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POPSTop 25 Censored Stories for 2009/10 "Project censored is one of the organizations that we should listen to, to be assured that our newspapers and our broadcast outlets are practicing thorough and ethical journalism." — Walter Cronkite
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POPSGet Yer Merry On! Based on the latest warmal Algorithm, this month’s holiday lightup is probably going to cost us at least 1,500 polar bears! Speaking of which, anyone know what the lighting bill is at the newly green White House this year? “I’ve been doing it for six years,” said 26-year-old D.J. Damato, who each year trims his family home on 9 Butternut Road with more than 30,000 lights. “Little kids love it, and that’s kind of what keeps me going,” he said. Little kids love it? For Gaia’s sake! Frank Armata, a 30-year resident, began stringing his display when the neighborhood was still relatively dark. “I was the first on my street to set up the lights,” he said of his 25 Preston Road home. “Now, there’s competition … ” Can’t we all just get along? Not far away on 38 Bartlett St., there’s another amazing show. “I love lights,” said Felix Barcelos, 84, who has been decorating his house for three decades. BostonHerald http://bit.ly/4RWf
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POPSChina’s Asset Bubble It is a matter of time. What will it mean to the Chinese Government? Will it buckle under the weight of massive dissatisfaction? Or will it mean some dark years for the Chinese people? What will it mean to the US Dollar? Will China unload the dollar thus massively devaluing the currency in order to keep their economy afloat? But would they if they are so dependent on foreign trade? And what will it mean to the world economy. Will the world economy be firm enough to absorb Chinese economic contraction? So far, China's economy has been one of the few bright spots. If the world economy is not strong enough China's asset bubble burst may lead to another global recession.
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POPSThe NEXT BIG THING for 2010
· Neo-Survivalism: A new breed of survivalist is devising ingenious stratagems to beat the crumbling system. And, they’re not all heading for the hills with AK-47’s and pork & beans. · Not Welcome Here: Fueled by fear and resentment, a global anti-immigration trend will gather force and serve as a major plank in building a new political party in the US. · TB or Not TB: With two-thirds of Americans Too Big (TB) for their own good (and everyone else’s), 2010 will mark the outbreak of a “War on Fat,” providing a ton of business opportunities. · Mothers of Invention: Taking off with the speed of the Internet revolution, “Technology for the Poor” will be a major trend in 2010, providing products and services for newly downscaled Western consumers and impoverished consumers everywhere. · Not Made In China: A “Buy Local,” “My Country First” protectionist backlash will deliver a big “No” to unrestrained globalism and open solid niches for local and domestic manufacturers. · The
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POPS Heck of A Job, Barack (feel the gestalt shifting?) And the Copenhagen talks are in shambles, even though the world loves us now that Bush is out: China and U.S. Hit Strident Impasse at Climate Talks "Strident"? Yike. Down a bit, Obama met with some bankers to rail at them; three biggies skipped the flogging op, blaming fog. Obama Presses Biggest Banks to Lend More. Quite a batch of headlines. The grim (heroic!?!) story of Lieberman holding health care hostage is at the bottom: Lieberman Gets Ex-Party to Shift on Health Plan Feel the gestalt shifting. Posted by Tom Maguire on December 15, 2009
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POPSObama's False Economic Consensus Greg Mankiw, to cite one of scores of possible examples, is an "economist who's looked at it," and he had an op-ed in The New York Times just yesterday that cited several other economists who have looked at stimulus packages throughout the ages. His conclusion? Successful stimulus relies almost entirely on cuts in business and income taxes. Failed stimulus relies mostly on increases in government spending. A growing body of evidence suggests that traditional Keynesian nostrums might not be the best medicine. Obama is a political master at drawing boundaries around the "respectable" debate and marginalizing a swath of his critics as being beyond the pale.
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POPSFeds Get Huge Pay Hikes While Taxpayers are Loosing Jobs
Okay folks it is time for some straight talk. We the people need to take back our country from the thieves and robber barons occupying capital hill. We can not longer sit back and allow this outrageous behavior to continue. We need to get to the polls and vote out all the incumbents and replace them with FISCAL conservatives and strict constitutional candidates. This country was made great by adhering to the founding principles outlined in the Constitution which safeguards the rights of the citizenry, and restricts the powers of the federal government. Today as we watch the daily newscasts we are being assalted by an out of control federal government with an insatiable appetite for more and more of our hard earned money which they squander on useless pork barrel projects designed to buy votes and nothing else. IN addition they continually vote themselves hefty pay increases and benefit packages and then give us the bill. It is high time congress gets a pay cut!
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POPSHunger, family homelessness on rise in U.S. cities You would think with that since the recession was going on prior to spring of 2009, that the government would have stopped the "paying farmers not to farm" and allowed a large influx of food to be readily available for those in need. Likewise you would think all the $$ we keep sending abroad to keep countries from fighting one another would be reallocated to help citizens here. I feel for all the kids that are suffering through this and should not have to be. I realize that some people got in way over their heads, but many would have survieed if they had not lost jobs. All the $$ they paid in taxes and unemployment, etc and the help they get from government is almost none, yet we keep shipping money outside the US before helping our own citizens. I just have to say WTF?
