This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

Guest Post: Who's Lying?

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Jim Quinn of The Burning Platform

Who's Lying?

Have you noticed the latest sound bites coming from the punditry in
the corporate mainstream media? Here is the latest wisdom flowing from
the lying mouthpieces of the ruling oligarchy (Wall Street, Washington
DC, Mega-corporations):

The economy is recovering and employment is growing.

Consumers are deleveraging, saving and using cash for purchases.

Retailers are doing fantastic as consumers increase spending.

These are the three themes being proclaimed
simultaneously by the mainstream media. Every time I hear these themes
proclaimed, I want to shout out like Joe Wilson – “YOU LIE!!!”

How can consumers be deleveraging, saving and increasing spending at the same time? Let’s examine the facts to see who is lying.

The fallacy that the economy is recovering
and employment is growing can be put to rest by an examination of the
BLS data accessed here: ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.cpseea1.txt.

The number of Americans employed over the last few years is as follows:

  • 2007 – 146.0 million
  • 2008 – 145.5 million
  • 2009 – 139.9 million
  • 2010 – 138.9 million

It seems there are 7.1 million less
employed people than there were three years ago. Contrary to the spin
from the White House, there are 1 million less people employed today
than during the horrific 2009 year. Luckily, another 6 million people
left the work force, or we’d really have a problem. The truth is that if
the government actually counted everyone in the country who wants a
job, the unemployment rate is not 9.8%, but 23% and it continues to
rise.

The economic recovery lie can be refuted by examining the data from the BEA located HERE and HERE.

The GDP of the US peaked at $14.5 trillion in the 3rd quarter of
2008. Today it stands at $14.8 trillion, two years later. GDP has gone
up for one reason and one reason only – the Federal Government has
borrowed trillions from future generations in order to artificially prop
up a system already crumbling from the weight of too much debt.
Highlights from the GDP calculation are:

  • Private investment is $216 billion lower today than it was in the 3rd quarter of 2008.
  • Exports are $80 billion lower today than they were in the 3rd quarter of 2008.

You may ask yourself how can GDP be higher if private businesses are
investing less and exporting less. The answer of course is your friendly
neighborhood Feds. The Federal government is spending $128 billion more
today than it was in 2008. The last piece to the puzzle is the beloved
consumer, who accounts for 70% of GDP. Good old Joe Sixpack has ramped
up his spending by a good $470 billion since the 1st quarter of 2009.
With this figure, we must be in a strong recovery. Larry Kudlow says so.

A little more digging on the BEA website reveals some interesting data:

  • Personal income has risen by $300 billion since the 1st quarter of 2008.
  • Strangely, private industry wages have DECLINED by $213 billion since the 1st quarter of 2008.

It seems that personal income has risen due to two major items. You
will be glad to know that government wages have risen by $58 billion and
drum roll please: government entitlement transfers have increased by
$523 billion since the 1st quarter of 2008. The Federal government has
borrowed hundreds of billions from future generations and paid it out in
the form of unemployment benefits and other social programs so that
consumers would spend it today. This is how you generate a positive GDP,
without generating a real recovery. And, of course, if the government
used an honest CPI rate, GDP would still be negative, just as it has
been for most of the past decade.

The great consumer deleveraging lie has been ongoing for the last six
months. The savings rate has “surged” from 4.8% in the 2nd quarter of
2008 to 5.8% today. The savings rate is calculated as what is left over
when you subtract personal consumption expenditures from disposable
personal income. The surge in saving is the result of the Federal
government borrowing from the Chinese and handing it to consumers to
spend. If the government wasn’t transferring these funds from future
generations to current generations, the savings rate would be 1.2%.

Revolving consumer debt (credit cards) has declined by $173 billion
in the last two years. This must mean that consumers are deleveraging.

Total consumer credit peaked at $13.9 trillion in the 1st quarter of
2008 and currently stands at $13.4 trillion. It sure looks like consumer
deleveraging. Consumers must have paid off $500 billion of debt. But,
the facts obliterate this fallacy. The Wall Street banks have written
off in excess of $600 billion since the 1st quarter of 2008, as reported
by the Wall Street Journal.
This means that consumers are actually charging more on their credit
cards than they were in 2008. Having your debt written off, rather than
paying it off says much about the great economic recovery of 2010.

The false reports circulating on network news programs is that
Americans are paying cash, rather than using credit cards. This is
completely false, as both Visa and Mastercard reported increases in
transaction volumes in their last quarters. Having worked for a big box
retailer, I know that the average credit card transaction is 50% to 70%
higher than the average cash transaction. If people were truly charging
less, the average ticket at the major retailers would be plunging.
Retail sales would be plunging. They are not plunging, as the major US
retailers report decent comparable store sales in the 2% to 5% range.

The National Retail Federation has forecast November- December
holiday sales will rise by 2.3 percent from a year ago, the most since
2006. A Bloomberg survey taken Dec. 2 to Dec. 8 showed economists raised
projections for consumer purchases, the biggest part of the economy, to
2.6 percent for next year, up from their 2.3 percent estimate the prior
month.

