which way you crawl under the wire for a better way of life...
WWII vet gets his medals with help from boy, 8 (fantastic)
http://www.usatoday.com/
ROCKPORT, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- Another veteran finally has his medals from World War II, thanks to the work of some good friends.
94-year-old Roland Richards was awarded his medals in a ceremony Thursday in Camden. Richards says he's really too old to be getting medals, but no one else thought so --especially his eight-year old neighbor, Thor Gabrielsen. Thor and his parents live across the road from Richards and have become friends. When Thor's mother learned Richards had never received his medals, the boy decided to write a letter to U.S. Senator Susan Collins to make things right.
Richards was drafted into the Army in 1942, and became part of the "port battalion" unloading ship convoys-first in North Africa, then Sicily, Italy and finally in Marseilles, France, where he also drove truckloads of ammunition toward the lines. He returned home to Maine three years later and went back to civilian life, like many of the millions who served in that war, Richards' medals simply were never sent to him. Congressional staff members say it can be a challenge tracking down the needed records to prove the service, but in this case it apparently happened quite rapidly. The Senator responded, and worked with the Army to obtain the proper medals and citations. Roland Richards was awarded the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the World War Two Victory Medal-a victory he helped win sixty-six years ago.
Asked why he started the whole chain of events, Thor Gabrielsen said, "I thought he deserved to get his medals."
Asked why he started the whole chain of events, Thor Gabrielsen said, "I thought he deserved to get his medals."
Nov 22, 2011
sleek....GroundBot, A Spherical All-Terrain Surveillance Robot
GroundBot by Swedish robotics firm Rotundus is an all-terrain, amphibious surveillance robot in the shape of a bug-eyed sphere (video). Roughly the size of a car tire, the robot moves silently at up to six mph. GroundBot houses two cameras which provide a stereoscopic view to its remote operator. Rotundus notes that the current version “cannot house robot arms or weapons.” Maybe in the next release.
The spherical design is simplicity itself. With its large circumference, GroundBot takes all kinds of terrain in its stride. And yet its appearance is friendly and unthreatening.
Inside, all cameras and sensors are sealed off from the outside world. This means that they are protected from bangs and knocks. In addition, the outside world is protected from potential electrical sparks when GroundBot is investigating gas leaks
janitors actually provide a service and are useful to society unlike this mouth breathing goober....
Newt Gingrich's Cavalier View Of Janitorial Work Challenged By Facts
WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich argued at an address at Harvard University last week that American school systems should fire their unionized janitors and let underprivileged children do the work instead, according to a report in Politico.
The upshot of the plan? The kids would learn life skills, and taxpayers would save money.The logic for such an argument would seem to rely on two premises: that janitors are currently being overpaid for their work, and that their job is so easy a child could do it.
The nation's janitors, unionized and non-unionized alike, would probably disagree.
The mean wage for a janitor working in an elementary or secondary school is $13.74 an hour, or $28,570 per year, according to the most recent data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average pay is significantly less for janitors working at private buildings, which comprise the vast majority of janitorial jobs: $10.56 per hour, or $21,960 a year.
The latter annual salary is below the poverty line for a family of four, according to the federal government's most recent poverty guidelines. It also happens to be less than the self-renewing monthly retainer that Gingrich enjoyed as a consultant to Freddie Mac between 1999 and 2002, according to Bloomberg.
Despite its relatively modest pay, a janitor's job isn't as easy as Gingrich seems to think it is. According to the Labor Department, a janitor needs to be able to carry out a long list of duties and repairs during a typical day: Mop and polish floors, handle dangerous chemicals, even perform basic electrical and plumbing repairs. At schools, they also need to interact well with children and, at times, clean up their vomit.
A janitor's job is also more dangerous than most American occupations -- and hardly fit for children, according to the Labor Department's description of the work. Janitors, it notes, "may suffer cuts, bruises, and burns from machines, handtools, and chemicals. They spend most of their time on their feet, sometimes lifting or pushing heavy furniture or equipment. Many tasks, such as dusting or sweeping, require constant bending, stooping, and stretching."
A spokesman for Gingrich's campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.Gingrich made his remarks on unionized janitors to an audience that should know quite a bit about the subject. After long negotiations, Harvard's janitors, who are represented by the Service Employees International Union, just ratified a five-year contract with the school this past weekend, having received public support from much of the student body.
