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Wal-Mart's CEO Provides The Starkest Visual Of The Modern Bread Line Yet
In today's Art Cashin Comments there is a stunning admission by none other than the CEO of Walmart on what modern day bread lines look like. To wit:
Profits And Baby Formula – Our pal, Rich Yamarone, over at Bloomberg picked up an eye-opening statement made by the Wal-Mart CEO last week.
I don't need to tell you that our customer remains challenged…You need not go farther than one of our stores on midnight at the end of the month. And it's real interesting to watch, about 11 p.m. customers start to come in and shop, fill their grocery basket with basic items – baby formula, milk, bread, eggs – and continue to shop and mill about the store until midnight when government electronic benefits cards get activated, and then the checkout starts and occurs. And our sales for those first few hours on the first of the month are substantially and significantly higher.
Talk about shopping only for necessities. The mid-night trip for baby formula says it all.
Luckily the NBER said the recession ended. Hurray:
So The Recession Ended 15 Months Ago – A Bloomberg report on lagging jobs got superseded by the FOMC statement. Here’s the opening line from the Bloomberg report:
Payrolls dropped in 36 U.S. states in August, led by Michigan, indicating the labor market will take time to rebound from the worst recession since the 1930s.
A little later in the article, it was noted how broad the job weakness was:
Texas lost 34,200 jobs, and California eliminated 33,600, the Labor Department said. The number of states where payrolls dropped was the highest this year.
More job losses in more states. Thank the gods that the recession’s over.
The country is collapsing everywhere and all the leaders can do is lie to their electorate that things are great. Images of the Titanic come to mind.
And some other observations from Art Cashin:
You Must Be At Least Four Feet Tall To Go On This Ride – For most of Tuesday’s trading session, the averages looked like the EKG on a Maine Potato.
From the opening bell, stocks snaked around the unchanged level for four and a half hours. The numbing lull was in anticipation of the 2:15 FOMC statement.
When the statement hit, things got really whacky.
In the first two minutes, stocks plunged. Then, suddenly, they reversed and began to spike higher. Within five minutes, the Dow was up 50 points.
That rally stopped on a dime. In the next two minutes, trading turned choppy. Then stocks began to retreat. That retreat lasted about five minutes.
Suddenly, the bulls returned, spiking the Dow to the plus 82 level. The bulls had no chance to pop the champagne cork. The rally ended instantly and stocks began to fade and by about 3:40, the Dow had turned mildly negative.
If you thought the frenzied trading in stocks was jaw-dropping, all you had to do was to look at other assets.
The dollar got pounded. Gold soared and then eased off somewhat. Treasuries rallied sharply with the yield on the ten year dipping below 2.60% (a record low). It was a stunning pyrotechnic display.
By the closing bell, stocks seemed exhausted by the spastic trading. They limped to a mixed and uncertain close.
We’ll Be There For You – That seemed to be the message that the FOMC tried to deliver in its statement yesterday.
They tried to walk a fine line, avoiding looking too worried while noting some concern.
The key phrase (to us) was in the fourth paragraph when the FOMC said it “is prepared to provide additional accommodation if needed to support the economic recovery and to return inflation, over time, to levels consistent with its mandate.”
While not specifically detailing their concerns about deflation, they strongly hinted at it by the suggestion that they wanted to return inflation to an appropriate level.
The image of the Fed actively seeking to promote inflation helped crush the dollar and spike gold. The wild-eyed saw risks of a Weimar-like inflation. Treasuries chose to ignore it.
Cocktail Napkin Charting – Today marks the Autumnal Equinox which brings historical aspects of volatility, as we noted last week. In addition, there is a full moon and an unusual proximity of the planet Jupiter. Keep your telescope handy.
Yesterday’s unusual action had several aspects of a reversal day. Additionally, there are mounting indications that the September rally may have been propelled by a short squeeze. We’re still checking out the hypothesis.
For today the napkins hint resistance in the S&P at 1148/1151 and then 1156/1160. Support looks like 1129/1132 with a backup at 1118/1122.
AN ENCORE PRESENTATION
On this day in 1776, an American legend was born. Well maybe that's not exactly correct. The guy was born about two decades earlier.
This guy was a bright young fellow from Connecticut. He had graduated from Yale University (where some schoolmates thought him a bit of a showoff at games). Nevertheless, he was a good scholar and had a real gift for the classics. He became a schoolteacher and looked to be headed for the role of solid citizen. Then the American Revolution broke out and he (and five of his brothers) immediately joined the rebel cause.
He rushed about trying to get into whatever was the battle du jour. Somehow, he always seemed to be a day late. And when, in the final week of August, the troops of Washington barely avoided defeat by slipping out of New York City, he was one frustrated guy.
So, when Washington asked for guys who might sneak back into New York City to set fires and map the defenses, the schoolteacher was first in line. And, when his fellow officers asked how big a unit he would need, he said he'd go alone, in civilian clothes, using his Yale diploma to prove he was a schoolteacher.
For two days, he roamed successfully making detailed drawings of British defenses and describing them in notes of classic Latin to confuse anyone who questioned him. Then he bumped into his cousin, Samuel, who was working for the Tories. Sam said, this is my cousin, Nathan Hale, he’s a rebel spy. Hale was so proud, he said, "Yup, that's who I am!" (Or the Yale equivalent.)
So, on this day, the Brits hung him. The Rebs remembered his last words as --"I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." It made him a martyr and a hero. Revisionist scholars would claim that what he said was --"It is the duty of every soldier to obey his commander."
But given Hale's classic education, it is more likely that he used the first version since, as you know, it is as a paraphrase of "Cato."
There was nothing classic or quotable in Tuesday’s action. There was a lot that was confusing however.
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Not buying it - this is still America, get out there and make your own opportunity. This not the time nor the place to get into it - but I come from a family that immigrated here during the Great Depression and did exactly that.
When you incentivize people not to work, they will not work...
