Colorado

Just back from CO. The entire trip was one of the most exhilarating I have ever had. People were totally behind the race and the locals were shocked that i had come form NYC with my woman to view the spectacle.

Managed to get to a press conference with Levi and C VdeV.

The state os USA cycling has never been better. I will be back next year and stay for a week. The highlight of our trip was renting mountain bikes from Pepi's.
(see link below pic above)

http://www.pepis.com/

We climbed 11,000 feet on the bikes, almost 2 hours ascent and were back down in 32 minutes.

All I can say is 2012 - Vail!

Bike Racing in Colorado

US Pro Bicycling Challenge Stage 2 begins today from Gunnison to Aspen.

Stage 3 will be the TT in and around Vail. On Tuesday they raced into Crested Butte (below).



Racers won't be speeding along on the bike above rather on carbon machines that many weekend warriors have a hard time controlling and stopping when they need to.

TTers are annoying and tend to think that "light bike and expensive gear = speed" -
WRONG!

Bike handling is key, then steady cadence and endurance over a long period of time.



Looking forward to the upcoming stages in CO.

SEC = Shredded Exchange Commission

According to the lastest issue of Rolling Stone, an ex-SEC attorney, Darcy Flynn has come forward in a bid to shed light on what really went on in that inept entity as it was tasked with keeping an eye on shady bank activity.

Hilarious how these organizations are supposed to be looking out for the OMOTS, who has retirement funds invested in the stock market and hopes after a few years of hard work to live off those proceeds.

According to RS (see link below) evidence on 18,000 investigations of potential fraud were SHREDDED.

Yes that's right fed to the shredder!

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/is-the-sec-covering-up-wall-street-crimes-20110817

The most scandalous aspect of this story is how a revolving-door culture of SEC/ex-Wall Street General Counsels has existed and will well into the future, ensuring that any fraud, corruption and downright highway robbery has not been investigated and probably never will be in the future.

Hope and change we can believe in, RIGHT?

Bail outs will continue and scandals will multiply because the foxes are guarding the hen houses and will continue to do so.

The OMOTS will continue to put his retirement savings into various stocks and the SEC will shred any evidence that smells like a Ponzi scheme, fraud and facilitate the systematic destruction of wealth through shredding!

Matters Under Investigation (MUIs) will find themselves under a pile of shredded paper and dumped into a Waste Management sanitation truck.

Next time you walk by an office block in mid-town Manhattan notice how many mobile shredding trucks idling by the kerb!

Rage Against the Machine --- RATM

Rage Against the Machine, one of the better bands from the early to mid-90s really hacked through distractions when the world of pop was singing about boy meets girl. boy and girl breal up and all of that teeny bopper crap.
One of their songs (see link to you tube below) shoves truth right into your face, "Know Your Enemy".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4smim2MNvF8


As of this post DJI is free falling close to 500 points down. S&P our good downgrading buddies convey opposite that most of the banks in the US are in trouble yet again. There are BIG RUMORS SWIRLING that a bank in Europe is has a serious liquidity problem and that depositors may be making a run on the bank. I will hazard a guess here that its in one of the periphery nations, PIIGS, and that if this rumor proves true, another Lehman/Bear Stearns may occur.

If this comes to pass we are in for a hell of a ride today and tomorrow.

Another band with a cold-hard-reality message was The Godfathers, from England, with their "Birth, School, Work, Death" (see link below).

Its potency in how life for the majority was, is and ever will be made me think about what career path to take.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz3PJKguMDw

I think I'll go for a few lunch time beers as its raining in the BIG APPLE now, raining LOSSES!!!

Prediction on bank implosion:

#1. Bank of Ireland
#2. A bank in France (Soc Gen?)
#3. A Spanish bank with huge exposure to Portugal
#4. An Italian bank

See "Who Owes What to Whom" chart in Europe.

Time for that Belgian Beer!

Laffer Laughs on CNBC Versus Talking Heads

Apparently B-WB's Op-Ed piece in the NYTIMES has stoked the fire and ire of the super-rich and their puppet apologists.

Listening to Squawk Box on CNBC this morning, I see Arthur Laffer debating marginal tax rates on the super rich and the apologists in a love in with the billionaire club.

There are 400 billionaires in the USA according to reliable reports. There are over 236,800 millionaires (over $1 million in earnings).

