STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, February 16, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, February 16, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON February 15, 2011

Dow 12,226.64 -41.55 (-0.34%)
Nasdaq 2,804.35 -12.83 (-0.46%)
S&P 500 1,328.01 -4.31 (-0.32%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.60 -0.01 (-0.25%)
30-Year Bond 4.65 -0.01 (-0.28%)

---

Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

---

Handy Links - Market Data and News:Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    
Credit Union Tracker    Daily Job Cuts

Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
The Big Picture    Financial Sense    Calculated Risk    Naked Capitalism    Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong      Bonddad    Atrios    goldmansachs666    The Stand-Up Economist

Handy Links - Government Issues:
LegitGov    Open Government    Earmark Database    USA spending.gov

Handy Links - Videos:
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class    Charlie Rose talks with Roubini    Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren
Dishonorable Mention: former House majority leader, Tom DeLay

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

---

---

This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Another slew of reports today

Feb 16 07:00 MBA Mortgage Purchase Index 02/11 NA NA -5.5%
Feb 16 08:30 Housing Starts Jan 555K 540K 529K
Feb 16 08:30 Building Permits Jan 550K 575K 627K 635K
Feb 16 08:30 PPI Jan 0.7% 0.7% 0.9% 1.1%
Feb 16 08:30 Core PPI Jan 0.3% 0.2% 0.2%
Feb 16 09:15 Industrial Production Jan 0.6% 0.6% 0.8%
Feb 16 09:15 Capacity Utilization Jan 76.2% 76.4% 76.0%
Feb 16 10:30 Crude Inventories 02/12 NA NA 1.9M
Feb 16 14:00 Fed Minutes

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm

[Po_d Mainiac]

12. The Fed Minutes?

Hints of QE3.2 or exit strategy?:popcorn:

[Pale Blue Dot]

14. U.S. Mortgage Demand Falls to Two-Year Low as Refinancing Drops

The number of applications for U.S. mortgages fell last week to the lowest level in more than two years as higher borrowing costs depressed refinancing.

The Mortgage Bankers Association’s index of loan applications decreased 9.5 percent in the week ended Feb. 11, dropping to the lowest point since November 2008. The group’s refinancing measure slumped 11 percent to the weakest point since July 2009, and the purchase gauge fell 5.9 percent.

The average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages exceeded 5 percent for a second week, the first time that’s happened since April, on signs the economy is improving. Mounting foreclosures and unemployment at or above 9 percent since May 2009 also are hampering any rebound in housing.

“Rising interest rates may dampen any potential housing recovery,” Scott Buchta, head of investment strategy at Braver Stern Securities LLC in Chicago, said before the report. “The recent rise in mortgage rates has also made it uneconomical for the majority of homeowners to refinance their mortgages.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-16/u-s-mortgage-demand-falls-to-two-year-low-as-refinancing-drops.html

[Demeter]

18. Moral of the Story: No New Sales, and Now, No ReFis, Either

Hope that Zombies get to suck on that lemon for a while...shake them up, shake them out...

[Fuddnik]

32. Higher borrowing costs? I don't think so.

When about 50% of all home mortgages are underwater, and getting deeper, there's no equity there to refinance.

[Po_d Mainiac]

48. PPI's up...What is the ChairSatan seeing?

PPI up .8% - ex food and fuel, core up .5%......No inflation here...move along folks...nuttin to see

[Roland99]

54. More info.....

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-wholesale-prices-rise-08-in-january-2011-02-16

U.S. wholesale prices shot up again in January as gasoline costs continued to rise, the government reported Wednesday.

The seasonally adjusted 0.8% increase in January follows a 0.9% gain in December and marks the seventh straight monthly increase, the Labor Department said.

Core producer prices, which exclude the volatile food and energy categories, spiked 0.5%, marking the largest gain since October 2008. Higher drug-related costs accounted for almost half of the increase.

...

Wholesale prices have climbed an unadjusted 3.6% over the past 12 months, but the core rate has risen at a much slower pace of 1.6%.

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil rises to near $85 on surprise US supply drop

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose to near $85 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after a report showed U.S. crude supplies unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting demand may be improving.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 46 cents at $84.78 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 49 cents to settle at $84.32 on Tuesday.

In London, Brent crude for April delivery gained 62 cents to $102.26 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories fell 354,000 barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had forecast an increase of 2.8 million barrels. Crude supplies at the key Cushing, Oklahoma terminal rose 250,000 barrels.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

[Festivito]

3. Debt: 02/14/2011 14,081,561,324,681.83 (DOWN 1,151,397,653.10) (Mon, DOWN some.)

(Good day.)
Slept well enough.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,453,956,356,386.45 + 4,627,604,968,295.38
DOWN 1,050,366,540.96 + DOWN 101,031,112.14

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,211.66 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.63, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 311,364,992 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,225.26.
A family of three owes $135,675.77. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 3,505,608,943.37.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,453,926,260.36.
The average for the last 31 days would be 2,374,767,348.73.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 94 reports in 137 days of FY2011 averaging 5.53B$ per report, 3.80B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 706 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.0 and 17.7T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
02/14/2011 14,081,561,324,681.83 BHO (UP 3,454,684,275,768.75 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,519,938,293,790.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,385,237,060,097.72 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
01/25/2011 +000,059,189,192.13 ------------*******
01/26/2011 -000,112,154,254.52 ---
01/27/2011 -004,717,116,457.79 --
01/28/2011 +002,605,585,609.92 ------------*********
01/31/2011 +072,534,426,006.14 ------------********** Mon
02/01/2011 -002,841,687,784.84 --
02/02/2011 +000,160,101,452.72 ------------********
02/03/2011 -011,756,222,449.85 -
02/04/2011 +000,096,985,369.31 ------------*******
02/07/2011 -000,024,110,721.58 ---- Mon
02/08/2011 +000,098,708,298.02 ------------*******
02/09/2011 +000,070,875,766.12 ------------*******
02/10/2011 -016,083,331,993.98 -
02/11/2011 -000,131,455,172.80 ---
02/14/2011 -001,050,366,540.96 -- Mon

38,909,426,318.04 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4733503&mesg_id=4733513

[Festivito]

81. Debt: 02/15/2011 14,138,085,120,211.66 (UP 56,523,795,529.83) (Tue, UP a lot.)

(Good afternoon. Debt to the Penny may fail to load and you would need to keep refreshing(F5).)
What a debt to the penny pain. Late now.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,502,102,547,695.89 + 4,635,982,572,515.77
UP 48,146,191,309.44 + UP 8,377,604,220.39

