Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Chick-fil-A brand health dives 40 percent after anti-LGBT remarks

When will the bigots begin to understand they are a small minority of our total population?
This from "Raw Story" - as usual, please follow link to original
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 http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/07/30/chick-fil-a-brand-health-dives-40-percent-after-anti-lgbt-remarks/

By David Edwards

The Georgia-based fried chicken chain Chick-fil-A has taken at massive hit since its founder publicly announced that the company opposed equal rights for LGBT people, according to a recent brand analysis.
Market research firm YouGov found that Chick-fil-A’s BrandIndex score had fallen 40 percent nationally since Dan Cathy told the Baptist Press that his company was “guilty as charged” of funding groups that oppose marriage equality.
YouGov determined the BrandIndex score by averaging other measurements, including “quality, impression, value, reputation, satisfaction and willingness to recommend.”
When Cathy’s remarks were published on July 19, Chick-fil-A was enjoying a national score of 65, one of the highest in the industry. By July 25, its BrandIndex had plummeted to 39.
In the South, Chick-fil-A’s BrandIndex fell from 80 to 44. And the company’s brand was damaged the most in the Northeast, where the score dove from 76 to 35.
Last week, Fox News host Mike Huckabee said he was so outraged that “militant homosexuals” were attacking the Christian restaurant chain that he called for for “Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day” on August 1.
On Friday, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) also showed her support for the company by tweeting a photo of herself holding a bag of chicken in one of the restaurants.
“When an aspiring politician says something controversial, the attention of prominent Republicans can be a career boon,” The Washington Post‘s Rachel Weiner pointed out on Monday. “For a fast food company, things are different.”
“Have Democrats been fueling the fire with calls to boycott Chick-fil-A? Sure. But instead of joining a culture war, it looks like Republicans should back off and let Chick-fil-A do its own damage control.”

Look Who’s Praising Socialized Medicine

This from Dr. Krugman - follow link to original
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http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

Look Who’s Praising Socialized Medicine

MItt Romney’s inability to stay on script is really getting surreal. Today he lavished praise on the Israeli health care system, which has indeed done a fine job of controlling costs while maintaining high quality. But as everyone who knows anything about it quickly pointed out, the secret of Israel’s success is … intense government involvement. It’s a single-payer system; but unlike Medicare, it also sets a budget per capita (adjusted for health status), so that the nonprofit plans are in effect forced to set priorities for treatment and also negotiate hard over provider payments; think of it as price controls plus death panels.
Romney’s remarks here fit the classic (Galbraith?) definition of a gaffe: it’s when a politician accidentally tells the truth. The truth in this case is that America’s uniquely privatized system is also uniquely expensive and inefficient; health care is one area in which the public sector does it better than the private sector, and in which free-market doctrine is just a dangerous fantasy.
But of course Romney can’t admit that.
And like everyone else, I’m really beginning to wonder about him. All he has to do to avoid creating a mess while on this trip is to stay bland and talk in generalities; instead, he’s causing international incidents every step of the way. Something is very wrong with what’s going on inside that impressive head of hair.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Bill Black: The Right’s Schadenfreude as Their Austerity Policies Devastate Europe

Here's an interesting article from "Naked Capitalism", written by Bill Black.

Please follow the link  to the original.
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http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/07/bill-black-the-rights-schadenfreude-as-their-austerity-policies-devastate-europe.html

Bill Black: The Right’s Schadenfreude as Their Austerity Policies Devastate Europe

