Impossible Things...

Here's a great set of stats for those who still would love to believe that things here in the Empire aren't really all that bad, at least compared to other, more benighted nations (hah!). Quoted in its entirety:


50 Statistics About The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

Most Americans know that the U.S. economy is in bad shape, but what most Americans don't know is how truly desperate the financial situation of the United States really is. The truth is that what we are experiencing is not simply a "downturn" or a "recession". What we are witnessing is the beginning of the end for the greatest economic machine that the world has ever seen. Our greed and our debt are literally eating our economy alive. Total government, corporate and personal debt has now reached 360 percent of GDP, which is far higher than it ever reached during the Great Depression era. We have nearly totally dismantled our once colossal manufacturing base, we have shipped millions upon millions of middle class jobs overseas, we have lived far beyond our means for decades and we have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world. A great day of financial reckoning is fast approaching, and the vast majority of Americans are totally oblivious.

But the truth is that you cannot defy the financial laws of the universe forever. What goes up must come down. The borrower is the servant of the lender. Cutting corners always catches up with you in the end.

Sometimes it takes cold, hard numbers for many of us to fully realize the situation that we are facing.

So, the following are 50 very revealing statistics about the U.S. economy that are almost too crazy to believe....

#50) In 2010 the U.S. government is projected to issue almost as much new debt as the rest of the governments of the world combined.

#49) It is being projected that the U.S. government will have a budget deficit of approximately 1.6 trillion dollars in 2010.

#48) If you went out and spent one dollar every single second, it would take you more than 31,000 years to spend a trillion dollars.

#47) In fact, if you spent one million dollars every single day since the birth of Christ, you still would not have spent one trillion dollars by now.

#46) Total U.S. government debt is now up to 90 percent of gross domestic product.

#45) Total credit market debt in the United States, including government, corporate and personal debt, has reached 360 percent of GDP.

#44) U.S. corporate income tax receipts were down 55% (to $138 billion) for the year ending September 30th, 2009.

#43) There are now 8 counties in the state of California that have unemployment rates of over 20 percent.

#42) In the area around Sacramento, California there is one closed business for every six that are still open.

#41) In February, there were 5.5 unemployed Americans for every job opening.

#40) According to a Pew Research Center study, approximately 37% of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 have either been unemployed or underemployed at some point during the recession.

#39) More than 40% of those employed in the United States are now working in low-wage service jobs.

#38) According to one new survey, 24% of American workers say that they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year.

#37) Over 1.4 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009, which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008. Not only that, more Americans filed for bankruptcy in March 2010 than during any month since U.S. bankruptcy law was tightened in October 2005.

#36) Mortgage purchase applications in the United States are down nearly 40 percent from a month ago to their lowest level since April of 1997.

#35) RealtyTrac has announced that foreclosure filings in the U.S. established an all time record for the second consecutive year in 2009.

#34) According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in March 2010, an increase of nearly 19 percent from February, an increase of nearly 8 percent from March 2009 and the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report in January 2005.

#33) In Pinellas and Pasco counties, which include St. Petersburg, Florida and the suburbs to the north, there are 34,000 open foreclosure cases. Ten years ago, there were only about 4,000.

#32) In California's Central Valley, 1 out of every 16 homes is in some phase of foreclosure.

#31) The Mortgage Bankers Association recently announced that more than 10 percent of all U.S. homeowners with a mortgage had missed at least one payment during the January to March time period. That was a record high and up from 9.1 percent a year ago.

#30) U.S. banks repossessed nearly 258,000 homes nationwide in the first quarter of 2010, a 35 percent jump from the first quarter of 2009.

#29) For the first time in U.S. history, banks own a greater share of residential housing net worth in the United States than all individual Americans put together.

#28) More than 24% of all homes with mortgages in the United States were underwater as of the end of 2009.

#27) U.S. commercial property values are down approximately 40 percent since 2007 and currently 18 percent of all office space in the United States is sitting vacant.

#26) Defaults on apartment building mortgages held by U.S. banks climbed to a record 4.6 percent in the first quarter of 2010. That was almost twice the level of a year earlier.

#25) In 2009, U.S. banks posted their sharpest decline in private lending since 1942.

#24) New York state has delayed paying bills totalling $2.5 billion as a short-term way of staying solvent but officials are warning that its cash crunch could soon get even worse.

#23) To make up for a projected 2010 budget shortfall of $280 million, Detroit issued $250 million of 20-year municipal notes in March. The bond issuance followed on the heels of a warning from Detroit officials that if its financial state didn't improve, it could be forced to declare bankruptcy.

#22) The National League of Cities says that municipal governments will probably come up between $56 billion and $83 billion short between now and 2012.

#21) Half a dozen cash-poor U.S. states have announced that they are delaying their tax refund checks.

#20) Two university professors recently calculated that the combined unfunded pension liability for all 50 U.S. states is 3.2 trillion dollars.

#19) According to EconomicPolicyJournal.com, 32 U.S. states have already run out of funds to make unemployment benefit payments and so the federal government has been supplying these states with funds so that they can make their payments to the unemployed.

#18) This most recession has erased 8 million private sector jobs in the United States.

#17) Paychecks from private business shrank to their smallest share of personal income in U.S. history during the first quarter of 2010.

#16) U.S. government-provided benefits (including Social Security, unemployment insurance, food stamps and other programs) rose to a record high during the first three months of 2010.

#15) 39.68 million Americans are now on food stamps, which represents a new all-time record. But things look like they are going to get even worse. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is forecasting that enrollment in the food stamp program will exceed 43 million Americans in 2011.

#14) Phoenix, Arizona features an astounding annual car theft rate of 57,000 vehicles and has become the new "Car Theft Capital of the World".

#13) U.S. law enforcement authorities claim that there are now over 1 million members of criminal gangs inside the country. These 1 million gang members are responsible for up to 80% of the crimes committed in the United States each year.

#12) The U.S. health care system was already facing a shortage of approximately 150,000 doctors in the next decade or so, but thanks to the health care "reform" bill passed by Congress, that number could swell by several hundred thousand more.

#11) According to an analysis by the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation the health care "reform" bill will generate $409.2 billion in additional taxes on the American people by 2019.

#10) The Dow Jones Industrial Average just experienced the worst May it has seen since 1940.

#9) In 1950, the ratio of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about 30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between 300 to 500 to one.

#8) Approximately 40% of all retail spending currently comes from the 20% of American households that have the highest incomes.

#7) According to economists Thomas Piketty and Emmanuel Saez, two-thirds of income increases in the U.S. between 2002 and 2007 went to the wealthiest 1% of all Americans.

#6) The bottom 40 percent of income earners in the United States now collectively own less than 1 percent of the nation’s wealth.