The contract includes what the SEIU has described as a "groundbreaking" childcare allowance worth up to $5,000 each year for workers, as well as a modest but important 3 percent annual raise, helping janitors' salaries keep pace with the ever-rising cost of living. The agreement also caps the percentage of janitors that Harvard can use through contractors, thereby stemming a trend that has helped erode workers' pay and benefits in the services industry and other blue-collar fields.
At Harvard, Gingrich said his plan to put kids to work as janitors would help them "begin the process of rising" in society. And the contract won by the unionized janitors appears to do just that for workers and their children. One of the perks in the agreement allows janitors to take advantage of a tuition assistance program, letting them pursue Harvard degrees or continuing education classes at a discounted rate. That benefit, presumably, could lead to better jobs and brighter futures for the janitors and their families
finally my nephew Pol Pot will have someone to play with...
Adolf Hitler Campbell Custody Dispute: Heath And Deborah Campbell Want Their Baby Back 
NEWARK, N.J. -- A New Jersey couple who gave their three children Nazi-inspired names is due in court Monday to try to regain custody of their newborn.
Heath Campbell, left, with his wife, Deborah, and son Adolf Hitler Campbell, 3, pose in Easton, Pa.
NEWARK, N.J. -- A New Jersey couple who gave their three children Nazi-inspired names is due in court Monday to try to regain custody of their newborn.
Heath and Deborah Campbell's lawyer says state child welfare officials took custody of the child named Hons after he was born Thursday at Hunterdon Medical Center.
The state took custody of the couple's other children nearly two years ago, saying there were in danger because of previous violence in the Campbell home.
Their parents made headlines in 2009 when a supermarket refused to decorate a birthday cake for their son, Adolf Hitler. His siblings are named JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler
The state took custody of the couple's other children nearly two years ago, saying there were in danger because of previous violence in the Campbell home.
Their parents made headlines in 2009 when a supermarket refused to decorate a birthday cake for their son, Adolf Hitler. His siblings are named JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler
I think my sister could have her shower here....
HR Giger Bar at The Museum HR Giger
By EDW Lynch on November 21, 2011
The Museum HR Giger Bar is a stunning bar designed by artist HR Giger (the designer of the Alien film character). The bar is located at Museum HR Giger in Gruyères, Switzerland (see a brief video of the bar by z0wye and a flickr photoset by Alejandro Pérez). Another Giger Bar is located in Chur, Switzerland
duh.....
Fox News Viewers Know Less Than People Who Don't Watch Any News: Study
Fox News viewers are less informed than people who don't watch any news, according to a new poll from Fairleigh Dickinson University.
The poll surveyed New Jersey residents about the uprisings in Egypt and the Middle East, and where they get their news sources. The study, which controlled for demographic factors like education and partisanship, found that "people who watch Fox News are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government" and "6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government" compared to those who watch no news.
Overall, 53% of all respondents knew that Egyptians successfully overthrew Hosni Mubarak and 48% knew that Syrians have yet to overthrow their government.
Dan Cassino, a political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson, explained in a statement, "Because of the controls for partisanship, we know these results are not just driven by Republicans or other groups being more likely to watch Fox News. Rather, the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all."
This isn't the first study that has found that Fox News viewers more misinformed in comparison to others. Last year, a study from the University of Maryland found that Fox News viewers were more likely to believe false information about politics
The poll surveyed New Jersey residents about the uprisings in Egypt and the Middle East, and where they get their news sources. The study, which controlled for demographic factors like education and partisanship, found that "people who watch Fox News are 18-points less likely to know that Egyptians overthrew their government" and "6-points less likely to know that Syrians have not yet overthrown their government" compared to those who watch no news.
Overall, 53% of all respondents knew that Egyptians successfully overthrew Hosni Mubarak and 48% knew that Syrians have yet to overthrow their government.
Dan Cassino, a political science professor at Fairleigh Dickinson, explained in a statement, "Because of the controls for partisanship, we know these results are not just driven by Republicans or other groups being more likely to watch Fox News. Rather, the results show us that there is something about watching Fox News that leads people to do worse on these questions than those who don’t watch any news at all."
This isn't the first study that has found that Fox News viewers more misinformed in comparison to others. Last year, a study from the University of Maryland found that Fox News viewers were more likely to believe false information about politics
Waiter, this steak tastes like sh**....
