Friday, July 03, 2009

Recovery Hope Bubble Bursts

From Jenna Orkin:

Americas
Joblessness Hits 9.5%, Deflating Recovery Hopes
Home Loan Delinquencies Double on Prime Loans; Foreclosure Filings Top 300,000 3rd Straight Month
China Moves Again to Cut Reliance on Dollar
Washington Post to sell access to reporters?
SEC bosses told investigator to ignore Madoff
Small businesses vital to economic recovery go bankrupt (from Rice Farmer)
Ron Paul Wins Support to Audit Fed
Record numbers seek permits to carry concealed weapons (from Rice Farmer)
Did Leak from a Laboratory Cause Swine Flu Pandemic?
Coffers Empty, California Pays With I.O.U.’s
California Fails to Break Impasse as States Struggle to Meet Budget Deadlines
Beware of Rallies in Uncertain Times
Short on dollars, Arnold Schwarzenegger's state is inventing its own currency.
Will Banks Demand Discount on California I.O.U.'s?
Supreme Court Refuses Case by 9/11 Victims Families
Hugo Chavez threatens military action in Honduras

Europe/Russia
Record Deflation in Eurozone
British economy sinks at fastest rate in 50 years
OECD tells UK to cut back
Lloyds cuts 2,100 more UK jobs, total hits 7,000
UK: ID Cards Won't Be Required
Russia’s Neighbors Resist Wooing and Bullying
Russia begins large-scale military exercises in North Caucasus
Russian war games widen rift with Georgia
Gazprom Seeks African, Caspian Supplies to Build Gas Grid Circling Europe
Croatian Prime Minister quits politics

Asia
Pak general: CIA has Distributed 400 Million Dollars Inside Iran to Evoke a Revolution (from Rice Farmer)
U.S.-built bridge is windfall for Afghan drug trade (from Rice Farmer)
Flood of Afghan heroin fuels drug plague in Russia (from Rice Farmer)
India wilts as monsoon fears grow
Scientists seeks to bring on Indian monsoon
China's banks are an accident waiting to happen to every one of us
China to Intensify Patrols in South China Sea
Weather Disasters May Rise in China
Drought Plagues China as Downpour Hits South
Extreme weather hits China
China races extreme weather for wheat harvest
Extreme weather lashes country
Extreme weather hits NW China, costing 5B yuan
Extreme cold kills 1,000 Tibetan gazelles
Hong Kong's Pro-Democarcy March Draws Thousands
Young Japanese Raise Their Voices Over Economy
Japan: Biometric ID System Catches Four

13 comments:

businessman said...

I have to laugh at what was revealed in that article about the Washington Post offering to sell access to its reporters and to high-ranking government officials. That's a fine example of how the people who run the media clearly understand the special access and coverage they already give to the people who have great influence over them. But they simply lost sight of the fact that if they went public with charging for this access and influence, there would be outrage over it.

So now they'll have to come up with a better plan to raise the same money from the same people for the same access, but they won't be releasing a flier about it the next time!

Diaspora said...

Cynthia McKinney calls WBAIX from Israeli prison. She and 20 others where detained after being seized by Israeli Navy while in international waters. They were attempting to deliver humanitarian aid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkPvzSZRuDo

businessman said...

I want to give a sincere thanks to Mike, Jenna, and to everyone participating in this Blog. There are so many solid posts and references given by so many people participating in here, and if I thanked every one of you individually along the way, we'd have more thank yous than solid Blog posts in here.

In my own life there are very few people I can talk with about the kinds of things we openly discuss in here. So this has become a tremendous oasis for me, where I can feel more normal and be surrounded by people who really understand what's going on in the world.

RanD said...

Sebastian...

Excellent connect on the Net Hubbert Curve. Excellent analysis on the substance of what it means to those of us that are motivated to stay up to pace with what we need to. We thank you. There's no question as to whether this amendment to The Curve focuses the mind: as you ask of us, "What must be done?"

From these quarters. Your splendid word-smithing is greatly appreciated, my friend; and such a question as you ask is answered with this question: "At the end of this fascinating and trepidatious business, have not all of us all along always been brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, lovers and adversaries of each other?"

Rice Farmer said...

All the talk about "green shoots" was bogus in the first place, just like bank profits that were produced by accounting trickery. The bottom line is, we will never see a return to the days of economic growth and piles of packages under the Christmas tree.

I have made a lot of preparations for what's coming, but let me be honest: this is scary. I have a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and so on, but this could go in so many different directions. Community is one's best asset.

Don't count on governments, national or local, to take the right action. Even now, as the world economy goes to hell in a handbasket, they are telling us to wait patiently for recovery.

By all means, stay healthy. As pensions melt away and "retirement" becomes a dead word, like all the little people from humankind's inception, we will have to take care of ourselves from cradle to grave.

Anonymous said...

How does anyone keep up with the amount of articles being posted here? I'm tryin hard, but can't. You all must be fast readers or have more free time than I've got.

Was there ever a vote on the HR875 and Codex Alimentarius? I search the net, but find no answers. Anybody know?

Here's another article on the H1N1 flu. Seems to have a greater impact impact on some ethnic groups. Hmmm . . . . . .

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/697f9898-5510-11de-b5d4-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=819fc44c-33e2-11de-9eea-00144feabdc0.html

I'm like you, businessman. Have made a lot of preparations, but have few people to speak to about it. Would love to find the perfect spot to relocate, but they all have their pros and cons. Can't help but think that if more people knew what we knew, perhaps we wouldn't have to make those preparations, or at least not to the extent we have. Why do we feel we have to keep all this to ourselves?

