American Reality Check

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I think still the unemployment rises and government have no control on that.And the rate published is less than the original.And the job offered to general public have a low payout.What you think how can we control over that rate and also on debts?

... the government doesn't have control over the unemployment of course, if they ever had "control"over it, why there would be ANY? The sorry truth is, they don't have control over shit, they only pretend they have, and most of the public has been conditioned to believe that nonsense.

Most probably, and I have seen the numbers dissected, the recent spike in employment, is the effect of companies SHEDDING full time jobs,( to escape Obama Care), and having to employ more part timers in their place. In the BLS eyes, a job is a job is a job, so they count that DECREASE in full time jobs, as an overall INCREASE of jobs. Idiotic, but hey.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
 
The economy is doing fine, nothing to see here:

Caterpillar (CAT) Feb. 3-months rolling machine retail sales down 13%
http://ransquawk.com/headlines/cate...lling-machine-retail-sales-down-13-20-03-2013

FedEx (FDX) Q3 adjusted EPS USD 1.23 vs. Exp. USD 1.38; cuts year forecast

- Q3 revenue USD 11.0bln vs. Exp. USD 10.8bln.
- Sees Yr adj. EPS USD 6.00-6.20, saw USD 6.20-6.60 vs. Exp. USD 6.34.
Reaction details:

- FedEx trade lower 1.5% pre-market.
- Deutsche Post (DPW GY) shares immediately moved 1.42% lower from EUR 18.58 to EUR 18.32.
http://ransquawk.com/headlines/fede...vs-exp-usd-1-38-cuts-year-forecast-20-03-2013
 
Study from Georgia State University:
http://aysps.gsu.edu/sites/default/files/documents/Rpt 258FIN.pdf

"...the tax-benefit system discourages low-income people from investing in education and training, discourages labor supply, encourages fertility, and provides little incentive to marry or to remain so. To the extent that households are aware of and respond to such incentives, the tax-benefit system creates poverty traps rather than promoting behaviors that enable families to escape poverty."
 
They're calling kids "poverty traps" which I totally disagree with.

I have actually read several research papers that point to having children as a single parent and/or before the age of 21 as leading contra-indicators (along with drug use and criminal records) to long term chances of becoming middle class or higher.

Essentially, you have less opportunities to gain higher education, work longer hours early in career to get ahead, pay down debt, save up for a rainy day, ect. if you have children before you are financially ready.

The impact of children on your life is greatly different if you are married, have a career, and are financially stable versus 17, single, uneducated, and jobless.
 
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I agree that teenage births might be harmful, but quite frankly:
somebody who is too stupid to protect themselves from such pregnancies, doesn't deserve better (including the boy involved). These people are most likely not blessed with reasonably high IQs anyway.
I also know quite a few women who got kids to avoid higher educational paths. These are women with rich parents, though. They don't need .gov assistance.

In the long run, children are an economic benefit, though. They'll be able to take care of their parents once they're old and they'll be able to substitute public social safety nets once they collapse due to demographic changes and corruption.
 
article-2296876-18D54729000005DC-526_634x514.jpg

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...orate-sponsor-badges-members-US-Congress.html
 
I agree that teenage births might be harmful, but quite frankly:
somebody who is too stupid to protect themselves from such pregnancies, doesn't deserve better (including the boy involved). These people are most likely not blessed with reasonably high IQs anyway.
I also know quite a few women who got kids to avoid higher educational paths. These are women with rich parents, though. They don't need .gov assistance.

In the long run, children are an economic benefit, though. They'll be able to take care of their parents once they're old and they'll be able to substitute public social safety nets once they collapse due to demographic changes and corruption.

It seems to be a self perpetuating cycle:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100...8356494206134184.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

"...nonmarital childbearing, which is now at 41% of all births..."

"Fifty-eight percent of first births among working and lower middle classes in the U.S. are now to unmarried women."

"Among college grads today, only 12% of first births are outside marriage. For high-school dropouts, who tend to be the poorest population, 83% of first births are outside marriage..."

"Children born to stable, married parents are more likely to graduate from high school and from college, well-equipped to thrive in a knowledge economy and, in turn, more likely to marry and start their own families on a stable footing. The converse is true for children from homes marked by instability. Without a stable family, their chances of moving up the education and income ladder are stunted, which—in turn—reduces their odds of getting married as adults. "
 
The latest unemployment numbers are out:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/weak-job-gains-cast-shadow-123212223.html

"The economy added just 88,000 nonfarm jobs last month and the jobless rate ticked a tenth of a point lower to 7.6 percent largely due to people dropping out of the work force"

"...the report showed that much of the drop was due to the labor force shrinking by 496,000 people."