Mankind's food chain may become a loopMankind has come up with all sorts of ideas for new meat sources from cloned animals to chowing down on insects, but this idea may be the most outlandish yet.
The Tokyo Sewage service in Japan serves over 13 million people over approximately a 2,200 square kilometer area. It approached Mitsuyuki Ikeda, a researcher from the Okayama Laboratory, with an unusual problem -- it had too much "sewer mud" (also known as human excrement).
It turns out human excrement is a breeding ground for scores of bacteria. So Mr. Ikeda cooked up an unusual solution -- make food [video] out of the feces.
The first step is to cook the bacteria, killing them, and to extract their proteins via separation techniques according to Yahoo News. Soy protein is added to enhance the flavor. The meat mixture travels to a "reaction enhancer" (likely a chemical reactor of some sort) where it turns into a textured "meat" and is then extrude through an "exploder".
The delicious "steak" is even finished with red food color to give it a comforting hue. Mr. Ikeda claims that in initial testing people found the feces steak to taste somewhat like beef.
Mr. Ikeda is afraid the main obstacle to deploying excrement meat to the masses is the "psychological barrier." He states, "I admit that few people would be keen to eat it knowing its made of human excrement."
Indeed, the concept of "fake" meat alone is hard for some to swallow. Taco Bell was recently sued when diners discovered that its beef mixed "fake meat" filers with real meat.
How much would the "meat" cost? Mr. Ikeda comments, "As far as the cost is concerned, because at the moment it includes the cost of research our artificial meat is 10 to 20 times more expensive than normal meat. But once the research is complete and it's put on the market, we'll probably be able to price it at roughly the same level as normal meat."
The new "meat" is also healthier than traditional meat as it’s an ideal mix of 63% proteins, 25% carbohydrates, 3% lipids and 9% minerals. The small fat content, in particular makes the feces steaks healthier than their animal counterpart.
The new meat would also cut down on the greenhouse gas emissions, which traditional livestock produce. In that regard it could even earn "carbon credits" helping its price to be cheaper than animal-derived meat.
The idea may sound crazy, but consider that Japan is no stranger to fine meat products. Its Kobe region beef is renowned by connoisseurs worldwide for it's delicious flavor.
And as the band Pink Floyd famously sang, "If you don't eat yer meat, you can't have any pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat yer meat
Nov 15, 2011
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Allies Accuse James O'Keefe of 'Hit Job' in Undercover NPR Sting
The two men who pulled off James O’Keefe’s NPR sting are now criticizing the conservative activist for what one calls a ‘hit job.’ They tell Howard Kurtz exclusively why they feel exploited.
The fake Muslim donor had played his role perfectly. The question was what to do next.
As the world would soon learn, Simon Templar had secretly recorded National Public Radio executives saying disparaging things about conservatives by passing himself off as Ibrahim Kasaam of the Muslim Education Action Center. He had even gotten a phone call with Vivian Schiller, NPR’s chief executive.
James O’Keefe, the man behind the undercover project, wanted to make the hidden-camera video public immediately last February as Congress debated whether to kill NPR’s funding. Templar insisted on waiting, and a confrontation ensued.
In a series of interviews with The Daily Beast, Templar says he had designed the effort to be “a very thoroughly researched and impeccably executed project that was by no means limited to NPR. James wanted it to be a hit job.”
What’s more, says Templar, O’Keefe “didn’t seem to care about the reasons why we were doing this. All he cared about was that he had people saying embarrassing stuff on video. I came to learn how desperate he was in terms of money and needing to rehabilitate his reputation.”
Shaughn Adeleye, who worked with Templar in posing as another member of the phony Muslim group, also disagreed with O’Keefe’s tactics. “We were both sold a false bill of goods,” says Adeleye, who devised the NPR scheme and persuaded O’Keefe to adopt it.
He and Templar “were under the impression we were going to go all the way with this. We did not want to halt it at such a critical moment when we had established a footing with our characters …
“I felt deceived and misled because James did not live up to what we all agreed upon would be a multifaceted project,” says Adeleye, who was born in Nigeria. “After a while I could not deny the truth anymore.”
Reached by telephone on Monday, O’Keefe said he would have no comment.
The clash highlights the debate swirling around O’Keefe’s surreptitious taping: Is it a new and audacious form of citizen activism, or ideological warfare dressed up as journalism? And why are his methods leaving some of his former allies disillusioned?
