Looks like the DOW is having another crap-tacular day. nt

[Javaman]

[still_one]

1. we are in a bear market that will last at least until after the

2006 elections

[benburch]

2. Well, with the news, what could we expect?

Oil high, ME on the verge of all-out war, Iraq fucked up beyond all repair, Crops rotting on the tree because we swept away all the illegal immigrants who harvest them, North Korea sighting in on Seattle...

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Crops rotting on the trees?

Do you have a link?

[benburch]

7. Here...

<SNIP>

TAMPA, Fla. -- The orange crop in Florida, the biggest U.S. grower, will be 1.3 percent smaller than estimated a month ago as labor shortages result in lost fruit, the government said Wednesday.

Estimated production of 151 million boxes will be up from last year's hurricane-damaged harvest of 149.8 million boxes, which was the smallest in 13 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its final report on this year's crop. A box of oranges weighs about 90 pounds.

The orange harvest in Florida, usually completed by the end of June, has been delayed this year by lagging fruit maturity and too few farm workers to pick the crops. The worsening condition of the crop has sent orange-juice futures in New York up 52 percent in the past year.

from; http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyOSZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Njk2MDU3MCZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTI=

<SNIP>

AND

<SNIP>

The perennial shortage of farm labor in Florida has gotten worse, industry experts say. The booming construction industry has lured some of the workers from the fields, and others who are in the country illegally may have been frightened away because of the controversial immigration debate.

Leticia Zavala, a farmworker who has picked oranges, tomatoes, strawberries and other crops in Florida, said some illegal migrants are afraid to travel for fear they may be stopped and deported.

"Some people just don't want to cross the state borders," said Zavala, in a telephone interview from the Farm Labor Organizing Committee office in North Carolina. Zavala, 27, said the farm-labor shortage in Florida is apparent in other states as well, including North Carolina, where the tobacco harvest begins next week.

<SNIP>

from; http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-citrus13x06jul13,0,7716837.story?coll=orl-home-headlines

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Maybe it's time to raise the wages and hire college students who

are on summer break. I wasn't aware it was orange-picking time. My neighbor's tree was picked clean months ago.

[benburch]

9. That would be the rational approach.

But since when is business rational?

[LeftCoast]

3. Markets are going to be a mess during this latest ME crisis

[SlipperySlope]

4. At least oil is up

You just have to diversify your investments...

[saltpoint]

6. But... but...didn't the president just say the economy was doin' great?