A big balloon

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Dear Editor: Recent figures underscore the severity of the toll on the U.S. economy. Last week, the International Monetary Fund said global banks and financial institutions have lost an estimated $4.1 trillion during the financial crisis. Of that total, $2.7 trillion in losses originated in the United States. In another report, the IMF also projected the cost to U.S. taxpayers for the Wall Street bailout and other economy spending could be far higher than government officials have claimed. IMF analysts say the taxpayer tab could come out to $1.9 trilllion over the next five years. The figure amounts to around $6,200 for every U.S. citizen, and just over 13 percent of annual gross domestic product.

A lot of the economists have formerly predicted doom, but they're not doing it now. They're all trying to be peace prophets, not prophets of doom, but of peace and safety. "When they shall cry, 'peace and safety,' then comes sudden destruction." — 1Thess.5:3. That doesn't necessarily mean just war. They've just had a destruction of the stock market, and that can lead to destruction of the economy. The thing is, the economy was just overinflated, it was just a big balloon ready to burst, and now it's got to get back down to where it belongs.

Ted Rudow III,MA

A big balloon

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Peninsula readers' letters: May 7



From Daily News Group readers
Posted: 05/06/2009 11:03:20 PM PDT
Updated: 05/06/2009 11:03:22 PM PDT


Dear Editor: Recent figures underscore the severity of the toll on the U.S. economy. Last week, the International Monetary Fund said global banks and financial institutions have lost an estimated $4.1 trillion during the financial crisis. Of that total, $2.7 trillion in losses originated in the United States. In another report, the IMF also projected the cost to U.S. taxpayers for the Wall Street bailout and other economy spending could be far higher than government officials have claimed. IMF analysts say the taxpayer tab could come out to $1.9 trilllion over the next five years. The figure amounts to around $6,200 for every U.S. citizen, and just over 13 percent of annual gross domestic product.

A lot of the economists have formerly predicted doom, but they're not doing it now. They're all trying to be peace prophets, not prophets of doom, but of peace and safety. "When they shall cry, 'peace and safety,' then comes sudden destruction." — 1Thess.5:3. That doesn't necessarily mean just war. They've just had a destruction of the stock market, and that can lead to destruction of the economy. The thing is, the economy was just overinflated, it was just a big balloon ready to burst, and now it's got to get back down to where it belongs.

Ted Rudow III,MA

After 39 Years, events surrounding Kent State

. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/05/07/18593378.php

by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Thursday May 7th, 2009



After 39 Years, events surrounding Kent State massacre remain unresolved.Thirty-nine years ago this week, National Guardsmen opened fire on hundreds of unarmed students at an antiwar rally at Kent State University in Ohio, killing four and injuring nine.and her lost generation.


NITLER'S(Nixon) conduct in office during his first term, in ruthlessly crushing the youthful and the forces of peace and freedom, as well as under-mining the economy of the country, seemed to prove him so unpopular and odious that we could hardly see how he could ever get elected again! But by many devious, dastardly and dictatorial devices now being exposed to the world in the Watergate scandal, and by even deceiving his liberal enemies by his about-faces, chameleon changes and back flips in party politics. They managed to fool and lull the American public to sleep with a false sense of security and a don't-rock-the-boat-attitude, Nitler and his Nitzies managed to win again with the help of the ugly Americans!
Now it's like the lamentations of Jeremiah over the ruins of Jerusalem. America today is so like Israel was in the days before her fall, over whom the prophet Jeremiah laments. It's youth's lament over the death of America and the music that died with her and her lost generation.
Ted Rudow III,MA

Panic?

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Swine flu, pork connection disproven by authorities

Abstract:
As swine flu, or the H1N1 flu strain, remains a threat in California, the SJSU community is left to reflect on a disease that, so far, has left the university unaffected, according to an SJSU Public Affairs news release....
5/06/09
Ron Paul, an ob-gyn doctor is 11-term libertarian-like Texas
Republican congressman says simply: "The government shouldn't be in the
medical business." He describes a similar outbreak of swine flu back in
1976 when Democrat Joe Biden was already a senator but Barack Obama was
just a teenager. Paul says he was one of two votes against federal
involvement in flu-fighting back then. "There was a panic," he recalls,
"and they said it was going to sweep the nation and the government came
up with some flu shots and the government was going to inoculate
everybody and save the world from this disaster."
When the pandemic, called "Swine Flu", which man creates it,
you can be sure the governments of the world will have learned a lot
from this one, and they'll capitalize on it. They've found that they
need to work together to combat such diseases, a fact which the
governments will use to help promote a one world government with all of
its unified systems.
They've also found that dictatorial or repressive regimes fight
such diseases better, because they have more control over the
people-they can limit their travel, quarantine their home or apartment
building. So authoritarianism has just been given a new excuse for
existence, or at least an old one that hasn't been used in a while!
Ted Rudow III,MA
class of 1996

Cuban

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Cubans are more than just stereotypes and dictators

Abstract: For me, it's not easy being a Cuban-American in the U.S., especially here in California. Cubans are very rare in The Golden State. Either that or just really spread out. So if you want to meet a real Cuban quickly and try your luck at dominoes with them, either book a flight to Florida, or go visit the actual country itself, although just trying to get permission to go is an adventure in itself.... Ted Rudow III,MA 5/06/09
HOW MANY EXAMPLES ARE THERE OF COUNTRIES THAT STARTED OFF WITH A LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC NEW REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT WHICH WAS AT FIRST SUPPOSEDLY PRO-U.S. & recognised immediately by the U.S. Government & favoured & helped? I was there when it happened to Castro in Cuba! The U.S. just praised & extolled him to the heavens when he first moved in & ousted Batista--Batista, who was their own little boy but got too hard to control. Instead of letting the U.S. run him, he finally decided to let the Mafia run him, there was more in it for him.
AT FIRST THEY PRAISED & IMMEDIATELY RECOGNISED THE NEW CASTRO GOVERNMENT. But then he gradually turned & showed his Socialism more & more, & his brother & his cousin turned him more & more toward the Communists & he began to nationalise industry & these immense thousand-acre farms. Then he offended the rich when he came all-out in his program to re-distribute the land & the wealth, etc., & reclaim the Cuban possessions for Cubans!
AT FIRST THE U.S. BACKED CASTRO'S REVOLUTION, helped him, helped arm him & glorified him when he came to power. But then it took a turn, he went too far. The U.S. doesn't want a dictatorship, especially when it has become unpopular & World opinion has turned against them by the Jewish media, etc. They want a more liberal democratic government, they don't mind if it's even a little leftist, as long as they can dump this unpopular dictator who has begun to give the U.S. a bad reputation & is turning World opinion against the U.S.
NOW THIS IS THE PATTERN: They at first back the new leftist revolutionary government, which is supposedly going to be a democratic government & supposedly going to be pro-U.S. There's a whole long string of'm! They only keep relations with the U.S. because they're right there on the border & they're afraid, so they have to kind of play along with the U.S.
Ted Rudow III,MA
class of 1996

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Paul Krugman writes for the New York Times.




Paul Krugman: Wage cuts squeeze workers and the shaky economy



By Paul Krugman
New York Times
Tuesday, May. 5, 2009 - Page 15A

Wages are falling all across America.

Some of the wage cuts, like the givebacks by Chrysler workers, are the price of federal aid. Others, like the tentative agreement on a salary cut here at the New York Times, are the result of discussions between employers and their union employees. Still others reflect the brute fact of a weak labor market: Workers don't dare protest when their wages are cut, because they don't think they can find other jobs.

Whatever the specifics, however, falling wages are a symptom of a sick economy. And they're a symptom that can make the economy even sicker.

First things first: anecdotes about falling wages are proliferating, but how broad is the phenomenon? The answer is, very.

