From my little sojurn into Hong Kong, I observed several noteworthy things.
First, I could access the blogger, but I could not post. I suspect that even though I logged in, I was blocked (although it was a friendly block, and I wouldn’t have known I was blocked at all). It seems China is fairly friendly with it’s exclusion of google.
Second, I didn’t have time to read our blog, or do very much on-line stuff and I don’t know the general feeling here, but the IMF’s intrusion attack is very very serious. Considering who did the attack, and how they did it, it’s at the top of the chart for seriousness. Online traders haven’t been hit yet, but I suspect it won’t be long. You may wish to find a key mechanism to lock your account.
Third, Rock may be re-patriated to the US. It’s really not safe out here anymore. My phase 1 was delivered on-time and inside budget, phase 2 was delivered and deploy-tested 1 year early (get that, 1 whole year early, for a software/firmware project). We decided to be like Micrososft and let the users test it for us. Thus the term deploy-tested. So now it looks like I get to come back and get off the front line. Maybe retire.
And lastly, from the South China Morning Post (English language HK newspaper) front page title “streets of fury” with some inflammatory pictures and s aubcaption “TV images capture fighting in Dadun village in Guangzhou on Friday when hundreds of migrant workers attacked police, wrecked cars and burned offices. They were incensed at the brutal treatment of a st4reet peddler and her husband. Rioting flared up again last night despite the deployment of heavily armed police.” One of the pics shows at least one tank or APC, I’m not sure what the Chinese call this thing.
“It was the third day of violence since tens of thousands of rioters smashed and overturned police cars, and torched and ravaged some local government offices. The demonstrators were mainly Sichuan migrant workers in Xintang, a denim-garment hub in Guangzhou.
“The rioting started late on Friday after a 20 year old pregnant woman, Wang Lianmei, from Sichuan was allegedly pushed to the ground in front of a supermarket in Dadun village, Xintang, by security personnel hired by the government. They were said to be trying to keep her from peddling goods.”
Sounds like a pretty small excuse to start 10s of thousands rioting.
Mannwich and Thor may still be early, but it seems the locusts are getting nervous. I thought Timmy could keep them from my door, but they may be getting ready to swarm. It wouldn’t surprise me to see some swarming in the US. Protect yourselves. There’s no telling where they’ll swarm next.
hey there! welcome back... I think? as you may have read, not much time to check content here these days.
ReplyDeleteHope you're having fun anyway!
Trade safe all.
Pandora's IPO opens. America's love affair with companies that don't make money continues.
ReplyDeleteRock - It sounds like you had a productive outing.
ReplyDeleteAs for the rioting, it seems like it is the little thing that sets people off and TPTB only know how to avoid the big things.
I am sure that everyone in the village where the rioting is taking place knows exactly how the 20 year old woman feels, as they have been treated similarly.
So it was the actions against her that set things ablaze.
And don't be silly that kind of stuff would Neeevvvvvveeeerrrrrrr happen here in the U.S. cuz you have really important things to fill our lives, like Anthony Wiener's wiener.
Glad you are back and thanks for your post.
Mangy Mutt
Greg - I don't make money, how come America is not in love with me?
ReplyDeletePerhaps I should incorporate myself and then offer an IPO.
Mutt
Welcome back, Rock. You've been missed.
ReplyDeleteQuite a reversal so far today. Turnaround Wednesday?
@greg: That's the Ponzi economy (and markets) for you. Everyone thinks they can get in and out before the other guy/gal. Otherwise known as "the sucker economy & markets".
ReplyDeleteWe may be in another bubble known as "mass stupidity".
There are simply way too many global needles for the TPTB to thread right now. They're not going to get them all right forever and one or more that they're not even thinking about may pop up on the radar screen rather quickly - a flock of Black Swans, if you will.
ReplyDeleteSmall businesses planning to scale back. But do the idiots in the DC and NYC bubbles care? That's not where the big dough is.....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/business/15jobs.html?_r=1&hp
New 52-week low for my new favorite short, RIMM. You rock, Rock!
ReplyDeleteThis interview is very good:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/06/economics-upside-down.html
Welcome back Rock.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't hear anything about the riots in China, but now we have riots in Greece to take center stage.
Thanks for your post.
Isn't it great that we have all of these "foreign correspondents" that can tell us about what is going on in the world?