By Bill Black, the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One and an associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Cross posted from New Economic Perspectives.
This column was prompted in part by reading RJ Eskow’s column, which alerted me to Anne Applebaum’s September 13, 2010 column celebrating Britain’s embrace of austerity and the Conservative Party.
I was already planning a piece responding to Applebaum’s Washington Post column about the consequences of European austerity published on July 25, 2012 (her birthday) and the contrast to a Wall Street Journal news story that same day announcing that austerity had, as we predicted, thrown Britain back into recession when I read Eskow’s column.
With the U.K. in a double-dip recession that is the worst in 50 years, the data also add to pressure on Treasury chief George Osborne, who faces calls to ease the pace of [austerity] measures that critics say are stifling growth.
Applebaum’s 2010 column on Britain’s embrace of austerity deserves to live in infamy. Eskow is correct that she takes palpable glee in economically illiterate actions certain to throw Britain back into recession and harm the working class in order to make the wealthiest Brits even wealthier.
LONDON—Vicious cuts.” “Savage cuts.” “Swingeing cuts.” The language that the British use to describe their new government’s spending-reduction policy is apocalyptic in the extreme. The ministers in charge of the country’s finances are known as “axe-wielders” who will be “hacking” away at the budget. Articles about the nation’s finances are filled with talk of blood, knives, and amputation.
And the British love it. Not only is austerity being touted as the solution to Britain’s economic woes; it is also being described as the answer to the country’s moral failings. On Oct. 20, the government will announce $128 billion worth of spending cuts, and many seem positively excited about it. OK, the trade unions are not so excited, but Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister and leader of the Liberal Democrats—the smaller party in the governing coalition—is overjoyed. Recently, he gave a speech in which he explained that tough choices had to be made, so that “we will be able to look our children and grandchildren in the eye and say we did the best for them.
As a journalist, Applebaum knows not to bury the lead. She, appropriately, packs here two first paragraphs with her major themes. Those themes include the most vital issues of economics and governance that (modestly) democratic governments face. Britain was just emerging from recession. The nature of the recovery – modest and slow – was accurately predicted by many economists who had noted that the stimulus measures were grossly inadequate, but barely sufficient to make a quick “double-dip” back into recession unlikely. These accurate economic predictions, of course, did lead to praise for the economists or large popular efforts for greater stimulus to build on the modest successes of the modest stimulus.
Instead, the framing became that sovereign debt, even in the midst of recovery from a “Great Recession” represented “moral failings.” Implicit in that framing was the concept that a government with a sovereign currency (like Britain) was just like a private household. From the standpoint of a private household, debt was framed as “moral failings” and conflated with being “profligate” and placing “our children and grandchildren” in dire straits as they tried to dig their households out of the debt burdens we had placed on them. Under this framing, we had not placed those burdens on our progeny for any higher purpose (such as defeating the Bosch), but rather for venal, selfish purposes – we used the debt to buy toys and then, childishly, demanded that the State bail us out of the inevitable results of our profligacy.
None of this had much resemblance to reality. Nations with sovereign currencies (the Brits wisely refused to join the euro) are not remotely like private households when it comes to debt. The simile is one of the classic errors that economists always have to explain to students. Nations adopt “automatic stabilizers” in order to make recessions far less severe and recoveries quicker. The stabilizers work by acting in a counter-cyclical fashion. Austerity during the recovery from a recession is a pro-cyclical policy that makes the recession worse and harms the recovery.
The pro-austerity framing that Applebaum described also means that austerity must represent superior morality and that the greater the austerity we champion the greater our moral superiority. This explains the competition in calling for “savage” cuts and the delight in gore. The more programs that aid the poor that we “amputate”; the greater moral superiority we demonstrate. It reverses the Gospels, but it certainly is an attractive framing for the wealthy.
The Labour Party was not worth discussing. The British had just been repudiated in the polls. It was, in any event, the “New” Labour Party that explicitly repositioned itself as the friend of big business, particularly giant finance. The “Lib-Dems” were delighted to help the Conservatives “take an axe” to social programs that aided the poor and working classes. Nick Clegg asserted that austerity programs certain to cause large numbers of parents to lose their jobs while slashing working class wages for those who did not lose their jobs was essential to help working class children. The program was economically illiterate, self-destructive, brutal to the working class – and wildly popular at the outset. The Conservatives represent the wealthy and are proud of it – they salivated at the prospect of savage austerity aimed at the working class.
Only the unions were left as reliable defenders of working class families, but they were politically powerless to do so. Applebaum, of course, gives them no credit for their defense.
Applebaum then combines faux moral superiority with faux history, to explain the moral virtues of austerity during a Great Recession.
For these [Conservative and Lib-Dem] voters, the very idea of instant gratification is anathema, in theory if not in practice. And they elected this government because they’ve convinced themselves they’ve had enough of it.
Austerity, by contrast, has a deep appeal. Austerity is what made Britain great. Austerity is what won the war.
No, none of this is true. Leaving millions of people unemployed harms the people, their families, and the national and global economy. It is pure economic waste and a terrible social harm that devastates families. Causing people to lose their jobs is not rational under either a “long run” or “short run” perspective. It has nothing to do with a desire for “instant gratification.” The typical unemployed adult spent over 12 years developing his or her skills. They did not rely on “instant gratification.”
Fiscal austerity is not what “won the war.” The opposite is true. In the fiscal policy realm it was massive fiscal deficits – debt – that won the war. Applebaum is falsely conflating household sacrifices with fiscal austerity. Here is a thought exercise. Senior British officials have made the absurd statement that the government is “out of money.” If Germany invaded Britain today would the Brits surrender because they were “out of money?” Of course not, they would run however large a deficit was required to defend Britain from the invasion. That would not destroy Britain’s economy. Instead, it would take Britain out of recession and produce full employment. Self-sacrifice was important during World War II. The U.S. and Britain used rationing. (Indeed, Britain’s rationing continued long after the end of the war.) Households donated silk and metal to the war effort – and their children’s and spouses’ lives. Those sacrifices are moral issues. Fiscal austerity by a nation with a sovereign currency is not a moral issue. In the context of a Great Recession it is simply a self-destructive fiscal policy. A potlatch, (rivals compete in destroying valuable household possessions in order to gain status) involves self-sacrifice but it is simply self-destructive as an economic policy. Britain’s austerity was a massive potlatch in which the parties competed in claiming moral superiority based on their zeal in competing to destroy working class families.
The Conservatives generated a faux “moral panic” among the British. Britain had too small a deficit, not too large a deficit, to recovery quickly from the Great Recession. Fiscal austerity in that context was so self-destructive that it would virtually guarantee throwing the nation back into recession. Recessions are the primary drivers of national debt and deficits because they cause such a dramatic fall in revenues and greater need for services to those who lose their jobs. Here is one of the most common errors people make about fiscal policy. A nation suffering from a Great Recession cannot simply “decide” to end its budget deficit. Consider why this is true. A nation can try to end a deficit by some combination of cutting spending and raising taxes. The problem is that in a recession private sector demand is already grossly inadequate to employ all the people who want to work. Cutting public sector spending (demand) while private sector demand is grossly inadequate is an excellent way to make the recession (and budget deficit) much worse. Raising taxes during a weak recovery from a Great Recession will further reduce already grossly inadequate private sector demand and cause the nation to fall back into recession (and increase the budget deficit). Britain has a sovereign currency. Its debt is not remotely “ruinous.” It can borrow money at incredibly low interest rates. Fiscal stimulus in response to a Great Recession has no “immoral” aspect and is economically desirable. The moral panic was a lie on both moral and economic dimensions. It was lie deliberately generated for political advantage. It has resulted in deeply immoral policies that harm working class families and the national economy. British austerity represents a spectacular “own goal.” Applebaum wrote her 2010 column to deride America as lacking the moral clarity of the British because we had failed to embrace austerity. Her prime targets for austerity were: “Medicare, Medicaid, [and] Social Security.” It is always the most successful, most popular government programs that conservatives are most eager to destroy because it is those programs that falsify their dogmas and pose their greatest political barriers in attacking the 99%. Applebaum was eager to generate the same faux moral panic in America and mimic Britain’s self-destructive assault on working class families.
How would Applebaum react in her July 25, 2012 column to the demonstration that austerity was throwing Britain and much of the Eurozone back into recession? Would she admit that austerity had failed economically and morally? Of course not, she was still propounding the faux moral panic about budget deficits that was crushing European economies and workers’ families. Indeed, she claimed that the “silver lining” of the austerity-induced second recession was the suffering it caused.
Another day, another set of crisis headlines — but there is a silver lining: Finally, Europeans are being forced to face up to decades’ worth of fundamentally dishonest politics. Since the 1970s, one government after the next has spent, borrowed and then inflated its way out of the subsequent debt. Then they recovered — only to spend, borrow and inflate once again.
She reveals again her real target – she wants to destroy the social programs that have improved the lives of the working class. She claims that social programs are merely political bribes to induce the working class to vote for leftist politicians. She glories in the fact that the euro is not a sovereign currency, exposing every euro nation to what is effectively the ability of the bond markets to veto social and fiscal policies. She loves the fact that the bond markets hate higher working class wages and social programs that aid working class families. She recognizes that when nations joined the euro they surrendered a key aspect of their economic sovereignty and that delights her.
Successive leaders in all of those countries have tried to “buy” the electorate with elaborate pensions, state-sector employment and other perks. Banks across the continent and around the world have greedily facilitated them.
Now they can’t. Though no one recognized it at the time, joining the euro was like adopting the gold standard: It meant that individual governments couldn’t inflate their way out of trouble anymore nor pass on to the next generation the bill for today’s expenditures — as they still can in the United States and Britain. All along, it has been a mistake to describe the euro zone’s difficulties as a “currency crisis.” In fact, it’s a political crisis, caused by an addiction to debt, and it requires a political solution. Electorates have learned the truth: They are bankrupt. Whatever decisions the European Union now makes, future recovery depends on how much of the plain facts ordinary people can bear to absorb.
Never mind that inflation of general price levels (as opposed to financial bubbles) was actually never severe in nations that had joined the euro zone. Applebaum’s schadenfreude is unlimited. She loves the euro zone disaster her austerity policies generated because she believes that the disaster will destroy the social programs she despises and bring the extreme right to power. I think she is wrong. Latin America has elected some right wing leaders in response to the failures of the Washington Consensus, but it has largely elected leftist leaders who ran on promises to oppose the Washington Consensus.
The Republicans in general and Governor Romney in particular, are (at least rhetorically) supporting extreme austerity. This is remarkable because Romney has twice said that austerity would harm our economy. (Representative Ryan’s fiscal plans are so vague and incoherent that they could actually be stimulative.) Rather than run against insane austerity policies that have proven to be economic and moral failures, President Obama has embraced his own fiscal incoherence. He talks of the government running out of money and being just like a household and is one of the worst of the enablers of Simpson-Bowles’ self-destructive austerity ideas. Simpson and Bowles, along with Peter G. Peterson are the leading American proponents of the faux moral panic. Obama’s repeated embrace of the faux moral panic has made it impossible for him to make a coherent attack on Republican embrace of austerity policies that have devastated much of Europe. Obama will pay a great political price for trying to be all things to all voters on the issue of austerity. Opposing a self-destructive economic policy, premised on lies and designed to harm popular, successful programs created by the Democratic Party to benefit working class families should have been Obama’s signature economic policy. Instead, Obama tries to be in favor of stimulus and austerity. In Europe, Geithner urges the euro zone to reject austerity. In Washington, D.C., he urges Obama to reject stimulus. Obama chose Simpson and Bowles even though everyone knew they would propose austerity and cuts to Social Security. The administration is so incoherent on these issues that no one believes that it has any economic principles. This is not pragmatism, it is dishonesty. It is bad economics, bad morality, and bad politics.