It's true that many workers are still getting pay increases. But there are enough pay cuts out there that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average cost of employing workers in the private sector rose only two-tenths of a percent in the first quarter of this year – the lowest increase on record. Since the job market is still getting worse, it wouldn't be at all surprising if overall wages start falling later this year.

But why is that a bad thing? After all, many workers are accepting pay cuts in order to save jobs. What's wrong with that?

The answer lies in one of those paradoxes that plague our economy right now. We're suffering from the paradox of thrift: Saving is a virtue, but when everyone tries to sharply increase saving at the same time, the effect is a depressed economy. We're suffering from the paradox of deleveraging: Reducing debt and cleaning up balance sheets is good, but when everyone tries to sell off assets and pay down debt at the same time, the result is a financial crisis.

And soon we may be facing the paradox of wages: Workers at any one company can help save their jobs by accepting lower wages, but when employers across the economy cut wages at the same time, the result is higher unemployment.

Here's how the paradox works. Suppose that workers at the XYZ Corp. accept a pay cut. That lets XYZ management cut prices, making its products more competitive. Sales rise, and more workers can keep their jobs. So you might think that wage cuts raise employment – which they do at the level of the individual employer.

But if everyone takes a pay cut, nobody gains a competitive advantage. So there's no benefit to the economy from lower wages. Meanwhile, the fall in wages can worsen the economy's problems on other fronts.

In particular, falling wages, and hence falling incomes, worsen the problem of excessive debt: Your monthly mortgage payments don't go down with your paycheck. America came into this crisis with household debt as a percentage of income at its highest level since the 1930s. Families are trying to work that debt down by saving more than they have in a decade – but as wages fall, they're chasing a moving target. And the rising burden of debt will put downward pressure on consumer spending, keeping the economy depressed.

Things get even worse if businesses and consumers expect wages to fall further in the future. John Maynard Keynes put it clearly, more than 70 years ago: "The effect of an expectation that wages are going to sag by, say, 2 percent in the coming year will be roughly equivalent to the effect of a rise of 2 percent in the amount of interest payable for the same period." And a rise in the effective interest rate is the last thing this economy needs.

Concern about falling wages isn't just theory. Japan – where private-sector wages fell an average of more than 1 percent a year from 1997 to 2003 – is an object lesson in how wage deflation can contribute to economic stagnation.

So what should we conclude from the growing evidence of sagging wages in America? Mainly that stabilizing the economy isn't enough: We need a real recovery.

There has been a lot of talk lately about green shoots and all that, and there are indeed indications that the economic plunge that began last fall may be leveling off. The National Bureau of Economic Research might even declare the recession over later this year.

But the unemployment rate is almost certainly still rising. And all signs point to a terrible job market for many months if not years to come – which is a recipe for continuing wage cuts, which will in turn keep the economy weak.

To break that vicious circle, we basically need more: more stimulus, more decisive action on the banks, more job creation.

Credit where credit is due: President Barack Obama and his economic advisers seem to have steered the economy away from the abyss. But the risk that America will turn into Japan – that we'll face years of deflation and stagnation – seems, if anything, to be rising.
..................................................
05/05/2009
Imagine what a different world it would be if the United States and other nations took the trillion dollars they now spend every year on arms and armies and spent it on food, shelter, health, education and programs that bring life and well-being, rather than death and devastation.

Cutting down on war and weaponry would be a great stimulus package, not only for the economy but for peace. It's not going to happen in the United States anytime soon, of course. The weapons makers and the military are just too powerful, and if the president and lawmakers were to try to cut back on military spending, there'd be howls of protest that the United States is going soft.

Americans have never been very interested in history, and it seems it's destined to repeat the mistakes that other great nations have made.

Ted Rudow III,MA

Islamic Awareness Week concludes with talks of misconceptions of Islam

Islamic Awareness Week concludes with talks of misconceptions of Islam
Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934


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Monday, May 4, 2009

Islamic Awareness Week concludes with talks of misconceptions of Islam



Abstract:
Students filed in and out of Washington Square Hall on Thursday night to hear what Sheikh Alaeddin Elbakri had to say about life's purpose.

The lecture, titled "The Purpose of Life," was hosted by the Muslim Students Association and was the last event of this year's Islamic Awareness Week, which was held from April 27 to May 1.... 5/04/09
CHRISTIANS PROBABLY KNOW ABOUT AS LITTLE ABOUT ISLAM AS CAN BE KNOWN. When we really think about it we realise how ignorant we are of both their religion and the people. About all we've ever heard has been the very negative and uncomplimentary propaganda by so-called Christians and Christendom and the Western enemies of Islam.

WHAT GOOD HAVE YOU EVER HEARD FROM THE WEST ABOUT THE ARABS? Honestly now, how much good have you ever heard about the Arabs, even before they became famous for their oil? I think the horrible impression that most people have had of the Arabs stems from the Crusades.
WHAT LITTLE THEY REMEMBER IS THAT THE ARABS WERE SOME KIND OF FIERCE CRUEL WARRIORS who the so-called "Christian Crusaders" had to fight to so-call "free" the Holy City, using just as much cruelty against the Arabs as the Arabs were accused of using against Christians. So it's about six of one and half-a-dozen of the other, only the cruelty of one was done in the name of Christ, sad to say, which is even worse, whereas the Arabs were really defending their homeland in the name of God.
RELIGIOUS WARS ARE VERY VERY SAD THINGS. THEY SHOW HOW LITTLE REAL RELIGION THE PEOPLE HAVE who are fighting, how little of God some have and how little love, and they're very sad.
Ted Rudow III,MA
class of 1996

Panic?

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/05/04/18592752.php


Panic?
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Monday May 4th, 2009 2:49 PM
Ron Paul,an ob-gyn doctor is 11-term libertarian-like Texas Republican congressman says simply: "The government shouldn't be in the medical business."
He describes a similar outbreak of swine flu back in 1976 when Democrat Joe Biden was already a senator but Barack Obama was just a teenager. Paul says he was one of two votes against federal involvement in flu-fighting back then. "There was a panic," he recalls, "and they said it was going to sweep the nation and the government came up with some flu shots and the government was going to inoculate everybody and save the world from this disaster."
When the pandemic, called "Swine Flu", which man creates it, you can be sure the governments of the world will have learned a lot from this one, and they'll capitalize on it. They've found that they need to work together to combat such diseases, a fact which the governments will use to help promote a one world government with all of its unified systems.
They've also found that dictatorial or repressive regimes fight such diseases better, because they have more control over the people-they can limit their travel, quarantine their home or apartment building. So authoritarianism has just been given a new excuse for existence, or at least an old one that hasn't been used in a while!
Ted Rudow III,MA

Imagine

San Jose Mercury News


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May 2 Readers' letters
From Mercury News readers
Posted: 05/1/09


Imagine what a different world it would be if the United States and other nations took the trillion dollars they now spend every year on arms and armies and spent it on food, shelter, health, education and programs that bring life and well-being, rather than death and devastation.

Cutting down on war and weaponry would be a great stimulus package, not only for the economy but for peace. It's not going to happen in the United States anytime soon, of course. The weapons makers and the military are just too powerful, and if the president and lawmakers were to try to cut back on military spending, there'd be howls of protest that the United States is going soft.

Americans have never been very interested in history, and it seems it's destined to repeat the mistakes that other great nations have made.

Ted Rudow III,MA

Things

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/04/28/18591725.php


Things
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Tuesday Apr 28th,
This is one religion that rules the whole Earth--Materialism, the worship of things. She's pictured as a beautiful woman adorned with precious jewels & gold & silver & living in luxury. This is man's ideal of the ultimate end in pleasure & luxury, a beautiful woman & riches! So she, Babylon, the Great Whore, is the great Witch that bewitches the whole Earth with her sorceries & her fornication to causes men everywhere to worship money & wealth & riches & material things of the flesh!


