Yet another banking scandal rocks the world!... meh.
Just like all the other too-big-too-fail bank shenanigans, nothing will be done about this LIBOR scandal either.
LIBOR is an acronym for the London Intra-Bank Offered Rate. Sixteen of the world’s largest banks (some of them are American Banks) call in the morning to report the interest rate they are charging each other to loan money to each other.
Around the world, other interest rates are based on the LIBOR for loans, credit and other financial scams... er, I mean “financial products”.
The scandal is that the 16 big banks have been fudging the numbers (surprise, surprise) to the LIBOR.
Low LIBOR numbers means the banks are lending a lot to one another and they are in good financial health.
High LIBOR numbers means the banks aren’t lending to one another as much and they aren’t too healthy financially. Remember back in 2008 the LIBOR was high?
The scandal is that the big banks have been under-reporting the numbers to make themselves look better off than they really were. In turn, since interest rates around the world are based on LIBOR, globally, investors and savers were getting less return on their money than the should have.
About $800 Trillion (yup, that’s trillion with a very big “T”) is the current estimated loss to investors and savers.
Barclay’s of London got caught, plea bargained for a lesser penalty in exchange for ratting-out the other banks involved. As it turns out, all of the 16 big banks were involved... and the regulators and central banks have known about it for years.
LIBOR has “London” in it’s name but American banks, the US Secretary of Treasury and the Federal Reserve are all involved. The banks played hanky-panky while the US Treasury and Fed knowingly looked the other way.
Mind you, the almighty US dollar is only backed by the “good faith and credit of the US Government”. That “good faith and credit” is rapidly dwindling in recent years because of things like the LIBOR scandal.
The outcome of all of this will be... nothing.
You, me and everyone else on the low end of the financial ladder will continue to get screwed-over while the fat cats get richer and get away with economic murder.
Politicians will bluster (this is an election year after all) but since they are so deep in the banksters’ pockets hot air is about all that will ever come of it.
In fact, the banksters merely have to remind their puppet politicians of what will happen if interest rates were allowed to rise. Political suicide for anyone who is in it to get rich off of politics, which is just about every slimy creature with two legs in Washington DC.
Greg Hunter, of USAWatchdog.com, recently interviewed former Assistant Treasury Secretary Paul Craig Roberts and on the subject of LIBOR.
Here’s the video link: http://usawatchdog.com/one-on-one-with-paul-craig-roberts-2/
Mr. Roberts lays it out plainly - the damage caused by letting interest rates go up would be so much worse than allowing this fraud to continue.
At this point in the video, Mr. Hunter, like a good news hound, sinks his teeth into the fraud issue. Mr. Roberts, seasoned with age and inside the belt-way experience, remains calm and states that this is his assessment, he doesn’t like it either but that’s just the way things work in Washington DC.
The only solution Mr. Roberts could foresee of possibly working would be to reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act. But since the banks own the lawmakers, that will never happen.
So this is where we are at folks. Massive, global fraud is allowed to continue, unabated because the whole system is so corrupted and unwieldy that if anyone put a stop to the fraud, the whole shebang would come crashing down.
Comments
Please, keep your comments clean, civil and relevant. Cussing with foul language just for the sake of using foul language only proves the person to be an obnoxious, dull-witted fool.
Related Links:
USAWatchdog - One-on-One with Paul Craig Roberts #2
http://usawatchdog.com/one-on-one-with-paul-craig-roberts-2/
The thoughts, opinions, and concerns of just one of millions of Americans who've fallen through the cracks.
Friday, July 27, 2012
Friday, July 20, 2012
Vote Anyway
Election time is coming soon and many frustrated people are saying that they are just not going to vote.
Bad idea.
There is more on the ballot than just who is running for president. There are other people running for other offices. There are things like taxes, new proposals, changes to existing laws, new laws, the removal of old laws, etc. Federal, state and local election issues may get thrown all into one ballot.
If you don't vote, just because of who is running for president, then you are giving up your right to have a voice when it comes to a lot of other important matters up for a vote.