Romney

I don't think former Gov. Romney is making gaffes in England  --  he's playing to his base.  he is playing to the very Republicans who neither trust nor like him.  He does, after all, have John Bolton as a "top adviser".  Those in the middle will not remember it - or, they will think it a mere "Bushian" slip of the tongue.  Us "libtards", the folks who would never THINK of voting for him will remember, as will the extreme right-wing of the Grand Old Party (NOT!).  Those statements will warm the very cockles of their hearts - if they have hearts.

No Kidding: The Most Incoherent Tom Friedman Column Ever

Sigh   ---   I guess I really have to put this up, if only for the five people who have not yet read about it.  Please follow link to original
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 http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/no-kidding-the-most-incoherent-tom-friedman-column-ever-20120725

by Matt Taibbi


I realize this is not a statement anyone can make lightly, but: this morning’s column by Thomas Friedman, "Syria is Iraq," is the single most incoherent thing he has ever written. It’s… well, breathtaking is the only word.
Others, like Glenn Greenwald, have already pointed out the column's most obvious contradictions. But for those who missed it, here are two passages that were written, not as a joke, by the same human being in the same opinion column. Start with passage #1:
And, for me, the lesson of Iraq is quite simple: You can’t go from Saddam to Switzerland without getting stuck in Hobbes — a war of all against all — unless you have a well-armed external midwife, whom everyone on the ground both fears and trusts to manage the transition. In Iraq, that was America.
Got that? Here’s the second passage:
Because of both U.S. incompetence and the nature of Iraq, this U.S. intervention triggered a civil war in which all the parties in Iraq – Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds – tested the new balance of power, inflicting enormous casualties on each other and leading, tragically, to ethnic cleansing that rearranged the country into more homogeneous blocks of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
This pair of passages can be summed up in a Friedman-syllogism:
1. Syria will not become Switzerland unless it has the kind of help America gave to Iraq.
2. When America helped Iraq, it triggered a terrifying four-sided civil war that left the country reeling in blood-soaked, genocidal chaos and hopelessly partitioned along ethnic and religious lines – very much like Switzerland, where a diverse collection of ethnic groups speaking different languages live peacefully under democratic rule.
3. Therefore, when your wife needs help giving birth, she should hire a midwife who stands outside the door and carries an automatic weapon.
This column today is so crazy I have to think Friedman is kidding. The line about how everyone on the ground in Iraq trusts America is especially awesome. Of course! True, you can’t even open a Humvee door there to dump a pebble out of your shoe without getting your face shot off, but still, they trust us!
And yet the best thing of all is the rhetorical flourish at the end – a rare triple-figurative dismount, which he sticks with Nadia Comăneci-esque confidence:
Without an external midwife or a Syrian Mandela, the fires of conflict could burn for a long time.
God bless this man. There’s never been another like him!

bobby troup/baby, baby all the time

This by the man who wrote Route 66
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Route 66 - Diana Krall

Night Train Diana Krall

Friday, July 27, 2012

#39 - 9th in Georgia

Gosh, things are so bad they need a bank in MINNESOTA to bail out a bank in GEORGIA.  Maybe "The South"WON'T rise again.
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Stearns Bank National Association St. Cloud, Minnesota, Assumes All of the Deposits of Jasper Banking Company, Jasper, Georgia


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 27, 2012
Media Contact:
Greg Hernandez (202) 898-6984
Cell: (202) 340-4922
Email: ghernandez@fdic.gov


Jasper Banking Company, Jasper, Georgia, was closed today by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Stearns Bank National Association, St. Cloud, Minnesota, to assume all of the deposits of Jasper Banking Company.
The three branches of Jasper Banking Company will reopen on Saturday as branches of Stearns Bank National Association. Depositors of Jasper Banking Company will automatically become depositors of Stearns Bank National Association. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of Jasper Banking Company should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from Stearns Bank National Association that it has completed systems changes to allow other Stearns Bank National Association branches to process their accounts as well.
This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Jasper Banking Company can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of March 31, 2012, Jasper Banking Company had approximately $216.7 million in total assets and $213.1 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Stearns Bank National Association agreed to purchase essentially all of the assets.
The FDIC and Stearns Bank National Association entered into a loss-share transaction on $106.0 million of Jasper Banking Company's assets. Stearns Bank National Association will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share transaction is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The transaction also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-822-9247. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., EDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., EDT; on Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., EDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., EDT. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/jasper.html.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $58.1 million. Compared to other alternatives, Stearns Bank National Association's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. Jasper Banking Company is the 39th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the ninth in Georgia. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was First Cherokee State Bank, Woodstock, on July 20, 2012.