#5) If you only make the minimum payment each and every time, a $6,000 credit card bill can end up costing you over $30,000 (depending on the interest rate).

#4) According to a new report based on U.S. Census Bureau data, only 26 percent of American teens between the ages of 16 and 19 had jobs in late 2009 which represents a record low since statistics began to be kept back in 1948.

#3) According to a National Foundation for Credit Counseling survey, only 58% of those in "Generation Y" pay their monthly bills on time.

#2) During the first quarter of 2010, the total number of loans that are at least three months past due in the United States increased for the 16th consecutive quarter.

#1) According to the Tax Foundation’s Microsimulation Model, to erase the 2010 U.S. budget deficit, the U.S. Congress would have to multiply each tax rate by 2.4. Thus, the 10 percent rate would be 24 percent, the 15 percent rate would be 36 percent, and the 35 percent rate would have to be 85 percent.

What Went Wrong? Here's a List...

Shamelessly stolen from sage commentator "Numerian" over at The Agonist...posted in response to the question "where's the outrage" among the US public over, oh, the greatest environmental disaster in US history, and the public's blase response. Nicely done, fellow.

It all began in 1980

Or right around then, with the election of Ronald Reagan and the opportunity for right-wing extremists to begin reshaping society. Undoing this work will take ten years or more, and that is if society has a brutal awakening regarding what has happened. That is by no means a sure thing considering what was done. Here is a list of "20 Theses" showing what the right wing has wrought, and how difficult it will be to undo all this:

1) The elevation of the corporation as the supreme social structure in society, superior to the political process, and in possession of rights normally restricted to the people.
2) The creation of an oligarchical command structure consisting of prominent and wealthy businessmen, politicians, media figures, military leaders, intellectual and other consultants, and religious entertainers, who can use political, economic and social power to advance their personal interests over those of society.
3) The abolishment of the death tax as society's best and last means of preventing dynastic wealth, and the use of nepotism to advance the careers of the children of oligarchical figures.
4) The development of crony capitalism, whereby the oligarchy can exert its corporate power to protect their personal wealth.
5) The glorification of the markets and mercantile capitalism as a means of allocating society's wealth and resolving social problems, along with data mining and equity extraction as tools to collect rents from the markets for the benefit of the oligarchical class.
6) The rise of the cult of the individual, and the use of personal wealth and conspicuous consumption as a measure of individual merit.
7) The identification of poverty and want as personal failures.
8) The identification of the government as a source of problems, rather than as a protector of the needy and regulator of the powerful.
9) The embrace of globalization as a way to open vast new consumer markets to corporations, despite the cost in living standards to the average individual in developed economies.
10) The discovery of debt as a means of ensuring economic growth and masking the deterioration in living standards of the people.
11) The suborning of the media by placing them under the control of large corporate and oligarchical powers.
12) The use of the big lie and hypocrisy as tools to achieve and wield political or economic power.
13) The marginalization of the voting process through gerrymandering of Congressional districts, the use of opaque computer vote-counting techniques, the emphasis on candidate personalities rather than issues, and the dramatic escalation of campaign costs so that only corporate-sponsored candidates may compete.
14) The establishment of "enemies within" - liberals, minorities, women, gays, immigrants and others - to replace the external enemy of Communism as a vote-getting device, at least until a new external enemy arose in the form of Islamic extremism.
15) The abandonment of historic civil rights, such as habeas corpus, protections against illegal searches, or torture, all in the name of providing "security", as well as the relegation of the Constitution to the status of "a piece of paper", and the rule of law as an outmoded legal construct.
16) The elimination of the draft, and the use of mercenaries, to allow for the pursuit of war without inconvenience to the people at large, and for the creation of a military empire abroad.
17) The use of patriotism to prevent any questioning of military actions, and the introduction of military techniques on domestic soil, including the creation of a surveillance state.
18) The attack on science and rationality, in pursuit of religious and political agendas.
19) The development of a celebrity culture as a means of distracting the people from real social problems.
20) The hijacking of religion to advance the interests of the powerful and wealthy, including use of the "prosperity gospel" to promote mercantile capitalism, and social markers such as abortion and gay marriage to obtain votes from religious sects.

Predatory Health Care, Once Again

A thought-provoking piece in the LA Times reminds us just how tenuous our health here in the US is: in brief, the reporter, a fired health care correspondent, decides to go it alone regarding health insurance, and finds many justifications (rationalizations) to do without, chiefly, that, should he contract a major illness/condition, the insurance company would do everything in its considerable power to deny him the coverage he paid for. A good deal of this article consists of the writer rationalizing his gambling instinct by boasting about his good health, which seems at the least, rash. This, readers, is what we've sunk to, today, in the Predatory Empire we find ourselves in. Here's the article, reprinted in its entirety:

Choosing to not have medical insurance

He covered the healthcare industry for much of his career and realizes the importance of a safety net. But after weighing the risks and benefits, he is going it alone.

By J. Duncan Moore Jr.

September 21, 2009

It never occurred to me that I would count myself among America's 47 million uninsured when I passed my 53rd birthday earlier this year. I'm the last person I would have imagined living without a safety net between me and the medical risks of early middle age.

Insurance against the unforeseeable, after all, is what makes middle-class existence possible. Yet, as the country debates the merits of reforming the rules around insurance markets, it's worth pondering what value health insurance really adds for individuals under the current system.

I have no insurance partly by accident and partly by intent. I'm not freaking out, though. Should I be? I'll tell you what I know. Then you decide.

A little more than two years ago, I quit my job. It was, on the face of it, a good job, with a high salary, professional prestige and a luxury health-insurance policy. But I was miserable -- so unhappy, in fact, that I started to worry about myself.

I had stopped sleeping through the night. After one particularly grueling 14-hour day, a blood vessel in my nose burst and I had to lie on the floor in the lobby of an office tower while security guards debated calling an ambulance. Without being aware of it, I lost 10 pounds over five months.

What was this fearsome job? Writing about health insurance for a news organization. I interviewed top executives at the nation's mega-managed-care companies. I attended investor conferences, covered earnings reports, wrote about clinical trials, explained Medicare benefits. I learned to love the delectable insurance lingo -- medical-loss ratios, adverse selection, moral hazard, the underwriting cycle -- that make normal people feel as if they're stirring concrete with their eyelashes.

But the deadline stress was killing me, and I decided not to die before my time. I signed up for the 18-month COBRA extension and began paying $447.12 a month out of my savings for health insurance. I assumed I would find a job, with new insurance coverage, soon enough. I didn't anticipate the economic crisis or the collapse of the journalism profession.

When the COBRA coverage was about to expire and I still didn't have a job, I considered the insurance problem from two perspectives: my health status and history -- and what insurance actually buys. The answer I came up with surprised me.