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,211.59 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.63, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 311,372,192 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,405.74.
A family of three owes $136,217.22. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 5,915,526,515.48.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,338,052,778.02.
The average for the last 32 days would be 4,066,924,479.39.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 95 reports in 138 days of FY2011 averaging 6.07B$ per report, 4.18B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 705 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.8T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
02/15/2011 14,138,085,120,211.66 BHO (UP 3,511,208,071,298.58 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,576,462,089,319.90 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,524,700,453,635.97 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
01/26/2011 -000,112,154,254.52 ---
01/27/2011 -004,717,116,457.79 --
01/28/2011 +002,605,585,609.92 ------------*********
01/31/2011 +072,534,426,006.14 ------------********** Mon
02/01/2011 -002,841,687,784.84 --
02/02/2011 +000,160,101,452.72 ------------********
02/03/2011 -011,756,222,449.85 -
02/04/2011 +000,096,985,369.31 ------------*******
02/07/2011 -000,024,110,721.58 ---- Mon
02/08/2011 +000,098,708,298.02 ------------*******
02/09/2011 +000,070,875,766.12 ------------*******
02/10/2011 -016,083,331,993.98 -
02/11/2011 -000,131,455,172.80 ---
02/14/2011 -001,050,366,540.96 -- Mon
02/15/2011 +048,146,191,309.44 ------------**********

86,996,428,435.35 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4734921&mesg_id=4734934

[Demeter]

4. Second Rec! Amazing day yesterday!

The PTB actually permitted the markets to decline. The price of Oil continues to sag.

The bubble seems to be going out of the GOP, as well. Maybe the Corporations are starting to feel the pinch. If the "Economic Elites" bankrupt the Consumer, the Consumer Economy model collapses. Imagine that! Can you see the consternation about Corpse board rooms as that basic fact hits home?

At this point, owning the Government seems like a losing proposition, too. It may be that we see Corporations, or Corpse, as I would like to call them, getting out of the People's business. After all, they aren't paying taxes anyway...they aren't stopped by the EPA or FDA or or any other regulatory body. Hell, they don't even live here or employ anybody here. They can go abroad if they don't want to pay for their economic crimes, just like Mubarak.

Certainly, the Social Security Deform movement is running into several brick walls...and with any luck, come the next election cycle, social security will prove it is STILL the Third Rail of Politics.

Light dawns on Marblehead, as they say in New England.


On the home front, had the board meeting last night. It was in many ways a good one, but in others, very discouraging. There's still a ways to go before the board is a smoothly functioning, professional, self-sustaining organization. One bright spot: the current biggest headache may be leaving for a posting abroad. I won't be sorry to see him go, frankly. Unfortunately, it isn't a done deal yet...

The board's finances are more functional, solid and transparent than they have ever been. I can't take much credit for that...it's the result of our resident CPA, who has restructured the budget, audit, and 50 year capital budget plan and processes. I just do what I can to support her and move the process along.

We also got consensus last night to hire a real attorney (our first!) to draft new operating documents. Our current docs, generated 3 years ago during conversion by a corrupt, self-dealing crony board and a sleazy lawyer out of NJ (that's an oxymoron, for sure!), are not even conformable to state law.

I am so glad that my agitation to get a REAL ATTORNEY is bearing fruit so fast...It's only been 8 years...

I'm working on the community/board interaction and the board/staff interaction now. You might think an engineer was the worst person to do that kind of thing, and I wouldn't disagree...I'm drawing more on the Motherhood and Small Business experiences I've had (mostly lessons in what NOT to tolerate, rather than best practices).

Someday, when that part of the endeavor is either whipped into shape, or whipped into submission, I'd like to go back to my first love: Infrastructure. That baby was mine: I started it, had it wrested away by the ex-president, and it's been languishing since.

AND THE GREAT THAW CONTINUES! THE SNOW IS GOING! THE SWANS CAME BACK THIS WEEKEND! Our theory is, with so much of the nation between here and Florida covered in snow, they figured they had nothing to lose by moving North early...don't know about you folks, but both my brain and body work much better when the temperature is above freezing.

Now snowdrops yet...still too much snow piled on top of them.

[Pale Blue Dot]

11. Congrats on the (mostly) good news!

It's going to be a very busy day for me, so you probably won't see me around much. Hold down the fort? :-)

[Demeter]

17. that's not possible...but I'll post what I can

Hold down the fort...I'm just trying to hold down my rising paranoia, and maybe lunch...

[Po_d Mainiac]

13. Plenty of winter left heyuh n/t

[Demeter]

5. Thanks to all the SECRET Admirers for their Gifts of Hearts

It is the most tangible sign of support I have ever received, and a girl need support in so many ways...besides the lingerie. Or chocolate.

[DemReadingDU]

15. We appreciate all that you do!

[bread_and_roses]

36. I sure do -

and everyone else too (even the occasional "debater" at least provides amusement). Best damn little "salon" on DU!

I have no hearts to give, but do give heartfelt gratitude for all the work and wit that makes this thread so worthwhile.

[AnneD]

37. And a big thank you here....

since this is where I mainly post, I am sure the heart came from this thread. Thanks guys.:loveya:

[hamerfan]

61. Indeed!

Thank you for the hearts.
:grouphug:
hamerfan

[Demeter]

6. Apple report reveals child labour increase

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/feb/15/apple-report-reveals-child-labour

Apple's annual report says 91 children worked at its suppliers in 2010...working at 10 facilities...nine times as many as the previous year, according to its annual report on its manufacturers. The previous year it found 11 at three workplaces....Apple said it had strengthened its checks on age because of concerns about falsification.

The US company has also acknowledged for the first time that 137 workers were poisoned by n-hexane at a Chinese firm making its products and said less than a third of the facilities it audited were complying with its code on working hours.

Apple usually refuses to comment on which firms make its goods, but came under increased scrutiny last year following multiple suicides at electronics giant Foxconn, one of its main suppliers.

Last month, anti-pollution activists accused the firm of being more secretive about its supply chain in China than almost all of its rivals...

WELL, THAT'S NICE. IF THEY REALLY GAVE A SHIT, THEY WOULD DO THE WORK IN COUNTRIES WITH REAL LABOR LAWS...AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS...ETC...OR, THEY COULD MOVE TO MISSOURI (SEE FOLLOWING POST)

[Demeter]

20. Missouri GOP Wants to Repeal Child Labor Laws

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/475205/missouri_gop_wants_to_repeal_child_labor_laws/#paragraph7

AFTER LISTING A FEW OF THE MORE EGREGIOUS ITEMS:

...Of course, this is not intended for "our kids" as the proponents of such legislation might put it. But obviously it is a waste of taxpayer money to educate the children, when they can be put to work - at low wages, with no union protection, no proper government supervision - perhaps as a means of providing cheap and compliant labor for some of their constituents, or even themselves?

