The WE Country and Western Weekend July 31-Aug. 2, 2009

[Demeter]

Welcome to the way it is. It's a long litany of woe and despair. It's a country and western country!

I haven't a tremendous background in this area, but I know what I like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmE7tTzJkbU



"When Will I Be Loved"

(As recorded by Linda Ronstadt)
written by PHIL EVERLY

I've been cheated, been mistreated
When will I-I be loved

I've been put down
I've been pushed 'round
When will I-I be loved

When I found a new man, that I want for mine
He always breaks my heart into
It happens every time

I've been made blue
I've been lied to
When will I-I be loved

When I find a new man, that I want for mine
He always breaks my heart into
It happens every time, woah

I've been cheated, been mistreated
When will I-I be loved
When will I-I be loved
Tell me, when will I be, loved



That's all we want, to be loved and respected and REPRESENTED by our representatives. We don't want to be treated like this.

Post them if you've got them...

[Demeter]

1. And At 6:30 EDT We Have 4 (Count 'em, 4!) Bank Failures Already

First BankAmericano, Elizabeth, New Jersey, was closed today by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Crown Bank, Brick, New Jersey, to assume all of the deposits of First BankAmericano...

As of July 16, 2009, First BankAmericano had total assets of $166 million and total deposits of approximately $157 million. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Crown Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $15 million. Crown Bank's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives. First BankAmericano is the 68th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the second in New Jersey. The last FDIC-insured institution to be closed in the state was Citizens Community Bank, Ridgewood, May 1, 2009.


Peoples Community Bank, West Chester, Ohio, was closed today by the Office of Thrift Supervision, which appointed the Federal Deposit` Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with First Financial Bank, National Association, Hamilton, Ohio, to assume all of the deposits of Peoples Community Bank...

As of March 31, 2009, Peoples Community Bank had total assets of $705.8 million and total deposits of approximately $598.2 million. First Financial Bank, N.A. will pay the FDIC a premium of 1.5 percent to assume all of the deposits of Peoples Community Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, First Financial Bank, N.A. agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets.

The FDIC and First Financial Bank, N.A. entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $657.6 million of Peoples Community Bank's assets. First Financial Bank, N.A. will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-sharing arrangement is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The agreement also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $129.5 million. First Financial Bank, N.A.'s acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives. Peoples Community Bank is the 67th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Ohio. The last FDIC-insured institution to be closed in the state was Miami Valley Bank, Lakeview, October 4, 2007.


Integrity Bank, Jupiter, Florida, was closed today by the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Stonegate Bank, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to assume all of the deposits of Integrity Bank...

As of June 5, 2009, Integrity Bank had total assets of $119 million and total deposits of approximately $102 million. Stonegate Bank paid a premium of 0.20 percent to acquire all of the deposits of the failed bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Stonegate Bank agreed to purchase approximately $52 million of assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $46 million. Stonegate Bank's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives. Integrity Bank is the 66th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the fourth in Florida. The last FDIC-insured institution to be closed in the state was BankUnited, FSB, Coral Gables, on May 21, 2009.


First State Bank of Altus, Altus, Oklahoma, was closed today by the Oklahoma State Banking Department, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Herring Bank, Amarillo, Texas, to assume all of the deposits of First State Bank of Altus...

As of June 19, 2009, First State Bank of Altus had total assets of $103.4 million and deposits of approximately $98.2 million. In addition assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Herring Bank will purchase approximately $64.4 million in assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $25.2 million. Herring Bank's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives. First State Bank of Altus is the 65th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Oklahoma. The last FDIC-insured institution to be closed in the state was American Bank of Commerce, Oklahoma City, on March 26, 1992.

[Dr.Phool]

3. None in Georgia for a change.

Maybe they don't have any banks left. Or the night is still young.

[Demeter]

5. You Sound Disappointed, Doc. Let's See If We Can't Come Up With a Good One for You

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hDPMJ5HJ3M

Hear the lonesome whipperwill
He sounds too blue to fly
The midnight train is whining low
I'm so lonesome I could cry

Ive never seen a night so long
When time goes crawling by
The moon just went behind a cloud
To hide its face and cry

Did you ever see a robin weep
When leaves begin to die
That means he's lost the will to live
I'm so lonesome I could cry

The silence of a falling star
Lights up a purple sky
And as I wonder where you are
I'm so lonesome I could cry

[AnneD]

14. I love the old stuff

and Hank Williams is a goodie.

I would like to do some dedications

Bernie Madoff

Folsom Prison Blues
/www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWsuVuw5JO4

My Cellmate Thinks I'm Sexy
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NTk5iZHjfQ

[Dr.Phool]

27. I love whipporwills!

We get them around here in early spring. You can here them calling at night, when your windows are open.

I can imitate them pretty good, and at night I'll sit out on the lanai and call back to them.

[Demeter]

4. ProPublica: Some Banks in Govt's 'Healthy Bank' Bailout Are Struggling

by Paul Kiel of ProPublica

http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributors/2037

A growing number of small and midsize banks that received federal bailout money have stopped paying quarterly dividends to the government in order to conserve capital.

