Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Weekend Economists Honor Our Veterans November 8-10, 2013
Veterans Day is an official United States holiday which honors people who have served in armed service also known as veterans. It is a federal holiday that is observed on November 11. It coincides with other holidays such as Armistice Day and Remembrance Day, which are celebrated in other parts of the world and also mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect.)
Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day; Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day
Veterans Day is not to be confused with Memorial Day; Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S. military veterans, while Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veterans_Day
History
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. In proclaiming the holiday, he said
The United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution seven years later on June 4, 1926, requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. A Congressional Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday: "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'."
In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks from Birmingham, Alabama, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who died in World War I. Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day. Weeks led the first national celebration in 1947 in Alabama and annually until his death in 1985. President Reagan honored Weeks at the White House with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982 as the driving force for the national holiday. Elizabeth Dole, who prepared the briefing for President Reagan, determined Weeks as the "Father of Veterans Day."
U.S. Representative Ed Rees from Emporia, Kansas, presented a bill establishing the holiday through Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower, also from Kansas, signed the bill into law on May 26, 1954.
Congress amended this act on June 1, 1954, replacing "Armistice" with "Veterans," and it has been known as Veterans Day since.
The National Veterans Award, created in 1954, also started in Birmingham. Congressman Rees of Kansas was honored in Alabama as the first recipient of the award for his support offering legislation to make Veterans Day a federal holiday, which marked nine years of effort by Raymond Weeks. Weeks conceived the idea in 1945, petitioned Gen. Eisenhower in 1946, and led the first Veterans Day celebration in 1947 (keeping the official name Armistice Day until Veterans Day was legal in 1954).
Although originally scheduled for celebration on November 11 of every year, starting in 1971 in accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. In 1978, it was moved back to its original celebration on November 11. While the legal holiday remains on November 11, if that date happens to be on a Saturday or Sunday, then organizations that formally observe the holiday will normally be closed on the adjacent Friday or Monday, respectively.
"To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."
The United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution seven years later on June 4, 1926, requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. A Congressional Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday: "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'."
In 1945, World War II veteran Raymond Weeks from Birmingham, Alabama, had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who died in World War I. Weeks led a delegation to Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, who supported the idea of National Veterans Day. Weeks led the first national celebration in 1947 in Alabama and annually until his death in 1985. President Reagan honored Weeks at the White House with the Presidential Citizenship Medal in 1982 as the driving force for the national holiday. Elizabeth Dole, who prepared the briefing for President Reagan, determined Weeks as the "Father of Veterans Day."
U.S. Representative Ed Rees from Emporia, Kansas, presented a bill establishing the holiday through Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower, also from Kansas, signed the bill into law on May 26, 1954.
Congress amended this act on June 1, 1954, replacing "Armistice" with "Veterans," and it has been known as Veterans Day since.
The National Veterans Award, created in 1954, also started in Birmingham. Congressman Rees of Kansas was honored in Alabama as the first recipient of the award for his support offering legislation to make Veterans Day a federal holiday, which marked nine years of effort by Raymond Weeks. Weeks conceived the idea in 1945, petitioned Gen. Eisenhower in 1946, and led the first Veterans Day celebration in 1947 (keeping the official name Armistice Day until Veterans Day was legal in 1954).
Although originally scheduled for celebration on November 11 of every year, starting in 1971 in accordance with the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, Veterans Day was moved to the fourth Monday of October. In 1978, it was moved back to its original celebration on November 11. While the legal holiday remains on November 11, if that date happens to be on a Saturday or Sunday, then organizations that formally observe the holiday will normally be closed on the adjacent Friday or Monday, respectively.
The markets will be open Monday, but just because the DOW sees fit to ignore the soldiers, sailors, air corps and Marines that risked their lives and futures for the 1% Bankster Elite's right to do what they do so well (and it ain't printable, so use your imagination)....as I say, just because the markets are closed to the idea of celebrating veterans, doesn't mean we have to be...
81 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/11/08/243942091/snowden-reportedly-used-others-login-info-to-get-secret-data?ft=1&f=1001
Some of the classified documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden were acquired using the credentials of other NSA workers — including people who had higher security clearance than Snowden, according to Reuters. As many as 25 people may have been duped, the news agency says, citing people close to the inquiry. Snowden reportedly gained his the National Security Agency colleagues' trust — and access to documents and data beyond his security clearance — by saying he needed to know their security information as part of his job as a computer systems administrator.
It isn't clear whether employees who provided the information to Snowden were fired or reassigned. The security lapse was centered on the NSA's regional operations center in Hawaii, where Snowden had been working before he began an international flight from U.S. authorities that has now taken him to Russia. Two factors may have aided Snowden's exploitation of the cracks in security at the NSA. The first is the agency's delay of installing the most current anti-leak software in its systems at the Hawaii station; the second is the sense of inclusion and security that can lead people to drop their guard when they believe their co-workers have been vetted.
Another factor in Snowden's ability to use his status as a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton to access sensitive information was that his job sometimes required such actions.