We need to fix our schools. We do not need to be putting our children to work.

We should be holding the Republican party everywhere responsible for the idiocy of any and all of its elected officials and candidates.

Like the idiot who proposed this bill.

[Demeter]

21. The Danger in Forgetting About American Workers

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/474907/the_danger_in_forgetting_about_american_workers/#paragraph3

“We need better intelligence, the kind that is derived not from intercepting a president’s phone calls to his mistress but from hanging out with the powerless.”

That was one of columnist Nicholas Kristof’s lessons for U.S. foreign policy drawn from Egypt’s revolution. In the New York Times this weekend he pointed out that American journalists and foreign policy experts alike missed the warning signs of what was coming in Egypt in part because they talk to the wrong people. Aha. That’s not exactly a revelation to consumers of independent media.

It’s not just revolutions in far off places that we miss when reporters ignore the everyday working people, though. Another piece in the very same paper on the very same day examined the consequences of this country’s outsourcing-only manufacturing policy. The question raised there was pretty fundamental. It went to the entire justification for globalization.

We’ve been told that going global serves American interests because increased profits produce innovation, creativity, and investment in new improved products. Right?

The question raised in Louis Uchitelle’s deep-inside-the-paper story is, is it even true? Can a country continue to innovative if it’s not making the stuff it innovates?

[Demeter]

28. The Culture War On Jobs

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2011/02/15/the-culture-war-on-jobs/

It might be the greatest bait and switch ever pulled on the American voter. For two successive election cycles we’ve been promised jobs, a recovering economy, attention to the Constitution. After the last one, triumphant Republican after triumphant Republican declared November’s to be an election decided on jobs.

Well I don’t know what jobs you had in mind, but I’ll bet most voters weren’t thinking axe wielder or culture warrior. But suddenly all we’re getting is tax cuts for the rich and spending cuts for everyone else, and no jobs, unless you happen to be paid for pursuing abortion doctors...

The only job created that I can see in all this mess, is the job of finding us an electoral system that could elect some very different sort of politicians.

[Fuddnik]

41. That's what you get when your choice is..

Asshole A vs Asshole B. You're going to get an asshole regardless.

And if you apply a certain economic principal, Greshams Law, it could be that bad politicians drive good politicians out of the pool. Take Russ Feingold for an example.

Mix in a corporate media that refuses to report on anything that they're not paid to report, that's not sex, and we have Asshole B resorting to the only thing he knows. Culture war.

[CatholicEdHead]

74. It is like through the looking glass right now

Openly suggesting a return to child work houses in the US? This on top with the extreme union busting for government/education unions and it is a open class war on what is left and a full steam return to the 1870's-1890's.

Going to the local library today, I found a used book for sale I am looking forward to read during these times. It is "A History of American Labor" by Joseph Rayback from 1963 which will be a breath of fresh air from the past to help deal with the issues of today.

[Demeter]

7. Shoddy Anti Derivatives Reform “Study” From Firm That Falsely Claimed Top Academics as Advisor

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/02/shoddy-anti-derivatives-reform-study-from-firm-falsely-claimed-top-academics-as-advisor.html

It’s high time that reporters start lifting the veil to look at exactly who is behind the “research” put out by think tanks. Even drug company research, which many members of the public now know to view with some doubt, at least has an actual investigation of some sort underpinning it (the doubts about them usually involve study design and/or interpretation of results). Think tank end product should be taken with even more salt, since it too often is the intellectual equivalent of a CDO: taking junk ideas and dressing it up in a structure and a brand name so that most people will regard it as AAA-rated thinking.

A piece by Andrew Ross Sorkin at the New York Times is an all-too-rare and badly need hard look at the less than savory process of creating impressive-looking arguments in favor of special-interest serving policies. The object lesson is a vehemently anti-derivatives reform paper presented by Keybridge Research, which claims that derivatives reform will result in the loss of 130,000 jobs and reduce corporate spending by $6.7 billion. Gee, if you accept his on its face, that chump change compared to the cost of the AIG bailout alone, much less the cost of the global financial crisis one might attribute to derivative (even 5% times the cumulative loss that the prevailing estimates place at 40% to 50% of US GDP of roughy $14 trillion gets you to $700 billion. The cost looks like a no-brainer relative to the potential benefits).

But even so, the report ran immediately into a buzz saw of criticism, and not just for offering questionable findings. Keybridge listed on its website seven advisors including Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz and economics professors David Labison and Stephen Zeldes.

Sorkin noted the disconnect between the views of some of the advisors, notably Stiglitz, who is of the view that rules are often necessary to make markets function well and began ringing around. Keybridge started removing the names of advisors. It turns out Labison and Zeldes disavowed any relationship with the firm, and Stiglitz said he worked for them in the past, the last stint being nearly two years ago.

The study is apparently not very good either.

BUT YVES, THAT WOULD MEAN REPORTERS DOING JOURNALISM...

[Pale Blue Dot]

8. Index Futures Climb After Dell Profit Tops Estimates; Aaron's May Advance

U.S. stock-index futures climbed as better-than-estimated fourth-quarter profit at Dell Inc. reassured investors that rising earnings will continue to drive the equities rally.

Dell, the world’s third-largest personal-computer maker, soared 5.6 percent in German trading as the company made headway in the market for data centers. Aaron’s Inc., the furniture manufacturer and retailer, may gain after forecasting that first-quarter profit will beat the average analyst estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index expiring in March gained 0.4 percent to 1,331.4 as of 10:45 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures advanced 0.3 percent to 12,238 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures also increased 0.3 percent to 2,388.75.

“Strong U.S. economic signals and solid earnings continue to provide a positive background for stocks,” said Kully Samra, who manages U.K.-based clients for Charles Schwab Corp., which has $1.5 trillion in client assets. “The now largely completed fourth-quarter earnings season was a winner as revenues and earnings both exceeded expectations with healthy forward-looking guidance.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-16/index-futures-climb-after-dell-profit-tops-estimates-aaron-s-may-advance.html

[Roland99]

10. Market's gotta wear shades

[Po_d Mainiac]

49. Computers have no eyes.....even WATSON. n/t

[Roland99]

57. heh

that's certainly been an interesting display on Jeopardy this week.

I think his large advantage over Ken and Brad is mostly due to being able to buzz in to the nanosecond.

[Tansy_Gold]

58. The key is strong, well timed thumbs.

Trust me. I know.