A little reality check about retail sales is in order. According to
the US Census Bureau, total retail sales over the last few years are as
follows:

  • 2007 – $4.5 trillion
  • 2008 – $4.4 trillion
  • 2009 – $4.1 trillion
  • 2010 – $4.4 trillion (estimated)

The fact is that there are thousands more retail outlets today than
there were in 2007, and total sales are still below the level reached in
2007. Not only that, but even using the government manipulated CPI,
inflation has risen 8% since 2007. On an inflation adjusted basis, 2007
retail sales in today’s dollars would be $4.9 trillion. Using the real
inflation rate of 20% over this time frame would generate an inflation
adjusted retail sales figure of $5.4 trillion. As you can see, the great
retail recovery of 2010 is a sham. Comparable store sales increases of
3% are inflation adjusted decreases of 5%. If you drive around with your
eyes open, you would think the hot new retailer in America is called SPACE AVAILABLE.  

I hate to be a wet blanket during this festive holiday season, but
the truth is that there is no self sustaining recovery happening. The
powers that be, with the help of their lackeys in the mainstream media
are desperately trying to convince you that everything is alright. It is
not alright. It is getting worse by the day. The only people spending
are Lloyd Blankfein and his ilk, while middle class Americans sink
further into despair and debt.

Who’s lying? You know.

            RULING ELITE

 

            MIDDLE CLASS

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:34 | 802845 Thanatos
Thanatos's picture

That reminds me of a joke:

An extremely modest man was in the hospital for a series of tests, the last of which had left his bodily systems extremely upset.

Upon making several false alarm trips to the bathroom, he decided the latest episode was another false alarm and stayed put. He suddenly filled his bed with diarrhea and was embarrassed beyond his ability to remain rational.

In a complete loss of composure he jumped out of bed, gathered up the bed sheets, and threw them out the hospital window.

A drunk was walking by the hospital when the sheets landed on him. He started yelling, cursing, and swinging his arms violently trying to get the unknown things off, and ended up with the soiled sheets in a tangled pile at his feet.

As the drunk stood there, unsteady on his feet, staring down at the sheets, a hospital security guard, (barely containing his laughter), and who had watched the whole incident, walked up and asked, “What the heck is going on here?”

The drunk, still staring down replied, “I think I just beat the shit out of a ghost.”"

 

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 23:20 | 803599 hardcleareye
hardcleareye's picture

groan.....  ++

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:19 | 802665 Rick Masters
Rick Masters's picture

You just made my day tmosley.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:20 | 802944 IQ 145
IQ 145's picture

 We should be nice to Harry; life is difficult when you have brain worms.

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 06:53 | 804096 Temporalist
Mon, 12/13/2010 - 16:54 | 802579 samseau
samseau's picture

try measuring in real terms, not nomial

 

 

sophist

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:06 | 802620 bronzie
bronzie's picture

Harry Wanker

Was a spanker

He liked to beat his meat

He pulled it hard

He stroked it fast

And spewed on the toilet seat

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:22 | 802671 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

Give that a title and send it off to ¨The American Poet¨.  Maybe you can snooker them for $200!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 22:44 | 803506 penisouraus erecti
penisouraus erecti's picture

Well done. But isn't Harry correct? Seems all retailers are posting record sales and profits this holiday season, are they not?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:47 | 802747 scatterbrains
scatterbrains's picture

What do you sell Harry, survival kits ?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:33 | 802846 Ethics Gradient
Ethics Gradient's picture

I suppose if you worked for the Fed and in 2001 labelled debt as a luxury...

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:28 | 802968 prophet
prophet's picture

Not quite Junk.  We see survivalists of various stripes gear up in certain ways  and so do sheeple.  They indulge a bit.  Anecdotal evidence is everywhere.  As is some hard data.  Look at COH and TIF at all time highs.  Who buys those lies?  Apparently enough of them to move the needle.

My axe is that sales and especially profit are all too often an artifact of financial accounting and that many people are not buying, they are borrowing.  30 years of growth based on debt and credit has side effects.  Nonetheless, entertainment, communication, bling, and munchies are consuming ever higher portions of discretionary time and money. 

 

 

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:29 | 802971 Astute Investor
Astute Investor's picture

I guess it just goes to show that P.T. Barnum was right - there's a sucker(s) born every minute...

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:50 | 803012 New_Meat
New_Meat's picture

so Harry, really, have you figured out ZH system function yet?  Like the algos doing their patterns; have you figured out what statements set off which reaction?

after all, pulse the system, write down the results, rinse, repeat.

Lackoff is standing in judgement, you ought to make her proud.

- Ned

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 16:56 | 802585 6 String
6 String's picture

.....I have been relentless about this. I concur. Simply, the U.S. Treasury has spent 4 trillion it doesn't have to produce 200 billion of GDP "growth" since the ponzi has started to unravel in 2008. The partial tax claim on that "growth" or bogus 200 billion rise in GDP doesn't offset the interest to service the debt on the 4 trillion dollar borrowed dung pile.

This is, of course, negative growth masked and concealed by the mainstream media in order to fleece the rubes for every penny they can.

