Russian Scholar Says U.S. Will Collapse Next Year

*YA THINK????*

MOSCOW —  If you’re inclined to believe Igor Panarin, and the Kremlin wouldn’t mind if you did, then President Barack Obama will order martial law this year, the U.S. will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world order.

Panarin might be easy to ignore but for the fact that he is a dean at the Foreign Ministry’s school for future diplomats and a regular on Russia’s state-guided TV channels. And his predictions fit into the anti-American story line of the Kremlin leadership.

“There is a high probability that the collapse of the United States will occur by 2010,” Panarin told dozens of students, professors and diplomats Tuesday at the Diplomatic Academy — a lecture the ministry pointedly invited The Associated Press and other foreign media to attend.

The prediction from Panarin, a former spokesman for Russia’s Federal Space Agency and reportedly an ex-KGB analyst, meshes with the negative view of the U.S. that has been flowing from the Kremlin in recent years, in particular from Vladimir Putin.

Putin, the former president who is now prime minister, has likened the United States to Nazi Germany’s Third Reich and blames Washington for the global financial crisis that has pounded the Russian economy.

Panarin didn’t give many specifics on what underlies his analysis, mostly citing newspapers, magazines and other open sources.

He also noted he had been predicting the demise of the world’s wealthiest country for more than a decade now.

But he said the recent economic turmoil in the U.S. and other “social and cultural phenomena” led him to nail down a specific timeframe for “The End” — when the United States will break up into six autonomous regions and Alaska will revert to Russian control.

Panarin argued that Americans are in moral decline, saying their great psychological stress is evident from school shootings, the size of the prison population and the number of gay men.

Turning to economic woes, he cited the slide in major stock indexes, the decline in U.S. gross domestic product and Washington’s bailout of banking giant Citigroup as evidence that American dominance of global markets has collapsed.

“I was there recently and things are far from good,” he said. “What’s happened is the collapse of the American dream.”

Panarin insisted he didn’t wish for a U.S. collapse, but he predicted Russia and China would emerge from the economic turmoil stronger and said the two nations should work together, even to create a new currency to replace the U.S. dollar.

Asked for comment on how the Foreign Ministry views Panarin’s theories, a spokesman said all questions had to be submitted in writing and no answers were likely before Wednesday.

It wasn’t clear how persuasive the 20-minute lecture was. One instructor asked Panarin whether his predictions more accurately describe Russia, which is undergoing its worst economic crisis in a decade as well as a demographic collapse that has led some scholars to predict the country’s demise.

Panarin dismissed that idea: “The collapse of Russia will not occur.”

But Alexei Malashenko, a scholar-in-residence at the Carnegie Moscow Center who did not attend the lecture, sided with the skeptical instructor, saying Russia is the country that is on the verge of disintegration.

“I can’t imagine at all how the United States could ever fall apart,” Malashenko told the AP.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,504384,00.html

Bernanke Says U.S. May Need to Expand Bank Rescue

*It will NEVER end. Welcome to the new world.*

March 3 (Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said policy makers may need to expand aid to the banking system beyond the $700 billion already approved and take other aggressive measures even at the cost of soaring fiscal deficits.

“Without a reasonable degree of financial stability, a sustainable recovery will not occur,” the Fed chairman said today in testimony prepared for the Senate Budget Committee. “Although progress has been made on the financial front since last fall, more needs to be done.”

Bernanke’s comments suggest he sees a role for bigger federal outlays as the Obama administration seeks congressional approval for a budget of $3.55 trillion for the fiscal year beginning in October. President Barack Obama has already signed into a law a $787 billion economic stimulus package of tax cuts and government spending.

Obama’s first budget seeks standby authority for as much as $750 billion in new aid to the financial industry. Whether those funds will be needed “depends on the results of the current supervisory assessment of banks” and the evolution of the economy, Bernanke said.

Bernanke said policy makers would have “preferred to avoid” what is likely to be the largest ratio of federal debt compared with gross domestic product since the end of World War II, and he urged lawmakers not to lose sight of fiscal discipline.

Cost to Budget

“But our economy and financial markets face extraordinary challenges,” and doing less now would eventually prove to be more costly, he said. “We are better off moving aggressively today to solve our economic problems; the alternative could be a prolonged episode of stagnation” that would cause budget deficits to swell further, increase unemployment and undermine incomes “for an extended period.”

