peaceandfreedom

So they are protesting the Price of the food, which suggests that it is available, not in short supply. That would validate what I saw this weekend at my market, where the rice and other staples were also plentiful, though the price had risen considerably. I'll be very curious to see what the investigations into gaming of the Commodities Markets turns up in terms of manipulation and fraud. We've seen this happen with oil--this should come as no surprise. If there is money to be made off the suffering of the poor or middle classes, the international corporate monsters will be more than happy to do their part. posted 05/05/2008 at 23:55:06

Let's just say that there are no virgins involved... posted 05/05/2008 at 23:03:11

From what I can tell, Buffett is one of your more enlightened capitalists. And the statement that Munger made about regulations tells me they are on the right side in this whole thing. I think maybe Rule was just hoping that someone who made his own money the old fashioned way might be inclined to do something with it that people like Rockefeller, especially with his Standard Oil inheritance, would never consider doing. Sure would be nice if a gaziilionaire like Buffett did something that really sparked the economy and provided a future way for us to go. I know I'd be excited to see it. posted 05/05/2008 at 23:27:05

And to be perfectly realistic about it, a 3 year old is not in Any way mature! Their bone platelets have not fully fused and since most breeding these days is done by corporate breeders whose only interest is speed, not soundness, you are putting horses on the field that already have two strikes against them.

In any other form of equine sport, the horses are at least 5 years old. But in order to turn a quick profit, since the driving force behind thoroughbred racing is gambling--or as they prefer to call it, Wagering--These horses are criminally abused. The great racer of the twenties, Man O War, was not allowed by his owners to race in the Kentucky Derby to get the third leg of the Triple Crown. Even then they knew that a young horse shouldn't be pushed to do a mile and a quarter, and so refused to enter him. Today, the economics make that sort of ethics and honesty impossible. posted 05/05/2008 at 23:38:22

The value of this stuff has not Quadrupled in 5 years! There is no stock I could by that has done that either, over the last five years. This is an example of market manipulation, not supply and demand. posted 05/06/2008 at 00:03:24

It's 18 cents a gallon in Bahrain, 23 in Venezuela... posted 05/06/2008 at 00:01:41

Sometimes it is wisest to say nothing and be thought a fool, than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt! posted 05/05/2008 at 23:58:16

And the coolest part of that whole equation is that the greatest brain evolution and growth took place on or near sea coasts, where fish and shellfish--remember brain-food?--were plentiful. Interesting article in Nat. Geog. a few months back all about it. posted 04/23/2008 at 23:52:33

Well, I'm a non-violent passive protesting kinda guy who believes that when a mass of humanity is mobilized that even the bad guys need to take notice and change their ways--at least till we go to sleep again. But, as i told Abbie Hoffman's ghost--and as you have intimated with your post--it really isn't until business as usual becomes threatened, and not necessarily by threat of force, that things change. We need to change. Then the system will change. posted 04/23/2008 at 23:18:34

A word about ethanol. Unless you do the research yourself--and I don't mean sit and read the Oil Industry press releases--because since when did we here on HuffPo believe anything Those guys had to say--you can't have an intelligent discussion. I'll agree that corn's the wrong source, but your argument there is with the corn lobby. Sugar cane and, especially sugar beets, are preferred, with the return blowing anything else out. Ford intended his cars to run on alcohol and farmers to co-op the production to support their prices while becoming little filling stations. What you probably didn't know is that Rudolf Diesel built his engines to run on bio-fuels exclusively! These guys were ahead of their time. In fact, Ford foresaw the day when gasoline would become a national security problem with too much dependency on foreign supply--and this when it was still cheap and plentiful!

I'm still learning about it, but check out this site--

http://www.iowacorn.org/ethanol/documents/TopTenMythsCornEthanol_000.pdf

Remember, less than 12% of the nation's corn goes to human consumption, and that ethanol uses only the starch, leaving behind over 16 pounds of food grade waste and corn oil for each bushel, and that the intensive farming practices utilize the latest in non-till (a great Univ of Nebraska breakthrough) that preserves soil and nutrients. Check it out! Don't buy into the anti-ethanol rant the way so many believe this food shortage lie. posted 04/23/2008 at 23:13:09

My fear, Abbie, having been there in a previous life, is that the wealthy will use the police, military and paramilitary as they always have and never get their own hands dirty. Of course it wasn't until the yippies trashed Telegraph avenue for the third or fourth time that the store owners, who saw their insurance go through the roof, got the chamber of commerce to talk with the Chancellor of UC about some accommodation re anti-war protesting and free speech. Everybody thought it was the Sproul Hall sit-ins, but it was good old American self serving economics at play. Ah, the smell of tear gas in the morning... posted 04/23/2008 at 22:40:49

If anyone here believes that this is not just another market manipulation ala OPEC, think again. This article appeared on the back page of my business section this morning and I found it here...

