It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like the Weekend! Weekend Economists December 5-7, 2014

[Demeter]

Apologies all for my tardy start! I was off at the annual Xmas Party/Support Group for people who work on or with Condo Boards....To confer, converse, and otherwise hob-nob with my brother wizards...er, sister officers...about the vagaries and strategies for herding the human cats we try to guide, protect and educate. We shut the place down (because I got to the party late, too. Some people do have to work on Fridays...)

As Xchrom requested, we are in the month of Christmas, or Xmas, the alternate spelling I will use in X's honor....

Xmas is a common abbreviation of the word Christmas. It is sometimes pronounced /ˈɛksməs/, but it, and variants such as Xtemass, originated as handwriting abbreviations for the typical pronunciation /ˈkrɪsməs/. The "-mas" part is from the Latin-derived Old English word for Mass, while the "X" comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word ?????ό? which comes into English as "Christ".

There is a common misconception that the word Xmas stems from a secular attempt to remove the religious tradition from Christmas[3] by taking the "Christ" out of "Christmas", but its use dates back to the 16th century.

Use in English

Early use of "Xmas" includes Bernard Ward's History of St. Edmund's college, Old Hall (originally published circa 1755). An earlier version, "X'temmas", dates to 1551. Around 1100 the term was written as "Xp̄es mæsse" in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. "Xmas" is found in a letter from George Woodward in 1753. Lord Byron used the term in 1811, as did Samuel Coleridge (1801) and Lewis Carroll (1864).

In the United States, the fifth edition of the Royal Standard English Dictionary, published in Boston in 1800, included in its list of "Explanations of Common Abbreviations, or Contraction of Words" the entry: "Xmas. Christmas." Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. used the term in a letter dated 1923. Since at least the late 19th century, "Xmas" has been in use in various other English-language nations. Quotations with the word can be found in texts first written in Canada, and the word has been used in Australia and in the Caribbean. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage stated that modern use of the term is largely limited to advertisements, headlines and banners, where its conciseness is valued. The association with commerce "has done nothing for its reputation", according to the dictionary.

In the United Kingdom, the former Church of England Bishop of Blackburn, Alan Chesters, recommended to his clergy that they avoid the spelling. In the United States, in 1977 New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson sent out a press release saying that he wanted journalists to keep the "Christ" in Christmas, and not call it Xmas—which he called a "pagan" spelling of Christmas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xmas

Ah, poor old Meldrim! He was governor when I first moved to NH. He was famous for his public mood swings: he would order the flags at half-mast whenever anyone in Washington, DC did something of which he did not approve...as he was Tea Party before there even was such a thing, the flags spent a lot of time drooping. I cannot recall if he ever ordered them flown upside down, which is the signal of distress...

Use of "X" for "Christ"

The labarum, often called the Chi-Rho, is a Christian symbol representing Christ.

The abbreviation of Christmas as "Xmas" is the source of disagreement among Christians who observe the holiday. Dennis Bratcher, writing for a website for Christians, states "there are always those who loudly decry the use of the abbreviation 'Xmas' as some kind of blasphemy against Christ and Christianity". Among them are evangelist Franklin Graham and CNN journalist Roland S. Martin. Graham stated in an interview:

"for us as Christians, this is one of the most holy of the holidays, the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. And for people to take Christ out of Christmas. They're happy to say merry Xmas. Let's just take Jesus out. And really, I think, a war against the name of Jesus Christ."

Martin likewise relates the use of "Xmas" to his growing concerns of increasing commercialization and secularization of one of Christianity's highest holy days. Bratcher posits that those who dislike abbreviating the word are unfamiliar with a long history of Christians using X in place of "Christ" for various purposes.

The word "Christ" and its compounds, including "Christmas", have been abbreviated in English for at least the past 1,000 years, long before the modern "Xmas" was commonly used. "Christ" was often written as "X?" or "Xt"; there are references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as far back as 1021. This X and P arose as the uppercase forms of the Greek letters ? (Ch) and ? (R) used in ancient abbreviations for ??????? (Greek for "Christ&quot , and are still widely seen in many Eastern Orthodox icons depicting Jesus Christ. The labarum, an amalgamation of the two Greek letters rendered as ☧, is a symbol often used to represent Christ in Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian Churches.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the OED Supplement have cited usages of "X-" or "Xp-" for "Christ-" as early as 1485. The terms "Xtian" and less commonly "Xpian" have also been used for "Christian". The OED further cites usage of "Xtianity" for "Christianity" from 1634. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, most of the evidence for these words comes from "educated Englishmen who knew their Greek".

In ancient Christian art, ? and ?? are abbreviations for Christ's name. In many manuscripts of the New Testament and icons, ? is an abbreviation for ???????, as is XC (the first and last letters in Greek, using the lunate sigma); compare IC for Jesus in Greek...wikipedia

In fact, the entire Nativity story was lifted wholesale from previous religious traditions. Only the names were changed... The Catholic Church was fond of making pagans feel at home by co-opting their "heathen" beliefs into the Holy Mother Church.

When I was a girl (in a previous life) I attended catechism classes, in which the very thought of St. Nicholas, or Santa Claus, was poo-pooed. I suspect this was a result of the schism that split the Church into the Roman and the Orthodox branches. You see, Nicholas was a Greek bishop based in Turkey, in the Byzantine franchise, so to speak. Not exactly kosher with St. Peter's Basilica...although they didn't totally disown him. Perhaps they only disowned the "commercialism"? As I said, it was a previous life...



So let's start the celebrations!

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" is a Christmas song written in 1951 by Meredith Willson. The song was originally titled "It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas". The song has been recorded by many artists, but was a hit for Perry Como and The Fontane Sisters with Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra on September 10, 1951, and released on RCA Victor as 47-4314 (45 rpm) and 20-4314 (78 rpm). Bing Crosby recorded a version on October 1, 1951, which was also widely played.

A popular belief in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, holds that Willson wrote the song while staying in Yarmouth's Grand Hotel. The song makes reference to a "tree in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well..."; the park being Frost Park, directly across the road from the Grand Hotel, which still operates in a newer building on the same site as the old hotel.

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" was later incorporated into the pre-Broadway version of the score of Willson's 1963 musical Here's Love and can be heard on that show's original cast recording, where it is sung in counterpoint to a new melody and lyric, "Pinecones and Holly Berries."

Alvin and the Chipmunks covered the song for their 1961 album Christmas with The Chipmunks and 1981 album A Chipmunk Christmas.

In 1986, Johnny Mathis recorded "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" for his album Christmas Eve with Johnny Mathis; this version gained popularity after its inclusion in the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. Gradually, Mathis' recording began to receive wide radio airplay, and for the past several years this version has been a Top 10 Christmas hit.

"It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" is featured in the DVD version of Very Merry Christmas Songs, which is part of the Disney Sing Along Songs franchise.

In 2007 the song was used for adverts for Argos.

In 2008, the song was used for television Christmas adverts for the UK supermarket Asda.

In 2009 the song was covered by Connie Talbot.

In 2011, Michael Bublé covered the song and released it on his holiday album, Christmas.

In 2014, the song was covered by Union J and was released as a B-side to their single "You Got It All" and was included on their album You Got It All – The Album.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Beginning_to_Look_a_Lot_Like_Christmas

And of course, Dean Martin....you may remember Meredith Willson as the composer for The Music Man!

[Crewleader]

1. Gas Prices

CHURCH FOR THE HOLIDAYS



Great Weekend Edition and Have A Great Weekend Demeter!

[Fuddnik]

2. Santa won't make it this year.

Rudolph didn't make it through Deer Season, so Santa is planning on taking Uber around the world.

[Crewleader]

3. Thanks Fuddnik, I just learn about this. :)

Uber
Company
Uber is a ridesharing service headquartered in San Francisco, United States, which operates in multiple international cities. The company uses a smartphone application to arrange rides between riders and drivers. Wikipedia

Founded: March 2009, San Francisco, CA
Founders: Travis Kalanick, Garrett Camp

[Crewleader]

78. Fuddnik~From Robert Reich

Last edited Sun Dec 7, 2014, 04:50 PM - Edit history (1)

Uber, the car-share service company, announced yesterday it got more money from venture capitalists this year than any other company, putting its value at around $40 billion -- higher than American Airlines. Yet Uber employs only 1,500 people directly. The rest of its “employees” – the drivers who use their own cars -- take on almost all the cost and risk. In fact (as the New York Times revealed yesterday), Uber demands drivers handle any and all damage claims themselves through their own personal car insurance, even though those insurance companies don’t cover commercial activity. Which means Uber drivers aren’t insured to drive others for money. Which means Uber riders won't collect if there's an accident.

So is Uber a $40 billion success story or a dangerous scam?

on facebook https://www.facebook.com/RBReich

[Demeter]

6. don't take requests....well, depends on the church and the choir!

I was LOL on that one. Thanks, Crewleader!

And as for gas prices, today I saw $2.53. I hope it holds until tomorrow, so I can fill the tank....

I have rehearsals Saturday and Sunday (different groups) and I think that after next weekend, the singing will be over and the baking can begin....

[Demeter]

4. No Bank will find "coal in its stocking" this weekend--FDIC reports no failures

December 6th is the Feastday of St. Nicholas--the Greek bishop mentioned above.

Every day of the year has one of more saints associated with it in Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. In some traditionally-Orthodox communities, it was the practice to name a newborn after the saint associated with the birthday....Russia is one, to my knowledge, although the lady who told me of this custom admitted that her parents fudged the process, picking her name from a different day, as close to the actual date as they could find a suitable monicker...my own mother was named Patricia, as she was born within days of March 17th, St. Patrick's Day.

In Hungary and other European nations, St. Nicholas' Day was the day children were given their Xmas gifts...because of the legend of St. Nicholas:



Russian icon depicting St Nicholas with scenes from his life. Late 1400s or early 1500s. National Museum, Stockholm.

Saint Nicholas (Greek: Ἅ???? ???ό????, Hagios Nikólaos, Latin: Sanctus Nicolaus); (15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century Christian saint and Greek Bishop of Myra (Demre, part of modern-day Turkey) in Lycia. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker (???ό???? ὁ ??????????ό?, Nikolaos ho Thaumaturgos). He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, and thus became the model for Santa Claus, whose modern name comes from the Dutch Sinterklaas, itself from a series of elisions and corruptions of the transliteration of "Saint Nikolaos". His reputation evolved among the faithful, as was common for early Christian saints. In 1087, part of the relics (about half of the bones) were furtively translated to Bari, in Apulia, Italy; for this reason, he is also known as Nikolaos of Bari. The remaining bones were taken to Venice in 1100. His feast day is 6 December.

The historical Saint Nicholas is commemorated and revered among Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran, and Orthodox Christians. In addition, some Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Reformed churches have been named in honor of Saint Nicholas. Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, pawnbrokers and students in various cities and countries around Europe. He was also a patron of the Varangian Guard of the Byzantine emperors, who protected his relics in Bari.

Nicholas was born a Greek in Asia Minor during the third century in the city of Patara (Lycia et Pamphylia), which was a port on the Mediterranean Sea, and lived in Myra, Lycia (part of modern-day Demre, Turkey), at a time when the region was Greek in its heritage, culture, and outlook and politically part of the Roman diocese of Asia. He was the only son of wealthy Christian parents named Epiphanius (Ἐ???ά???? and Johanna (Ἰ?ά??? according to some accounts and Theophanes (????ά??? and Nonna (?ό??? according to others. He was very religious from an early age and according to legend, Nicholas was said to have rigorously observed the canonical fasts of Wednesdays and Fridays. His wealthy parents died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young and he was raised by his uncle—also named Nicholas—who was the bishop of Patara. He tonsured the young Nicholas as a reader and later ordained him a presbyter (priest).

In 325, he was one of many bishops to answer the request of Constantine and appear at the First Council of Nicaea. There, Nicolas was a staunch anti-Arian and defender of the Orthodox Christian position, and one of the bishops who signed the Nicene Creed... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Nicholas

Saint Nicholas, Russian icon from first quarter of the eighteenth century (Kizhi monastery, Karelia). Note: Karelia was part of Finland, conquered by Russia during the Russo-Finnish War, Part 2, which was running simultaneously with WWII...

[Demeter]

5. Legends and folklore of St. Nicholas

wikipedia...continued

One legend tells how during a terrible famine, a malicious butcher lured three little children into his house, where he killed them, placing their remains in a barrel to cure, planning to sell them off as ham. Saint Nicholas, visiting the region to care for the hungry, not only saw through the butcher's horrific crime but also resurrected the three boys from the barrel by his prayers. Another version of this story, possibly formed around the eleventh century, claims that the butcher's victims were instead three clerks who wished to stay the night. The man murdered them, and was advised by his wife to dispose of them by turning them into meat pies. The Saint saw through this and brought the men back to life.

In his most famous exploit, a poor man had three daughters but could not afford a proper dowry for them. This meant that they would remain unmarried and probably, in absence of any other possible employment, would have to become prostitutes. Hearing of the girls' plight, Nicholas decided to help them, but being too modest to help the family in public (or to save them the humiliation of accepting charity), he went to the house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the house.

One version has him throwing one purse for three consecutive nights. Another has him throwing the purses over a period of three years, each time the night before one of the daughters comes of age. Invariably, the third time the father lies in wait, trying to discover the identity of their benefactor. In one version the father confronts the saint, only to have Saint Nicholas say it is not him he should thank, but God alone. In another version, Nicholas learns of the poor man's plan and drops the third bag down the chimney instead; a variant holds that the daughter had washed her stockings that evening and hung them over the embers to dry, and that the bag of gold fell into the stocking.

According to another legend, during a great famine that Myra experienced in 311–312, a ship was in the port at anchor, which was loaded with wheat for the Emperor in Constantinople. Nicholas invited the sailors to unload a part of the wheat to help in time of need. The sailors at first disliked the request, because the wheat had to be weighed accurately and delivered to the Emperor. Only when Nicholas promised them that they would not suffer any loss for their consideration, the sailors agreed. When they arrived later in the capital, they made a surprising find: the weight of the load had not changed, although the wheat removed in Myra was enough for two full years and could even be used for sowing.

