It’s the End Of The World
Oh boy, what a week this has already been. Economic meltdowns are accelerating at a rapid pace.
Our idiot government bails out Fannie Mae in a desperate and incredibly stupid attempt to salvage the home mortgage swindle, err bad loans shelled out, and we are all supposed to breath a sigh of relief…
Well, don’t fall for any of it. This is the ice dam breaking, next comes the flood. Vaughn has a few things to say about all of this:
Fannie Mae Unsold $5 Billion Homes Bring Peril to ShareholdersThe problem here is; if they start flooding those foreclosed homes into the market it will drive down property values, which means more homeowners will be stuck in negative equity, which will trigger another round of foreclosures.
FDIC Faces Mortgage Mess After Running Failed Bank
So, you have faith in the FDIC, huh?
**RED ALERT** RAPE BY U.S. CONGRESS IMMINENT
‘Henry Paulson is about to be given an $800 BILLION dollar blank check in the form of an increased Federal Debt Ceiling which he can spend on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac IN ANY WAY HE CHOOSES, INCLUDING BUYING THE CRAPPIEST LOANS THEY HAVE AND STICKING A ONE HUNDRED PERCENT LOSS, $800 BILLION WORTH, ON (the US taxpayers) TAX BILL.’
2nd Mortgage Holders (Banks) Now To Be Bailed Out Too
Bloomberg discovers the Real Estate Owned (REO) industry
Debt capitalism self-destructs
Consumers Set to Boost Savings Amid Economic Turmoil
‘That could spell trouble for the economy if too many people start hoarding their money and stop spending it on goods.’
Canada’s Inflation Rate Tops Analysts’ Expectations at 3.1% in June
That percentage includes ‘core’. I have a feeling that an overall average of 3.1% is not reflecting reality.
A brutal test in student borrowing
Note to Maria and Paul: don’t bother trying to figure how to send your younger son, Michael, to college for another year for $48,000. Chances are great that there won’t be much of job market in place for Michael, and your other son, to help pay that, and the accumulated school debt, back. Ever. Taking on more debt right now is NOT advisable in this economic climate.
‘Some of the stress feels familiar. Maria and her husband, Paul, have been writing checks to Holy Cross for eight years. Their older son, Mark, graduated from the private Worcester college in 2005, and the Woburn family has always struggled to keep up with rising tuition and fees, which now total about $47,500 annually.’
Too late on that ‘NOT advisable’ thing, huh? Thoughts: First son, Mark; graduated in ’05. Maria and Paul have been paying the college (and the bank) for 8 years, including the second son’s attendance; an average of, say, $45,000. Being conservative in my estimate, that’s in the neighbourhood of $360,000 (to date) for both kids to go to school. And Maria, their mother, can’t work due to illness. Their dad has two jobs.
Chills. I’m feeling chills.
Meanwhile: Food stamp use soars in Mass. ‘Fastest-growing program in nation’
Farm Bureau: Crop Damage Pushing $8 Billion
Which together with the shortage produced by the cultists’ demand we all put ethanol in our cars, means higher food prices for the lucky people, and starvation for everyone else.
After the economies collapse and social unrest roils, the government hired mercenaries will come out the woodwork and from the air:
Blackwater expands it’s fleet of airships
Blackwater to leave security business following problems in Iraq (and I’ve got a bridge to sell you — cheap)
New Killer Drones Invade Airshow
Still think remotely controlled 757s don’t exist?
George Bush backs emergency deal for Fannie and Freddie
House votes to back Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, stem foreclosures
Fannie and Freddie, Saved But Still Loathed (By Some)
On top of this, we’re supposed to believe that Gas Prices Dropping Like A Rock. Where do they dredge these idiots up from? Wish I got paid to write, I’m obviously in the wrong business. Gas is down, what 5 cents? 8 cents? And this is a “rock”?
It’s all Obama’s fault. Check it out. Type in “Obama Antichrist” in any search engine. What you’ll find there will scare you one way or the other.
In other worthy news, we are told that the Marshall Islands are in a severe energy crisis (they should be able to afford more oil now that prices are actually going down, right?). Food is now a #1 issue for them.
In the banking sector, Bank of America profits plummet by 41%, Merrill Lynch loses 4.9 billion dollars, and Wachovia nearly doubles that loss with 9 billion.