It is all fun and games until you are the d-bag who is chronically unemployed. Yes, we have a lazy populace who refuses to work, but I am guessing the majority of those who are on food stamps want to work.
"but I am guessing the majority of those who are on food stamps want to work"
Hahahahahahahahahaha
Hehehehehehehehehehe
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Ouch, my sides hurt
how to buy cigarettes on food stamps in michigan:
1. use your embarrasmentless debit card to buy 4 cases of pop (soda).
2. open all 96 cans and dump out in ditch.
3. return cans for $9.60 cash, pick up cigs on way out.
here in NY you can just sell your foodstamps to certain deli's (in low income neighborhoods) for 90% of the value in cash. They charge $100 onto the card and give you $90 in cash.
and in CA Ahnold was shocked to find that the cards work in the casinos.
- Ned
Damn, you guys got it good. Between 50 and 70 cents on the dollar here in Cleveland.
You've guessed wrong. You lose a turn and go back to start...
"Chronically unemployed"??? Wow, you really pulled this term out of your ass. Like unemployment is a some sort of fungus you get on your balls that even tough-act'n Tenactin can't cure.
Here's my solution to the "chronically unemployed", work harder/smarter so you stop getting fired from your jobs... If you're good, sooner or later one should stick.
"Chronically unemployed"... what a joke!
Would you mind saying that to the face of the out of work (non-union) contractor?
Or out of work union contractor?
I'd like to see the fat-assed, self-righteous dead weight filling jobs held accountable for actually working to keep those jobs and justifying those attitudes about people who can't find jobs.
Now that would be revolutionary. Fact is, alot of the unemployed are people who would actually work for their money and would have the opportunity to do so if the lazy sob's who "hold down jobs" were truly required to earn their keep.
Not to make myself real unpopular, but how many of the people posting to web forums all day are actually doing it "on the clock"?
We all know there are plenty of lazy bastards bleeding every company and government agency dry even as they shit on people who "won't work."
inronically, the only real weapon for the citizen (in a broken corpocratic system) is the economic one, the choice to not pay, not to work, not to bail out the criminals
+10000
I realize that you have a point, but to compare today with the Great Depression is comparing apples to train-wrecks. The GD was more of a crisis of policy (one can either state failure of regulation, pre-crash, or one OF regulation, post-crash). Today the US is a decaying empire, back then it was perched on the run up to being one. This is a BIG difference. Back then there was plenty of energy, lots of "innovation" yet to come, no competition, and little debt.
When there's no more growth there's only one direction- contraction. And in the future I'll challenge you to point out how all those people can do work when there's no one buying. Do people really think that ex high-level bankers and marketing types are going to compete for lower jobs that require actual skill? No. These people, then, that many might see as being productive, "incentivized," will hardly be so in the future; and, I'd hardly state that they all of a sudden become lazy...
Getting back to your family, why did they come here, why didn't they use their great work-ethic to obtain gainful employment back in the "old homeland?" My guess would be it was becuase employment wasn't sufficient: oppressive govts mean little in this argument, as the US govt was oppressive to immigrants back then.
If the opportunity doesn't exist you cannot make it up: you might hear the stories from back then, but I've actually seen/touched them in recent times. But, yes, you are right that people have really nothing other than having to carve things out for themselves; and in the future it'll take everything one has just to subsist.
+1000
The ONLY two individuals I know personally that are on unemployment, neighbor and brother-in-law, have been on the government dole for a minimum of two years each. Both have confided in me that they have no plans to look for work other than the odd under-the-table jobs that they do from time-to-time. They both said there is no reason to look as they are now actually in a better financial situation than they were before. My brother-in-law spends much of his government paid time on Facebook playing away the day and watching their two yound ones, while his wife slaves away at a real estate company trying to squeek out a living. Rat bastards.
By the way, that same unemployment tax feeder brother-in-law of mine is taking his two yound children to see Yo Gabba Gabba, a favorite of my little girls, while I opted to pay off debt.
One of these days reality might catch up to these fucktards.
Note: All people on unemployment are NOT fucktards, just the only two unemployment recipients I know personally.
They may be "fucktards" but they aren't dumb. They are living off other people's money while you and I work. They are the ones who bought houses they couldn't afford and are now living in them for free. They are the ones with I-phones and 52 inch flat screen TVs which they never paid for because the credit card company wrote off their balances. They are the ones in the supermarkets buying steaks with food stamps. They are laughing at us and will continue to do so for as long as the money spigot stays on. And when it is cut off they will be at our door either with a tin cup or a shotgun.
Tricky Dick, by god you are right. Thinking back to my conversation with me brother-in-law, he said he was just getting his. Just like I stiffed a credit card company earlier in the year and asked for them to prove a lawful contract that showed they had any sort of financial consideration in the transaction, as well as full disclosure. This was during the TARP bailout after the Senator for Ohio (Browns and Voinovich) said they didn't care about the 90% of the population that was against the bailouts. I decided I would bail myself out.
Still paying on the underwater mortgage, but I never looked at the house as an investment. I was more worried about the return of my money, but that will be gone too.
I say fuck Yo Gabba Gabba!
Take your kids to the park on a regular basis, hug them and tell them you love them every chance you get, teach them to respect themselves and others, and teach them personal responsibility. That will matter A WHOLE LOT more to them than seeing an overpriced live Nickelodeon show.
Do this, and I promise you your kids will turn out better than your brother-in-laws kids, who are learning how to be irresponsible from their father.
True and I do. The bread and circuses are nice every now and again.
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/chapters/index.htm
Homeschool
Come, come now Joe
Anyone who can survive a visit to Walmart deserves a medal, and anyone who can attend Walmart from 11pm to Midnite deserves a badge of honor.
What a soul destroying enterprise.
wall marts are disgusting, pure and simple. especially if they have a subway or some shit fast food chain stand. you can smell the rancid oil and grease they use. probably don't change it, ever. i had to get sick once. i think these folks get high off of the smell of grease.