The legends with the most likely historical basis are the stories of Nicholas helping three girls and stories of Nicholas helping sailors. Others, especially the legend of the three murdered children, are much later additions to Nicholas lore, historian Dr. Adam English concludes in a new biography of Nicholas for Baylor University Press based on a four-year study of current historical research into Nicholas of Myra.

[Demeter]

7. The Bones and the Face of the historical saint

wikipedia

On 26 August 1071 Romanus IV, Emperor of the Byzantine Empire (reigned 1068–1071), faced Sultan Alp Arslan of the Seljuk Turks (reigned 1059–1072) in the Battle of Manzikert. The battle ended in humiliating defeat and capture for Romanus. As a result the Empire temporarily lost control over most of Asia Minor to the invading Seljuk Turks. The Byzantines would regain its control over Asia Minor during the reign of Alexius I Comnenus (reigned 1081–1118). But early in his reign Myra was overtaken by the Turks. Nicholas' tomb in Myra had become a popular place of pilgrimage. Because of the many wars and attacks in the region, some Christians were concerned that access to the tomb might become difficult. For both the religious and commercial advantages of a major pilgrimage site, the Italian cities of Venice and Bari vied to get the Nicholas relics. Taking advantage of the confusion, in the spring of 1087, sailors from Bari in Apulia seized part of the remains of the saint from his burial church in Myra, over the objections of the Greek Orthodox monks. Returning to Bari, they brought the remains with them and cared for them. The remains arrived on 9 May 1087. There are numerous variations of this account. In some versions those taking the relics are characterized as thieves or pirates, in others they are said to have taken them in response to a vision wherein Saint Nicholas himself appeared and commanded that his relics be moved in order to preserve them from the impending Muslim conquest. Currently at Bari, there are two churches at his shrine, one Roman Catholic and one Orthodox.

Sailors from Bari collected just half of Nicholas' skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the grave. These were collected by Venetian sailors during the first crusade and brought to Venice, where a church to St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors, was built on the Lido. This tradition was confirmed in two scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice, which revealed that the relics in the two cities belong to the same skeleton. In our time, many churches in Europe, Russia and the United States claim to possess small relics, such as a tooth or a finger.

It is said that in Myra the relics of Saint Nicholas each year exuded a clear watery liquid which smells like rose water, called manna (or myrrh), which is believed by the faithful to possess miraculous powers. After the relics were brought to Bari, they continued to do so, much to the joy of the new owners. Vials of myrrh from his relics have been taken all over the world for centuries, and can still be obtained from his church in Bari. Even up to the present day, a flask of manna is extracted from the tomb of Saint Nicholas every year on 6 December (the Saint's feast day) by the clergy of the basilica. The myrrh is collected from a sarcophagus which is located in the basilica vault and could be obtained in the shop nearby. The liquid gradually seeps out of the tomb, but it is unclear whether it originates from the body within the tomb, or from the marble itself; since the town of Bari is a harbor, and the tomb is below sea level, there are several natural explanations for the manna fluid, including the transfer of seawater to the tomb by capillary action.

In 1993, a grave was found on the small Turkish island of Gemile, east of Rhodes, which historians believe is the original tomb of Saint Nicholas. On 28 December 2009, the Turkish Government announced that it would be formally requesting the return of St. Nicholas's skeletal remains to Turkey from the Italian government. Turkish authorities have asserted that St. Nicholas himself desired to be buried at his episcopal town, and that his remains were illegally removed from his homeland.

An Irish tradition states that the relics of Saint Nicholas are also reputed to have been stolen from Myra by local Norman crusading knights in the twelfth century and buried near Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, where a stone slab marks the site locally believed to be his grave. This is not widely accepted beyond local tradition...

Whereas the devotional importance of relics and the economics associated with pilgrimages caused the remains of most saints to be divided up and spread over numerous churches in several countries, St. Nicholas is unusual in that most of his bones have been preserved in one spot: his grave crypt in Bari. Even with the allegedly continuing miracle of the manna, the archdiocese of Bari has allowed for one scientific survey of the bones. In the late 1950s, during a restoration of the chapel, it allowed a team of hand-picked scientists to photograph and measure the contents of the crypt grave.

In the summer of 2005, the report of these measurements was sent to a forensic laboratory in England. The review of the data revealed that the historical St. Nicholas was barely five feet in height and had a broken nose. The facial reconstruction was produced by Dr. Caroline Wilkinson at the University of Manchester and was shown on a BBC2 TV program 'The Real Face of Santa' .


Formal veneration

Among the Greeks and Italians he is a favorite of sailors, fishermen, ships and sailing. As such he has become over time the patron saint of several cities maintaining harbors. In centuries of Greek folklore, Nicholas was seen as "The Lord of the Sea", often described by modern Greek scholars as a kind of Christianized version of Poseidon. In modern Greece, he is still easily among the most recognizable saints and 6 December finds many cities celebrating their patron saint. He is also the patron saint of all of Greece and particularly of the Hellenic Navy.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Nicholas' memory is celebrated on almost every Thursday of the year (together with the Apostles) with special hymns to him which are found in the liturgical book known as the Octoechos. Soon after the transfer of Saint Nicholas' relics from Myra to Bari, a Russian version of his Life and an account of the transfer of his relics were written by a contemporary to this event. Devotional akathists and canons have been composed in his honour, and are frequently chanted by the faithful as they ask for his intercession. He is mentioned in the Liturgy of Preparation during the Divine Liturgy (Eastern Orthodox Eucharist) and during the All-Night Vigil. Many Orthodox churches will have his icon, even if they are not named after him.

In Oriental Orthodoxy, the Coptic Church observes the Departure of St. Nicholas on Kiahk 10, or 19 December.

In late medieval England, on Saint Nicholas' Day parishes held Yuletide "boy bishop" celebrations. As part of this celebration, youths performed the functions of priests and bishops, and exercised rule over their elders. Today, Saint Nicholas is still celebrated as a great gift-giver in several Western European and Central European countries. According to one source, in medieval times nuns used the night of 6 December to deposit baskets of food and clothes anonymously at the doorsteps of the needy. According to another source, on 6 December every sailor or ex-sailor of the Low Countries (which at that time was virtually all of the male population) would descend to the harbour towns to participate in a church celebration for their patron saint. On the way back they would stop at one of the various Nicholas fairs to buy some hard-to-come-by goods, gifts for their loved ones and invariably some little presents for their children. While the real gifts would only be presented at Christmas, the little presents for the children were given right away, courtesy of Saint Nicholas. This and his miracle of him resurrecting the three butchered children made Saint Nicholas a patron saint of children and later students as well.

Among Albanians, Saint Nicholas is known as Shen'Kollë and is venerated by most Catholic families, even those from villages that are devoted to other saints. The Feast of Saint Nicholas is celebrated on the evening before 6 December, known as Shen'Kolli i Dimnit (Saint Nicholas of Winter), as well as on the commemoration of the interring of his bones in Bari, the evening before 9 May, known as Shen'Kolli i Majit (Saint Nicholas of May). Albanian Catholics often swear by Saint Nicholas, saying "Pasha Shejnti Shen'Kollin!" ("May I see Holy Saint Nicholas!&quot , indicating the importance of this saint in Albanian culture, especially among the Albanians of Malësia. On the eve of his feast day, Albanians will light a candle and abstain from meat, preparing a feast of roasted lamb and pork, to be served to guests after midnight. Guests will greet each other, saying, "Nata e Shen'Kollit ju nihmoftë!" ("May the Night of Saint Nicholas help you!&quot and other such blessings. The bones of Albania's greatest hero, George Kastrioti, were also interred in the Church of Saint Nicholas in Lezha, Albania, upon his death.

[Demeter]

8. I now return you to the regularly scheduled WEEkend...

but please, if you've something to add to the theme, by all means, do!



Father Christmas--English Mummery



St. Nicholas, Roman version



St. Nicholas, Orthodox version

[Demeter]

9. Social Security Nominee Defends Integrity, Career

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/04/carolyn-colvin-social-security_n_6273142.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business

A day after her nomination ran into trouble in the Senate, President Barack Obama's pick to head the Social Security Administration passionately defended her integrity, her long career in government and her handling of a troubled computer project she inherited from a predecessor.

"I've always met the highest ethical standards," Carolyn W. Colvin told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday. "I've worked in government my entire life. There's never been a suggestion, personal or professional, of any wrongdoing."

"I'm certainly not ending my career with that," Colvin continued. "I came out of retirement to help this organization, not hurt it."

Obama nominated Colvin to a six-year term as commissioner of the agency in June. She has been acting commissioner since February 2013. Before that, she was the agency's deputy commissioner since 2010...A group of Republican senators plans to try to block Colvin's nomination while investigators look into a $300 million computer project that doesn't work. In a letter to Colvin, all 11 Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee said there is evidence that Social Security officials have misled Congress and investigators about problems with the project...The senators wrote that they can't let a nomination proceed to a vote "as long as the specter of a potential criminal investigation surrounds the nominee," that person's inner circle, or both. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, top Republican on the Finance Committee, leads the group.

The White House said Thursday that the president believed Colvin deserved a confirmation vote by the full Senate.

Six years ago, Social Security embarked on an aggressive plan to replace outdated computer systems overwhelmed by a flood of disability claims. But the project has been racked by delays and mismanagement, according to an assessment commissioned by the agency over the summer. The project is still in the testing phase and the agency can't say when it will be operational or how much it will cost. Social Security's inspector general started investigating the project in the summer. The IG said in a report that investigators attended numerous briefings on the computer project, including two this year, but the Social Security Administration "never indicated it was experiencing significant problems with the project." The investigation has since been turned over to the inspector general for the Small Business Administration to avoid a potential conflict of interest.

Colvin noted that the project was launched "way before I got here," under former Commissioner Michael Astrue. Colvin said she has been working to salvage it since she took over the agency last year. "That's what I do, I'm a problem-fixer," Colvin said. "Every organization I've gone into I try to identify what the vulnerabilities are and try to fix them." Colvin, however, said Thursday she does not know whether the computer project can be saved, even though the agency has spent nearly $300 million on it. During an interview in her Washington office, Colvin said she was reluctant to talk about the project because of the ongoing investigation. The interview had been scheduled to discuss the agency's efforts to fight fraud, but Colvin answered a few questions about her nomination. Colvin was adamant that she did not know of anyone in the agency misleading Congress or investigators...

ANOTHER FINE MESS OBAMA'S GOTTEN HIMSELF AND HIS BUDDIES INTO...

[Demeter]

10. Exposed: NSA program for hacking any cell phone network, no matter where it is

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/12/exposed-nsa-program-for-hacking-any-cellphone-network-no-matter-where-it-is/

The National Security Agency has spied on hundreds of companies and groups around the world, including in countries allied with the US government, as part of an effort designed to allow agents to hack into any cellular network, no matter where it's located, according to a report published Thursday.

Armed with technical details of a specific provider's current or planned networks, agents secretly attempt to identify or introduce flaws that will make it possible for communications to be covertly tapped, according to an article published by The Intercept. Security experts warned that programs that introduce security flaws or suppress fixes for existing vulnerabilities could cause widespread harm, since the bugs can also be exploited by criminal hackers or governments of nations around the world.

"Even if you love the NSA and you say you have nothing to hide, you should be against a policy that introduces security vulnerabilities," Karsten Nohl, a cryptographer and smartphone security expert, told The Intercept. "Because once NSA introduces a weakness, a vulnerability, it's not only the NSA that can exploit it."

MORE THAN YOU CAN STAND AT LINK

[Demeter]

11. BTW, This is one of our concert pieces for next week Sunday

I had this very album as a kid! So of course, I have the whole thing memorized for YEARS...

[Demeter]

12. America is on a “Hot War Footing”: House Legislation Paves the Way for War with Russia?

http://www.globalresearch.ca/america-is-on-a-hot-war-footing-house-legislation-paves-the-way-for-war-with-russia/5418035

America is on a war footing. While, a World War Three Scenario has been on the drawing board of the Pentagon for more than ten years, military action against Russia is now contemplated at an “operational level”. Similarly, both the Senate and the House have introduced enabling legislation which provides legitimacy to the conduct of a war against Russia.

We are not dealing with a “Cold War”. None of the safeguards of the Cold War era prevail.

There has been a breakdown in East-West diplomacy coupled with extensive war propaganda. In turn the United Nations has turned a blind eye to extensive war crimes committed by the Western military alliance.

The adoption of a major piece of legislation by the US House of Representatives on December 4th (H. Res. 758) would provide (pending a vote in the Senate) a de facto green light to the US president and commander in chief to initiate –without congressional approval– a process of military confrontation with Russia....

ST. NICHOLAS, PRESERVE US! ALL WE DON'T WANT FOR XMAS....

[Demeter]

13. Timeline of War Preparations

In May 2014, the Russian Aggression Prevention Act (RAPA) was introduced in the US Senate (S 2277), calling for the militarization of Eastern Europe and the Baltic States and the stationing of US and NATO troops on Russia’s doorstep:

S.2277 – Russian Aggression Prevention Act of 2014

Directs the President to: (1) implement a plan for increasing U.S. and NATO support for the armed forces of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, and other NATO member-states; and (2) direct the U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO to seek consideration for permanently basing NATO forces in such countries.

Directs the President to submit a plan to Congress for accelerating NATO and European missile defense efforts.

While The S 2277 resolution was sent to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for review, its essential premises are already in the process of being implemented. In mid-July, NATO’s Europe commander General Philip Breedlove in consultation with the Pentagon and Britain’s Ministry of Defence, called for:

“stockpiling a base in Poland with enough weapons, ammunition and other supplies to support a rapid deployment of thousands of troops against Russia”.(RT, July 24, 2014).