TG, TT

[hamerfan]

60. Nanoseconds is correct

Much like its HFT "cousins". Maybe after Jeopardy is through with Watson, it'll end up at the local mutual fund basement, using its "thumb" to make plenty o' split-second trades.

[Roland99]

64. That's exactly what I thought of in one of those interviews last night

I think w/the director in charge of Watson.

[Po_d Mainiac]

62. Perhaps, but the amount of data searched before "buzzing" in, is impressive

I still hear echos of HAL in the background though, and that is disquieting to say the least.

We're experiencing what happens when puters run amok. I do not see HFT's, running on perverted algos taking over the equity markets, as beneficial to society.

[Roland99]

65. They should have put a big red "eye" for his "face"

Alex: We'll now take a break for a word from our sponsors.
Watson: I'm sorry, Alex. We cannot do that.

[Tansy_Gold]

68. Calling Dr. Forbin. . . . . . . .

[Po_d Mainiac]

69. .........

Watson: What are the 1920's
Alex: No, that's wrong
Watson: Alex, you are wrong. Dance, game show host.

[tclambert]

77. Got that right, Roland. But shouldn't you phrase that in the form of a question?

There were many times I'm sure Ken and Brad knew the answers, too ('cause I did), but the computer buzzed in first. The first night I thought Ken might be intentionally pushing the button as fast as he could, even if he didn't have the answer yet, in the hope he could get any chance to answer. That strategy seemed to cost him, though.

It's funny how badly wrong the computer gets it when it gets it wrong. "A U.S. city with one airport named after a WW II hero and another airport named after a WW II battle." "What is Toronto???????" Ken and Brad (and I) all got it right: "Are you talkin' about Chicago?"

[Demeter]

70. Hal Had Eyes (2001 A Space Odyssey)

Keir Dullea (Dave Bowman): Hello, HAL do you read me, HAL?
HAL: Affirmative, Dave, I read you.
Keir Dullea (Dave): Open the pod bay doors, HAL.
HAL: I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.
Keir Dullea (Dave): What's the problem?
HAL: I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.
Keir Dullea (Dave): What are you talking about, HAL?
HAL: This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it.
Keir Dullea (Dave): I don't know what you're talking about, HAL?
HAL: I know you and Frank were planning to disconnect me, and I'm afraid that's something I cannot allow to happen.
Keir Dullea (Dave): Where the hell'd you get that idea, HAL?
HAL: Dave, although you took thorough precautions in the pod against my hearing you, I could see your lips move.

[tclambert]

78. At the end, Watson should say, "All this has happened before, and all this will happen again."

[Roland99]

87. "I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords"

heh heh

Well played.

[Roland99]

42. Still looking solid just before the opening bell

S&P 500 1,330 +3.80 +0.29%
DOW 12,234 +32.00 +0.26%
NASDAQ 2,388 +6.50 +0.27%

[Demeter]

9. Doug Smith: Social Impact Bonds – Right Result, Wrong Way (Part 1) (Part 2)

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/02/doug-smith-social-impact-bonds-%E2%80%93-right-result-wrong-way-part-1.html

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/02/doug-smith-social-impact-bonds-%E2%80%93-wrong-result-wrong-way-part-2.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

Social impact bonds, a useful experiment underway in England, is gaining attention on this side of the pond, including from the Obama administration. We are glad to see this at SeaChange (a non-profit group seeking innovative ways to bring capital to the non-profit sector). What is deeply concerning, though, is how some elites are packaging and promoting social impact bonds as yet one more example of everything the market does is good while everything government does is bad. Moreover, these same elites betray a stunningly superficial grasp about how markets actually work....

“What are social impact bonds?”

The short answer: a vehicle offering investors bond-like returns for taking equity-like risks on investing in potential solutions to socio-economic challenges. The key to success lies in the performance results achieved by the social service providers. If yes, investors gain bond-like returns sourced from cash linked to that performance. If the providers fall short, however, investors suffer equity-like losses. A group called Social Finance is experimenting with social impact bonds aimed at reducing recidivism among inmates in a UK prison. If they lower the recidivism rate by 10% greater than comparable prisons, investors gain between 7.5% to 13.5% returns. If the social service providers fail to do this, investors lose their money.

....................

The concept that market discipline guarantees efficiency and effectiveness is fallacious. Nearly four years ago, for example, it was clear that the performance disciplines used by the best non-profit housing groups far outstripped the performance disciplines used by the private sector in terms of delinquencies and foreclosures. Yet, the private sector got all the capital. So much for ‘market discipline’. What happened there? Was there no market discipline? Was there no link between capital markets and competitive performance?

No. Actually, the reverse. Capital market discipline combined with organizational and managerial disciplines to promote a peculiar kind of performance on private sector players. We all know the nice sounding words that were (and are) used for this: earnings, returns, ‘shareholder value’. It’s just that these melodious sounds became ever more narrowly and loudly linked to unsustainable and even criminal greed through the precincts of the shorter-term, the quicker buck, the larger bonus, and the faster, more untraceable shifting of risk to others. Yes, ‘market discipline’ focused all of the various players on performance – banks, mortgage brokers, real estate brokers, hedge funds, ratings agencies, lawyers, accountants and more. But instead of efficiency and effectiveness that maniacal performance focus gave us control fraud, speculation, looting and managerial–and-casino capitalism.


....................................

SOUNDS LIKE ANOTHER SCAM OF THE "TEACH FOR AMERICA" TYPE

[bread_and_roses]

24. yep - and makes no sense to me at all?

Why use a "Market" derived vehicle and then criticize the very mechanism it is based on? I absolutely DETEST using the language and values of commerce to address human needs - I was sickened when it became expected in human services to refer to our clients as "customers." What nonsense. How demeaning. As if someone seeking, say, services to people with HIV/AIDS was a "customer" shopping around for "value."

At any rate - rant off now - there is no other kind of "capitalism" other than "casino capitalism." That's it's nature. Including that "the House" always wins. The rest of us are just "marks."

[Demeter]

29. There is Worker Capitalism

where the owners are the workers and the workers are the owners, and profits are not siphoned off to rentiers, but are distributed between the capital needs of the joint venture, and the incomes of the individual workers.

That is the only form of capitalism worth fighting for.

[bread_and_roses]

35. Such as Mondragon? (n/t)

[Tansy_Gold]

59. Notice how little publicity that operation gets in our media? n/t

[Pale Blue Dot]

16. LA schools warns 7,300 workers of possible layof

LOS ANGELES—The school district said Tuesday that as many as 7,300 employees could be laid off in the upcoming school year to close a $408 million budget gap.