The Fed has more than doubled its assets to $1.9 trillion during the past year by expanding loans to banks, launching programs to revive commercial paper and other markets and backing the merger of Bear Stearns Cos. with JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The 55-year-old Fed chairman told the Senate Banking Committee last week there’s a “reasonable prospect” the recession will end in 2009 “if the actions taken by the administration, the Congress and the Federal Reserve are successful in restoring some measures of financial stability.”

Stock Slump

Fed policy makers face headwinds from equity markets, with the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index falling this year by 22.5 percent and the S&P Financials Index tumbling 44.2 percent.

The government is still trying to stabilize large financial institutions such as Citigroup Inc. and insurer American International Group Inc. Shares of Citigroup traded at $1.33 this morning at 9:33 a.m., and the government expanded its aid to AIG yesterday after the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $61.7 billion, the worst loss by any U.S. corporation.

The spending blueprint delivered to Congress last month forecasts government spending this year of $3.94 trillion, up 32 percent from a year ago. That would yield a record deficit of $1.75 trillion in the year ending Sept. 30, equal to about 12 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, the highest since World War II. Government spending of $3.55 trillion next year will include about $350 billion approved as part of the stimulus package.

Stimulus Impact

“By supporting public and private spending, the fiscal package should provide a boost to demand and production over the next two years as well as mitigate the overall loss of employment and income that would otherwise occur,” Bernanke said.

Still, the size of the impact on the economy from government spending is “subject to considerable uncertainty,” Bernanke said. Consumers may decide to pay down debt or save their cash rather than spend it, he noted.

January forecasts by Fed officials suggest “a full recovery of the economy from the current recession is likely to take more than two or three years,” Bernanke told lawmakers last week.

The U.S. unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent in January, the highest level since 1992. Job losses spanned almost all industries from trucking and construction to retailing and finance.

Fed officials expect unemployment in the fourth quarter to average 8.5 percent to 8.8 percent, which would be the highest since 1983, according to their January forecasts. Gross domestic product will contract 1.3 percent to 0.5 percent, and inflation will run at just 0.3 percent to 1 percent this year, their projections indicate.

Fed Forecasts

Fed officials don’t see labor markets improving until 2011, when growth forecast at 3.8 percent to 5 percent reduces the unemployment rate to a range of 6.7 percent to 7.5 percent.

Economic models used by Macroeconomic Advisers LLC show the Obama stimulus package could keep the jobless rate at about 8.8 percent instead of the 9.5 percent rate that would result without the package.

The Fed is stepping up efforts to stem the worst credit crisis in seven decades by expanding a program aimed at supporting consumer and business loans to $1 trillion from $200 billion and adding commercial real estate. It is also buying $600 billion of debt sold by government-backed housing finance companies and mortgage-backed securities they guarantee.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aabXQOXBRk8E&refer=worldwide

The Dow’s Bearing — 6,000 and Under

February was a chilly month for U.S. equities. And March is looking even worse. It looks like a recession is the only thing roaring this month.

On Monday, U.S. stocks plunged with the major indexes closing at their lowest levels in more than a decade as more government intervention in the financial sector was interpreted as
an ominous sign for shareholders of Citigroup.

General Electric, a major manufacturer and lender, continued its decline as the stock, once a stalwart for even the most conservative of portfolios, sold off to levels associated with distressed “fallen angels.”

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down 299.64 points, or 4.24% percent, to 6763.29, its lowest close since April 25, 1997, and the first close below 7,000 since May 1, 1997.  We feel this warrants another look at the DJIA chart.

The most dangerous chart pattern in a bear market is the down sloping triangle triangle. This pattern is seen in the Dow Jones Index and it sets a downside target near 5,600.  The rapid fall below 7,000 confirms this target objective.

This chart pattern includes a well defined support level near 7,800. Over the last five months the rally rebounds from support near 7,800 have developed a pattern of declining highs. The failure of the early 2009 January rally near 9,000 established a second calculation point for a new down sloping trend line. The first calculation point for the trend line was set by the rally peak near 9,600 in 2008 November.