According to General Breedlove, NATO needs “pre-positioned supplies, pre-positioned capabilities and a basing area ready to rapidly accept follow-on forces”:

“He plans to recommend placing supplies — weapons, ammunition and ration packs — at the headquarters to enable a sudden influx of thousands of Nato troops” (Times, August 22, 2014, emphasis added)

Breedlove’s “Blitzkrieg scenario” –which could potentially lead to military escalation– was reaffirmed at the September NATO Summit in Wales. A so-called NATO action plan directed against the Russian Federation was decided upon. The Wales Summit had given the “green light”.

Barely a month later, in October, US-NATO military drills were held in the Baltic States. In early November, a second round of drills was held in both the Baltic States and Eastern Europe.

As part of this broader endeavour, NATO’s Iron Sword 2014 military exercises –involving the participation of nine member countries of the Atlantic Alliance– were launched in Lithuania in early November:

”US tanks rolled in to Lithuania earlier this month is a show of force to Russia that it’s not welcome in the region.”

The military exercises were explicitly directed against Russia. According to Moscow, they consisted in “increasing operation readiness” as well the transfer of NATO “military infrastructure to the Russian borders”.

In response to NATO deployments on Russia’s borders, the Russian Federation also conducted in early November extensive war games in the sea of Barent. The Russian drills consisted in testing “its entire nuclear triad consisting of strategic bombers; submarines” and the “silo-based Topol-M intercontinental ballistic missile launched from Plesetsk in Arkhangelsk Oblast” on November 1st.

The US House of Representatives H.Res. 758 Resolution

On 18 November, a major resolution H. Res. 758 was introduced in the House of Representatives. Its main thrust consists in portraying Russia as an “Aggressor Nation”, which has invaded Ukraine and calling for military action directed against Russia:

H.RES.758 — Whereas upon entering office in 2009, President Barack Obama announced his intention to `reset’ relations with the Russian Federation, which was described by former United States Ambassador… (Introduced in House – IH)

HRES 758 IH

113th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. RES. 758

Strongly condemning the actions of the Russian Federation, under President Vladimir Putin, which has carried out a policy of aggression against neighboring countries aimed at political and economic domination.

(The full text of H. RES. 758 is contained in annex to this article)

H. Res. 758 not only accuses Russia of having invaded Ukraine, it also invokes article 5 of the Washington Treaty, namely NATO’s doctrine of collective security.

An attack on one member of the Atlantic alliance is an attack on all members of the Alliance.

The underlying narrative is supported by a string of baseless accusations directed against the Russian Federation. It accuses Russia of having invaded Ukraine. It states without evidence that Russia was behind the downing of Malaysian Airlines MH17, it accuses Russia of military aggression.

Ironically, it also accuses the Russian Federation of having imposed economic sanctions not only on Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova but also on several unnamed member states of the European Union. The resolution accuses the Russian Federation of having used “the supply of energy for political and economic coercion.”

In essence, House Resolution 758 were it to become law would provide a de facto green light to the President of the United States to declare war on the Russian Federation, without the formal permission of the US Congress.

In this regard, it could be interpreted as “mildly unconstitutional” in that it contravenes the substance of Article 1, Section 8, of the US Constitution which vests in the Congress “the Power to declare war…”

The resolution urges the President of the United States in consultation with the US Congress to:

“conduct a review of the force posture, readiness, and responsibilities of the United States Armed Forces and the forces of other members of NATO to determine if the contributions and actions of each is sufficient to meet the obligations of collective self defence under article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and to specify the measures needed to remedy any deficiencies” .

What the above paragraph suggests is that the US is contemplating the use of NATO’s collective security doctrine under article 5 with a views to triggering a process of military confrontation with the Russian Federation.

The structure of military alliances is of crucial significance. Washington’s intent is to isolate Russia. Article 5 is a convenient mechanism imposed by the US on Western Europe. It forces NATO member states, most of which are members of the European Union, to act wage war on Washington’s behalf.

Moreover, a referendum on Ukraine’s membership in NATO is contemplated. In case Ukraine becomes a member of NATO and/or redefines its security agreement with NATO, article 5 could be invoked as a justification to wage a NATO sponsored war on Russia.

[Demeter]

14. How Your Representative Voted on Bill for Obama to Send Weapons to Ukraine By Eric Zuesse

It’s a bill authorizing Obama to supply weapons to the bankrupt Ukrainian Government to exterminate (and/or drive out into neighboring Russia) the people in the areas of Ukraine’s southeast that had voted 90% for the Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovych, whom Obama overthrew in a bloody coup in February 2014; but, of course, that’s not how it’s worded. Here is how it’s worded:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hres758/text

Here’s the vote, on December 4th:

https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/113-2014/h548

Here’s the discussion of it (prior to the vote):

http://rt.com/op-edge/211439-congress-obama-statement-resolution-russia/

There were 411 votes for the bill, 10 votes against it.

These were the 10 votes against:

California’s George Miller (D)

California’s Dana Rohrabacher (R)

Florida’s Alan Grayson (D)

Florida’s Alcee Hastings (D)

Kentucky’s Thomas Massie (R)

Michigan’s Justin Amash (R)

North Carolina’s Walter Jones (R)

Tennessee’s John Duncan (R)

Texas’s Beto O’Rourke (D)

Washington’s Jim McDermott (D)

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40393.htm

[MattSh]

26. Quite a disgusting display of bi-partisanship...

OK, where to begin on this one?

For all of this talk about how supposedly the Democrats are better than the Republicans, only 10 Representatives had the courage to vote against this. Five Democrats and five Republicans. And for all this talk about how supposedly the deep South is light years behind the progressive northeast, six of the no votes came from the deep South and not a single one came from the so-called progressive northeast.

Then look at those who did not vote. Seven Democrats did not vote and six Republicans did not vote. There! That must be the change we can believe in! And the only really well-known name among the Democrats who "did not vote?" Tammy Duckworth. She could not bring herself to directly take a stand on this. She, of all people, should understand what war is, and she should also understand what going to war for a lie is. But the best she could do was to sit out this vote.

And notable Democrats that voted for this resolution? Well, let's just say all except 12. In the end, I wonder how many are going to be for this before they are against this?

In Ukraine, the Right Sector fascists have to occasionally throw a delegate or two into trash dumpsters, and even then they can't get this lopsided a vote. In the USA, Representatives jump into dumpster using their own free will. Or maybe that's where they live these days...

Call me unimpressed with this whole mess called the Circus of Representatives.

[Demeter]

62. Congressmen admit to not reading NDAA before voting for it: 'I trust the leadership'

http://rt.com/usa/211879-ndaa-congress-read-bills/

US House members admitted they had not read the entire $585 billion, 1,648-page National Defense Authorization Act, which predominantly specifies budgeting for the Defense Department, before it was voted on Thursday in Congress.

“Of course not. Are you kidding?” Rep. Jim Moran (D-Virginia) said when asked by CNSNews if he had perused the entire bill, which was just posted online late Tuesday night before it was ultimately passed in by the House by a vote of 300-119 about 36 hours later.

Moran said he did not plan to read the entire bill before voting because “I trust the leadership.”

“Do you think [House Speaker John] Boehner and [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid have read it?” asked CNSNews.

“I know their staff has,” Moran responded.

HOW FORTUNATE THAT HIS NAME MATCHES HIS INTELLECT...HOW UNFORTUNATE THAT HIS INTELLECT MATCHES HIS NAME!


SOME DETAIL AT LINK BUT BY NO MEANS A FULL LIST

[Demeter]

15. Talking Turkey: Putin Gobsmacks Obama and Euro-Leaders with Surprise Gas Deal By Mike Whitney

http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/12/05/talking-turkey/

On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin clinched a groundbreaking deal with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that will strengthen economic ties between the two nations and make Turkey the major hub for Russian gas in the region. Under the terms of the agreement, Russia will pump additional natural gas to locations in central Turkey and to a “hub at the Turkish-Greek border” which will eventually provide Putin with backdoor access to the lucrative EU market, although Turkey will serve as the critical intermediary. The move creates a de facto Russo-Turkey alliance that could shift the regional balance of power decisively in Moscow’s favor, thus creating another formidable hurtle for Washington’s “pivot to Asia” strategy. While the media is characterizing the change in plans (Putin has abandoned the South Stream pipeline project that would have transported gas to southern Europe) as a “diplomatic defeat” for Russia, the opposite appears to be the case. Putin has once again outmaneuvered the US on both the energy and geopolitical fronts adding to his long list of policy triumphs. Here’s a brief summary from Andrew Korybko at Sputnik News:

“Russia has abandoned the troubled South Stream project and will now be building its replacement with Turkey. This monumental decision signals that Ankara has made its choice to reject Euro-Atlanticsm and embrace Eurasian integration.

In what may possibly be the biggest move towards multipolarity thus far,..Turkey, has done away with its former Euro-Atlantic ambitions. A year ago, none of this would have been foreseeable, but the absolute failure of the US’ Mideast policy and the EU’s energy one made this stunning reversal possible in under a year. Turkey is still anticipated to have some privileged relations with the West, but the entire nature of the relationship has forever changed as the country officially engages in pragmatic multipolarity.

Turkey’s leadership made a major move by sealing such a colossal deal with Russia in such a sensitive political environment, and the old friendship can never be restored…The reverberations are truly global.” (“Cold Turkey: Ankara Buckles Against Western Pressure, Turns to Russia”, Sputnik News)

Korybko seems to be alone in grasping the magnitude of what happened in Ankara on Monday, although –judging by the Obama administration’s silence on the topic–the gravity of the transaction is beginning to sink in. Grandmaster Vlad’s latest move has caught US powerbrokers flat-footed and left them speechless. This is a scenario that no one had anticipated and, if it’s not handled correctly, could turn out to be a real nightmare. Here’s more on Monday’s press conference from Russia Today:

“Putin said that Russia is ready to build a new pipeline to meet Turkey’s growing gas demand, which may include a special hub on the Turkish-Greek border for customers in southern Europe.

For now, the supply of Russian gas to Turkey will be raised by 3 billion cubic meters via the already operating Blue Stream pipeline…Moscow will also reduce the gas price for Turkish customers by 6 percent from January 1, 2015, Putin said.

“We are ready to further reduce gas prices along with the implementation of our joint large-scale projects,” he added.” (“Putin: Russia forced to withdraw from S. Stream project due to EU stance”, RT)

How can this happen? How can Putin waltz into Ankara, scribble his name on a few sheets of paper, and abscond with a key US ally right under Washington’s nose? Isn’t there anyone at the White House who’s smart enough to anticipate a scenario like this or have they all been replaced with warmongering ding-dongs like Susan Rice and Samantha Powers?

The Obama administration has been doing everything in its power to control the flow of gas from east to west and to undermine Russian-EU economic integration. Now it looks like the nimble Putin has found a way to avoid the economic sanctions, (Turkey rejected sanctions on Russia) avoid US coercion and blackmail (which was used on Bulgaria, Hungary, and Serbia), and avoid Washington’s endless belligerence and hostility, and achieve his objectives at the same time. But– then again– isn’t that what you’d expect from a level-headed martial arts pro like Putin?

“I won’t beat you,” says Bad Vlad. “I’ll let you to beat yourself.”

And, so he has. Just ask the befuddled Obama who has yet to prevail in any of his encounters with Putin....

[Demeter]

16. But why the silence? MIKE WHITNEY CONTINUES

Why hasn’t the White House issued a statement about the big Russian-Turkey gas deal that everyone’s talking about?

I’ll tell you why. It’s because they don’t know what the hell just hit them, that’s why. They were completely blindsided by the announcement and can’t quite figure out what it means for the issues that are on the very top of their foreign policy agenda, like the pivot to Asia, or the wars in Syria and Ukraine, or the much-ballyhooed gas pipeline from Qatar to the EU, that was supposed to transit– you guessed it– Turkey. Is that plan still in the works or has the Putin-Erdogan alliance put the kibosh on that gem too? Let’s face it, Putin has really knocked it out of the park this time. Team Obama is clearly out of its league and has no idea of what’s going on. If Turkey turns eastward and joins the growing Russian bloc, US policymakers are going to have to scrap the better part of their strategic plans for the coming century and go back to Square 1. What a headache.

There’s a good article in Wednesday’s New York Times that summarizes Washington’s ambivalence towards South Stream perfectly. Here’s an excerpt:

“Moscow has long presented the project, proposed in 2007, as making good business sense because it would provide a new route for Russian gas to reach Europe. Washington and Brussels have opposed the project on the grounds that it was a vehicle for cementing Russian influence over southern Europe and for bypassing Ukraine, whose price disputes with Gazprom twice interrupted supplies to Europe in recent years.”

Putin’s Surprise Call to Scrap South Stream Gas Pipeline Leaves Europe Reeling”, New York Times)

This has been the argument from the get-go, that selling gas to people in the EU somehow strengthens Putin’s maniacal grip on the continent. What a joke. Would you, dear reader, be willing turn off the heat, tear up your energy bill, and freeze to death in the dark to prove to your gas company that you’re not willing to capitulate to their tyrannical rule?

Of course not, because the idea is ridiculous. Just like blocking South Stream is ridiculous. Putin is selling gas, not tyranny. He doesn’t want people clicking their heels and goosestepping to work. That’s just propaganda from the people in the oil industry who lost the competition for supplying fuel to the EU. Call it sour grapes if you want, because that’s what it is. Their pipeline failed, (Nabucco) and Putin’s won. End of story. It’s called capitalism. Deal with it.


MIKE GOES ON TO PREDICT AN UNHAPPY ENDING FOR ERGODAN....SEE LINK, ABOVE

[MattSh]

27. It’s called capitalism.

Capitalism is only good when we win.

[Demeter]

17. American War Machine Ramping Up for Revenge

American War Machine Ramping Up for Revenge

...Over the past two decades the United States and Western Europe have been burned badly by the shoddy thinking of its strategists, economists, financiers, policy makers, politicians, academicians and military leaders. They chose to sacrifice trillions of dollars (US) in treasure and millions of lives (soldiers, civilians killed, wounded, displaced) only to lose the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and Libya. They have created chaos in the Middle East/Persian Gulf, apparently by design. They stood idly by while Palestinian children were slaughtered by Israel. They clapped quietly as a military coup was undertaken in Egypt that restored the dictatorial status quo there meaning arms transfers and military cooperation could return to normal.