US Government 'hiding true amount of debt'
THE actual figure of the US' national debt is much higher than the official sum of $US13.4 trillion ($14.3 trillion) given by the Congressional Budget Office, according to analysts cited on Sunday by the New York Post.
"The Government is lying about the amount of debt. It is engaging in Enron accounting," said Laurence Kotlikoff, an economist at Boston University and co-author of The Coming Generational Storm: What You Need to Know about America's Economic Future.
http://www.news.com.au/business/breaking-news/us-government-hiding-true-...
...and how about all the off balance sheet "stuff" in the TBTF's?
Cradle to grave slavery.
Would one of you please take the time to explain to those of us who are not priviy to all of the doings you guys evaluate with your comments everyday how exactly the POMO is creating money? As I understand it, the POMO is purchasing bonds for cash. The cash comes from selling treasuries. If the bonds are retired and the treasuries are issued, how does that increase the supply of money in the system? And how does that money make it from the Fed to the equities market? Read you guys every day but it's like hearing an inside joke sometimes. You all know what's going on so you take the short cut in the explanation and the rest of us don't get it.
The Treasury has been selling 50% more bonds than it has debts/obligations. Primary dealers hang onto this extra cash and pump the market.
'The cash' comes from selling treasuries to whom? All these 'sales' of things is simply FED and PD's slushing and laundering 'the cash' back to themselves. The amount of money may be increased by money printing, but that money is worth as much less. I call it a Catch-22 of the highest order, and they dont have any answer for it except more of the same.
on Wed, 09/22/2010 - 08:49
#597389
Would one of you please take the time to explain to those of us who are not priviy to all of the doings you guys evaluate with your comments everyday how exactly the POMO is creating money? As I understand it, the POMO is purchasing bonds for cash. The cash comes from selling treasuries. If the bonds are retired and the treasuries are issued, how does that increase the supply of money in the system? And how does that money make it from the Fed to the equities market? Read you guys every day but it's like hearing an inside joke sometimes. You all know what's going on so you take the short cut in the explanation and the rest of us don't get it."
Watch this video. You'll need to fast-forward a tiny bit to where Mr. Maloney goes into his presentation. If you understand reserve banking, it will be even simpler to follow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzef43gdupk&feature=player_embedded
Permanent Open Market Operations - I'll take a stab...
The Fed (a PRIVATELY held banking cartel offered a monopoly on money/credit creation in contravention of our constitution, but I digress) creates money out of thin air to purchase Treasury Bonds from eligible participants. The Fed keeps the t-bonds, the Primary Dealers keep the cash. Thereby the money supply has increased. It's also worth noting that the Fed has exchanged nothing of value (since it created it out of thin air) and in return gets a claim on the future taxation of US citizens (do you remember the privately held part?). So, in your example, the false part is the "cash comes from selling treasuries". The cash comes from the Fed clicking a couple of keystrokes on their computers.
It is then assumed that the Primary Dealers use the new money to purchase assets - other t-bonds, stocks, or GOLD! Well, actually most of them might be short lots of paper gold, but that's a story for another day...
Thanks TJ if the average American would take the time to figure out how the shit works, revolution would certainly ensue.
indeed. . . at the very least, the palpable anger would be channeled in the right direction. . . towards those responsible.
(great explanation Tjoe!)
Obliterate the national memory bound up in history and literature, sift carefully what can be translated, and you open a gulf between old and young, past and present, which can’t be bridged, rendering children vulnerable to any form of synthetic lore authorities deem advisable.
+1000, ongoing and true.
proven by our living it.
"As I understand it, the POMO is purchasing bonds for cash. The cash comes from selling treasuries." - Actually the "cash" comes from a mouse click. The Fed records a debit on its balance sheet for the newly purchased treasury and a credit for the "cash." This is "money printing" without actually "printing" anything.
Has anyone been able to capture the mouse click cash creation on film?
Yes. It was on Inside Edition last night.
All's well - the S&P is up, the EUR is up. How much more proof do you need to see risk appetite is there?
(Please already crash will you, its Fall isnt it??)
I heard this story from a few clients who were talking about neighbors, friends or even a family member. I took it to be a more local condition. Now that WalMart has confirmed it on a national scale, I take it as a sign from heaven (e.g. US Government) that the next level of insanity has started.
Hold on to your hats folks, there's some nasty turbulence dead ahead.
Banks are all swamped on check delivery days, grocery stores get swamped when the debit cards get credited, post office is stuffed with folks buying money orders at the same time of the month. It's all over the place and always has been -- just more pronounced now.
I agree. Just much more pronounced. I worked in a bank for nearly 9 years and it was a known cycle. The head teller made sure to have more cash on hand around the 1st of the month. And more cash/ETF/CC transactions were handled around that time as well.
While at the bank, I handled the ETF/debit card/ATM back office while there and I sawthe progression. But it has escalated much further than more people recognize.
BTW, Happy Birthday RR. You look a very young 61, not the 62 you claim. I hope you understand those dark circles and bags under your eyes can be treated. Still an old fart like me either way. :>)
62 today, my friend. I feel really lucky not to be taking anything prescribed. I get my one-a-day plus a few extra things that I get to pick -- not a doctor. Gonna get that social security soon! I figgered I better get it while the gettin's good. I ran the numbers and I'll tell ya, that bird in the hand is much better.
Happy Birthday, Rocky. A joke for your birthday -
>>A Texas business man, while in Japan for some business meetings and a
>>few rounds of golf, arrived in Tokyo a day earlier than expected.
>>Feeling lonely that evening, he employed the services of a beautiful
>>young Japanese girl to be his companion for the evening. Although the
>>Japanese girl spoke very little English and the businessman spoke no
>>Japanese, their passion roared and in the heat of the moment she began yelling "Gama Su!, Gama Su!".
>>Hearing this, the Texan knew he had pleased his female Japanese friend
>>and soon afterwards went to sleep.
>>
>>
>>
>>The next day while playing golf with his Japanese business colleagues,
>>one of his Japanese partners holed his shot from 170 yards away!