A new downtrend line is drawn and this creates a down sloping triangle. In a bear market the strength of the pattern is increased. The first feature to measure with this pattern is the height of the triangle. The four day triangle base starts on 2008, October 7, with the drop from near 10,000 to 7,800. The triangle height is around 2,200 points.

Chart pattern analysis provides the most reliable analysis method in this type of market situation. Technical oscillators which measure sentiment in the market are stuck on extreme readings and provide little guidance about trend continuation.

Using chart pattern analysis, the downside target for the Dow Jones Index is near 5,600.  This target is verified against historical support levels for the Dow. Historically there is a support level near 7,500 but this has been decisively broken.

The long term historical support level is a narrow trading band between 5,500 and 5,600. In a  bear market it is the bottom of the trading band that is tested for support.

This combination of factors suggests there is a high probability the market will quickly fall towards support between 5,500 and 5,600. This is a fall of more than 50 percent from the peak of the Index in 2007, October at 14,198. This degree of fall is similar to the degree of fall in 1929 when the America market collapsed and developed the world depression.

The end of this triangle pattern develops near the end of 2009, April. There is a high probability the America market will develop a continuation of the downtrend with a slow move towards support near 5,600. The key feature will be the nature of any consolidation pattern that develops near 5,500 to 5,600.

Failure of genuine support, consolidation and rebound behavior near 5,500 to 5,600 will focus attention in the next support level between 3,700 and 4,000. These remain theoretical targets until the nature of consolidation activity near 5,500 and 5,600 is confirmed. After falls of this degree markets do not develop V-shaped recoveries. They lay down and rest in L-shaped trading consolidation band patterns. Typically these patterns prevail for between four to eight months and offer limited trading opportunities. They are accumulation patterns and investors watch the volume behavior associated with the rallies.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29474077

We need a GLOBAL banking system??

Remarks by FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair to the Institute of International Bankers Annual Washington Conference, Washington, DC
March 2, 2009

Good afternoon. I’m delighted to be here again for your annual meeting.

I would like to begin with a few comments about the challenges facing our banking industry and the actions we’re taking to preserve and strengthen it.

There is no question that this is one of the most difficult periods we have encountered during the FDIC’s 75 years of operation. I want to assure you that the FDIC will continue to work together with other federal agencies to respond to the challenges facing the nation’s financial system.

Our job is to protect insured depositors and preserve the stability of our banking system. Financial innovations have come and gone over the years. But federally-insured institutions will always play an indispensable role in our economy.

Under the current severe economic conditions, the FDIC’s deposit insurance guarantee is more valuable than ever. Well-managed banks that rely on deposit funding should be able to weather the storm. And they will be a key source of lending to help the economy recover.

While many sources of bank funding have dried up in the past six months, deposits have not. In fact deposits are growing. They are a reliable source of funding because depositors know that insured deposits are absolutely safe. No one has ever lost a penny on an insured deposit.

All of the government measures that have been put in place in recent months are designed to ensure that credit flows on sound terms to consumers and business customers. Maintaining a stable banking system and preserving the availability of credit are absolutely critical to getting the U.S. and other major economies back on track.

That said, I have a few comments to make about three specific issues: Where we stand on the Basel Two capital standards, cross-border resolutions, and nationalization.

Basel II: still a big deal

The intense public debate over Basel II seems like a thing of the distant past. And maybe that’s understandable with everything else going on in the world. But when we emerge from this crisis, a top priority must be crafting a sound capital framework that helps avoid a repeat of past problems.

So, where do we stand? I still have grave concerns about the advanced approach. The advanced approach assumes banks’ internal, quantitative risk estimates are reliable. It also assumes the loss correlations we measured during good times … which is the backbone of the whole approach … will hold up in the future.

To say the assumptions turned out to be wrong would be an understatement. They were way wrong in estimating risk. The Basel Committee is changing the rules in a number of areas. These will be improvements. But for most banks, they are unlikely to offset what we see as a capital-lowering bias that is essentially baked into the advanced approach.

A Moody’s report in December gives some recent evidence. It looked at Basel II implementation outside the U.S. And it said that almost all the banks using advanced methodologies reported a reduction in risk weighted assets, in many cases material reductions.

So if the advanced approach says banks need less capital at the height of a global banking crisis, imagine the financial leverage it would encourage during good times.

With results like those, and in prior studies…and with the dangers of excessive leverage so clearly demonstrated over the last 18 months … it would be imprudent to determine regulatory capital based solely on the advanced approach.