The Americans and West Europeans incited revolution in Ukraine and looked the other way as Nazis brazenly assisted in the overthrow of a democratically elected government there. When Russia balked and smartly seized Crimea the Americans and Europeans were embarrassingly out maneuvered. When China allowed Edward Snowden (NSA whistleblower) to leave Hong Kong and Russia decided to allow him to stay in Russia, the Americans and Europeans were aghast at knowing they were, once again outmatched.

Further, the dunderheads in America and Western Europe finally succeeded in bringing an old Cold War nightmare to reality: their self-aggrandizing actions caused Russia and China to embrace in the form of economic and military trade deals that cut out the United States and Europe. Once again Russia has bested the Americans and Western Europeans by ditching the South Stream pipeline in favor of a pipeline to Turkey leaving Southern Europe in energy jeopardy.

Revenge!

In the cities and towns of the United States and Western Europe citizens are on edge about matters of life-security: employment, food, shelter, clothing, health insurance, education. Millions are unemployed or just culled from the statistical tables, forgotten. Children are going hungry. Immigrants are feeling the brunt of national anxiety/jingoism as they always do before street violence and war take place...Class warfare is visible from the streets of Ferguson, Missouri to Detroit, Michigan. The classic hit song “Monster” by Steppenwolf sums it up “The cities have turned into jungles and corruption is strangling’ the land. The police force is watching the people and the people just can’t understand. We don’t know how to mind our own business ‘cause the whole world’s got to be just like us. Now we are fighting a war over there, no matter who’s the winner we can’t pay the cost.” The United States of America can’t even field a high speed bullet train.

Only a global economic and kinetic war is going to satiate the hunger for revenge that the top echelons of American and Western European leadership currently display...

MORE, MUCH MORE

[Demeter]

18. HIS PREDICTION

...American President Obama will initiate the big war and President Jeb Bush will accelerate it. During the American presidential election all citizens will agree that the big war for American dominance is a given and not up for debate. The flood gates of cash will be opened by the US Congress even as social security and safety net benefits are slashed. It has all been decided in advance....

ALTHOUGH, I COULD EQUALLY SEE HILLARY IN THE SUCCESSOR WARMONGER ROLE...SHE'D BE A NATURAL!

[DemReadingDU]

44. Or somebody taking revenge on the U.S.

There are many countries who hate the U.S. for their foreign policies. It wouldn't surprise me if one or more of them to take revenge on the U.S.

[Demeter]

52. Thing is, we can't win an armed conflict of aggression to conquer

Our soldiers aren't in the mood, and never have been, to take over somebody else's turf in perpetuity. They are the GOOD Americans. They know we don't have to mimic the Huns or the turks or any of those. We don't have to be the Romans of the Western Hemisphere....

Our people are not interested in that, either. This country is big enough, and has enough problems, that we don't need to make more for ourselves elsewhere, and riling up natives is a SURE way to get other people taking revenge on us.

the only people interested are the Corporations. They don't actually want to own or govern other nations, they just want the army to hold the other nations still long enough to plunder them.

But that's not how business works: plundering your future customers is never a winning business plan. Enslaving you future customers is sure to turn them off to your "products" which they made with the sweat of their brows, to the detriment of their health, environment and family lives.

This is so simple...you would think at least some of those Harvard/Stanford/Yalies would catch a clue.

[Demeter]

19. House passes $585 billion bill to expand campaign in Syria, Iraq

http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_27070534/house-passes-585-billion-bill-expand-campaign-syria

The Republican-controlled House on Thursday approved a $585 billion defense policy bill that grants President Barack Obama the authority to expand the U.S. military campaign against Islamic terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

The vote was 300-119, a reflection of the popularity of the sweeping, bipartisan measure that authorizes funds for American troops as well as ships, planes and other war-fighting equipment...The measure heads to the Senate, where passage is expected next week, although some GOP senators are angry over the bill's unrelated provisions to expand wilderness areas.

The legislation endorses Obama's latest request to Congress in the 4-month-old war against terrorists who brutally rule large sections of Iraq and Syria. The bill provides $5 billion for the increased operation of airstrikes and the dispatch of up to 1,500 more American service members. It also reauthorizes the Pentagon plan to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels battling the forces of President Bashar Assad, with that mandate expiring Dec. 11. The legislation would extend that authority for two years.

Still, war-weary lawmakers expressed unease about a slippery slope for the military after years of conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq....

UNEASE? THERE MUST BE A PILL FOR THAT...PROBABLY AN ILLEGAL, MIND-ALTERING DRUG

[Demeter]

20. Early next year for reassessment of ECB policies' impact - Draghi

THAT'S IF THERE IS A NEXT YEAR, OF COURSE....AND A EUROZONE ECONOMY!

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/12/04/uk-ecb-rates-decision-idUKKCN0JI19R20141204

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday the bank would reassess the impact of its monetary policy stimulus early next year and take further action if necessary. He also told a news conference the level of technical preparation for further measures -- widely believed to include quantitative easing sovereign bond buying -- has been stepped up.

"Early next year, the Governing Council will reassess the monetary stimulus achieved, the expansion of the balance sheet and the outlook for price stability, the outlook for price developments," Draghi said.

"We will also evaluate the broader impact of recent oil price developments on medium-term inflation trends in the euro area. Should it become necessary to further address risks of too prolonged a period of low inflation, the Governing Council remains unanimous in its commitment to using additional unconventional instruments within its mandate."

The bank has already cut borrowing costs to record lows, given cheap loans to banks and started buying reparcelled debt to kick-start lending and bolster growth.

[Demeter]

21. Oil and OPEC: This Time is Not as Different as You Think It Is

THAT'S WHY THE PRICE OF OIL IS FALLING: TO MAKE WWIII AFFORDABLE TO THE AVERAGE US FIGHTER JET

http://blogs.cfr.org/levi/2014/12/01/oil-and-opec-this-time-is-not-as-different-as-you-think-it-is/

The plunge in oil prices late last week, following an OPEC announcement that its members won’t cut their oil production now, has analysts scrambling to outdo each other with hyperbole. It is a “new era” for oil as OPEC has “thrown in the towel”. We are now in a “new world of oil” as the “sun sets on OPEC dominance”.

The oil price decline since June is no doubt big and consequential. And U.S. shale is indeed a major new force on the energy scene. But there is nothing particularly unusual about how OPEC acted last week. It would be wrong to conclude that last week’s news decisively signals an end to the last decade or so of OPEC behavior.

One need go no further back than the last big oil price plunge to see a similarly modest initial response from OPEC countries to a plunge in oil prices. After oil prices peaked at $145 per barrel in July 2008, they fell rapidly. On September 10, with the oil price at $96, OPEC declared a production cut, only for Saudi Arabia to announce within hours that it would ignore the agreement, rendering it meaningless. Indeed according to International Energy Agency (IEA) data, Kuwait, Angola, Iran, and Libya all expanded production in October of that year, while Saudi Arabia pared back output by mere fifty thousand barrels a day. Prices continued to fall. It took until an emergency meeting on October 25, with prices at $60, for OPEC to announce a real cut – and even that was not commensurate with the shortfall in global demand, leading prices to drop further. It was only in late December, as oil fell through the $40 mark, that OPEC countries finally cut production enough to put a floor on oil prices.

Did OPEC countries usher in a new era of complete inaction when, with oil trading at $75 in early October 2008, they failed to cut production and stop the fall? Or when, at $50, they let prices continue to decline? Of course not: later events showed otherwise....

WHATEVER

[Demeter]

23. Oil just plunged to Great-Recession levels U.S. oil benchmark at level last seen 5+ years ago

https://secure.marketwatch.com/story/oil-just-plunged-to-great-recession-levels-2014-12-05?siteid=YAHOOB

?uuid=25a667a2-7cc2-11e4-a6d3-f2a6f8b4e2d2

The U.S. oil benchmark on Friday settled at levels last seen in mid-2009.

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Talk about an oil slick. Few seem to know how much further crude prices can fall, lately. The most recent slide is to levels last seen in mid-2009.

The U.S. crude benchmark slumped to a five-year low on Friday, as shown in the included chart. It settled at $65.84 a barrel — its lowest level since July 2009, back when the U.S. economy was far from recovering from the Great Recession. WTI has tumbled 33% in the year to date, and it’s off 55% from its record high of $145.29 hit in July 2008, according to the markets data group at Dow Jones.

Oil prices have been hammered lately by factors such as OPEC deciding not to reduce production, a strengthening dollar and Saudi Arabia cutting January prices for U.S. and Asian buyers. Read more: Oil hit by rallying greenback, Saudi price cut

The European oil benchmark on Friday also settled at its lowest level in more than five years, with Brent crude for January delivery ending at $69.07 a barrel. That was the lowest settlement for a front-month contract since October 2009, and Brent is down 38% in the year to date.

[Demeter]

63. More than $150 bln of oil projects face the axe in 2015

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/05/oil-investment-idUSL6N0TO47H20141205

Global oil and gas exploration projects worth more than $150 billion are likely to be put on hold next year as plunging oil prices render them uneconomic, data shows, potentially curbing supplies by the end of the decade.

As big oil fields that were discovered decades ago begin to deplete, oil companies are trying to access more complex and hard to reach fields located in some cases deep under sea level. But at the same time, the cost of production has risen sharply given the rising cost of raw materials and the need for expensive new technology to reach the oil.

Now the outlook for onshore and offshore developments - from the Barents Sea to the Gulf or Mexico - looks as uncertain as the price of oil, which has plunged by 40 percent in the last five months to around $70 a barrel.

Next year companies will make final investment decisions (FIDs) on a total of 800 oil and gas projects worth $500 billion and totalling nearly 60 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to data from Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy.

But with analysts forecasting oil to average $82.50 a barrel next year, around one third of the spending, or a fifth of the volume, is unlikely to be approved, head of analysis at Rystad Energy Per Magnus Nysveen said.

"At $70 a barrel, half of the overall volumes are at risk," he said....

MORE

[Demeter]

22. Trading of the 30-year Treasury halted during jobs report

https://secure.marketwatch.com/story/trading-of-the-30-year-treasury-halted-during-jobs-report-2014-12-05?siteid=YAHOOB

The CME temporarily halted trading of some U.S. Treasury futures Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., just as the Labor Department was releasing its November nonfarm payrolls report due to a lack of liquidity. Despite the brief trading halt and liquidity issues, which have been an issue in the Treasury market, bond prices were not significantly affected.

Alex Gorbokon, a spokesman for CME Group, said that at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, the March 30-year futures contract experienced a so-called stop-logic event, which occurs when a market is halted as a result of stop orders. Stop orders can sometimes exaggerate price movements during times of illiquidity and can move the price beyond an established value. Stop logic events prevent trades from occurring typically for five to 10 seconds, but new orders can be accepted and indicative opening prices can be accepted.

“It was illiquidity,” offered Eric Hunsader, who runs market research and trading firm Nanex. He said that stop logic events sometimes happen during periods of heavy trading traffic.

Such trading halts have occurred in the past. The Treasury futures market experienced a similar pause in January of this year as the nonfarm payrolls report for December was released.

TALK ABOUT LACK OF CONTEXT!

[Demeter]

24. Feds to Employers: You Can’t Dump Sick Workers Onto Obamacare

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-12-05/obamacare-feds-tell-employers-not-to-dump-sick-workers#r=rss

A loophole touted as a way for employers to wiggle out of the Affordable Care Act’s insurance mandate has been closed. What happened?

Officials got wind that some employers planned to bypass the mandate by giving their workers bonuses, asking them to decline company-sponsored insurance and sending them to the Obamacare marketplaces to buy subsidized policies. Nudging sick workers, in particular, onto the exchanges could save employers’ health plans money and shift the cost onto publicly subsidized plans. The Labor Department published new guidelines in November to explicitly forbid that practice.

Why did employers think they could get out of a federal mandate?

“Brokers were running around selling this idea that employers could give everybody a raise and say, ‘Go, get the tax credit, knock yourselves out,’ and they wouldn’t pay a penalty. Go figure—the IRS got wise to that,” says Keith McMurdy, a partner in the employee benefit division at Fox Rothschild, a law firm in New York City.

Hasn’t there been confusion around the employer mandate in general?

That probably hasn’t helped. Under the Affordable Care Act, so-called large employers—those with more than 50 employees—were supposed to offer insurance or pay penalties starting this year. But the Obama administration pushed that deadline back repeatedly after the bungled rollout of health insurance exchanges in late 2013. In fact, those delays are being challenged in the Republicans’ recent lawsuit against the administration.

So which companies are mandated to offer insurance—and when?

Companies with 100 or more full-time employees (or the equivalent in part-timers) must offer health insurance starting on Jan. 1, 2015. Those with 50 to 99 workers will fall under the mandate in 2016. Businesses with fewer than 50 workers have always been exempt.

How many companies thought they could take advantage of the loophole?

The vast majority of businesses with more than 50 employees already provide insurance. But there were business owners planning to give employees raises and send them to state or federal individual insurance marketplaces, McMurdy says. “More than I anticipated, based on the feedback I got. You cannot believe the number of people who called me” after a newsletter in which he wrote about the guidelines was published. “It was like, ‘Holy c––– —this screws up my whole plan!’”

Why so much effort trying to skirt the mandate—why not just bite the bullet and buy the insurance?

McMurdy has asked the same question at the seminars he does for business owners in New York and New Jersey. “There’s been a lot of resistance because they’re starting from the proposition that this mandate will kill them. I tell people if they spent as much time figuring out how to comply as they did avoiding compliance, they wouldn’t have an issue.”

[Demeter]

25. We'll pick it up in the morning...g'night, folks!

VISIONS OF SUGAR PLUMS TO ALL!