It doesn't matter if it's out in Squattersville, Shantytown or Hobo Haven, & it's nothing but a little cardboard hut made of cardboard packing boxes & tin & packing crates! If you worship it & love it & work hardest for it in order to preserve it & keep it above God Himself with no love for God nor your fellow man or neighbour, but just for your little shack, or your little grass shack on Kilikilique, Hawaii,
Even if they don't have a mansion, even if it's just a little cardboard shanty or a grass shack, if it has become your god, your idol, what you worship, what you'd rather have than anything in this World, it's your religion, it's your Whore, it's your Witch that has bewitched you with her craftiness & her demonic power to cause you to worship anything & everything except God, in a spirit of selfishness & greed & not love!--Not self-sacrifice, but only love for yourself.

Tea party?

The Caledonian-Record News

Monday, April 27, 2009


Letters to the Editor


4/27/2009 10:00:00 AM
Tea party?
To the Editor:

The U.S. economy will collapse, especially right now, as bad as things are. Usually presidents use war as a remedy for a depression. They certainly won't get us out of a war already in progress that's barely keeping our heads above water to keep us from going into a full-scale depression! So they're sure as hell not going to get us out of this war. Not if they can help it. They will lie and lie and lie and say they're doing it!

I read the book, "The War Goes On," by Sholem Asch, He wrote on the conditions in post-WWI Germany which brought Hitler to power. He showed the picture of Germany - what was wrong with Germany - what happened to Germany and why Hitler was created - the monster was created to devour the lesser monster - so they created a bigger monster!

So similar to the conditions of the United States today. If you ever have a chance to read it, you'll get a picture of what America is like today - same thing! I have never seen so many swastikas flying - you know, those red, white, and blue swastikas?

The American flag is going to be the swastika of America. It's already being used just like the swastika was being used in Germany - to show patriotism, loyalty, love for Fatherland: "We are the true Germans. We're the ones who really want peace. We're the ones who really want to save the Fatherland. The rest of you guys are a bunch of radicals, and disloyal traitors and commies!

Ted Rudow III,MA

Menlo Park, Calif.

Cahoots

April 26
Cahoots
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The Conversationests for the Sunday

Kathleen Parker: Torture memos expose worst kind of legal hypocrisy



By Kathleen Parker
: Sunday, Apr. 26, 2009 | Page 5E

Several years ago, I asked a veteran journalist for advice.

"I'm trying to figure out if I have an ethical conflict," I began.

"If you have to ask, you do," he said.

Simple as that. In posing a question, we often reveal the answer.

Apply the same construct to torture. If we have to ask, it probably is.

Yet, as we've learned with the recent release of Justice Department memos related to interrogation techniques, Bush administration lawyers tortured the English language trying to justify the unjustifiable.

"Enhanced interrogation" wasn't really torture, they decided, as long as the pain administered didn't result in "death, organ failure, or serious impairment of bodily functions."

By that definition, waterboarding – the simulated drowning technique favored by Inquisitors ferreting out heretics – wasn't torture. People might feel like they were going to die, but they weren't really, and so …

In other now-familiar mutations, those held in custody weren't really prisoners, but "detainees" or "alien combatants," and therefore not entitled to humane treatment under the Geneva Conventions.

Granted, it is easy now to sit back and judge these definitions and memos as morally repugnant. It is less easy to place ourselves in the mind-set that dominated the nation immediately after 9/11 and that guided the Bush administration in trying to prevent future attacks.

But we are also reminded that those who objected most strenuously to relaxed definitions of torture and the scrapping of due process even for "alien combatants" were among those most familiar with war and interrogation, including Sen. John McCain and then-Secretary of State Colin Powell. While lawyers sought loopholes, our most admired warriors argued for protection of the laws of war.

Few have put it more clearly than South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who is also an Air Force colonel and senior instructor at the Air Force JAG School and has served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. In a 2006 Newsweek interview, Graham said: "Either we're going to use torture or we're not. And when you say, we won't use torture unless we think we really, really need it, (then) we're not a rule-of-law nation."

It comes down to that. We're either a rule-of-law nation – or we're not. We can't invent definitions of torture for one type of person that wouldn't be acceptable for another, no matter how much we may despise or distrust him. As Graham put it: "I don't love the terrorists, I just love what Americans stand for."

Meanwhile, how trustworthy are the confessions of the tortured? Not very, according to those who know.

Most important, we can hardly present ourselves as arbiters and protectors of human rights when we selectively abuse those in our custody, no matter how compelling our cause. When we parse definitions of "mental pain" and "suffering," we begin to slip down the slope of moral ambiguity where deceit finds company among the dead.

The lawyers who wrote these now-public opinions clearly were looking for ways out of a moral quandary – how to square the means with the end. And doubtless many Americans agree that protecting the United States against terrorist attacks justified nearly any method.

Almost daily, I receive a recycled 2002 quote by Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who argued in a "60 Minutes" interview that most people would justify torture under certain circumstances:

"Is there anybody who wouldn't use torture to save the life of his child? And if you would, isn't it a bit selfish to say, 'It's OK to save my child's life, but it's not OK to save the life of 1,000 strangers?' That's the way people will think about it."

In his book "Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age," Dershowitz proposes that since torture is a given under those certain circumstances, then "torture warrants" should be issued by a judge.

He is right that most of us would do whatever necessary to save our child, possibly even torture a kidnapper. Likewise, if we stumbled upon someone trying to harm a loved one, we would kill the attacker if necessary to stop him.

But those are both darkly impassioned environments. It is by the cool light of day that we devise our laws. And it is by that same light that we judge our actions.

When we ask if something is torture, the answer is another question: What kind of people should we be?

......................................................

04/26/2009
U.S. counterterrorism officials are reacting angrily to ex-Vice President Dick Cheney's claim that waterboarding 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed 183 times was a "success" that produced actionable intelligence."Cheney is full of crap," one intelligence source with decades of experience said Tuesday.
They've been in cahoots on all their dirty dealings.--George Bush and Dick Cheney, and all the dogs of war who love war and want to wage war. They kill the poor and innocent. To cause George Bush, Dick Cheney to suffer for all the suffering they've brought on the World & to the poor of both Iraq & Jordan & even Turkey.
It's incredible that the governments of the world are on track to invest nearly a trillion dollars a year in killing people. You can't tell me that that amount spent on weapons is for "defense," "self-protection," etc. It's mainly for the most lethal and advanced methods of slaughter and murder that money can buy!
Ted Rudow III,MA

Corruption Case Exposes Scope of Bribery in Nigeria

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/04/24/18591098.php


Corruption Case Exposes Scope of Bribery in Nigeria
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Friday Apr 24th, 2009

Last year, Albert Jack Stanley, the former CEO of KBR, which had been a subsidiary of Halliburton, pleaded guilty to bribery in a Texas courtroom for masterminding the payment of more than $180 million to Nigerian officials.