At first I thought that the Pandora IPO was for the jewelry that are on all the billboards and I thought "How silly, what is the big deal about Pandora bracelets?".
ReplyDeleteI really need to get out more.
@Denise: Just another money-losing Internet company jumping on the cash bandwagon before it goes away (which me-thinks will be sooner than most think).
ReplyDeleteArticle on Citadel's Ken Griffin:
ReplyDeleteThe File On Citadel's Ken Griffin
In the last ten years or so, Ken Griffin has become one of the most prominent names in Chicago business, philanthropy, and—to a less visible extent—politics. As the founder and head of the Chicago-based hedge fund Citadel, Griffin is reported to be worth $2.3 billion, making him the fifth-richest Chicagoan and 159th-richest American, according to the 2010 Forbes 400, as well as an outlier for the New York–centric hedge fund world. He and his wife, Anne Dias Griffin, have put a huge stamp on the Chicago arts scene, most notably with a $19 million donation for the Modern Wing at the Art Institute. And lately they have been major players in the world of political money: Campaign finance records show that Griffin and his wife have donated more than $3 million to candidates and political action committees—including $450,000 last fall to Republican Bill Brady in the tight 2010 Illinois governor’s race.
From the depressing file. Looks like Wall Street and Big Corps plan on making their owning everything, including the political process and public assets (and by extension, us in a form of neo-feudalism), offical.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/dylan-ratigan/america-for-sale-is-goldm_b_877285.html
From the article:
ReplyDeleteOn Wall Street, setting up and running "Infrastructure Funds" is big business, with over $140 billion run by such banks as Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Australian infrastructure specialist Macquarie. Goldman's 2010 SEC filing should give you some sense of the scope of the campaign. Goldman says it will be involved with "ownership and operation of public services, such as airports, toll roads and shipping ports, as well as power generation facilities, physical commodities and other commodities infrastructure components, both within and outside the United States." While the bank sees increased opportunity in "distressed assets" (ie. Cities and states gone broke because of the financial crisis), the bank also recognizes "reputational concerns with the manner in which these assets are being operated or held."
Goldman Sachs Airport, Goldman Sachs State Park, or Goldman Sachs Interstate coming to a city near you?
This is "Shock Doctrine" (Naomi Klein) stuff to a tee, by the way. Asset stripping full bore.
ReplyDeleteManny,
ReplyDeleteThat is exactly what the article from NC pointed out that Thor posted was talking about. Let me see if I can find that link again:
The Road to Financial Serfdom
The European Union’s financial planners claim that Greece and other debtor countries have a problem that is easy to cure by imposing austerity. Pension savings, Social Security and medical insurance are to be downsized so as to “free” more debt service to be paid to creditors. Insisting that Greece only has a “liquidity problem,” European Central Bank (ECB) extremists deem an economy “solvent” as long as it has assets to privatize. ECB executive board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi explained the plan in a Financial Times interview:
One other thing I read in the paper over there. I meant to bring it back, but I must have left it in the room. Anyway, it seems that new housing loans are way way down in the urban areas. Way below experts' estimates.
ReplyDeleteTo be expected: the government dictated fewer loans, higher interest rates, and increased the reserves banks need to hold.
Several months ago, maybe August last year, Charlie Rose had on a bigwig from China, somebody whos' who in the banking sector. He was saying that they used to think the US was the Cat's Meow when it came to banking, and they were copying the US. But after the crash, they lost faith in the US bank's ability to be successful, and started on their own experiments.
It may be that the experiments to hold back inflation, and control the banks may burst that empty-city middle-class investment in condos bubble. That is a bubble waiting to be bursted. Burst. whatever.
The middle class are bidding up the condos there, just like we were in the US on homes. (and are again, more on that later) With loans getting hard to get, the condo isn't the money source it used to be. The article in the paper said the housing market could plummet and come down like a pile of concrete.
I think somebody posted here a comment that the housing bubble in China may be coming to an end.
On a brighter note, a friend of mine just bought a house in Palo Alto CA. She had to counter bid 4 times, and there were 15 total bids on the house. It was bid up around 15% over initial asking.
Palo Alto is popular because it does have a great school system. My kids went to Gunn HS which was at the time rated no 1 or 2 in the US for public schools.