The board voted to send warning notices to some 5,100 teachers, nurses and counselors and some 2,200 administrators that their jobs could be lost effective June 30 if the nation's second-largest school district does not find other funding for the 2011-12 school year.

The exact number of layoffs in the Los Angeles Unified School District will not be known until a June vote on several statewide measures designed to boost state revenue, including extending sales and vehicle taxes, and until the conclusion of negotiations over givebacks with unions.

Items under discussion include furloughs and passing on more health care costs to employees.

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_17395695?nclick_check=1

[Pale Blue Dot]

22. Ben-Ezra & Katz lays off 236

Fort Lauderdale law firm Ben-Ezra & Katz confirmed Tuesday that it had laid off 236 employees on Monday.

The layoffs come after Fannie Mae terminated its relationship with firm, which requires Ben-Ezra & Katz to transfer its files to other attorneys. The firm advertises itself as a full-service real estate firm focused on Florida foreclosures.

Last week, the firm said in a news release that it was “surprised” by Fannie Mae’s action, “since the issues leading to their action are things we discovered internally, then proactively informed Fannie Mae and created a plan to correct the problems.”

The firm said the problems were “technical paperwork issues” and had to do with whether the correct original affidavits were attached to each file.

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2011/02/15/ben-ezra-katz-lays-off-236.html

[Po_d Mainiac]

25. There should be indictments

:grr:

[Pale Blue Dot]

23. Oakland school district might release hundreds of layoff notices

OAKLAND -- The Oakland school district for years has relied on high teacher attrition rates and one-time funds to avoid the layoffs of tenured K-12 classroom teachers.

This year could be different.

A letter from Superintendent Tony Smith that was posted on the district's website Tuesday said a "significant" number of teachers, as well as nonteaching staff, soon will receive a notice in the mail that they might not have a job next school year.

The district also plans to notify all principals and some other managers that they might be reassigned to a new position in the fall.

"There's no denying that it will be disruptive," said Troy Flint, a spokesman for the school district.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17394613?nclick_check=1

[Pale Blue Dot]

66. Poultry Layoffs Hit Families Hard (100)

GEORGETOWN, Del.- About 100 Perdue Farms employees received 30-day notices Tuesday that their jobs will be eliminated by March 27. Perdue will hire a subcontractor to hire chicken catchers at the company's poultry processing plants in Sussex County, Del. and Accomack County, Va. Workers said Perdue will be using a company from North Carolina called Unicon to catch chickens.

Jeffrey Harris is a shop steward and acts as a liaison between the catchers and the company. Harris said he thinks Perdue is switching to a subcontractor to cut costs.

"They don't want this kind of work to be unionized because unions give employees higher wages and better benefits," he said. "By going through a subcontractor, they are avoiding having to deal with union organizers."

Chicken catchers said they make anywhere from $40,000 to $45,000 a year. According to Harris, working for the subcontractor would cut their wages by about $20,000. Many catchers said this is just not enough money to raise their families.

http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=14034728

[Demeter]

71. That's a good way to ensure that sales decline

What is wrong with these oligarchs?!!!

[CatholicEdHead]

75. Exactly

The families are not able to buy their chicken products. Talk about killing off your sales stream. I guess the owners hatred of unions blinds them to everything else.

[Pale Blue Dot]

79. San Jose officials warn of massive police and fire layoffs

Sketching out a worst-case scenario of San Jose's budget meltdown, city officials warned this week that they could lay off as many as 349 police officers and 145 firefighters, slashing close to a quarter of the city's public safety employees.

The city is also looking at millions of dollars in other cuts, including shutting off neighborhood streetlights for much of the night and eliminating some gang-prevention programs.

There has never been a major layoff of police officers in the city's modern history. But last year San Jose laid off 49 firefighters, and this is the second year in a row the Police Department has faced layoffs.

The apocalyptic scenarios presented at preliminary budget sessions this week
are based on the assumption that the city won't extract concessions from public employee unions. But it's now clear that even with concessions, the layoffs will be severe.

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_17397188?nclick_check=1

[Pale Blue Dot]

80. DHS Announces New Job Cuts (250)

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa Department of Human Services officials announced their plans Wednesday to make budget cuts.

Officials said the new fiscal year 2012 will support 4,777 positions, a 5 percent reduction from the current 5,029 funded positions.

Officials said half of the positions that must be cut will be accomplished by not filling vacant positions, while the remaining cuts will come from layoffs. A total of 236 positions will be cut, 135 from field offices. A hiring freeze will continue indefinitely, officials said.

http://www.kcci.com/r/26887586/detail.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

19. Borders Files Bankruptcy as Expense Cuts Don't Stem Losses

Borders Group Inc., the number two U.S. bookstore chain, filed for bankruptcy in New York today after management changes, job cuts and debt restructuring failed to make up for sagging book sales in the face of competition from Amazon.com Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The 40-year-old chain, whose market value shrunk by more than $3 billion since 1998, racked up losses by failing to adapt to shifts in how consumers shop. Borders’s first e-commerce site debuted in 2008, more than a decade after Amazon.com revolutionized publishing with online sales. The world’s largest online retailer beat it again by moving into digital books with the Kindle reader in 2007, a market Borders entered in July.

“Instead of leading and being innovative, they were certainly a follower,” said Michael Souers, an analyst for Standard & Poor’s in New York.

Borders, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, faced decreased consumer spending since its last annual profit in 2006. It began looking for cash in December after disclosing that lenders cut its borrowing capacity and that failure to find replacement credit could lead to a violation of its loan agreements and a “liquidity shortfall” in the first quarter of 2011.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-16/borders-book-chain-files-for-bankruptcy-protection-with-1-29-billion-debt.html

[Demeter]

26. Citizens United vs. United Citizens: Building a Movement to Drive Money Out of Politics

http://www.truth-out.org/citizens-united-v-united-citizens-building-a-movement-drive-money-out-politics67749

Friday, January 21, marked the one-year anniversary of "Citizens United," a Supreme Court case that dramatically accelerates the corruptive force of money in US politics.

When money flows in our economy, it's a fuel that helps businesses flourish and people make a living. When money flows in our political system, however, it's a cancer that infects politicians and through them our institutions of democracy. With Citizens United, the cancer is now metastasizing, and as the corruption accelerates, it generates a downward political spiral that threatens the very future of our country.

While this problem is shared by all Americans, the progressive community is frequently at the frontline fighting money's influence in public policy. As a collection of separate issues, it has struggled for relevance in broader American society, but as leaders in the fight to drive money out of politics, progressives have an opportunity to redefine themselves as restorers of American democracy...