And they will get away with it as the legion line up their Netflix queues on their beloved iPads for the next Hollywood box office run....

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 05:33 | 804035 Seer
Seer's picture

"the U.S. Treasury has spent 4 trillion it doesn't have to produce 200 billion of GDP"

Yeah, but I'm sure that this will result in "repayment" of the "investment" many times over, just like we're seeing come back from the banksters!

</sarcasm>

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 16:57 | 802589 OutLookingIn
OutLookingIn's picture

Bread and circuses. Cheap, plentiful, fatty fast food and beer, with all the mindless entertainment a 52 inch flat screen HD TV can bring you. Presto! We continue the dumbed down, obese, contented masses. Let the financial raping continue. No one will notice until its too late. Yippee!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:44 | 802743 Nepenthe
Nepenthe's picture

I sprung for a 55''. The extra 3" makes the circus come to life!!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 20:42 | 803166 Ben Fleeced
Ben Fleeced's picture

I sprung for more beer to make the 13" circus come to life until it doesn't.

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 05:34 | 804037 Seer
Seer's picture

Ooh!  That's funny! :-)

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 16:57 | 802590 percolator
percolator's picture

From the article "The fact is that there are thousands more retail outlets today than there were in 2007, and total sales are still below the level reached in 2007."

I'd like to see where Mr. Quinn got that FACT.  Here in Vegas there are a lot less retailers around with a huge surge of "Space Available".  I find it hard to believe Vegas is an exception, maybe its worse here, but from what I read and see retailers are closing outlets left and right.

 

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:34 | 802713 Jim Quinn
Jim Quinn's picture

Las Vegas most certainly isn't the rest of the country. Retailers still opening hundreds of stores:

http://retailindustry.about.com/od/statisticsresearch/a/2010_us_retail_industry_store_openings_2.htm

 

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:34 | 802715 Problem Is
Problem Is's picture

I think he must have written that backwards in error. I'm trying to search BLS and Census for numbers of retailers in the US 2007 to 2010...

Unless of course you believe the BLS Birth/Death ratio...
Judging by the 1.3 to 1.7 million jobs added every year for the birth of small businesses...

Then there must be millions of new retail businesses since 2007 <sarcasm><OFF>

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 21:48 | 803379 akak
akak's picture

Anyone who by this point actually puts ANY stock whatsoever in the grossly manipulated and insultingly inaccurate figures disseminated by the Bureau of Lying Statistics is a hopelessly gullible idiot who deserves to be completey fleeced --- and who will.

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 03:36 | 803979 Problem Is
Problem Is's picture

And they all shop at Wal-mart and believe Amerikan TeeVee...

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:02 | 802607 cosmictrainwreck
cosmictrainwreck's picture

well, I be damned...the end-of-day goosing all but failed.... viva! "free markets" LOL.

Now to the article: how you know when BLS is lying? Their lips are moving.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:05 | 802614 SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

How can consumers be deleveraging, saving and increasing spending at the same time?

With the new Ronco Print-O-Matic!  Why let Ben be the only money-printer in town, when you can do it, too!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:07 | 802624 Sophist Economicus
Sophist Economicus's picture

So this is the new 'consumer discretionary product' Harry has been talking about!   Me want too

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:36 | 802723 tmosley
tmosley's picture

Sadly, they only take gold for it.

Not sure it's worth the price.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:06 | 802618 spank-of-america
spank-of-america's picture

Everyone is lying, from the Wall St. banksters to the 12 million a year grossing "small business owner". I was lied to for three years before I walked away.

Our company is moving, I'll compensate you for the extra miles. LIE

You're doing a great job, you're one of my best employees. (not a lie!) I'll reward you. LIE

The economy is bad, I can't give raises. LIE (sales were fine)

They increased business taxes! Can't give raises! LIE, you wouldn't have gave out raises anyways.

All these bastards do is play the blame game. They want their peon employees to be pissed at congress, the president and anyone but themselves.

Best part was when I found a new job and quit. They ffered me more to come back, told them no. Now I know I'm being lied to everywhere I work and won't stay anywhere if I don't get a raise.

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 05:38 | 804039 Seer
Seer's picture

And the BIGGEST lie?  We can have perpetual growth on a finite planet (which is the premise by which the predominent economic system operates).  Everything based on a lie is, well, a lie...

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:07 | 802623 dlsamg
dlsamg's picture

Did you buy the 7 point dip at the close? Probably your last chance before 1350.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:09 | 802628 Sophist Economicus
Sophist Economicus's picture

I DID!  I even got some chips to go along with it....

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:16 | 802649 Bastiat
Bastiat's picture

Nope, already in.  How about you? Did you double down on your short at 1400?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:09 | 802629 Waterfallsparkles
Waterfallsparkles's picture

It appears that it does not matter as long as China is consuming all of the Materials on earth.  As those Commodity stock seem to pump the index higher.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:10 | 802634 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

"Who's lying?"

It's been so long since I heard the truth from any corner that I don't think I'd recognize anymore it if I did hear it.