In areas, our housing market may be recovering. But if I could figure out how to short the China housing market, I would. I think it's time.
That was a GREAT one to, Denise. Neo-feudalism here we come.
ReplyDelete@Mannwich:
ReplyDeleteThe GS 49'ers.
Maybe it could be a good thing. Maybe they could bring back TV the way it used to be, channel 2, 5 and 7 all running games. I rmemeber those days. Tasting Dad's Pabst. Eating popcorn.
All this cable/satellite stuff really killed football and Sunday afternoons.
LOL Rock. They could just make it official and name all of the professional sports teams after multi-national corps and banks. They already do naming rights on stadiums. Are there enough of them though?
ReplyDeleteYay! Our Rock is back!! Welcome back Rock, we missed you! Looks like a great post too, will hopefully get some quiet time later this morning to go over. Just catching your last paragraph now.
ReplyDeleteI fear I am too early in my call! :-)
Rock - I made time :-)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on maybe coming home! and this!
(get that, 1 whole year early, for a software/firmware project)
Damn Rock, you're worth every penny in my book, our software projects are always late, always, whether we do them ourselves, or outsource them.
Bet you'll be glad to come home! Are you going back to the Bay Area? You'll have to keep us posted on the new Apple Spaceship they'll be building in Cupertino.
Have not heard at ALL about rioting in China, that's not getting any news play at all here in the states that I'm aware of. Also agree that we could very well see swarms in this country in the not too distant future. If things don't start getting better soon, or if the bullshit in DC doesn't stop it'll just be a matter of time. As I've said before, good luck with that kind of thing in this country, The angriest people here have a lot of guns.
Rock - The most frustrating monthly bill in our house is paying to watch TV.
ReplyDeleteIt is not like it is going to break the bank, the bill is less then $70 a month, but the tv usually does not come on until all of the daily life stuff is taken care of.
And the programs that are mostly watch are local chanels.
The other day my youngest son was on the couch in the living room and the tv was off, so I got after him. "Son in my day we only had 3 chanels and they were free, but we would get in trouble for 'Watching too much TV' Yet today we have over 200 chanels and you are not watching tv - Now go turn that Damn TV on."
He knew I was joking, still bugs the heck out of me to pay for something like that.
Mangy Mutt
Yikes, Mr. Market getting sucker punched. VXX is rocking and rolling. Volatility creeping back baby!
ReplyDeleteRock - You're a very modest man my friend. Palo Alto is good for it's schools? :-)
ReplyDeleteGreg - Pandora? Please tell me that's a joke, we just blocked it from out network, as are more and more companies. Even with improved technology, hundreds of people all streaming music at the same time is not good for a network.
Manny - I'm going to put my head in the sand here for a minute and say that maybe a decade or so from now cities, states, and countries will re-nationalize many of those assets. Think of it this way, we all know that these banks are effectively bankrupt right? When the time finally comes for their next bailout, governments can simply seize those assets back right?
@Thor: I read a bit about the rioting in China on ZH the other day. See, ZH does do some good things over there that others aren't covering.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Thor. Eventually it will swing the other way as people demand their public assets back but it could take a while.
ReplyDeleteDenise - from earlier! Yes, it is fascinating how it worked out that so many of us here have a knack for being in places with a lot of news happening!
ReplyDeleteAs I said, we're planning on China next March with the in-laws. If our past history is any indication, it may be a good idea to figure out how to short China shortly before or after our trip :P
Manny - I've noticed that with ZH lately? Are they really getting better with their reporting? That would be great, even if only half their stuff wasn't of "the world will end tomorrow" vein I'd give it another shot! I'm not finding as many good sites as I used to, maybe our standards are getting better as our knowledge of the topic increases?
ReplyDeleteInteresting CPI numbers today. Energy way down but core way up. Is that the prior quarters increases finally being passed on to the consumer? Will increases in core CPI slow over the next quarter?
ReplyDeleteThor (11:51) - "the world will end tomorrow"
ReplyDeleteI did not get that memo, so am woefully unprepared, is it possible to reschedule this End of the World thingy for another date?
Mutt
Mutt - ok FINE - you have until Friday, get busy! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThis is telling!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13781390
Greece crisis: Commissioners 'fear future of eurozone'
EU commissioners have a "profound sense of foreboding" about Greece and the future of the eurozone, a leaked account of a meeting has suggested.