Healthy lifestyle

I've always been a naturally healthy person. I eat right and get plenty of sleep. All my life I've avoided unhealthy behaviors like crack cocaine and yoga. My parents are in their 80s and in great shape. There's no cancer or heart disease in the family history. My Scottish grandparents lived to be 87 and 91.

Like a lot of guys who were not especially athletic in their youth, when I hit my 40s I decided to become a stud. I taught myself to swim and started lifting weights. I sold my car 10 years ago and started taking public transit. In warm weather, I ride my bike everyplace I need to go. I've never been overweight. I'm fit, trim, well-proportioned. My body mass index hovers around 24.7. (At 25, you are borderline "overweight," but people with strong bones and lots of muscle mass like me tend to tilt toward overweight in that metric.)

If I were going to develop a chronic disease, I'd have it by now. My blood glucose tends toward the low end, so I'm not going to become diabetic. I have some lower back pain and stiffness from a herniated disk 15 years ago, but I manage it with strengthening exercises and stretches. Knee or joint surgery? I don't like to run. Cancer? I never smoked. I had a colonoscopy at 51 and saw for myself on the video monitor that I'm clean as a whistle down there. I did, however, have early signs of a precancerous condition a few years ago.

I had some tests, and doctors believe it won't turn into anything serious. We are watching the situation. (According to insurance brokers I consulted, however, that condition could be enough to exclude me from qualifying for an individual policy.)

As to heart and vascular risk,I have always had low blood pressure and pretty good, though not ideal, cholesterol. I got my last blood work-up numbers from my doctor and plugged them into the heart attack risk calculator on the website of the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. My risk score is 5%. Five of 100 people with this level of risk will have a heart attack in the next 10 years. That sounds acceptable.

So what does a guy like me need with health insurance? I'm the best risk in town, I thought to myself. Why shouldn't I self-insure? In other words, why couldn't I accept full responsibility for my own health expenses?

That's what big companies do. They hire a health insurer to "rent" a network of doctors and hospitals; they also pay the bills for their employees and encourage healthy habits. But the actual medical risk is held by the employers themselves. Companies save a lot of money that way. Risk management is where insurance companies make their big profits.

And so I decided: Why shouldn't I create my own network and find providers who would give me a discount for paying cash? I know how to be a savvy medical consumer. Twelve years ago, I needed a gum graft, and was told my insurance wouldn't cover it. I called oral surgeons until I found one willing to give me a firm price for the procedure. Most doctors don't like to cite a price in advance, but as the U.S. health system moves toward asking patients to pay a greater share of the bill, doctors are going to have to become more responsive to their patients' cost sensitivities.

About a year ago, when I was looking at the end of my COBRA policy in a few months, I talked to the business manager at my regular physician's office about my options. He said the office offers a standard discount to people without insurance, ranging from 20% to 40%, depending on the service or procedures performed. Diagnostic tests and X-rays are another matter, he said. He advised me to check in advance what sorts of discounts might be available. For hospitalizations, major medical centers in Chicago, where I live, are giving pre-arranged discounts, ranging from 15% to 58%, to patients who don't have insurance.

A month ago, I went to the doctor for a checkup. My "intermediate" visit, billed at $100, was discounted to $65, and some routine cholesterol tests, billed at $195, cost me $110. I wrote two checks on the spot. There was no paperwork, no correspondence, no phone calls, no arguing about deductibles or co-pays, for me or for the doctor's office. And the doctor got his money immediately.

The truth is, I still have money in the bank and can afford to pay most bills myself. A disaster costing more than $50,000 would be a problem, but short of that, I could handle it.

A few years ago I worked for a large consulting firm. The head of the healthcare practice used to argue that the U.S. will get a grip on its exploding healthcare costs only if consumers have "more skin in the game," as he put it. Regular people have to face the real costs of their medical options, instead of having them hidden behind employer-sponsored insurance or Medicare, and choose more wisely. I'm prepared to pay those costs, within reason, and consume medical care more sparingly.

Most health insurance payments to providers are for routine services that, strictly speaking, are not insurable events. The real purpose of insurance is to protect you against sudden, unexpected, unaffordable events, for instance, a heart attack or cancer diagnosis. Yet that's not how most of us use our health insurance these days. We use it to pay regular, predictable expenses such as office visits, diagnostic tests, dental cleanings and eye exams.

Giving up conventional insurance that covers all these routine expenses, however, still leaves people exposed to the risk of unanticipated catastrophe, the expense of which can sometimes force people into bankruptcy.

For me, the main medical risk is being hit by a bus or cab, or falling off my bike. But even if I bought a policy, there are no guarantees that the insurance company would pay, that it wouldn't try to weasel out of the obligation.

Avoiding payment

That brings me to the single most terrifying aspect of health insurance in America today: rescissions. This newspaper has published a drumbeat of horror stories -- notably in a 2006 article and many since -- about Californians who had purchased health insurance and paid premiums in good faith, only to find their policies revoked once they made expensive claims for major illnesses, such as cancer, or procedures, such as heart surgeries. This portrait of the health insurance industry has been horrific.

Around the same time the articles began, I learned that my music teacher had been hospitalized for two weeks in a coma that he had barely survived. Like many creative types, he was self-employed, with an individual policy. His insurer reneged on the bill, asserting that the coma was the result of a preexisting condition. The hospital is now pursuing my teacher for a six-figure medical bill. It could cost him his house. It's one thing when it happens to anonymous people a thousand miles away, another when it happens to somebody you know.

On July 21, the Chicago Tribune splashed across the front page the story of a man who got preauthorization for an expensive back operation. Yet after the $148,000 procedure was done, UnitedHealthcare, his employer's insurer, refused to pay -- even though it had already authorized the surgery. After the patient wrote to the Tribune's "What's Your Problem" columnist, and after the newspaper made inquiries with UnitedHealthcare, the decision was reversed and the insurer paid the bill.

The industry's continued use of rescissions to evade bills that companies don't wish to honor eviscerates the value of health insurance. To a person like me, who is on the margin, rescissions are the deciding factor between purchasing and not purchasing insurance.

As I indicated earlier, I believe in insurance. Honestly, it is foolhardy for a middle-class person to go without it. Yet as long as the insurers can use medical underwriting to exclude poor risks and redline preexisting conditions -- sometimes retroactively -- insurance isn't worth what we're being asked to pay.

I'm looking forward to the day when all of us will qualify for good medical insurance at reasonable prices, with a firm regulatory hand behind it. If we all have to pay into the system in order to make health reform work, so be it. I'll gladly pay if I'm assured of getting the services I contracted for.

In October, I'll hit 12 months without insurance, and I will have saved about $6,000 that otherwise would have padded the profits of the insurance companies.

Eventually, I will have some serious medical expenses, and I'll use these savings to pay them. Between now and then, I'm going to wear my bike helmet and stay off the rollerblades.

