April 30, 2009
What's Popular on GDAEman Blog
Totally unrelated, Onward Christian Dullards is funny.
Source:
Art by Kobun
April 29, 2009
CDC & WHO Brought to you by... Taxes
A [teabagger] group assembled in Portsmouth New Hampshire PUBLIC square. It's a bit ironic to see anti-tax protesters making use of a public square maintained by ... taxes.
The electricity for the rally's PA systems, the clean-up crews following the rallies, medical emergency technicians standing by ... just in case..., the roads leading to the event all paid for with taxes. We can go on listing the food and Drug Administration, Centers or Disease Control, Federal Aviation Administration... the US military, all of which, except maybe the last one, give us a sense of security often taken for granted.
I wasn't aware of the swine flu outbreak when I mentioned the Centers for Disease Control.
April 28, 2009
Iraq? Rings a Bell...
Iraq wants US forces out of Mosul on time
GLH Blog had a good "Remember Iraq" post a couple days ago, tho it was actually titled What About Iraq? complete with fine art.... and I've thought of doing a segment on the next forgotten war on GDAE Podcast... but with the US Empire crashing, and swine flu breaking out... and the Iraqi ethnic cleansing complete...
Hopefully yesterday's headline is indicative of where things are going in Iraq, tho hearing Secretary of State Clinton recently tell Iraqis, and the consuming American public, "We won't abandon you," we might want to have our diplomat-speak antenne up.
Sources:
Art Credit: Wood burning, Tsalagi.
Associated Press, Iraq wants US forces out of Mosul on time, April 27, 2009.
April 25, 2009
19 Largest Banks
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.,
- Citigroup Inc.,
- Bank of America Corp.,
- Wells Fargo & Co.,
- Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,
- Morgan Stanley,
- MetLife Inc.,
- PNC Financial Services Group Inc.,
- U.S. Bancorp,
- Bank of New York Mellon Corp.,
- GMAC LLC,
- SunTrust Banks Inc.,
- State Street Corp.,
- Capital One Financial Corp.,
- BB&T Corp.,
- Regions Financial Corp.,
- American Express Co.,
- Fifth Third Bancorp, and
- KeyCorp...
Sources:
Associated Press, Meltdown 101: How do bank 'stress tests' work?, DANIEL WAGNER, April 24, 2009.
April 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast - Episode 11
- Teabagging rallies as a 'case study' with help from WakeUp AM Podcast.
- Were the teabagging rallies really "grass roots"? Rachel Maddow and Fox's Glenn Beck weigh in.
- Fear-mongering attacks on Obama taken on by Frank Schaffer and Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson.
- Bill Moyers on incitement of the right wing fringe by right wing radio celebrities.
- MUSIC by Danny Elfman's Oingo Boingo "Only a Lad."
- Noam Chomsky: Darkness and light.
- MUSIC duet: Watson Blues on fiddle and mandolin.
You can take ACTION: AskDOJ@USDOJ.gov Urge Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate Bush administration lawyers for torture.
Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:
GDAE Podcast Episode 10 April 9, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 9 March 28, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 8 March 15, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo
Carbon Credits: The Next Financial Bubble?
April 23, 2009
Devolution into a State of Organized Crime
The Scenario: A guy gets into deep financial trouble. He owes a lot of money to a number of people, who themselves may have debts. Some people are desperate to enforce debts because the financial failure of their business would exposure their illegal business operations. They enforce debts by threatening to go after the family, as in, "We know where you live, where your daughters go to school. We'll turn your daughters into sex slaves if you don't pay up."
Faced with this, and the belief that the corrupt system cannot protect them, they are led to the only logical conclusion.
April 21, 2009
Emanuel and Obama Shockers
On Tuesday: President Obama says prosecution possible.
My heart sank after reading about Emanuel's statement. My heart lifted when hearing President Obama's statement.
Our best hope of preventing similar crimes in the future is to hold Bush administration criminals accountable in full public view.
- Contact Obama
Comment Line: (202)456-1111.
- Contact the Broadcast Media
- Contact the Newspapers
- Contact the US Senate
- Contact the House of Representatives
April 16, 2009
April 12, 2009
Resurrection of Christ
Jesus had it right when he turned over the tables of the money changers. For those who don't accept the literal story of Christ's resurrection, these photos of young protesters "turning over the tables" at the Royal Bank of Scotland might be evidence that his spirit lives on.