The banks, reeling from bad loans, have sometimes been ordered by regulators to stop the payments as part of a rescue plan.

At least 18 banks that received bailout funds are not paying dividends. They range in size from San Francisco-based UCBH Holdings, which received $299 million in taxpayer money <1> and recently announced suspension <2> of the government dividends as part of an "action plan" to strengthen the bank, to tiny community banks. Some have chosen to suspend dividends, while others have been prohibited from paying them by regulators. (See the full list belAT THE LINK. <3>)

The banks aren't paying dividends only months after being blessed by regulators and the Treasury Department as "healthy <4>." The money was distributed through the government's primary bailout program <5>. As then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson explained <6> last October, the program was aimed at boosting the overall economy by investing in banks that "will deploy, not hoard, their capital."

The Treasury has kept secret its criteria for accepting banks, saying only that those approved should prove themselves viable without the government investment. Banks in the program are selected for their ability to keep lending levels up, Treasury officials have said, and keep taxpayer risk at a minimum.

Yet shortly after receiving funds, two of the biggest recipients, Bank of America and Citigroup, which both received $25 billion through the program, were bailed <7> out <8> with even more taxpayer money. More recently, CIT Group, which received $2.3 billion late last year, has flirted with bankruptcy.

The suspension of TARP dividends shows that some smaller banks in the program are struggling, too. It also calls into question whether all of the banks in the program really could have survived without the government investment. In the government's haste to boost the banking sector, "there may have been decisions, where had there been more time and analysis, may have been made differently," said Karen Dorway, president of BauerFinancial, a research firm that studies the financial health of banks. The Treasury Department declined to comment on the dividend suspensions.

Regulators have intervened with a number of the troubled banks.

California-based Pacific Capital Bancorp, which received $180.6 million <9>, reached an agreement with its primary regulator in April to hatch a new plan to deal with its problem loans and boost its capital levels. The bank, which announced its intention earlier this year to lay off nearly a quarter of its employees, missed a dividend payment to the Treasury soon thereafter.

In Wisconsin, Anchor Bancorp received $110 million <10> from the Treasury in January. In June, regulators issued a cease-and-desist order requiring the bank to raise its capital levels and putting it under strict supervision. The bank has yet to make a dividend payment to the Treasury.

The problems extend to small community banks such as Pacific Coast National Bancorp of San Clemente, Calif. The bank received $4.1 million <11> in January, but regulators later clamped down, forbidding it to increase its loans above the amount on the bank's balance sheet and ordering it to raise capital. The bank was in dire straits when it received the bailout funds in January, "significantly undercapitalized" under regulatory guidelines. But as a result of the aid, it ascended to merely "undercapitalized," according to its annual report. It is prohibited by state regulations from paying dividends.

Blue Valley Ban Corp of Kansas ($21.8 million <12>) suspended dividend payments in May at the request of its regulator, said the bank's CEO, Bob Regnier. But he said the move was only cautionary as the bank deals with losses from construction loans and doesn't mean the bank is pulling back on lending. "We're still out there making every good loan that we can find, but it's a more difficult economic environment."

One bank is seeking even more TARP funds. Midwest Banc Holdings ($84.8 million <13>) suspended dividends in May to retain cash and announced this week that, as part of a plan to reduce costs and raise capital, it was seeking up to $53 million more from the Treasury.

The Treasury has invested more than $200 billion in 653 companies through the program, and since the overwhelming majority of banks have paid dividends, the Treasury had collected $6.7 billion as of June, according to a Treasury report <14> (PDF). The banks pay 5 percent annual interest on the investment.

There is a consequence for banks missing too many dividend payments. After six quarterly non-payments, the Treasury gains the right to appoint two members to the bank's board of directors, a fate some banks could face next year.

At least eight California banks have missed dividend payments because of state laws prohibiting payment of dividends unless certain earnings benchmarks are met. The rules are designed to ensure that banks pay dividends out of earnings, something that's more difficult for younger banks.

Fresno First Bank, a 3-year-old community bank, is among those eight, but Chief Financial Officer Steve Canfield said the bank expects to gain approval from state regulators to pay the dividends on the $2 million investment later this summer. The bank plans to use the TARP money primarily to fund the bank's "very, very rapid" growth, he said. "It wasn't our intention to take the money and stiff the government."

SEE LINK

[AnneD]

22. How bout this

Hasten down the wind

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJxLUsZAJPY&feature=PlayList&p=EE7AE4EC6825DC69&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=12

[Demeter]

11. Darned If They Didn't Slip Another In: 8:30PM

Mutual Bank, Harvey, Illinois, was closed today by the Illinois Department of Financial Professional Regulation - Division of Banking, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with United Central Bank, Garland, Texas, to assume all of the deposits of Mutual Bank...

As of July 16, 2009, Mutual Bank had total assets of $1.6 billion and total deposits of approximately $1.6 billion. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, United Central Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets.

The FDIC and United Central Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on approximately $1.3 billion of Mutual Bank's assets. United Central Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-sharing arrangement is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The agreement also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers...