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20080422-0715-foodprices-speculation.html

Farmers, ranchers, grain processors and food producers all recognize that;

"Farmers and food producers argue speculation by Wall Street Investors--not a supply and demand imbalance--is what's driving up prices and volatility, making it harder for the commercial buyers and sellers of grain to use the exchanges as a tool for limiting the risks of price uncertainty!"

Where have we seen Wall Street speculation most recently lead to a financial meltdown and subsequent Socialist bailout? Even the Commodity Futures Trade Commission as much as admitted that a fix was needed when they said, "Your suggestions (that Funds report their cash positions to regulators weekly) may alleviate your particular problem..but may cause bigger problems for the market as a whole!"

If people want to climb on the "Oh my god were all gonna starve it's the end of life as we know it" train, I can't stop you. But you'd think as many times as we've taken in the butt over the last 7 years, that there would be some level of awareness that we are being Gamed in every way possible, and that the time is at hand for more than talking or voting. posted 04/23/2008 at 18:41:45

Back in '91 right after the fall of the Wall, we were taking bets on who the new enemy would be. Middle East in a number of forms was near the top of the list, primarily due to the oil. But watch--we are slowly and steadily being aimed at the People's Republic of China as the next Really Bad Guys! I have no use for totalitarian regimes of any kind--including our own--but I'll be damned if my kids will fight and die in Asia like my generation did. Not for Exxon, not for General Dynamics, not for Bechtal, not for any of them. posted 04/23/2008 at 23:48:27

Petraeus isn't a General--He's a tool. posted 04/23/2008 at 23:23:27

Dr. good points all. I have caught hell from the politically correct squad on why allowing illegals to work here is a highly immoral and inhumane way to address this larger problem. Not only is what is happening in Mexico with the destruction of the family farm eerily similar to what is going on here, but the redistribution of the land--a problem going back to Villa and Zapata leading the Revolution for fair land practices--shares many points with the current subprime foreclosure crisis that hit over 2 million Americans last year. Fascism, no matter where or when is really a form of land feudalism that turns citizens into serfs. The only answers are, Impeach Bush, end NAFTA, force Mexico to deal with its own people and problems while we take care of business here! posted 04/23/2008 at 15:40:14

maybe this will help--

One:
Dictionary: recession
(rÄ­-sÄ•sh'É"n) pronunciation
2. An extended decline in general business activity, typically two consecutive quarters of falling real gross national product.

Two:
Recession: The Newspaper Definition
The standard newspaper definition of a recession is a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters.

This definition is unpopular with most economists for two main reasons.

First, this definition does not take into consideration changes in other variables. For example this definition ignores any changes in the unemployment rate or consumer confidence. Second, by using quarterly data this definition makes it difficult to pinpoint when a recession begins or ends. This means that a recession that lasts ten months or less may go undetected.

Three:
The National Bureau's Business Cycle Dating Committee maintains a chronology of the U.S. business cycle. The chronology identifies the dates of peaks and troughs that frame economic recession or expansion. The period from a peak to a trough is a recession and the period from a trough to a peak is an expansion. According to the chronology, the most recent peak occurred in March 2001, ending a record-long expansion that began in 1991. The most recent trough occurred in November 2001, inaugurating an expansion. posted 04/23/2008 at 15:57:07

Part 1

I agree with ROL, and here"s why: Let me preface by saying that the American consumer is the most gullible being on the planet. Maybe that comes from being isolated between two oceans and never having had a war fought on our soil that gives other folks a more finely developed BS meter. So, yes, we have bought into the whole idea of having more than we should and saving less than citizens in any other developed country. We also work harder and longer hours for less than other countries. And, education on how the financial system really works would be an excellent idea! Then maybe policy would be set by the people and not the oligarchs.

Let"s look at history: Clinton repeals Glass-Steagall, financial corporations consolidate laying the groundwork for the sub-prime market manipulation that ensues. Shortly after, we have the end of the so-called "Tech Bubble," another orchestrated economic event that allowed old money to crush new technology and buy it on the cheap. posted 04/23/2008 at 14:58:10

Part 2

After Bush takes office, the economy goes from a surplus to a shambles. Every dollar has been wrung from the tech sector, we have no industry to speak of to manipulate. With the economy stumbling toward a real Depression due to Bush"s record setting borrowing and infrastructure destroying tax cuts, they needed a sector that would churn enough cash to give the impression of real growth in the GDP. Only housing"and the deep pockets of the middle class"could accomplish that.