Both of these groups account for 237,200 tax payers out of approximately 150 million total tax payers in the USA.

That's .1579% of the total tax paying population. The other 99.8421% of the tax paying population pay either 33 or 41% of their income in taxes while the former group pay on average just 17% and that's HALF what someone earning $40,000 pays in taxes.

This is mathematically sound but socially unsound.

CNBC is owned by GE and loves talking about lower taxes as a way to expand growth. It never talks about defense cuts because of course GE makes billions from DOD contracts and the poor bastards in the 99.8421% of taxpayers subsidize the majority of the missiles, jet engines and other stuff that GE makes.

And a report back in February 2002 uncovered a WHOPPING $1.1 Trillion hole in the DOD accounts. In other words over a trillion dollars went MISSING! (See Link Below - Rumsfeld and missing Trillions and GAO report)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU4GdHLUHwU

http://articles.sfgate.com/2003-05-18/news/17491492_1_pentagon-gao-financial-accounting

And the graphic at the top shows just how much money I am talking about here.

The bottom left corner is a man of average height, an OMOTS, a taxpayer who is getting SCREWED on every level.

But the clowns in DC will continue printing crappy money based on debt that the taxpayers who pay 35% or more will repay with ineterest of $250 billion a year into PERPETUITY!

Morons on Bikes

As an avid bike rider (and sometimes racer), I am appalled at the moronic attitude of poor bike handlers in New York City.

Indeed the incidences of appalling stupidity perpetrated by poor bike handlers is rising on a daily basis.

I look forward now to those balls-cold days of winter when the majority of FREDS will hibernate and sit indoors upon their trainers or enroll in spinning classes at the numerous gyms around the city.

Central Park, once the oasis of destressing for bike riders such as myself has become a vermin infested dumping ground for TOURISTS, many of whom are clueless about biking etiquette in an urban setting. This afternoon I saw at least three accidents involving moronic stupidity on a stratospheric level.

Green helmeted clowns going the wrong way downhill against the circular flow of traffic and causing a tri-athlete to crash.

Texting morons on bikes wobbling all over the road and finally a well known local cop standing in the cross walk at the boat house with GREEN LIGHT granting right of way to bikers. Apparently he was monitoring the ongoing strike against the boat house by union members who were banging drums incessantly in an attempt to have patrons boycott the famous restaurant.

Bring on the cold weather!

Clear out the park and may the tourist vermin depart the Big Apple soon!

Right and Left

So here we have it --- another campaign about to kick off.

The economy is in the shitter, US debt is AA, unemployment is rising higher and the wealth of most OMOTS Americans is shrinking.


Meanwhile these buses will wind their way all across the KEY STATES in the US with their usual nonsense messages of "prosperity for all", "change we can believe is" and other catch phrases to hoodwink the masses.

There are two wars ongoing costing lives and billions of dollars, while these clowns in DC vacation until sometime in September on the taxpayer's dime.

The construct of LEFT AND RIGHT is a fallacy built by those in power over the past several decades and centuries.

As the lame stream media (LSM from here on in on this blog) bickers and fights with empty talking heads on corporate owned (see links below)TV stations, people are being fired, tossed out of their houses and filing for chapter 7, 11 and 13.

www.cjr.org/who owns what
http://www.cjr.org/resources/index.php

This country has dissipated massive amounts of energy fighting one another based on political differences rather than looking at the real power behind the talking heads in DC.

A population divided amongst itself will be easily controlled by those that ensure laws are passed to keep them in fear.

Look at the USA Patriot Act, initiated by Bush, the younger and expanded by Obama. (see links below)

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/09/obama-backs-expiring-patriot-act-spy-provisions/

Hope and change we can believe in, right?

Link below gives an overview on exactly what the Patriot Act covers and how our buddy Obama has EXPANDED it.

Hope and change!

http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html

Other bills in congress will attempt to provide TWO speeds for users of the Internet, slow (for OMOTS) and fast (for corporate entities and government). The links below explains the NET NEUTRALITY debate.

http://www.savetheinternet.com/net-neutrality-101

http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/net_neutrality/index.html

Finally, on taxes, Billionaire Warren Buffett (B-WB) had something to say on taxes the other day in the NYTIMES.