I am not cynical. I am wary. Big difference. It is a similar difference as occurs between the prey and the predator; one of them expects to die.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:14 | 802643 bronzie
bronzie's picture

"The fact is that there are thousands more retail outlets today than there were in 2007, and total sales are still below the level reached in 2007. "

and how many of these new retailers are being paid by the shopping mall operators to open outlets?

there have been several bankruptcies in recent years where the only significant stream of income the retailer ever received came directly from the mall operator paying them to keep their store open

the mall operators want to maintain the illusion of a healthy economy so they pay retailers to open stores instead of allowing retail space to remain vacant

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:23 | 802682 cougar_w
cougar_w's picture

If that statistic is even correct I would guess that a lot of that is hot money flowing out of stocks and desperate for something to do, colliding with unemployment, and winding up as a boutique bake shop in a downtown strip mall. You got money, you got no job, may as well try your hand at recreating the next economy.

Most of that will blow up after a year. Just in time for the second leg down in late-Q2-11

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:22 | 802668 Problem Is
Problem Is's picture

Quinn Whips Out Facts to Defeat Fallacy
With pictures (Read: Graphs) so the TeeVee generation can understand...

Nice job young man...

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:29 | 802700 Horse
Horse's picture

Tyler,

I've noticed that GDP estimates are rising while inventories/sales are at 20-30yr spreads... what is going on?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:30 | 802704 Blah Blah Blah
Blah Blah Blah's picture

Where's my IPad?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:39 | 802731 Problem Is
Problem Is's picture

Did you ask your iWife? Ask your iGirlfriend?

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 05:41 | 804043 Seer
Seer's picture

First you have to show your IMoney (from your I[un]Employment)!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:40 | 802732 Poofter Priest
Poofter Priest's picture

Since today seems to be poetry day, I thought I'd add this. Someone put up a challenge to incorporate some words that Shakesphere had created (and in a list) into a poem about the banksters.

So here you are.

 

Snickersnack their vorpal blades gleaming in the sun
by their sanctimonious 'work of God' they stabbed her till she was done.

Their gnarled hands put to her breasts they tore her gown away
and took from her those things they chosed and left her soft body splayed.

Their baseless claims to the rights they held were never proven ones
Their seamy thoughts, collective greed caused them to move as one.

The villagers made their claims of rape to each these vile scum
And castigated their most brutal ways for all the things they've done.

But still they live and do inauspicious deeds and will for many more days.
But raped she was and bruised she is while still she lays there splayed.

So watch you now my children dear and remember all they've done.
That you not walk where you ought not do and find you the next 'chosen one'.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:02 | 802788 DoChenRollingBearing
DoChenRollingBearing's picture

That one goes to the English Department at Tufts.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:50 | 802805 Poofter Priest
Poofter Priest's picture

Well cool.

Let them see if they can figure out which words that Old Bill supposedly created.

I knew of someone that graduated from Tufts. He was a wonderful human being and I would be proud to have my verse there.

 

If it does gain any sort of place of display, please make in loving memory of Robert Trieble. (He was a Tufts alumni)

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:44 | 802735 Spalding_Smailes
Spalding_Smailes's picture

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Dec. 9, 2010 - The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today reported for the week ending Dec. 4, 2010, weekly rail traffic registered gains in the post-holiday week with U.S. freight railroads originating 303,570 carloads, up 6.8 percent compared with the same week last year. Intermodal traffic for the week totaled 235,835 trailers and containers, up 13.8 percent compared with the same week in 2009, with container volume up 15.3 percent and trailer volume up 6.5 percent.

Thirteen of the 19 carload commodity groups increased from the comparable week in 2009. Commodities posting double digit gains in loadings included: metallic ores, up 64 percent; metals and products, up 25.3 percent; crushed stone, sand and gravel, up 24.4 percent; waste and scrap materials, up 22.7 percent; petroleum products, up 13 percent; and coke, up 10.1 percent. Among commodities reporting declines were non-metallic minerals, down 10.1 percent; primary forest products, down 9 percent; and grain mill products, down 6.4 percent.

Carload volume on Eastern railroads was up 4.7 percent compared with last year. In the West, carload volume was up 8.2 percent compared with the same week in 2009.

 

http://aar.org/AAR/NewsAndEvents/Freight-Rail-Traffic/2010/12/2010-12-09...

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:03 | 802791 Hook Line and S...
Hook Line and Sphincter's picture

Physical hedge on future commodity prices? 

and/or

My neighbor is taking delivery of grain mill products for his burgeoning strip mall bakery.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:25 | 802831 Spalding_Smailes
Spalding_Smailes's picture

John Makin ~

The rise in government bond yields follows directly upon and reflects:


  1. A one percentage point upgrade, to 3.5%, in the consensus forecasts for US GDP growth in 2011—tied to the Obama-Republican stimulus package
  2. A larger supply of government bonds from the higher deficit and an expected rise in private bond issue tied to a stronger US recovery, which may include a liftoff to sustainable trend growth
  3. Government yields that are closely linked across developed country markets given the lack of strong priors regarding which way major currencies will move versus the dollar.