I strongly believe that global leverage capital requirements are sorely needed. And they should apply for all systemically important financial firms, regardless of charter.

These two measures would reduce cross-country and cross-sector capital arbitrage.

But more significantly, they would set a capital floor for the advanced approach, which would limit excessive leverage in the future.

Nationalization/need for cross-border process

There has been considerable debate over how to deal with troubled institutions that are systemically important. As you know, the FDIC, the banking regulators, and Treasury recently announced a stress testing and capital program to help ensure that our largest institutions are prepared to support the economy.

The stress testing process is designed to see if they have enough of a capital buffer to get through economic scenarios that are more adverse than what is currently anticipated. If not, then they can raise private capital or, if needed, access a capital funding facility managed by Treasury.

Many have asked: “What happens if a large bank can’t continue? Will you nationalize?” Nationalization seems to mean different things to different people.

Whatever you may think it means, I don’t see the U.S. government operating a large institution for an extended period.

In fact, based on where we stand today, I would be surprised if the FDIC had to step in as conservator or receiver of a large, systemically important institution. The regulators’ Joint Statement last week restated our commitment to preserve the viability of systemically important financial institutions. This will be done through capital injections, if needed, and the supervisory process.

If more direct intervention to take over a large financial group is needed, that will present significant challenges. The main hurdle is that there’s no clear process for resolving a large financial holding company with multiple affiliates. We have a process for dealing with large banks, but not financial conglomerates.

FDIC model

Many have pointed to the FDIC’s model of resolving failed banks as a possible solution. I believe the FDIC model is tried and true. I take great pride in the fact that bank closings have gone smoothly. And we’ve been able to return failed institutions to private hands, despite the poor market for distressed financial assets.

But clearly, there would be practical problems if we had to use our resolution process for a large, internationally active institution. First, we do not have authority to resolve financial holding companies. Our powers extend only to federally insured banks.

Second, there is a very real question of whether our current funding mechanism is adequate to deal with the failure of a very large institution. Again our power is limited. Our assessment authority only extends to insured banks. This is something we are trying to get fixed.

Cross-border issues

Another major problem, which has received less attention, is the difficulty in handing a cross-border failure. The key question is: What you do when more than one country is regulating a piece of the institution?

This is an area where the FDIC has been doing some considerable work for over a year. We’re co-chairing a Basel Committee working group on cross-border issues. The panel includes members from the G-10 nations, Argentina, and several off-shore countries. And we’re coordinating with the Financial Stability Forum, the International Monetary Fund and other international groups.

Let me share what we know so far.

Today, a crisis involving an international company is resolved by domestic laws, in separate countries. The problems that can arise are obvious.

The national legal processes are inconsistent and too slow. The more complex the institution, the more inadequate most national laws become. And as a result, countries have relied on ring fencing and protection of their ‘national’ banks. So without burden-sharing, you can’t stop asset ring-fencing.

Let me go over a few of the problems that this can cause.

After legal intervention, continuity of essential banking operations is virtually impossible under most national laws. The U.S. does have an advantage here, except with financial groups.

Most laws have virtually no provisions to deal specifically with cross-border banking crises. No country has adequate laws to resolve problems in international financial groups that operate through separate legal entities in different jurisdictions. Indeed, few countries even have the tools for resolving domestic financial groups.

Many of the standard ways for dealing with failed banks – such as our bridge bank – will probably not work across borders. Simply put: other countries have no duty to recognize a bridge bank or its actions under U.S. law. Cross-country differences in close-out netting, the unwinding of financial transactions, and the enforceability of secured parties’ rights to collateral may add to increased uncertainty. In this environment, ring-fencing – also known as every man for himself – may simply be the only rational response.

A few policy proposals

So, how should we deal with this reality? We’re working on proposals to address whether current laws should be changed, or whether there are better ways of responding to the reality of ring-fencing.

Possible areas include: What are the lessons of the current crisis? We’re now reviewing – with our U.S. and international colleagues – how the different laws and regulators have responded. Are there better ways to promote private solutions? We clearly need new laws for cross-border financial groups.

What are the key elements in an effective framework? Are there areas where we need a more harmonized international approach? For example, on certain key international linkages, such as the interbank market, clearing and settlement as well as access to collateral and asset transfers.