Stanley agreed to a record seven-year prison term and Halliburton and KBR agreed to settle the case by paying more than $500 million in fines – a record for a U.S. company in a bribery case.
Law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation said that in previous interviews, Stanley repeatedly said that then-CEO Cheney had no knowledge of the bribes.In 1998, Kellogg's parent company, Dresser Industries, merged with Halliburton, the oil services giant.
Cheney, then-CEO of Halliburton, arranged the merger during a quail hunting trip. Afterwards, Cheney appointed Stanley to head KBR, a newly formed construction and logistics subsidiary that grew out of the merger.
U.S. counterterrorism officials are reacting angrily to ex-Vice President Dick Cheney's claim that waterboarding 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed 183 times was a "success" that produced actionable intelligence."Cheney is full of crap," one intelligence source with decades of experience said Tuesday.
They've been in cahoots on all their dirty dealings.--George Bush and Dick Cheney, and all the dogs of war who love war and want to wage war. They kill the poor and innocent. To cause George Bush, Dick Cheney to suffer for all the suffering they've brought on the World & to the poor of both Iraq & Jordan & even Turkey.
It's incredible that the governments of the world are on track to invest nearly a trillion dollars a year in killing people. You can't tell me that that amount spent on weapons is for "defense," "self-protection," etc. It's mainly for the most lethal and advanced methods of slaughter and murder that money can buy!
Ted Rudow III,MA

The 'religion' of capitalism

The 'religion' of capitalism

The Caledonian-Record News

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Last Updated 11:06 AM Thursday, April 23, 2009

Letters to the Editor



4/23/2009 10:00:00 AM
The 'religion' of capitalism
To the Editor:

The world has been deceived by the "religion" of capitalism. People had put their faith in a system that promised them ever-increasing profits. The financial "high priests" - the investment bankers, hedge fund operators, and others, promised continual growth. Meanwhile people, companies, banks, institutions, and national governments poured their money into investments that assured financial blessings. They believed, they had faith, and now they see that their faith was misplaced. The financial system that they believed in and thought was solid and strong was only an illusion.

The high priests were repackaging toxic debt and selling it to banks, financial institutions, and nations as if it were gold. Their sleight of hand had people taken in by the belief that if you bought into their system, you were guaranteed rewards. People believed, and they acted on that belief.
America can no longer say, "This is the way it's going to be." The U.S. doesn't have the financial power it used to, because its economy has been greatly weakened. The American government has discredited itself in its interactions with the rest of the world in the way it started its war with Iraq based on lies and false information, its mistreatment of its European allies, its continued unflinching support of Israel despite Israel's violations of international law, its torture of prisoners, and because of its hubris and blatant disregard for the opinions and desires of other nations.

Ted Rudow III,MA

Menlo Park, Calif.

10,000 nuclear weapons

San Jose Mercury News

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From Daily News Group readersPeninsula readers' letters: April 22



From Daily News Group readers


Posted: 04/21/2009 10:42:42 PM PDT



Dear Editor: Well, the Iranians aren't very disposed to kowtow to U.S. might, because they did that for nearly 25 years — a fact many Americans either don't know or conveniently forget. The U.S. overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran back in the 1950s — so much for democracy — and arranged for the Shah to take over, and he did for nearly 25 years. The Iranians didn't care much for the Shah, who was a U.S. puppet, and they certainly don't care much for the U.S. puppeteer.So the Iranians aren't likely to back down on their demands for what they say is a peaceful nuclear program, nor is the U.S. likely to believe them if they do, barring a miracle in either case. The Iranians are determined that they will get nuclear power, and will eventually craft a bomb. It's not just the U.S. government, or parts of it, that's opposed to Iran meddling with nuclear power. Israel is very opposed to it too, since it has the monopoly on nuclear weapons and military might in the Mideast, and wants to keep it that way. And there's a rabidly Zionist bunch of Christians in the U.S. who are also adamantly opposed to Iran getting the bomb, in case it might attack Israel. They're afraid Israel's destruction would hinder or frustrate the Lord's return — as if the Lord needed their help to fulfill his prophecies.So here you see the U.S., which has 10,000 nuclear weapons of various types and has been engaged in constant wars, and Israel, which has at least 200 nuclear weapons and has repeatedly fought its neighbors, calling Iran, with no nuclear weapons, a threat to world peace and a menace to civilization.
Ted Rudow III,MA

Teapot calling the kettle black

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April 22,2009

Teapot calling the kettle black


Dear Editor: Well, the Iranians aren’t very disposed to kowtow to U.S. might, because they did that for nearly 25 years — a fact many Americans either don’t know or conveniently forget. The U.S. overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran back in the 1950s — so much for democracy — and arranged for the Shah to take over, and he did for nearly 25 years. The Iranians didn’t care much for the Shah, who was a U.S. puppet, and they certainly don’t care much for the U.S. puppeteer.
So the Iranians aren’t likely to back down on their demands for what they say is a peaceful nuclear program, nor is the U.S. likely to believe them if they do, barring a miracle in either case. The Iranians are determined that they will get nuclear power, and will eventually craft a bomb. It’s not just the U.S. government, or parts of it, that’s opposed to Iran meddling with nuclear power. Israel is very opposed to it too, since it has the monopoly on nuclear weapons and military might in the Mideast, and wants to keep it that way.
And there’s a rabidly Zionist bunch of Christians in the U.S. who are also adamantly opposed to Iran getting the bomb, in case it might attack Israel. They’re afraid Israel’s destruction would hinder or frustrate the Lord’s return — as if the Lord needed their help to fulfill his prophecies.
So here you see the U.S., which has 10,000 nuclear
LETTERS, page 9 weapons of various types and has been engaged in constant wars, and Israel, which has at least 200 nuclear weapons and has repeatedly fought its neighbors, calling Iran, with no nuclear weapons, a threat to world peace and a menace to civilization!
Ted Rudow III,MA

Right-wing extremists use fear to recruit

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Monday, April 20, 2009



Right-wing extremists use fear to recruit

Abstract: Beware of a resurgence in radicalization and recruitment of right-wing extremists. This was the message in a report by the Department of Homeland Security on April 7. The report follows a warning on left-wing extremists, which was released in January. According to an article on CNN....

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Ted Rudow III,MA

U.S. economy will collapse, especially right now, as bad as things are. Usually presidents use War as a remedy for a Depression. They certainly won't get us out of a war already in progress that's barely keeping our heads above water to keep us from going into a full-scale Depression! So they're sure as hell not going to get us out of this war. Not if they can help it. They will lie and lie and lie and say they're doing it!

I read that book, The War Goes On, by Sholem Asch, He wrote on the conditions in post-WWI Germany which brought Hitler to power. He showed the picture of Germany--what was wrong with Germany--what happened to Germany and why Hitler was created--the monster was created to devour the lesser monster--so they created a bigger Monster! So similar to the conditions of the United States today.--If you ever have a chance to read it, you'll get a picture of what America is like today.--Same thing! I have never seen so many swastikas flying,--you know, those red, white, and blue swastikas?

The American flag is going to be the swastika of America. It's already being used just like the swastika was being used in Germany--to show patriotism, loyalty, love for Fatherland: "We are the true Germans. We're the ones who really want peace. We're the ones who really want to save the Fatherland. The rest of you guys are a bunch of radicals, and disloyal traitors and Commies!

Ted Rudow III,MA

Class of 1996

Deny that freedom

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/04/18/18590317.php


Deny that freedom
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Saturday Apr 18th, 2009
Either way, we should candidly confront the phenomenon he represents. If one believes that Lieberman utterances sound fascist, one has to ask oneself: is there a possibility that a fascist regime might come to power in Israel.
After the Holocaust which Nazi fascism brought upon us? Can one even imagine that Israelis would become something like the Nazis? When Yeshayahu Leibowitz coined, many years ago, the term "Judeo-Nazis", the entire country blew up. Even many of his admirers thought that this time the turbulent professor had gone too far.
And I hate to bring up the bad “F” word, but, you know, there is a model for this, and Mussolini had it in Italy, and it’s called “fascism. It’s where your big corporate interests throw in with government, destroy the freedom of the rest of the people, and preserve their power. Everybody forgets, private corporations and banks did quite well, made out quite well in Italy and Germany in those days, you know? And I am really worried about this assault on their democracy which America has spent billions to deny that freedom!
Ted Rudow III,MA

Our economy

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/04/15/18589210.php


Our economy?
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Wednesday Apr 15th, 2009

No, not unless they meet OUR terms. No give, no bending, inflexible, brittle, and the reason is, we don't want to get out! We can't get out or our economy will collapse, especially right now, as bad as things are. I mean, this would be the unheard of thing! Usually presidents use War as a remedy for a Depression.
They certainly won't get us out of a war already in progress that's barely keeping our heads above water to keep us from going into a full-scale Depression! So they're sure as hell not going to get us out of this war! Not if they can help it!
They will lie and lie and lie and say they're doing it! I read that book, The War Goes On!, although it was book that a teacher in high school recommended, by Sholem Asch, He wrote on the conditions in post-WWI Germany which brought Hitler to power. He showed the picture of Germany--what was wrong with Germany--what happened to Germany and why Hitler was created--the monster was created to devour the lesser monster--so they created a bigger Monster!