"His job was to do what he did. He wasn't a ghost. He wasn't that clever. He did his job. He was observed moving documents, but it was his job," a government official back in September.
As Tom reported, Snowden may also have been aided by the inclusion of USB ports on some NSA computers, which would allow a thumb drive to be inserted that could then store information.
CONGRATS MEG CASEY!
http://www.madmagazine.com/blog/2011/11/17/spy-vs-spy-art-competition-at-scad
Some of the classified documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden were acquired using the credentials of other NSA workers — including people who had higher security clearance than Snowden, according to Reuters. As many as 25 people may have been duped, the news agency says, citing people close to the inquiry. Snowden reportedly gained his the National Security Agency colleagues' trust — and access to documents and data beyond his security clearance — by saying he needed to know their security information as part of his job as a computer systems administrator.
"A handful of agency employees who gave their login details to Snowden were identified, questioned and removed from their assignments," , citing "a source close to several U.S. government investigations into the damage caused by the leaks."
It isn't clear whether employees who provided the information to Snowden were fired or reassigned. The security lapse was centered on the NSA's regional operations center in Hawaii, where Snowden had been working before he began an international flight from U.S. authorities that has now taken him to Russia. Two factors may have aided Snowden's exploitation of the cracks in security at the NSA. The first is the agency's delay of installing the most current anti-leak software in its systems at the Hawaii station; the second is the sense of inclusion and security that can lead people to drop their guard when they believe their co-workers have been vetted.
"In the classified world, there is a sharp distinction between insiders and outsiders. If you've been cleared and especially if you've been polygraphed, you're an insider and you are presumed to be trustworthy," secrecy expert Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists tells Reuters.
"What agencies are having a hard time grappling with is the insider threat, the idea that the guy in the next cubicle may not be reliable," he said.
Another factor in Snowden's ability to use his status as a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton to access sensitive information was that his job sometimes required such actions.
"His job was to do what he did. He wasn't a ghost. He wasn't that clever. He did his job. He was observed moving documents, but it was his job," a government official back in September.
As Tom reported, Snowden may also have been aided by the inclusion of USB ports on some NSA computers, which would allow a thumb drive to be inserted that could then store information.
CONGRATS MEG CASEY!
http://www.madmagazine.com/blog/2011/11/17/spy-vs-spy-art-competition-at-scad
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/chase-isnt-the-only-bank-in-trouble-20131105#ixzz2k46Jy04f
....I've fallen behind on some crazy developments on Wall Street. There are multiple scandals blowing up right now, including a whole set of ominous legal cases that could result in punishments so extreme that they might significantly alter the long-term future of the financial services sector.
As one friend of mine put it, "Whatever those morons put aside for settlements, they'd better double it."
Firstly, there's a huge mess involving possible manipulation of the world currency markets. This scandal is already drawing comparisons to the last biggest-financial-scandal-in-history (the Financial Times wondered about a "repeat Libor scandal"
, the manipulation of interest rates via the gaming of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor. The foreign exchange or FX market is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily trading volume of nearly $5 trillion. Regulators on multiple continents are investigating the possibility that at least four (and probably many more) banks may have been involved in widespread, Libor-style manipulation of currencies for years on end. One of the allegations is that traders have been gambling heavily before and after the release of the WM/Reuters rates, which like Libor are benchmark rates calculated privately by a small subset of financial companies that are perfectly positioned to take advantage of their own foreknowledge of pricing information. A month ago, Bloomberg reported that it had observed a pattern of spikes in trading in certain pairs of currencies at the same time, at 4 p.m. London time on the last trading day of the month, when WM/Reuters rates are released. From the article:
The Forex story broke at a time when the industry was already coping with price-fixing messes involving oil (the European commission is investigating manipulation of yet another Libor-like price-setting process here) and manipulation cases involving benchmark rates for precious metals and interest rate swaps. As Quartz put it after the FX story broke:
Perhaps most importantly, however, there's a major drama brewing over legal case in London tied to the Libor scandal. Guardian Care Homes, a British "residential home care operator," is suing the British bank Barclays for over $100 million for allegedly selling the company interest rate swaps based on Libor, which numerous companies have now admitted to manipulating, in a series of high-profile settlements. The theory of the case is that if Libor was not a real number, and was being manipulated for years as numerous companies have admitted, then the Libor-based swaps banks sold to companies like Guardian Care are inherently unenforceable. A ruling against the banks in this case, which goes to trial in April of next year in England, could have serious international ramifications. Suddenly, cities like Philadelphia and Houston, or financial companies like Charles Schwab, or a gazillion other buyers of Libor-based financial products might be able to walk away from their Libor-based contracts. Basically, every customer who's ever been sold a rotten swap product by a major financial company might now be able to get up from the table, extend two middle fingers squarely in the direction of Wall Street, and simply walk away from the deals. Nobody is mincing words about what that might mean globally. From a Reuters article on the Guardian Care case:
Concern over all of this grew even hotter last week with the latest Libor settlement, in which yet another major bank, the Dutch powerhouse Rabobank, got caught monkeying with the London rate. Rabobank paid over a billion in fines to American, British, Dutch and Japanese authorities and saw its professorial CEO, Piet Moerland, resign as a result of the probe. The investigation revealed the same disgusting stuff all of the other Libor probes had revealed – traders and various other mid-level bank sociopaths laughing and joking about rigging rates and screwing customers all over the world. From the WSJ:
Here at home, virtually simultaneous to the Rabobank settlement, Fannie Mae filed a suit against nine banks – including Barclays Plc (BARC), UBS AG (UBSN), Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse Group AG, Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan – for manipulating Libor, claiming that the mortgage-financing behemoth lost over $800 million due to manipulation of the benchmark rate by the banks. And virtually simultaneous to that, JP Morgan Chase disclosed that it is currently the target of no fewer than eight federal investigations, for activities ranging from possible bribery of foreign officials in Asia to allegations of improper mortgage-bond sales to . . . the Libor mess. "The scope and breadth of risky practices at JPMorgan are mind-boggling," Mark Williams, a former Federal Reserve bank examiner, told Bloomberg.