"The drop in the labor force sent the share of the population that is either employed or looking for work to 63.3 percent, its lowest since 1979."

"The unemployment rate is derived from a survey of households which is separate from the survey of employer payrolls. The household survey actually showed employment fell by 206,000 in March."

:popcorn:
 
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/uh-oh...Rwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANob21lBHB0A3BtaA--;_ylv=3

Wow this is going to be fun to watch.
If you are an employer who has more than 50 full time employees and dont provide a medical plan, you will be fined $2,000 for each employee after the 30th employee.

If you are an employer who has some combination of part and full time employees that total up to 50 full time employees see above.

If you are an employer that owns multiple small businesses that as a total employ over some combination of part and full time employees that total up to 50 full time employees see above.

If your state dares opt out of the program, employers in that state will be charged more by the federal government.

If you are an employee and you want to opt out an employer medical plan costing 9.5% of your income or less you will pay a fine.

:popcorn:
 
Benjamen, I am currently looking to buy the consultancy of a long time friend because the health care law will destroy our firm and make us unable to compete, effectively shutting us down. This law will do little more than wipe out small businesses. It is Obama's master plan to do this, as it leaves unions in a position to regain power as a result of their size. We are fucking doomed.
 
Fisker Spent $660,000 on Each $103,000 Plug-in Car

The Anaheim, California-based company made about 2,500 of its $103,000 Karmas before halting production last year, disrupting its plans to use a $529 million U.S. loan to restart a shuttered Delaware factory owned by the predecessor of General Motors Co. (GM) The Karma was assembled in Finland.

Fisker was allowed to keep using money from its Energy Department loan after violating its terms multiple times, according to a report released April 17 by PrivCo, a New York- based researcher specializing in closely held companies. It said it based its report on documents, including the loan agreement, obtained through the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.

more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-18/fisker-allowed-to-tap-u-s-loan-after-default-report.html
 
Congress wants to be exempt from Obamacare because they fear it will be too expensive for themselves and their aides:
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/04/obamacare-exemption-lawmakers-aides-90610.html?hp=t1

"...aides and lawmakers in both parties fear that staffers — especially low-paid junior aides — could be hit with thousands of dollars in new health care costs, prompting them to seek jobs elsewhere. Older, more senior staffers could also retire or jump to the private sector rather than face a big financial penalty."

:flushed:
 
Benjamen, I am currently looking to buy the consultancy of a long time friend because the health care law will destroy our firm and make us unable to compete, effectively shutting us down. This law will do little more than wipe out small businesses. It is Obama's master plan to do this, as it leaves unions in a position to regain power as a result of their size. We are fucking doomed.

As some of the first states try to quantify the cost of Obamacare (ACA: Affordable Care Act), math always wins:
http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/he...-s-largest-insurer-seeks-25-percent-rate-hike

"Maryland’s largest insurer just proposed, on average, a 25-percent rate hike for individuals next year, with much of that increase directly attributable to the ACA’s mandates."

"CareFirst initially considered seeking a 50-percent rate increase but halved its request because of “worries about affordability” for both existing and potential customers, KHN reports"

"The ACA requires insurers to charge their oldest customers no more than three times as much as their youngest ones. Since insurers end up spending about six times as much on each old person as on each young person, this can mean only one thing: Rates on the young are going to go through the roof. CareFirst is estimating that older individuals may experience slight decreases in their premiums next year but that younger ones could find themselves paying as much as 150 percent more."

Despite all these massive price hikes...
Burrell told KHN: “We’re not expecting to make money. We’re expecting to lose money. If we’re going to lose it we’re going to lose it on behalf of subscribers and the community.”
 
http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/fo...e-hears-harrowing-story-of-drone-war-in-yemen

In a hearing of a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a Yemeni man informed lawmakers that “What radicals had previously failed to achieve in my village one drone strike accomplished in an instant: there is now an intense anger and growing hatred of America.”

As al-Muslimi tells the story ... residents of his mountainous hometown live in constant fear of missiles fired from a U.S. drone. “They fear that their home or a neighbor’s home could be bombed at any time by a U.S. drone,”

"I would not be surprised if a hundred tribesmen joined the lines of al-Qaeda as a result of the latest drone mistake," said Nasr Abdullah. "This part of Yemen takes revenge very seriously."

al-Muslimi revealed that he has “seen al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula use US strikes to promote its agenda and try to recruit more terrorists.”
 
http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/he...yrocketing-premiums-insurers-tell-house-panel

Horray free healthcare...
“Consumers purchasing health insurance on the individual market may face premium increases of nearly 100 percent on average, with potential highs eclipsing 400 percent,”

I am glad this won't kill small businesses...
“the total average change due to the PPACA for new business in the individual market will be a 96 percent increase in premiums,”

I am sure large businesses will never send work overseas due to high costs...
"Insurers are estimating large-group rates will rise by 15 to 25 percent."