[MattSh]

28. Ukrainian court upholds ruling to nationalize two Russian pipelines

These are not the natural gas pipelines you hear about all the time. These transport regular oil

MOSCOW, November 26 (RAPSI) – An appeals court in the town of Rivne in western Ukraine has upheld the ruling to seize 1,400 kilometers of two transit oil products pipelines owned by a company under control of Russia's Transneft, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday, citing Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office.

Ukrainian authorities carried out an inspection which showed that the pipelines were owned in violation of the law by a company which is a subsidiary of Transnefteproduct, Russia’s operator of oil products pipelines, affiliated with Transneft, according to Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office.

Ukrainian courts initially dismissed the case, but the Higher Administrative Court in Kiev ruled that it might be considered by the appeals court which sided with Prosecutor General’s Office.

Transneft CEO Nikolay Tokarev said in October that the company would cease transportation of oil products through Ukraine if its authorities seize the pipelines.

Complete story at - http://www.rapsinews.com/judicial_news/20141126/272661380.html

[MattSh]

29. Russian Prime Minister Calls for Complete Ban of GMO Food, Wants Organic Production

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev recently announced that Russia will no longer import GMO products, stating that the nation has enough space, and enough resources to produce organic food.

If the Americans like to eat GMO products, let them eat it then. We don’t need to do that; we have enough space and opportunities to produce organic food.” – Medvedev

Russia has been considering joining the long list (and continually growing) of anti-GMO countries for quite some time now. It does so after a group of Russian scientists urged the government to consider at least a 10-year moratorium on GMOs to thoroughly study their influence on human health.

“It is necessary to ban GMOs, to impose moratorium (on) it for 10 years. While GMOs will be prohibited, we can plan experiments, tests, or maybe even new methods of research could be developed. It has been proven that not only in Russia, but also in many other countries in the world, GMOs are dangerous. Methods of obtaining the GMOs are not perfect, therefore, at this stage, all GMOs are dangerous. Consumption and use of GMOs obtained in such way can lead to tumors, cancers and obesity among animals. Bio-technologies certainly should be developed, but GMOs should be stopped. We should stop it from spreading. ” – Irina Ermakova,VP of Russia’s National Association for Genetic Safety

Complete story at - http://russia-insider.com/en/politics_business_society/2014/11/20/07-05-51pm/russia_completely_bans_gmos

[xchrom]

30. France Is About To Pay $60 Million In Compensation For Deportations During The Holocaust

http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-france-to-pay-60-mn-to-us-for-nazi-rail-deportations-2014-12

Washington (AFP) - In a landmark deal, France will pay $60 million to the United States to be shared among American and foreign nationals deported to Nazi death camps on French trains in World War II.

The agreement, unveiled Friday and which has been at least two years in the making, should now remove obstacles to the French rail firm SNCF seeking to bid on major railway contracts in the US, including in the state of Maryland.

"The US and France have reached a historic agreement for substantial compensation in connection with the deportations from France during the Holocaust," US negotiator Stuart Eizenstat said.

"This is another measure of justice for the harms of one of history's darkest eras," he told reporters, adding it was a good example of the close US-French partnership.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-france-to-pay-60-mn-to-us-for-nazi-rail-deportations-2014-12#ixzz3L7W3R2qG

[Demeter]

36. ...after practically every victim is dead!

[xchrom]

31. GAS PRICES BELOW $2 A GALLON IN TEXAS, OKLAHOMA

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TWO_DOLLAR_GASOLINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-12-05-14-53-58

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- Gas has dropped below $2 a gallon at a handful of stations in Oklahoma and Texas this week, a level that a price-watching group said Friday was the lowest in the nation and a bargain that's proven irresistible to some long lines of drivers coming from miles away to fill up.

A station in Oklahoma City started the trend earlier this week at a new location as a way to thank residents who put up with construction. Two nearby stations followed suit, becoming what Patrick DeHaan with GasBuddy.com said early Friday were the only ones in the United States with sub-$2 gas. A San Antonio, Texas, station also later dropped its price.

"When I first saw it, I thought it was a misprint," said Marcus Hendricks, a student who lives in south Oklahoma City, at the OnCue Express in southeast Oklahoma City, where the price was $1.99 per gallon for gas with a 10 percent blend of ethanol. "There were so many cars it looked they were giving something away for free. They practically are."

The nationwide average for a gallon of gas was $2.71 Friday, nearly $1 below this year's peak of $3.70 in June. Gas hasn't been this cheap since October 2010. The decline has been driven by falling global oil prices as supplies are high. Benchmark U.S. crude oil fell 68 cents to $66.11 a barrel in New York on Friday, after hitting $107 in June.

[xchrom]

32. UN: CLIMATE CHANGE COSTS TO POOR UNDERESTIMATED

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_CLIMATE_CHANGE_IMPACT_COSTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-12-05-17-40-22

LIMA, Peru (AP) -- The cost to poor countries of adjusting to ever-hotter temperatures will be two or even three times higher than previously thought, the U.N.'s environment agency said Friday - and that assumes a best-case scenario in which greenhouse gas emissions are dramatically reduced.

"If you don't cut emissions, we're just going to have to ask for more money because the damage is going to be worse," Ronald Jumeau of the Seychelles said at U.N. climate talks.

The report was bound to sharpen disputes in Lima over who pays the bills for the impacts of global warming, whose primary cause is the burning of coal, oil and gas but which also includes deforestation. It has long been the thorniest issue at the U.N. negotiations, now in their 20th round.

Rich countries have pledged to help the developing world convert to clean energy and adapt to shifts in global weather that are already adversely affecting crops, human health and economies. But poor countries say they're not seeing enough cash.

[xchrom]

33. Goldman Needs Volcker Delay to Avoid Private-Equity Losses

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-05/goldman-may-dodge-private-equity-losses-with-volcker-reprieve.html


Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) has $7 billion invested in private equity that it might have to sell at a loss. For Morgan Stanley (MS), it’s $2.5 billion.

The big sums explain why Wall Street has been lobbying regulators to delay a July deadline for complying with the Volcker Rule, which restricts banks from investing in private equity as part of a ban on making market bets with their own capital.

Banks argue that if they dump holdings quickly, they will have to accept discount prices. Analysts and lawyers for the financial industry say Wall Street’s concerns have begun to make headway with the Federal Reserve, which plans to decide on an extension soon.

“There’s considerable pressure the Fed is feeling in that they don’t want institutions to have a bloodbath trying to divest funds,” said Kevin Petrasic, a partner in the global banking practice of Paul Hastings LLP in Washington. “The Fed has been indicating flexibility.”

[MattSh]

34. Investigation: Serial Lottery winners raise questions

Some people seem to have all the luck. And in New Jersey, some of the luckiest people are retailers who sell lottery tickets.

Or so it appears from the New Jersey Lottery's list of winners.

An Asbury Park Press review of Lottery claims submitted since 2009 found that half of the 20 most frequent prizewinners are either licensed lottery retailers or family members of store operators.

As a group, those 10 people collected 840 prizes totaling almost $1.8 million, the Press found. About 70 percent of these payouts were for winning Pick 4 tickets, where the odds of winning the top prize are 1 in 10,000.

Odd? The New Jersey Lottery thinks so. It says it's investigating some of the people on the Press' list to see if they're actually cashing in other player's winning tickets, a common but unlawful practice across the country called ticket discounting. When this happens, the real winners may be avoiding having to pay child support judgments, taxes or other government debts that are required to be taken out of their winnings. The discounter takes a cut of the prize, usually 20 percent or more.

Complete story at - http://www.app.com/story/news/investigations/2014/12/05/nj-lottery-investigation-ticket-discounting/19948363/

[xchrom]

35. Wells Fargo Breaks Citigroup’s 2001 Record for Bank Value

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-05/wells-fargo-breaks-citigroup-s-2001-record-for-bank-value.html


Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) finished trading yesterday as the most valuable U.S. bank ever, surpassing Citigroup Inc. (C)’s 2001 record.

Wells Fargo closed with a market capitalization of $285.5 billion, based on 5.19 billion shares outstanding on Oct. 31, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That beats the previous record set by Citigroup on Feb. 5, 2001, when its value reached $283.4 billion, the data show.

Wells Fargo, which counts Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) as its largest shareholder, doubled its size in 2008 by outmaneuvering New York-based Citigroup to purchase Wachovia Corp. Chief Executive Officer John Stumpf made one of out every four U.S. mortgages last year and now oversees the most U.S. bank branches.

“Our focus is on doing what is right for our customers every day, and we are pleased our investors place their confidence in Wells Fargo,” Ancel Martinez, a bank spokesman, said in a statement.

[Demeter]

37. Ukraine's Reserves Plunge 20% In One Month, Drop Below $10 Billion To Lowest In A Decade

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-05/ukraines-reserves-plunge-20-one-month-drop-below-10-billion-lowest-decade

Things for Ukraine are going from bad to worse.

Following the revelation that Ukraine's sovereign gold has mysteriously been Corzined, following a stunning admission by central bank governor Valeriya Gontareva on primetime TV that "in the vaults of the central bank there is almost no gold left. There is a small amount of gold bullion left, but it's just 1% of reserves" which however left many questions unanswered and which led to prompt legal action against the central bank governor who is being charged with criminal abuse of power and misuse of office under Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, one would think that at least Ukraine's dollar reserves would have increased by a modestly proportional, if not market equivalent, amount.

Alas, that is not the case.

As the central bank reported overnight, the country's foreign-currency (and gold reserves) dropped by over 21% in one month, to under $10 billion in November for the first time in nearly a decade due to large payments for debt and gas, from $12.6 billion to $9.966 billion.

The reason for the drop per the CB:

A reduction of $1.45 billion due to the need to remit a portion of funds that Naftogaz of Ukraine has set aside in a restricted account with the National Bank of Ukraine in order to settle gas bills and arrears with Gazprom OJSC for natural gas imported in November-December 2013 (it remains to be seen if Gazprom confirm receipt or if the funds were merely wired... somewhere).

A reduction of $897 million due to repayment and service Ukraine's foreign currency debt obligations, including the installment due to the IMF.

Lastly, a reduction of $573 million as a result of intervention in the foreign exchange market.

As the WSJ comments, the bank’s announcement makes clear that the country is running out of the cash it needs to prop up the currency and pay back its debts, suggesting it needs more assistance from the West to avoid a default.

Ukraine’s coffers have emptied this year as its economy has shrunk and its national currency, the hryvnia, has lost around half its value against the U.S. dollar.

Ukrainian officials and analysts say Ukraine urgently needs a boost to its $17-billion lending program from the International Monetary Fund to prop up its finances. That comes amid a fresh push to stop the armed conflict with Russia-backed rebels after previous efforts have floundered.

And yet, as a result of recently souring relations between Ukraine and Europe, notably Germany, it is becoming increasingly unlikely that Europe, which has major economic problems of its own, will be supporting the country which, as we saw earlier this week, is well on its way to becoming the latest (vassal) state of the US, now that a US Citizen, Natalie Jaresko, has been appointed the country's Finance Minister (which as we reported yesterday led to fights in the Ukraine parliament as the locals finally realize they got the short end of the stick in their negotiations with the US). Meaning it would be up to the US to continue providing the funding to keep the Ukraine US-puppet government going, in exchange for which the only quid-pro-quo remains a western-backed army preventing a Russian onslaught in the Ukraine and, of course, providing Joe Biden's son with a director seat on one of the biggest local energy companies. Surely, for national security reasons.

Meanwhile, as the civil-war-ravaged nation is about to enter the depths of winter, with its reserves evaporating at a torrid pace, the next thing Ukraine's tortured population has to look forward to is hyperinflation as its currency begins losing even more of what little value it has left: first slowly, and then all of a sudden.

Now if only Ukraine had some gold left to sell when the rainy days hit...


SORRY, MATT. WISH I HAD BETTER NEWS....

[MattSh]

50. Ukrainians seem to have an answer to this though...

Ukrainians refuse to pay utility bills | Ukraina.ru

Ukraine’s statistics service reports that the total utility bill debt in the country adds up to 11.8 billion hryvnias

The hot water debt is some 5.5 billion hryvnias and the gas debt is about 2 billion.

Oleksandr Okhrimenko, president of the Ukrainian Analytical Center, commented on the situation on Facebook: "As might have been expected, fewer people paid their utility bills in October 2014. Simply said, they prefer to not pay at all."

Okhrimenko believes that this is only the beginning of a 'silent protest' against the 60 percent increase in utility rates which is supposed to be introduced on January 1, 2015.

An increase in the utility rates, including the residential gas prices (which were earlier subsided by the government) is one of the key requirements of the International Monetary Fund and a condition for another tranche of an IMF loan.

Complete story at - http://en.ukraina.ru/news/20141204/1011377420.html

If this spreads, and it will, it pretty much guarantees that Ukraine will default.

[Demeter]

38. The 2014 Black Friday Shopping Massacre

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-05/2014-black-friday-shopping-massacre

It is no secret to properly informed readers that the U.S. economy is mired in a Greater Depression. All claims of economic growth and a “U.S. recovery” are nothing more than a flimsy fraud. This fiction requires nothing more than lying about the rate of inflation, as all estimates of GDP are directly derived from the official rate of inflation.


US Black Friday Sales

Lying about the rate of inflation is an activity which comes more naturally to the central bankers and our corrupt governments than breathing. While soaring inflation (particularly food/housing costs) cripples the standard of living for the Working Poor and the shell-shocked remnants of the Middle Class; the Liars report near-zero inflation, and lament that inflation is now “too low”. All that is missing are the crocodile tears...What needs to be understood here is that this Great Inflation Lie pollutes/distorts most of the economic propaganda, what these corrupt governments call “statistics”. Nowhere is this more obvious than with respect to the grossly fraudulent reporting on “retail sales” and/or “consumer spending”. Neither of these so-called statistics is ever deflated by the rate of inflation. This was true even back in the years when our governments weren’t trying to pretend that inflation is “near-zero”.