The point of all of this is that any thought that the potential Chase settlement might begin a period of regulatory healing for it and other Wall Street banks appears to be wildly mistaken. If anything, the scope of potential liability for all the major banks, particularly in these market-rigging furors, appears to be growing in all directions.
THE BEST IS YET TO COME...SEE LINK! WE MAY FINALLY GET A DEATH SENTENCE FOR CORPORATIONS...BANKSTER ONES, AT LEAST...
....I've fallen behind on some crazy developments on Wall Street. There are multiple scandals blowing up right now, including a whole set of ominous legal cases that could result in punishments so extreme that they might significantly alter the long-term future of the financial services sector.
As one friend of mine put it, "Whatever those morons put aside for settlements, they'd better double it."
Firstly, there's a huge mess involving possible manipulation of the world currency markets. This scandal is already drawing comparisons to the last biggest-financial-scandal-in-history (the Financial Times wondered about a "repeat Libor scandal"
, the manipulation of interest rates via the gaming of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor. The foreign exchange or FX market is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily trading volume of nearly $5 trillion. Regulators on multiple continents are investigating the possibility that at least four (and probably many more) banks may have been involved in widespread, Libor-style manipulation of currencies for years on end. One of the allegations is that traders have been gambling heavily before and after the release of the WM/Reuters rates, which like Libor are benchmark rates calculated privately by a small subset of financial companies that are perfectly positioned to take advantage of their own foreknowledge of pricing information. A month ago, Bloomberg reported that it had observed a pattern of spikes in trading in certain pairs of currencies at the same time, at 4 p.m. London time on the last trading day of the month, when WM/Reuters rates are released. From the article:
In the space of 20 minutes on the last Friday in June, the value of the U.S. dollar jumped 0.57 percent against its Canadian counterpart, the biggest move in a month. Within an hour, two-thirds of that gain had melted away.
The same pattern – a sudden surge minutes before 4 p.m. in London on the last trading day of the month, followed by a quick reversal – occurred 31 percent of the time across 14 currency pairs over two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. For the most frequently traded pairs, such as euro-dollar, it happened about half the time, the data show.
The recurring spikes take place at the same time financial benchmarks known as the WM/Reuters (TRI) rates are set based on those trades…
The same pattern – a sudden surge minutes before 4 p.m. in London on the last trading day of the month, followed by a quick reversal – occurred 31 percent of the time across 14 currency pairs over two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. For the most frequently traded pairs, such as euro-dollar, it happened about half the time, the data show.
The recurring spikes take place at the same time financial benchmarks known as the WM/Reuters (TRI) rates are set based on those trades…
The Forex story broke at a time when the industry was already coping with price-fixing messes involving oil (the European commission is investigating manipulation of yet another Libor-like price-setting process here) and manipulation cases involving benchmark rates for precious metals and interest rate swaps. As Quartz put it after the FX story broke:
For those keeping score: That means the world's key price benchmarks for interest rates, energy and currencies may now all be compromised.
Perhaps most importantly, however, there's a major drama brewing over legal case in London tied to the Libor scandal. Guardian Care Homes, a British "residential home care operator," is suing the British bank Barclays for over $100 million for allegedly selling the company interest rate swaps based on Libor, which numerous companies have now admitted to manipulating, in a series of high-profile settlements. The theory of the case is that if Libor was not a real number, and was being manipulated for years as numerous companies have admitted, then the Libor-based swaps banks sold to companies like Guardian Care are inherently unenforceable. A ruling against the banks in this case, which goes to trial in April of next year in England, could have serious international ramifications. Suddenly, cities like Philadelphia and Houston, or financial companies like Charles Schwab, or a gazillion other buyers of Libor-based financial products might be able to walk away from their Libor-based contracts. Basically, every customer who's ever been sold a rotten swap product by a major financial company might now be able to get up from the table, extend two middle fingers squarely in the direction of Wall Street, and simply walk away from the deals. Nobody is mincing words about what that might mean globally. From a Reuters article on the Guardian Care case:
"To unwind all Libor-linked derivative contracts would be financial Armageddon," said Abhishek Sachdev, managing director of Vedanta Hedging, which advises companies on interest rate hedging products.