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Jimmy Smith - Midnight Special

Arnett Cobb, Eddie Lockjaw Davis and Johnny Griffin in "Lester Leaps In" (1984)



Solo's:
00:44 - Arnett Cobb
02:32 - Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis
04:34 - Johnny Griffin
08:16 - Butch Miles (drums)
10:28 - Closing theme

Arnett Cobb "Cobb's Boogie"

DIZZY GILLESPIE & ARNETT COBB - sweet mama

Johnny Griffin - Ball Bearing



 Johnny Griffin — tenor saxophone
John Coltrane — tenor saxophone
Hank Mobley — tenor saxophone
Lee Morgan — trumpet
Wynton Kelly — piano
Paul Chambers — bass
Art Blakey — drums


J.Henderson,J.Griffin & G.Adams / Blues Up And Down (1988)

Joe Henderson:ts
Johnny Griffin:ts
George Adams:ts
Horace Parlan:p
Peter Washington:b
Kenny Washington:ds
Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival with Blue Note

Sonny Stitt,Howard McGhee,JJ Johnson,Walter Bishop,Tommy Potter,Kenny Clarke."Buzzy"

Sonny Stitt Alto Sax,
Howard McGhee Trumpet,
JJ Johnson Trombone,
Walter Bishop Piano.
Tommy Potter Bass,
Kenny Clarke Drums.

My Feeble Attempt To Keep You Up To Date

We've had a guest from overseas visiting for the last few days. That's one reason I've been slow posting. A decent host does not spend all their time figuring out what to put up. In addition, I've been really upset (again) by the news. I just do not want to put some of the crap out there up on line. It's bad enough you can read it everywhere else -- I don't want to get that depressed again. anyway, in an attempt to keep you, my dear reader even slightly up to date -- her is a selection from "Some Assembly Required" -- please follow link to original --------------------------------------------------
http://ckm3.blogspot.com/

One Size Fits All: “My advice here is to be afraid, be very afraid.” Paul Krugman.

Horse/Mouth: “Americans should lose faith in their government. They should deplore the captured politicians and regulators who distributed tax dollars to the banks without insisting that they be accountable. The American people should be revolted by a financial system that rewards failure and protects those who drove it to the point of collapse and will undoubtedly do so again.” Neil M. Barofsky, Special Inspector General for the TARP bailouts.

Spelling Bee: 'Freefall' S – p – a – i – n. “Freefall”. 

Short Course: Spain is falling apart, its borrowing costs have climbed far beyond any rational hope of repayment, its stock markets have crashed, following the pattern seen in Greece, Ireland and Portugal and setting the standard for Italy. Germany has blocked the supposed deal made by EU leaders last month to bail out Spanish banks. The Catalonia region, following Valencia and Murcia, has come begging for help but the cupboard is bare. Europe is a disaster happening in slow motion; it started with Greece and has moved on to Ireland, Portugal, Cyprus, and now Spain – Europe is in “clear and present danger” of disaster.

 Hypocritical Oafs: The Republican version of a health care act would eliminate the ACA's Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, would prohibit any research into patient-centered outcomes (what other types of outcome could possibly matter?), and keep the NIH from considering any economic factors in studying healthcare. The Republicans not only want to privatize Medicare, they want to prevent the customer/patient from finding out what works, what doesn't and how much it should cost.
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There's more - go there.

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Horace Silver Quintet - "Nica's Dream"

Piano: Horace Silver
Trumpet: Blue Mitchell
Tenor Sax: Junior Cook
Bass: Gene Taylor
Drums: Roy Brooks

Jackie McLean Sextet - A Long Drink of the Blues

Personnel: Webster Young (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (trombone), Jackie McLean (alto sax, tenor sax), Gil Coggins (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), Louis Hayes (drums)

Jackie McLean - A Fickle Sonance (1961)

Charlie Parker - Lover man Dial

Anita O'Day - Tea For Two - Tokyo (1963)

Joey DeFrancesco & Bobby Hutcherson - Just Friends,

Joey DeFrancesco, Hammond B-3 org
Bobby Hutcherson, vibes
Ulf Wakenius, g
Ron Blake, ts
Myron Walden, as
Byron Landham, dr

Head line at "Pam's House Blend"

Follow link to original
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http://pamshouseblend.firedoglake.com/

Evangelical deems non-Christian Aurora movie theatre shooting victims are hell-bound

seen elsewhere:

It seems they took down Joe Paterno's statue at Penn State  --  word is they are going to erect it at The Vatican.

VSPs of Energy

Once again, Dr. Krugman speaks sense.  Please follow link to original.
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http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

VSPs of Energy

David Roberts has an interesting post about how the “experts” massively underestimated the potential for growth in renewable energy: wind and solar have grown enormously faster than the Very Serious People, energy sector, predicted circa 2000. He links this to the somewhat related tendency of the alleged experts to predict huge costs from efforts at energy conservation, huge costs that keep on not materializing.
Roberts suggests that it’s because conventionally-minded experts aren’t in touch with the potential of technologies that are (a) new and (b) distributed, representing choices by millions of players as opposed to a few big corporations.
Maybe. But I’d place more emphasis on a more cynical view: capture, both crude and subtle, by existing fossil-fuel interests (with nuclear power, another big business venture, somewhat similar).
It should be obvious that Big Oil and Big Coal have a stake in having the public believe that there is no alternative to ever more drilling, digging, and burning. And who employs, funds, and generally shapes the careers of mainstream energy “experts”? Who actually has a seat at the table when international organizations are putting together their scenarios?
It doesn’t have to be raw corruption, although there’s that too. It can instead be a matter of creating a mindset. And a lot of that mindset involves the sense that serious, hard-headed men think in terms of big extractive projects, that solar, wind, and conservation are hippie stuff — a sense that persists even in the teeth of contrary evidence.
The VSPs strike again.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

The Conservative Onion

From Paul Krugman - please follow link to original
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http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/

The Conservative Onion

Mike Konczal and Jonathan Chait both have good pieces on “You didn’t build that”, the Obama statement that, deliberately misinterpreted, has dominated right-wing discourse these past few days. Go read. But I think both of them miss a couple of tricks.
The first is that both in effect shrug their shoulders over the fact that for several days running the central theme of the Romney campaign has rested on a complete lie. I understand; going on about the dishonesty can get boring. But we should step back often to look at this remarkable spectacle. I really don’t think there’s been anything like this in American political history: a presidential campaign, with a pretty good chance of winning, that is based entirely on cynical lies about what the sitting president has said. No, Obama hasn’t apologized for America; no, he hasn’t denigrated achievement. Yet take away those claims, and there’s nothing left in Romney’s rhetoric.
The other thing that I think needs clarification is that it’s wrong to think of conservatives as having a single argument for their preferred policies. What they offer instead is more like an onion, with layers inside layers; every time you strip away one excuse there’s another one inside.
Thus someone like Paul Ryan starts by claiming to be a deficit hawk. Push him really hard, however, on why in that case he advocates big tax cuts, and he’ll shift to arguing that big government (as opposed to not-paid-for government) is the real problem. (That’s also what happened in my UK debate on Newsnight.) But if you push hard on that, it turns out that there’s yet another layer: the claim that things like taxing the rich to help pay for social insurance are immoral, because people have a right to keep the wealth they created — which is why suggesting that no plutocrat is an island is heresy.
This onion structure is why you should never believe reasonable-sounding conservatives who say that you’re attacking a straw man, that “nobody believes” that wealth creators owe nothing to society. Oh yes they do — it’s usually hidden inside a couple of more socially acceptable excuses, but at their core Ryan and people like him believe that they’re characters in Atlas Shrugged.
By the way, who built the roads in Galt’s Gulch?
Of course, it will be suggested that minorities and women are to blame  --  and a whole bunch of folks will want to believe it.  Can't blame the bosses, especially after 60+ years of propaganda saying it's "ALL the fault of the UNIONS".