IN HIS BOOK HE DESCRIBES THE CONDITIONS THERE, AND I'LL TELL YOU, THE CONDITIONS IN GERMANY AT THAT TIME WERE SO SIMILAR TO THE CONDITIONS OF THE UNITED STATES TODAY!--If you ever have a chance to read it, you'll get a picture of what America is like today!--Same thing! I have never seen so many swastikas flying,--you know, those red, white, and blue swastikas? Everywhere the swastikas are flying to show that they're a red-blooded, red-white-and-blue America! On the cars--American flag stickers flying, homes flying the flag, and all the hard-hats showing how patriotic they are! WHY ALL THIS SUDDEN DESPERATE SHOW OF AMERICANISM? "We are AMERICANS, THIS is our swastika! "The American flag is going to be the swastika of America! It's already being used just like the swastika was being used in Germany--to show patriotism, loyalty, love for Fatherland: "We are the true Germans! We're the ones who really want peace! We're the ones who really want to save the Fatherland! The rest of you guys are a bunch of radicals, and disloyal traitors and Commies!
http://tedriii.blogspot.com/

"Religion" of capitalism

April 14
"religion" of capitalism
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My View: Energy-saving carbon cap offers a bonus: More jobs



By Dave Yarnold
Special to The Bee
Tuesday, Apr. 14, 2009 - 12:00 am | Page 13A

Amid all the news reports about failed financial gadgets like credit-default swaps and mortgage-backed securities, you'll find an occasional story that reveals the human face of this recession. Here's one example from Stark County, Ohio: Almost 700 people recently lined up to apply for a job as a junior high school janitor. Officials in Stark County were surprised that so many seasoned workers, including people in their late 40s and 50s, were vying for a $15-an-hour job with little room for professional growth or promotion. But in a county with more than 10 percent unemployment, the job hunters had few other options.Ironically, while those 700 people were standing in line for a single job, few people were paying attention to a company a stone's throw away that could soon be providing job hunters with a lot more options. 3-D Service, in Massillon, Ohio, does repair work and maintenance on wind turbine power systems and components. It's one of hundreds of companies across Ohio, and thousands across America, that are part of the "new energy future" that President Obama and major business leaders keep talking about. These companies are poised for rapid growth – if America passes a federal law to cap global warming pollution, a move that will reinvent our energy supply and create new businesses to cater to it.-------------------
.....................................................................
The world has been deceived by the "religion" of capitalism. People had put their faith in a system that promised them ever-increasing profits. The financial "high priests"—the investment bankers, hedge fund operators, and others—promised continual growth; meanwhile people, companies, banks, institutions, and national governments poured their money into investments that assured financial blessings. They believed, they had faith, and now they see that their faith was misplaced. The financial system that they believed in and thought was solid and strong was only an illusion. The "high priests" were repackaging toxic debt and selling it to banks, financial institutions, and nations as if it were gold. Their sleight of hand had people taken in by the belief that if you bought into their system, you were guaranteed rewards. People believed, and they acted on that belief.
America can no longer say, "This is the way it's going to be".The U.S. doesn't have the financial power it used!
Ted Rudow III,MA

Obama-Auto plants

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News in Brief Published on 11/04/2009
Readers' Letters and Opinionsletters@dailystar.com.lb

Obama clearly sees that the American system has failed in some ways, and has fallen far short of where it should be in others, and he wants to shake things up and change things.
Yet he has not fully realized how difficult it is to change the course in which the US is going, and how time-consuming it will be.
Obama is no exception. He knows the Lord, although he does not place a high priority on his relationship with Him. It's not that he considers it unimportant; it's just that he considers politics one thing and his religious life quite another, and he is often more motivated by practical considerations and influenced by his counselors than he is by the Lord.
They tell themselves many things in many situations to justify their little compromises or deals, and after a while, compromising becomes a habit, what they consider a necessary evil.
He also governs a nation that is reaping what it has sown for many years. It oppressed other nations economically, robbing the poor to care for the rich, and now its own economic system is in deep trouble. It built its finances like a house of cards, and those cards are now collapsing. It bought and consumed and chased after wealth, making mammon and greed its gods, and now its gods have failed it. It has overextended itself financially and militarily, and now finds itself in trouble in many areas, and disliked in many countries.
Obama comes into office bearing more, because America must reap what it has sown. The nation that has sown poverty, injustice and destruction abroad will taste the same at home.

Ted Rudow III, MA
Menlo Park, United States
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Auto plants
Editor,


“It all evokes too many memories of the Great Depression, and the long lines of job seekers in front of the auto plants in the 1930s. It’s quite a contrast with the gentle treatment of Wall Street.” — Helen Thomas.


Somebody was saying in the paper the other day that it’s usually about a 50- to 60-year cycle between major crashes. The Crash of ’29 followed one that was in 1869. This is almost 80 years! They called it a panic then, whereas they try to give it nice-sounding names nowadays. You notice most of them didn’t call it a crash, they didn’t call it a panic, they just called it a drop. Well, the nice thing about it is, if it follows the pattern of ’29, the prices should go down with the incomes. People are out of work, so they have very little income. Prices drop so far that even when the income drops you can still afford to live. Gold has immediately shot up. Now the next thing to crash is the banks! The federal government didn’t allow the banks to reopen until they could prove they were solvent. And of course hundreds of them never reopened at all, because they were bankrupted.


Ted Rudow III,MA

U.S. internment camps

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Editorial Notebook: Learning from those who lost all

By Maria Henson
mhenson@sacbee.com
Monday, Apr. 6, 2009 -

What might happen if you lost all of your material possessions?

The Rev. Bob Oshita, head of The Buddhist Church of Sacramento Hongwanji Betsuin, has congregants who know.

The temple's membership of 1,300 is 70 percent Japanese American. During Oshita's 25 years at the temple, he has ministered to many who wandered back from U.S. internment camps after World War II with only the belongings they carried with them to captivity.
"It's really been all about greed," he says, calling the lead-up to the crisis a time when people wanted to get something for nothing and take all they could....There was so much lack of integrity and no sense of how you are affecting others - that interdependence. In a way, maybe people feel they don't represent anything anymore except themselves.....What will emerge will hopefully be more realistic. And hopefully more holistic" in leading Americans to recognize the global connections and appreciate them, he says.

He tells the story of a newscast that illustrates the conundrum of humans facing loss. After a flood in the Northwest, one man's car was swept away by the torrent of floodwaters. The man's house was destroyed. But the man and his family were saved, having been rescued from the car. "His face was so happy" that he and has family were alive, Oshita says, and the man expressed his gratitude.


- Maria Henson mhenson@sacbee.com


04/06/2009
I was thinking about cities being on the brink and going bankrupt: But can you imagine what would happen in a city the size of New York with millions of people in it if suddenly they couldn't pay the garbage men or the train drivers or the truck or the bus drivers, subway drivers electrical workers, water men, all the various utilities, school teachers--if suddenly the whole city went totally bankrupt. Well, you can imagine what would happen if suddenly nobody in a city that size got paid and they couldn't buy their food, or the water stopped running, the sewage stopped flowing and the lights went out? Now what do you think would happen?--Riots, brother?--No!--There'd be war!
The tables are once more being over turned as the rich are beginning to themselves be destroyed by their own riches and evil pollution of the earth!
Ted Rudow III,MA

The tables

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After deadly police shootings, government needs to address gun control

Abstract:
In January, a bill was introduced to the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate to give Washington, D.C., congressional representation. But those in D.C. shouldn't hold their breaths.