Concern over all of this grew even hotter last week with the latest Libor settlement, in which yet another major bank, the Dutch powerhouse Rabobank, got caught monkeying with the London rate. Rabobank paid over a billion in fines to American, British, Dutch and Japanese authorities and saw its professorial CEO, Piet Moerland, resign as a result of the probe. The investigation revealed the same disgusting stuff all of the other Libor probes had revealed – traders and various other mid-level bank sociopaths laughing and joking about rigging rates and screwing customers all over the world. From the WSJ:
In a July 2006 electronic chat, an unidentified Rabobank trader was informed about the bank's plans to set Libor "obscenely high" that day, according to an exchange cited by the Justice Department. The trader responded, "oh dear . . . my poor customers . . . . hehehe!!"
Here at home, virtually simultaneous to the Rabobank settlement, Fannie Mae filed a suit against nine banks – including Barclays Plc (BARC), UBS AG (UBSN), Royal Bank of Scotland Plc, Deutsche Bank AG, Credit Suisse Group AG, Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan – for manipulating Libor, claiming that the mortgage-financing behemoth lost over $800 million due to manipulation of the benchmark rate by the banks. And virtually simultaneous to that, JP Morgan Chase disclosed that it is currently the target of no fewer than eight federal investigations, for activities ranging from possible bribery of foreign officials in Asia to allegations of improper mortgage-bond sales to . . . the Libor mess. "The scope and breadth of risky practices at JPMorgan are mind-boggling," Mark Williams, a former Federal Reserve bank examiner, told Bloomberg.
The point of all of this is that any thought that the potential Chase settlement might begin a period of regulatory healing for it and other Wall Street banks appears to be wildly mistaken. If anything, the scope of potential liability for all the major banks, particularly in these market-rigging furors, appears to be growing in all directions.
THE BEST IS YET TO COME...SEE LINK! WE MAY FINALLY GET A DEATH SENTENCE FOR CORPORATIONS...BANKSTER ONES, AT LEAST...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-07/france-cuts-wine-outlook-fourth-time-as-bordeaux-burgundy-rot.html
France cut its outlook for wine production for a fourth time after botrytis rot due to wet weather caused grape losses in Bordeaux and Burgundy, adding to damage from poor flowering and summer hailstorms.
The volume of the 2013 vintage may rise 2.2 percent to 42.3 million hectoliters (1.12 billion gallons) from 41.4 million hectoliters in 2012, the Agriculture Ministry wrote in a report late yesterday. The forecast was cut by 1.74 million hectoliters from a month ago, equivalent to 231 million bottles.
The threat of rot by botrytis fungus prompted growers in Burgundy, Bordeaux and southwest France to harvest early, sometimes picking not fully ripened grapes, the ministry said. Rot also forced “major sorting” and cut volumes in Alsace, the Loire Valley and Charentes, according to the ministry.
“Botrytis developed in an exceptional manner in October in the western regions, the southwest, Burgundy, Beaujolais and Alsace, favored by frequent rainfall,” the ministry wrote.
France cut its outlook for wine production for a fourth time after botrytis rot due to wet weather caused grape losses in Bordeaux and Burgundy, adding to damage from poor flowering and summer hailstorms.
The volume of the 2013 vintage may rise 2.2 percent to 42.3 million hectoliters (1.12 billion gallons) from 41.4 million hectoliters in 2012, the Agriculture Ministry wrote in a report late yesterday. The forecast was cut by 1.74 million hectoliters from a month ago, equivalent to 231 million bottles.
The threat of rot by botrytis fungus prompted growers in Burgundy, Bordeaux and southwest France to harvest early, sometimes picking not fully ripened grapes, the ministry said. Rot also forced “major sorting” and cut volumes in Alsace, the Loire Valley and Charentes, according to the ministry.
“Botrytis developed in an exceptional manner in October in the western regions, the southwest, Burgundy, Beaujolais and Alsace, favored by frequent rainfall,” the ministry wrote.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/11/11/131111fa_fact_lemann
White has a reputation as a tough litigator, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she is initiating wholesale change at the S.E.C. Illustration by Barry Blitt.
MMary Jo White, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has a personal page on the New York Road Runners Club Web site, which records a battery of figures (Pace per Mile, Age-Graded Performance Percentage, and so on) for each of the official events she has completed. There are two hundred and seven entries since the first one, which was recorded a week before her fifty-sixth birthday, in 2003, seven of them since she began working in Washington, late last year, just as she was turning sixty-five. Friends and colleagues characterize White as the most competitive and driven person they have ever encountered.
In the nineties, when White was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, she would arrive in her office, a few blocks from Wall Street, early in the morning, with a stack of newspaper clippings. They were marked with yellow Post-Its bearing a recipient’s name and a nudge: Where are we on this? Are we on top of this? She had a famously expansive sense of what her office should be worrying about. She once sent Patrick Fitzgerald, who was in charge of terrorism cases, a note about some white powder that had been found at the site of a truck accident in another state, involving a driver with a Middle Eastern name. Today, she blizzards her staff and her friends with e-mails at all hours. Friends with insomnia who write to her at 2 or 3 a.m. may get an immediate reply.