Whatever the misgivings of the participants, they had remarkable success by offering to donate up to $5 million to NPR if it could be done anonymously. In a phone call, Templar told Schiller that some of his organization’s members were affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamic organization founded in Egypt that has a history of violence. He told her the Muslim Brotherhood had been unfairly demonized as a terrorist group by the likes of Glenn Beck and that he appreciated the stand that NPR took in firing analyst Juan Williams for comments made on Fox News about fearing airplane passengers in Muslim garb. Schiller responded only briefly, saying “I know” or that she understood what Templar was saying, without endorsing his views. She praised his generosity and said NPR would be honored to accept a check if the legal issues could be worked out.
“I’m telling Vivian Schiller about our Muslim Brotherhood connections and she didn’t have any problem with it,” Templar says. One of his motivations for the project was that “I really wanted to bring attention to the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the most racist organizations on the planet.” Schiller did not respond to an invitation to comment.
Templar says he based the project on "Sharia: The Threat to America," a report published by the Center for Security Policy that outlines how, according to the report, political correctness allows the Muslim Brotherhood to operate freely in the United States.
When Templar and Adeleye had lunch with the NPR executives on Feb. 22, O’Keefe’s brief career was at a low point. He had gained wide attention by posing as a pimp and videotaping ACORN staffers making incriminating remarks about underage prostitution (though it turned out the tapes were edited). But O’Keefe was later arrested for infiltrating Sen. Mary Landrieu’s office and given three years’ probation for entering federal property under false pretenses. And then he was caught trying to lure reporter Abbie Boudreau, then with CNN, onto a boat laden with sex toys and pornography in an effort to embarrass her.
“I was always struggling to pull him away from his shtick of walking into an office with a bizarre pretense and taping some secretary or low-level worker,” says Templar. “I wanted him to think much bigger.”
Nov 14, 2011
I couldn't write this sh**......
MOMENTUM 
Ethan Miller
Ethan Miller 1. Gingrich Soars in New Polls
Your turn, Newt. Mitt Romney has a new companion at the top of the polls, and it’s former House speaker Newt Gingrich. In CNN’s latest survey of the GOP presidential field, Gingrich surges to 22 percent, just behind Romney at 24 percent but well within the poll’s margin of error. Meanwhile, CNN saw Herman Cain’s support plummet in the aftermath of harassment allegations, dropping 14 points, down to 11 percent. Public Policy Polling will also release similar findings today.
'Killing Lincoln' Errors: Book Contains Plethora Of Factual Inaccuracies (surprise #2)
Bill O'Reilly is no stranger to controversy. This time, though, his new book is the focus of intense criticism.
As Salon's Justin Elliott first reported, "Killing Lincoln", which he co-authored with Martin Dugard, is riddled with factual inaccuracies. The National Parks Service outed the mistakes in a recent review before banning it from the Ford's Theatre bookstore.
In one instance, the book claims Ford's Theatre was burned down in 1863 when it was actually destroyed in the end of 1862. The book contains multiple references to Lincoln in the Oval Office, which wasn't built until decades after his death. It also includes the line "He furls his brow"; furl is a nautical term, the correct word is furrows.Despite being second on the New York Times' bestseller list, "Killing Lincoln" has taken heat from a slew of critics. Christian Science Monitor's Jackie Hogan chastises the book for covering up negative aspects of Lincoln's presidency in favor of a good story. As she puts it, "style and image often take precedence over evidence and substance." She also calls the book "sensationalized, suggestive, and overly simplistic."
Noted historian Eric Foner told the Washington Post that, “I would not be surprised if there were historical errors as [O’Reilly] is better known as a TV polemicist than as a scholar."
In September, O'Reilly told Fox and Friends that he didn't want to write just another "boring history book." Mission accomplished, then.
PLAY
FULLSCREEN
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surprise.....
The GOP's 'Uncertainty' Talking Point, Debunked
WASHINGTON -- With the economy in a slump for nearly four years, corporate executives and conservative politicians have repeatedly invoked "uncertainty" as a major barrier to American job-creation. The "uncertainty" jab is a go-to talking point for any congressional Republican looking to tag President Barack Obama as a tax-raising, regulation-obsessed foe of American businesses.