On Feb. 25, Sen. John Ensign introduced an amendment to the bill "to restore Second Amendment rights in the District of Columbia....

......................................................................................................................... 4/06/09
I was thinking about cities being on the brink and going bankrupt: But can you imagine what would happen in a city the size of New York with millions of people in it if suddenly they couldn't pay the garbage men or the train drivers or the truck or the bus drivers, subway drivers electrical workers, water men, all the various utilities, school teachers--if suddenly the whole city went totally bankrupt. Well, you can imagine what would happen if suddenly nobody in a city that size got paid and they couldn't buy their food, or the water stopped running, the sewage stopped flowing and the lights went out? Now what do you think would happen?--Riots, brother?--No!--There'd be war!
The tables are once more being over turned as the rich are beginning to themselves be destroyed by their own riches and evil pollution of the earth! The rich United States and Europe are beginning to have their money system collapsing because they have built it on paper and now even mere electronic impulses instead of real valuables such as the gold and silver from whence it came. The paper empires of the paper tigers of paper money, paper stocks, paper bonds, paper cheques, paper securities, paper deeds and paper contracts are beginning to burn like a wick and raw goods that used to feed it!
Ted Rudow III,MA
class of 1996

A house of cards

April 04
A house of cards

The Stanford Daily


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S.F. mayor campaigns in Palo Alto

AGUSTIN RAMIREZ/The Stanford Daily

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom discussed state policies at a town hall meeting in Palo Alto Wednesday evening. Newsom is running to replace Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010.

By: Devin Banerjee
Published: April 2, 2009
Newsom aims to target youth through social networking

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom continued his statewide tour of town halls Wednesday evening, discussing a variety of state issues in a packed Palo Alto High School gymnasium. The mayor opened a gubernatorial exploratory committee in July of last year, 28 months ahead of the 2010 election that will replace incumbent California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The audience was diverse — from business suits to high school sweatshirts — as were the questions on the table, which attendees submitted on index cards. State health care, education and water management dominated the hour-long session, along with same-sex marriage rights and the proposed high-speed rail system.
While Newsom has become known for hard-left stances — most notably his forceful campaign against the recent ban on same-sex marriage — he continually emphasized on Wednesday that he is not strictly ideological, but instead "open to evidence" that contradicts his own beliefs.

"I don't want to cast aspersions on people that disagree," Newsom said specifically of the gay marriage debate. "Good people disagree."

Newsom, a supporter of Hillary Clinton who backed Barack Obama for President after Clinton bowed out of last year's race...............

A house of cards
Saturday Apr 4th, 2009
Obama clearly sees that the American system has failed in some ways, and has fallen far short of where it should be in others, and he wants to shake things up and change things. Yet he has not fully realized how difficult it is to change the course in which the U.S. is going, and how time-consuming it will be.
Obama is no exception. He knows the Lord, although he does not place a high priority on his relationship with Him. It's not that he considers it unimportant; it's just that he considers politics one thing and his religious life quite another, and he is often more motivated by practical considerations and influenced by his counselors than he is by the Lord. They tell themselves many things in many situations to justify their little compromises or deals, and after a while, compromising becomes a habit, what they consider a necessary evil.
He also governs a nation that is reaping what it has sown for many years. It oppressed other nations economically, robbing the poor to care for the rich, and now its own economic system is in deep trouble. It built its finances like a house of cards, and those cards are now collapsing. It bought and consumed and chased after wealth, making mammon and greed its gods, and now its gods have failed it. It has overextended itself financially and militarily, and now finds itself in trouble in many areas, and disliked in many countries. Obama comes into office bearing more, because America must reap what it has sown. The nation that has sown poverty, injustice and destruction abroad will taste the same at home

A house of cards

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/04/04/18586007.php


A house of cards
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Saturday Apr 4th, 2009
Obama clearly sees that the American system has failed in some ways, and has fallen far short of where it should be in others, and he wants to shake things up and change things. Yet he has not fully realized how difficult it is to change the course in which the U.S. is going, and how time-consuming it will be.

Obama is no exception. He knows the Lord, although he does not place a high priority on his relationship with Him. It's not that he considers it unimportant; it's just that he considers politics one thing and his religious life quite another, and he is often more motivated by practical considerations and influenced by his counselors than he is by the Lord. They tell themselves many things in many situations to justify their little compromises or deals, and after a while, compromising becomes a habit, what they consider a necessary evil.
He also governs a nation that is reaping what it has sown for many years. It oppressed other nations economically, robbing the poor to care for the rich, and now its own economic system is in deep trouble. It built its finances like a house of cards, and those cards are now collapsing. It bought and consumed and chased after wealth, making mammon and greed its gods, and now its gods have failed it. It has overextended itself financially and militarily, and now finds itself in trouble in many areas, and disliked in many countries. Obama comes into office bearing more, because America must reap what it has sown. The nation that has sown poverty, injustice and destruction abroad will taste the same at home.
Ted Rudow III,MA

Behold the black horse

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/04/02/18585413.php


Behold the black horse
by Ted Rudow III,MA
Thursday Apr 2nd, 2009


“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, ‘Come and see.’ And I beheld, and to a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, ‘A measure of wheat for a penny; and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine’” (Revelation 6:5-6 KJV.).



This black horse’s rider with the pair of balances in his hand symbolizes the rich capitalists who have a major impact on world conditions through their manipulation of national economies. Only one other verse in the Bible pictures a man with balances or scales: “The merchant uses dishonest scales; he loves to defraud” (Hosea 12:7 NIV).

Another prophet, Amos, also said the merchants — the wealthy capitalists of his day who were robbing the poor instead of helping them — “set forth wheat, making the ephah [unit of measure] small, and the shekel [price] great and falsifying the balances by deceit ... that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail” (Amos 8:4-6 KJV).

The black horse, then, represents famine and poverty perpetrated by the rich who refuse to share with those in need. Oil and wine, throughout the Scriptures, symbolize abundance or luxury.

The fact that the oil and wine were “hurt not” indicates a situation where wealth and luxury exist alongside famine and poverty — and the gulf between rich and poor is only growing.

Auto plants

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/04/02/18585400.php


Auto plants
by Ted Rudow III,MA
Thursday Apr 2nd
"It all evokes too many memories of the Great Depression, and the long lines of job seekers in front of the auto plants in the 1930s. It’s quite a contrast with the gentle treatment of Wall Street."Helen Thomas


Somebody was saying in the paper the other day that it's usually about a 50 to 60 year cycle between major crashes. The Crash of '29 followed one that was in 1869. This is almost 80 years! They called it a panic then, whereas they try to give it nice-sounding names nowadays. You notice most of them didn't call it a crash, they didn't call it a panic, they just called it a drop.
Well, the nice thing about it is, if it follows the pattern of '29, the prices should go down with the incomes. People are out of work, so they have very little income. Prices drop so far that even when the income drops you can still afford to live. Gold has immediately shot up.
Now the next thing to crash is the banks! The Federal Government didn't allow the banks to reopen until they could prove they were solvent. And of course hundreds of them never reopened at all, because they were bankrupted.
Ted Rudow III,MA

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04/01/2009
THE GREAT AND POWERFUL RICH by their evil wisdom were even so smart with their evil knowledge and lies called higher education, propaganda and advertising, that they even convinced lots of poor people that they were right and persuaded them to voluntarily give up some of the few things they had to make them even poorer and the rich even richer, so the rich could have more and more and the poor less and less. These are called "taxes" and "profits" and "interest."
THEY EVEN MADE THE POOR PEOPLE FIGHT THESE WARS FOR THEM, when all the poor really wanted was peace and enough to eat and wear and a place to sleep!
Ted Rudow III,MA