The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $696 million. United Central Bank's acquisition of all the deposits was the "least costly" resolution for the FDIC's DIF compared to alternatives. Mutual Bank is the 69th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the thirteenth in Illinois. The last FDIC-insured institution to be closed in the state was First National Bank of Danville, Danville, on July 2, 2009.

[AnneD]

25. Report gives hope for recession's end

WASHINGTON — The worst U.S. recession in 70 years should end over the next three to six months, judging by data released Friday that showed that the economy's contraction eased considerably from April through June.
The Commerce Department reported that the economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, shrank at an annualized rate of 1 percent in the year's second quarter, less than most analysts had expected, and far less than the dramatic 6.4 percent shrinkage in the first quarter, a figure revised downward Friday from the initial estimate of 5.5 percent.
Independent economists think the economy now is poised to grow, albeit slowly.
“The key point is that this is the last negative (growth) report in the Great Recession, signaling the end of the downturn. The economy won't come roaring back, but at least it's back,” said Mark Zandi, the chief economist for Moody's Economy.com.

<SNIP>

Buried at this smoke up you skirt article

There's plenty that still can go wrong, warned Reinhart, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy-research center. “I worry that we don't have the foundations for a durable recovery, that we still have banks with large unrecognized losses,” he said. He said layoffs were expected to continue throughout the year, with the jobless rate rising above 10 percent.
In another worrisome sign, real personal-consumption expenditures fell 1.2 percent in the second quarter, after increasing 0.6 percent from January through March. Consumer spending powers two-thirds of economic activity.
Sales of durable goods — big-ticket items such as large appliances — shrunk 7.1 percent from April to June after expanding at a 3.9 percent annual rate in the three previous months. Consumer spending is unlikely to return to pre-recession levels until the nation stops shedding jobs.

www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6556877.html


Here's a song to go with that story.....

Rainbow Stew...the Oakridge Boys

[AnneD]

30. Rainbow Stew by Merle Haggard.......

www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9cVxOl9gYI

There's a big, brown cloud in the city,
And the countryside's a sin.
An' the price of life is too high to give up,
Gotta come down again.
When the world wide war is over and done,
And the dream of peace comes true.
We'll all be drinkin' free bubble-ubb,
Eatin' that rainbow stew.
When they find out how to burn water,
And the gasoline car is gone.
When an airplane flies without any fuel,
And the satellite heats our home.
One of these days when the air clears up,
And the sun comes shinin' through.
We'll all be drinkin' free bubble-ubb,
An' eatin' that rainbow stew.

Eatin' rainbow stew in a silver spoon,
Underneath that sky of blue.
All be drinkin' free bubble-ubb,
An' eatin' that rainbow stew.

Instrumental break.

You don't have to get high to get happy,
Just think about what's in store.
When people start doin' what they oughta be doin',
Then they won't be booin' no more.
When a President goes through the White House door,
An' does what he says he'll do.
We'll all be drinkin' free bubble-ubb,
Eatin' that rainbow stew.

snip...

[Tansy_Gold]

38. ". . . until the nation stops shedding jobs."

And any idea when that's going to be?

Ain't no end to the recession until some jobs start comin' back.

[Demeter]

48. Twelfth of Never

You can bank on it.

[Demeter]

2. I've Been Slacking Off This Week with the Posting

Due to the roiling turmoil in my employment, I now have more material to post than you can shake a stick at. Because the turmoil continues, I don't know how far I can get. So don't be shy! If you've found something mysterious, outrageous, entertaining or useful or just plain weird, post! Your OP thanks you!

[Demeter]

8. Of Course, the Big Issue This Week Is the Unreformed Congress and the Health Care Plan

I'm going to just post a scad of links on it.

Message to Democrats on filibusters: one strike and you’re out

http://www.lastchancedemocracycafe.com/?p=2472

The Republicans Can't Afford for America to Succeed: That's Why They Oppose the Government Option

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/9104

At Medicare's 44th Birthday Party, GOP Shows Up Just to Gorge on Cake and Play 'Pin the Blame on the Donkey'

http://blog.buzzflash.com/analysis/873

Health Care Realities By PAUL KRUGMAN

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/opinion/31krugman.html?_r=1&em

Liberals strike healthcare deal with Blue Dogs

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/liberals-stike-healthcare-deal-with-blue-dogs-2009-07-31.html


Health Care Tyranny by 13 Obstructionists By David Sirota

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090730_health_care_tyranny/


Dave Lindorff: Of Blue Dogs and Pink Jellyfish

http://blog.buzzflash.com/lindorff/262

[sharesunited]

6. We have both kinds of music here.

[Demeter]

10. Blues Brothers!

can we slip something from that in here?

[Hugin]

7. Yeah, great idea! This could just work!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpLB2LlJ2jk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qm6dHdMS3Y8&NR=1



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MhgnMX73Pw <-- Haha!


(Oh, darn it Demeter, you know about my weakness for Linda Ronstadt!) :swoon: :loveya:

[Demeter]

9. I had No Idea, Hugin

Are you the guy that wanted her to sing Mimi?

[Hugin]

15. Are you kidding me?

Me... ME? Actually contact a celebrity? Especially, one I've been taken with for years?