April 1 IndyMedia coverage of the G20 Protest included this sound bite:
"Meanwhile, protestors are inside the RBS branch, and it's being smashed up, but the cops are not intervening."
And how we celebrate Christ's resurrection today:
April 10, 2009
April 9, 2009
GDAE Podcast - Episode 10
- Humor
- Democrats' role in the financial meltdown
- A Theory on Why Obama Appointed Timothy Geithner to be Treasury Secretary
- Deep questions about the financial crisis... or Humor?
- Call to Action on April 11 - Break up the Banks. Find a Protest Near you at A New Way Forward.
- MUSIC: Ryan Harvy on "Writer's Bloc Blues"
- Catherine Austin-Fitts on Withdrawing from the System and Acting Locally
- Words from a Common Man: More Localism on Electric Energy
- Spain's pending indictment of Bush administration officials as on Rachel Maddow can describe it.
You can take ACTION: AskDOJ@USDOJ.gov Urge Attorney General Eric Holder to investigate Bush administration officials for wide ranging crimes.
Play GDAE Podcast Episode 10 from this page.
Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:
GDAE Podcast Episode 9 March 28, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 8 March 15, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo
The Great Cover Up.... Again
Why the cover up? Because the establishment in charge is trying to 1) hide their role in causing the scandal, and 2) preserve their wealth and power... at the expense of common folk.
A historical example: The "cover up" during the 1980s Savings and Loan debacle, which by the way was about the size of the AIG piece of what's shaping up to be the downfall of the US Empire, was as follows. Rather than expose the depth of the S&L mess, risking public out cry that would expose Congress' role in causing the mess, Congress swept it under the rug. They spread the S&L bailout costs over a long time, creating a huge interest payment burden for the public. A lot of these interest payments were eventually paid to many of the financial industry thieves who stole money and caused the S & L failures.
Same type of coverup is happening now and a mark-to-model shell game, on which I wrote today, shaping up to is a big part of it. In the short run, things will look good, but it's also dangerous. It's the same kind of trickery that Japan played in the 1990s that led to their lost decade, drifting in and out of recession.
The internet is all abuzz about last weeks interview of William K. Black by Bill Moyers. Black was involved in exposing the theives of the S&L crisis. One of them was Charles Keating, after whom the senate's so-called "Keating Five" were named, including John McCain. According to Moyers, Keating wrote a memo that read, in part, "get Black — kill him dead."
William Black fired a broadside last Friday, April 3, on Bill Moyers Journal:
BILL MOYERS: Why are they firing the president of G.M. and not firing the head of all these banks that are involved?
WILLIAM K. BLACK: There are two reasons. One, they're much closer to the bankers. These are people from the banking industry. And they have a lot more sympathy. ... But the other element of your question is [they] don't want to change the bankers, because if [they] do, if [they] put honest people in, who didn't cause the problem, their first job would be to find the scope of the problem. And that would destroy the cover up.
BILL MOYERS: The cover up?
WILLIAM K. BLACK: Sure. The cover up.
BILL MOYERS: That's a serious charge.
WILLIAM K. BLACK: Of course.
BILL MOYERS: Who's covering up?
WILLIAM K. BLACK: Geithner is charging, is covering up. Just like Paulson did before him.Black levels the charge that the Obama administration is intentionally covering up the insolvency of the big banks. Some will say that this is to preserve stability, a montra of the establishment, but as noted above, it's really about preserving establishment power and wealth.
William Black Interview Transcript
Psssst... Do Something
- Contact the Broadcast Media
- Contact the Newspapers
- Contact the US Senate
- Contact the House of Representatives
Bill Moyers Journal, April 4, 2009. (Video, transcript and more).
Phony Wells Fargo "Profits"?
So, when I read the headline "Stocks jump on Wells Fargo surprise profit announcement" I'm very suspicious. And we have reason to be.
That's because, you can't trust Congress or the little known Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) either. The FASB may be perpetuating the shell game under pressure from Members of Congress that represent the big financial institutions.