1  --  READ

2  --  WEEP 

Sam Waltons Six Heirs

Here's just one little tid-bit from "Some Assembly Required"  --  short, to the point - and obscene.  Go there to read more
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http://ckm3.blogspot.com/

Crème de la Crème: The distribution of wealth in the US is so lopsided that targeting "the top 2%", while sounding politically correct, doesn't mean what you think it means. The top 2% includes individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and married couples making more than $250,000 - which while a lot, does not put them in the millionaire/billionaire class. Even the top 1% are paupers beside the to 0.1%. Sam Walton's six heirs hold more wealth than the bottom 42% of Americans combined, making each one of them richer than more than 20,000,000 of their fellow citizens. Know your enemy.

Spanish Protests Escalate as Budget Cuts Draw Blood

From "Naked Capitalism" - follow link to original
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http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/07/spanish-protests-escalate-as-budget-cuts-draw-blood.html

It’s been fashionable to dismiss protests in austerity-victim countries as noise. And to date, that view has been correct.
But Spain lurched relatively suddenly into the acute distress of 24% unemployment. Thursday, the Spanish bank bailout terms were clarified, and as we’d thought early on, and as Delusional Economics explained, the terms have the new bank bailout debt as being added to existing Spanish borrowing levels. Spanish bond yields rose, but Mr. Market shrugged that off all of one day. Valencia sought assistance Friday under the rescue package approved the day before. Investors freaked out at the proof that Spain was imploding faster than they thought.
The protests may constitute another crisis front. It’s one thing to drive Greece into penury and social decay pour décourager les autres. As horrific and deplorable as that is, the Eurozone can live with that. Having an economy as large as Spain come apart is not a viable outcome. Notice that this escalation in the number of people protesting comes before the officials start wiping out bank preference shares. As we’ve recounted, banks duped depositors into buying these instruments, presenting them as being completely safe but offering more yield. And it happened on a widespread basis: Reuters reported that 62% of the preference shares are held by depositors at the same banks. So if you aren’t convinced that the current level of Spanish protests are meaningful, be warned: you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

 Update: The Guardian also sees the protests against the latest round of budget cuts, passed in connection with the Eurozone bank rescue, as a sea change. It estimates 100,000 people turned out nationwide, 50,000 in Madrid.

The Problem Isn’t Outsourcing. It’s that the Prosperity of Big Business Has Become Disconnected from the Well-Being of Most Americans

from Robert Reich - follow link to original
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http://robertreich.org/

Wednesday, July 18, 2012
President Obama is slamming Mitt Romney for heading companies that were “pioneers in outsourcing U.S. jobs,” while Romney is accusing Obama of being “the real outsourcer-in-chief.”
These are the dog days of summer and the silly season of presidential campaigns. But can we get real, please?
The American economy has moved way beyond outsourcing abroad or even “in-sourcing.” Most big companies headquartered in America don’t send jobs overseas and don’t bring jobs here from abroad.
That’s because most are no longer really “American” companies. They’ve become global networks that design, make, buy, and sell things wherever around the world it’s most profitable for them to do so.
As an Apple executive told the New York Times, “we don’t have an obligation to solve America’s problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible.” He might have added “and showing profits big enough to continually increase our share price.”
Forget the debate over outsourcing. The real question is how to make Americans so competitive that all global companies — whether or not headquartered in the United States — will create good jobs in America.
Apple employs 43,000 people in the United States but contracts with over 700,000 workers overseas. It assembles iPhones in China both because wages are low there and because Apple’s Chinese contractors can quickly mobilize workers from company dorms at almost any hour of the day or night.
But low wages aren’t the major force driving Apple or any other American-based corporate network abroad. The components Apple’s Chinese contractors assemble come from many places around the world with wages as high if not higher than in the United States.
More than a third of what you pay for an iPhone ends up in Japan, because that’s where some of its most advanced components are made. Seventeen percent goes to Germany, whose precision manufacturers pay wages higher than those paid to American manufacturing workers, on average, because German workers are more highly skilled. Thirteen percent comes from South Korea, whose median wage isn’t far from our own.
Workers in the United States get only about 6 percent of what you pay for an iPhone. It goes to American designers, lawyers, and financiers, as well as Apple’s top executives.
American-based companies are also doing more of their research and development abroad. The share of R&D spending going to the foreign subsidiaries of American-based companies rose from 9 percent in 1989 to almost 16 percent in 2009, according to the National Science Foundation.
What’s going on? Put simply, America isn’t educating enough of our people well enough to get American-based companies to do more of their high-value added work here.
Our K-12 school system isn’t nearly up to what it should be. American students continue to do poorly in math and science relative to students in other advanced countries. Japan, Germany, South Korea, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Sweden, and France all top us.
American universities continue to rank high but many are being starved of government funds and are having trouble keeping up. More and more young Americans and their families can’t afford a college education. China, by contrast, is investing like mad in world-class universities and research centers.
Transportation and communication systems abroad are also becoming better and more reliable. In case you hadn’t noticed, American roads are congested, our bridges are in disrepair, and our ports are becoming outmoded.
So forget the debate over outsourcing. The way we get good jobs back is with a national strategy to make Americans more competitive — retooling our schools, getting more of our young people through college or giving them a first-class technical education, remaking our infrastructure, and thereby guaranteeing a large share of Americans add significant value to the global economy.
But big American-based companies aren’t pushing this agenda, despite their huge clout in Washington. They don’t care about making Americans more competitive. They say they have no obligation to solve America’s problems.
They want lower corporate taxes, lower taxes for their executives, fewer regulations, and less public spending. And to achieve these goals they maintain legions of lobbyists and are pouring boatloads of money into political campaigns. The Supreme Court even says they’re “people” under the First Amendment, and can contribute as much as they want to political campaigns – even in secret.
The core problem isn’t outsourcing. It’s that the prosperity of America’s big businesses – which are really global networks that happen to be headquartered here – has become disconnected from the well-being of most Americans.
Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital is no different from any other global corporation — which is exactly why Romney’s so-called “business experience” is irrelevant to the real problems facing most Americans.
Without a government that’s focused on more and better jobs, we’re left with global corporations that don’t give a damn.

Failed Banks

Of the 38 banks that have failed so far this year  --  five in Florida, five in Illinois, eight in Georgia  --  that's 18 of 38 in just three states.  Two claim to be staunch CONSERVATIVE bastions, one is famous for its graft and corruption.