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POPSFood Stamp Use on the Rise in the US as Poverty Increases and Stigma Fades
With most of his co-workers laid off, Greg Dawson, a third-generation electrician in rural Martinsville, considers himself lucky to still have a job. He works the night shift for a contracting firm, installing freezer lights in a chain of grocery stores. But when his overtime income vanished and his expenses went up, Mr. Dawson started skimping on meals to feed his wife and five children. He tried to fill up on cereal and eggs. He ate a lot of Spam. Then he went to work with a grumbling stomach to shine lights on food he could not afford. When an outreach worker appeared at his son’s Head Start program, Mr. Dawson gave in. “It’s embarrassing,” said Mr. Dawson, 29, a taciturn man with a wispy goatee who is so uneasy about the monthly benefit of $300 that he has not told his parents. “I always thought it was people trying to milk the system. But we just felt like we really needed the help right now.” - more @ clip source
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POPSabandoning the industrial base that sustained so many American families.” Check out the DVD of Joseph Stiglitz. "Where is the world going, Mr Stiglitz." You're going to understand what the big corporations and globalization are doing with us. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vWAS5nnICQ or http://firstrunfeatures.com/stiglitzdvd.html or http://www.josephstiglitz.com/ and http://www.stiglitzfilm.com/index.html
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POPSReagan's Moral Clarity In 1982, when the United States was mired in its worst recession since World War II, President Reagan defied the pessimism of the day and predicted that “the march of freedom and democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.” Roughly a year later, he called the Soviet Union what it so obviously was: an “evil empire.” The “evil empire” speech drew criticism from many of Reagan’s domestic political opponents, and it greatly angered the Kremlin. But it also galvanized Soviet dissidents, who were encouraged that a U.S. president had been bold enough to denounce the moral bankruptcy of communism.
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POPSNat'l Debt Now Tops $12 TRILLION!!!!! Deficits and debts that he multiplied...and now he thinks it's time to bring them under control. What a novice!! We have a dumb-bunny for a President and insane people in Congress. To think our own government is destroying us. Who owns us, baby? Everyone. :~(
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POPSAmerica a Rude Nation? Debating Public Decency Experts point to a variety of reasons for the apparent fall in civil standards: 1) The recession has placed many under heavy stress 2) The rise of the internet has fostered confrontational and provocative communications in which people get used to saying things they may never once have dared to utter face-to-face. These may be conditions that allow rudeness to rear its ugly head, but they are not excuses for it. Rudeness is rooted in lack of civility. If you don’t respect other people’s ideas, opinions, equality as compared to yourself, or simply their right to exist, it will be easy for you to resort to rudeness towards that person and you will be considered uncivil. We have been losing our civility for a long time now and I believe it is due to a lack of respect for others and ourselves.
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POPSMore facts, not profit inducing hype The article goes on to give concrete examples of the damage "free trade" has caused us. This "recession" is happening for two reasons: 1-the government's greed and acquiessence to banking industry because of tax revenues & campaign/lobby contributions. And, the gutting of our wealth producing industries. For god's sake, go through your pantries and pull out only the goods that state MADE, PRODUCED or MANUFACTURED in America. If the label says "distributed", call the company and ask WHERE it was processed. You will be shocked. Now realize that China is quietly amping up prices and re-valuing the yuan. All the "cost savings" from off shoring will soon be for naught. And, we no longer have the machinery, equipment or government regulation (lack of) to re-create the industry.
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POPSThose that helped cause this mess. Once again, UK media looks further than their advertisers to explain the truth. Interesting read. But, just like our "experts", totally ignoring the millions of good paying jobs off shored for higher tax revenues from mega-corporations and cheaper socks for sheeple.
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POPSClassic Liquidity Trap Such a Brilliant man...lol... Only a Foolish Fed falls for the Classic Liquidity Trap. Read more about it at:Google... doctrader liquidity trap.
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POPSIt shakes a village: What thousands of individual economic crises mean for an entire community
More: Through the Marin Housing Authority, Fatooh discovered three affordable housing complexes accepting applications -- then discovered a waiting list of three years. She phoned agency after agency, with no luck. Finally someone told her she'd have a better chance getting placed if she and the family spent three months living at a campsite. Meanwhile her repossessed house in Cazadero sits empty, she says. …The TV news reminds us every night: We're in a recession. But often the camera zooms in too tight: the single family facing eviction, the single worker laid off at the plant, the single patient unable to pay for cancer treatments. The panorama of such cases remains hazy: What does joblessness, foreclosure or lack of healthcare mean for entire communities? What happens to town after town of people like Kassy Fatooh? How does a multiplicity of stories like hers tear at the patchwork of agencies and services meant to hold our communities intact?
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POPSSocial Security Surplus Dwindling The treasury department has dipped into social security to pay off other programs since the Reagan years, in 1983, Reagan raised the social security tax to offset his deficits, taking more than $40 billion per year from the fund. Now with the all the unemployment, bailouts, and war spending, it may run out sooner than expected.
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POPSIt's About Spain Today, Tomorrow....the US? Banks in Spain are manipulating the housing market by artificially shoring up excess demand. Are we to believe that buying 110,000 homes was an investment made for returns? I hope I don't hear a echo of this thinking in the U.S. Sadly, hopes do not dictate reality.
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