In short, during a hearing of the House Financial Services subcommittee on March 12, FASB chairman Robert Herz was strong-armed to let banks, say Wells Fargo, inflate the value of their assets, with the hammer coming down in this final exchange:
Chairman Rep. Paul Kanjorski (D-PA): You do understand the message that we’re sending?
Herz: Yes, I absolutely do, sir.
Here's the way Democrat Kanjorski wants the shell game to be played.
Assigning (Marking) Value to Bank Assets: The value of financial industry assets can be determined in a couple of ways. One way is to let the market determine the value... see what someone will actually pay for the assets. That's known as marking the value of the asset to market (Mark-to-Market).
Another way of assessing value is to create a mathematical model of the value and use that model to mark the asset's value (Mark-to-Model).
Guess which way Kanjorski was pressuring the FASB chairman Herz to let the banks mark their asset values? Mark-to-Model. Tweak the model to assign a little more value to the assets and voila, Wells Fargo "surprisingly" reports a profit.
Bloomberg offers the take from former Lehman Bros. managing director, Robert Willens:
“By letting banks use internal models, instead of market prices, and allowing them to take into account the cash flow of securities, FASB’s change could boost bank industry earnings by 20%.”
Read More Details...
Psssst... Do Something
- Contact the Broadcast Media
- Contact the Newspapers
- Contact the US Senate
- Contact the House of Representatives
Sources:
Wiskey and Gunpowder, Tomorrow Mark-to-Model Returns with a Vengeance, Samantha Buker, April 1, 2009 (no fool'n).
April 8, 2009
The Establishment
The establishment is real, and establishment media is too. Thanks to Newsweek editor Evan Thomas, we have a frank admission from his April 6 musings about Nobel economist Paul Krugman:
By definition, establishments believe in propping up the existing order. Members of the ruling class have a vested interest in keeping things pretty much the way they are.
They want to maintain their lock on power and wealth, and are willing to do so at the expense of the unwashed masses (that's us).
If you are of the establishment persuasion (and I am), reading Krugman makes you uneasy.
This shows my choice in using the phrase "establishment media" is well founded.... and they should be uneasy.
April 7, 2009
April 11: Take to the Streets!
We'll find out. Yes, we may be. Okay. It depends on how we play this politically. It depends on what our political system does. It depends, I think, on the level of reaction.
This Saturday, April 11, 2009, is your opportunity to react with others, thanks to a group of organizers calling this initiative "A New Way Forward." Take to the Streets!
What do you write on your placard?
- "Break up the Banks"
- "It's Wealth Distribution Stupid"
- "Put Homeowners First, Not the Banks"
- "Who would Jesus Bail out?"
- "Enough is Enough"
- "No More Handouts"
- "Expose the Insolvency Cover Up"
Sign the Pledge calling for too-big-to-fail banks to be broken apart
Follow on Twitter
Join the Way Forward Group on MySpace
Be a Fan on Facebook
Lets not be taken for chumps! Find a group of people assembling near you using the link below. Be part of the coordinated reaction. If you don't find a gathering, you can start one using the handy calendar tool at the New Way Forward web page.