Why don't the "CONSERVATIVE" states refuse the FEDERAL MONEY used to make depositors whole?  I thought they opposed "bailouts"

I don't get it  --  do you?

#38


Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company, Hinsdale, Illinois, Assumes All of the Deposits of Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2012
Media Contact:
LaJuan Williams-Young
Office: 202-898-3876
Email: lwilliams-young@fdic.go

Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company, Hinsdale, Illinois, to assume all of the deposits of Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago.
The three branches of Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago will reopen on Saturday as branches of Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company. Depositors of the failed bank will automatically become depositors of Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits.
Over the weekend, customers of Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago can access their insured deposits by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed.
As of March 31, 2012, Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago had approximately $199.1 million in total assets and $175.9 million in total deposits. Hinsdale Bank & Trust Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of $100,000 to assume all of the deposits of the failed bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits, Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company agreed to purchase approximately $14.2 million in assets, comprised mainly of cash. All loans, including consumer and mortgage, will be retained by the FDIC for later disposition. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-815-0286. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time (CDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., CDT; on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., CDT; on Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., CDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., CDT.
Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/secondfederal.html .
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $76.9 million. Compared to other alternatives, Hinsdale Bank & Trust Company's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. Second Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago is the 38th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the fifth in Chicago. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Farmers' and Traders' State Bank, Shabbona, on June 8, 2012.

Friday, July 20, 2012

Pathos of the Plutocrat By PAUL KRUGMAN

The latest from Dr. Paul Krugman - please follow link to original
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http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/20/opinion/krugman-pathos-of-the-plutocrat.html?

 “Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” So wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald — and he didn’t just mean that they have more money. What he meant instead, at least in part, was that many of the very rich expect a level of deference that the rest of us never experience and are deeply distressed when they don’t get the special treatment they consider their birthright; their wealth “makes them soft where we are hard.”

And because money talks, this softness — call it the pathos of the plutocrats — has become a major factor in America’s political life.
It’s no secret that, at this point, many of America’s richest men — including some former Obama supporters — hate, just hate, President Obama. Why? Well, according to them, it’s because he “demonizes” business — or as Mitt Romney put it earlier this week, he “attacks success.” Listening to them, you’d think that the president was the second coming of Huey Long, preaching class hatred and the need to soak the rich.
Needless to say, this is crazy. In fact, Mr. Obama always bends over backward to declare his support for free enterprise and his belief that getting rich is perfectly fine. All that he has done is to suggest that sometimes businesses behave badly, and that this is one reason we need things like financial regulation. No matter: even this hint that sometimes the rich aren’t completely praiseworthy has been enough to drive plutocrats wild. For two years or more, Wall Street in particular has been crying: “Ma! He’s looking at me funny!”
Wait, there’s more. Not only do many of the superrich feel deeply aggrieved at the notion that anyone in their class might face criticism, they also insist that their perception that Mr. Obama doesn’t like them is at the root of our economic problems. Businesses aren’t investing, they say, because business leaders don’t feel valued. Mr. Romney repeated this line, too, arguing that because the president attacks success “we have less success.”
This, too, is crazy (and it’s disturbing that Mr. Romney appears to share this delusional view about what ails our economy). There’s no mystery about the reasons the economic recovery has been so weak. Housing is still depressed in the aftermath of a huge bubble, and consumer demand is being held back by the high levels of household debt that are the legacy of that bubble. Business investment has actually held up fairly well given this weakness in demand. Why should businesses invest more when they don’t have enough customers to make full use of the capacity they already have?
But never mind. Because the rich are different from you and me, many of them are incredibly self-centered. They don’t even see how funny it is — how ridiculous they look — when they attribute the weakness of a $15 trillion economy to their own hurt feelings. After all, who’s going to tell them? They’re safely ensconced in a bubble of deference and flattery.
Unless, that is, they run for public office.
Like everyone else following the news, I’ve been awe-struck by the way questions about Mr. Romney’s career at Bain Capital, the private-equity firm he founded, and his refusal to release tax returns have so obviously caught the Romney campaign off guard. Shouldn’t a very wealthy man running for president — and running specifically on the premise that his business success makes him qualified for office — have expected the nature of that success to become an issue? Shouldn’t it have been obvious that refusing to release tax returns from before 2010 would raise all kinds of suspicions?
By the way, while we don’t know what Mr. Romney is hiding in earlier returns, the fact that he is still stonewalling despite calls by Republicans as well as Democrats to come clean suggests that it could be something seriously damaging.
Anyway, what’s now apparent is that the campaign was completely unprepared for the obvious questions, and it has reacted to the Obama campaign’s decision to ask those questions with a hysteria that surely must be coming from the top. Clearly, Mr. Romney believed that he could run for president while remaining safe inside the plutocratic bubble and is both shocked and angry at the discovery that the rules that apply to others also apply to people like him. Fitzgerald again, about the very rich: “They think, deep down, that they are better than we are.”
O.K., let’s take a deep breath. The truth is that many, and probably most, of the very rich don’t fit Fitzgerald’s description. There are plenty of very rich Americans who have a sense of perspective, who take pride in their achievements without believing that their success entitles them to live by different rules.
But Mitt Romney, it seems, isn’t one of those people. And that discovery may be an even bigger issue than whatever is hidden in those tax returns he won’t release.

#37

Metcalf Bank, Lees Summit, Missouri, Assumes All of the Deposits of Heartland Bank, Leawood, Kansas



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2012
Media Contact:
LaJuan Williams-Young
Office: 202-898-3876
Email: lwilliams-young@fdic.gov


Heartland Bank, Leawood, Kansas, was closed today by The Kansas Office of the State Bank Commissioner, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Metcalf Bank, Lees Summit, Missouri, to assume all of the deposits of Heartland Bank.
The two branches of Heartland Bank will reopen during normal business hours as branches of Metcalf Bank. Depositors of Heartland Bank will automatically become depositors of Metcalf Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of Heartland Bank should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from Metcalf Bank that it has completed systems changes to allow other Metcalf Bank branches to process their accounts as well.
This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Heartland Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of March 31, 2012, Heartland Bank had approximately $110.0 million in total assets and $102.6 million in total deposits. Metcalf Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of 1.11 percent to assume all of the deposits of Heartland Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Metcalf Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets.
The FDIC and Metcalf Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $54.3 million of Heartland Bank's assets. Metcalf Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share transaction is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The transaction also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-823-5346. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Central Daylight Time (CDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., CDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., CDT; on Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., CDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., CDT. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/heartland.html.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $3.1 million. Compared to other alternatives, Metcalf Bank's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. Heartland Bank is the 37th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the first in Kansas. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was The First National Bank of Olathe, Olathe, on August 12, 2011.
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Gee, I guess having a "good" name - "Heartland" - is no protection against failure.