White is plainspoken and doesn’t seem slick or fancy. Every year, she holds a Super Bowl party. Her favorite band is Fleetwood Mac. Her favorite charity is the A.S.P.C.A. She has had the same cohort of intimate friends since the seventies—three or four women who worked together in the U.S. Attorney’s office and helped form a female basketball team there. When she returns to New York on weekends, they still try to have dinner, and they go on occasional trips together. She does not put her competitiveness aside when conducting her social life. She and her husband, John White, have a tennis court at their country house, in upstate New York, where her style of play led her friends to give her the nickname Sid Vicious. After she organized a team to run in an athletic event called the Great Race, and it finished second, she successfully petitioned the race officials to create a special certificate for her team to take home. She makes sure to win even at Boggle or crazy eights. Although she is a sports fan (baseball first, especially the Yankees, football second, horse racing third) and often invites people to join her at games, she doesn’t carry on conversations while the ball is live. She doesn’t read much for pleasure. She doesn’t belong to a church. Her large apartment, on the Upper East Side, is said to look about as lived-in as a suite in an extended-stay motel. White’s life is about working, and winning.
White has a reputation as a tough litigator, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that she is initiating wholesale change at the S.E.C. Illustration by Barry Blitt.
MMary Jo White, the chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has a personal page on the New York Road Runners Club Web site, which records a battery of figures (Pace per Mile, Age-Graded Performance Percentage, and so on) for each of the official events she has completed. There are two hundred and seven entries since the first one, which was recorded a week before her fifty-sixth birthday, in 2003, seven of them since she began working in Washington, late last year, just as she was turning sixty-five. Friends and colleagues characterize White as the most competitive and driven person they have ever encountered.
In the nineties, when White was the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, she would arrive in her office, a few blocks from Wall Street, early in the morning, with a stack of newspaper clippings. They were marked with yellow Post-Its bearing a recipient’s name and a nudge: Where are we on this? Are we on top of this? She had a famously expansive sense of what her office should be worrying about. She once sent Patrick Fitzgerald, who was in charge of terrorism cases, a note about some white powder that had been found at the site of a truck accident in another state, involving a driver with a Middle Eastern name. Today, she blizzards her staff and her friends with e-mails at all hours. Friends with insomnia who write to her at 2 or 3 a.m. may get an immediate reply.
White is plainspoken and doesn’t seem slick or fancy. Every year, she holds a Super Bowl party. Her favorite band is Fleetwood Mac. Her favorite charity is the A.S.P.C.A. She has had the same cohort of intimate friends since the seventies—three or four women who worked together in the U.S. Attorney’s office and helped form a female basketball team there. When she returns to New York on weekends, they still try to have dinner, and they go on occasional trips together. She does not put her competitiveness aside when conducting her social life. She and her husband, John White, have a tennis court at their country house, in upstate New York, where her style of play led her friends to give her the nickname Sid Vicious. After she organized a team to run in an athletic event called the Great Race, and it finished second, she successfully petitioned the race officials to create a special certificate for her team to take home. She makes sure to win even at Boggle or crazy eights. Although she is a sports fan (baseball first, especially the Yankees, football second, horse racing third) and often invites people to join her at games, she doesn’t carry on conversations while the ball is live. She doesn’t read much for pleasure. She doesn’t belong to a church. Her large apartment, on the Upper East Side, is said to look about as lived-in as a suite in an extended-stay motel. White’s life is about working, and winning.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/yep-being-a-young-american-adult-is-a-financial-nightmare/281214/
Poverty is an astonishingly common experience here in the world's richest country. As I wrote this morning, almost 40 percent of American adults experience it for at least a year by age 60.
But you know who poverty is especially common among? Young adults.
Based on the data I shared earlier, which were given to me by Washington University in St. Louis professor Mark Rank, I've pulled together a few more graphs that I think illustrate the difficulty of making ends meet in your twenties and early thirties (particularly if you're not lucky enough to, say, have a college degree). Exhibit a) between the ages of 25 and 34, 41.3% percent of Americans will spend at least a year earning less than 150 percent of the poverty line, which is a technical way of saying "being pretty broke." By age 35, a little more than a quarter will have lived under the actual poverty line, which is the technical way of saying, "really truly broke."
Poverty is an astonishingly common experience here in the world's richest country. As I wrote this morning, almost 40 percent of American adults experience it for at least a year by age 60.
But you know who poverty is especially common among? Young adults.
Based on the data I shared earlier, which were given to me by Washington University in St. Louis professor Mark Rank, I've pulled together a few more graphs that I think illustrate the difficulty of making ends meet in your twenties and early thirties (particularly if you're not lucky enough to, say, have a college degree). Exhibit a) between the ages of 25 and 34, 41.3% percent of Americans will spend at least a year earning less than 150 percent of the poverty line, which is a technical way of saying "being pretty broke." By age 35, a little more than a quarter will have lived under the actual poverty line, which is the technical way of saying, "really truly broke."