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Prisoners of compromise
Editor,
Democratic President Barack Obama will not “rule out” using private military companies like Blackwater Worldwide in Iraq. Obama also has no plans to sign on to legislation that seeks to ban the use of these forces in U.S. war zones by Jan. 2009, which he hasn’t! Despite their antiwar rhetoric, Obama has adopted the congressional Democratic position that would leave open the option of keeping tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq for many years. Those who would reach such a lofty office in the eyes of the world have entangled themselves deeply in the affairs of this world. Those who are elected to this office that is so highly esteemed among men have few choices left to them. When in their hearts they know exactly where they stand, and which way they’ll go when the showdown comes as many Democratic and Republican leaders have.
They are prisoners of the compromises they have made to attain the office, prisoners of their advisers and counselors, prisoners of the policies of their party and the values of their nation.
Ted Rudow III,MA
Menlo Park

Obama is a prisoner of compromise

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Posted: 03/26/2009 08:24:56 PM PDT


Obama is a prisoner of compromise

Dear Editor: Democratic President Barack Obama will not rule out using private military companies like Blackwater Worldwide in Iraq. Obama also has no plans to sign on to legislation that seeks to ban the use of these forces in U.S. war zones by January 2009.

Despite their anti-war rhetoric, Obama and congressional Democrats have taken a position that would leave open the option of keeping tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq for many years. Those who would reach such a lofty office in the eyes of the world have entangled themselves deeply in the affairs of this world. Those who are elected to this office that is so highly esteemed among men have few choices left to them.

In their hearts they know exactly where they stand, and which way they'll go when the showdown comes, as many Democratic and Republican leaders have. They are prisoners of the compromises they have made to attain the office, prisoners of their advisers and counselors, prisoners of the policies of their party and the values of their nation.

Ted Rudow III,MA

Obama

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Obama is a prisoner of compromise
Dear Editor:
Democratic President Barack Obama will not rule out using private military companies like Blackwater Worldwide in Iraq. Obama also has no plans to sign on to legislation that seeks to ban the use of these forces in U.S. war zones by January 2009.
Despite their anti-war rhetoric, Obama and congressional Democrats have taken a position that would leave open the option of keeping tens of thousands of U.S. troops in Iraq for many years. Those who would reach such a lofty office in the eyes of the world have entangled themselves deeply in the af­fairs of this world. Those who are elected to this office that is so highly esteemed among men have few choices left to them. In their hearts they know exactly where they stand, and which way they'll go when the showdown comes, as many Democratic and Republican leaders have. They are prison­ers of the compromises they have made to attain the office, prisoners of their advisers and counselors, prisoners of the policies of their party and the values of their nation.
Ted Rudow III, MA

Bomb someone they've labeled a terrorist

March 27
Bomb someone they've labeled a terrorist
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Israel deliberately destroyed the few factories the Gazans still had functioning, systematically crushing what was left of their shattered economy. In the majority of instances, the Israelis did this simply because they wanted to inflict as much pain and suffering as possible on the Palestinian population of Gaza. Israeli politicians hate to have to give anything up. When it looks like they might actually have to negotiate with the Palestinians or reach a deal that would involve any sort of sacrifice on Israel's part, the Israeli military gets into the act and starts bullying the Palestinians more than usual, trying to provoke them.
They'll make a raid, or arrest some Palestinians, or bomb someone they've labeled a terrorist, and keep doing that sort of thing until they provoke a violent reaction from the Palestinians. Then, of course, the Israelis don't have to give up anything or negotiate anymore - at least for a while - because they will say, "Look, the Palestinians obviously aren't serious about peace! See how violent and bloodthirsty they are?" But it's obvious who the victim is and who the rogue state is as well.

Ted Rudow III, MA California, United States
.........................................................................................................................

The International Herald Tribune and The Daily Star are available every morning in: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman

It's about power!

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/25/18582206.php


It's about power
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Wednesday Mar 25th, 2009
The global economic crisis isn't about money - it's about power. How Wall Street insiders are using the bailout to stage a revolution
MATT TAIBBI



That guy — the Patient Zero of the global economic meltdown — was one Joseph Cassano, the head of a tiny, 400-person unit within the company called AIG Financial Products, or AIGFP. Cassano, by contrast, was just a greedy with a knack for selective accounting who ran his scam right out in the open, thanks to Washington's deregulation of the Wall Street casino. "It's all about the regulatory environment," says a government source involved with the AIG bailout. A CDO is like a box full of diced-up assets. They can be anything: mortgages, corporate loans, aircraft loans, credit-card loans, even other CDOs. So as X mortgage holder pays his bill, and Y corporate debtor pays his bill, and Z credit-card debtor pays his bill, money flows into the box.The key idea behind a CDO is that there will always be at least some money in the box, regardless of how dicey the individual assets inside it are... What the inventors of the CDO did is divide up the box into groups of investors and put that $10 into its own level, or "tranche." They then convinced ratings agencies like Moody's and S&P to give that top tranche the highest AAA rating — meaning it has close to zero credit risk.
A demonstration to those in high standing of who is really the boss. Even the big money boys are as pawns in the hands of the puppeteer. The puppeteer's total power works by fear. The puppeteer sends a strong signal that it is indeed he who holds the bag and manipulates the strings, and all must yield to his gestures and signals, else they will be tangled up and put out of commission. his ability to keep the marionettes moving and flowing and dancing in apparent sync and coordination.
Ted Rudow III,MA

Cities

March 24
Cities
The Stanford Daily




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Front » News • Top Headlines

Economic summit talks recession, features Rice





By: Nikhil Joshi
Published: March 16, 2009

We are at a critical juncture, say economic and political leaders

A Friday the 13th gathering of economic and political leaders, mostly from the Bush era, the annual Stanford Institute of Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) Economic Summit was marked by a sense of urgency. Speakers stressed the need to find out why the economy has tumbled, as well as how to take bold corrective action.

The summit featured a group that has shaped the world economy for years, and is now pondering ways to kick start a recovery - former Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and George Shultz, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, former Bush chief economic advisor Edward Lazear and Wells Fargo Chairman Richard Kovacevich, along with an assortment of the most influential economics professors in the country.

Condoleezza Rice

In her first on-campus public address since returning to Stanford, Rice drew on her experience at the top of the State Department and called on the U.S. to take a strong leadership role in pushing a global recovery, lest developing economies that are on “the cusp” snap away from the liberal capitalist model.

Rice framed her remarks by saying that this is more than an economic crisis – it is a crisis of governance, and is calling into question which model of development governments should employ to best serve their people.

The former Secretary of State warned strongly against turning inward in tough economic times, noting that one of her deepest regrets from her time in the Bush administration was the government’s failure to implement immigration reform. Rice also voiced concern that America could lapse into a destructive, protectionist trade philosophy.

According to Rice, this isn’t just a recession; it is an international crisis that is calling globalism into question in some parts of the world. She argued that countries in Eastern Europe and Latin America, for example, are in particular danger because of aggressive policies in recent years, such as the Estonian flat tax.

“It is my belief that these countries have democratic institutions that are strong enough to survive these pressures,” Rice said, “but we should not underestimate the degree to which they are under pressure.”

Several times, Rice returned to the specific challenges and successes she faced while in government.

“Oil warped international politics in a way that nothing else did,” she said.

Rice was especially proud of the Bush administration’s foreign assistance program, the Millennium Challenge, which included large grants in the hundreds of millions of dollars that were tied to governance benchmarks, such as shortening the number of days it takes to open a business. She expressed hope that the U.S. would not sharply curtail foreign assistance in the midst of the current financial troubles.

Rice concluded her talk by discussing the American psyche, a theme that was repeated throughout the day. But Rice added an international flavor, saying that the U.S. needs to project a confident, optimistic image not for just its own sake, but for the health of the global economy.