KimB said...

Hi again Jenna and Mike. Aunty Ruby Rose, indigenous elder of my region, came round for dinner yesterday - and as she spoke of British colonisation of Australia, I got to thinking about the common threads linking the genocide of the "Common People" through history and region, from the "Witch Burnings" in Europe, to the slaughter/enslavement of native peoples World wide, to modern-day Iraq and Afghanistan My post on this to-day (5th July 2009), might be of interest,
"What an earth does 'Sex & the City' have to do with "Saving the Planet" and World Poverty?"

http://www.kimspages.org/blogspot.htm#5th_July_2009

Anonymous said...

Laughter is the Antidote for Our Government's Silliness!!!

See a Preview Comedian Bill Maher's Religulous Linked Here~~~~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHH2JItePlc

businessman said...

cj...In all honesty, I'm pretty light on the preparation end of things. I'm in an area that's heavily dependent on outside water being supplied to it, so it's definitely not viable over the long term.

I don't really know much about growing my own food supply, and I figure that if I get to the point where I really, really need to, and food becomes scarce in the local supermarkets, people are going to be stealing the food that I'm growing anyway. Unless I found an appropriate way to provide an around-the-clock armed guard for the food. We live in a single-family home with a little extra land that could be gardened on, but not a lot of extra land.

I think what I need to do is hookup with people who have the expertise I need, and either pay them to provide this service for me, or find a way for me to contribute to what they need also.

But in reality I think what I'll need to be doing is relocating to an area that's sustainable with some good people around who I can form this kind of relationship with. And we'll also need to have a good system in place to guard and protect our food.

So I'd like to see (LOL) flyers from people for opportunities to live in a place like "Permaculture Estates"...describing the opportunities for living there and the kind of environment and people we'd be surrounded with.

But right now my wife thinks I'm stretching things in terms of telling her what looks like will be coming our way, and that we'll need to be relocating. She just doesn't want to leave our community and the people she's already become friends with over the years.

agape wins said...

Just a little lightness, or something to think about?

http://www.fbofw.com/strip_fix/

http://dilbert.com/

Amae

Unknown said...

Businessman, hey!

If you're going to relocate, remember the PR curve when you move to a new place. Even if it's an "intentional community" you'll be with people you don't know well, who have no reason to trust you at the level that matters, and vice versa.

I find that when I move to a new place it takes two or three years to get accepted and to find real friends. Unfortunately, by that time I often move. But of the people I really come to respect and cherish in a particular place, several of them care about me for years to come, and now my project is to choose one of those places to hunker down. I figure another year or two will be required to really establish myself as a local.

Maybe you make deep friendships faster than I do. But if relocation is going to be necessary, you might think about where you will be both welcome and content, and make some motions in that direction now. Don't have to tell your wife why, necessarily.

Having lived a number of places, I can tell you that it's not where you are but who you are with and what you (individually and collectively) can do, that will get you through weird times. The survivalist in his mountain retreat is just waiting to turn that fortress over to a stronger power, someone who will be grateful for all his preaparations.

Viryam said...

7/7 London...Having already been a FTW subscriber at this time and living in London, had no doubts about the insider nature of these as well, doubts now being broadcast more popularly at the occasion of the 4th anniversary. The sloppy admission of the concurrent terrorist exercises just seem so similar to 9/11...secrets are hard to keep.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1197419/Conspiracy-fever-As-rumours-swell-government-staged-7-7-victims-relatives-proper-inquiry.html

At the time, I thought the timing was intended particularly to divert attention away from the concurrent G8 meeting in Scotland and in particular the much-anticipated Tony Blair promise to eliminate Africa's debt, which was overshadowed and buried by these events...

A memorial has been produced and is being unveiled tomorrow.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8136426.stm

Sir Ian Blair, the former Metropolitan Police Commissioner who presided over this and the slaughter of Jean Menezes, was asked to stand down by the current Mayor of London. The reported £4 million total compensation for his job well done is to be expected I guess.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8109202.stm

I've seen Blair more accurately spelt "Bliar". Eric Arthur Blair would roll in his grave at the actions of his namesakes, but probably be hardly surprised by our events nearly 60 years from his own passing.

dalex said...

OK, time for a long-overdue introduction... I don't usually post anything unless I have something worthwhile to contribute, but in light of businessman's comments, it's time to at least say "Hello." I'm a videographer/sound man who has closely followed FTW since 2004 and the publication of "Rubicon." I traveled to DC in 2005 to meet Mike and offer support for Cynthia McKinney's 9/11 awareness efforts. (FYI, photos from the 2005 Congressional Black Caucus event are still posted at: http://www.bsbusters.com/ )

I've been interested in intentional communities and self-reliant living since the 70's, (helped organize a community in '79) but have mostly been stuck in the "Rat-race" until making a break a couple years ago.

I am just now moving to a lovely piece of rural property, and am rapidly gaining gardening experience. (See photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalexfilms/sets/)

I feel a great sense of kinship with people like businessman, eyeballs, and other contributors here, and would like to offer whatever information/knowledge I can. Feel free to get in touch; I would be happy to have any of you visit my new place, once I get settled. As Jackson Browne proposed in "The Only Child," lets "Take good care of each other..."

Thanks, Mike (and Jenna), for all you've done, and all you continue to do...