>>Everyone went crazy and began yelling excitedly in Japanese. Wanting
>>to impress his friends, the Texan joined in and began yelling, "Gama Su! Gama Su!"
>>
>>
>>
>>Suddenly everyone became quiet. After a moment of silence, one of the
>>Japanese turned to him and asked "Wrong hole? What do you mean wrong hole?"
VI
Reminds me of the daily rush when I deliver my rations to my flock of chickens.
I was thinking pig slopping. At least that's what we called it on the farm.
The question people should be asking themselves is when the bottom falls out from underneath the dollar and inflation kicks in to the point where these 11pm Walmart shoppers can now only afford to buy the baby formula on the govt. (errr the tax payer...) dime, what will these 11pm Walmart shoppers turn to?
Yes folks, it will be extreme turbulence. Celente has it right. "When people lose everything and they have nothing left to lose, they lose it."
Welcome to third world USofA. A new society of higher crime and sex slavery just to put bread and eggs on a cardboard make-shift table. The new american dream.
God
Guns
Gold
Gardens
Groceries
GET READY!!!!
I do get the "G" theme.. but..
Family
Cross Bow
Big Dog
Water Tank
Garden + Chickens
Hammer, Axe
READY!
I like your list a lot, but I would add one "g":
goats.
girls. you got to have g i r l s,
all you dumb ass men discussing food, guns, gardens. you all really have turned queer. CD has done everything in the book and now is an authority on EVERYone---------->
damn boy/girl, when was the last time you (you know what) your wife without viagra, dude?
Velobabe
Remind me again exactly what it is you do here other than talk incessantly about your lack of a sex life and your very narrow views on sexual stereotypes?
all you do is talk 24/7. you don't offend me in the least, cause i have no idea what your fucking labels mean. i don't do labels, little guy. i imagine you short and have a small size you know what. i can tell your sorts. you seem to be able to label everything and everyone. i absolutely hardly talk at all anymore, your keyboarding obsession is overwhelming. go fuck your wife†
uh yeah. I'll stick with the goat, thanks.
Fucking beautiful!
No incessant bullshit or drivel from a well fed goat. Velo, you redundant.
http://www.sybian.com/no_js.php
Take some of the million dollars you brag about having and invest in equipment or walk out your damn door and get fucked. If your golf boyfriend won't fuck you ask him if he knows someone who will.
look & listen up, heph. started playing golf again, all bets off.
Wow. Tough crowd Kathy!
Ignore all these goat / sheep humpers ...
Happy Bday by the way - you are a Libra - right on the cusp !
Persons born on the cusp of Virgo-Libra are practical, hard working, diligent, meticulous, attractive, logical, charming, shy, modest, efficient, romantic, devoted and polite.
+plus H O R N Y
"girls. you got to have g i r l s,
all you dumb ass men discussing food, guns, gardens. you all really have turned queer. CD has done everything in the book and now is an authority on EVERYone---------->
damn boy/girl, when was the last time you (you know what) your wife without viagra, dude?"
Kathy, when guys are planning for "whatever" the list of important gear is long. Lot's to think about. Family is a given. The fact that they're not on the list doesn't mean anything - it's a guy thing - myself included.
Which will take up the full quota of "f" - FENCING! :-)
Walmart is the bellweather.
Pedantry(on)
You must mean "bellwether," the bell-wearing castrated ram (a "wether") whose sounds indicate the location of the flock.
Pedantry(off)
When the Eagle flies!
or cries!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW2cPr0fQ7Y&feature=related
very sad state of affairs. alot of people are hurting
Walmart is scary to shop at. There's even a website with pics of people or walmart.
"Scary" is putting it mildly.
People of WalmartI've seen this before, but after looking at about 20 pages of pictures I feel slightly ill. It's a bit like witnessing a car accident, you want to look away but can't, and just when you think have seen it all....some new horror appears.
Damn. I've heard of that site and chuckled at the possibilities I conjured up, but to actually see it? Holy moly.
Wal-mart is the government right now. And I do regret that I have but one life to give for my country.
looking back at my life and the dollar chasing treadmill i have been on i now see i gave my life already. So have many of us who were slaves to illusion.
Now i work for silver, myself or not at all
On my way to pick up another 100z bar today )
Dollar chasing treadmill, that's right. Me as well. I guess better late then never (for the ah-ha moment)...
As a Veteran I can only say "When Camels start coming over the Appalacian mountains or mobs of starving women start putting heads on poles will I regret to have only one life to give for my country".
Is terrorism such a bad word? Was not that what we were called by King George in 1770s. My, my, how they keep tearing pages out of the history books.
WTF? Camels, just what are you trying to propagandize here?
Actually I think it is ironic that the shift of Walmart from buy America to buy China is probably what put most of those people in the bread line. The fact that they go to a Chinese store to cash their check from America (borrowed from China) is ridiculous.
"In 1985, amid anxiety about trade deficits and the loss of American manufacturing jobs, Walton launched a "Made in America" campaign that committed Wal-Mart to buying American-made products if suppliers could get within 5 percent of the price of a foreign competitor."
By T.A. Frank
First published in the April, 2006 issue of Washington Monthly
+ 9.6% (official)
But really, we need to consider the U-6 conveyor belt and the folks who have fallen off of the other end. So, that is like >17% and maybe a lot higher.
Subsidize something--get more.
But this is holding up the employment market from "clearing" and the minimum wage is hurting the clearing.
- Ned
doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where the rot set it relative to wage drops & manufacturing jobs lost to "foreign competitors" eh. . .
meanwhile, WallyWorld set the standard for flexible "crew shifts" hours that varied weekly, were always set under the minimum that required health benefits to be paid (back when that was a "rule") - at their new worker orientations, they handed out state benefit forms encouraging their employees to apply for supplemental benefits, effectively getting states to subsidise their own workers.
truth.