Moore is a freelance writer in Chicago and the co-founder of the Assn. of Health Care Journalists.

Here's One More...

If you have any curiosity at all about the government's priorities and its methods, here's an excellent piece, quoted in full, on the latest bank bailout plan. One doesn't have to be an expert in finance or economics to recognize that rotten egg smell emanating from this kind of sleight-of-hand Rube Goldberg device called the PPIP. At any rate, here's the change we didn't vote for...



Tragedy is turning into farce as the real intent of the bank rescue plan becomes apparent. Geithner and the banksters have adopted the playbook of a true fraud-and-deceit all-star: Enron.

No matter how cynical you get, it’s impossible to keep up.

- Lily Tomlin

Somewhere along the continuum, there is a point at which tragedy turns into farce. I’m starting to think we may have passed that point with this whole TARP/TALF fiasco.

From a comedy perspective, Turbo Timmy and his madcap schemes are the gift that keeps on giving. We’re scaling the heights of utter absurdity now... it’s like a Kurt Vonnegut novel come to life.

Just take this recent snippet from The Wall Street Journal, for instance:

The Treasury Department, facing criticism over its bank-rescue program, said it may allow a broader group of private investors to purchase toxic securities...

Last month, the Treasury said it would select fund managers based on certain criteria, including an ability to raise private capital and a minimum of $10 billion of eligible assets under management.

On Monday, the Treasury said a proposal won't necessarily be disqualified if firms don't meet all the criteria. The Treasury added that it is particularly interested in program participation by small, minority- or woman-owned businesses.

Hmm. Okay, so let me get this straight. First they start out with an eligibility hurdle so ridiculous, it sounds like a leftover Dr. Evil catchphrase from the Austin Powers movie. “You must have ten BILLION dollars...”

Then it hits them that gosh, ya know, that might have been a dumb idea.

So in a stroke of belated genius, they decide to 1) disregard their own proposal criteria – not change it, but just ignore it, mind you – and 2) turn the bank rescue program into some kind of warm and fuzzy feel-good “help the little guy” exercise, like an SBA loan program writ large.

Read the following in John Lovitz “liar” voice: We want to take all your money and give it to the banksters. No, wait. That sounds bad. We want to help the, ah, the billionaires. The poor, poor billionaires. No, wait – crap. That’s bad too. Here it is: We want to help minorities. Minorities and women. Yeah! Yeah, that’s the ticket...

An American Classic

The REALLY funny news, though, is that the PPIP (as it has been so christened) rescue plan now seems to be taking a page from one of the all-time greats of fraud and deceit.

I have to take this opportunity to share one of my favorite nuggets, a little story that was making its way around trading desks circa 2002:

Once there was a country bumpkin named Kenny – Kenny boy to his friends – and Kenny boy found himself in need of some money. Trouble was, he didn’t have a job and didn’t own a thing except a recently deceased pet goat. But Kenny boy was smart, and it didn’t take long for him to hatch a plan. Kenny boy called up all the farmers in the county and arranged a raffle for a blue-ribbon Holstein milking cow. On the day of the raffle, 100 farmers showed up and paid $50 per ticket, giving Kenny boy $5,000 to put in his pocket. Kenny boy drew the winning ticket and everybody went home. The next day, the raffle winner came by Kenny boy’s place to collect his prize. Kenny trotted out his expired pet. The farmer scratched his head and said “Son, that’s not a prize milking cow. That’s a dead goat.” So Kenny boy gave the farmer his fifty dollars back.

And as you might have guessed, Kenny boy’s last name was Lay and he grew up to found Enron.

Ah, Enron. Remember those guys? The giant tilted “E,” the ridiculous hubris, the bizarre commercials with the computerized “Why” voice... Classic stuff.

Enron worked hard to rip off rubes like the public officials of the state of California, who didn’t realize that deregulating electricity markets without knowing how the game was played was the rough equivalent of dumping a bucket of chum into a shark tank.

Enron also did all kinds of neat innovative things with “side pockets” and “special investment vehicles” and “off-balance-sheet partnerships,” even going so far as to use really cool Star-Wars-themed names like “Death Star” and “Chewco.”

In retrospect, who could have known that even as Enron was going down the tubes, our current crop of banksters were busy taking notes?

Move Over Darth Vader

I bring up Enron in light of new revelations that propel this whole rescue plan debacle to new heights of criminality and avarice.. Feast your eyes on this tidbit from a recent Financial Times piece, “Bail-out banks eye toxic asset buys”:

US banks that have received government aid, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase, are considering buying toxic assets to be sold by rivals [emphasis mine] under the Treasury’s $1,000bn (£680bn) plan to revive the financial system.

Spencer Bachus, the top Republican on the House financial services committee, vowed after being told of the plans by the FT to introduce legislation to stop financial institutions ”gaming the system to reap taxpayer-subsidised windfalls.”

Mr. Bachus added it would mark ”a new level of absurdity” if financial institutions were ”colluding to swap assets at inflated prices using taxpayers’ dollars.”

“Death Star” my foot... If this true, it makes the Enron chicanery of days past look positively Ewok-scaled in comparison.

And most likely it is true... a few weeks prior to the FT exclusive, the New York Post reported that Citigroup and Bank of America had already begun using TARP funds – billions given to them by the government that they were supposed to use to make loans – to instead “aggressively scoop up” more of the very toxic assets that blew them up in the first place.

The very idea that these banks could be buying up each other’s garbage – that they are even considering it – well, it just hurts my head, it’s so mind boggling. To understand why, let’s walk through a quick analogy.

Lawn Mowers and Government Loans

Imagine, for a moment, that I have a beat-up old mini-fridge in the back of my garage. It has a coolant leak, it’s a little moldy, and it smells like stale beer, but I’m pretty sure it still works.

Meanwhile, you happen to be in possession of a rusty old lawn mower. The blade is caked beyond recognition with fossilized grass clippings, the gunk that passes for oil has never been changed, and the thing takes twenty or thirty pulls to start... but you, too, are fairly certain your lawn mower “works.”

Now imagine that you and I make a deal. I will sell you my disgusting mini-fridge for the princely sum of a hundred thousand dollars. You, in turn, will sell me your ancient lawn mower for a hundred thousand dollars. I write a six-figure check out to you, and you write a six-figure check out to me.

Nothing’s really happened, right? All we’ve done is swap two crap assets, neither one worth fifteen bucks in the real world, and furthermore swapped an identical large chunk of change ($100,000) between our respective bank accounts.

But hold on! Did I mention that we both employ highly creative accountants?

Here’s the good news about our little swap. Thanks to our exchange, I can record a massive profit on my books... to the tune of $99,900, or whatever sum is left over above and beyond the book-entry carrying cost for my fridge. And you can do the same with your lawn mower.