One fundamental issue remains: burden sharing. Ring fencing is a logical response in the absence of some common framework for sharing burdens. If we are unlikely to get agreement on burden sharing – then: What’s the best way to get more effective responses within the reality of ring fencing?

The bottom line is that our 21^st century global economy needs a 21^st century global banking system that is reliable, and makes economic sense.

Conclusion

Obviously, these are very challenging times for financial institutions. And it’s likely that they will remain under pressure for the next few quarters.

But I want to emphasize that most institutions remain in sound financial condition. And the long term outlook for FDIC-insured banks and thrifts is very good.

There will be more challenges ahead before recovery takes hold.

There are no quick fixes. And if you’re looking for a quick fix, you’re not going to get one. It’s going to take time and patience.

But we’re going to dig out of this.

Thank you.

http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/speeches/chairman/spmar0209.html

Macy’s cutting 7,000 jobs

*Hmmm…the decline of western civilization.*

Macy’s Inc. said Monday that it’s cutting 7,000 jobs – including 5,100 in its stores – and centralizing some of its corporate operations in an effort to reduce costs amid an increasingly difficult retail environment.

The company also projected earnings for the fiscal year just beginning that are well below analysts’ estimates.

Macy’s shares fell 7% in afternoon trading.

“Reducing our workforce is an unfortunate outcome of the current economic environment, and I am frustrated that so many of our people will be unable to move forward with us as we proceed into a very exciting future for Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s,” Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren said in a statement.

The retailer estimates the restructuring efforts will reduce previously planned expenses by about $400 million a year beginning in 2010.

Macy’s (M, Fortune 500) said the job cuts include nearly 40% of executive positions in its central offices including 1,400 jobs in San Francisco, about 850 jobs positions in Atlanta and about 600 jobs in Miami.

Employees whose positions are eliminated will be able to seek other jobs within the company, the retailer said, while those that are laid off will be given severance benefits.

Stevan Buxbaum, analyst with consulting firm Buxbaum Group, said he’s not surprised by Macy’s announcement.

“Ten years ago, everyone was talking about department stores becoming the dinosaurs of retailing,” Buxbaum said. “Reality is department stores are dinosaurs. You have to ask yourself how long can this model work as a viable business?”

Macy’s Inc., which operates 840 department stores including its namesake Macy’s stores and the higher-end Bloomingdale’s chain, currently employs 180,000 people.

The company does not plan to close any additional Macy’s or Bloomingdale’s locations other than 11 Macy’s stores whose shutdown was previously announced.

The retailer said it will freeze merit salary increases for executives across the company and reduce the level of its match to employee 401(k) plan contributions in 2009. Macy’s also said it will cut its quarterly dividend 62%, to 5 cents a share.

In addition, Macy’s management said it is recommending to its board a reduction in perquisites for executives, including merchandise discounts, company cars, company-paid life insurance and financial counseling.

Mounting job losses: Keep track of company cuts

Regarding its new “centralized” structure, Lundgren said Macy’s Inc. will now have central offices overseeing buying, merchandise planning, marketing and stores operations.

It will also unify operations for logistics, information technology and human resources.

“In the current challenging economy, we must operate in a responsible manner that allows us to maximize the value we offer to our customers and enhance our profitability,” Lundgren said.

Lundgren will also head a new executive team which will now include a chief private brand officer, chief administrative officer and a chief stores officer.

Macy’s announced a cash tender offer to buy all of its outstanding $950 million in debt that is maturing in 2009. The retailer said it will use the cash to buy back debt.

Buxbaum said Macy’s second restructuring in two years is indicative of “the long process of the unwinding of the department store empire.

“The new retail model is direct retailing. It’s stores like Abercrombie & Fitch and Aeropostale,” he said. “These retailers control all of their merchandise, sell their brands directly to the consumer, cut out the middlemen and have higher margins.”

Looking at the rest of the year, the department store operator expects to see “a very challenging environment” through 2009. As such, the retailer forecast same-store sales, or sales at its stores open at least a year, to fall between 6% to 8% for the year.

The company said it further reduced its 2009 capital expenditures budget to about $450 million from the previously announced estimate of between $550 million to $600 million.