Hahahahaha!

With my celeb-o-phobia it would be a total nightmare ending badly for all...

My eyes would bulge... My tongue would swell to nine times it's normal size... I would immediately blurt some unintelligible thing, "MULB! MMEEF! THWEED! HUGH! MEEEEET! NIBST! TOOBASTA! YEW!". Whereupon, I would instantly hurl on their shoes... Then faint cold onto the ground in a heap. Usually, leaving either the Celebrity or one of their security staff to call for emergency services. Saying, "Help, he's fallen and can't get up."

It'd be like the Great Colorado Springs Incident of 1982 all over again... No thanks! I shall worship from afar, TYVM!

However, this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHS1Jey4clk along with this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f78bKXzALXo are two of my all time favorite songs... EVER!

[Demeter]

12. WHY SUPPORT CORPORATIONS THAT DON'T SUPPORT US? by Jim Hightower

WHY INDEED?

http://jimhightower.com/node/6884


Yes, our overall economy is a wreck – but you'll be glad to know that one business sector is booming: outsourcing American jobs to India.

It almost makes you burst with patriotic pride, doesn’t it? Even as unemployment nears 10 percent across our country, more and more U.S. corporations are literally cutting out on America's middle class, eliminating employees here as they shift their operations and jobs to low-wage workers 8,000 miles away.

Some in Washington talk about measures to keep good jobs in the USA, but greedheaded corporate executives lobby furiously to prevent any action. "Anything that stops the globalization activity," declares David Cote, CEO of Honeywell, "will be harmful."

Oh? To whom? Perhaps to him, but not to Honeywell's American workers, who're suffering from Honeywell's pell mell pursuit of globalization. Cote has been closing plants here and eliminating hundreds of jobs at the same time he is investing $50 million to build a new R&D center in India that will hire 3,000 people.

Likewise, Hewlett-Packard is offing some 15,000 American employees, even as it is establishing "HP Software Universities" in eight Indian cities to train thousands of new high-tech workers there. Why not invest in training Americans? Because those running these multibillion-dollar outfits feel no allegiance to America, thus they feel free to abandon our middle class – for nothing more noble than lining their own pockets by paying low wages to workers abroad.

Insurance giants, drug makers, corporate law firms, media conglomerates, and others are joining in the abandonment. They say "it's less costly" for them. Never mind what it cost their country.

If these profiteers have no loyalty to us, why be loyal to them? We should yank away all subsidies and every single benefit they get from America.

"India feels Less Vulnerable As Outsourcing Presses On," The New York Times, June 3, 2009.

[AnneD]

16. Cue up....

Your Cheatin Heart......

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rvLeCMTofE


Jim Hightower was the best Sec of Ag Texas ever had.

[Hugin]

18. I've always enjoyed Hightower's commentary.

:)

[AnneD]

21. I love his books too.......

Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos is classic Liberalism with a Texas twist.

[Dr.Phool]

28. Thanks for posting that.

I was considering picking up a HP notebook. Screw 'em.

We need another political party in the US. One that can take over congress and not be bought and paid for by corporations. They have no loyalty to their workers, their communities, or their country. Their only loyalty is to the bottom line and their bonus.

Scoundrels, and thieves. All of them.

[Demeter]

13. Got to Grab a Little Shuteye, Folks. Carry On!

As if anyone or anything could stop you....

[AnneD]

17. House votes to restrict Wall Street pay

WASHINGTON — The House voted today to slap restrictions on how Wall Street executives are paid after nine banks that took government bailout money rewarded thousands of their employees with bonuses topping $1 million each.
Bowing to populist anger and defying President Barack Obama's suggestion that government rely on incentives instead of intervention to curb excessive salaries and bonuses, the House passed the bill on a 237-185 vote.
“This is not the government taking over the corporate sector. . . . It is a statement by the American people that it is time for us to straighten up the ship,” said Rep. Melvin Watt, D-N.C.
Although the bill doesn't give Obama exactly what he wanted, it advances the first piece of his broader proposal to increase oversight of financial institutions. The Senate was expected to take up the package after Congress returns in September from its summer recess.


www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6556381.html


One piece at a time

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qEG9EnHnw0

[MattSh]

19. Wow, second week in a row !

I get to take a fifth. Er, give the fifth...rec.

Yeehah!

[AnneD]

31. Everyone desearves...

a fifth now and then......

[MattSh]

20. How phone companies waste billions of your dollars every year.

The Mandatory 15-Second Voicemail Instructions
By DAVID POGUE

Last week, in The Times and on my blog, I've been ranting about one particularly blatant money-grab by U.S. cellphone carriers: the mandatory 15-second voicemail instructions.

Suppose you call my cell to leave me a message. First you hear my own voice: "Hi, it's David Pogue. Leave a message, and I'll get back to you"--and THEN you hear a 15-second canned carrier message.

* Sprint: " is not available right now. Please leave a detailed message after the tone. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press pound for more options."

* Verizon: "At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up, or press 1 for more options. To leave a callback number, press 5. (Beep)"

* AT&T: "To page this person, press five now. At the tone, please record your message. When you are finished, you may hang up, or press one for more options."