In the real world, the only thing that happened is junk got swapped with junk. In fantasy-land accounting world, however, you and I both just conjured up fantastic profits out of thin air.

And it gets even better... did I mention that the government has generously granted me a non-recourse loan in order to provide the funds with which to buy your $100,000 lawn mower?

I didn’t actually have to move $100K out of my bank account and into yours, because $93,000 of it was covered by government loan. The same privilege was extended to you, of course.

And of course the proceeds of my loan were sent to you as cash... and the proceeds of YOUR loan were sent to ME as cash... which means the wonderful taxpayer ponied up TWICE – to the tune of $186,000 – to fund our little phantom transaction with real dollars.

See how great this is? We swap crap assets worth zilch, pretending they are actually worth $100,000... we record a massive profit on our books... and we collect real profit in the form of a $93,000 handout to both of us (the non-recourse loan).

Of course, someone will eventually scratch their head (just like Kenny boy’s farmer) and say, “Hey. We don’t have anything worth $100,000 here. We’ve got a disgusting mini-fridge and a rusty lawn mower.”

But by the time that happens, you and I will be in clover... and by definition we never had to pay back the loans anyway! Ain’t giant handouts grand?

To understand what the banks plan to do under the guise of the PPIP “rescue plan” by way of swapping toxic assets with each other, simply replace “mini-fridge” and “lawn mower” in the above example with “toxic asset A” and “toxic asset B.”

Then up the scale from $100,000 to hundreds of billions – all the way up to a cool trillion maybe – and there you go.

This is the fabulous Enron-style solution Turbo Timmy at the Treasury and Sheila Bair at the FDIC have laid out for us: “Death Star” and “Chewco” on steroids. They want to Enronize the whole damn financial system in an effort to save their connected masters (and grateful future employers) on Wall Street.

Some Explanations...

Continuing Chaos' efforts to inform readers of just exactly what is going on, as the Empire of Sorrows struggles to avoid reaping what it has sown for the last thirty years or so, PBS personality Bill Moyers conversation with former financial fraud regulator William Black is highly recommended. As with the subject of Peak Oil, what is significant here is the gap between what should be done and what is being done, which is vast. Chaos notes, once again, that pretty much all one needs to do to understand what's happening is to peruse The Automatic Earth on a daily basis. For another most informative take, involving a little history between the current "players" in the government financial area and a whistleblower, check out this most interesting article in The Asia Times.

Think It's Tough All Over? Think Again...

The quote of the day/week/month/year, or whatever, comes to us from the sane and sober nation of Sweden, whose industry minister, who goes by the most wonderful name of Maud Olofsson, in response to the giant bankrupt automaker GM's threat to shut down its Swedish subsidiary, Saab, unless the Swedes fork over massive government aid, as the so-called leaders (who, needless to say, are not worthy of the name) of the Empire of Sorrows have given, without question or mutter of protest (ok, they muttered, but they did it anyway). Here it is:

"When I see that Saab has been running at a loss for so many years it would be irresponsible for me to stand here and say, sure, we are going to use the taxpayers' money in this way. I don't think I was elected to do that." (emphasis Chaos')

A most refreshing take on the let's-throw-money-we-don't-have-at-companies-who-are-insolvent-and-have-no-way-of-returning-to-profitability situation, and Chaos will direct your attention to the fact that, once again, national and regional differences matter. They matter a great deal, and probably more so in times of global economic collapse. The entire idea that elected government officials are charged with acting in the public interest has gradually faded away in the Empire, so that this quote hits one with the force of a firehose.

2009: Life As You Know It, Is Over

Well, two days late, and many dollars short, here are Chaos' predictions for 2009. Let us hasten to add that these should not be surprising, to those who take the time to follow what's been happening in 2008, and 2007, and 2006, etc., because, of course, what's happening now has been building up for quite some time. Chaos is referring in this instance to the asset and credit bubble, which peaked sometime in the last year or so and is now in the process of a spectacular crash. And crash it will, most surely and certainly. Pay no attention to those in the MSM who attempt to "call the bottom," and forecast a "recovery" or some other version of business as usual in the latter half of the upcoming year. Ain't gonna happen, folks. The bubble has burst and 2009 will be marked by many many businesses of all kinds becoming insolvent, despite the best efforts by government and other elites to bail them out. Chaos' prediction here: the weakest go first. Those who were having trouble already in the bubble years are now revealed as naked as the tide is now out (this actually describes quite a large portion of the US public, as many of them live paycheck to paycheck, just one health issue away from bankruptcy), and these and others who have taken on debts that come due, are going to disappear, taking enormous numbers of jobs with them. Second will mark the gradual disappearance of many businesses involved in activities that are, shall we say, not vital to humans basic needs. By this we mean such establishments as restaurants, nail salons, gyms, jewelry stores, coffee shops, pet hospitals, recreational vehicle dealers and a seemingly endless variety of goods and services which have proliferated in the hothouse atmosphere of supercharged credit. The auto industry is a special case. Because of its deemed importance to the US economy, it will not be allowed to fail (this is not a prediction; it has already occurred a couple of days ago, but still...), but will limp along, swallowing ever more taxpayer dollars as it gradually winds down in the face of declining demand (there seems to be no possible way for the automakers collectively to sell anywhere near the vehicles they require to stay solvent). At any rate, the misery of lost jobs the loss of all these businesses will produce will be astounding to behold...yes, we are referencing the Great Depression here, and 2009 has the potential to be much worse. Unfortunately, the government's response to this has been ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst. By needlessly tossing money to failed businesses, insolvent banking and investment houses, and businesses which would have failed of their own incompetence and malinvestment, the Empire of Sorrows has sealed its own eventual fate, although this will not occur in 2009. Already bankrupt, the US will propose and implement more of the same (spending money it does not have). The reason for this is simple: the US public lacks the character to be told the truth, and like children, must be pandered to and flattered. Some have already pointed out the loss of legitimacy of a government which cannot provide basic necessities (i.e., food, clean water, air, health care, and the like) to a majority of its citizens, and this trend, already obvious, will become more evident in the year 2009. We'll see more individuals opting out of the system in various ways, whether by local action, or relocation to more favorable venues (Chaos' preferred choice). State and local governments will also be under major budgetary pressures, depending somewhat on the wisdom of their investments, but also from the lack of tax revenues--people without jobs and homes have trouble paying taxes, you see. Where this downward spiral will end is not knowable, but bet on it not reaching bottom in 2009. The aversion to short term pain will cause a much longer and more miserable crash than is necessary. More broadly, the use of credit to finance well, just about anything, is pretty much over. The US public is going to have to relearn all it thought it knew about buying stuff, whether houses, vehicles, or cheap Chinese junk. Thrift is in, and will become more so. Growing one's own food is making a comeback, and fixing things rather than replacing them will be "hot." Already luxury goods are becoming passe, and conspicuous consumption will fall away to a large extent. Once again, these changes in attitudes will not come voluntarily, or easily, being purchased with the misery of lost jobs, foreclosed houses, and business failures. Along with these, should come the death of the optimistic idea that the killer apes of this planet will voluntarily restrain their worst impulses and smoothly and painlessly adjust to a world of declining resources. If you must feel sad about events, this is the one to respond to. Chaos wishes you well in this most fascinating year of 2009. Namaste!