But this time there is no warning of irrational exuberance! Greenspan; 1. Lowers the Fed rate (something he controlled assiduously during Clinton), targets the housing market as the new lending emporium, and; 2. Instructs lenders to offer "more creative" loan products"read sub-prime, or what was previously referred to in the industry as junk loans!

These two acts cause rampant RE price inflation as the cheap money meets "liberalized" loan qualifications. After a speech in early 2004, Greenspan was asked by worried BANKERS about the growing RE price pressures and inflationary effects on the dollar of his cheap money policies; his answer, "Don"t worry, we have everything under control." Sure they did. That"s why mortgages were securitized and sold as packages all around the world to sovereign wealth funds, other banks, pension funds, and always with the vaunted AAA rating, even though they were leveraged sometimes as high as 32 times! posted 04/23/2008 at 14:57:02

Part 3

And every time they changed hands, the leverage increased and the amount of fiat money"paper transactions"grew exponentially. The trillions of dollars outstanding in the market from these manipulations has yet to be factored into the predatory lending meltdown. As for Bush"s misnamed "stimulus package" and more Fed rate cuts, they will only bail out the usual Corporate suspects, while continuing the inflationary pressure on our struggling dollar. Both are guaranteed losers!

I"m not talking about "house flippers" or speculators, I"m talking about the two Million foreclosures last year alone, of single family, owner occupied Homes"not investments, and how many of those loans (many in litigation for fraud) were doctored by the lenders, who gave assurances to the buyers that everything was kosher; Buyers who believed them, because in America, when the guy in the suit tells the guy in the blue collar that everything is ok, we believe.

Stupid us. We wanted a piece of the American dream, not a mansion in Grosse Point. The MSM is screaming that our dream is in reach, and the mortgage vultures are calling with the deal of the century"all based on policy created at the top of the food chain, from Greenspan, Rubin, and Goldman-Sachs, on down! Were we dupes? You betcha. Were we to blame? Get real. posted 04/23/2008 at 14:56:12

dad, I've googled my brains out to find this--do you have links? posted 04/23/2008 at 18:57:07

And, whatever Ayres did, he did without crossing picket lines. The same can't be said for Ridley. posted 04/19/2008 at 00:38:54

Did I get this right--40 years ago--when Obama was what, 7 or 8 years old? WTF are you talking about, Ridley? posted 04/19/2008 at 00:31:03

Finally, Hamas is the democratically elected representatives of the Palestinian people

Bingo! posted 04/19/2008 at 00:00:53

Ah, Marc--you worked for years with the Council on Foreign Relations and the Brookings Institute without any sign of a conscience, now, suddenly, you're the Mother Teresa of the Middle East? It's been widely documented that the Diplomatic Corp. has always been just a front for American intelligence agencies, helping them implement their own unique brand of justice around the world. How many coups since 1950? I've lost count. So why should anyone take your word about the situation between Israel and the Palestinians?

Look, here's an idea; we're headed for a real wing dinger of a recession/depression. Why don't you just come on home, get a real job, maybe building houses with Habitat for Humanity, and let the Israelis and Palestinians work out their own answers? I know that would run counter to "American's vital security interests in the region," but maybe if we got our diplomatic noses out of everybody else's business, our security wouldn't be in such jeopardy. I mean, really, you guys have been at it since 1949 and the results just aren't that great. posted 04/18/2008 at 23:57:21

Oh hell, I'll say it: They're all turn coats, liars and thieves! They've caved to Bush--Mr. 29% lame duck, minority party--on Every issue. They don't have the courage of their convictions. And they are either bought and paid for or threatened by Bush/Cheney's spying to the point that they couldn't stand up for the Constitution without the proper application of a cattle prod. They are all about expediency, and getting reelected. And what we are all left feeling is exactly what Obama called it--and then some!

You really want to change things this fall? Get rid of Pelosi, Reid, Feinstein, and all the other blue dog, war profiteering dems. Turn both houses inside out and give Obama not just something to work with, but an unmistakable message that he'd Better! This war should have been ended a year and a half ago, and Bush and Cheney impeached. That is hasn't yet says more about us than it does about them... posted 04/18/2008 at 23:37:22

The stock market should be about buying and selling of stocks--ownership in actual companies, period!