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/the-workforce-is-even-more-divided-by-race-than-you-think/281175/
Let's begin with the fact that black unemployment is higher than Hispanic unemployment, which itself is higher than white unemployment. This hasn't just been true for the last year, or the last decade. It's been true for the last four decades and beyond.
And we'll continue with the fact that, when you look at participation rates over the same 40 years, Hispanic men work more often than white men, who consistently work more than black men. Among women, the trend has been the mirror opposite and just as unchanging. Black women have consistently worked more often than white women, who have consistently worked more often than Hispanic women.
Let's begin with the fact that black unemployment is higher than Hispanic unemployment, which itself is higher than white unemployment. This hasn't just been true for the last year, or the last decade. It's been true for the last four decades and beyond.
And we'll continue with the fact that, when you look at participation rates over the same 40 years, Hispanic men work more often than white men, who consistently work more than black men. Among women, the trend has been the mirror opposite and just as unchanging. Black women have consistently worked more often than white women, who have consistently worked more often than Hispanic women.
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Paying-the-Toll-On-the-Eco-by-William-John-Cox-Taxation_Taxes-131108-15.html
The political coma of the U.S. government induced by Congress and its failure to represent those who elect it can ultimately be traced to the unfair and complex system of income taxation. Better for the country and more equitable for its taxpayers would be a toll tax on the movement of all money along the nation's economic highway. Not a national sales tax, not a value-added tax, not a flat income tax, and not a speculation tax, but rather a slight levy should be imposed on every single financial transaction. Not just every time you fill up your gas tank or buy groceries, but we should hear a tiny "ka-ching" every time stocks, bonds and futures are bought and sold, every time currencies and derivatives are traded, and whenever an oil company buys a new drilling rig or a bank rolls the dice in the financial casino.
The federal government could easily operate on revenues produced by a "toll tax" of less than one percent on the movement of all money. Significantly, the payment of taxes would shift to those who most profit from government -' from individuals to corporations and from the laboring poor to the wealthy elite, who would pay taxes on their money games and spending for luxuries, instead of their "income." A toll tax would result in a slight increase in the overall cost of goods and services; however, the toll would apply to all monetary transactions, including financial manipulations by the wealthy, who engage in every imaginable scheme to avoid having any "taxable income."
A "transaction tax" was first suggested by James Tobin 40 years ago and expanded upon by University of Wisconsin Professor Edgar L. Feige, who has proposed an Automated Payment Transaction Tax. Professor Feige believes the payment of taxes should be split between the transaction parties and paid immediately. While the automatic payment of taxes into sequestered tax accounts by financial institutions could and should be easily accommodated, most individuals and companies would find it more difficult to comply. Moreover, there would be a temptation to avoid taxes by engaging in cash transactions. For most taxpayers, collection of the toll tax could occur somewhat like the current income tax, in that individuals, small businesses and corporations would still prepare and file an annual tax report. The preparation of returns, however, would be simplified and tax fraud greatly reduced.
Let's consider a married couple with joint earnings of $100,000. Their employers would still prepare 1099 and W-2 forms, and the couple would file a return setting forth incoming money. They would then deduct the amount paid out for health insurance, including Medicare, and further reduce their outlay by the amount paid into Social Security, IRAs, 401(k) plans, and into federally-insured savings accounts. From a policy standpoint, these funds are not spent until withdrawn and circulated. When allowable deductions are subtracted from income, the difference would be how much money the couple spent. Their toll tax would be paid on the balance, and even without any deductions, a one-percent tax would only be $1,000. Since, however, it has been suggested that a 0.35 percent toll tax would produce the same revenue as the present income tax, the couple's annual toll tax could be as low as $350.
In addition to simplifying their accounting procedures, a toll tax would provide other benefits for businesses and corporations. To the extent they are owned by U.S. citizens and their salaries are paid to U.S. citizens, businesses, corporations and other organizations should not have to pay a toll tax on their payroll, as salaries would be directly passed through to their employees to spend (and to be taxed) in the economy. Payrolls paid to foreign workers by American businesses, however, should be subject to the toll tax, as the money would not pass through the U.S. economy. This provision could reverse the current trend of "outsourcing" American jobs. Finally, while the Earned Income Tax Credit was well intentioned, it has encouraged wide-spread fraud and many resent it as a socialistic redistribution of income. The credit should be eliminated, and all spending above an established "poverty line" should be reported and taxed.
Every individual, rich and poor, and every business, large and small, should support good government by fairly contributing to a uniform toll tax that is the least painful and most equitable -' a true "win-win" for all.
THIS IS THE FIRST I'VE HEARD OF SUCH A SCHEME...WHAT SAY YOU, FELLOW SMW AND WEE?