Campaign finance reform is not just some issue that "civil society" groups work on. Getting money out of politics is not just an issue; democracy is not just an issue. If you're working on social change, democracy is the medium in which you work. It is the air you breath, the ground on which you stand. You cannot outsource it to "those other guys"who work that issue. Those other guys are you...

AN IMPORTANT IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME

[bread_and_roses]

27. Just found a website: "banksterusa.org"

Here: http://www.banksterusa.org/

Part of Center for Media and Democracy

Good links to blogs and websites: Taibbi, Naked Capitalism, Zero Hedge, EPI, others.

[DemReadingDU]

30. Columbus Ohio National Century Financial - Rebecca Parrett's son tipped off the Feds

2/14/11
For two years, Rob Parrett imagined that horrible things had happened to his mother, Rebecca, after she was convicted of fraud and disappeared.

"I thought she was dead in the desert," said Parrett, of Columbus. "There had been threats in the past, and anything was possible in my mind."

Then, a year ago, his aunt Linda Case whispered these words in his ear: "Bobby, I need you to know that your mom is OK. I've talked to her, and I'm going to be seeing her soon."

Parrett was happy, shocked and angry. He'd been financially and emotionally drained by his mother's absence. He'd been questioned repeatedly by investigators, who suspected that he knew where his mother was. His phone and computer probably had been bugged.

The day after his aunt's revelation, Parrett called Deputy U.S. Marshal Drew Chadwick and told him everything she'd said. "If I would have held back that information, I would have been arrested as well, and there was no way I was not going to tell them after what I had already gone through," he said. "I wanted her found one way or the other at any cost."

Chadwick called back a week later. "I've just arrested your aunt," he said.

Parrett got another call eight months later. His mother had been found - and arrested - in Mexico.

"I'm truly glad that they found her," the 43-year-old Parrett said last week. "I could not imagine living with this any longer than I have already."

With his mother's arrest and sentencing to 25 years in prison, Parrett hopes to put the ugly past behind him. But he decided to share what it was like for him after she fled in March 2008.

continue reading for the rest of the story...
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2011/02/14/son-in-agony-as-mom-ran-from-law.html?sid=101


Link backwards to previous articles
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4686476&mesg_id=4686500


edit to correct link

[Demeter]

44. A No Win Scenario, Handled to Supply the Needs of the One and the Many

I salute the young man.

[xchrom]

31. some good reading here today -- recommend. nt

[hamerfan]

33. K&R!

For a full column of real news.
Although it doesn't mention what Paris Hilton is wearing today... :sarcasm:
hamerfan

[Po_d Mainiac]

39. There's not much there to see n/t

[DemReadingDU]

34. Speedway SuperAmerica name change

2/15/11 Speedway Sharpens Identity with Name Change

ENON, Ohio -- The fourth largest company-owned and -operated convenience store chain in the country has changed its official corporate name to Speedway LLC, dropping SuperAmerica.

The move comes less than three months after the company sold 166 SuperAmerica locations, primarily in Minnesota. The new name now reflects the current brand make-up of the company's approximately 1,350 convenience store/gas station locations. The Speedway name is largely recognized by residents in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Kentucky.

"The name change solidifies our identity within the convenience store industry and leverages the inherent strength of our Speedway brand," explained Tony Kenney, president of Speedway.

Speedway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Oil Corp. Speedway has been the highest ranked retail gasoline brand in the United States in terms of overall brand equity in the 2009 and 2010 the EquiTrend Brand Study conducted by Harris Interactive.
http://www.csnews.com/top-story-speedway_sharpens_identity_with_name_change-58058.html

additional info at this link...
http://www.cspnet.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=95760677533A4787A6F05E63D66ACAA0&AudID=CBA745B91AFB44FA923476ACBBD040A5


People might recall that Enon, Ohio, is where the female sheriff deputy was killed on New Years Day at Enon Beach, directly across the road from Speedway Headquarters.

Enon is also where I live, appx 5 miles south. This is a small village, appx 2500 people, a quiet community, spelled 'none' backwards, because usually nothing happens here.

[DemReadingDU]

38. More front page news about Enon mayor and police chief

Some of you may be aware of the ongoing saga we have been having with our village mayor and police chief
see previous posting from 2/1/11

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4717589&mesg_id=4717686


2/8/11 Village Council, Mayor and Residents Argue Over Chief's Comments

Mayor Clifford Vernon lambasted the council members and the “clowns” and “unethical people” in the community at the February 8 Enon Village Council meeting.

Village Solicitor Paul Kavanaugh said that Ohio Law requires certain behavior from public officials. “There’s a list of things that a public official cannot do,” said Kavanaugh, “and one of those things is, a public official cannot engage in dishonesty. It’s incumbent upon the Mayor, if he so finds that the Chief was dishonest, that the Mayor has a statutory obligation to file a written charge with the Village Council.” Kavanaugh said that if the Mayor does not fulfill that duty, the solicitor has the obligation to compel him to comply with the statute and ensure that the laws are followed.

full article in our local weekly newspaper
http://www.enoneagle.net/index.php/news/580-village-council-mayor-and-residents-argue-over-chiefs-comments.html

listen to the audio, just skip the first 12.5 minutes
http://www.i-right.com/audio/enon/enon-02-08-11.mp3 appx 48 minutes total


This is an article in Monday's 2/14/11 Springfield paper about the Enon meeting on 2/8/11, Front Page!

2/14/11 Enon mayor, council president clash over police chief
Village Council fraught with contention following revelation that police chief lied.

While Enon’s solicitor says the mayor is required to bring a written charge against the police chief, Chief Troy Callahan is requesting an investigation into the Village Council president.

That was the outcome of a Village Council meeting last week chock full of accusations of illegal and unethical acts, and even name-calling.

The argument followed the revelation at a January meeting that Callahan lied to Village Council members when asked a question more than a year ago.

“There’s a list (in state law) of things public officials cannot do, one of those things is a public official cannot engage in dishonesty,” Paul Kavanagh, the village’s attorney, advised the council.

But while Kavanagh said state law compels Mayor Clifford Vernon to file a written charge with the Village Council against the chief — leading to a hearing before the council — it gives no timetable. And the council cannot discipline the chief without the mayor, he said.

“This is not a subject this council is divided on,” Council President Stephen Trout said. “We wholeheartedly believe we have been harmed in this situation.”

“I understand my duty, and I’m reviewing that right now,” Vernon said, before defending Callahan’s service to the community and calling his detractors “clowns.”

full article...
http://www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/springfield-news/enon-mayor-council-president-clash-over-police-chief-1080763.html

Next Enon Village meeting scheduled for 2/22/11

[Roland99]

55. Greedway is more like it

They were always the first ones just shoot gas prices up $0.20 - $0.30 at a jump back up in Ky/southern IN. Then all the others would follow suit.