On the ballot you don't have to vote on everything nor for everyone. You can even "write-in" the name of the person who you want to have your vote for. You don't like any of the candidates? Then write in the name of the person you would like to be elected or just leave the vote blank.
Purportedly, "None of the above" gets quite a few votes as well as "Mickey and Minney Mouse", "Big Bird and Snuffelupogus" and "Picard and Ryker" (or "Kirk and Spock" for the older Trekkers).
If you see an issue up for vote that you know nothing about... no worries.
Read the summary, if there is one, and make a decision based on that.
In some case, a sample ballot or a booklet may be mailed out weeks ahead of time to let voters know what will be on the ballot so they can research the issues themselves and make a more informed vote.
If you still can't decide, flip a coin... or just leave it blank.
What will really scare our politicians is if a lot of people start showing up to vote. The political rats are so used to us just ignoring everything they do to us. As Thomas Jefferson said, "When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.".
Here's another really good one from ol' Thomas Jefferson that applies directly to whether or not you should vote, "We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.".
Comments
Please, keep your comments clean, civil and relevant. Cussing with foul language just for the sake of using foul language only proves the person to be an obnoxious, dull-witted fool.
Bad idea.
There is more on the ballot than just who is running for president. There are other people running for other offices. There are things like taxes, new proposals, changes to existing laws, new laws, the removal of old laws, etc. Federal, state and local election issues may get thrown all into one ballot.
If you don't vote, just because of who is running for president, then you are giving up your right to have a voice when it comes to a lot of other important matters up for a vote.
On the ballot you don't have to vote on everything nor for everyone. You can even "write-in" the name of the person who you want to have your vote for. You don't like any of the candidates? Then write in the name of the person you would like to be elected or just leave the vote blank.
Purportedly, "None of the above" gets quite a few votes as well as "Mickey and Minney Mouse", "Big Bird and Snuffelupogus" and "Picard and Ryker" (or "Kirk and Spock" for the older Trekkers).
If you see an issue up for vote that you know nothing about... no worries.
Read the summary, if there is one, and make a decision based on that.
In some case, a sample ballot or a booklet may be mailed out weeks ahead of time to let voters know what will be on the ballot so they can research the issues themselves and make a more informed vote.
If you still can't decide, flip a coin... or just leave it blank.
What will really scare our politicians is if a lot of people start showing up to vote. The political rats are so used to us just ignoring everything they do to us. As Thomas Jefferson said, "When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.".
Here's another really good one from ol' Thomas Jefferson that applies directly to whether or not you should vote, "We in America do not have government by the majority. We have government by the majority who participate.".
Comments
Please, keep your comments clean, civil and relevant. Cussing with foul language just for the sake of using foul language only proves the person to be an obnoxious, dull-witted fool.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Memorial Day Gas Gouging
Another American holiday tradition: honoring our fallen soldiers by gouging travelers at the gas pumps.
Memorial Day is a day set aside to honor those who sacrificed their minds, bodies and lives defending our freedoms.
In recent decades many of our fallen heroes died in conflicts that also threatened the supply line and profit margins of big oil companies. To show it's gratitude Big Oil, along with Wall Street speculators, has kept the price of oil high.
Gee. Thanks.
While the price of oil does have a large part in the cost of gas, it isn't the only factor. For the past couple weeks the cost of oil has dropped almost $15 per barrel.
Big Oil doesn't produce the gas we use in our vehicles. Refineries do that. (Though some refineries are owned in part or outright by Big Oil.) The refineries in this country seem to be quite profitable despite running at 57 - 80% of capacity.
Where I live, there is a big refinery less than a mile outside of town. The gas stations in town that carry the brand of gas made at the refinery are always among the highest priced.
Either those gas stations are padding their profit margins by selling cheap "mother-company" gas for outrageous prices or the refinery itself is overcharging.
I suspect it may be both.
Which leads me to my next thought.
Usually gas stations don't make much on the sale of gas. They make most of their money selling the overpriced junk food, beverages and trinkets inside their store. However; I suspect they pad their fuel profits a bit more just before, during and after every major travel holiday.