Share this link with your friends: http://anewwayforward.org/demonstrations/
Here's a taste of the growing list of cities and towns that are getting organized to let the powers that be know what they are up against:
Anchorage, AK at Corner of Northern Lights and Seward Highway more
Corner of Northern Lights and Seward Highway December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmFayetteville, AR at On the University of Arkansas campus in front of Old Main more
On the University of Arkansas campus in front of Old Main December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmPhoenix, AZ at Sidewalks outside AIG building more
Sidewalks outside AIG building December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmTucson, AZ at sidewalks outside Chase Bank, Swan@Speedway more
sidewalks outside Chase Bank, Swan@Speedway December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmEureka, CA at waterfront park more
waterfront park December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmLos Angeles, CA at Federal Building more
Federal Building December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmRedding, CA at Redding City Hall more
Redding City Hall December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmSacramento, CA at State Capitol more
State Capitol December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmSan Diego, CA at Embarcadero more
Embarcadero December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmSan Francisco, CA at Federal Reserve BANK more
Federal Reserve BANK December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmSanta Barbara, CA at Santa Barbara Museum of Art more
Santa Barbara Museum of Art December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmSanta Cruz, CA at County Offices more
County Offices December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmBoulder, CO at Sister Cities Park, east side of Municipal Building more
Sister Cities Park, east side of Municipal Building December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmDenver, CO at State Capitol - West End more
State Capitol - West End December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmDurango, CO at SE Corner of College (6th St.) & Main Ave., Durango, CO more
SE Corner of College (6th St.) & Main Ave., Durango, CO December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmHartford, CT at Senator Dodd's Office more
Senator Dodd's Office December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmNew Haven, CT at TO BE DECIDED - NEGOTIABLE, NEW HAVEN AREA
TO BE DECIDED - NEGOTIABLE, NEW HAVEN AREA December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmWashington , DC at Lafayette Park more
Lafayette Park December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmGainesville, FL at Downtown Plaza more
Downtown Plaza December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmJacksonville, FL at TBA more
TBA December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmFairburn, GA at FEDERAL RESERVE BANK - ATLANTA more
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK - ATLANTA December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmIowa City, IA at College Green Park more
College Green Park December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmChicago, IL at 230 S. Dearborn more
230 S. Dearborn December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmLexington, KY at Triangle Park more
Triangle Park December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmBaton Rouge, LA at Jefferson Terrace S/D more
Jefferson Terrace S/D December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmBoston, MA at Boston Common more
Boston Common December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmAugusta, ME at State House more
State House December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmDetroit, MI at City County Building more
City County Building December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmHolland, MI at 645 Wilshire Ct. more
645 Wilshire Ct. December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmMarquette , MI at UP Post Office 12 Noon more
UP Post Office 12 Noon December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmSt. Paul, MN at State Capitol, St. Paul, MN more
State Capitol, St. Paul, MN December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmSaint Louis, MO at Under the Arch more
Under the Arch December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmSpringfield, MO at Glenstone and Battlefield more
Glenstone and Battlefield December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmHickory, NC at Union Square more
Union Square December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmRaleigh, NC at Bicentennial Plaza more
Bicentennial Plaza December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmNewark, NJ at Robert A. Roe Federal Building in Paterson, NJ more
Robert A. Roe Federal Building in Paterson, NJ December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmNorth Bergen, NJ at 80th st. Park more
80th st. Park December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmAlbuquerque, NM at First Plaza Galeria more
First Plaza Galeria December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmLockport, NY at Lockport City Building more
Lockport City Building December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmNew Paltz, NY at In front of the Elting Library more
In front of the Elting Library December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmNew York, NY at Union Square more
Union Square December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmPoughkeepsie, NY at In front of Dutchess County Office Building
In front of Dutchess County Office Building December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmCleveland, OH at Willard Park at corner of Lakeside and E. 9th more
Willard Park at corner of Lakeside and E. 9th December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmColumbus, OH at Ohio Statehouse more
Ohio Statehouse December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmOklahoma City, OK at State Capital more
State Capital December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmPortland, OR at Pioneer Square more
Pioneer Square December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmPhiladelphia, PA at Convention Center more
Convention Center December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmPittsburgh, PA at City Hall more
City Hall December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmCharleston, SC at Ravenel Bridge more
Ravenel Bridge December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmNashville, TN at Legislative Plaza Downtown more
Legislative Plaza Downtown December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmAustin, TX at South steps of the Texas State Capitol building (Austin) more
South steps of the Texas State Capitol building (Austin) December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmDallas, TX at AIG Building on Walnut Hill more
AIG Building on Walnut Hill December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmHouston, TX at Federal Reserve Bank, Houston Branch more
Federal Reserve Bank, Houston Branch December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmSalt Lake City, UT at Utah State Capital Building - South Side more
Utah State Capital Building - South Side December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmHarrisonburg, VA at Court Square more
Court Square December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmMontpelier, VT at statehouse lawn more
statehouse lawn December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmSeattle, WA at Victor Stienbrueck Park more
Victor Stienbrueck Park December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmMadison, WI at North face of the Capitol more
North face of the Capitol December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmMilwaukee, WI at Chase Bank plaza more
Chase Bank plaza December 31, 1969 at 4:00pmVictoria, British Columbia at Provincial Legislature grounds more
Provincial Legislature grounds December 31, 1969 at 4:00pm