The document, seen by BBC News, said this was in reaction to the "damning failure" of eurozone ministers to agree a new bail-out for Greece last night.
The internal memo was written by an official who attended Wednesday's gathering of commissioners in Brussels. The author warned that the markets would now "smell blood".
Palo Alto is also home to Stanford, so it would be surprising if it weren't one of the best school systems in the country.
ReplyDeleteMy sisters-in-law used to live in Palo Alto so we used to visit the area quite a bit.
(cries at all the missed opportunities to add to his shorts)
ReplyDelete(still not crying as bad as the Miami Warmth)
A running down trend day. That is never a good chart pattern. Very different impulse from it's opposite cousin "creeper mode up".
ReplyDeleteLooks like me might hit 1250 SPX sooner, than later.
Mutt - you're in IT - move off of pay for TV! I use a system at home called Plex, most of the good channels, and certainly the major networks all have plugins for it. I watch most of my TV through it now, the PBS plugin is out of this world, all the shows I like to watch (Nova, Nature, Frontline) are in the plugin and you can watch all the episodes any time you want.
ReplyDeleteI haven't yet made the jump to kill Direct TV, but I have several friends up in the SF Bay Area who have already made the switch.
Emmie - I feel your pain with the missing warmth, it's 60 degrees here right now. SIXTY, in mid June!
ReplyDeleteNew lows.
ReplyDeleteThe failure of two rally attempts may be pointing to further weakness ahead. Probably we will see a rally from the 1250 level, but if it fails quickly then next stop 1230ish level.
@Denise: What's the next level of support after 1250?
ReplyDeleteNot nice here either, weather-wise, Thor. Sigh. Wet and chilly out. Gloomy. Looks like maybe a two-month summer, at best. Not good.
ReplyDeleteYou answered my question right there, Denise! Thanks!
ReplyDeletePandora. Beware of those Internet IPO's.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zerohedge.com/article/pandora-triggers-20-sell-orders-now-streaming-timberrrrrrrr-algos-2011
Matter of time in China before the excrement truly hits the fan.
ReplyDeleteLead Poisoning in China: The Hidden Scourge
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/world/asia/15lead.html?hp
@Mannwich
ReplyDelete"Matter of time in China before the melamine enters the food distribution system."
Fixed.
Thor (12:23) - Thanks When I get home tonight I will see what I can find on Plex, sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteWe have DirectTV too, service contract expired June 1st, now they want us as a Loyal Costumer and are offering all kinds of goodies - Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Paying for TV is like walking around in shoes that are tied to tight. It is not going to slow you down or cause you any harm, but it sure can get uncomfortable, without causing pain, so you don't actually stop to re-tie your shoe, you just keep going, wishing you had already re-tied it....Waiting....And waiting....
$70 a month works out to $2.30 a day or $840 a year.
Mutt
Agreed Mutt. It's painful to see my DirecTV bill every month. Seems like such a giant waste of money considering how little we watch TV, but most of it is due to buying the MLB package and NFL Network. One day I'll dump pay TV entirely though, but just not yet.
ReplyDeleteI'm paying about double that, by the way, Mutt. Painful indeed.
ReplyDeleteThe 200 day ma is also close; it is a much watched moving average as market participants look to see how the average behave at the 200 ma.
ReplyDeleteOnce under the 200 ma a market is considered to be in a bear market.
Obviously, these are lagging indicators only used to confirm the change in trend.
Crude is following the market down making new lows.
ReplyDeleteThese are the lowest prices since May 12, 17 in August crude.
ReplyDeleteIs history repeating itself with the CDS garbage all over again with Greece and global (including U.S.) banks and hedge funds?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/06/the-greek-restructuring-debate.html
@Mutt:
ReplyDeleteDon't forget those cable boxes that never go off consume more energy per year than the state of Maryland.
Um, maybe Maryland should leave the lights on?
@Thor:
ReplyDeleteCan you get college football on Plex?
Rock - Great question on Football and Plex, if Thor does not have an answer, I will check that also and report back to you.
ReplyDeleteNext - "Cable Boxes" do you mean the one that sits in front of the tv? or the one that sits outside the house? And do you mean specifically cable or direct tv boxes also.