For its new fiscal year, Macy’s expects to earn between 40 to 55 cents a share, excluding one-time items. However, the retailer said its sales and earnings “could exceed” those forecasts “should the economic environment improve.”

http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/02/news/companies/macys/index.htm

GUESS WHERE YOUR TAX MONEY HAS GONE???

*I wonder if this pisses anyone else off*

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Banks collecting billions of dollars in federal bailout money sought government permission to bring thousands of foreign workers to the U.S. for high-paying jobs, according to an Associated Press review of visa applications.

The dozen banks receiving the biggest rescue packages, totaling more than $150 billion, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years for positions that included senior vice presidents, corporate lawyers, junior investment analysts and human resources specialists. The average annual salary for those jobs was $90,721, nearly twice the median income for all American households.

The figures are significant because they show that the bailed-out banks, being kept afloat with U.S. taxpayer money, actively sought to hire foreign workers instead of American workers. As the economic collapse worsened last year — with huge numbers of bank employees laid off — the numbers of visas sought by the dozen banks in AP’s analysis increased by nearly one-third, from 3,258 in fiscal 2007 to 4,163 in fiscal 2008.

The AP reviewed visa applications the banks filed with the Labor Department under the H-1B visa program, which allows temporary employment of foreign workers in specialized-skill and advanced-degree positions.

It is unclear how many foreign workers the banks actually hired; the government does not release those details. The actual number is likely a fraction of the 21,800 foreign workers the banks sought to hire because the government limits the number of visas it grants to 85,000 each year among all U.S. employers.

During the last three months of 2008, the largest banks that received taxpayer loans announced more than 100,000 layoffs. The number of foreign workers included among those laid off is unknown.

Foreigners are attractive hires because companies have found ways to pay them less than American workers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090201/ap_on_bi_ge/bailout_foreign_workers

Pay as you go– and also if you stay away

*WTF?????*

Re: “Lines of credit become costlier; TD imposes inactivity fee besides rate hike,” Jan. 24.

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, a Canadian bank has the audacity to introduce a $35 fee for not loaning you money. Since TD’s interest rate for their line of credit is prime plus 4.4 per cent, or 7.4 per cent at the moment, it is cheaper for customers to borrow up to $470 than to not borrow at all. The inactivity fee is justified by saying there is a cost to maintain the account. Ingenious. I’m thinking other merchants should follow suit. The weeks I happen to be out of town, and don’t buy groceries, Safeway should invoice me for not buying anything, because there is certainly a cost to truck in the food and maintain the store. If I go a couple extra weeks without a haircut, the barber could bill me $5. Just because his chair is empty doesn’t mean there’s no cost to maintain it. And never mind the city raising its parking rates. Why not send people who don’t park a bill? The longer you don’t park, the more you’d have to pay–we all know infrastructure is expensive. Eventually, we can get to a point of forced consumerism. To save money, you will have to spend it. At this point, we may as well change the name of our country to Oxymoronia. Can’t wait to hear the national anthem.

Steve Williams,

Calgary

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/letters/story.html?id=f6def2a9-3edd-432d-bbba-712e98dae0f2

WAKE UP, AMERICA!!!!

Within the framework of an intellectually impoverished nation, a gullible and desperate populace is easily led astray.

Here comes your messiah.

In the guise of a caring politician, our fearless leader has finagled a so-called stimulus bill…which I am sure many of my fellow Americans did not bother to read. I cannot say I blame them; after all, the documentation is over 1500 pages.

I just wonder how many in the House of Representatives bothered to read it.

It is a lot of BS, to be certain…a great deal of posturing, spending, and more spending.

It does not take a genius to realize that all of this is nonsense. There are practical ways to fix these problems, or at least there WERE ways. I am afraid we are beyond the point of no return, though.

Simple solutions. Take the power back from the federal reserve. Penalize corporations that do not adhere to common sense values…i.e. investing in America first, instead of outsourcing or hiring those that are not Americans. Stop feeding the destructive tendencies of the predatory state of Israel, by sending them countless dollars we cannot afford. Completely reform the educational system so that we do not have all of these stupid people waiting for a messiah…teachers that cannot PERFORM receive no paycheck. End corporate welfare.