But according to banking data compiled by economic research firm Moebs Services, the uncertainty plaguing the American economy has nothing to do with government regulations or taxes on millionaires. It's an uncertainty driven squarely by consumers and small-businesses who are worried about their short-term financial prospects. And it's been going on since well before Obama took up residence in the White House.
Since the end of 2007, bank customers have pulled over $900 billion out of certificates of deposits at major U.S. banks, parking their money in checking accounts and money market deposit accounts. Banks pay customers interest to park their money in CDs, but pay out next-to-nothing for money market accounts, and still less -- usually nothing -- for checking accounts.
"These are enormous shifts," Moebs Services founder and Chairman Mike Moebs told HuffPost. "We haven't seen stuff like this since the 1930s."
Money market and checking accounts offer consumers the ability to withdraw their money quickly, while CDs require the funds to be locked up for years. And that heavy reliance on short-term cash indicates a tremendous amount of uncertainty among the American public about the future -- people with jobs are uncertain about whether they will have one in a year, people without jobs have to pay the bills and don't know how long their unemployment checks will keep coming in.
"People are beginning to realize that zero is a good number if the alternative is a negative number," said Ed Friedman, a director at Moody's Analytics.
The total balance of retail CDs -- interest-bearing accounts targeting ordinary consumers -- has fallen by about $350 billion since the end of 2007. Checking accounts, meanwhile, have climbed by an almost identical amount over the same time period -- jumping from $620 billion to $960 billion, an increase of over 50 percent, which has occurred despite repeated threats from big banks to charge new checking fees.
Another $570 billion has been pulled from "jumbo" CDs -- bigger CD accounts that are used by the wealthy or businesses -- while money market deposit account balances have jumped from $3.9 trillion to $5.7 trillion, suggesting an additional flow of money from other investments, like the stock market and mutual funds.
"People continue to be very pessimistic," said economist Dean Baker, co-Director of the Center for Economic Policy and Research, noting that economic conditions like the trouble in Europe could dramatically disrupt financial markets in the near future. "It wouldn't be irrational to stay out now."
This rush to easily accessed, low-paying accounts is a symptom of the recession itself. When people are out of work, they cannot afford the luxury of having their money tied up in longer-term investments. The bills have to be paid.
The shift in consumer banking behavior has also tracked an overall stagnation in the federal money supply, making the change all the more significant.
Moebs runs calculations that correspond to a measure of the total supply of money that the Federal Reserve ceased to cover during the Bush years, once known as the "M3" metric. The metric aggregates the currency in peoples' pocketbooks, checking accounts, CDs, money market accounts and other assets that were viewed as highly liquid prior to the current recession. And according to Moebs, that supply of money has gone from $10.6 trillion in 2007 to $11.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2011 -- an increase of less than 2 percent per year. That compares to an increase of more than 9 percent over the course of 2007 alone.
This kind of uncertainty -- a lack of consumer confidence -- can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. When consumers pull their money out of longer-term investments, banks are reluctant to make longer-term loans, which in turn can hamper businesses, which become reluctant to hire without access to credit. The government can, in fact, take steps to alleviate the kind of uncertainty by boosting demand in the economy -- essentially, spending government money. But with congressional Republicans vilifying government spending on a regular basis, this prospect has been unlikely for years.
"It's really a function of the liquidity trap," said Josh Bivens, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think-tank. "We have way too little spending in the economy, which is why we have low interest rates across the board. But then once you see interest rates piling up near the zero-bound, uncertainty is going to drive people to cash."
The Federal Reserve, however, has options. The Fed has kept interest rates low for years, and resorted to exotic maneuvers to encourage consumers and companies to spend money and boost the economy. But since 2008, the Fed has actually paid banks to park their excess reserves at the central bank, rather than lend them out into the economy. If the Fed wanted that money to make its way to consumers and businesses and stimulate job growth, it could simply reverse its policy -- instead of paying banks interest on excess reserves, it could charge them fees. At present, banks can actually make money by doing nothing with their money. If there were a penalty for doing nothing, banks would work harder to find good loan candidates.
"The money doesn't end up going out into the marketplace," Nomi Prins, former managing director for Goldman Sachs, said. "It would make sense to reverse the policy."
But according to banking data compiled by economic research firm Moebs Services, the uncertainty plaguing the American economy has nothing to do with government regulations or taxes on millionaires. It's an uncertainty driven squarely by consumers and small-businesses who are worried about their short-term financial prospects. And it's been going on since well before Obama took up residence in the White House.