I turn the "Power" button off each night, but have only physically turned the box it's self off a couple times as it takes a really long time to boot back up.
Mutt
Accourding to my guide on electrical usage and of course the exact figures will vary from what different utlities charge and specific house hold usage.
ReplyDeleteGoing through the list it is a little surprising they have Stalite Dish but not cable box.
At 0.0765 cents per Kilowat hour.
Appliance---Apx Wattage---Est use---$Permonth
Satlite Dish 12 24hours .69
LCD TV 300 6h/day 4.13
DVD 25 3h/day .15
Stero 50 4h/day .46
Before taxes, fees and what nots, the actual cost to use the above equipment at 0.0765 cents per kwh is 5.33 After taxes and what not it is probably over $7
Mutt
It seems to me that things have turned now with all of the rallies being fairly quickly sold when before any dips were being quickly bought. Very weak. What's the catalyst(s) to take this thing much higher at this point?
ReplyDeleteRock - I know there are a bunch of sports plug-in's for it. I don't do sport though so not super sure :-(
ReplyDeleteWOW - We're not actually witnessing the collapse of oil here are we?
ReplyDeleteManny,
ReplyDeleteThis is where the anti-regulatory folks want to take us, "self regulation" because it creates jobs and grows the economy. It worked so well in the financial services, coal mines, and offshore drilling industries.
Thor - The other day you were asking if we were going to get a 200 point down day.
ReplyDeleteWell Guess what.
Mutt
Crude is only down 4.39% so far, off of it's lows.
ReplyDeleteAugust is trading 95.39.
The market is sitting so close to the 200 ema, and down 200, if it pushes lower it is going to go MUCH lower.
ReplyDeleteYea that works so well with, lets see...
ReplyDeleteChurchs
Finacial Institutions
Oil industry
Oh and I am sure prisons would runs much more smoothly if you just made the bad guys pinky swear they will regulate their own behavior.
Mutt
@Denise: It's the focus on the few over the many, but here's the thing. That strategy hasn't even worked that well for the few in the grand scheme of things so it's puzzling why they would advocate for this again. Is this merely a cast of stubborn ideological insanity by the few?
ReplyDeleteSaw an article in the Sunday Times where corporate CEO's and other uber-wealthy are buying high priced guard dogs at $230K or more a pop. Let's see if I can dig that one up. Anyone else see that? Sign of the times, for sure. If the Sheeple ever rouse themselves to get angry enough, they're going to need a lot more than that though, but I'm sure these folks have thought of that already. Privatized police ("security) and walled in fortresses away from the unwashed.
ReplyDeleteThe top breeder who trains and sells those German Shepherds is based her in MN too.
ReplyDeleteVXX up 8%.
ReplyDeleteManny,
ReplyDeleteTo me it is a sign of overall dog eat dog survival at it's basest. Nothing new in China or even the rest of the world.
It truly is insane, Denise. I honestly think the world is now being run by sociopaths and psychopaths whose worldview is truly Darwinian, although they wouldn't say so openly to unfamiliar audiences.
ReplyDeleteWith so many things sitting at, or just above/below their 200 ma's, everyone is watching and anticipating what is going to happen next.
ReplyDeleteOption expiration is Friday, so look out for some volatility in the next few days.
I don't even think it is insane, just the way of the world. Someone was a show recently that said that a much higher percentage of sociopaths inhabit the world of power. CEO's, elected officials and others can join the normal violent criminals in being sociopaths. Like Madoff.
ReplyDeleteIt does take that type of personality to be able to screw over so many people without regard or regret for their actions.
But you don't think that culturally it's much worse now than at any time post WWII?
ReplyDelete@Dss
ReplyDeletewe're at about 50 of the S&P500 trading above their 50 day MA, and about 300 trading above their 200 day.
In May-June of 2010, we got many fewer trading above their 200 day MA. The number was around 100.
That was with little QE, only the reinvestment of maturing securities dollars.
No, I think that post WWII was the aberration, not the norm.
ReplyDeleteAnd as time as gone by since WWII in the US we have gone back to the robber baron mentality; monopolistic, predatory, unregulated, free market, economic pyramid where the very rich take back what they believe is rightfully theirs, and try to roll back all social programs.