 

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 05:47 | 804045 Seer
Seer's picture

I've got a neighbor who works for the RR.  For several years now he's been saying that business has been declining.  There was, however, a spike this past year.  He stated that it was coal heading out of the country (I think he said it was bound for China).

Years ago, before Buffett bought, I was thinking that RR would be a good bet.  I'm glad that I didn't go in.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:49 | 802755 markar
markar's picture

when mortgage rates are 10-12% it will be time to buy. Prices will be down 25-30% from this point.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:50 | 802757 Gully Foyle
Gully Foyle's picture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3gZsnmEWr4

t's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) Lyrics
Artist(Band):Bob Dylan

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fools gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proved to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.

So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to you ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their marks
Made everything from toy guns that sparks
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the President of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.

You loose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand without nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks
They really found you.

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not forget
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despite their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platforms ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God Bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.

Old lady judges, watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me ?

And if my thought-dreams could been seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 05:58 | 804053 Seer
Seer's picture

Clearly those that Junked are non-human, bastards!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:51 | 802759 gloomboomdoom
gloomboomdoom's picture

You folks do realize the door is always opened. You are (still) able to leave the country anytime you wish and never return. Got it? Good.

The truth is people have the power and always have. If people were desperate, you would see civil unrest in this country like over in Europe. You don't.

This is the new normal. This is what people want. Health Care, economy, more control over your life, less liberty... This is it. Nothing will be rolled back, modified or changed.

I love this country and will not leave. Good luck to all that are unhappy and wish to leave.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:47 | 802877 Max Hunter
Max Hunter's picture

Why do we have to leave just because we want to expose the plutocracy?  Just because fucktards like you are in a trans and can't see the world for what it is want us to leave, doesn't mean we should capitulate and swallow the same lies you seem to gobble down like a bag of m&m's..

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:29 | 802972 Rainman
Rainman's picture

I have many friends who left the country. They moved here to Kalifornia.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 22:36 | 803487 penisouraus erecti
penisouraus erecti's picture

Barack Obama - the perfect President for people who don't know how to feed their kids.

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 02:49 | 803943 No More Bubbles
No More Bubbles's picture

You are a retarded troll.

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 03:33 | 803974 Tsukato
Tsukato's picture

You, my good man, are a fucking joke. Americans don't want what has transpired, but unlike Europe, Americans consuming GMO foods have become an entirely different subspecies of human called Homo Penguinicus. As we all know, penguins have a very difficult time fighting against anything on land. Perhaps if the US were sunk beneathe the sea, we would see the proud fury of Penguinicus, rise up to throw off the yoke of servitude. But until that day arrives, I'm afraid the miserable american subspecies will lift a flipper against nothing.

However, things will become much worse, and for Penguinicuses (sp?) like you, I feel little sympathy. You goad others who leave a corrupt society. I for one, have been away for 12 years, and will never return. My guess is that you are too afraid to leave, have no money to leave, or simply deduced that your penguin physique will avail you no mates outside of Antarctica. To this I say HAHAHA!!! I can't wait to watch starving and gunned down pengies on TV every night. Now thats gonna be TV worth watchin!

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 03:32 | 803975 Tsukato
Tsukato's picture

You, my good man, are a fucking joke. Americans don't want what has transpired, but unlike Europe, Americans consuming GMO foods have become an entirely different subspecies of human called Homo Penguinicus. As we all know, penguins have a very difficult time fighting against anything on land. Perhaps if the US were sunk beneathe the sea, we would see the proud fury of Penguinicus, rise up to throw off the yoke of servitude. But until that day arrives, I'm afraid the miserable american subspecies will lift a flipper against nothing.

However, things will become much worse, and for Penguinicuses (sp?) like you, I feel little sympathy. You goad others who leave a corrupt society. I for one, have been away for 12 years, and will never return. My guess is that you are too afraid to leave, have no money to leave, or simply deduced that your penguin physique will avail you no mates outside of Antarctica. To this I say HAHAHA!!! I can't wait to watch starving and gunned down pengies on TV every night. Now thats gonna be TV worth watchin!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:51 | 802760 gr8t4ever
gr8t4ever's picture

start boycotting sporting events... all those pics of LeBron's, Tigers and MJ's new house.... what an FU to the fans who are hurting.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:55 | 802770 gloomboomdoom
gloomboomdoom's picture

Stadiums are filled to the brim.

That stadium that collapsed in Minnesota... No problem! Game moved less than 24 hours. IT will still sell out- even in third world Detriot.

You would think 5 dollar beer, 30 dollar parking, and hundreds of dollars for ticket would be a hefty price tag during the worst Depression ever... Well you would be dead stinking wrong!

We are in economic recovery... better get used to it!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:31 | 802841 RichardENixon
RichardENixon's picture

Actually they are giving away tickets to Detroit residents. Might be a good game to avoid attending.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:49 | 802879 Max Hunter
Max Hunter's picture

Yeah.. That's might turn out like the nickle beer night riots in Cleveland in the early 70's..