Since the end of 2007, bank customers have pulled over $900 billion out of certificates of deposits at major U.S. banks, parking their money in checking accounts and money market deposit accounts. Banks pay customers interest to park their money in CDs, but pay out next-to-nothing for money market accounts, and still less -- usually nothing -- for checking accounts.
"These are enormous shifts," Moebs Services founder and Chairman Mike Moebs told HuffPost. "We haven't seen stuff like this since the 1930s."
Money market and checking accounts offer consumers the ability to withdraw their money quickly, while CDs require the funds to be locked up for years. And that heavy reliance on short-term cash indicates a tremendous amount of uncertainty among the American public about the future -- people with jobs are uncertain about whether they will have one in a year, people without jobs have to pay the bills and don't know how long their unemployment checks will keep coming in.
"People are beginning to realize that zero is a good number if the alternative is a negative number," said Ed Friedman, a director at Moody's Analytics.
The total balance of retail CDs -- interest-bearing accounts targeting ordinary consumers -- has fallen by about $350 billion since the end of 2007. Checking accounts, meanwhile, have climbed by an almost identical amount over the same time period -- jumping from $620 billion to $960 billion, an increase of over 50 percent, which has occurred despite repeated threats from big banks to charge new checking fees.
Another $570 billion has been pulled from "jumbo" CDs -- bigger CD accounts that are used by the wealthy or businesses -- while money market deposit account balances have jumped from $3.9 trillion to $5.7 trillion, suggesting an additional flow of money from other investments, like the stock market and mutual funds.
"People continue to be very pessimistic," said economist Dean Baker, co-Director of the Center for Economic Policy and Research, noting that economic conditions like the trouble in Europe could dramatically disrupt financial markets in the near future. "It wouldn't be irrational to stay out now."
This rush to easily accessed, low-paying accounts is a symptom of the recession itself. When people are out of work, they cannot afford the luxury of having their money tied up in longer-term investments. The bills have to be paid.
The shift in consumer banking behavior has also tracked an overall stagnation in the federal money supply, making the change all the more significant.
Moebs runs calculations that correspond to a measure of the total supply of money that the Federal Reserve ceased to cover during the Bush years, once known as the "M3" metric. The metric aggregates the currency in peoples' pocketbooks, checking accounts, CDs, money market accounts and other assets that were viewed as highly liquid prior to the current recession. And according to Moebs, that supply of money has gone from $10.6 trillion in 2007 to $11.3 trillion in the first quarter of 2011 -- an increase of less than 2 percent per year. That compares to an increase of more than 9 percent over the course of 2007 alone.
This kind of uncertainty -- a lack of consumer confidence -- can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. When consumers pull their money out of longer-term investments, banks are reluctant to make longer-term loans, which in turn can hamper businesses, which become reluctant to hire without access to credit. The government can, in fact, take steps to alleviate the kind of uncertainty by boosting demand in the economy -- essentially, spending government money. But with congressional Republicans vilifying government spending on a regular basis, this prospect has been unlikely for years.
"It's really a function of the liquidity trap," said Josh Bivens, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think-tank. "We have way too little spending in the economy, which is why we have low interest rates across the board. But then once you see interest rates piling up near the zero-bound, uncertainty is going to drive people to cash."
The Federal Reserve, however, has options. The Fed has kept interest rates low for years, and resorted to exotic maneuvers to encourage consumers and companies to spend money and boost the economy. But since 2008, the Fed has actually paid banks to park their excess reserves at the central bank, rather than lend them out into the economy. If the Fed wanted that money to make its way to consumers and businesses and stimulate job growth, it could simply reverse its policy -- instead of paying banks interest on excess reserves, it could charge them fees. At present, banks can actually make money by doing nothing with their money. If there were a penalty for doing nothing, banks would work harder to find good loan candidates.
"The money doesn't end up going out into the marketplace," Nomi Prins, former managing director for Goldman Sachs, said. "It would make sense to reverse the policy."
Nov 10, 2011
Netherlands Performs First Euthanasia On Woman With Dementia
A woman in the Netherlands has been euthanized after a battle with advanced dementia.
The woman, who was 64, was a long-time advocate of euthanasia but was not able to give conscious consent due to her mental state, the National Post reports. It was the first euthanasia in the country performed under those circumstances.