Sure, let's blame Walmart for finding the lowest cost of its goods sold. Yes, they should pay the HIGHEST price available, and then sell these goods for an even HIGHER price. If goods were made in America, you would have the American people complaining about how expensive things are. Can't have it both ways. I suggest Americans learn to live with less, meaning a much lower standard of living. It's coming, and by demanding a living wage, unemployment will remain at elevated levels.
Your going to be the one that leads the way right? get rid of the cars. Public Transportation only, 9 to your 800 sq foot tract house, 1 old smoker for transportation and a big bag of potatoes , beans and a meat of some kind usually from the kids pets.
Give us links to the picture albums.
Your going to be the one that leads the way right? get rid of the cars. Public Transportation only, 9 to your 800 sq foot tract house, 1 old smoker for transportation and a big bag of potatoes , beans and a meat of some kind usually from the kids pets.
Give us links to the picture albums.
I know of one "professional" (an Evangelical type) who used to own a Hummer. It seems to have left his life about the time rumors were flying that a Chinese entity was considering buying the Hummer. All pretty ironic, American excess killing itself, the "what's good for GM is good for the country" turned into a frenzy of "sell to 'communist' China!" (while the US govt was taking over the rest of GM) The story of Alice in Wonderland has nothing on all of this!
NO, WAL MART is CHINA....................
And the Gv't works for Wal Mart.
That Wal-Mart scene indicates that middle America is sharing the pain felt on Wall Street, where struggling fund managers make their butlers sleep in the line for Bethpage starting times.
I think their playing Pelham
Ahhhhh.... the sweet smell of sarcasm, well delivered!
Hardly. There, their, they're, they are. Dear oh dear.
oops
They're there at their T Off on the Pelham front nine.
a trip to walmart is always entertaining. and they really do have low prices. me loves.
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/?p=17052
Sure is wonderful that this basically amounts to a direct transfer of government money to China.
It's just lovely.
Just sending it back to where it came from since it's the US government's borrowed Chinese money paying for it all.
Nothing but winners. A trophy for everyone.
My thoughts exactly, Renimbis to dollars to t-bills to welfare payments to Wal-Mart to Renimbis to China? The circle of life.
maybe the baby formula, but not the eggs, milk and bread.
All joking aside this is sad. I am disheartened to see the everyday american pushed to poverty because the joker in Washington have no soul (or brain).
definately missing their souls
Some entertaining gossip about the Pres,
White House Insider on Obama: "the President is Losing It."<
Some snippets:
"Sure - we definitely had people in the media on our side. Absolutely. We went so far as to give them specific ideas for coverage. The ones who took that advice from the campaign were granted better access, and Obama was the biggest story in 2008, so yeah, that gave us a lot of leverage."
"... he takes his meetings just like any other president would, though even then, he seems to lack a certain focus and on a few occasions, actually leaves with the directive that be given a summary of the meeting at a later date. I hear he plays a lot of golf, and watches a lot of television – ESPN mainly. I’ll tell you this – if you want to see President Obama get excited about a conversation, turn it to sports. That gets him interested. You start talking about Congress, or some policy, and he just kinda turns off."
"He absolutely obsesses over Fox News. For being so successful, Barack Obama is incredibly thin-skinned. He takes everything very personally."
"Like I said, it’s been a while since I was last at the White House, but I don’t have a problem saying that the president is losing it. I don’t mean he is like losing his mind. I mean to say that he is losing whatever spark he had during the campaign. When you take away the crowds, Obama gets noticeably smaller. He shrinks up inside of himself. He just doesn’t seem to have the confidence to do the job of President, and it’s getting worse and worse."
"The jobs reports are always setting him off, and he is getting increasingly conspiratorial over the unemployment numbers. I never heard it myself, but was told that Obama thinks the banking system is out to get him now."
I don't know how valid the source is, but... it's entertaining.
Maybe he's realized he's just a patsy stuck holding office while the people who really run the show collapse the country.
I've been hired on false pretenses a few times too, and it sure is demoralizing.
Obama cares less about the American public or anything else American. He wants to talk to his "peeps" in great speeches while the cronies around him rob the average citizen.
His great speech to the UN yesterday hit the nail on the head re turning developing nations into dependents through handouts (aid). He said that we must give them the tool to create wealth in their own right. Say goodbye to more American jobs!
If only he was prescient enough to deduct that the same outcome would occur by bailing out the banks, auto industry, mortgage holders and insurance tycoons, and dare I say it, jobless handout recipients.
It is with no pleasure that I finished the sentence with the last cohort. It was however the law of the jungle prior to this socialist setup we now have. Now, as in Greece, most everyone will be ruined.
I saw him on TV last night as MC for a Latino music extravaganza at the WH. He was a great MC, praising the music and the musicians. I think he missed his calling in becoming president.
Well, that makes Obama certainly different from any other U. S. President.
Thanks for that anonymous sourced "news" item.
Not to fuel the rumors, but I just can't resist: Ever since Barry hired Kumar as an aid of some sort, I've wondered if he has returned to burning the weed. Maybe that's why he's so focused upon Afganistan and why he directed the DEA not to enforce federal laws on marijuana.
And God bless him for the latter, too!
(Hey, maybe there's hash oil on them cigarettes that he just can't quit.)
Although I can't help but wonder if virtual legalization of weed is really about further sedating the populace--unemployment has to be managed somehow. Why not cultivate both Kush dependence and amotivational syndrome to keep people tuned out? And screw up peoples' memories, too.
And--damn, I forgot what I was saying . . .
hehehh. . .
my take on the legalisation of marijuana: given that it's the number one cash crop in amrka, and all proceeds are part of what props up the "economy" as cash is passed back 'n' forth 'n' roundabout - gov't being the parasites it is, wants its cut. . . legalise, license & tax it - which is what's already being planned.
of course, it won't be nearly as lucrative to "farm" as before - check out the lamentations going down in Humboldt County, et al.
and sure, it might be useful in keeping folk sedated - tho' most of the people use multiple substances, and the meth 'n' cranksters will take more than a bong hit to stop. . . hence the current rise in heroin usage. . .