That was the economic structure for centuries with periods of worse, much worse, and terribly worse for most people.
Rock,
ReplyDeleteI show that disparity as well in my indicators, but they are a little different than yours and on the NYSE.
Of course, we were at this level on 7/24/07, more than a year before the March 2009 bottom.
Denise -
ReplyDeleteSomeone was a show recently that said that a much higher percentage of sociopaths inhabit the world of power.
One of my favorite quotes, and I don't remember who said it; "it's not that power corrupts, it's that power attracts the corruptible"
Speaking of which:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/15/harrisburg-parking-privatization_n_877568.html
Manny - they were going to privatize the parking here in LA as well, not sure if that went through or not. There was a lot of controversy about it as it wasn't going to be a lot of money for the city, and they would the recurring income from the lots once they were sold. . .
ReplyDeleteMayor Daley leased our parking meters for SEVENTY FIVE YEARS to a company about two years ago, and prices for parking more than doubled. They installed new and better meters, but the city could have done the same thing and reaped the massive increase in fees.
ReplyDeleteFail- Chicago Parking Meters Lease Deal
No one in Chicago has been happy about the recent hike in parking meter rates, but by last week the frustration had become outrage, and the outrage had become a political problem. Since the city's speedy decision in December to lease the meters for 75 years in return for about $1.2 billion in quick cash, what you get for your quarter has declined precipitously. Worse, residents are fed up with the tickets they're receiving thanks to broken meters and outdated labeling. Some are boycotting meters by parking on side streets or not driving at all; others have tagged or vandalized them.
Read the entire article to get the true picture of what is happening in our cities, just like the articles from CR were pointing out.
ReplyDeleteCities are in financial trouble, so they sell their assets to private parties, banks, etc.
Tax payers and citizens are stuck with the huge increases and no city oversight which means they can raise fees anytime they want.
Denise - I think that's happening in a lot of the bigger cities. Here it's parking citations, 80 dollars now for parking in a red zone, 65 for parking on street cleaning days. A few weeks ago someone went through my street and put up bumper stickers on all the parking signs, can't ticket a car if the signs can't be read.
ReplyDeleteAt some point people will reach a point with fees where they'll start taking matters into their own hands.
LulzSec Takes Down Cia.gov - ZH
ReplyDeleteICan
Members of Congress reveal their favorite stocks - businessinsider.com.
ReplyDeleteWonder why Ron Paul is ZH's fav.
Ron Paul:
Anglo Gold
Pan American Silver
Pereol Oil&Gas
Angico Egle Mines.
Nancy Pelosi
Cisco, Apple, JCrew, Microsoft, Yahoo, Visa, Ebay
Boehner:
BAC(bonds), Bear Stern(Bonds), Chevron, GS, JPM, MS, CS.
ICan
ICan - Hrmm, I can see how the first two make sense for those officials. I wasn't aware that Wall Street was in Boehners Congressional district though ;-)
ReplyDeleteThor - Parking is not an issue where I am, but I am thinking maybe of making some that say FREE PARKING!!!!
ReplyDeleteJust in case I need to slap one up over a sign.
My daughter is living in the Seattle area and she has received an ridiculous amount of tickets.
It would have been so much cheaper for her to have bought a few bumper stickers :)
Mutt
Rock - I am not sure if you will get this tonight so I will re-post it on the new thread tomorrow.
ReplyDeletePlex is a down loadable multimedia server.
You can set it up for home use or hand held devices.
You can download a Windows version or a Mac version.
They have a ton of apps already written, but I did not see one specifically for college football.
Although I did not spend much time studying this section, it seems to be the coolest of all your Plex Possibilities - You can write your own apps (Rock's Barny The Purple dinosaur App or Rock's Ninja turtle App)
It is definatly some worth checking into.
http://www.plexapp.com/
Mangy Mutt
Rock write us a Barney App!!
ReplyDeleteMutt - See, there you go! I'm teaching your daughter all the tricks of urban living :-P
Can't remember who posted the China lead poisoning article but it was great!
ReplyDeleteA report by Human Rights Watch released Wednesday states that some local officials have reacted to mass poisonings by arbitrarily limiting lead testing, withholding and possibly manipulating test results, denying proper treatment to children and adults and trying to silence parents and activists.