Every other investment instrument should be banned. Securitizing of mortgages, hedge funds and other sophisticated gambling should be made illegal. If these masters of the universe want to gamble, they should have to go to Vegas and stand shoulder to shoulder with all the other marks, and play with their own money! posted 04/17/2008 at 20:20:50

It's the monster in the closet. The wacky brother in the basement. It's the thing that No politician until Obama, wanted to address. The anger and betrayal that so many working class Americans feel toward their government. Why? Because this is the stuff of Revolutions, that's why! Notice how Hillary and McCain closed ranks on this issue and tried to put Republi-spin on it...immediately. Anything that threatens the corporate hand that feeds them, is reason to put down any differences and attack whoever has the nerve to talk about the People in real terms.

Obama laid the blame for all those feelings, and more, squarely at the door of the Federal Government and at least 3 successive administrations. He has crossed a bright red line with this, folks. Now he either rides this bucking pony of Populism right into the White House, or apologizes for hurting the feelings of the Corporate Oligarchy that has been shafting all of us--all of us--for too damn long. My bet is he takes this as his true "YES WE CAN" moment, and becomes the voice of the people who have too long gone unheard. posted 04/16/2008 at 23:15:10

You know, there was a guy in my neighborhood one time, was accused of molesting his Collie. It wasn't true, but folks still looked at him funny after that...

The whole 'elitist' tag, and all the others, are just tools to make you look at Obama funny. They aren't true. posted 04/16/2008 at 23:54:18

You know, there was a guy in my neighborhood one time, was accused of molesting his Collie. It wasn't true, but folks still looked at him funny after that...

The whole 'elitist' tag, and all the others, are just tools to make you look at Obama funny. They aren't true. posted 04/16/2008 at 19:43:12

It shows a pattern. That's important. posted 04/16/2008 at 19:40:12

She looks like a Madona wannabe on crack. posted 04/16/2008 at 19:39:41

And since we've become the USSR--the United States Socialist Republics, then we should purge them, families and all to whatever passes for Siberia here--probably Utah. posted 04/16/2008 at 21:36:37

Raquel, I can't tell you how important your work is for every single working person in the country! Unions are all that keep us from being the People's Republic of America.

I saw this elsewhere, but felt it applicable here and wanted to pass it along: "It wasn't until Martin Luther King went to assist the striking workers that he was targeted for assassination. He could agitate for civil rights--sit where you want on the bus, drink from any old fountain, heck, even go to school with white kids; but when he put his muscle behind labor and Really challenged the powers that be in this country--the people with all the money--he became a threat to their entire system, and he paid with his life.

It is not by accident that Unions in this country are an endangered species. Ameri-Corp, the unholy alliance of Big Business and our so called representative government, have had Unions in their sights from day one. My Dad was an organizer in Chicago in the thirties, and I know the stop at nothing, entitled attitude of the Oligarchy and their hand maidens, the Police and the Military. The plan has been in the works since day one, and was even put into a paper for the Trilateral Commission in 1975 that outlines the step they felt necessary to maintain control of workers and wages." posted 04/16/2008 at 19:55:06

Still LOL. You guys need to do better, though the whole "tag team" thing is great to watch. posted 04/16/2008 at 20:00:00

LOL posted 04/16/2008 at 14:55:57

Smack down, rob! posted 04/16/2008 at 23:57:06

I remember that show, though I think it was on 60 Minutes! The armed guards wouldn't even let the police in, as i recall, and the workers were kept in debt, just like those mining towns you mentioned. And this is America? posted 04/16/2008 at 20:04:44

Good reply! As a friend said to me--if Bush invaded Iraq for the oil, they'd be pumping day and night to make every cent they could.

Thought he was smart, until I pointed out that they purpose of a cartel--whether it's OPEC or DeBeers--is CONTROL of production, and thereby, control of price! The record earnings of the Oil companies proved my point. They make more pumping less. Brilliant. posted 04/16/2008 at 15:07:37

The snake man would rather feed babies to the war machine, than feed babies. posted 04/16/2008 at 20:07:06

Mark, just read your bio. Gosh...

But I will say this--Ozomotli totally rocks! My sons turned me on to them. posted 04/16/2008 at 20:55:13

I am a Berkeley alum. I am ashamed. posted 04/16/2008 at 20:39:54

this is getting a bit angry, but as far as Rendition, it was a policy put into place by Clinton in 1995.

That, along with NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, and the repeal of Glass-Steagall which led directly to the financial meltdown of today, makes Bill, and Hillary by extension, Republicans. They talk the progressive talk, but all they do is talk. As Mark has pointed out, there are so many kiretsu style alliances and Corporate interbreeding, especially at the Federal Level, that getting any president to move on this would be next to impossible. At least Obama is not (yet) a DNC pawn.