Luckily, this won't hurt the consumers budgets....
“After extensive research, the administration said it was unwise to tell consumers that they could get ‘health insurance that fits your budget,’” the paper writes. “That message, it said, is ‘seen as highly motivational, but not as believable.’”
 
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/...ng-data-millions-verizon-users-013542225.html

"The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk – regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.

The order, issued April 25 and valid through July 19, requires Verizon to turn over the numbers of both parties, location data, call duration, and other information – though not the contents of the calls."

:noevil:
 
^^^

Further to that, a court recently ruled that FedGov can continue using Stingray.

Background:
A few months ago, EFF warned of a secretive new surveillance tool being used by the FBI in cases around the country commonly referred to as a “Stingray.” Recently, more information on the device has come to light and it makes us even more concerned than before.

The device, which acts as a fake cell phone tower, essentially allows the government to electronically search large areas for a particular cell phone's signal—sucking down data on potentially thousands of innocent people along the way. At the same time, law enforcement has attempted use them while avoiding many of the traditional limitations set forth in the Constitution, like individualized warrants. This is why we called the tool "an unconstitutional, all-you-can-eat data buffet."

Recently, LA Weekly reported the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) got a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant in 2006 to buy a stingray. The original grant request said it would be used for "regional terrorism investigations." Instead LAPD has been using it for just about any investigation imaginable.

In just a four month period in 2012, according to documents obtained by the First Amendment Coalition, the LAPD has used the device at least 21 times in “far more routine” criminal investigations. The LA Weekly reported Stingrays “were tapped for more than 13 percent of the 155 ‘cellular phone investigation cases’ that Los Angeles police conducted between June and September last year.” These included burglary, drug and murder cases.

Of course, we’ve seen this pattern over and over and over. The government uses “terrorism” as a catalyst to gain some powerful new surveillance tool or ability, and then turns around and uses it on ordinary citizens, severely infringing on their civil liberties in the process.

Stingrays are particularly odious given they give police dangerous “general warrant” powers, which the founding fathers specifically drafted the Fourth Amendment to prevent. In pre-revolutionary America, British soldiers used “general warrants" as authority to go house-to-house in a particular neighborhood, looking for whatever they please, without specifying an individual or place to be searched.

The Stingray is the digital equivalent of the pre-revolutionary British soldier. It allows police to point a cell phone signal into all the houses in a particular neighborhood, searching for one target while sucking up everyone else’s location along with it. With one search the police could potentially invade countless private residences at once.
...
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/...ool-becomes-more-pervasive-questions-over-its

Court:
Back in March, the FBI was accused of hiding information from judges when seeking authorization for a clandestine cellphone tracking device called the “Stingray.” But now a judge has ruled that the feds’ use of the surveillance tool was lawful in a case that could have wider ramifications for law enforcement spy tactics.

... The judge also added that the use of the Stingray did not constitute a “severe intrusion” and ultimately held that “no Fourth Amendment violation occurred.”

The ACLU responded with dismay, stating that it believes the ruling “trivializes the intrusive nature of electronic searches and potentially opens the door to troubling government misuse of new technology.” Linda Lye, staff attorney at ACLU, wrote in a blog post that the group was particularly disgruntled that the judge appeared to dismiss the significance of the Stingray’s ability to scoop up data from innocent third parties, which the ACLU believes the feds do not fully disclose. Campbell’s approval of the Stingray in the Rigmaiden case, Lye wrote, sends the message that it is “alright to withhold information from courts about new technology, which means that the law will have an even harder time catching up.”

Incidentally, new FBI documents related to the Stingray were released by the Electronic Privacy Information Center on Wednesday. Four hundred pages of heavily redacted files, some marked “secret,” join several other batches that have been released by the rights group as part of ongoing Freedom of Information Act litigation. Of particular note in the latest trove are documents that show the FBI has been imposing nondisclosure agreements on its staff in order to prevent public disclosure of any information related to the spy technology.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_t..._fbi_use_of_controversial_tool_in_daniel.html
 
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/...ng-data-millions-verizon-users-013542225.html

"The document shows for the first time that under the Obama administration the communication records of millions of US citizens are being collected indiscriminately and in bulk – regardless of whether they are suspected of any wrongdoing.