The Price of Health Care: Going On Vacation

Long ago, Chaos wrote on the growing prevalence of medical tourism, in which Americans, who lack health insurance or funds to pay for wildly expensive medical procedures, have begun traveling abroad to find the care they needed at prices they can afford (read: 1/10th of US prices). Chaos has not read much about it in the interim, but it is still alive and well...here's an example, wherein South Korea is getting in on some of the action. (India, Thailand, and South Africa are primary participants). Notable is the projection that 6 million people may be doing this by 2010. Ponder for a moment, readers, about the spectacle of a country which sends its residents abroad for medical necessities. Declining empire, indeed.

A Ridiculously Good Explanation of the "Bailout"

From one of the best writers on the planet, channeling the spirit of Hunter S. Thompson, but with populist overtones and an unerring eye for the follies of the Empire in decline, our friend Joe Bageant just outdoes himself in this post. If you've been paying attention to current events, you won't read this account in your local fishwrap, or the MSM, or anywhere else. The man set up shop in Belize; he has serious cred as well as the gift of expression. Read it at your peril...

If You Think Elections Matter...

This piece, from an "unnamed political consultant" quoted on our friend Joe Bageant's site, encapsulates better than anything Chaos has read recently (or in memory, for that matter) why elections in the Empire have ceased to signify anything but the most superficial choices between like-minded elites. For full effect, it must be quoted in its entirety:

"Over the last many weeks we have all been subjected to endless news stories about Senator Obama's campaign "Move to the Center". Leaving aside the political illiteracy which underlines this phrase, the use of it reveals important clues about the rhetoric of electoral campaigns, whom they target and what they are trying to communicate.

Put simply, what "Moving to the Center," means is: moving towards power and money.

"Moving to the Center" is not a move to where the center of public opinion is, but it is a move to the center of where elite consensus is. Once the boundaries of that elite consensus are understood, then we can comprehend the limits of our public choices and more importantly what will be allowed within the confines of our electoral system.

It is important to understand that elite consensus itself is not static and can shift in moderate degrees, but it has definitive boundaries of which you can not cross and still be a viable player within the electoral system. These boundaries exist to the left and right within that consensus, but the institutional bias of the system is much harsher towards any moves to the left. This is because in its essence elite opinion is anti-populist and primarily concerned with protecting the fundamentals of the established economic order.

Every national campaign is in fact a dual conversation, one targeting voters while the other is directed towards the political, media, and economic elites. The purpose of the message targeting the first group is to win votes. The messages to the latter group is designed to form elite consensus, first for it not to correlate against you and secondly to have it help you win and eventually govern.

Surviving the contradictions of these dual dialogues is the primary element that makes a successful national campaign.

Let's examine the primary public policy issues and areas of discussion, and examine what the boundaries of elite opinion are on how they contradict or mirror public opinion.

Economics Trade and Globalization

The elite consensus on these issues is solidly to the right of public opinion. This is especially the case on the issues of trade and globalization. Support for supposed free markets, free trade and globalization are almost universal and unquestioned within elite circles.

This is the establishment issue, all else can be argued and debated but to question the system of privatized profit and socialized cost is the fastest road to political oblivion for any candidate for national office.

Within the confines of elite consensus no cost is ever too exorbitant in "reassuring" Wall Street and "calming the financial markets". No better example of this than the prompt and generous response of the Federal Reserve and the Congress to the recent financial crisis in the housing markets. With hardly any opposition the United States Government nationalized the losses which resulted from the bursting of the housing bubble. There where no calls of prosecution, lectures on personal responsibility, fears of creeping socialism or demands for conditional structural adjustments from bankers and investment houses. The scandal in fact is not the crime in this case, which is to be expected, but in the silence of the public and the political class to this public thievery.

It is precisely because of the iron grip of this consensus, that even if we have a new Democratic President and an enhanced Democratic majorities in the Congress, there will be no legislation signed into law to make it easier to organize workers, provide universal health care or deal with our ever widening class and income divide in the United States.

Social Issues

Elite consensus on the issues of race, sex and role of faith in public life are to the left of public opinion, the only area in which this is the case. Elite opinion is overwhelmingly secular, pro-choice, supportive of gay rights and hostile to overt displays of racism.

Tolerance and liberalism on this front is a very useful tool, since it buys political space to be more conservative on the more important money issues. It also enjoys the advantage of making the right enemies, after all who wants to be on Pat Robertson's side during weekend dinner parties at the Hamptons.

When social conservative complain about the "Liberal Media" they are not wrong, but only in regard to their issues. The contempt of the American elite for the religious right is quite real. What social conservatives misunderstand is that the hostility against them is not because the threat their ideas represent but only a display of the traditional contempt that the merciless strong have for people they consider to be the feeble minded weak.

The significance of the religious right in our politics is only in the wonderful diversions their issues create. Issues that feed a war between urban educated middle classes against the more numerous, the ever more frustrated lower income fundamentalists on issues that are unsolvable in nature.

Foreign Policy

Elite consensus on this issue is center to right, discussion are allowed on the mechanics of running the empire and the management of the military industrial complex, but never regarding the reality of its existence, its necessity or usefulness to most Americans.

Within this narrow context there are always code words and phrases used to differentiate one candidate from another. Words and phrases like "all options are on the table", "realism", "toughness" and "experience" are simply a sliding scale on the willingness to kill in order to defend the interests of our ownership and governing class. This is an especially critical issue for Senator Obama, considering that most victims of our killing are non-whites. His vulnerability to the charges of dual loyalty on this issue, almost certainly means no end to wars, expansions of foreign military bases and occupations of third world countries under his watch.

The made up charges of having a radical minister, or being a Muslim, a Palestinian sympathizer or being married to a black nationalist was meant to limit his room to maneuver on these issues even if there was never any indication he was ever serious about moving in a bold progressive direction.

With his "weakness" defined as his associations with progressive movements, ideas or individuals, he can do nothing but run to the other direction for the next four years if he ascends to the office of President. This is the genius of McCarthyism at work, fifty years after its namesake split hell wide open.