Damn, you turn up in the strangest places, CA! And to think I was rather regretting that post . . . but couldn't remember where it was!
I suppose that will jack up the prices . . . we'll find out what the price elasticity of weed is. Who is to say the revenue man hasn't already genetically engineered the shit to make it truly addictive?
But you just know Monsanto is gonna fuck this all up, right?
Google:
Monsanto ~ Home
If there were one word to explain what Monsanto is about, it would have to be farmers. It is our purpose to help them meet the needs of a growing population ...Great article Hansel thanks for that. What is occurring is about what I expected at this point. The President finally realized he has very limited power and he gets to play President but he has been reduced to a mere figurehead by the corporate interests in banks. There is absolutely no other explanation for his 180 ever since election in favor of big banks. People seem to forget that the President and Hillary Clinton completely disappeared during the campaign primary and were off the radar in order to be shuttled to the Bilderberg meeting in Virginia where he was selected as the President by the Media/Corp/Bank interests. It is pretty clear we have near corporate fascism in this nation and the President is not being allowed to do anything which would benefit the middle class. This administration has done nothing but play rear view politics as opposed to acting like leadership which this articles seems to confirm with his obsession over Fox News criticism.
Regardless I have already dont the electoral math and it is impossible for the President to win in 2012 unless he goes after the corporate interests.
He cannot win 270 Electoral votes which may seem crazy considering he won 365 but I have looked it over I have bolded the states he will win. He only needs to lose 95 electorals to lose the election.
How President Obama Loses in 2012
Alabama: (9) Lost by 450k votes will not win in 2012
Alaska: (3) Lost by 120k votes likely cannot win in 2012
Arizona (10) Lost by 200k+ votes and after the Immigration debate will lose again in 2012
Arkansas: (6) Lost by 200k+ votes will not win in 2012
California: (55) Won by 3 Million votes and will likely win in 2012 since California can always be counted on voting Democratic
Colorado: (9) Won by 200k+ Votes. This will be a large swing state in 2012 can go either way but take the energy the Obamabots in 2012 and his polling numbers I believe he loses Colorado handily.
Connecticut: (7) Won by 330K+ votes. Will be close but will likely win CT. because it is Northeastern and favors Dems.
Deleware: (3) Won by 100k Votes but he will certainly lose this in 2012 considering the primaries have now placed a Tea Party member in the Republican election.
D.C.: (3) Had 245k Votes to McCains 17,000 and cannot lose D.C.
Florida: (27) This was a big win in 2008 for the President and he won by 240k votes. Consdiering the Depression Florida is in and health care he will lose Florida handily.
Georgia (15): Lost by 220+ in 2008 and will lose by even more in 2012.
Hawaii: (4): Won by 200K votes and although it could be tight I cannot see the President losing his home state.
Idaho:(4) Lost by a 2-1 margin in 2008 and probably a 3-1 in 2012
Indiana: ( 11) This was a huge win for the Pres. in 2008. Very slim margin of about 30k votes and alot of electoral votes. He will get routed in 2012.
Iowa: (7) Won by a mere 140k votes in 2008. Since this is a middle America state with a history of voting Republican I think we can very easily lose however I will aware Iowa to the President.
Kansas: (6) Lost by 200k votes and will lose again in 2012
Kentucky: (8) Lost by 300k in 2012 so forget about 2012.
Louisiana: (9) Lost by 400k in 2008 even before the BP oil spill. I expect him to lost by 700k this time around since even the shrimp & oysters will be growing fingers to vote against him considering his handling.
Maine: (4) Maine is a little different since it assigns 2 votes to the popular vote getter and 1 for each Congressional. Since it is a NE state I will aware the President 3 out of the 4 since he may win the popular but will likely lose one congressional.
Maryland: (10) President won by 700k votes in 2008. Barring an invasion by Bermuda and annexation he will win in 2012.
Massachusetts: (12) Monstrous win by 800k+ in 2008. Although I believe the race will be closer than expected and there is the potential for Romney to be the Republican candidate I am hoping for Ron Paul and will aware the President this state.
Michigan: (17) Big win for the President in 2008 regarding the electoral votes. Another 700k+ Large margin of victory for the President. Considering his union pandering I cannot see a loss here although it may be closer than expected.
*Minnesota: (10) Won by 240k+ votes in 2008. I expect him to lose this tight race in 2012.
Missouri: (11) This is a state the President almost won in 2008 and lost by a mere 4,000 votes. He cannot win this in 2012 since his popularity has pulled a record Peter Pan.
Montana: (3) Very tight race in 2008 and lost by 10k. Same story as Missouri and loses in 2012.
Nebraska: (5) Works the same as Maine. He lost the popular in 2008 and 2 congressionals scoring only 1 electoral vote. He will lost all 5 in 2012 since the one congressional was a 3,000 vote margin of victory.
Nevada: (5) Won in 2008 by a mere 100k+ votes. Considering the shape of Nevada and their attitude towards Reid he loses this easily in 2012.
New Hampshire: ( 4) Won in 2008 by a slim 65k votes. The people of New Hampshire take pride in their history and attitudes toward personal freedoms and he will likely lose in 2012.
New Jersey: (15) Won by a 2-1 margin in 2008 and will win in 2012.
New Mexico: (5) Small population and won by 120k votes in 2008. This can go either way and immigration is a consideration but I will aware it to the President.
New York: (31) No chance he loses this in 2008.
North Carolina: (15) This will be a big loss for the President in 2012. He won in 2008 by only 20k votes and this is a large sum of electorals to lose.
North Dakota: ( 3) Lost in 2008 and will lose again in 2012. Very small population.
Ohio: (20) This is the state I am counting on being the definer of his defeat in 2012. The President won 2.9 million votes to 2.6. There is potential for him to pull this out but consdiering Democratic Party Chairman Redfern referred to Tea Party members as, “Fuckers” on Monday night I cannot see that occurring since Democratic leadership is showing frustration and immaturity using this kind of rhetoric.