* T-Mobile: "Record your message after the tone. To send a numeric page, press five. When you are finished recording, hang up, or for delivery options, press pound."

(You hear a similar message when you call in to hear your own messages. "You. Have. 15. Messages. To listen to your messages, press 1." WHY ELSE WOULD I BE CALLING?)

I, the voicemailbox owner, cannot turn off this additional greeting message. You, the caller, can bypass it, but only if you know the secret keypress--and it's different for each carrier. So you'd have to know which cellphone carrier I use, and that of every person you'll ever call; in other words, this trick is no solution.

These messages are outrageous for two reasons. First, they waste your time. Good heavens: it's 2009. WE KNOW WHAT TO DO AT THE BEEP.

Do we really need to be told to hang up when we're finished!? Would anyone, ever, want to "send a numeric page?" Who still carries a pager, for heaven's sake? Or what about "leave a callback number?" We can SEE the callback number right on our phones!

Second, we're PAYING for these messages. These little 15-second waits add up--bigtime. If Verizon's 70 million customers leave or check messages twice a weekday, Verizon rakes in about $620 million a year. That's your money. And your time: three hours of your time a year, just sitting there listening to the same message over and over again every year.

In 2007, I spoke at an international cellular conference in Italy. The big buzzword was ARPU--Average Revenue Per User. The seminars all had titles like, "Maximizing ARPU In a Digital Age." And yes, several attendees (cell executives) admitted to me, point-blank, that the voicemail instructions exist primarily to make you use up airtime, thereby maximizing ARPU.

Right now, the carriers continue to enjoy their billion-dollar scam only because we're not organized enough to do anything about it. But it doesn't have to be this way. You don't have to sit there, waiting to leave your message, listening to a speech recorded by a third-grade teacher on Ambien.

Let's push back, and hard. We want those time-wasting, money-leaking messages eliminated, or at least made optional.

I asked my Twitter followers for help coming up with a war cry, a slogan, to identify this campaign. They came up with some good ones:

"Where's the Beep?"

"Let it Beep"

"We Know. Let's Go."

"Lose the Wait"

"My Voicemail, My Recording"

"Hell, no, we won't hold!"

My favorite, though, is the one that sounds like a call to action: "Take Back the Beep."

And here's how we're going to do it.

We're going to descend, en masse, on our carriers. Send them a complaint, politely but firmly. Together, we'll send them a LOT of complaints.

If enough of us make our unhappiness known, I'll bet they'll change.

I've told each of the four major carriers that they'll be hearing from us. They've told us where to send the messages:

* Verizon: Post a complaint here: http://bit.ly/FJncH.

* AT&T: Send e-mail to Mark Siegel, executive director of media relations: [e-mail].

* Sprint: Post a complaint here: http://bit.ly/9CmrZ

* T-Mobile: Post a complaint here: http://bit.ly/2rKy0u

Three of the four carriers are just directing us to their general Web forums. Smells like a cop-out, I know. (As for AT&T: Props to the guy for letting me publish his e-mail address! Hope he knows what he's in for!)

Yet all four carriers promise that they'll read and consider our posts. And we have two things going for us.

First, I have a feeling that the volume of complaints will be too big for them to ignore. To that end, I hope you'll pass these instructions along, blog them, Twitter them, and spread the word. (Gizmodo, Consumerist and others have agreed to help out.) And I hope you'll take the time to complain yourself. Do it now, before you forget.

Second, we'll all be watching. I'll be reporting on the carriers' responses. If they ignore us, we'll shame them. If they respond, we'll celebrate them.