I sure don't miss those crazy-ass fluctuations. A $0.05 jump down here is about the biggest at a time.

[Demeter]

40. I'd Like to Introduce a Speculative Line of Thought

based on a sci fi classic short story: "The Cold Equations"

"The Cold Equations" is a science fiction short story by Tom Godwin, first published in Astounding Magazine in 1954. In 1970, the Science Fiction Writers of America selected it as one of the best science fiction short stories published before 1965, and it was therefore included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume One, 1929-1964.

Summary

The story takes place entirely aboard an Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) headed for the frontier planet Woden with a load of desperately needed medical supplies. The pilot, Barton, discovers a stowaway: an eighteen-year-old girl. By law, all EDS stowaways are to be jettisoned because EDS vessels carry no more fuel than is absolutely necessary to land safely at their destination. The girl, Marilyn, merely wants to see her brother, Gerry, and is not aware of the law. When boarding the EDS, Marilyn sees the "UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL KEEP OUT!" sign, but thinks she will simply have to pay a fine if she is caught. Barton explains that her presence dooms the mission and will result in the deaths of the colonists. After exhausting all other options (such as calling the mothership, The Stardust), he is forced to eject her into space.

The story, first published in the August 1954 issue of Astounding, has been widely anthologized and even dramatized. It is in the form of a cautionary tale, which commonly has three parts. First, a cautionary tale presents a restraint or restriction, in which something is said to be taboo, dangerous, or forbidden. The story's fifth paragraph sets up the first part by including a quotation from "Paragraph L, Section 8, of Interstellar Regulations: Any stowaway discovered in an EDS shall be jettisoned immediately following discovery." Second, the story introduces a hero figure who disregards—wittingly or unwittingly—the restriction. Readers of "The Cold Equations" learn that Marilyn has not seen her beloved brother for ten years, and because she has not traveled before, she is unaware that "the laws of the space frontier must, of necessity, be as hard and relentless as the environment that gave them birth." The third part of a cautionary tale consists of the transgressor coming to a tragic end. In "The Cold Equations," Marilyn realizes that nothing can be done to save her. She accepts her fate and is ejected into space.

Critic Gary Westfahl has said that because the premise depends upon systems that were built without enough margin for error, the story is good physics, but lousy engineering. Writer Don Sakers's short story "The Cold Solution"(Analog, 1991), which debunks the premise, received the 1992 Analog Analytical Laboratory award as the readers' favorite Analog short story of 1991.

However, the context in which the story was published bears on its premise. Science fiction was still a fairly young field, and was still working free from its roots in pulp fiction. In the story, the girl addresses the distinction, contrasting the frontier she had imagined, which was "a lot of fun; an exciting adventure, like in the three-D shows" and the frontier she discovered, where the danger was real and proved fatal. The story recognized that if space travel ever did come about, then sometimes there would be little margin of error, and fatalities would happen.

Another trend to which "The Cold Equations" is a reaction is the science fiction sub-genre of the puzzle story, where impending disaster is prevented when one of the characters works out an ingenious application of scientific principles, thereby saving the day. Though pleasing to fans, these stories were seen by those outside science fiction as evidence that the genre was all about escapism. By echoing the conventions of the puzzle story, but focusing on the fates of characters trapped by the puzzle instead of the machinations of solving the puzzle, the story showed critics that science fiction would not always be about "lesser" subjects than other literature.

The story was shaped by Astounding editor John W. Campbell, who sent "Cold Equations" back to Godwin three times before he got the version he wanted, because "Godwin kept coming up with ingenious ways to save the girl!"

---http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cold_Equations

THIS IS THE REALITY THAT ENGINEERS, MOTHERS, AND THOSE TRUE STATESMEN PREACH TO SO LITTLE EFFECT--SOMETIMES YOU PUSH THE LIMITS OF POSSIBILITY SO FAR, THERE IS NO WAY OUT. SOMEONE MUST PAY FOR AN UNFIXABLE ERROR.

THIS IS THE "NO-WIN" SCENARIO BELOVED OF STAR TREK, AND REJECTED BY THAT ULTIMATE HERO, JAMES T. KIRK, WHO USUALLY FOUND AN INGENIOUS ESCAPE CLAUSE TO SAVE THE DAY...

BUT IN REAL LIFE, YOU'D HAVE TO BE PRETTY SHELTERED NOT TO HAVE FACED A NO-WIN SCENARIO OF YOUR OWN. WHETHER IT'S AN INCURABLE ILLNESS, COLLAPSE OF A MARRIAGE, A FAMILY, A COMMUNITY, A JOB, A BUSINESS, AN INDUSTRY, OR EVEN A COUNTRY, NO-WIN SCENARIOS PUT AN END TO PEOPLE'S STABILITY, COMFORT, OR LIFE EVERY DAY. IF ONE IS AN UNLUCKY PERSON, THE SITUATION DEVELOPED THROUGH NO FAULT OF THE VICTIM. IF ONE IS AN IGNORANT, ARROGANT, "EXCEPTIONALIST" TYPE, THE VICTIM PROBABLY CAUSED THE CATASTROPHE BY HIMSELF, BY INGORING THE "KEEP OUT" SIGNS AND THE ECONOMICS AND PHYSICS OF THE COURSE OF ACTION, THE COUNSEL OF WISER HEADS, ETC. AND MOE LIKELY THAN NOT, THAT EXCEPTIONALIST ALSO INFLICTED THAT NO-WIN SCENARIO ON A WHOLE LOT OF UNLUCKY NEAREST AND DEAREST.

AS SPOCK SAYS, IT IS HOW WE DEAL WITH THE NO-WIN SCENARIO THAT DETERMINES OUR CHARACTER AND OUR ULTIMATE SUCCESS OR FAILURE IN LIFE.

TOO MANY PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET, TOO MANY OF THEM IN THIS NATION, ARE TRAPPED IN DENIAL, WHICH IF MAINTAINED LONG ENOUGH, GUARANTEES THAT A CHALLENGING SITUATION BECOMES A NO-WIN SITUATION. THE PURPOSE OF SOCIETY ITSELF IS TO MAINTAIN A DATABASE OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY USED TO EVALUATE AND AMELIORATE PROBLEMS TO AVOID OR AT LEAST MITIGATE "NO-WIN" SCENARIOS.