(For those readers who don’t follow the math here; all reports of sales/spending need to be “deflated” by the (real) rate of inflation, meaning that the rate of inflation must be subtracted from these (nominal) sales/spending numbers. A simple numerical example will illustrate this: Let’s suppose that the government reports “an increase in retail sales” (measured in dollars) of 10%. But the government also previously reported a rate of inflation of 6%. Thus out of this total increase in dollars (of retail sales), the actual increase in sales was only 4% (10% – 6%). Because prices increased by 6% from one year ago; most of that increase in dollars of sales was merely the higher prices caused by inflation. Armed with this understanding; we can now translate the lies of the Corporate media, and our corrupt governments, in this case the annual Big Lie about U.S. “Black Friday” shopping. The official propaganda acknowledges that this year’s numbers are bad, but adds (of course) that once “properly explained”, the bad news is actually good news....)

Consumer spending during America’s Thanksgiving weekend dropped compared with last year, but the decline can be attributed to an improving economy and changing shopping habits, a survey found Sunday.

Now observe precisely the same information being reported by a media outlet outside of the mainstream monopoly:

Even after doling out discounts on electronics and clothes, retailers struggled to entice shoppers to Black Friday sales events, putting pressure on the industry as it heads into the final weeks of the holiday season.

Spending tumbled by an estimated 11 percent over the weekend, the Washington-based National Retail Federation said yesterday. And more than 6 million shoppers who had been expected to hit stores never showed up…

Doesn’t look nearly as pretty without the Corporate media’s sugar-coating, does it? But it looks much worse once we factor inflation into this equation, to produce a real estimate on 2014 Black Friday shopping...Back in the real world, where people regularly eat food (especially in the Obese States of America); inflation is somewhere close to 10%, if not above that. Even though the nominal sales figure here is already a negative number, we still must subtract the rate of inflation from it, because this nominal number is still measuring the increase in prices from 2013. When we subtract a realistic estimate of inflation, once we get even close to 10%, suddenly -11% becomes -20%. Black Friday shopping in the U.S. this year plummeted by 20% (or more). In the realm of economics; a year-over-year change of that magnitude is not a plunge, it is a collapse. But even this reporting is still relatively superficial. What needs to be supplied here to put this horrific number into true focus is to add context. Specifically, we need to factor-in all of the horrible shopping years in the U.S. which have come before this. This is not some one-year horror story, this is a cumulative, gigantic collapse. Since the Crash of ’08 – the final death-blow to an already crippled economy – there has not been a single shopping season where the “increase in sales” has been equal to the rate of inflation. Put another way; in real dollars (i.e. subtracting inflation) retail sales have fallen every year. Every year, U.S. retailers are selling less and less goods in a consumer economy. Now, after six consecutive, cumulative bad years (and a couple of those years were also terrible); we see Black Friday shopping plummeting by an additional 20%. For much of the U.S. retail sector; retailers are now selling half as many goods as they were selling before the Crash of ’08.

The exception to this disastrous trend has been the luxury retailers. With the Fat Cats at the top fatter than they have ever been at any time in history; life is just fine for those selling high-end, luxury goods. But the relatively strong numbers for the luxury retailers are included in all aggregate sales figures.

This means our “-20%” estimate underestimates the shopping carnage for all non-luxury retailers in the U.S. However, we need to add even more economic context, in order to properly frame this disastrous collapse in Black Friday shopping within the overall train-wreck that is the U.S. economy....This is an economy with permanent near-zero interest rates. In even a semi-functional economy; near-zero interest rates would produce such explosive economic growth that a government would be forced to quickly raise interest rates, as the economy would rapidly “overheat”. Six years of near-zero interest rates, and no growth is not indicative of an economy which is dying. It is conclusive proof of a dead economy. Then we have oil prices. In the Great Gas-Guzzling Society; the one sure-fire means to trigger an immediate spurt of economic activity/growth in the U.S. was to push down oil prices (through one form of generally illegal manipulation or another). However, in 2014 we have a first in modern U.S. economic history: a plunge in gasoline prices accompanied by a plunge in economic activity. Note the recent headline:

U.S. households could save $1,100 from falling gas prices

American households had an additional $1,100 apiece put into their pockets (just in time to all go shopping), and even with all that extra cash there was a nominal plunge in spending of 11% from one year ago – and a collapse of 20+% in real dollars...

How do we know that the U.S. (consumer) economy is dead? Because the U.S. consumer is dead. And for those of us north of the border; (thanks to Harper the Destroyer) the Canadian economy is simply a sickly, surreal echo of the U.S. economy.


US Employment


US Debt


US Corporate Profits

[Demeter]

39. The Next Crash in 2016

There is still one more piece-to-the-puzzle which needs to be added here. Regular readers will be familiar with a “prediction” (simple deduction?) made in a recent commentary:

Because this orchestrated collapse is specifically designed to be timed with the U.S. election cycle; the Old World Order clearly intends to continue with its inane fiction that the U.S. economy is still “recovering”. This means that even though it is already D.O.A.; nothing can/will be done to strengthen this Corpse Economy – because to do so would mean contradicting their own propaganda.

Not only is the U.S. economy already dead, but we can be virtually certain that the corpse will be allowed to rot for nearly two more years.

AND I HAVE YET TO SEE A CANDIDATE FOR OFFICE WHO INTENDS TO ADMIT TO THE FACT, OR DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT...THAT WAS OBAMA'S CAMPAIGN, AND WE ALL KNOW HOW THAT TURNED OUT...

[DemReadingDU]

43. Timed for 2016?

With all the craziness in the world, anything could trigger an event that could caused the crash. Or maybe nothing would crash, just the shutdown of all the markets in fear of a crash.

[Demeter]

53. I don't think this is anyone's plan--except a plan to fail at some point

If one removes the foundations of a structure, bit by bit, eventually there isn't enough foundation left and the whole thing crashes down.

The thieves thought they could steal a bit here, and there, and nobody would notice....because they had paid off or suborned the cops on the beat...

and now, it's all over but the screaming, wailing and gnashing of teeth, as the citizenry are reduced to living in the ruins of a once-great economy and a once-admired nation.

[Demeter]

40. The Biggest Bubble in History is About to Pop

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-05/biggest-bubble-history-about-pop

If you are an investor, your big concern should not be about what to do about stocks… but what happens when the bond bubble goes bust...For 30+ years, Western countries have been papering over the decline in living standards by issuing debt. In its simplest rendering, sovereign nations spent more than they could collect in taxes, so they issued debt (borrowed money) to fund their various welfare schemes. This was usually sold as a “temporary” issue. But as politicians have shown us time and again, overspending is never a temporary issue. Today, a whopping 47% of American households receive some kind of Government benefit. This is not temporary… this is endemic.

All of this is spending is being financed by borrowed money… hence, the bond bubble, the biggest bubble in financial history: an incredible $100 trillion monster that is now growing by trillions of dollars every few months. We do not write that point for effect. The US alone has issued over $1 trillion in NEW debt in the last eight weeks. The reasons it did this? Because it doesn’t have the money to pay off the debt that is coming due from the past… so it simply issues NEW debt to raise the money to pay back the OLD debt.

Sounds a lot like a Ponzi scheme… but the US is not alone in this regard. Globally, the sovereign debt bubble is over $100 trillion in size. Just about every major nation on the planet is sporting a Debt to GDP ratio of 100%+ and that is just including “on the balance sheet” debts… not unfunded liabilities like Medicare or Social Security. This is why the Fed and every other Central Bank on earth is terrified of interest rates rising; because anything even resembling the normalization of interest rates would mean entire countries going bust.

Remember when interest rates move, they tend to move quickly. Consider Italy. It was considered one of the pillars of the EU since it adopted the Euro in 1999. Because of this, the markets were happy to allow Italy to borrow at stable rates with the yield on the ten year Italy government bond well below 5% for most of the last decade. Then, in the span of a few weeks, everything came unhinged and the yields on Italy government bonds spiked, rising over 7%: the dreaded level at which a country is considered to be insolvent and set for default. It was only through extraordinary lending mechanisms from the European Central bank (the LTRO 1 and LTRO 2 programs to the tune of hundreds of billions of Euros… for an economy that is €2 trillion in size) that Italy was saved from potential systemic collapse. Again, Italy went from being a former pillar of Europe to insolvent in a matter of weeks… all because interest rates spiked a mere 2% higher than usual.

Italy is not alone here. Western nations in general are in a similar state. This is why QE has been such a popular monetary tool for the Central Banks (since 2008 they’ve spent $11 trillion buying assets, usually sovereign bonds). QE was never meant to create jobs or generate economic growth… it was a desperate ploy by Central Banks to put a floor under the bond market so rates wouldn’t rise. It’s also why Central Banks have kept interest rates at zero or even negative: again, they cannot afford to have rates rise. In the US, every 1% increase in interest rates means between $150-$175 billion more in interest payments on our debt per year.

Forget stocks, forget your concerns about this or that valuation metric, the REAL issue is what happens when the Bond Bubble pops. When that happens it won’t be individual banks going bust, it will be ENTIRE NATIONS.

[Demeter]

41. Russia warns France on warship commitment

http://gulftoday.ae/portal/2d5ca85e-de58-4817-8957-a03d63d682e6.aspx

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday warned France its reputation was on the line over the delivery of a controversial warship to Russia, which has been delayed due to the conflict in Ukraine. His comments came as Paris warned the two Mistral-class helicopter carriers it built for Russia may never be delivered, with a lasting ceasefire in war-torn eastern Ukraine so far proving elusive.

“I am a little fed up with this question. It is not our problem anymore, it is a problem of France’s reputation. They have to fulfil all the obligations under the contract,” Lavrov told journalists on the sidelines of an OSCE ministerial conference in Switzerland.

French President Francois Hollande last week again delayed “until further notice” the delivery of the first warship, a vast grey vessel named Vladivostok, which is currently anchored off western France. He said the “current situation in eastern Ukraine still does not allow for the delivery.”

Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday that Paris had not budged on its decision, even as warring parties announced a fresh truce from Dec.9. “For the moment we are not delivering. We may never deliver. The Russians need to realise this situation,” he said.

The final date for delivery has not been announced, but Hollande has insisted he will not give in to pressure and the contract has not yet been broken.

Moscow’s ambassador to France Alexandre Orlov said that if France did not want to deliver the ships, it should pay Russia back.

“The deadline in the contract has not yet expired,” he told Europe 1 radio. “The Mistral contract is a commercial contract, there are commitments from one party to pay and the other party to deliver. If one party does not want to deliver the merchandise it must reimburse” the other.

The first of the two assault ships — which can carry 16 helicopters, four landing crafts, 13 tanks, 450 soldiers and a hospital — was supposed to be delivered in November, according to the original deal signed in 2011. The Mistrals have placed France in a sticky situation. If it breaches the 1.2-billion-euro ($1.5-billion) contract with Russia it faces hefty fines. But it would also risk the wrath of its allies around the world if it were to deliver the hot-button technology to Russia at a time when Moscow is in the diplomatic deep-freeze over the Ukraine unrest.

[Demeter]

42. Anti-Russian sanctions ‘counterproductive’, not a solution – Italian FM

http://rt.com/news/211779-sanctions-counterproductive-germany-italy/

Penalizing Russia with sanctions is “not the solution” to the Ukrainian crisis, according to Italy’s foreign minister, who has joined a growing number of voices in Europe questioning the effectiveness of solving diplomatic issues with economic pressure. Although Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni deems sanctions against Russia a “necessary evil,” he believes they are “not the solution” to the crisis in Ukraine. He said he would prefer to see “dialogue at all levels” taking place. “We respect the sanctions, they are an instrument, but we need to arrive at a political solution,” Gentiloni told journalists in Rome. Gentiloni has also emphasized the importance of Russia as a business partner for Italy.

His predecessor, Franco Frattini, was last week even more forthright on Italy’s business ties with Russia. “How can you increase jobs and increase growth by decreasing trade with Russia?” he asked. Italy has been heavily affected economically by import bans on agricultural products imposed by Russia as counter-sanctions, Frattini said.

Anti-sanctions voices have lately been getting louder from Europe, which has seen its exports to Russia decline by one-fifth from January to September. The chairman of the Eastern Committee of German Economy, Eckhard Cordes does not like the trend. "We expect that the volume of exports fall by seven to eight billion euros in 2014,” Cordes told Passauer Neue Presse on Friday. “We are therefore still skeptical of the sanctions policy."

On Tuesday, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder lashed out at attempts to influence Russia through sanctions. “I don't think sanctions are helpful,” he said at the University of Regensburg. “The hope that through the sanctions you could apply enough pressure so that Russia will do what the west expects them to do, it's an illusion.”

Moscow has repeatedly said sanctions as a means to resolve the crisis in Ukraine are pointless, as Russia is already doing all it can in that respect. Sanctions are just a bad, outdated type of diplomacy, Russia has argued.

“Talking to Russia in the language of force is meaningless,” President Vladimir Putin told the Federal Assembly in his annual address Thursday.

“The deterrence policy was not invented yesterday, it has been always conducted toward our country, for decades, if not centuries,” Putin said. “Every time somebody considers Russia is becoming too powerful and independent, such instruments are turned on immediately.”

[DemReadingDU]

45. Eric Hunsader: How much does the stock market move during the day?

12/5/14 How much does the stock market move during the day?
Eric Hunsader @ Nanex

X-Axis is hour of day between 0 and 24 (midnight to midnight Eastern Time)
Y-Axis is price change in percent from 1 hour ago.
Each line shows how much the stock market moves (in percent) over the last hour during 1 trading day. The price of the active S&P 500 futures contract (the EMini) is used as a proxy of the U.S. stock market. The EMini has been the benchmark price of the U.S. market since the 1980s.

Note: the U.S. market opens at 9:30 and closes at 16:00. The EMini trades 24 hours (except for daily maintenance halts between 16:15 and 18:00).