Either way, it's time to rise up. It's time for this crass, time-wasting money-grab to end for good.

~~~ Copy and pasted this from NYTimes email. I'm sure it's on their site somewhere. ~~~

[AnneD]

23. Of bailouts and bathroom tiles

The Daily Show outdoes itself with this investigation of the government's handling of the housing crisis. If Tim Geithner's understanding of bathroom decor is any indication of his understanding of the economy, we're all in trouble.

/blogs.chron.com/lorensteffy/2009/07/of_bailouts_and_1.html

in case you missed it, my man Steffy covered it. My question is...do we consider the housing crises over when Timmy sells his house?

[AnneD]

24. Fed's plan should just beat it..........

Perhaps a little bit of Michael Jackson lives on in Ben Bernanke.

I'm not implying that the balding and bearded Ivy League economics professor now running the Federal Reserve moonwalks or leads the Open Market Committee in a re-enactment of Thriller. Rather, Bernanke seems to want more power with less scrutiny, much as the King of Pop craved fame while seeking privacy.
In the wake of the financial crisis, Bernanke has championed, and the Treasury Department has supported, extending the Fed's powers to regulate non-banks. Had it had such authority last fall, it might have saved Lehman Brothers and muted the economic fallout in the credit markets that brought our financial system to the brink of collapse.

But in moving to extend credit to businesses, the Fed is straying into Congress' turf, which threatens to draw the central bank into politics.
Earlier this week, at a meeting in Kansas City, Bernanke criticized a bill sponsored by longtime Fed-hater Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson. Paul's bill, which now has almost 280 co-sponsors in Congress, would require routine audits of the Fed. Such oversight would destroy the Fed's independence, Bernanke argued.
more.....

www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/6555430.html

resisting the obvious, but can't find a clip

I think this is from Freaking Out at the Freaker's Ball by Shel Silverstein (who also wrote many country songs)

Every since my masochistic baby left me,
I got nothing to beat but my eggs,
nothing to whip but my cream,
nothing to belt but my pants.


May you rest in peace-you were loved by 3 generations in our house.(Country songs by my parents, Dr. Hook by me, and your children's books by my daughter)

[Hugin]

26. It wouldn't be C&W WEE weekend without some: Dolly!

Since I don't see an appropriate financially related post to link this to as of yet...

Here's Dolly Parton: 9 to 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqiwEafCJ74

Sing along version... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzCm27R0mio

[AnneD]

32. I was hoping to work Dolly in........

She is such a talent and a good person to boot. Here is something some folks can identify with....


Coat of many colours

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr4GT4ltvBk


Dolly and Willie
Everything is beautiful in its own way

www.youtube.com/watch?v=No-NgX53ZEA

She did this song with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt and it was breathtakingly beautiful but I can't find it anywhere.

Folks may make fun of the nails and hair and have trouble getting past the boobs but few singer songwriters have such deep spirituality and generous soul...

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0smxKXSw-Q&feature=related


I saw her debut on the Porter Wagnor show and I loved her from day one

[DemReadingDU]

29. Grow a Pair, Obama

7/30/09 In a Daily Beast exclusive, Larry Flynt, the notorious publisher of Hustler magazine, tells the president to toughen up, keep his campaign promises, and start whacking the Republicans.

President Obama:

You have proven to be a great campaigner. You have yet to demonstrate your ability to govern. Who needs the Republicans? They don’t know what compromise is. They’re just out to derail your presidency. Bitch slap ’em at every opportunity and put them in their place. They lost; you didn’t.

As for disloyal Democrats, you need to yank the carpet out from under them. Remind them that their survival is dependent upon yours. Don’t pull punches, Mr. President. You need some gonads, and if you don’t have any, as Hillary would say, you’d better grow some.

You have failed to keep many campaign promises. You’ve ignored civil-liberty violations such as warrantless wiretapping. You passed a stimulus package that is obviously full of pork for Democrats. You handed over billions more in taxpayer dollars to crooked bankers. You listened to the very people who created our economic meltdown, the Mutt and Jeff team of Larry Summers and Tim Geithner. You’ve let the insurance lobbyists hijack health-care reform to the detriment of every man, woman, and child in America.

You must say what you mean and mean what you say. Closing Guantanamo means just that. You could do it right now, Mr. President. You don’t have to wait until January. You can place terrorist suspects in the federal correctional system without creating any risk to our citizens.

You’re a nice guy. Everybody likes nice guys. Sometimes they finish last. You don’t want that, and neither do those of us who voted you in.

The American people have placed their future in your hands. For heaven’s sake don’t let them down. Don’t let yourself down.

Larry Flynt
Publisher, Hustler magazine

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-30/grow-a-pair-obama/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsL2

[AnneD]

33. Justice is the one thing you should always find....

Beer for my Horses....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JZUHFuklo8

[hamerfan]

34. Hooray for Larry Flynt!

As much as I hate his disgusting magazine (and have never bought one), I agree 100% with his letter. It needs to be said every chance we get!
hamerfan

[AnneD]

35. Just a heads up......

Next week we will have lots of reports coming in

The economic calender looks busy...

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

We will all be doing the Wall Street Watusi.

[tclambert]

36. Best Linda Ronstadt song: Blue Bayou

(actually written by Roy Orbison)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f78bKXzALXo&feature=related

[Demeter]

37. Thanks for all the posts!

I spent from 11:30 PM to 11 AM delivering NYTimes and WSJ for two guys who needed a sub. It was awful. My partner developed a migraine and threw up halfway through, otherwise, I'd have been done much earlier.

And then some food, shower, shuteye. Then 3.5 hours of delivery for the newly reincarnated AA News now known as AnnArbor.com and much worse than it was. Now I have to go get some more sleep, to repeat the cycle.

