… video clip from Jesse’s Cafe
This is from Elizabeth Warren’s 26 January 2010 appearance on The Daily Show.
Brilliant in its simplicity and its honesty. Very tough and straight talk.
Why do we have to see this on the Comedy Central Network, and hear the usual drivel and obfuscation on the mainstream media?
An 85-year-old man was asked by his Doctor for a sperm count as part of his physical exam.
The doctor gave the man a jar and said, ‘Take this jar home and bring back a semen sample tomorrow.’
The next day the 85-year-old man reappeared at the doctor’s office and gave him the jar, which was as clean and empty as on the previous day.
The doctor asked what happened and the man explained, ‘Well, doc, it’s like this — first I tried with my right hand, but nothing. Then I tried with my left hand, but still nothing.
Then I asked my wife for help. She tried with her right hand, then with her left, still nothing. She tried with her mouth, first with the teeth in, then with her teeth out, still nothing.
We even called up Arleen, the lady next door and she tried too, first with both hands, then with a towel, and she even tried squeezin’ it between her knees, but still nothing.
The doctor was shocked! ‘You asked your neighbor?’
The old man replied, ‘Yep, none of us could get the jar open.’
of others….and the bully fully..wisedom ..well the comments makes me smile… without sharing…and the beat goes on…
Some thoughts
Hi Bill:
Well, there is no joy in Mudville, but this too shall pass. Obviously I was wrong about the FOMC announcing more QE yesterday, but it does not change my view of the two easy trades right here: Sell the overall market and buy gold and silver shares. This feels like the puke point to me and I believe that when this turns it will be quick and violent. There is an unbelievable long trade setting up in AGQ, the 2x silver ETF.
The facts have not changed. Either we collapse into deflation or we print our way out. Today it looks like deflation, but…. soon the presses will start to roll. I guess they did not want to press their luck with Bennie’s reconfirmation hanging in the balance. They have plenty of time between now and March to announce that they need to extend QE due to changing market conditions. (eg: a collapse in the stock market). The statement even continues to have language to that effect. “The Committee will continue to evaluate its purchases of securities in light of the evolving economic outlook and conditions in financial markets.” A classic get out of jail free card. So, the plan is pound on us some more, and then after we have all capitulated, voila, more QE. What a bunch of evil (expletive).
Watching the testimony yesterday was surreal. No one was at the scene of the crime, it just occurred. All the public servants were operating in the best interests of the people. Stephen Friedman did not violate insider trading laws when he bought 37,000 shares of GS after learning that AIG and by extension GS would be made whole. The fact that the entire financial function of the US Government is run by Goldman Sachs alums does not matter. Turbo Tax Timmy has the power to provide unlimited financial support to FNM and FRE even though the power to spend the Government’s money is by Constitutional decree vested in the Congress. The list just goes on and on…. Then we have to listen to President Obama’s “happy talk express” . I could not watch the entire thing, every time he mentioned how America was going to be number 1 and the crowd jumped to its feet I was reminded of the German newsreels from the 1930’s. If lies were real money our government would be rich indeed.
All I can say is, this will end badly for “paperbugs” and statists. I don’t like the action in the PM markets, but I have never felt more sure of our thesis or the correctness of our position. Keep up the good fight. Long and strong and we will all win.
Larry
www.haitiaction.net/News/RAW/2_28_8/2_28_8.html.
Did the desire for a new “US Embassy Compound” in Haiti provide the motive behind the Coup d’État of February 29, 2004?
by Randall White
HaitiAction.net - Port au Prince, Haiti — The US State Department has been unusually productive of late in implementing the reconstruction of most of its foreign mission buildings under a “New Initiatives Division” of the Overseas Buildings Operations Bureau (OBO). It’s certainly understandable, given the realities of the Post 9/11 era, that the Department should rethink its ability to secure the safety of the diplomatic corp and maintain consular services for US citizens abroad. What has now provoked controversy, however, is the scale of some of the “New Embassy Compounds” (NEC). Most notable, for us, is the imperious NEC-Port au Prince, Haiti.
…
www.voltairenet.org/article163729.html
The controversy that followed the publication on our website of an article entertaining the possibility that the earthquake in Haiti was caused artificially, calls for clarification. Yes, seismic weapons do exist and the United States, among others, have them. Yes, the U.S. military forces were pre-positionned to be deployed to the island. These facts are not conclusive in themselves but they certainly warrant heightened scrutiny into this matter.