The order, issued April 25 and valid through July 19, requires Verizon to turn over the numbers of both parties, location data, call duration, and other information – though not the contents of the calls."

:noevil:

I have been kidding around with my other postings on PMBUG and upon reflection want to take this opportunity to say that I totally support the government doing whatever surveillance they think is necessary at anytime, anyplace, with any device, or technology, to listen, read, and watch anything they want, if they think this is a good idea. I also firmly believe that the IRS is doing a very good job and should not be subjected to any investigation, and in fact should receive additional budget to do whatever they like to properly train and motivate their staff. I believe we should always trust our government I also just realized I don't really need a phone so I am giving my verizon phone to a homeless guy.
 
I have been kidding around with my other postings on PMBUG and upon reflection want to take this opportunity to say that I totally support the government doing whatever surveillance they think is necessary at anytime, anyplace, with any device, or technology, to listen, read, and watch anything they want, if they think this is a good idea. I also firmly believe that the IRS is doing a very good job and should not be subjected to any investigation, and in fact should receive additional budget to do whatever they like to properly train and motivate their staff. I believe we should always trust our government I also just realized I don't really need a phone so I am giving my verizon phone to a homeless guy.

You may want to toss your computer to that homeless guy as well:
http://news.yahoo.com/us-declassifies-phone-program-details-uproar-071508507.html
:noevil:
 
I want to know where the fucking mainstream media is on this one? This is not simply a one-off deal, they have constructed the largest server set on the freaking planet and they plan to use it to store every single word we say or type against us if they choose to. This is beyond frightening folks. Orwell was a fucking amateur, these guys are the real professionals when it comes to control.

I'm probably at the top of their list.
 
You might have a challenger (or few) for the top of that list. I've been revealing what I know about all this for years - I did once work for NSA....I know how they think.

The MSM won't say much - they're part of it themselves. And they have a gag order.
But Bloomberg is carrying it as a main story when other things are slow. They are just cheerleading, mostly, though. Even though this hasn't caught any actual threat, and has been going on since 2001, when a guy got fired from ATT&T for taking pix of the huge Naurus boxes in a special room (run off signal splitters on the trunk fiber), that were intercepting 100% of all Inet traffic through that hub, and did a write up on it (he's "disappeared" now - but it's hard to really eliminate data from the 'net - I got copies for example).


This is a case of quantity has a quality all its own (Stalin). Now we have to sweat the Cardinal Richelieu saying:

"Give me 6 lines written by the purest of men, and in them I can find a way to hang him."

While they won't (and currently can't) digest all this data in real time - that's not the plan. The plan is to find flags, and then assign "person of interest" status to some people. Those people are then toast under existing laws. There's almost no one who hasn't mentioned something anti-gov in some comm sometime, for example.
I have several whole threads on my own public forums of griping....and saying things I'm pretty sure they don't want said.

Hell, in NY - it's now a crime to annoy a cop! With up to 4 years for sassing one.

You're right - Orwell couldn't imagine it would get like this or we'd just sit still for it.
They couldn't get our guns - so they made it impossible to organize instead, without them knowing and nipping anything in the bud. And w/o being organized, there will be no effective resistance. I'm sure all our lawmakers are on that "person of interest list" and will get a tap on the shoulder if they oppose any of it. No big gov beaurocracy has ever been eliminated, and it seems they've taken control of all the reins of .gov by having the dirt on all those purportedly in control - I'd bet they did that first, just in case.

Their trick will be to go slow at first, not raise any flags - just grab that "nut case" at the end of the block...get a little support from a few people for that...then make it obvious you'd better not cross them or it's you next. That way, we just boil the frog.

They have to know by now how many people are really pissed off - leading to all that ammo purchasing etc. And how bad it really is out here, economically, even though they cook the books on reporting it so hard it's amazing they aren't on fire (can bits burn?). And they probably know at least some of what's next - we can only speculate about how bad the shadow banking/derivitive markets really are, with mark-to-fantasy FASB rules.

But they have to know...and it looks very much like they're preparing for the worst imaginable outcome because they know what we can only guess at.

Further, I'd guess it's about to be a very dangerous time to be say, a drug dealer who isn't already well-connected (.gov on the payroll). The big connected ones will now be able to eliminate all competition and make it look good...for the cops and all this data aq - and then have free reign themselves instead of having competition, even in the "black" market.
 
I want to know where the fucking mainstream media is on this one? ...