Oklahoma: (7) Near 2-1 loss for the President in 2008 and same in 2012.
Oregon: (7) Win by 400k for the President in 2008 and likely will retain Oregon by slim margin.
Pennsylvania: (21) Won by 700k votes in 2008. Joe Biden’s home state although margin will be smaller in 2012 he will win PA.
Rhode Island: (4) 2-1 Victory in 2008 and will win in 2012
South Carolina: (8) Lost by 300k in 2008. Even more in 2012
South Dakota: (3) Slim loss of 30k in 2008. Popularity so low cannot win in 2012.
Tennessee: (11) Big loss in 2008 same in 2012.
Texas: (34) Lost by over a million in 2008 and not even a contest in 2012. God willing Ron Paul will be the candidate out of Texas anyway.
Utah: (5) No chance in 2012.Another 2-1 loss like in 2008
Vermont: (3) 2-1 Victory for the President in 2008. Will lose some votes and potential to lose but I will award it to the President.
Virginia: (13) Won by 1.9 to 1.7 million votes in 2008. I am feeling generous and will award this to the President just to illustrate he still cannot feasibly win in 2012 even with taking Virginia.
West Virginia: (5) Lost 390k to 300k in 2008 and repeat in 2012.
Wisconsin: (10) Won by 400k votes in 2008 and he can lose this state but I will aware him the state.
Wyoming: (3) Lost 2-1 in 2008 and will lost in 2012.
This calculates to 228 Electoral Votes for the President. He cannot win since the economy will only worsen and his approval ratings will continue lower and even if they stablize with a mild uptick he will lose those 95 electorals over 270 he had previously.
Gallup polls have the Presidents Disapproval rating since taking office has gone from 17 to 48.
I actually hope that the 2012 election is a non-issue by that time.. If we haven't exposed this insipid left/right paradigm trap by then there is absolutely NO HOPE !! If R's or D's are are still the focal point we will have been swirling down the drain too far for the smallest finger to reach in and pull us out.
Max, yes. My decision point is in the zone starting after the first Tuesday following the first Monday in December and includes the prospective insanity in the dead zone from then to the next swearing in. Wonderfully so, the R's incumbent have been taking it on the chin as much or more than the D's so far.
We'll see, with fingers crossed.
- Ned
+2012
Interesting (likely ficticious) story.
"He absolutely obsesses over Fox News. For being so successful"
Fox News is succesful? By what measure? It's a propaganda channel for the govt!
And as far as the banking system being out to "get" him, well, I thought that it was prtty well know that he'd been "gotten" a long fucking time ago! But... why the hell would the banking system kill the golden goose?
Propaganda always collapses under the light of logic.
Interesting (likely ficticious) story.
"He absolutely obsesses over Fox News. For being so successful"
Fox News is succesful? By what measure? It's a propaganda channel for the govt!
And as far as the banking system being out to "get" him, well, I thought that it was pretty well known that he'd been "gotten" a long time ago! But... why the hell would the banking system kill the golden goose?
Propaganda always collapses under the light of logic.
"I am disheartened to see the everyday american pushed to poverty because the joker in Washington have no soul (or brain)."
What exists today is very different from the 1930's. Then, the great national highway system did not exist. Food had to be acquired locally. There was no "food stamp" program. There was no powdered milk or formula for childred. Condensed milk was available but relatively expensive. In addition, during part of the period, there was drought in the planes states of the midwest that greately reduced grain producion which reduced livestock feeding as well as wheat or corn for local diets. I have stories from a friend who taught for awhile at St. Louis U. about the period when, as a child, lunch was a slice of toast with lard applied for caloric intake. This was an extreme, of course, but others are just as extreme. There was much less available than today for everyone in every way.
What does a person today who has no job do with his/her time? I wonder how many have a TV at home. How many hours a day do they spend in front of the TV?
The people shown in the photos are obese because they are eating more than their bodies need. Why? Gratification? Entertainment? Habit from infancy? But the truth is that they aren't poor in the classical sense.
Our church is part of a program that provides winter shelter for the homeless. We don't see very many obese people in that program. And it didn't perminantly hurt my friend, who was hungry in childhood but retained his trim build long into his adult life.
"The 1930's...'
- a National Treasure was lost during those days, the American Chestnut Tree, the fruit was currency!! Chestsnuts !!
"Memories of the Chestnut loom large for many elderly residents of Appalachia; the nuts became a memory recalled with fondness, a memory of extraordinary abundance. The great forest had passed in less than fifty years. For generations the seasonal bounty of Chestnuts provided food for natives and settlers alike...the loss of the Chestnut ended a way of life for many."
"I passed through a scene impressive in its aspect of desolation. This section must at one time have been a pure Chestnut Grove. Now every tree is dead. All the trees had been uprooted and lay on the ground. The rains and snow had wased away the dead bark and bleached the trunks a grayish white. These Chestnuts were of tremendeous size, now a graveyard of giant trees...the area was easily two square miles."
(Fishers Gap, Virginia 1926)
"they also grew behind my house, and one large tree, which almost covered it, was, when in flower, a bouquet which scented the whole neighborhood, but the squirrels and jays got most of it's fruit; the last coming in flocks early in the morning and picking the nuts out of the burs before they fell. I reliquished these trees to them and visited the more distant woods composed wholly of Chestnut" ... Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854.
"the mountains looked as if their crest were once more covered with snow, waving with white Chestnut blossoms in the crowns of the ancient trees, great domes of flowers arches above the lane, so as that it looks like a sea"
"The Chestnut blight has a special place in the history of the American forest. Older folk still recall the period of massive Chestnut kills in the late 1920's. The dead and dying trees would stand gray white in the pale moonlight and result in creating a massive depressive condition...the hills of their youth were dying before their eyes, and much of this occured during the Great Depression." -Phyllis Windle-
American Chestnut Tree = Chestnuts roasting on a open fire.