Doctors performed the procedure in March, but Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant revealed the case this week, the Radio Netherlands World Wide reports.
Euthanasia laws in the Netherlands state the person under consideration must be in "unbearable" pain and "give authorization while in full control of his mental faculties," the National Post explains.
Doctors reviewed the case and decided to approve the procedure, according to Dutch News, who translated the original article published in Volkskrant. The woman had a document that stated her wish to die, and her family supported the decision.
In 2002, the Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia, CNN reports. The procedures had been taking place under the radar for quite
APE SPEAKS.....
I have worked in health care quite a few years now. First in acute and pediatrics then in chronic and long term care. And I am constantly amazed that we do not allow pt.s at the end of life or with terminal illness the same dignity that we allow a sick dog.
1. Pain management in severe cases is bullshit. There are just two levels. The first you are gorped and unconscious, the second you are waiting to be gorped. There is no happy medium.
2. Living wills or advance directives can and usually are overridden by family members. We can't let ol grandpa die (even though he left specfic instructions) and they slap him on a vent and insert a feeding tube and stop visiting after about a month and bedsores or pneumonia due him in after enduring the living hell of being tied to a bed with a bresthing tube down your throat.
The measure of a society is how you treat the weakest among you. There is none weaker than a chronicly ill or infirmed that desire a quick dignified exit. Naturally in this country it has evolved in a control/political issue (remember the obsecenity of the Terri Schiavo case,it took him five days to get water to the superdome, but stoping some poor man from letting his wife exit peacefully he flew right back from vacation for that). I am not surprised that the Netherlands lead in this fashion, a country thats seems to do the right thing (humane) whenvever possible.
Doctors performed the procedure in March, but Dutch daily newspaper De Volkskrant revealed the case this week, the Radio Netherlands World Wide reports.
Euthanasia laws in the Netherlands state the person under consideration must be in "unbearable" pain and "give authorization while in full control of his mental faculties," the National Post explains.
Doctors reviewed the case and decided to approve the procedure, according to Dutch News, who translated the original article published in Volkskrant. The woman had a document that stated her wish to die, and her family supported the decision.
In 2002, the Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia, CNN reports. The procedures had been taking place under the radar for quite
APE SPEAKS.....I have worked in health care quite a few years now. First in acute and pediatrics then in chronic and long term care. And I am constantly amazed that we do not allow pt.s at the end of life or with terminal illness the same dignity that we allow a sick dog.
1. Pain management in severe cases is bullshit. There are just two levels. The first you are gorped and unconscious, the second you are waiting to be gorped. There is no happy medium.
2. Living wills or advance directives can and usually are overridden by family members. We can't let ol grandpa die (even though he left specfic instructions) and they slap him on a vent and insert a feeding tube and stop visiting after about a month and bedsores or pneumonia due him in after enduring the living hell of being tied to a bed with a bresthing tube down your throat.
The measure of a society is how you treat the weakest among you. There is none weaker than a chronicly ill or infirmed that desire a quick dignified exit. Naturally in this country it has evolved in a control/political issue (remember the obsecenity of the Terri Schiavo case,it took him five days to get water to the superdome, but stoping some poor man from letting his wife exit peacefully he flew right back from vacation for that). I am not surprised that the Netherlands lead in this fashion, a country thats seems to do the right thing (humane) whenvever possible.
Nov 8, 2011
Nov 5, 2011
McDonalds unlike the Chicago board of trade was not rescued by tax paper funds due to massive mismanagement and pure stupidity.
McDonald's Job Applications Dumped On 'Occupy' Protesters By Chicago Board Of TRADE
On top of cold weather and logistical pains, "Occupy" protesters in Chicago last week dealt with an embarrassing stunt.
Dozens of photocopied McDonald's job applications were reportedly thrown from the Chicago Board of Trade building and onto Occupy Chicago protestors earlier this week, according to Chicagoist (h/t Mediaite).
In April, McDonald's announced plans to hire 50,000 new employees in a single day. The fast food giant was subsequently flooded with more than one million applications, a McDonald's spokeswoman told HuffPost in April. As of October, there are officially 13.9 million unemployed people in America today
The Chicago protesters quickly spread the news via Twitter:
@OccupyChicago Occupy Chicago
Real class acts, the Chicago Board of Trade: this week, it's McDonald's job applications they litter from the windows. Soulless place.
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