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 23:15 | 803579 ViewfromUnderth...
ViewfromUndertheBridge's picture

Why feed the troll?

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 06:01 | 804058 Seer
Seer's picture

When every night is scalpers' night off...

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:34 | 802847 Xzazael
Xzazael's picture

So I should short gloom and long recovery? I don't understand GBD?!? HALP PLZ

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 20:03 | 803031 Bay of Pigs
Bay of Pigs's picture

"Stadiums are filled to the brim"

Yeah sure they are, you stupid asshole. Quit talking shit. Even the NFL isn't selling out everywhere anymore. NBA looks dismal, and MLB is worse.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/attendance

http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance

http://espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 22:48 | 803511 penisouraus erecti
penisouraus erecti's picture

Were they not giving most of the tickets away for tonights game? Could be a real interesting crowd there.......

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:54 | 802766 Goldenballs
Goldenballs's picture

Who,s lying,probably be a lot easier to find out  who is telling the truth,as in no one in authority.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:55 | 802773 RobotTrader
RobotTrader's picture

I was in downtown Los Angeles today doing some business in the Wells Fargo tower.

Wonder if this is going to matter to MPG stock tomorrow....

 

MPG Office Trust to issue
notice of default on Downtown LA properties MPG Office Trust is to deliver a notice of imminent
default to the master servicer for the mortgage loan on Two California
Plaza in Downtown Los Angeles as a first step towards restructuring the
loan. Two California Plaza is financed with commercial mortgage-backed
securities debt, and as a consequence, in order to comply with real
estate mortgage investment conduit rules, the company must send a notice
of imminent default to enable any discussions regarding a loan
modification with the special servicer.
 

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:00 | 802783 gloomboomdoom
gloomboomdoom's picture

I was long and hard financials, just sold. Easy money betting against the Doom crowd. Just do the opposite!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:28 | 802835 tmosley
tmosley's picture

Let's test that track record.  I've been long gold for eight years, long silver for four.

That would make you short gold for eight years, and short silver for four.   Hmmmm....

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:30 | 802840 gloomboomdoom
gloomboomdoom's picture

I bought at 1060 when people were talking about the "End of the World", thought it might be nice to own some. If I am wrong, my GF has more jewelry

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:35 | 802848 tmosley
tmosley's picture

Then you are a liar.  You said to do the opposite of what the doomers did.  So which is it, do what the doomers do (correct so far), or do the opposite?  You can't make money both ways.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 20:11 | 803051 Cheesy Bastard
Cheesy Bastard's picture

If I am wrong, my GF has more jewelry

Be careful not to put anything sharp on her or she might accidently deflate.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 22:34 | 803482 penisouraus erecti
penisouraus erecti's picture

hahahaha - good one, and accurate no doubt

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 06:03 | 804062 Seer
Seer's picture

Oh, man!  Thank your for That one! :-)

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:56 | 802775 Hook Line and S...
Hook Line and Sphincter's picture

This Wanger fellow is quite the useful tool. If you want to identify him in real life, look for the following...

·       He stutters – is self-conscious and his family hates him

·       Has a fake tan

·       Has washboard ‘six pack’ abs

·       Has an AA degree, but has gone to six years of college

·       Takes pictures of himself in front of mirrors

·       Constantly is smelled by dogs in the crotch

·       Eats at McDonald’s, has rotten teeth, halitosis

·       Immediately looks away from you when you make eye contact

·       Can’t urinate with other people at an adjacent urinal

·       Has a lazy eye

·       Perhaps has a gold tooth

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:59 | 802782 gloomboomdoom
gloomboomdoom's picture

so much hate for someone that has been more correct, than incorrect. More correct than those that post here on ZH. CNBS Milfs and Warren Buffet were correct, No "double-dip". It didn't come folks.

Great site, but you have to have a filter.

Gerald Celente was wrong. No CRASH of 2010!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li4HFDhz3So

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:46 | 802875 Robslob
Robslob's picture

gloomboomdoom..Harry's second created ego to support all of his other wanker posts...niiiicccee!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 17:58 | 802779 tmosley
tmosley's picture

Not the place for it I know, but did anyone else notice that Kitco shows the Sydney trading hours now overlap the Globex lunch break?  Do we really have a 24 hour gold and silver market now?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:07 | 802797 gloomboomdoom
gloomboomdoom's picture

I just put in some shorts today on SLV. PMs are looking very bubbly lately...

No bond bubble, got it yet?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:19 | 802825 tmosley
tmosley's picture

Good for you.  Enjoy your poverty.

I've got just the job for you to pull yourself up after you lose your life savings.  It involves shoveling shit, so you should be used to it.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:24 | 802957 spinone
spinone's picture

there will be some end of year profit taking on SLV.

But you will never get your hands on the physical at that price.  And soon, physical will be realized for what it is, and paper will be realized for what it is.

http://www.goldprice.org/ebay-gold-prices/

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:03 | 802789 tony bonn
tony bonn's picture

superbly done....and to add some nuance to the fucking lies, we should understand that there are two americas - the top quintile for whom the lies are true and the bottom 4 quintiles for whom the lies are nothing but god dammed....of course that is the oligarchy - let them eat cake.

furthermore, sp500 revenues and income derive largely overseas - so what is good for the world is good for the transnational corporations....but what's bad for america is bad for america and fuck you if you are not in the top quintile...