…
}moody’s lowered the city’s rating to Ba2 from Baa2{…….Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa too…
….sheeple sheeple everywhere
….bronze wont cut it…lets go for the Gold
To those whom may suggest that the rogues are about to lose. Not in their vision/conducted pathway of coming events.
Yesterday…..was a portal to insight. We are in a very unfortunate time of ruthless corruption, without true representative leadership and being lead to ruin. One could write pages of supportive data to only conclude…we are FUBARED. Kiss
I would have to truly wonder that the World outside….seeing our daily display, continues to support a ponzi game of endless….worthlessness. The real question is why?
I am truly concern…..I have mentioned time….The Oman last night “they are in control”?
Good night all…frankly….i wise not to challenge…the “leadership here” …
to the others….walk well and enjoy the days….the big picture will be defined someday…regardless
Maybe a few drinks of gin will help. 
Good article and something that should be in the back of everyone’s mind.
Not really gold related but an excellent story of his life experiences.
http://www.321gold.com/editorials/russell/russell012710.html
should it rally against the dollar would be a disaster for the US economy.I have no idea what are Central Planners are thinking but a currency move will certainly not balance the wage issue. Stupid Policy.
freezing rain turned to sleet about two hours ago and has now shifted to snow. wind not nearly as bad as the last storm so maybe the power outages will be minimal. the sleet has allowed some traction on the ice on the seldom traveled roads. snow tonight and tomorrow is in the forecast. winds about 25-30 mph. ice on cars and trees is about 3/4-1 inch.
rno
Hope the new knees are working well.
Maybe a few drinks of gin will help.
Have not posted in awhile-cause I got no idea what the H… is going on and no need to pretend. But, this is worth considering:
www.lewrockwell.com/holland/holland12.1.html
Fellow on Fast Money ,, sayin that there is gettin to be lots of chatter that China is going to loosen the yuan’s peg to the dollar,,, speculating that it may happen next week at a meeting between a U.S. Rep and China,,, saying that would be dollar negative ,,,positive for Gartmans commodities
What the heck…….we always knew we would have days like this
Open up something special and relax……
Nuits Saint Georges 2004 ……… Should do the trick
With some duck breast ……. A L’orange
Winedoc
Funds flee Greece as Germany warns of ‘fatal’ eurozone crisis
Submitted by cpowell on 02:18PM ET Thursday, January 28, 2010. Section: Daily Dispatches
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
The Telegraph, London
Thursday, January 28, 2010
www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/709581…
Germany has triggered a near-panic flight from southern European debt markets by warning that there will be no European Union bailouts, even though it fears the region’s economic crisis has turned dangerous and could prove “fatal” for the entire eurozone.
The yield on 10-year Greek bonds blasted upwards by over 40 basis points to 7.15 percent in a day of wild trading. Spreads over German Bunds reached almost 4 percentage points, by far the highest since Greece joined the euro, and close to levels that risk a self-feeding spiral. Contagion hit Portuguese, Spanish, Irish, and Italian bonds.
George Papandreou, the Greek premier, said in Davos, Switzerland, that his country had been singled out as the weak link in a “attack on the eurozone” by speculators and political foes. “We are being targeted, particularly by those with an ulterior motive.”
Marc Ostwald from Monument Securities said the botched syndication of E8 billion (L6.9 billion) of Greek debt this week has made matters worse. Many of the investors were “hot money” funds that bought on rumours that China was emerging as a buyer, offering them a chance for quick profit. When the China story was denied by Beijing and Athens, these funds rushed for the exit.
However, a key trigger yesterday was testimony in Germany’s parliament by economy minister Rainer Bruderle, who said there would be “no bailouts” for struggling debtors and no move to a “European economic government.”
“A few European nations are exhibiting dangerous weaknesses. That could have fatal consequences for all countries in the eurozone,” he said. Despite the warning, he said each country must solve its own problems.
“Germany is not in a mood to be the deep pocket for what they consider profligate, southern neighbours,” said hedge fund doyen George Soros.
Mr Bruderle’s hard line contradicts a report in Le Monde that Franco-German officials are discussing a rescue for Greece to keep the International Monetary Fund at bay.
The paper cited a source saying that EMU partners were ready to “help” Greece. “It is a question of credibility for the eurozone. The IMF might want to impose monetary conditions.”
Le Monde’s story was shot down by Berlin and Paris, but there is little doubt that certain officials have been trying to build momentum for a rescue. It is clear that the EU family is split on the issue. Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, backs “assistance,” with support of EU integrationists hoping to nudge the EU toward full fiscal union.