Our values are very much out of whack, which saddens me immensely. Our food supply is in a state of disarray (mercury tainted HFCS, aspartame and MSG that further inhibit critical thinking), our morality has all but disappeared, there is no respect for previous institutions that actually worked, etc.

All of you that actually agree to this third generation bailout, please go to our founding fathers and state your case. Tell everyone why you are currently worshipping a charlatan. Tell them, with satisfaction, that you are happy about the turn of events.

We can blame Bu$h all day if we want to…yes, he is at fault. Along with Clinton, Bush Sr and the whole lot. But really, there is enough blame to go around. It is in all of us who put materialistic and zionist values ahead of our own well-being. Sad, but true. We are all to blame.

The concept of America has not died, yet has been easily warped by those in power. The sheeple bought it. You reap what you sow.

Iceland’s government is on the point of collapse as angry protesters stake out the parliament in Reykjavik

*If only we could…*

While Barack Obama was being sworn in to office on Capitol Hill yesterday, the people of Iceland were starting the first revolution in the history of the republic. The word “revolution” might sound a bit of an overstatement, but given the calm temperament that usually prevails in Icelandic politics, the unfolding events represent, at the very least, a revolution in political activism.

Four months after the collapse of Iceland’s entire financial system, no one has accepted any responsibility. Our currency has lost more than half its value, rampant inflation has already eaten up most people’s savings, property values have dropped by more than a third and unemployment is reaching levels never seen before in the life of our young republic. The fault is clearly shared between the business elite and the government, which failed to regulate the newly privatised financial sector, allowing a few incompetent and egotistical business tycoons to gamble with the nation’s fortune. And yet neither the government nor the bankers – who, by the way, seem to have disappeared into the cold thin air – see anything wrong with their own behaviour.

The governor of the central bank blames the risk-seeking bankers, the bankers blame the government and the prime minister attributes the whole crisis to the international credit crunch. This lack of any sense of responsibility has angered the Icelandic public to the extent that they have turned to the streets in greater numbers than ever before.

It started in October with peaceful demonstrations. Then the frustration grew, first with the lack of any sense of responsibility, then with the lack of any effective action to ease the economic pain most people feel – and finally with the sense that all the political elite were incompetent.

Initially the government tried to dismiss the protesters as frustrated wannabe politicians and disillusioned youngsters who did not understand the complexity of the situation. But when our grandmothers put down their knitting gear, strapped their boots on and took to the streets shouting for new elections we all saw that the disgust was almost universal.

Yesterday parliament resumed for the first time after Christmas. Without much organisation or central planning the public surrounded the parliament building and put forward a clear demand for early election. Ignoring them, the ministers and parliamentarians tried to sit out the protest, hiding inside the old building in downtown Reykjavik. This time it didn’t work. The protests grew and ordinary people kept warm by burning torches in front of the building. They were going nowhere. Well into this dark night in Iceland’s history, parliament remained under siege, and the vigil resumed this morning.

It is the first time in Icelandic history that a young anarchist can well expect to meet his grandmother in the crowd demonstrating against the government and drumming with her kitchen knife on pots and pans. The government is surely hanging by a thin thread and might fall at any moment.

The Icelandic public fear that their country has virtually been stolen by the globetrotting business elite that spent more time rubbing shoulders with international high society than giving back to the society that enabled them to enjoy this privileged lifestyle. Now ordinary Icelanders are determined to take their country back.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/21/iceland-globalrecession

California controller to suspend tax refunds, welfare checks

*IF YOU ARE IN CALIFORNIA, GET READY…*

Reporting from Sacramento — State Controller John Chiang announced today that his office would suspend tax refunds, welfare checks, student grants and other payments owed to Californians starting Feb. 1, as a result of the state’s cash crisis.

Chiang said he had no choice but to stop making some $3.7 billion in payments in the absence of action by the governor and lawmakers to close the state’s nearly $42-billion budget deficit. More than half of those payments are tax refunds.

The controller said the suspended payments could be rolled into IOUs if California still lacked sufficient cash to pay its bills come March or April.

“I take this action with great reluctance,” Chiang said at a news conference in his office. But he said that without action to close the deficit, “there is no way to make it through February unscathed.”

The payments to be frozen include nearly $2 billion in tax refunds; $300 million in cash grants for needy families and the aged, blind and disabled; and $13 million in grants for college students.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget17-2009jan17,0,4472460.story