He's willing, as a billionaire, to pay a few more dollars and in his Op-Ed piece asks what others in his financial position would do?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-rich.html

B-WB refers to the super rich as being CODDLED. If an OMOTS wrote this he'd be cyber flogged. Buffett has the means to write this and most likely understands what its really like to be a BILLIONAIRE!

Right or Left? Up or Down?

Republicrats and Demuplicans

What is the difference between the two major parties in this country?



The picture to the left is metaphorical of the US economy and both parties while bickering about what to do, how to do and when to do, have crashed the economy, crushed the economy by their gross INACTION.

Obama has been campaigning since he took office, flying to New York City (my home) several times since he got elected, staying at the Waldorf Astoria and partying until dawn. Having voted for this charlatan in the last election, I now find myself APOLITICAL as I have been following for years the website www.opensecrets.org an excellent resource that shows precisely how Washington DC actually works in terms of funding.

Here in NYC there is a Verizon strike over health care degradation and contract give backs. Obama-CARE was supposed to get health care for all, far from it - now the health care system will become MORE COMPLICATED. Below is a link to the ENTIRE PDF file of the almost 2000 pages of gobbledyGOOK, legal crap ---

www.house.gov/brady/pdf/Obamacare_Chart.pdf

I challenge readers to read it. If you feel a little tired, read the first few pages and you'll be out like a light.

It's BORING stuff.

MONEY FLOWS

According to experts large quantities of money are flowing away from US assets. The so called emerging markets are witnessing collapse as far as negative money flows go.

Italian and Spanish bonds are experiencing strong OUTFLOWS with the German Bund seeing strong INFLOWS. The Swiss Franc is seeing massive INFLOWS and as a result of panic selling across emerging markets, CHF is strengthening by the day. Chart above shows the appreciation of CHF versus USD.

Any recent DOW claw backs are illusions. Today the DOW will fall 150 points or so.

A story on the woes in Europe illustrates how screwed their banks really are ---

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-drops-against-dollar-after-growth-data-2011-08-16

The coming weeks will be a harsh one for several reasons:

#1. PPI and CPI will come in lower than consensus

#2. Jobless claims for 8/13 will be higher than expected

#3. Unemployment numbers at the end of the month will be awful (if you even believe the nonsense way BLS has of calculating these)

Time for a vacation methinks.


http://www.marketwatch.com/economy-politics/calendars/economic?link=skey

Two Fed Officials and Double Dip Recession

William Dudley, ex-Goldman Sachs managing director and chief economist during the 1997 to 2007 decade of “irrational exuberance” and current president of the NY-Fed, said recently that he doesn’t expect the US economy to suffer a double-dip recession.

And then today as if right on queue, another of these Fed officials, Dennis Lockhart, Atlanta Fed president stated that the risk of a US recession had risen in the last two months but an outright contraction will be avoided.

What planet are these two on?

From their ivory towers they make pronouncements as if they have economic crystal balls at the ready and will maintain interest rates at near zero for the next two years.

This will encourage savers to take their money out of banks and place it into stocks or treasuries, ensuring a steady flow of cheap money for corporations via stock purchase and the US Treasury via the purchase of AA rated bonds.

OMOTS will through their taxes continue to subsidize the government by keeping money out of the banks and instead use it to buy stocks, US bonds or pay off debt. And through taxes REPAY the monies borrowed on their behalf by the US government.

Will either of these two choices assist in the creation of jobs or expand smaller businesses?

I think not.

Two Guinness and CPI

CPI (Confusing Price Inaccuracy)

Two Guinness cost over $12 in New York City. Since 1991, the price of Guinness has almost doubled. In 1991, I could buy two stouts for $6 and enjoy change out of a ten spot, as could the bartender, because I’d leave a tip of say $3 or $4 after the second pint.

Q. #1. Have wages DOUBLED to cope with the doubling in hops, malt, and all the ingredients that go into a Guinness?

Ans. No! They have not.

Q. #2. What exactly is CPI?

Ans. I have redefined this nonsense measurement thus: Confusing Price Inaccuracy, because it gives me no indication as to why my wages have stalled and Guinness has doubled in price, as have bagels (wheat), travel (jet fuel and airline tickets).

It’s all a big scam that is so off target its ABSURD.

Asian rumors abound that banks in China, Korea and other Asian economies are refraining to lend any more money to European banks, especially our buddies at Soc Gen.