#36 - 8th in Georgia

Community & Southern Bank, Atlanta, Georgia, Assumes All of the Deposits of First Cherokee State Bank, Woodstock, Georgia


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2012
Media Contact:
LaJuan Williams-Young
Office: 202-898-3876
Email: lwilliams-young@fdic.gov


First Cherokee State Bank, Woodstock, Georgia, was closed today by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Community & Southern Bank, Atlanta, Georgia, to assume all of the deposits of First Cherokee State Bank.
The three branches of First Cherokee State Bank will reopen during normal business hours as branches of Community & Southern Bank. Depositors of First Cherokee State Bank will automatically become depositors of Community & Southern Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of First Cherokee State Bank should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from Community & Southern Bank that it has completed systems changes to allow other Community & Southern Bank branches to process their accounts as well.
This evening and over the weekend, depositors of First Cherokee State Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of March 31, 2012, First Cherokee State Bank had approximately $222.7 million in total assets and $193.3 million in total deposits. Community & Southern Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of 0.50 percent to assume all of the deposits of First Cherokee State Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Community & Southern Bank agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets.
The FDIC and Community & Southern Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $141.8 million of First Cherokee State Bank's assets. Community & Southern Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share transaction is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The transaction also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-640-2751. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., EDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., EDT; on Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., EDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., EDT. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/cherokee.html.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $36.9 million. Compared to other alternatives, Community & Southern Bank's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. First Cherokee State Bank is the 36th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the eighth in Georgia. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Georgia Trust Bank, Buford, earlier today.

#35 - 7th in Georgia


Community & Southern Bank, Atlanta, Georgia, Assumes All of the Deposits of Georgia Trust Bank, Buford, Georgia


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2012
Media Contact:
LaJuan Williams-Young
Office: 202-898-3876
Email: lwilliams-young@fdic.gov

Georgia Trust Bank, Buford, Georgia, was closed today by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver. To protect the depositors, the FDIC entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with Community & Southern Bank, Atlanta, Georgia, to assume all of the deposits of Georgia Trust Bank.
The two branches of Georgia Trust Bank will reopen on Monday as branches of Community & Southern Bank. Depositors of Georgia Trust Bank will automatically become depositors of Community & Southern Bank. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of Georgia Trust Bank should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from Community & Southern Bank that it has completed systems changes to allow other Community & Southern Bank branches to process their accounts as well.
This evening and over the weekend, depositors of Georgia Trust Bank can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of March 31, 2012, Georgia Trust Bank had approximately $119.8 million in total assets and $117.4 million in total deposits. Community & Southern Bank will pay the FDIC a premium of 0.50 percent to assume all of the deposits of Georgia Trust Bank. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, Community & Southern Bank agreed to purchase approximately $111.5 million of the failed bank's assets. The FDIC will retain the remaining assets for later disposition.
The FDIC and Community & Southern Bank entered into a loss-share transaction on $65.9 million of Georgia Trust Bank's assets. Community & Southern Bank will share in the losses on the asset pools covered under the loss-share agreement. The loss-share transaction is projected to maximize returns on the assets covered by keeping them in the private sector. The transaction also is expected to minimize disruptions for loan customers. For more information on loss share, please visit: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/lossshare/index.html.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-822-0412. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., EDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., EDT; on Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., EDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., EDT. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/georgiatrust.html.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $20.9 million. Compared to other alternatives, Community & Southern Bank's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. Georgia Trust Bank is the 35th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the seventh in Georgia. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Montgomery Bank & Trust, Ailey, on July 6, 2012

#34 - 5th in Florida


First National Bank of the Gulf Coast, Naples, Florida, Assumes All of the Deposits of the Royal Palm Bank of Florida, Naples, Florida


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 20, 2012
Media Contact:
LaJuan Williams-Young
Office: 202-898-3876
Email: lwilliams-young@fdic.gov

The Royal Palm Bank of Florida, Naples, 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 First National Bank of the Gulf Coast, Naples, Florida, to assume all of the deposits of The Royal Palm Bank of Florida.
The three branches of The Royal Palm Bank of Florida will reopen on Monday as branches of First National Bank of the Gulf Coast. Depositors of The Royal Palm Bank of Florida will automatically become depositors of First National Bank of the Gulf Coast. Deposits will continue to be insured by the FDIC, so there is no need for customers to change their banking relationship in order to retain their deposit insurance coverage up to applicable limits. Customers of The Royal Palm Bank of Florida should continue to use their existing branch until they receive notice from First National Bank of the Gulf Coast that it has completed systems changes to allow other First National Bank of the Gulf Coast branches to process their accounts as well.
This evening and over the weekend, depositors of The Royal Palm Bank of Florida can access their money by writing checks or using ATM or debit cards. Checks drawn on the bank will continue to be processed. Loan customers should continue to make their payments as usual.
As of March 31, 2012, The Royal Palm Bank of Florida had approximately $87.0 million in total assets and $85.1 million in total deposits. In addition to assuming all of the deposits of the failed bank, First National Bank of the Gulf Coast agreed to purchase essentially all of the failed bank's assets.
Customers with questions about today's transaction should call the FDIC toll-free at 1-800-823-5017. The phone number will be operational this evening until 9:00 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time (EDT); on Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., EDT; on Sunday from noon to 6:00 p.m., EDT; on Monday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., EDT; and thereafter from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., EDT. Interested parties also can visit the FDIC's Web site at http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/royalpalm.html.
The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) will be $13.5 million. Compared to other alternatives, First National Bank of the Gulf Coast's acquisition was the least costly resolution for the FDIC's DIF. The Royal Palm Bank of Florida is the 34th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the nation this year, and the fifth in Florida. The last FDIC-insured institution closed in the state was Putnam State Bank, Palatka, on June 15, 2012

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Dear Ann Romney, bless your little heart.

"Wonkette" has a wonderful, and very true, headline - follow link to original - and read the rest
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http://wonkette.com/

Ann Romney’s Metamorphosis Into Leona Helmsley Almost Complete

Some telling stuff from "Some Assembly Required"

Follow link to original
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http://ckm3.blogspot.com/

Big Government To The Rescue: Farmers in the Midwest are already crying about the high corn prices expected as the drought drags on. You know, government-hating Republicans who will soon be pleading for government money to help them over a hard spot.

Everything Is Local: Coal miners in West Virginia are damned sorry about global warming, but say that destroying mountains, the environment, and our collective future is the only way they know how to make a living.

Inconvenient Data: Arkansas finds that implementing the ACA Medicaid expansion would save the state $372 million over four years. After that the expansion would cost Arkansas $3.5 million of it's $4.7 billion budget, with the federal government chipping in $35 million (90%) of the expansion costs.

 Savings Plan: Denny Rehberg (Taliban-MT), chair of the House Labor, Health and Human Service and Education Committee, wants to cut $6.2 billion in spending on women's health, and allow employers to impose their moral/religious strictures on the women that work for them.