I'm crazy. But they were insistent, and such sob stories...and it's only until Thursday...then one guy comes back.

Tomorrow should go a little better. My partner is feeling fine after sleeping all day, so we'll be back at it in just a few hours...

Keep those cards and letters posting...I think I might actually do some myself tomorrow!

--Demeter

[Robbien]

39. Hundreds of Businesses Are Run Out Of Capco’s Vermont HQ

The Wall Street owned insurer Customer Asset Protection Company, known as Capco, may not be an off-shore company. But it sure operates like one of those Cayman Island based tax shelters president Barack Obama has targeted.

Capco is the mysterious company owned by WallStreet giants like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, banks like JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, smaller brokerage firms, and Fidelity, the mutual fund giant. Years ago Capco moved from New York to Vermont, where state law enables it to operate without disclosing much about its finances.

It’s official address is 100 Bank Street, Suite 610, in Burlington, Vermont. But if you go there, you won’t find an office marked with the name Capco. Instead, you’ll find an office marked Marsh Captive Solutions, which is a division of Marsh & McClennen that administers captive insurance companies. A total of 185 business are run out of Suite 610.

This brings to mind the story Obama used to tell on the campaign trail about “the outrage of a building in the Cayman Islands that had over 12,000 business — businesses claim this building as their headquarters. And I’ve said before, either this is the largest building in the world or the largest tax scam in the world.”

. . .

For those of you who missed it, today Capco was dragged out of the shadows by New York Times reporter Zach Kouwe. The company was formed to insure customer accounts above the $550,000 of SIPIC insurance. The idea was that customers didn’t need to worry about the insolvency of their broker because Capco was insuring it. But now Capco appears to be massively insolvent, facing a possible $11 billion in claims from the collapse of Lehman Brothers with only about $150 million with which to meet them. New York State regulators are worried, and the Wall Street owners could wind up having to pay the bill.

http://www.businessinsider.com/hundreds-businesses-are-run-out-of-capcos-vermont-hq-2009-7

[DemReadingDU]

42. It is the largest tax scam in the world

and may they all rot in hell

[Robbien]

40. It appears Ireland's courts have said no to a taxpayer bailout of banksters

FRESH shock waves ripped through Ireland’s beleaguered property sector last night as one of the country’s largest developers was refused protection in the High Court.

Reclusive billionaire Liam Carroll failed to have an examiner appointed to six of his companies as Judge Peter Kelly delivered a damning verdict on proposed survival plans as "fanciful" and "lacking in reality".

. . .

In a damning commentary, Mr Justice Kelly said he could not agree the companies involved had a reasonable prospect of survival, as the arguments their fortunes could be turned around "bordered on the fanciful".

He dismissed claims of a bounce-back which suggested the companies could turn a €1bn deficit into a €300 million surplus within three years.

The move intensified the political firestorm over NAMA, as the Taoiseach insisted there was no alternative to the proposed "bad bank" soaking up €90bn worth of toxic land deals if financial institutions were to be able free up credit lines to businesses again.



http://www.examiner.ie/ireland/court-refuses-to-protect-carrolls-empire-97839.html

[DemReadingDU]

44. About time. More courts need to follow in this manner

It's been a giant global ponzi scheme, and when it fell apart, these companies expect taxpayer bailouts. Enough is enough.

[Demeter]

49. Good for Ireland!

Catholicism has its uses.

[Robbien]

41. Is this what the mortgage servicers really doing?

Are mortgage servicing companies taking out loans in order to keep paying CDO holders for delinquent/defaulted mortgages?

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSTRE56R6UH20090729

The costs of borrowing to finance delinquent payments to bond investors far outweigh expected revenue from incentives paid by the government, Rose said. . .

The group since September has approached the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and Congress for help in funding the temporary "advances" that are fully reimbursed when a loan is modified or foreclosed

------

Banksters get paid on time no matter what? And more heinous, the servicers borrow from banksters to make sure banksters receive their regular monthly checks from servicers. AND the servicers are asking for taxpayer help by getting TALF funds to pay these advances.

[DemReadingDU]

43. The taxpayers are going broke funding all these programs

These businesses need to go bankrupt and stop getting taxpayer bailouts.

[Robbien]

47. It really is starting to make sense that banksters aren't reserving for losses on CDOs

Whether the underlying mortgages are good or not, banksters are getting their stated monthly income. As long as the CDOs are receiving their expected income, the banks can claim that they are good. Never mind that the monthly income is bogus because it doesn't come from homeowners but comes from new loans obtained by the servicers. New loans which the servicers are increasingly having a harder time obtaining.



And I expect the Fed will say it has to give taxpayer support to the servicers otherwise the whole ball of wax melts down, again.

[DemReadingDU]

45. Why The Automatic Earth is not singing with the choir

8/1/09 From Ilargi at The Automatic Earth

Ilargi: As we see ever more or less credible voices join the imminent everlasting recovery choir, this looks like a good moment in time to once again paint the picture of why we at the Automatic Earth will not sing along.

Nothing has been done to cleanse the financial system of its afflictions, open wounds and ailments, nothing has been achieved but the application of insanely expensive bandages, courtesy of you, designed to hide the lethally infected debt sores.

The longer the bandages stay on, the more people will say: "Looking good, there, boyo!" In fact, you look so good, how could you possibly be dying, or even be sick at all to begin with?

And if you die anyway, we'll all sing -and unashamedly lie through our teeth-, along with the President, who managed to claim today that the recession was ”even deeper than anyone thought" when he took office. Yeah, anyone at all. Sure. That is a bold faced lie, sir. Tell me, my American friends, what does a nation do when it finds its newly elected president lying? What do you think it should do?