The politics of Personal Responsibility

Personal responsibility is a legitimate issue when discussed in the context of family and personal lives. When dragged into the political arena it is an issue that is entirely an elite construct. The actual positions of the elite are not particularly relevant. What is important is that the issues get discussed not what results from that discussion. The relevance of this issue is not in what it illuminates but in what it hides.

The recent enthusiastic embrace of Senator Obama of the call for "responsibility" from inner city black fathers is a prime example of this issue. What he is really saying is, "I will never blame the owners of the country for the social problems caused by their economic policies." Senator Obama knows better than anyone that you can eliminate most of the problems of inner city fathers in a generation with a decent educational system and living wage jobs.

But all systems of power need a convincing and unlikable enemy, which can bury the contradictions of the system. In our case incoherent, undereducated black urban males fit the bill perfectly. They are being attacked not because they are a threat to the power structure, but precisely because they are not.

What voters are expected to believe is that after a 30-year class war against the bottom 90% of income earners, the source of their troubles are black rappers and inner city fathers and not criminality on Wall Street or a corrupt political system. The road to the White House over the past 30 years has been paved by pretending to believe the absurdity that the individuals who pull the levers of power over people's lives are named Willie Horton, Sister Souljah and Ludicrous, and not Robert Rubin, Phil Gramm and Hank Paulson.

If as a society we are prepared to believe this, then we have lost the stuff that makes free men."

Chaos has nothing to add here...

Current State of The American Dream

Try this most amazingly comprehensive (and long too...) article on the demise of the American Dream. (It isn't a coincidence that it originates from one of the Brit newspapers...the tiny percentage of readers in the Empire can't hold their attention for such an extensive treatment). For those who haven't been paying attention, things have been coming apart for quite some time for quite a few people who happen to, as they say, be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and their particular slice of the (delusional) American Dream has been sold off, bartered or given away, or some such. At any rate, an excellent treatment, from the despair of declining Detroit to the "tent cities" of the West Coast. The last line is evocative, and true: there is nobody home. Don't miss this one...

American Culture, Revisited

Here's quite a nice piece by one Lorna Salzman, reproduced in full, on the favorite subject of this blog (since it drives all other issues...), the American "character." Enjoy, faithful readers:

"Some people are giving a lot of thought to how to build a movement around global warming. This is a tough challenge but given American know-how, can-do, ingenuity, cojones, knee-jerk patriotic hubris, suspicion of foreigners, a staggeringly high 50% literacy rate, reliance on conspiracy theories, faith in one god or another, and unflagging belief in progress in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I am sure it can be done. This is a helluva country. Here's why.

1. A commitment to representative democracy conditioned only on the necessity of belonging to one of two parties, Republican or Democrat. Republicans have the upper hand given that their 24th pair of chromosomes codes for Greed. Democrats' 24th chromosome codes for Deceit. It's Win-Win for either of them.

2. An abiding love for gambling, monster theme parks, shopping in giant malls, riding in huge vans, and family values that use churches and TV sets to bring everyone together. These shared values give a remarkable cohesion to American society even in the face of ecological collapse. No one wants to be a nattering nabob of negativity as the world crumbles around us. Stiff upper lips are enough for the British but not for Americans, who need overstuffed credit cards to reassure themselves that they are the salvation of the world and if you don't like it you can go back where you came from.

3. A fervent belief in the right to cheap gas. After decades of paying under a dollar per gallon for gasoline -- 35 cents in the 1960s -- Americans are now getting really pissed off at the chutzpah of royal monarchs, royal leftist pains-in-the-ass and Royal Dutch Shell executives who think they have as much a right to make money as Americans do. What gives foreigners these privileges? Don't they know we can send in the troops anytime we want for any reason?

4. An indissoluble adhesion to religion in one form or another. It is undeniable that the existence of dissent, protest and freedom of expression causes discomfort to many Americans, sending them into the arms and shelter of various religious cults and institutions, who will, on their behalf, fight against these basic freedoms and rights so as to make them feel better. Generally speaking, they are cheaper than psychoanalysts depending on how much of your meagre salary you turn over to these delightful snake oil salesmen. (Nothing wrong with snake oil; lots of it, under different names, is sold in "Health food" stores to the conspiracy theorists on the left and right who think all doctors and medicine are poisoning them).

5. There is nothing like conspiracy theories, except maybe some stand-up comedians, to keep people amused and connected. We can thank the internet for making this political networking possible, since it ties up people who might be making serious mischief elsewhere.

6. An unprecedented web of multiculturalism, ranging from extreme Political Correctness which bans words like "beggars" and "midget," to Rambo Limbaughs, to posturing paleoliberals like Eric Alterman and The Nation, to New Age gurus like Deepak Chopra, to street-theater rabblerousers like Al Sharpton, not to mention the mammalian diversity in the halls of Congress, where the promise of equal opportunity is fulfilled in the election of liars, louts and lechers every two years. This country can be rightly proud of its tolerance for dissent, where blacks think all whites are racists and whites think all blacks are Arabs.

7. Only in America could the conundrum of disdain for government and politicians be so perfectly illustrated by the election-year digestion of the whole cloth of candidates' promises.

8. An adherence to the time-tested practice of misogyny, whether in the corporate glass ceiling, skewed pay scales, domestic violence, or the female slavery in Mormon religious brothels that condemns generations of girls and women to illiteracy, inequality and isolation. Let no one accuse Americans of forsaking the prejudices and practices of their pioneer ancestors.

9. A obeisant compliant media industry that, unlike its brethren in congress, is willing and eager to feed the demands, biases and fears of its readers and listeners. It cannot be accused of elitism or pandering to the select few; on the contrary, it faithfully brings, every hour of the day and night, the promise of prosperity and material success to tens of millions of people even as the country's political and economic leaders strive to deprive them of these things. Truly, it is a balm for troubled Americans who are tired of being bombarded with the bad news about global warming, epidemics, food shortages and the prospect of parking their RV in their backyard indefinitely.

Given these conditions, who should be leading our country? The only people qualified to lead our country fall into at least one of these categories: atheists/secularists; women; libertarians; homeless. Atheists and secularists are independent rational thinkers and resistant to cult thinking and behavior. Women are obviously the more compassionate, stable and social justice-oriented gender. Libertarians, though they have some peculiar ideas about guns, taxes and the environment, are highly tolerant of dissent and defenders of civil liberties. And the homeless need to replace the corporate lobbyists and executives and be allowed to pursue their own self interest: getting a roof over their heads and a hot meal. (Note: I have left out gays and lesbians because basically they are really no different from the rest of society).

Here is my proposed list for the top positions in Washington:

President: Dennis Kucinich. A little guy with a big brain and heart.

Vice president: Weird Al Yankovich. Because we need another VP named Al.

Secretary of State: Christopher Hitchens. A gutsy smartass atheist with no ax to grind, who is hated by the left and the religious community...testimony to his value.

Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare: Ayaan Hirsi Ali. A reward for her moral witness and courage in facing down islamist extremism and PC.

Secretary of Commerce: Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping.

Secretary for the Environment: James Gustave Speth. For being a non-leftist fingering capitalism as the root of the world's problems. (If he declines, I nominate Dave Foreman).

Secretary of Labor: Ralph Nader."

* * * * *

Lorna Salzman started her forty-year career as environmental activist saving wetlands on eastern Long Island and got her big boost and inspiration when Dave Brower hired her as regional representative of Friends of the Earth in New York. After serving over ten years with FOE, mostly fighting nuclear power and fending off the Army Corps of Engineers, she had brief stints at National Audubon Society's American Birds magazine, at Food & Water fighting food irradiation, and in the 1990s served three years as natural resource specialist at the NY City Dept.of Environmental Protection. In between she founded the NY Green Party, ran as a green for congress in 2002, and sought the party's presidential nomination in 2004.

Just One More Example...

Chaos came across this pair of astounding articles recently, from the nation's premier papers of record (NYTimes, WaPo), concerning the treatment of foreign travelers/illegal immigrants, which, to Chaos' eyes, pretty much settles things as far as remaining a resident of the Empire is concerned (ok, if you absolutely insist on playing this out...how they treat the vulnerable is a preview of how they will treat everybody, or at least, those who have no power...). Hats off the intrepid reporters for the Washington Post, who compiled an outstanding chronicle of how the Department of Homeland Security (or, if you will, Border Guards), when deporting those here without documentation, arbitrarily decides to use anti-psychotic drugs in massive doses to induce docility. The bookend to that article occurs in the New York Times, wherein we find that a completely innocent long distance romance is cut short when the lovely woman's intended is detained at the Empire's border for no other reason than he visits a little too often for the comfort of the agents. After massive intervention by political figures and embarrassing publicity, said gentleman is released back to his own country (a false allegation that the person requested asylum--from Italy!!--is the real topper), while his intended now makes plans to exit the Empire for good, and really, who could blame her? Readers, ask yourselves if you can read of these things and remain the good unconcious consumer (and resident) that the Empire demands.

What's Underneath: Noam Chomsky On The Air We Breathe

Interesting piece examining the hidden assumptions of those trapped within the Empire's "bubble" comes to us from the notorious "linguist and social critic" (translation: we're not sure what he is) Noam Chomsky. Organizing principle which helps make the terms of "debate" understandable to bewildered souls of other nations who marvel at the insularity and arrogance of Americans: we own the world. Another variation on a theme: trying to control the uncontrollable. Try it, you might like it, or it might disturb you for some reason.

Health Care Update

A perennial favorite on this blog is the subject of healthcare in the Empire, both because of its potential to bring citizens to financial and physical ruin, as well as its symbolic meaning of the gradual decline of the Imperial US. To this end, the current picture is remarkably unpretty....doctors are now encouraged by insurance companies to report patients omissions, i.e., to spy and tattle on their own patients, the better to report increased quarterly profits by the corporation. To their credit, the doctors are resistant to this violation of doctor/patient privelege, but Chaos must ask, is there really any privacy left, after all? No insurance is obtainable without a complete disrobing and naked display of one's medical conditons, past and present.

On a more abstract note comes this piece on a seemingly simple remedy for many hospital errors, which in turn lead to more sickness and death. Are you ready? It's....a checklist! That's right; some ICU specialist figured out a few years ago that this actually does work. The interesting part comes at the end, when we find out that no, the US is quite resistant to changing this complex system simply because it works (and it flies in the face of the ego-centric doctors' sense of infallibility...) and that some other countries are implementing it with significant results. A lengthy article, but worth the read, for symbolic reasons as well.

The Empire Declines

Here's a special issue of the Edge, dedicated to the declining US. First, a somewhat long and thoughtful article on the new world order (sorry), you know, the one that arose while the US was busy "projecting" American power by starting up and continuing wars throughout the globe, ignoring vital needs at home, becoming the most despised evil empire abroad, and just generally doing what empires do before they collapse. Kindly ignore the "prescriptions" at the end; they will not be undertaken in any event. Up next is the oft-cited Chalmers Johnson, author of the Blowback trilogy, and general chronicler of US military overreach, on how the vast sums spent on the US military will be the downfall of the Empire (and who could doubt it, really?). Do not fail to click on the embedded video interview link within the post; the man makes for a fascinating subject.

Wow! Another Reason To Leave...

Garrison America, the title of a recent study by two economists, finds that 25% of the labor force in the Empire is devoted to policing itself, through "guard labor," whether actual security guards or imposing "work discipline" at factories, corporations or elsewhere (how's that for an Orwellian phrase?). This 25%, of course, is unique among other Western nations, but that's pretty much true about most every alarming statistic you can name these days, isn't it? Look for a national identity card to be instituted relatively soon (the immigration debacle would be the impetus for this), and the steady erosion of privacy of any sort to continue. Not to be outdone, however, is this article which purports to show one how to "profit" from this trend. Needless to say, Chaos was awakened from recent slumber by this pair of snapshots into the American mind....happy holidays, readers. Look for a perhaps more regular posting schedule in the coming month...

Conspiracy Theorists, Put On Your Tinfoil Hats

Yes, it's another edition of Scary Stuff About The Government...bet you didn't know that the US government claims authority to confiscate gold, silver, and pretty much anything else it deems necessary to enable wars with any nation, at all, under any circumstances. Here's a letter from an actual US Treasury official to prove it. Secondly, one should be conversant with "Operation Vigilant Shield," the government plan to use the military domestically in case of a "national emergency," terrorist-induced, natural disaster, trumped-up reason, whatever. Unprecedented in scope, absolutely frightening in its potential. Also note that an "exercise" in the quoted plan is scheduled for this month. Just a few chilling thoughts to accompany the change in season....

US Comptroller Compares Empire to Rome

No, you just can't make this up...David Walker, US Comptroller General, likens the nation to the Roman Empire (and we all know what happened there, don't we? readers of The Bibliography will actually know why as well...). As far as Chaos knows, this is sorta, well, unprecedented in the history of the nation. Someone oughta pay attention to that, or maybe not. Chaos has seen "wakeup calls" go out with increasing regularity over the past couple of years or so, and not one of them has produced any more than that vile Internet acronym, BAU (business as usual), so it might be unrealistic to assume anything more than that.

Why Is The US So Backward?

Here is a nice discussion on why the Empire has no coherent energy policy, especially when compared to most other Western nations. (Hint: the citizenry is stupid, politics are corrupt and favor existing big players, and the nation is just too big and unwieldy to accomplish anything like a united response). Not hopeful for those who plan to live out their years as residents of this slowly collapsing Empire...