High Frequency Trading (HFT) came about in 2007: has volatility increased or decreased from that time? Note the extreme volatility during the financial crisis (Fall 2008), around the time of the flash crash (May 6, 2010), during the US Debt downgrade (August 2011) and during the US Treasury flash crash (Oct 15, 2014)

&feature=youtu.be

[Demeter]

54. Very interesting...Where did you find this?

[DemReadingDU]

56. https://twitter.com/nanexllc

Some days I look at Twitter, and yesterday there was that neat animation!

Eric Scott Hunsader @nanexllc

https://twitter.com/nanexllc

[MattSh]

46. A New Version of an Old Christmas Song Is Going Viral — But You Shouldn’t Listen to It

A New Version of an Old Christmas Song Is Going Viral — But You Shouldn’t Listen to It | Wrong Kind of Green

November 18, 2014

By Derrick Clifton

Decades after the first “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” collected world-famous musicians to pity Africans, song cowriter Bob Geldof admitted that it was one of the worst songs in history. But four years later, Geldof resurrected the song — this time to help Africans dying of the Ebola virus. Released Monday, this latest version is still terrible.

Leave it to the cofounder of Live Aid to replicate what’s become an insanely damaging charity cliche during the past few decades. Geldof rounded up One Direction, Bono and more than a dozen other pop stars (Adele reportedly refused) to re-record the 1984 song and reinforce the idea that Africa really just needs some Western star power to make things right. The feel-good project is directed toward a good cause, but it’s so culturally tone deaf that it actively reduces the diverse experiences of African people to a basic racial trope: They live on a dark continent, waiting to be saved.

---> Video was here, but now it's not. It's at the link below though...

“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” asks a question about a holiday that the majority of people don’t even celebrate in countries affected by the Ebola virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the three West African countries with widespread Ebola transmission include Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia — two of which are predominately Muslim, so the holiday probably isn’t on the top of their minds. And the Christians in those countries say they do, in fact, know it’s Christmas.

But for Geldof and Midge Ure, the two white men from the United Kingdom who wrote the song, it’s easy to assume that everyone around the world is or should be paying close attention to a commercialized Christian holiday — and that if they aren’t, they’re in need of help. For a composition that’s purportedly supposed to help Ebola-ridden countries, that’s a shocking lack of actual awareness about the people you’re saving.

The song was originally written to address issues of famine and hunger, especially in Ethiopia. The lyrics painted a culturally diverse continent rich in various natural resources as one monolithic wasteland filled with doom and gloom. Africa was described as a place where nothing ever grows and where the “only water flowing is the bitter sting of tears.” Bono even belted, “Tonight, thank God it’s them instead of you.”

This time around, words that recall images of famine were instead replaced with sentiments rooted in common fears about Ebola. The stars sing of West Africa as a place where “a kiss of love can kill you, and there’s death in every tear.” It’s indeed true that Ebola can be transmitted through direct contact with various bodily fluids, but that doesn’t mean death is in every tear from a West African person. Sometimes, people just cry.

Complete story at - http://wrongkindofgreen.org/2014/12/05/a-new-version-of-an-old-christmas-song-is-going-viral-but-you-shouldnt-listen-to-it/

[antigop]

47. Musical Interlude: Amy Grant -- "Grown Up Christmas List"

[MattSh]

48. And The Biggest Winner From The OPEC Price War Is... | Zero Hedge

"This is a golden time window to acquire more strategic oil at lower costs," notes one Hong-Kong based analyst, as Bloomberg confirms what we have noted here and here, that China is emerging as the winner from OPEC’s battle with rival oil producers as the world’s biggest energy consumer stockpiles crude.

84 tankers remain en route to Chinese destinations...



As Bloomberg reports,

The dwindling number of investors still betting on a rebound in prices can at least count on Chinese demand. OPEC decided to maintain output targets even as a shale boom boosts U.S. production to the highest in more than three decades and causes a global supply glut. As crude extends its slump to the lowest level in more than four years, China is seeking to build a strategic petroleum reserve.

“This is a golden time window to acquire more strategic oil stockpiles at lower costs,” Gordon Kwan, the Hong Kong-based head of regional oil and gas research at Nomura Holdings Inc., wrote in an e-mail Nov. 28. China will be “a big beneficiary” from the OPEC decision, he said.

Complete story at - http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-12-01/and-biggest-winner-opec-price-war

[bread_and_roses]

49. "Following the economic crash in 2008, a rotten system was exposed. For a split second ... "

http://www.alternet.org/propaganda-has-triumphed-over-journalism-and-consequences-are-enormous

By John Pilger
Propaganda Has Triumphed over Journalism, and the Consequences Are Enormous

... Following the economic crash in 2008, a rotten system was exposed. For a split second the banks were lined up as crooks with obligations to the public they had betrayed.

But within a few months — apart from a few stones lobbed over excessive corporate “bonuses” — the message changed. The mugshots of guilty bankers vanished from the tabloids and something called “austerity” became the burden of millions of ordinary people. Was there ever a sleight of hand as brazen?

Today, many of the premises of civilised life in Britain are being dismantled in order to pay back a fraudulent debt – the debt of crooks. The “austerity” cuts are said to be £83 billion. That’s almost exactly the amount of tax avoided by the same banks and by corporations like Amazon and Murdoch’s News UK. Moreover, the crooked banks are given an annual subsidy of £100bn in free insurance and guarantees – a figure that would fund the entire National Health Service.

The economic crisis is pure propaganda. Extreme policies now rule Britain, the United States, much of Europe, Canada and Australia. Who is standing up for the majority? Who is telling their story? Who’s keeping record straight? Isn’t that what journalists are meant to do?

This, along with much else ... on the endless wars, the out - and -out lies propagated Russia, Latin America, the Mideast ...

[MattSh]

51. US gas (from fracking) was supposed to save Ukraine and Europe?

Besides, fracking, even in the USA, is quickly becoming uneconomical.

Does anybody these days think before they act, or is doing stupid stuff the order of the day?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Ukraine’s plan to diminish its energy dependence on Russia is adrift in the Bosporus Strait.

The nation, which gets half its gas from Russia, wants to build a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Black Sea and held talks with Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG:US) to import U.S. cargoes. The only path to the terminal is through Istanbul’s 17-mile waterway.

Turkey doesn’t allow LNG shipments through the Bosporus because of safety concerns and congestion. The strait is about half a mile wide at its narrowest point and classified as a maritime chokepoint, among the most difficult to navigate.

“If Turkey were to agree to LNG ships transiting the Bosporus to deliver fuel to Ukraine, other states in the Black Sea would also want to invest in their own terminals,” Michelle Berman, the head of shipping and freight research at Business Monitor International in London, wrote in an e-mail Nov. 27. “This would lead to a considerable ramp up in the volume of traffic passing through the already congested Bosporus.”

Ukraine’s LNG plans may be further complicated by Russia’s decision this week to scrap its $45 billion South Stream gas pipeline to Europe, favoring instead a Black Sea link to Turkey. Strengthening ties between Russia and Turkey may make it even less likely that the government in Ankara would open up the Bosporus to LNG tankers. Russia already supplies 59 percent of Turkey’s gas.

Complete story at - http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-12-03/shipping-chokepoint-strangles-ukraine-hopes-for-u-dot-s-dot-lng

[Demeter]

55. Engineers think...but nobody listens to them. Ask Dilbert!

Nobody's Planning For Failure--the Hopium has rotted out their critical thinking skills.

[Demeter]

57. In other news...

when I went to rehearsal this morning for the pick-up choir, I found out that the performance is tomorrow afternoon....

I had been giving this last-minute scheduled item maybe 1% of my attention since it started. But it's all good. Got the costume, music, rehearsed, map, all is in order for 3 PM Sunday.

We are singing a little ditty (in English) which is NOT a translation of any kind to this piece:

Our accompanying orchestra are some brave and daring middle school students, augmented with a few veterans. They did a bang-up job in rehearsal. We had maybe a third of the chorus show up, but I'm not worried.

[Demeter]

58. Obamacare: A Guide for the Self-Employed

Open enrollment for 2015 health insurance under the Affordable Care Act starts Saturday, Nov. 15. Here’s what self-employed business owners should know:

Will the online signup system actually work this year?

“One would hope so, but all we can do is guess until it actually goes live,” says Michael Mahoney, senior vice president at GoHealth, a private health insurance exchange that facilitates signups through the state and federal marketplaces. “We’ve been working hand-in-hand over the summer and they’ve made a lot of improvements. Of course, the bar was set really low last year.”

THAT'S ALL, SHE WROTE....IF YOU CAN STAND IT, READ THE REST AT:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-13/obamacare-a-guide-for-the-self-employed

[Demeter]

59. Obamacare's Problem With Patients as Shoppers

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-14/obamacare-the-problem-with-patients-as-shoppers

In the next three months, as many as 13 million Americans are expected to shop for health insurance policies in the Obamacare marketplaces, counting people who signed up last year and millions shopping for the first time. They’ll mostly be buying plans with high deductibles—typically they’ll have to pay more than $2,000 for medical care before the insurance policy takes over. That means that after they shop for health plans, they’ll have an incentive to shop around for medical care, too.

All this shopping is a big departure from how Americans used to get health care. For most of the past half century, health insurance was a benefit provided by employers or the government. People who didn’t have it from one of those sources were often out of luck, especially if their medical needs made them expensive to insure. The Affordable Care Act helps many of them get coverage, but not as a straightforward benefit such as a company health plan or Medicare. Instead, it turns patients into consumers.

President Obama suggested last year that shopping on healthcare.gov would be like buying plane tickets on Kayak or a television Amazon—easy, in other words. Unfortunately, the information most people need to make good choices is often confusing, hard to find, or simply doesn’t exist. “I always liken it to sending people into Macy’s blindfolded, and you’re supposed to buy a shirt efficiently,” says Uwe Reinhardt, a Princeton health economist. “You come out with a pair of shorts with hearts on it.”


Set aside the website’s disastrous initial launch last year. Even once it was repaired, consumers were still missing clear, reliable answers to questions that any shopper should ask: Will my doctor take this insurance plan? Will it pay for the medicines I take? If I have an unexpected medical problem, how good is the care available to me, and how much will it cost? Given my health, financial circumstances, and risk tolerance, which plan is the best for me? “For a marketplace to function, consumers need to have really good information about what the different plans are offering,” says Karen Pollitz, a senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation. The ACA originally intended to make much more information about health plans available, such as data about how many claims a health plan denies and how many people leave the plan. Reporting those transparency measures has been delayed.

Aaron Albright, a spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees healthcare.gov and state-run exchanges, declined to make officials available for an interview. In response to a list of detailed questions about how consumers would be able to navigate the marketplace, he sent a link to the revamped healthcare.gov website.

Finding out whether an insurance plan includes a particular physician, hospital, or medication is also challenging. The latest version of healthcare.gov has a spot for “list of covered drugs” in each plan profile, but in many cases it’s blank. The new site also has clear links to health plans’ provider directories. “Those directories are notoriously out of date, and calling your doctor may not answer the question accurately,” says JoAnn Volk, a senior research fellow at the Center for Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University. She recommends people call insurance companies directly to confirm that providers are covered.

Even if your physician is in-network when you sign up, doctors can drop out of plans during the year. Likewise, the list of drugs that are covered, or the amount patients must pay for them, may change. Some states have laws to ensure continuity of coverage, though no federal rules protect consumers if a plan changes midyear. “Eventually I think we’ll see consumer protections in this area, but for the most part they don’t exist now,” says Lynn Quincy, associate director for health reform at Consumers Union.

Another challenge for patients is trying to understand how much they’ll pay for medical care. Premiums are the most visible price tag when people are selecting health plans, but lower-premium plans generally have higher costs when people go to the doctor or hospital, in the form of deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance. Obamacare covers preventive care without cost-sharing and limits patients’ total out-of-pocket costs to a maximum of $6,600 for an individual or double that for a family policy. That applies to covered services—if a patient goes to a doctor out of network or gets care that the policy doesn’t cover, there’s no limit to how much they might charged.

[magical thyme]

76. let's just call it what it is.

a boondoggle for insurance companies.

[bread_and_roses]

79. Even better word - Bloodsucking vampire ghoul insurance co SCAM

You can't "choose" for an unknown eventuality - and none of us knows what health care we'll need tomorrow. That the American public has allowed themselves to be snowed by this utter insanity makes me despair.

[Demeter]

60. Labor Force Participation Remains at 36-Year Low

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/ali-meyer/labor-force-participation-remains-36-year-low-0

The labor force participation rate remained at a 36-year low of 62.8 percent in November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The participation rate, which is the percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population who participated in the labor force by either having a job during the month or actively seeking one, was 62.8 percent in November which matches the percentage since March 1978.

In November, according to BLS, the nation’s civilian noninstitutional population, consisting of all people 16 or older who were not in the military or an institution, reached 248,844,000. Of those, 156,397,000 participated in the labor force by either holding a job or actively seeking one.

The 156,397,000 who participated in the labor force was 62.8 percent of the 248,844,000 civilian noninsttutional population, which matches the 62.8 percent rate in April, May, June, August and October of 2014 as well as the participation rate in March of 1978. The participation rate hit its lowest level of 62.7 percent in September 2014.

Another 92,447,000 people did not participate in the labor force. These Americans did not have a job and were not actively trying to find one. When President Obama took office in January 2009, there were 80,529,000 Americans who were not participating in the office, which means that since then, 11,918,000 Americans have left the workforce.



Of the 156,397,000 who did participate in the labor force, 147,287,000 had a job, and 9,110,000 did not have a job but were actively seeking one -– making them the nation’s unemployed.

The 9,110,000 job seekers were 5.8 percent of the 156,397,000 Americans actively participating in the labor force during the month of November. Thus, the unemployment rate was 5.8 percent, the same as it was in October.

The business and economic reporting of CNSNews.com is funded in part with a gift made in memory of Dr. Keith C. Wold. CNSNews.com is not funded by the government like NPR. CNSNews.com is not funded by the government like PBS.

CNSNews.com relies on individuals like you to help us report the news the liberal media distort and ignore. Please make a tax-deductible gift to CNSNews.com today. Your continued support will ensure that CNSNews.com is here reporting THE TRUTH, for a long time to come. It's fast, easy and secure.