Our dear friend Sharon Astyk asked us a few days ago how we see events developing over the coming months. That's a task, of course, for Stoneleigh (just got to find the nearest phonebooth). Here's her response to Sharon: (see next post)

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2009/08/august-1-2009-confidence-is-liquidity.html

[DemReadingDU]

46. Stoneleigh's intro about developing events over the coming months

8/1/09 From Stoneleigh at The Automatic Earth

Stoneleigh: People have often asked us what event we see precipitating the next phase of the decline once this rally is over. In short, there is no need for a precipitating event as market moves are essentially endogenous.

I have no doubt that something will be rationalized as the cause after the fact, but it will not actually be causal. It is closer to reality to say that causation runs the other way - that market moves make the news than that the news moves the markets - although it is actually social mood that drives both.

As confidence ebbs and flows, people behave differently and perceive reality differently, and they do so collectively without being consciously aware of doing so. The exact same events can be rationalized totally differently depending on whether the prevailing mood is pessimistic or optimistic.

Social mood is extremely 'catching' (see mirror neurons), and is the foundation of herding behaviour, of which markets moves are but one manifestation. Market timing involves probabilistic predictions based on herding behaviour. For this to be possible without foreknowledge of specific future events, about which foreknowledge is impossible, those events must not be causal to market moves.

Anyone can guess at what may happen that will end up being described as the precipitating event after the fact. It could be an attack on Iran, an outbreak of a more virulent form of swine flu, a terrorist attack, a flare up of violence in one of the world's many powder keg regions, a rapidly escalating trade war, a high-profile assassination or any one of hundreds of possible events.

Such specifics are not predictable, and the rally will eventually end with or without them, once the most aggressive speculator has made his bet and the biggest sucker has been fleeced. The concern is that whatever happens could (and probably will) be used by the unscrupulous to channel the fear and anger of the herd in the direction of simplistic blame.

This fall is a reasonable possibility for the resumption of the decline, following a late summer recovery high. This is, however, not cast in stone. As a trend progresses, more and more people buy into it, until it begins to win over even the skeptics.

The more hold-outs who capitulate to the trend, the closer it is to a reversal. Already we are seeing some notable bears sounding uncharacteristically optimistic. They may not yet be accepting the recovery mantra, but they are seeing the rally lasting for a long time.

The more bears switch sides, the more bearish the message, as it is evidence that the herd is moving towards an extreme. When received wisdom, in this case as to recovery, is almost unanimous, then the trend will have gone about as far as it can, and the stage will be set for a sharp reversal. I think we are already seeing many clues that we are getting late in the trend.

Once the decline resumes, liquidity should dry up again very quickly. The rally has seen liquidity return with tentatively increasing confidence, which has made covering up the toxic mess very much easier, but that will prove to be very temporary. As liquidity disappears again, the intractable problems will be laid bare again, leading to a logjam in the financial system and rapidly increasing pressure for it to burst in a market cascade.

In a very real way, confidence IS liquidity. A firesale of assets could originate almost anywhere, which would reprice asset classes across the board. The CDS market in particular is a powder keg with a short fuse.

I expect the coming decline to be longer and much stronger than the downward phase, so next year should be an almost unmitigated disaster from start to finish. If you are still waiting to cash out then I would not wait much longer.

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2009/08/august-1-2009-confidence-is-liquidity.html


page down to the end for the comments section

[Demeter]

50. I'm Beginning to Suspect That All This Bogus High Finance Is Religiously Founded

in the right-wing Fundies. This is based on the performance, or rather, the non-performance, of the modern, improved reincarnation of our local fishwrap. The people who took over are overtly of the Denial persuasion, and they expect ordinary people to perform miracles without infrastructure "because the traditional way of doing it was too expensive."

It's just like China's phoney milk powder. One has to ask what the product is, and what the purpose of making it is. And if the answer is "Who cares?" and "Lots of moola!" then the person should be limited to running bingo games.

[Robbien]

52. That's the thought that has been scaring the bejesus out of me for a long

while now.

In Jeff Sharlet's book the message came across loud and clear that the elite believed that religion had got it wrong all these years. Instead of ministering to the down-and-out, Jesus wanted believers to tend to the members of the world's elite.

A religious movement such as this is chilling.

[Daveparts still]

51. Get Back To the Roots !

Music from the American people and not to the American people
Listen to America sing,before the daze of production advisors and A&R men.
More a sound than a product, you feel as if even if they weren't getting paid they would still be playing it somewhere, a street corner or a back porch because it is a sound that humans must make


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoGspLF1-uY

[KoKo]

53. A very nice pithy post....I wonder how many know what you "mean" though...

I thought it was an incredible observation!

[AnneD]

54. I support the arts....

I married a musician.:evilgrin:

Although he is from India-musicians are musicians all over the world. Last night, my musician daughter, her friends, hubby and his friends got together and turned the church basement into a coffee house and jammed the night away raising money to buy mosquito netting for African families. We made enough to buy 24 nets-maybe not big time, but it will mean a lot to 24 families and the older musicians were showing the new kids around the block. Passing the torch

It was one long free form jam and folks brought their musical heritage to the session, American jazz, Asian classical, Basement grunge, and rock. That is American music from America people-the sum greater than it's part.

www.graceintheheights.org/youth_teen_revolution.php The photos from last night should be up soon.