The political coma of the U.S. government induced by Congress and its failure to represent those who elect it can ultimately be traced to the unfair and complex system of income taxation. Better for the country and more equitable for its taxpayers would be a toll tax on the movement of all money along the nation's economic highway. Not a national sales tax, not a value-added tax, not a flat income tax, and not a speculation tax, but rather a slight levy should be imposed on every single financial transaction. Not just every time you fill up your gas tank or buy groceries, but we should hear a tiny "ka-ching" every time stocks, bonds and futures are bought and sold, every time currencies and derivatives are traded, and whenever an oil company buys a new drilling rig or a bank rolls the dice in the financial casino.
The federal government could easily operate on revenues produced by a "toll tax" of less than one percent on the movement of all money. Significantly, the payment of taxes would shift to those who most profit from government -' from individuals to corporations and from the laboring poor to the wealthy elite, who would pay taxes on their money games and spending for luxuries, instead of their "income." A toll tax would result in a slight increase in the overall cost of goods and services; however, the toll would apply to all monetary transactions, including financial manipulations by the wealthy, who engage in every imaginable scheme to avoid having any "taxable income."
A "transaction tax" was first suggested by James Tobin 40 years ago and expanded upon by University of Wisconsin Professor Edgar L. Feige, who has proposed an Automated Payment Transaction Tax. Professor Feige believes the payment of taxes should be split between the transaction parties and paid immediately. While the automatic payment of taxes into sequestered tax accounts by financial institutions could and should be easily accommodated, most individuals and companies would find it more difficult to comply. Moreover, there would be a temptation to avoid taxes by engaging in cash transactions. For most taxpayers, collection of the toll tax could occur somewhat like the current income tax, in that individuals, small businesses and corporations would still prepare and file an annual tax report. The preparation of returns, however, would be simplified and tax fraud greatly reduced.
Let's consider a married couple with joint earnings of $100,000. Their employers would still prepare 1099 and W-2 forms, and the couple would file a return setting forth incoming money. They would then deduct the amount paid out for health insurance, including Medicare, and further reduce their outlay by the amount paid into Social Security, IRAs, 401(k) plans, and into federally-insured savings accounts. From a policy standpoint, these funds are not spent until withdrawn and circulated. When allowable deductions are subtracted from income, the difference would be how much money the couple spent. Their toll tax would be paid on the balance, and even without any deductions, a one-percent tax would only be $1,000. Since, however, it has been suggested that a 0.35 percent toll tax would produce the same revenue as the present income tax, the couple's annual toll tax could be as low as $350.
In addition to simplifying their accounting procedures, a toll tax would provide other benefits for businesses and corporations. To the extent they are owned by U.S. citizens and their salaries are paid to U.S. citizens, businesses, corporations and other organizations should not have to pay a toll tax on their payroll, as salaries would be directly passed through to their employees to spend (and to be taxed) in the economy. Payrolls paid to foreign workers by American businesses, however, should be subject to the toll tax, as the money would not pass through the U.S. economy. This provision could reverse the current trend of "outsourcing" American jobs. Finally, while the Earned Income Tax Credit was well intentioned, it has encouraged wide-spread fraud and many resent it as a socialistic redistribution of income. The credit should be eliminated, and all spending above an established "poverty line" should be reported and taxed.
Every individual, rich and poor, and every business, large and small, should support good government by fairly contributing to a uniform toll tax that is the least painful and most equitable -' a true "win-win" for all.
THIS IS THE FIRST I'VE HEARD OF SUCH A SCHEME...WHAT SAY YOU, FELLOW SMW AND WEE?
http://www.businessinsider.com/signs-were-in-a-bubble-2013-11?op=1
American financier J.P. Morgan is depicted as a bull, blowing soap bubbles for eager investors.
Bubbles. They arise, in part, from the maddeningly rational human feeling that it makes sense to overpay a little today because, whatever, I'll just sell tomorrow!
Or, put simply by Gawker's bubble-dabbler Hamilton Nolan, "Buy! Buy! Buy! Buy! High! High! High! High!"
"Tech startups with no revenue have billion-dollar valuations," writes our Jim Edwards. "And engineers are demanding Tesla sports cars just to show up at work."
There are, of course, tangible and empirical ways that economists determine bubblehood, but what fun is that?
A hedge fund hired pro surfer Joe Curren for marketing purposes
Google will now endeavor to cure Death
Billionaire Larry Ellison changed the yachting rules to price all the other rich guys out of the America's Cup
Ashton Kutcher played Steve Jobs in a movie, so naturally Lenovo hired him as a product engineer
American financier J.P. Morgan is depicted as a bull, blowing soap bubbles for eager investors.
Bubbles. They arise, in part, from the maddeningly rational human feeling that it makes sense to overpay a little today because, whatever, I'll just sell tomorrow!
Or, put simply by Gawker's bubble-dabbler Hamilton Nolan, "Buy! Buy! Buy! Buy! High! High! High! High!"
"Tech startups with no revenue have billion-dollar valuations," writes our Jim Edwards. "And engineers are demanding Tesla sports cars just to show up at work."
There are, of course, tangible and empirical ways that economists determine bubblehood, but what fun is that?