This is fiercely opposed by Berlin and the German-led bloc at the European Central Bank. There are reports that Berlin is deliberately bringing the crisis to a head, hoping to lance the boil early and force the Club Med states to reform before it is too late. If so, this is a risky strategy. German banks have huge exposure to Greek, Spanish, and Portuguese debt.
Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas, said Greece will face “great trouble” if it has to pay 7 percent rates for long. Athens must raise E53 billion this year, mostly in the first half. It has a been relying on cheap short-term debt to fund the budget deficit of 13 percent of GDP, but this raises “rollover risk”.
Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research said the danger is that wealthy Greeks may shift money to bank accounts abroad if they lose confidence (akin to Mexico’s Tequila Crisis in 1994-1995). This would set off a banking crisis and become self-fulfilling.
Greece has been financing current account deficits — 15 percent of GDP in 2008 — through its banks, which have built up E110 billion foreign liabilities. “If foreign creditors want their money back, defaults and/or a macroeconomic catastrophe appear inevitable,” Mr Congdon said.
Adding to worries, Moody’s has issued an alert on Portugal’s “adverse debt dynamics,” saying Lisbon needs a “credible plan” to reduce a structural deficit stuck at 7 percent of GDP rather than “one-off measures.”
The deeper concern is Spain, where youth unemployment has reached 44 percent and the housing bust has a long way to run. Nouriel Roubini, the economist known as “Dr. Doom,” said Spain is too big to contain. “If Greece goes under, that’s a problem for the eurozone. If Spain goes under, it’s a disaster,” he said.
Jose Luis Zapatero, Spain’s premier, replied wearily: “Spanish public debt (52 percent of GDP) is 20 percent lower than Europe’s average. Our treasury spends 5 percent of revenues on debt costs, less than France and Germany. Nobody is going to leave the euro.”
* * *
Join GATA here:
The boyz must still have plenty of ammo to hold gold down in the face of creating another $1.9T out of thin air. Dollar up? Gold down? Unbelievable.
All the best.——–aggie.
Since I’m no longer young enough or dumb enough to chase 4 legged livestock around anymore……I’m propped up by the fire resting a pair of new knees. You guys up North are supposed to get this stuff! My younger son lives in Seattle and said he’s glad not to be home right now. Snow’s fine……the 40-50 mph winds with it are what I hate.
All the best.——-aggie.
WASHINGTON, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Orders for U.S. manufactured
goods in November were lower than initially reported because
of a processing error, the U.S. Census Bureau said.
November factory orders rose by 0.6 percent from the
previous month, not 1.1 percent as reported on Jan. 5.
Durable goods orders fell 0.7 percent in November.
That figure had been reported as an increase of 0.2 percent.
“The Census Bureau identified a processing error that
occurred when revising historic seasonally adjusted data
for the November (data month) releases,” Census said in
a notice posted on its website. “The data have been
corrected.”
The corrected data from the Census is available at: here
Posted: Jan 28 2010 By: Dan Norcini
Dear CIGAs,
Downside pressure in the US equity markets tripped up what looked like a pretty decent recovery move higher for gold in today’s session. Couple that with further weakness in the Euro and another rush away from the risk trades back into the Dollar, and gold was taken down well off its best levels of the session. The consistent weakness in the gold shares (HUI and XAU) did not help matters any as both indices look quite sloppy from a technical perspective. The HUI is perched perilously just above weekly chart support near the 377 level. Bulls will have to dig in their heels if they hope to prevent the bears from taking price down through the 50 week moving average.
There is rather significant speculative long liquidation occurring in the gold market at the current time as many funds are choosing not to roll out to the April contract as they leave the February to avoid delivery. That has allowed the bears to sell rallies with impunity. Yet the buying continues to come in down near the $1080 level. This buyer/buyers is putting up a valiant effort to hold the line in the face of the exodus of managed money flows. Unfortunately, they were overwhelmed with about an hour to go in the session as support cracked and down went gold. Price dropped some $6.00 below $1080 as stops were run before buying kicked in to take price back up above $1080, again. This is encouraging to see as it augurs physical demand is surfacing at this level and that the buyer/buyers are serious.
The physical market has always been the key to price bottoms in gold so we will see if that source of demand begins to ramp up even further now that price has fallen by such a substantial amount. Gold was trading above $1200 only two short months ago so a break in price of this magnitude will most definitely attract the attention of the physical buyers of the metal. Expect further scale down buying programs to kick in as accumulation slowly occurs at these lower levels. We’ll know when the bottom is in by watching the price action as the buying by the Eastern Central Banks will make itself evident on the charts. They are more than happy to take the gold off the hands of those in the West who are dumping it. Based on what I can see from the chart action of the last 30 minutes of pit session trade, those same Central Banks might have already been buying. Someone sure as hell bought in large quantities and scared the crap out of the shorts as price rose $10 off the session lows in 40 minutes.