What will now happen on Friday 12th, August?

Soc Gen stock will be sold en masse and the US market will sell off on the back of Asian panic and European arrogance.

Shitty Bank, JPM and B of A

What are banks?

Essentially they are supposed to be depoistory institutions that LEND out money on teh basis of what they hold in DEPOSITS. Usually a 10:1 ratio loans to deposits.

This business model or practice is BROKEN and any cursory glance of the www.BIS.org site will show exactly what has been going on with WOMD.

More on this later.

OLD people in CARS and Bank Rumour Mongering

If you're over 80 years old you may not wish to read this!

As far as my opinion goes, anyone over the age of 80 years old NEEDS to re-take the driving test to be issued with a license.



If you think the accelerator is the brake or vice verse, you need to re-take the driving test.

No exceptions.

The story below illustrates the necessity of this common sense suggestion:

http://www.thestamfordtimes.com/story/509384

Over 80 = re-test.

Maybe the old fellow was pissed off with the 519 plummeting in the Dow today.

I'd be pissed but would remember where the accelerator was in the damn car, a Honda.

Maybe his retirement was in the shitter and he was about to take it out on the cappuccino sipping class right in front of the disabled parking spot he was parked at but wasn't disabled BEFORE the accident.

Because a man is 92, does that mean he's disabled and should have access to the disabled parking spot?

I think not.

Regarding another disability story --- On 8/9 I mentioned, erroneously that the FED would embark on QE-3.

It didn't.

But the ponzi scheme banks in France, SocGen et al. denied rumours that implosion was imminent (which it most definitely is). When a bank engages in deniability of rumours, the end is near for that bank.

Watch SocGen descend into the ashes of oblivion.

Here is their exposure to various debts, sovereign and otherwise:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/16/business/global/16banks.html

It appears our friends at SocGen are on the hook to Greek debt for EURO 2.5 billion and PIGS (Portugal-Ireland-Greece-Spain) EURO 6.5.

Well the total is probably much more than this amount.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110518-709510.html

I estimate that SocGen is exposed massively to some of its Eastern European nation state clients and demanded a meeting with Sarkozy to explain that exposure in detail and perhaps discreetly push for a BAIL OUT!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/aug/10/french-bank-shares-plunge-as-rumours-swirl-around-societe-generale

Thursday and Friday will be a slaughter in the stock markets around Europe and the USA. There will be no reversal.

Dow Sub-10,000 by August 12th 2011

ObamaNOMICS --- Time for a LAUGH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beLHRU1S-uU&feature=player_embedded#at=43

This is quite funny!

QE-3, Teenage Banks and A Sinking Ship

An illiterate teenager with no fiscal responsibility comes looking for some money from his father, is granted whatever he asks for, rather demands and off he goes about his business without any long term consequences or modification in his behavior.

Watching the Dow yesterday and especially B of A stock price (down 51% in 2011), I was reminded of the Fed as father to the teenager banks, many of whom have engaged in reckless fiscal irresponsibility over the past several years. Indeed AIG is to sue Bank of America for $10 billion. See link below

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-08/aig-plans-to-sue-bank-of-america-over-losses-tied-to-mortgage-underwriting.html

Bernanke & Co. will meet today at 2:15pm with little or no room for maneuver, a few absurd statements on the economy and the usual vague pronouncements on the economy, unemployment and money flows.

Watching Obama speaking to reporters yesterday, I noticed the longer he spoke the lower the Dow sank. My prediction on 8/8 was Dow -500. My expectations were exceeded by 134 points.

All eyes on the Fed today. My prediction QE-3 and unintended consequences.

Geithner is SPooked

Do you trust this man?

Would you buy a used car from him?

Here is the man that was the head of the NY Fed and he's pissed with S&P.

He's S&Pooked by their pronouncements on AAA stripping of US debt. He's not smiling about this latest attack on his grand plan.

Bernanke will meet in 24 hours to discuss potential QE-3 and the printing of AA debt backed money will begin a new era of fiscal rectitude.

Tuesday's meeting with the masters of fiscal rectitude will be more interesting than a high school visit to the printing press to see how money is magically produced as Greenspan said on Sunday's "Meet the Press" --- link here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_N0Cwg5iN4

Quote: Greenspan said: "The United States can pay any debt it has because we can always print money to do that. So there is zero probability of default"

Now that's one forthe history books. We can always simply turn on the press and print to our hearts content and guess who's going to be paying it off into perpetuity?

