The Internet is filled with people from both sides of the aisle threatening riots if the other side wins. I fear that may not be just talk from a pissed populace. Both the left and right are mad as hell and each blames the other for the issues at hand. The worst part is this is exactly what the 1% want. We shouldn't be pissed at each other but the fat cats stealing all of our money and telling us it is all our own fault. Unfortunately, the dumber members of society can't see the forest for the trees on the matter and a few are actually sympathizers, betting against their own survival in true anti-Darwinian fashion. As most of these morons don't believe in evolution anyway, not surprise there. It is why I ask people to start standing up to the religious, economic fascists who have zero understanding how the real world works and to demand things change or else. We are running out of time and if the Tea Party people who still can think for themselves (and I know they are out there) can join with the OWS movement and actually get something accomplished that doesn't require a drum circle, a hat covered in tea bags. misspelled signs or a boatload of weed, we could have a new direction for the country. And it better happen fast because all signs point to abject disaster on the near horizon.
The stock market is keeping the illusion that it is better than it is due to high frequency trades that are ballooning the market back into dangerous territory. As I have reported in the past, we have not done one thing to protect the markets from the excesses of the 2008 crash and as we all know from the adage: "those that fail to remember history are doomed to repeat it." And repeat it we will but not until after the election I expect.
The week of October 8-12 saw investors pull $10.6 billion out of the stock market which was the largest outflow of the year , which has been heavy for some time. George Soros and John Paulson have all eliminated most of their stocks and all of their banking ones. This is telling.
Global demand is slowing as the EU, Japan and China are showing signs of contraction. The EU is in a near Depression and several states like Spain and Greece are already there. The US is trying to print our way out of trouble like in the past but there is simply not enough money in the world to protect us at this point. The last time we saw such a collective, global collapse was during the Great Depression. Another is almost certainly on the way. Here is the chart for a massive decrease in exports world wide from Fed Ex.
If people are buying less, and this chart shows everyone is, then unemployment will soon rise, stocks will fall and corporate profits plummet. We got through 2008 because places like China and Europe weren't as affected. The reverse is true now and I see little way to stem the flow at this point. By the way, because of the chart you see above, Fed Ex is planning on massive amounts of layoffs after the holiday season.
All of this won't happen at once. Things will gradually go further and further south until it reaches a tipping point and then, and only then, will things start to freefall. Call it a slow motion fifty car pileup. We have only seen the first few cars get hit, but there are a lot more coming and a few are tanker trucks carrying lots of cyanide.
How bad is it? Greece and Spain now have unemployment rates in the mid-twenties and have been that way for some time. If you are under 25 in either country, the rate jumps into the fifties. Greece is still widely believed to be leaving the Euro and with it the stability of most economies on Earth. Germany is widely reviled in Greece with a recent visit by Merkel marred by parades of people dressed like Nazis. The government debt to GDP ratio in Italy is expected to hit 126% this year. In Greece, it is expected to hit 198%. In Japan, it is expected to hit 237%. Spain will be at 363%. These are unsustainable numbers.
And what about that stimulus from QE infinity? Banks are reporting record profits. That's the only good news I could find. Loans are not any easier to get. Credit cards aren't lowering their loan shark rates. Jobs are being created that pay more than minimum wage. Inflation is rising. In other words the rich got richer and the rest of us got screwed. Again.
And what is the world doing to stop any of this? Well The EU became the latest recipient to get the Nobel Peace Prize which is almost as bad as Yassir Arafat winning it some years back. At least he was a human so the whole corporations as people has come full circle now. What's next, Universal Studios winning an Oscar for best Actor? Coca Cola for President? Where does this nonsense end?
Plus, how does an economic forum win when it has been crushing dissent in places like Greece and Spain? Normally the Nobel Peace Prize doesn't have footage of the recipient mowing down people in the street with riot police and water cannons.
This award was been ridiculed and with good reason. Nowhere in Nobel Prize by laws does it say the award can be given to any non-human entity but states the word PERSON over and over. But as the Supreme Court ruled, corporations are people, but only in certain circumstances and never when the law is involved. It's like telling a psychopath do whatever you want and the rules will not apply. No wonder the American people are getting screwed on a regular basis. Mind you, the prizes have been awarded to collectives before like the UN Panel on Climate Change but even that had a group of people responsible for trying to fix the planet and not a group of rich fuckwads doing the exact opposite. This was a travesty of an award and further proof we are sliding into the deep end of the pool.
None of this will be touched upon by either candidate tomorrow in which we can expect to see a much better performance by the President which will either seal Romney's fate or sink his own. A lot rides on it as a Romney win all but guarantees a quick death for a lot of us, while Obama probably won't fare much better but with him at least, however slim, is a chance for redemption.
Supposedly, the moderator has been asked by the campaigns to not allow follow questions as, in the last debate, Ryan got his butt handed to him that way. I hope Candy Crowley ignores that memo as if I see another Jim Lehere-like moment, rioting against the candidates will have to wait as we burn CNN to the ground. I want the candidates pressed on issues when they dodge them. Otherwise go to the local shelter, grab any dog there and have him moderate the last debate because if all you want to someone to follow you wherever you meander off to, don't ask a reporter to moderate the debate at all.
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