Yes this is very sad to see. There are times you don't go to the store such as those midnights. There are times to not go to the ATM's. People are using the short term borrowing systems to spend next month's welfare this month. The local food banks are overwhelmed with illegals and they crowd out the truely needy. I have reluctantly stopped donating to the food banks. Even the food banks have their "don't go" times.
Obviously the welfare system AKA safety net cannot scale. It is reaching a tipping point too with delivery even if there is no limit to the printing.
Lost in the Wal-Mart story is the bigger question of why people continue to have more children they cannot support. Americans have been trained to believe that having kids is a god-given right. No, it's an expense, and a huge one.
Americans?
+10000
Look at other countries
China is what? 1.3BILLION and counting? And India is over a billion. Indonesia is so overpopulated I'm surprised you can find a 1 square foot of space to call your own (even with the high rises).
Out of control populations are a result of ignorance.
Jet..and of religion...
I knew it was the kid's fault. Those little thieving bastards.
@stoverny
yeah, we need people like you running things and telling everyone who is entitled to have children. go to china. ur disgusting.
seriously? Disgusting because I dare to state that people should take into account the cost of having children, before they have them? Come on now.
No one is telling anyone how many kids they are allowed to have. Have 30, as long as you can support them. It is clear by this story that many of these people cannot support the kids they already have, without the magic govt money card getting refilled at midnight.
Actually, the population in the US isn't being driven by number of children per family. I think it's somewhere around 2.0 anyway. It's from illegal immigration in large part.
We are still shrinking though..Europe is far worse off than we are. Emerging countries are exploding in population. Most of our population is the Boomers who Boomed our economy into oblivion. Gen Y ftw.
http://blogs.sas.com/jmp/uploads/agesextornado.png
@stoverny
disgusting because ur attitude smacks of eugenics. if someone needs a certain income to have children, then y not say they need a certain i.q.? or an absence of a mental disorder? ur a nazi scum.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics
Well, if you DON'T say someone has to have some base level of income to have children, it's exactly the same as telling that person that YOU will support however many children that person would like to have. Not complicated.
For playing the watchdog on PC, I think you're on the wrong website / in the wrong forum.
Well, toss around whatever name-calling you want, you still cannot argue against the logic that an environment can only support what its carrying capacity will allow: this is true of all populations, from bacteria to humans.
If we were to ignore this issue then we'll do so at everyone's peril: can you say war? (unless you're blind, eugenics IS being carried out, just look to the Middle East, watch the falling bombs!) It's quite likely that the collapse will be MUCH bigger than if we were to actually use our brains to slow down the train-wreck.
Go ahead, tell us how this is going to play out if we ignore population impacts. Will you be screaming at Mother Nature for pulling some sort of eugentics card on us?
Fact: we couldn't possibly have amassed the population numbers that we have today if not for the fact that we are, on whole, compassionate.
Fact: regardless, we WILL achieve a more sustainable population size. Pay me now or pay me later...
1.7
Long after social security fails (in a few years) you may have to ask your child to support you, if you have any. It's been like that since ever, for most people anyway.
Very good point! It really is about providing for future generations. Unfortunately the "me generation," conditioned to be so by the Great Social Programmers (see Edward Bernays), has lost sight of this.
I was doing laundry a while back and this middle-aged woman and I had a breif exchange over what someone else was talking about. That other person was talking about how they didn't want a house or children or anything because she and her husband(?) wanted to just travel around. The woman whom I engaged in conversation appeared to kind of smirk. But... as I talked to her she said, "I have no children, why should I care?"
I was going to push her further, but decided not to. I don't have any children, but I DO know why it's a good idea to actually do something for the next generation. My current wife does have a couple of kids -young adults, and I'm working on setting up a farm for them to inherit- This is planning! I work for them today and they work for me tomorrow!
All the selfishness is just apalling.
Tod: You know, Mrs. Buckman, you need a license to buy a dog, to drive a car - hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they'll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father.
A very underrated movie. Happy Birthday!
Thanks! Yes, it is a movie worth watching more than once. The story is classic.
Who said it was the kids' fault? Look we all know this is a depression caused by the greedy criminals on Wall Street. That does not negate the fact that a lot of people are having kids they have absolutely no way to pay for.
..."Look we all know this is a depression"
Uh, NO, they don't. You may know, and I may know, and the other educated persons in the US may know (or fear) but the ditch digging masses certainly do not. Furthermore, they are not only being spoon fed outright lies about it NOT being a depression, they are being told exactly the opposite.
I understand your opinion and thought but you might want to convey it without the jack boots, crop whip, and monocle.
Agree wholeheartedly. Speak of depression and get labeled a pessimist or whackjob. The vast majority of Americans could care less. Ignore freedom, and they will surely steal it from you.
I think the real cause of the debt crisis/depression you mention in your second sentence is the group of people you speak of in the third, don't you? Hmmm?
Unfortunately not everyone is as prescient as stoverny to know ahead of time that they will lose their job, their spouse will leave them, an expensive illness will bankrupt them, or a hurricane or flood will devastate their locality. Yeah, they should have known not to have children.
excellent point. +1
fair point, also clear that many are having kids who are ALREADY broke and unemployed.
@stovepipe
ok, so mandatory sterilizations for everyone that is broke and unemployed; forced abortions in case that don't work. only the elites in the upper tax brackets may have children. have you ever read the u.s. constitution? do you even know what it is?
http://www.usconstitution.net/constkids.html
More kids = Extra benefits
Sorry people but the governmental subsidies have to stop, if this country wants to be competitive.
USSA
true dat.
Ex-Democrat here..
We DO subsidize/incentivize idiocracy in Amerika.
NO pass for ignorance. The Founders warned America's citizens about the need to stay "eternally vigilant".
That obviously didn't happen.
I bet we could recover if we just default on all those ridiculous pension obligations. Not ALL obligations, mind you, just the crazy ones.
Fair enough. Who defines crazy?