Whether its just one link in the chain or the whole line that is gouging us at the gas pump, the end result is the same. They are grossly profiting from the deaths of our fallen soldiers who sacrificed their lives for higher ideals than increased profit margins.
Note: To our men and women in uniform, past and present, and to their families - thank you.
Comments
Please, keep your comments clean, civil and relevant. Cussing with foul language just for the sake of using foul language only proves the person to be an obnoxious, dull-witted fool.
Memorial Day is a day set aside to honor those who sacrificed their minds, bodies and lives defending our freedoms.
In recent decades many of our fallen heroes died in conflicts that also threatened the supply line and profit margins of big oil companies. To show it's gratitude Big Oil, along with Wall Street speculators, has kept the price of oil high.
Gee. Thanks.
While the price of oil does have a large part in the cost of gas, it isn't the only factor. For the past couple weeks the cost of oil has dropped almost $15 per barrel.
Big Oil doesn't produce the gas we use in our vehicles. Refineries do that. (Though some refineries are owned in part or outright by Big Oil.) The refineries in this country seem to be quite profitable despite running at 57 - 80% of capacity.
Where I live, there is a big refinery less than a mile outside of town. The gas stations in town that carry the brand of gas made at the refinery are always among the highest priced.
Either those gas stations are padding their profit margins by selling cheap "mother-company" gas for outrageous prices or the refinery itself is overcharging.
I suspect it may be both.
Which leads me to my next thought.
Usually gas stations don't make much on the sale of gas. They make most of their money selling the overpriced junk food, beverages and trinkets inside their store. However; I suspect they pad their fuel profits a bit more just before, during and after every major travel holiday.
Whether its just one link in the chain or the whole line that is gouging us at the gas pump, the end result is the same. They are grossly profiting from the deaths of our fallen soldiers who sacrificed their lives for higher ideals than increased profit margins.
Note: To our men and women in uniform, past and present, and to their families - thank you.
Comments
Please, keep your comments clean, civil and relevant. Cussing with foul language just for the sake of using foul language only proves the person to be an obnoxious, dull-witted fool.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Shabby's Economic Indicator
Earlier Ol’Shabby had a few thoughts collide to form an idea for a simple, straightforward economic indicator.
An economic indicator may be a report, a statistic, a regularly occurring seasonal trend, or any combination of those things. Economists use economic indicators to determine what is going on in the economy and to make predictions of the future.
(Given their track record over these past few years, most economists are either the class drop-outs, doing too many drugs, live on another planet, or are paid to NOT say what they really think.)
My idea for an economic indicator is based on two observations.
First, walking around my neighborhood and driving around town, I notice a lot of homes for sale. By the overgrowth of grass and shuttered windows some of those places look like they’ve been on the market for quite awhile.
Second, the local newspaper’s help-wanted section used to span several pages. In recent years it has dwindled to a handful of help-wanted ads in a single column. Most of the jobs listed are part-time, temporary, seasonal or on-call. Rarely is a job opening posted that would pay enough to afford one of the homes for sale.
Put these two observations together and you get this:
When the number of homes for sale far exceed the number of available jobs that pay enough to afford those homes, you don’t have an economic recovery!
Yeah, I know this flies in the face of what the main stream media is pumping out. Radical and revolutionary ideas like this usually do.
In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for my Nobel Peace Prize in Economics and my Pulitzer Prize for Creative Writing. They may be one and the same.
Comments
Please, keep your comments clean, civil and relevant. Cussing with foul language just for the sake of using foul language only proves the person to be an obnoxious, dull-witted fool.
An economic indicator may be a report, a statistic, a regularly occurring seasonal trend, or any combination of those things. Economists use economic indicators to determine what is going on in the economy and to make predictions of the future.
(Given their track record over these past few years, most economists are either the class drop-outs, doing too many drugs, live on another planet, or are paid to NOT say what they really think.)
My idea for an economic indicator is based on two observations.
First, walking around my neighborhood and driving around town, I notice a lot of homes for sale. By the overgrowth of grass and shuttered windows some of those places look like they’ve been on the market for quite awhile.