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:14 | 802813 razorthin
razorthin's picture

I love how many of us are watching the development of a centennial event through a flea's spectacles.  And handicapped with a flea's attention span for that matter.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:22 | 802828 gloomboomdoom
gloomboomdoom's picture

Ron Paul was also wrong 2010 (I voted for him, no hate).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnRCz2Dcd_A

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:30 | 802838 tmosley
tmosley's picture

Funny how you make that assumption when the year isn't even out, and he certainly didn't say that it was going to happen in 2010.

You are the lamest troll I've seen yet.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:37 | 802853 Xzazael
Xzazael's picture

Well even if a full recovery isn't possible, and even if things continue to degrade, we haven't hit a full drop yet in 2010. So take THAT you naysayers. As everyone knows, if the economy doesn't drop dead by the end of 2010, then it restarts in Recovery Mode.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:52 | 802884 gloomboomdoom
gloomboomdoom's picture

exactly!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 18:55 | 802890 Max Hunter
Max Hunter's picture

You are the lamest troll I've seen yet.

Yeah.. He really is.. Contradicts himself and puts out absurd information that defies math and logic. He should be ignored.. If he's a paid troll, his employer should take a hard look at what they are getting for their money..

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 06:07 | 804066 Seer
Seer's picture

Actaully, given that the aim of trolls is to disrupt things, I'd say that it's doing pretty well.  But... I'm not deterred from working on my farm and doing my part to make the System irrelevant (which will result in people such as this troll vanishing with their masters).

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:10 | 802923 Don Birnam
Don Birnam's picture

Superlative refutation and dissection of the prevailing disinformation distributed by the MSM. TD -- extremely well done.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:21 | 802948 spinone
spinone's picture

John Stuart Mill : " The peculiar evil of silencing the expression of an opinion is, that it is robbing the human race; posterity as well as the existing generation; those who dissent from the opinion, still more than those who hold it. If the opinion is right, they are deprived of the opportunity of exchanging error for truth: if wrong, they lose, what is almost as great a benefit, the clearer perception and livelier impression of truth, produced by its collision with error. "

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:25 | 802959 Quantum Nucleonics
Quantum Nucleonics's picture

Excellent points.  I'd add that consumer spending is also being held up by the strong rise in food and energy costs, though hidden from official inflation states by the broad decline in housing costs.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:26 | 802963 Don Birnam
Don Birnam's picture

Superlative refutation and dissection of the prevailing disinformation distributed by the MSM. TD -- extremely well done.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:50 | 803010 californiagirl
californiagirl's picture

Last week an engineer (from a fortune 500 high-tech company originating in Silicon Valley) told me their Cap Ex spending has been put on hold and that all items for $3,000 or more require a VP signature.  A few weeks ago, an engineer from another Silicon Valley fortune 500 (semiconductor) company told me that their Cap Ex was on hold and that, rather than buying new equipment, everyone was scrounging for the used and abandoned equipment laying around and trying to get it operational again.  Right around Thanksgiving order and quote activity slowed down.  This is usually our busiest quarter as businesses try to complete their purchasing before year end.  Many of our distributors have noticed the same thing. I hope this is not a foreshadowing of Q1 2011.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 19:55 | 803017 goober
goober's picture

D Pierre -Yes F Zapa , pygmy ponies, 40 acres of dental floss and macaroni are flashbacks for sure! Before you posted that , I was already thinking about it. Recently I posted about the same exact thing on another site and nobody had a clue what I was talking about? Must be those bumpy red mushrooms out west!

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 03:15 | 803949 DavidPierre
DavidPierre's picture

Frank was one of the best. 

All the young pups don't know what they missed...and his way of cutting to the bone ... the satire of his lyrics... not to mention his guitar work.

Dedicated to the bestest-blog-butt-buddy-ever...  the author of this fine piece-o-shit thread about "Who's Lying"... and it's a goin out also to all the sycophantic homos over on his blog @ 

www.TheBobbyBrown.com

This goes out, special to you...SmokeyQuinn

"Here I am at a famous school {Wharton} 
I'm dressing sharp and I'm acting cool {on ZH}

Oh God I am the Ameriklan dream {on the web}
But now I smell like Vaseline

I'm a miserable son of a bitch
Am I a boy or a lady, I don't know which"

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8y0JLPQl94

And this goes out Avalon... Smokey's 'flavorite' Ewe from the paddock...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syBn6PzMzP8

"As long as she does it with Four On The Floor"

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 20:01 | 803027 goober
goober's picture

Hook line and sinker - Your description is of me, 5 out of 11 anyway? Not sure what to make of that ? Oh well.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 21:15 | 803268 Rusty Shorts
Rusty Shorts's picture

 - your knobs go to 11 too eh?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 20:15 | 803058 goober
goober's picture