Democracy Inaction: The Brennan Center for Justice reports that upwards of 4 million potential votes will be aborted by the Republican-inspired voter ID laws, which will deprive primarllily the poor and elderly of their (highly theoretical) right to vote because of a lack of transportation and the fact that many of the offices that could issue the required IDs are only open once or twice a week and never on weekends. For example, in Texas, only 2 offices are available to issue IDs for 134,000 eligible voters – more than half of them Hispanic – in a 32 county area.

ll you need to know about Ann Romney and the entire Romney family

Ann Romney on the secret tax returns: 'We’ve given all you people need to know'

Love it!! Nothing like being a spoiled, where's the VIP entrance, rich, super entitled, totally out of touch, Republican  --  or, as most folks say, Republican.

All we need now from her is a patronizing comment about "all the wonderful 'little people'".

Nashville Cats - Lovin' Spoonful

Kitty Wells , female country music pioneer dies at 92

"NASHVILLE — Kitty Wells, who was on the verge of quitting music to be a homemaker when she recorded a hit in 1952 that struck a chord with women and began opening doors for them in country music, died on Monday at her home in Madison, Tenn. She was 92."

David Allan Coe - Longhaired Redneck

David Allen Coe You Never Even Called Me by My Name

Hank Snow - I Don't Hurt Anymore

Wabash Cannonball Hank Snow

The Wreck Of The Old 97 by Hank Snow

A Tramp On The Street-Hank Williams

Lost Highway ~ Hank williams

Hank Williams "There's A Tear In My Beer"

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

How Big Pharma and Dr. Drew Made a Fortune Deceiving America Aggressive marketing and paid promotion by doctors like Drew Pinsky obscure medication risks and can lead to human tragedy.

Here's a good account of the 3 BILLION dollar fine levied on GlaxoSmithKline for "fraudulent sale and marketing of drugs".  I'm including an excerpt  --  please follow link to read the rest.  It's from Alternet.
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http://www.alternet.org/health/156277/how_big_pharma_and_dr._drew_made_a_fortune_deceiving_america/?page=entire


By now you’ve likely heard that drug maker GlaxoSmithKline must shell out $3 billion for the fraudulent sale and marketing of drugs including the popular antidepressant Wellbutrin (also sold as the smoking cessation drug Zyban). In the Big Bertha of healthcare fraud settlements, the British pharmaceutical giant has admitted to playing fast and loose in its branding of Wellbutrin and marketing it for uses not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Wellburtin (generic name: bupropion) has been approved to treat depression, and many claim to have been helped by it. As Zyban it has been deemed useful as an anti-smoking drug. It is not illegal for a doctor to prescribe a drug for off-label uses. But it is certainly illegal for a company to go around marketing a drug for such purposes. Department of Justice documents show that Glaxo marketed Wellubtrin for off-label use to treat a wide range of conditions, including anxiety, biopolar disorder, obesity, sexual dysfunction, weight loss, and more, despite the fact that it was not approved to treat any of them and lacked appropriate research findings to justify those uses. Consumer Reports notes that “Wellbutrin was even promoted to treat bulimia and alcohol withdrawal, two treatments that the label specifically warns against.”
Glaxo continued its marketing-on-steroids despite warnings about possible safety risks from the FDA. A favorite tactic was to lure doctors with anything from free spa treatments to outright bribes to get on board with campaigns.
Dr. Drew Pinsky, the host of TV shows including “Lifechangers” and “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,” was one of the doctors who threw medical ethics to the wind, hauling in $275,000 in March and April 1999 to push Wellbutrin as an antidepressant that was different from the others in not killing sex drive. The federal complaint says that Glaxo’s PR firm Cooney Waters “hired Dr. Drew Pinsky from MTV and Loveline as a spokesperson to deliver messages about WBSR [Wellbutrin] in settings where it did not appear that Dr. Pinsky was speaking for WBSR.”
Recently unsealed court records reveal that Pinsky claimed on his “Loveline” radio show that the active substance in Wellbutrin “could explain a woman suddenly having 60 orgasms in one night.” Really!
The Daily Beast reports that Paul Thacker, a former staffer for Senator Charles Grassley who participated in the lawmaker’s investigation into Glaxo and later worked for the Project on Government Oversight, said that like many, he grew up listening to Dr. Drew’s advice: “Dr. Drew was how kids in college in California learned about sex, drugs and mental-health issues.”
His abuse of the public trust should shame Pinsky forever, but what about the health and safety of all those people who were listening to his show?
You’d be hard-pressed to find a person who doesn’t want to be skinny, happy and have great sex. Which is why Glaxo put together a marketing campaign in 1999 called – incredibly -- “Operation Hustle.” The DOJ complaint reveals that this was Glaxo’s full-court-press to market Wellbutrin as the “happy, horny, skinny pill.”  ..................................... follow link - read the rest.
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Still think "the market" is "self correcting"?  Still think there's no need for regulation?  Perhaps you need some Wellbutrin for your denial  (side effects might just include suicide, etc., etc., etc., etc.)

Monday, July 16, 2012

Report: Cowboys' Bryant arrested for assault

Football players are sheltered from the "real world" from before High School.  Many never have studied, don't have to study, and are given a "free pass" through High School and College.  They are pampered and coddled until they believe rules never apply to them.

As they engage life and begin to live in society - as opposed to a jocks only dorm - they often run afoul of the law.  Many still believe they are too valuable to be held accountable the way you or I are. 

So, quite a few stumble through life, careening from one disaster to another.  Their final awakening often comes when they are deemed no longer useful to their owners  --  then the "difficult", but talented ones are cast aside - and the world smacks them up side the head.

So, the violence is not the only problem with football  --  the way we idealize them, and the way their owners make a fortune FROM them is another major problem.

Just look at the record of nightclub "altercations", domestic abuse cases, drug busts, etc., etc., etc. various athletes and former athletes are involved in.  Then think about the priorities of our society.

Please follow link to the original of the following story
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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/report-cowboys-bryant-arrested-assault-011010870--nfl.html


 Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant was arrested on Saturday and charged with a Class A misdemeanor for assaulting a female family member, according to multiple reports out of Dallas.
The victim did not require hospitalization, according to MyFOXdfw.com. Bryant, 23, turned himself in Monday and was released after posting bond. Bryant said "I'm good, I'm good," when contacted by News 8 in DeSoto, Texas. It would be the latest in a string of off-field incidents for Bryant. He was involved in an altercation with rapper Lil' Wayne at a night club in South Beach in January, although he was not arrested. Bryant was temporarily banned from a mall last ear for arguing with security officers about his saggy pants. He has also been sued by a jewelry maker who claimed he owed $850,000 for unpaid merchandise. Bryant's college career at Oklahoma State ended prematurely when he was declared ineligible by the NCAA for impermissable contact with retired NFL star Deion Sanders.