But--and here's the kicker--When millions of angry, bitter, betrayed, and aroused citizens march, Presidents (from LBJ who retired rather than fight it, to Nixon, who was forced to the peace table) must listen, and act. The voters, Diebold aside, still have the power to remove any of them and that massive movement of moms and dads and schoolkids and grammas a grandpas and white and blue collar people, scares the living crap out of them. posted 04/16/2008 at 20:38:51

Yes! When our enemy refuses to follow the law, it is all the more important for us to do so. posted 04/16/2008 at 20:26:23

Mark and Rule, I too remember that excitement when it felt that we were going to actually do something to stop the carnage and restore the Constitution! Then Bush and Cheney pull another incredible rabbit out of their hat--and yes, I'm as suspicious as anyone here about the uses to which his spying have been put, and who he has what on! Complicit--and then some!

Every time Tom Hayden posts I see folks asking him, "What would it take, Tom--you were there once?" He has yet to answer, but you have come closest to what I think would work. Millions in the streets of every major city, all in red, white or blue shirts, carrying banners that say, "WE support the Constitution. We support the rule of law. We support The American People." Walking peacefully and with purpose; United as we have not been since 1968. And committed to change!

And just to make sure that the world knew of what we were doing, a massive PR and info sharing campaign that would break through the stranglehold of the MSM, forcing them to report the truth for once, even though their Corporate owners have done their best to bury it. We could do this, Mark. posted 04/16/2008 at 20:22:02

"He didn't say that or intimate it in the least. What he say, and said it right up front was; People feel betrayed by government! They are manipulated, used, lied to, and then forgotten--except, of course, during an election year. He never alluded to the beliefs or cultural values of Any one as being the result of hard times. Rather, that these hard times were created by a government that just doesn't care; a government that manipulates through fear and poor policy, encouraging suspicion and divisiveness. He blamed the past two administrations for betraying the interests of the people in favor of keeping them powerless and angry.

Read what he said again. He blames the right folks, and he nails the bitterness and anger that working Americans feel! The question we should be asking is, why, with our economy poised to tank, jobs gone, homes lost, and our milk and gas out of sight, are Clinton and McCain content to put a smiley face on what it seems everyone else in America sees clearly?" posted 04/16/2008 at 21:23:38

As Michelle Haimoff reported yesterday:

"...he described the mess as "intentional" and pointed fingers at Alan Greenspan,..."

INTENTIONAL!

You actually had someone with 3 degrees from Harvard, come right out and say what most thinking folks on this site already believe, but can't prove, and this is not Headline News? And, more importantly, he is still walking around with all his limbs intact?

Yes, I disagree with some of his suggested methods for dealing with world poverty--he doesn't address many of the underlying causes that need to be eradicated. But, though it isn't quoted here today, that remark about how this economic downturn is, to his economist mind, an intentional event, enriching the few at the expense of the many--yet again, is one of the bravest things, or stupidest, you will read this year!

It should be HuffPo front page stuff! posted 03/27/2008 at 14:30:44

clif, this doesn't come from obama, and I'm not an obama guy. This is real stuff that's been around for a few years now that I know about because I have a personal interest in cults, especially so-called Christian cults. Before you try to partisan-ize it you might want to lok into it yourself as these particular guys are in it Just for the power and have neo-con relationships going back to their inception. Very scary indeed. posted 03/27/2008 at 14:38:15

I want to hear more about her connection to "The Family" religious movement. posted 03/26/2008 at 23:44:42

this is news? When have banks ever acted in the interest (pun intended) of the consumer? They will take this cheap money, and the even cheaper sure to come our way as this rate fails to spark the economy, and put it in Euros until the rates soar here and then lend it back to us. That is how the rich get richer. posted 03/26/2008 at 21:29:21

This is the same thing we heard last week from some Money Men for Hillary who were upset about the Florida and Michigan revote conundrum. Call it a bribe or a threat, it's just business as usual for the Clintons. posted 03/26/2008 at 21:49:57

And I guess we should just stand by while genocide goes on in Darfur, or slavery in India and China, too, hmmm? posted 03/26/2008 at 21:26:25

"...he described the mess as "intentional" and pointed fingers at Alan Greenspan,..."

You have actually had someone with 3 degrees from Harvard, come right out and say what most thinking folks on this site already believe, but can't prove, and this is not Headline News? And, more importantly, he is still walking around with all his limbs intact?

Swear to us Michelle that you will follow up on that Mother of all Comments! posted 03/26/2008 at 21:23:10

It's only gambling if it's with your money, and if you don't already know the outcome! posted 03/26/2008 at 21:19:38

pepper, you're so right. The way she lays it out, it has all the makings of a Tom Clancy novel---Presidents wife and daughter kidnapped by terrorists in Muslim backwater, Harrison Ford to the rescue! posted 03/26/2008 at 22:14:57