A hedge fund hired pro surfer Joe Curren for marketing purposes
Google will now endeavor to cure Death
Billionaire Larry Ellison changed the yachting rules to price all the other rich guys out of the America's Cup
Ashton Kutcher played Steve Jobs in a movie, so naturally Lenovo hired him as a product engineer
There's now a talent agency for people good at Vine, an app that lets you shoot 6-second video clips
although that treadmill desk isn't such a bad idea
http://www.businessinsider.com/demonstrators-protest-greek-gold-mine-2013-11
Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against a gold mine project in Thessaloniki, Greece on 9 November, 2013 on the World Day of Action against gold mines.
More than 5,000 people took to the streets of Greece's second-largest city on Saturday, police said, to protest against a controversial gold mine that has frayed relations in a northern village.
Protesters carried a banner reading "Toxic dust doesn't have boundaries. No to gold mines" in Thessaloniki, while in Athens, 500 more gathered to shout slogans denouncing police brutality they allege was directed at those who have taken action against the mine.
Opponents of the venture in Ierissos, a village on the tourist-friendly Halkidiki peninsula, believe it could poison groundwater supplies in the area.
Violent resistance has broken out repeatedly since government permission to break ground on the project was granted in 2011 to Hellenic Gold, a Greek subsidiary of Canadian mining firm Eldorado Gold.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/demonstrators-protest-greek-gold-mine-2013-11#ixzz2kFbcctce
Demonstrators shout slogans during a protest against a gold mine project in Thessaloniki, Greece on 9 November, 2013 on the World Day of Action against gold mines.
More than 5,000 people took to the streets of Greece's second-largest city on Saturday, police said, to protest against a controversial gold mine that has frayed relations in a northern village.
Protesters carried a banner reading "Toxic dust doesn't have boundaries. No to gold mines" in Thessaloniki, while in Athens, 500 more gathered to shout slogans denouncing police brutality they allege was directed at those who have taken action against the mine.
Opponents of the venture in Ierissos, a village on the tourist-friendly Halkidiki peninsula, believe it could poison groundwater supplies in the area.
Violent resistance has broken out repeatedly since government permission to break ground on the project was granted in 2011 to Hellenic Gold, a Greek subsidiary of Canadian mining firm Eldorado Gold.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/demonstrators-protest-greek-gold-mine-2013-11#ixzz2kFbcctce
http://www.businessinsider.com/interest-expenses-and-profit-margins-2013-11
That tumbling blue line has been awesome for profit margins.
The profit margin bears argue that record low rates are not sustainable and that rising rates will inevitably reverse recent profitability gains.
However, many market strategists think this is an oversimplistic way of considering the impact of rising rates. They give two reasons.
First, American companies have deleveraged their balance sheets after getting burned by the recent credit crisis.
"[A]lthough we could see interest rates rise from current depressed levels, we would still expect them to remain well below history," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Dan Suzuki earlier this year. "We also do not see any rush for corporations to meaningfully re-lever their balance sheets for the foreseeable future."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/interest-expenses-and-profit-margins-2013-11#ixzz2kFd0thLn
That tumbling blue line has been awesome for profit margins.
The profit margin bears argue that record low rates are not sustainable and that rising rates will inevitably reverse recent profitability gains.
However, many market strategists think this is an oversimplistic way of considering the impact of rising rates. They give two reasons.
First, American companies have deleveraged their balance sheets after getting burned by the recent credit crisis.
"[A]lthough we could see interest rates rise from current depressed levels, we would still expect them to remain well below history," said Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Dan Suzuki earlier this year. "We also do not see any rush for corporations to meaningfully re-lever their balance sheets for the foreseeable future."
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/interest-expenses-and-profit-margins-2013-11#ixzz2kFd0thLn
http://www.buzzfeed.com/sapna/about-31-of-chinese-couples-using-diamond-engagement-rings-u
Now for some news about sparkly things!
Citigroup analysts, in a report about the growing diamond market, say that a bunch of demand is coming from China, where diamond engagement rings have only just become a trend in the past 20 years.
About 31% of Chinese couples now use diamond engagement rings, though the practice, incredibly, was virtually nonexistent in the 1990s, the analysts wrote in the Nov. 7 note, citing data from De Beers. It’s a generational shift that some attribute to the connection between diamonds and romance in Western culture, and clearly, it’s occurred quite rapidly.
“Certain regions, such as Shanghai, have penetration as high as 62% of couples,” Citigroup analyst Oliver Chen wrote. It’s feasible that on average, it may become a tradition among 50% of couples in the medium-term, he wrote.
Now for some news about sparkly things!
Citigroup analysts, in a report about the growing diamond market, say that a bunch of demand is coming from China, where diamond engagement rings have only just become a trend in the past 20 years.
About 31% of Chinese couples now use diamond engagement rings, though the practice, incredibly, was virtually nonexistent in the 1990s, the analysts wrote in the Nov. 7 note, citing data from De Beers. It’s a generational shift that some attribute to the connection between diamonds and romance in Western culture, and clearly, it’s occurred quite rapidly.
“Certain regions, such as Shanghai, have penetration as high as 62% of couples,” Citigroup analyst Oliver Chen wrote. It’s feasible that on average, it may become a tradition among 50% of couples in the medium-term, he wrote.