THOSE WHO WOULD DESTROY SOCIETY DESTROY ITS HISTORICAL DATABASE FIRST, THEN ITS TECHNOLOGICAL DATABASE (INFRASTRUCTURE), GUT IT AND ABANDON IT. WE MUST FIGHT THESE PIRATES, WHENEVER AND WHEREVER THEY ARISE: EGYPT, ISRAEL, CHINA, THE UNITED STATES, ANYWHERE.

[Roland99]

43. Is it too late to save America?

Or is there a possibility that the mis-directed anger of the Tea Party morans could eventually meet paths with those of us on the "professional" left and fight the good fight against the corporate oligarchy?

[Demeter]

46. We Progressive Reformers Have Much More in Common with the Tea Party

than they will ever admit.

the problem is getting them to see the folly of their ignorance, and the wisdom of our solutions...like that is going to happen!

[Roland99]

47. To the uneducated, it would seem that we are self-righteous and condescending

not our fault that we really are in the right!

[Fuddnik]

45. Awesome!

[bread_and_roses]

53. Taking off on your speculation, an even scarier scenario

I have never read that story, but given the parameters described, by the time the girl was discovered, it was already too late: if the fuel supply was calculated so exactly, her weight would already have doomed the mission - and maybe the ship as well, if no rescue/refuel was forthcoming. So by casting her out, the Capt only hastened an already pre-determined death.

Which is where I take off speculating, since that reminded me of an article I read not too long ago in which the writer referenced one of the "Deep Green" activists/leaders as taking the position that no form of human society was truly ecologically sustainable beyond that of the Stone Age. (It is easy to dismiss such a view out of hand, but think about it for a while...)

If that it true, then perhaps we've been doomed since - oh, I guess since the first forays into agriculture - the first attempts to control Nature for our benefit rather than to live by Her grace alone, lightly on the earth.

This "speculation" (and it is a speculation, I am simply playing with ideas here, not proselytizing) would, it seems to me, take us to a conclusion that once we take the first step, the first act, all others logically follow and "fixes" will only in the end result in our arriving at the same destination as now. Just as all attempts to "fix" the Market and reign in its Oligarchs to make it/them more fair, more accountable, more transparent, more serving of "the commonwealth" - will only end in the same place, because the premise (Capitalism) is by its nature unsustainable, unfair, oppressive, flawed to the bone.

[Demeter]

72. There were slight margins in the story

such as varying the orbit to conserve fuel while goodbyes were said...but it wasn't enough to get a happy landing....I cry today thinking about it.

The evils of "joy riding" and not following the warning signs...

[xchrom]

56. ...

:applause: maybe wisconsin will turn into egypt.

[tclambert]

84. The real moral of that story is "Weigh your spaceship before launch."

That EDS ship would fail its mission if the pilot cheated on his diet. And I don't think it helps to jettison the girl. She was on board when they launched. That wrecked the thrust calcualtions. The first burn would go wrong and the ship doesn't have fuel to correct it. Mission failed. The mission failed in the first second. Why throw her out? Actually, since they would have gone irretrievably off course from the start, she and the pilot are both dead anyway.

[Demeter]

86. I don't remember exactly, But I believe that the Ship Drops by Gravity

and the fuel supply is sufficient for steering and braking. It's not a powered descent.

This was before anybody had actually gone into space, remember....

[Roland99]

50. Why Increasing Bank Credit Can Only End in Catastrophe Read more: Why Increasing Bank Credit Can On

Why Increasing Bank Credit Can Only End in Catastrophe

http://dailyreckoning.com/why-increasing-bank-credit-can-only-end-in-catastrophe/

I have to admit that I was stunned that Fed Credit (the magical fairy dust from which money appears out of thin air) two weeks ago went up by a huge $19 billion, which the Fed itself used to buy $18.4 billion in government debt. In one week! In One Freaking Week (OFW)!!

As Eric Fry, Editorial Director of The Daily Reckoning, puts it, “The effect of this bizarre transaction is that one branch of the government issues debt securities, while another branch of the government purchases those securities”!!!

You can tell by my OFW acronym and extreme punctuation that I am still upset about all this new money and all this new debt, even though it is exactly as per the plan laid out by the Federal Reserve, which causes people to ask, “What in the hell is wrong with you, you Big Mogambo Idiot (BMI)? The Fed said that they were going to do it, and now they are doing it! So, why all the OFW crap and all the exclamation points making you look like some kind of raving idiot?”

Now, here is obviously a case where somebody needs to have their face slapped, hard and repeatedly, until they get some smarts that all this money is going to cause inflation in prices, in this case food, which is the cause of (at last count) riots in at least 6 countries so far.

[Roland99]

51. And, fwiw, M3 chart courtesy of Shadow Gov't Stats

http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/money-supply-charts

[Demeter]

73. Just don't confuse anyone with the facts, and it's fixed

:sarcasm:

[Fuddnik]

52. How many muskrats had to die to make Trumps hairpiece?

Every time I see the pompous idiot, he looks like he has a fresh dead muskrat on his head.

Where's PETA when you need them?

[Po_d Mainiac]

63. I was thinking beaver...Rat hair is not that long

:hide:

[Fuddnik]

67. Maybe it's a dyed skunk.

He does have a smell about him.

[Roland99]

76. Fed boosts GDP view as bond buy size doubts grow

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fed-boosts-gdp-view-as-bond-buy-size-doubts-grow-2011-02-16?dist=countdown

Federal Reserve officials were confident that the economy was on firmer footing at their January meeting, leading a few officials to wonder whether the central bank could scale back its $600 billion bond purchase plan, according to a summary of the meeting released Wednesday.

“A few members noted that additional data pointing to a sufficiently strong recovery could make it appropriate to consider reducing the pace or overall size of the purchase program,” the minutes said.

...

The Fed now sees growth in 2011 ranging from 3.4% to 3.9%, up from an earlier 3% to 3.6% view. Its 2012 view was then cut by 0.1% at both the top and bottom ends, to a new range of 3.5% to 4.4%, and the 2013 growth view saw the bottom end lifted by 0.2 percentage points to a range of 3.7% to 4.6%.

...

But the growth rate was not expected to make a big dent in the unemployment rate. Fed officials said the jobless rate would hover in the range of 8.8%-9.0% by the end of this year, before improving to 7.6% to 8.1% next year.

[Demeter]

82. When is Growth not Growth? When there 's no JOB GROWTH

It should be denounced as the bubble-blowing, inflation of paper assets that it really is.

[Pale Blue Dot]

83. Even factoring in inflation of paper assets,

they still have their heads up their asses.

[Demeter]

85. A Dozen Snowdrops Appeared This Afternoon in Bud, Ready to Bloom!

Maybe there WILL be a spring, after all!

Those suckers must have been burning through from the ground up...