Dollar bulls apparently mustered enough conviction to take the USDX up through very stubborn overhead resistance at the 79 level. You have to hand it to them, they were able to beat back the intense selling there. Once it appeared that they could maintain their footing above 79, gold bears wasted little time in pressing the market down through support. I still have to marvel at the notion that the US Dollar is a safe haven. Old habits die hard it would seem. When I see the fiscal train wreck that is only going to worsen for the foreseeable future coming rapidly down the tracks in the US, “safe” and “Dollar” is an oxymoron in my estimation. Let’s continue to watch this price action in the USDX to see if it is anything more than a one hit wonder. Already it looks like the Dollar is fading from its perch above 79.
Interestingly enough, in the rush away from risk, the bond market could not attract sufficient buying to overcome its stubborn resistance level up near the 118^25 level. It seems that bonds are leery about what they heard in last night’s State of the Union Address. Don’t blame them either – all I can see is spending, spending and more spending into the distant future. Thatsa whole lotta supply!
The S&P has some critical support near the 1067 level and if that gives way, stocks could take a rather severe dip in short time as that would get the attention of chartists and elicit calls of a top in the market due to economic woes and the lack of any serious job creation. This market has a tendency to pop higher every time it gets close to violating a downside technical level however (gee what a surprise) so let’s see if that occurs once again.
Click chart to enlarge today’s hourly action in Gold in PDF format with commentary from Trader Dan Norcini
Pennsylvania Capital Should Weigh Bankruptcy, Controller Says By Dunstan McNichol
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) — Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the capital of the sixth-largest U.S. state by population, should skip a $2.2 million debt service payment due Feb. 1 and consider bankruptcy, City Controller Dan Miller said.
Harrisburg faces $68 million in payments this year in connection with a waste-to-energy incinerator and should weigh Chapter 9 protection from creditors or state oversight through a program known as Act 47, Miller said today. Chapter 9 bankruptcy allows municipalities to reorganize rather than liquidate.
The alternatives are to sell assets such as an historic downtown market; an island in the Susquehanna River that includes the city’s minor-league baseball stadium; and the city’s parking, sewer and water systems, according to a preliminary 2010 budget and an emergency financial plan submitted yesterday.
“What I’m suggesting is we stop paying the debt service until we have a plan or we decide which way to go, in bankruptcy or Act 47,” Miller, a former city council member who became controller this month, said in a telephone interview. “I think it could save our assets instead of selling them.”
Mayor Linda Thompson, who unseated 18-year incumbent Mayor Stephen Reed in a Democratic party primary last year to lead the city of 47,000, didn’t return a call to her office for comment.
Thompson is scheduled to present her budget proposal to the city council tonight. The council has until Feb. 15 to adopt a final budget.
Asset Sales, Fees
Management Partners Inc. of Cincinnati, a consulting firm hired to study the city’s finances, recommended selling assets, raising city inspection and recreation fees, and reopening city labor contracts.
Harrisburg owes a total of $68 million in payments it guaranteed on bonds issued by the Harrisburg Authority for the incinerator and on a $35 million working capital loan for the project.
The city skipped more than $3.5 million in debt service and swap payments last year, prompting draws on reserves and back-up payments by Dauphin County, where Harrisburg is located, which has sued the city to recover its payments.
Harrisburg’s debt was downgraded to high-yield, high-risk junk status by Moody’s Investors Service in October. Moody’s lowered the city’s rating to Ba2 from Baa2, the second-lowest investment grade.
The city’s credit rating could be lowered further after an analysis of the steps taken to address future payments on debt and two interest-rate swaps that are costing about $800,000 a year, Moody’s said in an Oct. 19 report.
I own a stock CPRK it is mainly copper with silver and gold,,, Hope no one got into this last time I mentioned it,, made a big move and then crashed,,, The bad ,,,,it’s a startup with low cash flow ,,, heavy dept,, non reporting pink sheet,, had a sheriff sale schduled for tomorro The good,,,sheriff sale was cancelled,, rummored to have Long term Financing in place,,,Is shipping concentrate to the smelter,,, up 50% the last few days,,, I have nothing to do with this stock accept that it is my lottery ticket to maybe hit a homerun,,, lots of info on I- Hub,,, I Will not mention this again,, but If it were to make it ,, I wanted give everyone the heads uphere on the tent,,, please do your own DD,,, I think it is worth keepin an eye on