Merrill Lynch makes the news again by warning that ‘this winter will be brutal for utility bills‘. Ya think?
General Motors and Ford now on the verge of bankruptcy, a 46% chance and rising. Also joining them will be Mervyn’s.
How bad is it? How about as many as 8,500 banks failing?
I just got another order cancellation for an order that was going to ship this week, guess where I redirected it?
Some of my callers really don’t believe me. I guess I can’t help that now.
There’s more, a lot more, but I don’t want to make you cry.
My spawn is in college – even tho’ he has heard my words on peak everything and financials and such. He hasn’t looked at things deeply, and feels that Mother Dear tends to … catastrophize. He is of the view that we’ve got 40-60 years before the shit hits the fan. Now he’s not quite half way thru’, but neither he nor we have borrowed to pay yet. This fall he’ll have to borrow some, but he’ll probably get enough scholarships and work to pay for most of the rest of his college years. $48K? Snort. Living at home, even paying for gas to commute, paying for classes, car pool parking, books, etc will be about $14K a year. Existing scholarships drop that to $10K. Grandma drops that to $6K (he’s the only grandchild). Carpooling to $5K.
Being an engineering major with an A average (that I’m trying to get into hydroelectric power) – priceless. Literally, if the shit hits the fan and he’s not in an area with an appropriate landscape, priceless = worthless.
“But wait — it gets worse. It’s not only a boondoggle, it’s a major-league privacy threat.”
This is a terrifying proposal. Suggest everyone read the Daily Reckoning link above.
More is here (*.pdf file) on the actual ammendment.
It’s an old story and as I recall, disproved.
… and how could we have fun with their search algorithms? Doing business as businesses with misleading names like Zebra Grooming? Labelling individual items erroneously as common things like gas or , clothing, or red herring things like bibles, scuba gear or artichokes? could we create local currency? use alternatives to the paypals of the world? randomly assigning descriptions to transactions?
I have seen a lot of signs recently that small storefronts are no longer taking credit cards- laws like this may just make customers happy to ditch them and buy local where people will accept checks from their small community bank with inadequate computers and staff to track things.
Here lies the danger with this latest fiasco:
Tracking of all credit card transactions means that the IRS or whoever else is involved, will now know exactly everything you have purchased with a credit card. And I mean EVERYTHING. Buy too much fuel? They’ll know. Booze? Cigarettes? We’ve all heard of the “sin tax” proposals. Fast food? Ammunition? How about food?
From a consumer standpoint, this would be devastating. There is no legitimate reason the government should know what you spend your money on.
Bear in mind, if they report transaction totals, they can report individual transactions too. They could very easily build individual profiles on every single American, knowing exactly what you spend, where you spend it, how frequently and how much, and of course, make sure this exactly matches up with your reported income.
Doesn’t match? Well, then your a domestic terrorist because you’ve failed to be a good little slave for the government, now your “cheating”. Too bad they didn’t account for the cash you generate at your garage sale that allowed you to pay off your credit card debts first, then you racked up more credit card charges, the numbers don’t match, you spent more then you made and now you’ll be fined, imprisoned and readied for the slaughter.
Solution? Do away with cash. We all know where this goes.
From a merchant standpoint, this is equally bad. The merchant will be forced to account for every single line item sale done by credit card. Any discrepancies will appear that the merchant is being less then truthful. That paperwork management of this boondoggle will be stupendous.
Solution? Why not just feed ALL transactions into a network, even if you’re a tiny small business? That way, in a cashless society, they can be sure we’ve been good little slaves, and they can track every single purchase everybody has made. And your income too of course, from all sources.
This is real “Mark of the Beast” stuff in reality. No man buying or selling without it all being tracked and monitored by greedy rapacious bureaucrats that believe we exist at their behest.
Cash is always king, but for how much longer? Plenty of discussion on doing away with cash. It’s too easily used by “terrorists” and “criminals”. It’s even counterfeited and on and on.
There is a goal here and it’s been the same goal sporadically reported for years — to keep you entirely under their thumb in a full-blown fascist police state. Don’t think mark of the beast type monitoring is nearly here already? I’ve got a bridge to sell you….
I think the real world inflation rate for an adjusted Cdn vs US dollar this last year is more like 7%.