WaPo said:
The National Security Agency and the FBI are tapping directly into the central servers of nine leading U.S. Internet companies, extracting audio and video chats, photographs, e-mails, documents, and connection logs that enable analysts to track foreign targets, according to a top-secret document obtained by The Washington Post.

The program, code-named PRISM, has not been made public until now. It may be the first of its kind. The NSA prides itself on stealing secrets and breaking codes, and it is accustomed to corporate partnerships that help it divert data traffic or sidestep barriers. But there has never been a Google or Facebook before, and it is unlikely that there are richer troves of valuable intelligence than the ones in Silicon Valley.

Equally unusual is the way the NSA extracts what it wants, according to the document: “Collection directly from the servers of these U.S. Service Providers: Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, PalTalk, AOL, Skype, YouTube, Apple.”
...
More (4 page report): http://www.washingtonpost.com/inves...0c0da8-cebf-11e2-8845-d970ccb04497_story.html

So, no matter what protestations Microsoft may offer, it looks like the NSA does indeed get to use XBOX 360 Kinnect / XBOX One as a free pass to spy on your living room.

NYT said:
...
This sort of tracking can reveal a lot of personal and intimate information about an individual. To casually permit this surveillance — with the American public having no idea that the executive branch is now exercising this power — fundamentally shifts power between the individual and the state, and repudiates constitutional principles governing search, seizure and privacy.
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/opinion/president-obamas-dragnet.html?pagewanted=1&hp&_r=0

Glenn Greenwald, who broke the story, is likely going to face a DoJ investigation now:
http://reason.com/blog/2013/06/07/department-of-justice-could-go-after-gle
 
I think it might be time to acknowledge the possibility that the PMBUG website is actually a "false front" or "honey trap" operation run by the NSA to try trick people into revealing information about themselves that can be correlated with purchases of gold so at the appropriate time, referred to as WTSHTF in secret internal documents, the agency can send specially trained staff, known as "nerds" to grab this metal and take it to Washington DC where they will see if it will actually fit inside the Washington monument.

This will be my last posting on PMBUG. Somebody just rang my doorbell.
 
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"Paranoia is a disease unto itself, and may I add, the person standing next to you
May not be who they appear to be, so take precaution"
 
"Paranoia is a disease unto itself, and may I add, the person standing next to you
May not be who they appear to be, so take precaution"

:agree: "I'm not paranoid. Everyone just thinks I am"
 
http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapot...alth-premiums-by-88-percent/?partner=yahootix

"Democrats continue to try to dismiss the evidence that Obamacare will dramatically increase the cost of insurance for people who buy it on their own. But on Thursday, the Ohio Department of Insurance announced that, based on the rates submitted by insurers to date, the average individual-market health insurance premium in 2014 will come in around $420, “representing an increase of 88 percent” relative to 2013. “We have warned of these increases,” said Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor in a statement. “Consumers will have fewer choices and pay much higher premiums for their health insurance starting in 2014.”

:flushed:
 

This is just a simple misunderstanding. What the President meant when he said "your premiums won't go up" if you pass the bill is that they weren't literally going to go up like in an airplane, or a ballon, but that the price you pay for your insurance would get more expensive. it's just nobody thought to ask him to clarify his remarks at the time, and so now there is some confusion.
 
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http://www.wnd.com/2013/06/troops-targeted-by-nsa-for-anti-obama-views/print/

"The NSA is systematically monitoring the Internet posts and telephone conversations of U.S. military returning from Afghanistan, according to a civil-liberties attorney.

“The FBI and the Secret Service are showing up to request an interview to question specific Internet posts the veteran has placed on websites such as Facebook,” explained attorney John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute.

Whitehead said the agencies are looking for “anti-Obama views that can be interpreted to reflect psychological problems of sufficient seriousness to disqualify the veteran from ever owning a firearm.”


“The United States is already in a police state, such that the only question is how we are going to deal with it,” he stressed. “With Bush, the surveillance state was beginning. Under Obama, the NSA has blossomed to a whole new level unimaginable in an era only a few years ago before this computer technology existed.”

:flushed:
 
Benjamen,
This is exactly why this is so completely fucked up. We are now looking actively to exclude people from exercising their constitutional rights. Targeting of conservative groups, targeting vets, targeting patriots, and targeting Christians.

This is so completely beyond disturbing as to be frightening.

I weep for my daughters future. :-(
 
You old guys are lucky.



Meanwhile, with everyone arguing the false question as to whether or not this guy is a traitor, some 1000+ pages of immigration bill is being churned through the system.

:noevil:



:flushed:
 
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