“What we are trying to underscore is how little has been done to address the massive impact of lead pollution in China,” Joe Amon, the organization’s health and human rights director, said in an interview. “It really has affected a whole generation of kids.”
Yes, China will soon overtake the US, and just look at all the clean energy they are building. Tell me another one Harry.
And think, this is just the tip of the iceberg. These are the things we're allowed to see from the Hidden Kingdom. Can you imagine what it's actually like there in the interior of the country? In those factories? This is not going to end well for China and these idiots cheer leading and actually investing money in that mother of all Ponzi schemes are going to get exactly what they deserve.
And we'll all be there to say "yeah, told you so you idiot" :-P
Speaking of good articles, I was just thinking how much I like that. The article sharing. I don't always have time to read everything everyone puts up, and not everything is of interest to me, and of course the same goes for anything I do put up. But I really try to at least get the feel of most of the articles, we're all obsessive readers and news hounds, and we share some pretty good shit on a huge range of important topics! I get so much out of so much everyone shares!
ReplyDeleteSo thanks! :-P
And the international stuff!! I can't tell you how helpful it is for me, as an American, to have everyone's perspective from all over the world. I had NO idea what was presented to me in the media here was so horribly biased propaganda. So much for a free press :-(
ReplyDeleteWe're like a covert blog ops group :P
Thor - Her mother and I will be "Honoring" you with a few choice words, as we drive down to bail her out of jail for vandilizim :p
ReplyDeleteActually there are a few tricks to this urban living that take some getting use to.
She never had to worry about parking before, but over the last couple years she has paid close to about $1000 in fines for incorrect parking.
Mutt
Thor,
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine what is really going on in China or any of the other countries.
Let's see if we can get Rock up to 100! I know he always likes to see a high comment count.
ReplyDeleteLooking over the carnage of today, I have absolutely no clue what is going to happen tomorrow. Sitting on the lows of the day right now does not give me much confidence except for more of the same tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteBearishly, we had more declines today since 2/22/11. 2781 vs. 2598 which means that the declines have been increasing since the March bottom.
ReplyDeleteHow are after hours?
ReplyDeleteAt the bottom March there were 2355 declining issues.
ReplyDeleteAlso the new lows have not expanded dramatically with this sell off. Today there were only 79 new lows.
The statistics for new lows and declining issues usually go the same direction on big down days, so it is unusual for there to be fewer new lows.
ReplyDeleteThor,
ReplyDeleteUp a bit, but not much. When Europe opens is when we will see what happens. I have been out all evening so I don't know if there were more riots.
Does anyone think these times, and the crisis in the EU will bring the US and the UK closer together? It seems to me that the countries have been growing closer and closer the last twenty years. What would an anglo-american super alliance look like? Canada seems like it's on a completely different path entirely right now.
ReplyDeleteThor,
ReplyDeleteSince the UK does not have the Euro but is in the EU who knows how that will play out.
We have been close with the UK since Reagan and Thatcher, and Bush and Blair and Clinton and Blair were close also. They cooperate and are our closest ally in Europe, but conditions everywhere are worsening so who knows what comes from all this.
Ireland could very well leave the EU and if bringing back their own currency isn't an option . . .
ReplyDeleteThere are, after all, far more Irish Americans than there are Irish you know ;-)
Myself included!
ReplyDeleteIs there anything left to be said after saying "Crazy Irishmen"?
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm England is an Island, yet the Irish concidered themselves from an Island.
Britain concidered the colonlies from "across the pond"
So we must also be an Island - An Island that is MUCH bigger then the Island of Britain.
But if the Irish are from an Island they concider an Island of Britain, but now there are more Irish over here on the "new Island" in America then there are in Ireland.
Then America should be called New Ireland.
OR....Yea.... Crazy Irishmen.
Mutt.
@Thor
ReplyDeleteWhile I was there, I read an article about how a large percentage of lead was found in tinfoil.
China, under Mao, encouraged cottage industry. They made local steel in small villages using hand-fired coal ovens. The steel was worthless, but the government came and collected it.
Cottage industries are difficult to police. There are so many, and so few police. Same is going on in the USA, don't think it isn't. There are still whisky manufacturers using auto radiators. My dad made wine.
Rock, Do you think this is cottage industry pollution? From the article this sounds like industrial waste . . .
ReplyDelete