Second, the local newspaper’s help-wanted section used to span several pages. In recent years it has dwindled to a handful of help-wanted ads in a single column. Most of the jobs listed are part-time, temporary, seasonal or on-call. Rarely is a job opening posted that would pay enough to afford one of the homes for sale.
Put these two observations together and you get this:
When the number of homes for sale far exceed the number of available jobs that pay enough to afford those homes, you don’t have an economic recovery!
Yeah, I know this flies in the face of what the main stream media is pumping out. Radical and revolutionary ideas like this usually do.
In the meantime, I’ll be waiting for my Nobel Peace Prize in Economics and my Pulitzer Prize for Creative Writing. They may be one and the same.
Comments
Please, keep your comments clean, civil and relevant. Cussing with foul language just for the sake of using foul language only proves the person to be an obnoxious, dull-witted fool.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Jelly Bean Inflation
The other day I had a craving for jelly beans. So on my way home I pulled in to one of the two grocery stores in town to buy a pound of jelly beans.
I remember, when I was a kid, there was a five-and-dime in the town near where I grew up. Inside the store was a long, u-shaped glass counter and behind the glass were bins and trays full of different sweets and sugary delights. For a dime, a white paper bag containing a pound (usually topped off with an extra large scoop) of jelly beans could be had.
This and other old memories began to surface as the now adult me walked towards the bulk-candy section of the grocery store.
As I stood under the large hanging sign that proclaimed “SAVE BY THE POUND!” my memories of yesteryear were smacked-down by the reality of today.
$3.99 for a pound of generic jelly beans.
What the . . . ?
Ah, come on!
These are just generic, no-name, balls-of-sugar-and-food-coloring, jelly beans.
Four bucks?!
(And this didn’t include sales tax yet!)
I looked over the next couple bins to where the gourmet “Jelly Belly” brand was stored.
Oh, they only want $8.99 for a pound of those things.
Phttt!
I walked out of that store and drove to the other grocery store in town.
The second grocery store doesn’t have a bulk-candy section. The candy is sold, prepackaged, in one of the aisles.
$1.79 for a 15oz (not quite a full, 16oz pound) plastic bag of the store brand (generic) jelly beans.
$1.79?
Just shy of a pound?
I bought a bag to satisfy my sweet tooth and hoped the sugar rush would ease my depression caused by seeing massive inflation in real-time.
Comments
Please, keep your comments clean, civil and relevant. Cussing with foul language just for the sake of using foul language only proves the person to be an obnoxious, dull-witted fool.
I remember, when I was a kid, there was a five-and-dime in the town near where I grew up. Inside the store was a long, u-shaped glass counter and behind the glass were bins and trays full of different sweets and sugary delights. For a dime, a white paper bag containing a pound (usually topped off with an extra large scoop) of jelly beans could be had.
This and other old memories began to surface as the now adult me walked towards the bulk-candy section of the grocery store.
As I stood under the large hanging sign that proclaimed “SAVE BY THE POUND!” my memories of yesteryear were smacked-down by the reality of today.
$3.99 for a pound of generic jelly beans.
What the . . . ?
Ah, come on!
These are just generic, no-name, balls-of-sugar-and-food-coloring, jelly beans.
Four bucks?!
(And this didn’t include sales tax yet!)
I looked over the next couple bins to where the gourmet “Jelly Belly” brand was stored.
Oh, they only want $8.99 for a pound of those things.
Phttt!
I walked out of that store and drove to the other grocery store in town.
The second grocery store doesn’t have a bulk-candy section. The candy is sold, prepackaged, in one of the aisles.
$1.79 for a 15oz (not quite a full, 16oz pound) plastic bag of the store brand (generic) jelly beans.
$1.79?
Just shy of a pound?
I bought a bag to satisfy my sweet tooth and hoped the sugar rush would ease my depression caused by seeing massive inflation in real-time.
Comments
Please, keep your comments clean, civil and relevant. Cussing with foul language just for the sake of using foul language only proves the person to be an obnoxious, dull-witted fool.
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