OMOTS working harder for less and a devalued dollar, that's the future folks!

No More AAA-USA via S&P

AAA the gold standard in debt risk has been stripped by the S&P from the USA as of August 7th 2011 - 8/7/11 - the day the US lost its perfect risk status.

Q1. What does all of this mean to the ordinary man on the street (OMOTS)?

Q2. What does it mean for the US taxpayer?

ANS #1: Since all debt issued by the Treasury is repaid by collection of taxes through the IRS (via the Treasury) and $5 Trillion (and counting) is owned by the FED (see link to CNBC)a lack of AAA will necessitate the US Treasury to INCREASE interest over time.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/29880401/The_Biggest_Holders_of_US_Government_Debt

This will devastate the US economy and cause increasing economic pain for the OMOTS since his mortgage rate, car loan and credit card rates will climb upward.

ANS #2: Taxes will be increased on all levels.

An alternative take on all of this: why should anyone believe in the S&P, the same clowns that rated mickey mouse mortgages as AAA, when in fact they were absolute JUNK. All of this is illustrated in the movie, best oscar documentary 2010 Inside Job
http://www.sonyclassics.com/insidejob/

As far as I can see all of these clowns in S&P were fed nonsensical information and paid hundreds of thousands to ensure that favorable analysis was written and circulated by the "rating" agency to their big clients: Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns (RIP) and all the other banksters that created the mess.

Rational thinking says do not give any traction to S&P. But markets are nor rational and this morning across the world is chaos. It doesn't matter what the S&P states publically. Dow futures are set to fall and when NYSE opens it will be a slaughter on 8/8/11
http://www.bloomberg.com/archive/news/

Meanwhile, Europe is a mess with ECB buying junk Italian bonds and Spain in a tail spin.

8/8/2011 will be a memorable Monday for sure.

Wake up and smell the coffee folks

Corruption and the Legal System

Prince of the City is one hell of a movie.

Made in 1981, it tells the story of Daniel Ciello (real life ex-NYPD detective Robert Leuci) and his quest to uncover police corruption, the unintended consequences of his decision and the lasting changes that came about as a result.

Watching this movie on DVD via Netflix, I was thinking that movies of this length Part 1 - 2:47, Part 2 - 1:29, almost 5 hours long are not made anymore. What an Odyssey into one man's almost mental break down and the obstacles, physical, mental and spiritual that he has to overcome in his quest to uncover, while undercover the shenanigans deep with NYPD and its justice system.

Unemployment REAL and FANTASY - Don't Belive the Hype

Today's unemployment number is an illusion. 117,000 jobs "created", magically. How about hundreds of thousands of people GAVE up searching for jobs that don't exist.

U-6 is the real rate of joblessness. And that's closer to 17%.

See here for defintion:

http://www.investopedia.com/u/unemployment


It's all about approval ratings and non-double digit unemployment.



Nether party gives a damn about whether the population has a job or not. As long as there are trillions of dollars in tax revenue available that's all that matters.

Check out http://www.opensecrets.org/ to see who is funded by whom when it comes to the real power in the USA, lobbying. There is a relative democracy, but the real power is with lobbyists and its getting worse.

So don't believe the HYPE about jobless numbers going down.

Debt, Tax Collection and Death

I cannot watch the MSM (Main Stream Media) anymore with all this nonsensical talk about the "Debt Ceiling". Check out http://www.usdebtclock.org/ to see where the money is going to and coming from (taxation collected at source)!

The US has increased its debts ceiling 40 times in the past 50 years but when the issue comes up in 2011 its a big to do.

I am writing a book about the the Federal Reserve Bank and its foundation in 1913 along with income tax and have sent sample chapters to various potential publishers, none of whom will even touch the manuscript because of the controversial nature of the content.

Anyway, enough of that, listening to Mumford & Sons on You Tube and what a wonderfully refreshing band amidst all of teh trash out there in cyber space and across the i-tune sphere. Excellent music, passionate and Rolling Stone has a great interview with them currently http://www.rollingstone.com/.

Since this is my first entry and I'm new to all of this I'll keep it short and simple.