GBD - your comment on G Celente? Just because it hasn't happened yet, does not mean it won't at some point in time? If you take all the aggregate facts and add them up, it does not point to a good ending for US or most of the developed world. I don't disagree with you 100% just 75 or so. As I see it the question now is how to beat the garbage system at it's own game. To me that means making money while available and buying either tillable land or PMs. The silver purchases to spank JPM is another good idea. I would hope others at ZH would start thinking the same way and expound their ideas of how to beat these bastards(that would be the banks as they are the masters) at their own tricks, manipulations. The Fed/banks/politicos are all on the same team and whether you realize it or not that is NOT your team ! Do what you will with it. Cheers 

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 06:16 | 804074 Seer
Seer's picture

It can be no other way.  Limited resources and space can NOT meet the requirements of perpetual growth.  One does not have to be Einstein to understand that the premise of collapse is the ONLY outcome of a population/system that doesn't understand its limits.  So... no matter the details, you're either a believer in physical reality, or you are not...  And if you are not, you're a seller of the "American Dream" (profiting off the "dream").

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 20:21 | 803085 DollarDive
DollarDive's picture

General Motors..... Growing .....NOT

 

General Motors Co., the largest U.S. automaker, said it will offer early-retirement packages worth $60,000 each to about 2,000 skilled-trades workers at 14 U.S. plants.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 20:34 | 803130 Revolution_star...
Revolution_starts_now's picture

Just look at that GDP trend going back to early 80's.  It shows the very real decline in this country. It conicides with turning wallstreet lose, and since they took over the vampire squid has been sucking the very blood out of this country. With all the productivity gains they managed to suck more out than all of america could create, that's amazing.

The chart looks like it's restesting a break down and about to establish a lower range. It could be 20 years before we get back above 4% using bogus government numbers.

If we don't kill the parasites, the parasites will kill us.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 21:15 | 803266 Ben Fleeced
Ben Fleeced's picture

1982 we called it downward mobility. Been fighting hard since 1989. Hope we win. Gods speed.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 21:21 | 803280 Rusty Shorts
Rusty Shorts's picture

"That was a time when the corporations were seizing private farms because their cronies the banks, had talked the farmers into buying too many things they really couldn't afford with money they did not have. So they fell behind on their payments and the banks foreclosed and then the corporate food concerns stole the land from the private citizen because food is power and in the new world, they simply do not want independent thinking and existing Americans on their own land , raising their own food etc. as Thomas Jefferson had often talked about 200 years ago.
well observed, and I'm sure you can see the same game playing out even now with the "housing bubble" and all the homes now being foreclosed on"

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 07:36 | 804077 Seer
Seer's picture

I think that the turn-down started in the early 1970s, the same time that US oil production peaked.  Energy = growth: and what happens to our mass when energy decreases?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 21:09 | 803256 goober
goober's picture

Rev, I could agree more. By whatever means are necessary economic and otherwise.

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 22:03 | 803420 molotov
molotov's picture

john williams of shadowstats.com likes link love and it least a mention when you use his charts mr quincy.

of course they're lying, it's been this way for much longer than the current financial crisis. this has nothing to do with liberal vs conservative. the terrorists run our government  and own the politicians. wake up!

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 22:34 | 803483 csmith
csmith's picture

"The fact is that there are thousands more retail outlets today than there were in 2007,..."

 

I think this is backwards; today there are fewer retail stores than 2007. Does the NFR keep data on this?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 22:41 | 803494 Biggus Dickus Jr.
Biggus Dickus Jr.'s picture

doublepost

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 22:41 | 803499 Biggus Dickus Jr.
Biggus Dickus Jr.'s picture

If you are involuntarily delevered from your house and a huge credit card bill couldn't your spending and savings go up?

Mon, 12/13/2010 - 22:58 | 803528 goober
goober's picture

One thing is for sure, there has been no shortage of lies from BLS/Fed and PRAVDA, a consortium of propoganda and disinformation. circa Kremlin 1972,  would prefer Beijing circa 1967 cultural revolution against bourgouise. A reeducation so to speak. Maybe whack some pee pees! Ha Ha Ha! Can ya tell I'm fed up?  

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 06:32 | 804080 Seer
Seer's picture
U.K. Inflation Rate Unexpectedly Increases to 3.3%

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-14/u-k-inflation-unexpectedly-acce...

A couple of interesting points to ponder (or maybe not):

1) If inflation is really only about the amount of currency in circulation, then how in the hell could this be a surprise?

2) If accepting/viewing as price inflation, it's interesting that the UK includes food, while the US does not.

3.3%, that seems so harmless, right?  Hm... 21 years to price doubling (currency halving): meanwhile wages are dropping...

Tue, 12/14/2010 - 06:35 | 804083 Seer
Seer's picture

A bit off subject (but feel that it'll be making the rounds here soon):

Hot money fears to limit China rate increases

(Reuters) - China will steer clear of an aggressive increase of benchmark interest rates because higher rates will only attract additional hot money inflows, a senior government researcher told the Reuters China Investment Summit.

---

Check, and mate!  China is guaranteed to explode!

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!