[Demeter]

61. The Red Cross CEO Has Been Serially Misleading About Where Donors’ Dollars Are Going

http://www.propublica.org/article/red-cross-ceo-has-been-misleading-about-donations

The American Red Cross regularly touts how responsible it is with donors' money. "We're very proud of the fact that 91 cents of every dollar that's donated goes to our services," Red Cross CEO Gail McGovern said in a speech in Baltimore last year. "That's world class, obviously."

McGovern has often repeated that figure, which has also appeared on the charity's website. "I'm really proud" that overhead expenses are so low, she told a Cleveland audience in June.

The problem with that number: It isn't true.

After inquiries by ProPublica and NPR, the Red Cross removed the statement from its website. The Red Cross said the claim was not "as clear as it could have been, and we are clarifying the language."

The Red Cross declined repeated requests to say the actual percentage of donor dollars going to humanitarian services.

But the charity's own financial statements show that overhead expenses are significantly more than what McGovern and other Red Cross officials have claimed.

In recent years, the Red Cross' fundraising expenses alone have been as high as 26 cents of every donated dollar, nearly three times the nine cents in overhead claimed by McGovern. In the past five years, fundraising expenses have averaged 17 cents per donated dollar....

MORE

[kickysnana]

66. Same as Oxfam got a financial statement in the mail today...

Stopped giving to the Red Cross when the Doles owned it. Haiti is still waiting for its promised aid.

[antigop]

64. Congress could soon allow pension plans to cut benefits for current retirees

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1116&pid=61687

[DemReadingDU]

65. Not good

Too many older folks depend on pensions

[xchrom]

67. The Sad Reason Why Millennials Aren't Saving Money

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-sad-reason-why-millennials-arent-saving-money-2014-12

American families are grappling with stagnant wage growth, as the costs of health care, education, and housing continue to climb. But for many of America's younger workers, "stagnant" wages shouldn't sound so bad. In fact, they might sound like a massive raise.

Since the Great Recession struck in 2007, the median wage for people between the ages of 25 and 34, adjusted for inflation, has fallen in every major industry except for health care.
Young People's Wages Have Fallen Across Industries Between 2007-2013



These numbers come from an analysis of the Census Current Population Surveyby Konrad Mugglestone, an economist with Young Invincibles.

In retail, wholesale, leisure, and hospitality—which together employ more than one quarter of this age group—real wages have fallen more than 10 percent since 2007. To be clear, this doesn't mean that most of this cohort are seeing their pay slashed, year after year. Instead it suggests that wage growth is failing to keep up with inflation, and that, as twentysomethings pass into their thirties, they are earning less than their older peers did before the recession.

The picture isn't much better for the youngest group of workers between 18 and 24. Besides health care, the industries employing the vast majority of part-time students and recent graduates are also watching wages fall behind inflation. (40 percent of this group is enrolled in college.)

The Wages of the Youngest Workers (Ages 18-24) Have Fallen, Too



Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/millennials-arent-saving-money-because-theyre-not-making-money/383338/#ixzz3LDIrKwXD

Read more: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/millennials-arent-saving-money-because-theyre-not-making-money/383338/#ixzz3LDId4BvV

[xchrom]

68. Mario Draghi Is Getting Closer To Radical Action For Europe's Inflation-Less Economy

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-bank-on-super-mario-to-give-europe-a-monetary-jolt-2014-12

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - From his office on the 41st floor of the gleaming new European Central Bank headquarters, Mario Draghi's view stretches far beyond Frankfurt's high-rise financial center and he doesn't like what he sees.

The darkening outlook for the euro zone's flat and nearly inflation-less economy, exacerbated by tumbling oil prices, is driving him inexorably towards radical action.

Bank on the ECB president to fight the risk of deflation with an expanded program of asset buying early next year, probably in March, despite deep misgivings in Germany's Bundesbank and from German public opinion.

Draghi has worked for months to build support for what would be the biggest leap in the 15-year-old bank's history -- printing money to buy euro zone sovereign bonds on a large scale, so-called quantitative easing or QE.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-bank-on-super-mario-to-give-europe-a-monetary-jolt-2014-12#ixzz3LDJckP6t

[xchrom]

69. BANKING REGULATOR WARNS: The Markets Are Becoming 'Increasingly Fragile'

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-sudden-swings-expose-fragility-of-financial-markets-bis-2014-12

ZURICH (Reuters) - Sudden swings in financial markets recently suggest they are becoming increasingly sensitive to unexpected events, the global organization of central banks said on Sunday, warning "more than a quantum of fragility" underlies the current bullish mood.

MSCI's all-country world stock index is hovering around multi-year highs after rebounding from sell-offs in August and October.

The downturns were triggered by uncertainty over the global economic outlook and monetary policy, as well as geopolitical tensions, and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said the sharp and sudden dips pointed to frailty in the markets.

"These abrupt market movements (in October) were even more pronounced than similar developments in August, when a sudden correction in global financial markets was quickly succeeded by renewed buoyant market conditions," the BIS said in its quarterly review.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-sudden-swings-expose-fragility-of-financial-markets-bis-2014-12#ixzz3LDK5UvUx

[xchrom]

70. The World’s Largest Truffle Sells For $61,250

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worlds-largest-truffle-sells-for-61250-2014-12



The largest white truffle ever found sold Saturday for $61,250 in New York City auction. The record-setting 4.16 pound fungus was bought by a food and wine lover from Taiwan, a spokesperson for Sotheby's told the Associated Press.

"This is an extraordinary find," Federico Balestra, president of Sabatino Truffles, told CNN. One of his company’s employees found the rare truffle last week in Umbria, Italy, while hunting for the fungus with his young dog.

"Usually it's the older, more experienced dogs that make these finds because it takes a very trained nose to find them," Balestra said. "White truffles can be buried 10- to 15 inches underground sometimes."

White truffles are rare finds. They grow in select parts of Italy three months of the year -- and are usually the size of a walnut. The man who discovered the truffle said it was buried four inches underground.

"When the hunter started to dig, he realized how much he had to keep digging and the size of the hole he was making. He couldn't believe it," Balestra said.



Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/worlds-largest-truffle-sells-61250-auction-photo-1738541#ixzz3LDKlFewF

[xchrom]

71. GERMANY'S MERKEL PRESSES FRANCE, ITALY ON ECONOMY

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_EU_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-12-07-06-03-10

BERLIN (AP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel is adding to the pressure for eurozone heavyweights France and Italy to do more to get their finances and economies in order.

The European Union's executive commission last month opted against sanctioning the two countries right now for missing public finance targets, giving them until the spring to come up with better plans to cut their debts and deficits.

Merkel - a leading advocate of budget discipline and structural reforms whose country has Europe's biggest economy - was quoted as telling Sunday's Welt am Sonntag newspaper that the decision is "justifiable" because France and Italy are in the process of reforming.

But she added: "The commission has made clear that what is on the table so far isn't yet enough. I agree with that."

[xchrom]

72. OBAMA, CONGRESSIONAL DEMS SHOW CRACKS IN UNITY

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_CONGRESSIONAL_DEMOCRATS_RIFT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-12-06-09-15-49

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It used to be that Democrats would mutter under their breath about President Barack Obama and the White House.

Now, with the midterm elections behind them, some leading members of the president's own party are airing their frustrations with little restraint and charting their own course.

In speeches, negotiations and congressional hearings, several high-profile Democrats are disregarding the White House in ways large and small. The White House has responded with an extraordinary veto threat while Obama has made a round of calls to liberal Democrats urging them to stand up against their own leadership.

Consider that in just a week's time:

-Sen. Harry Reid, the Senate's Democratic leader, was on the verge of cutting a deal with Republicans with a 10-year price tag of more than $400 billion in tax breaks without White House input.

[xchrom]

73. How Companies Hide the Spoils of Winning Government Contracts

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/how-companies-hide-the-spoils-of-winning-government-contracts/383425/

General Electric, the venerable maker of light bulbs, refrigerators, and other appliances, recently announced that it was selling off its consumer products division because the profit margins are too low. While GE bids that division goodbye, it’s holding onto its highly lucrative government-contracting business, in which a less-demanding customer leaves room for higher margins. Between 2007 and 2012, GE secured more than $16 billion worth of federal contracts, which might have something to do with the fact that it spent $150 million on lobbying during that period.

How often do these sorts of contracts roll in for companies that spend heavily on political advocacy? Unfortunately, there's not enough public information to say.

Journalists and critics frequently bring up the dizzying totals that special interests put into elections—one estimate was that $3.7 billion was spent on last month’s midterms—but it's much less common to hear about the impact of that money on the government's decision making.

The Sunlight Foundation, where I work, recently examined 200 of the most politically active for-profit corporations between 2007 and 2012. We found that while they disclosed spending $5.8 billion to influence government—in the form of both their lobbying expenses and the campaign contributions from their PACs, employees, and their employees' family members—they got, as far as we can determine, more than $4.4 trillion in federal business and support. Which is not to say that their lobbying and campaign spending was the sole reason they got all that money; rather, when corporate business plans include getting a lot of federal money, contributing to candidates and hiring lobbyists will be part of the strategy.

[bread_and_roses]

74. "Americans So Broke They Can’t Take Their Kids to Movies This Holiday Season"

http://www.alternet.org/economy/americans-so-broke-they-cant-take-their-kids-movies-holiday-season

"Americans So Broke They Can’t Take Their Kids to Movies This Holiday Season"

If you’re an ordinary middle-class employee, your income hasn’t budged since the financial crisis. But you paid 40 percent more for health insurance in 2013 than in 2007, a problem Obamacare not only fails to solve, but actually makes worse for many middle-range folks who can’t get subsidies and must pay outrageous deductibles and a slew of sneaky new expenses the industry has piled on. Staying digitally connected is also thinning your wallet: the cost of cell phones has skyrocketed almost 50 percent, while Internet access costs 81.3 percent more. Rent, childcare and education are walloping Americans from sea to shining sea.

The richest Americans, meanwhile, have grabbed more of the nation's wealth than they have in a century... The explosion of wealth at the top has been accomplished at the expense of the of the middle class and the poor.

(bold emphasis added)

I have been telling my "progressive" friends for years that not only is ACA and abomination, but that they are making a big tactical mistake by marrying it - which they have done, defending it as "helping" some people and "making things better than it was before" and being "a path" or "opening the door" to single payer and blah blah blah.

No doubt people have been helped by Medicaid expansion and the subsidies - and I am happy of course for anyone who can get some care who couldn't before. But the real problems remain - and Medicaid is hardly problem-free, or a guarantee of getting the care you need. As for the rest of us, who have to pay - what genius decided that ordinary americans could afford - what is it, 8%? - of their incomes for insurance? Not to mention that those same people who are paying 8% of their income for insurance are also paying taxes that end up in the pockets of the vampire ghoul insurance companies for the Medicaid expansion & subsidies.

My "progressive" friends & partners are going to find themselves tarred with the same brush as the government and the vampire ghoul insurance cos when if ever the populace wakes up to how they've been scammed again.

Are we insane in this country or what?

[xchrom]

75. Here’s One Place Where Gasoline Prices Are Rising: Islamic State

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-05/here-s-one-place-where-gasoline-prices-are-rising-islamic-state.html

When Islamic State seized Mosul in June, the militant group boasted it provided the cheapest fuel in the region as it tried to win over Iraqis to its cause.

Since then, the worldwide price of oil has fallen more than 30 percent. Yet in Iraq’s biggest northern city the cost of a tank of gasoline has more than doubled.

U.S. airstrikes against the extremist group’s oil facilities have severely reduced its ability to generate revenue. At the same time, eyewitnesses say the militants are finding the cost of governing their territory and mounting a war on multiple fronts is rising, straining its once-bulging coffers to finance military operations and pay recruits.

“The situation has changed tremendously for the group in terms of the volumes of crude it’s producing, but most significantly, the volumes of refined products it has,” said Valerie Marcel, an oil analyst specializing in Iraq at Chatham House in London. “That’s what underpins their war machine.”

[antigop]

77. Energy Firms in Secretive Alliance With Attorneys General (cross posted in Good Reads)

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us/politics/energy-firms-in-secretive-alliance-with-attorneys-general.html

The letter to the Environmental Protection Agency from Attorney General Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma carried a blunt accusation: Federal regulators were grossly overestimating the amount of air pollution caused by energy companies drilling new natural gas wells in his state.

But Mr. Pruitt left out one critical point. The three-page letter was written by lawyers for Devon Energy, one of Oklahoma’s biggest oil and gas companies, and was delivered to him by Devon’s chief of lobbying.

“Outstanding!” William F. Whitsitt, who at the time directed government relations at the company, said in a note to Mr. Pruitt’s office. The attorney general’s staff had taken Devon’s draft, copied it onto state government stationery with only a few word changes, and sent it to Washington with the attorney general’s signature. “The timing of the letter is great, given our meeting this Friday with both E.P.A. and the White House.”

Mr. Whitsitt then added, “Please pass along Devon’s thanks to Attorney General Pruitt.”
Continue reading the main story
Courting Favor

Articles in this series examine the explosion in lobbying of state attorneys general by corporate interests and the millions in campaign donations they now provide.

The email exchange from October 2011, obtained through an open-records request, offers a hint of the unprecedented, secretive alliance that Mr. Pruitt and other Republican attorneys general have formed with some of the nation’s top energy producers to push back against the Obama regulatory agenda, an investigation by The New York Times has found.

[Demeter]

80. Sorry--my modem died Saturday

I hope to be back online Tuesday night.

I'm at the library terminal, trying to see what I've missed and to catch up on email.

I got a new back door that doesn't leak cold air Sunday, and in exchange, both the modem and my power windows in the car died. Thank goodness I don't have to do a route anymore! It would be impossible.

This is why it doesn't pay to fix things...the rest of them just get jealous and break.

[Crewleader]

81. It's always the way, more then one thing....:(

Hope all goes well and see you Tuesday night Demeter!