.....................................................................

I was thinking about cities being on the brink and going bankrupt: But can you imagine what would happen in a city the size of New York with millions of people in it if suddenly they couldn’t pay the garbage men or the train drivers or the truck or the bus drivers, subway drivers electrical workers, water men, all the various utilities, school teachers–if suddenly the whole city went totally bankrupt. Well, you can imagine what would happen if suddenly nobody in a city that size got paid and they couldn’t buy their food, or the water stopped running, the sewage stopped flowing and the lights went out? Now what do you think would happen?–Riots, brother?–No!–There’d be war!
The tables are once more being over turned as the rich are beginning to themselves be destroyed by their own riches and evil pollution of the earth! The rich United States and Europe are beginning to have their money system collapsing because they have built it on paper and now even mere electronic impulses instead of real valuables such as the gold and silver from whence it came. The paper empires of the paper tigers of paper money, paper stocks, paper bonds, paper cheques, paper securities, paper deeds and paper contracts are beginning to burn like a wick without the oil and raw goods that used to feed it!

Cities

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/24/18581613.php


Cities
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Tuesday Mar 24th, 2009 9:13 AM

I was thinking about cities being on the brink and going bankrupt: But can you imagine what would happen in a city the size of New York with millions of people in it if suddenly they couldn't pay the garbage men or the train drivers or the truck or the bus drivers, subway drivers electrical workers, water men, all the various utilities, school teachers--if suddenly the whole city went totally bankrupt.
Well, you can imagine what would happen if suddenly nobody in a city that size got paid and they couldn't buy their food, or the water stopped running, the sewage stopped flowing and the lights went out? Now what do you think would happen?--Riots, brother?--No!--There'd be war!
The tables are once more being over turned as the rich are beginning to themselves be destroyed by their own riches and evil pollution of the earth! The rich United States and Europe are beginning to have their money system is collapsing because they have built it on paper and now even mere electronic impulses instead of real valuables such as the gold and silver from whence it came! The paper empires of the paper tigers of paper money, paper stocks, paper bonds, paper cheques, paper securities, paper deeds and paper contracts are beginning to burn like a wick without the oil and raw goods that used to feed it!

Ted Rudow III,MA

Rogue state?

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/22/18580657.php


Rogue state?
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Sunday Mar 22nd, 2009
Israel deliberately destroyed the few factories the Gazans still had functioning, systematically crushing what's left of their shattered economy. But in the majority of instances the Israelis did it simply because they wanted to inflict as much pain and suffering as possible on the Palestinian population of Gaza.
Israeli politicians hate to have to give anything up. When it looks like they might actually have to negotiate with the Palestinians or reach a deal that would involve any sort of sacrifice on Israel's part, the Israeli military gets into the act and starts bullying the Palestinians more than usual, trying to provoke them.

They'll make a raid, or arrest some Palestinians, or bomb someone they've labeled a terrorist, and keep doing that sort of thing until they provoke a violent reaction from the Palestinians. Then, of course, the Israelis don't have to give up anything or negotiate anymore—at least for a while—because, "Look, the Palestinians obviously aren't serious about peace! See how violent and bloodthirsty they are!" But as the man says, it's obvious who the victim is and who the rogue state is as well!

Pride and greed

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Agence France Presse (AFP)
"Israel mulls toughening"
Israel's policy is indeed "Wipe them out, and then we won't have to worry about their rights and all that sort of thing anymore." That was the US policy in Vietnam too, to literally try to wipe them out. And if it hadn't been for world opinion, they would have. But the world was horrified at the things the US did there. And that's exactly what is happening now to Israel. The same thing that happened to the US in Vietnam is now beginning to turn the tide of world opinion totally against Israel. Israel is being exposed. She has no idea of evacuating any lands but is going to gobble up more. Read it in the papers. Rather than give the Palestinians just a little bit of land, their own land, they'd rather fight and die.Pride and greed. They don't want to have to admit that the land belongs to the Palestinians and they aren't willing to share it with them - think of it!

Ted Rudow III, MA California, United States
.........................................................................................................................

The International Herald Tribune and The Daily Star are available every morning in: Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman

A few bones to pacify the dogs?

A few bones to pacify the dogs?

Palo Alto Daily News

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From Daily News Group readers
03/14/2009

Dear Editor:
Bernard L. Madoff entered a federal courtroom in Manhattan on Thursday to admit that he had run a vast Ponzi scheme that robbed thousands of investors of their life savings. He admitted his guilt for the first time in public, and apologized to his victims, dozens of whom were squeezed into the courtroom benches behind him, before being handcuffed and led away to jail to await sentencing.

But under capitalism, selfishness and greed of the rich is given a license and they run the government, which was heightened by George W. Bush's example. This bailout is really not a bailout at all; it's a parting gift to the people that Bush once referred to jokingly as "my base." It's what European colonial rulers used to do when they finally realized they had to hand over power; they would loot the Treasury on the way out the door.

They make the laws, what chance do the poor have? They supposedly vote, so what? They vote for one greedy capitalist or another. Every one of the men running for office are rich men, what are they going to do for the poor? Throw'm out a few crumbs? A few bones to pacify the dogs?

Ted Rudow III,MA

Throw'm out a few crumbs?

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Dear Editor:
Bernard L. Madoff entered a federal courtroom in Manhattan on Thursday to admit that he had run a vast Ponzi scheme that robbed thousands of investors of their life savings. He admitted his guilt for the first time in public, and apologized to his victims, dozens of whom were squeezed into the courtroom benches behind him, before being handcuffed and led away to jail to await sentencing.

But under capitalism, selfishness and greed of the rich is given a license and they run the government, which was heightened by George W. Bush's example. This bailout is really not a bailout at all; it's a parting gift to the people that Bush once referred to jokingly as "my base." It's what European colonial rulers used to do when they finally realized they had to hand over power; they would loot the Treasury on the way out the door.

They make the laws, what chance do the poor have? They supposedly vote, so what? They vote for one greedy capitalist or another. Every one of the men running for office are rich men, what are they going to do for the poor? Throw'm out a few crumbs? A few bones to pacify the dogs?

Ted Rudow III,MA

A few bones

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/14/18577225.php


The treasury on the way out the door.
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Saturday Mar 14th, 2009
Bernard L. Madoff entered a federal courtroom in Manhattan on
Thursday to admit that he had run a vast Ponzi scheme that robbed
thousands of investors of their life savings.


He admitted his guilt for the first time in public, and apologized to his victims, dozens of whom were squeezed into the courtroom benches behind him, before being
handcuffed and led away to jail to await sentencing.
But under Capitalism, where selfishness and greed of the rich is
given a license and they run the government which was heighten by
Bush's example! This bailout is really not a bailout at all; it’s a
parting gift to the people that the Bush—that George Bush once referred
to jokingly as “my base.” It to what European colonial rulers used to
do when they finally realized they had to hand over power; they would
loot the treasury on the way out the door.
They make the laws, what chance do the poor have? They supposedly
vote, so what? They vote for one greedy capitalist or another. Every
one of the men running for office are rich men, what are they going to
do for the poor? Throw'm out a few crumbs? A few bones to pacify the
dogs?
Ted Rudow III,MA

Amerika the whore

U.S. | Global Justice and Anti-Capitalism
Amerika the Whore
by Ted Rudow III,MA
Thursday Mar 12th, 2009
We have to warn Europe she's got to cut her anchor to Amerika or she'll sink! She must not give Amerika all these artificial respirations and transfusions! Why should Europe save Amerika? They should just cut her loose and let her die!--Otherwise they'll bleed themselves to death! We've got to tell Europe to let Amerika go! They're putting their eggs in the wrong basket!


THEY CAN'T SEEM TO GET OVER THE "AMERIKAN DREAM," but that's not where God's going! They need to get on with their Socialism, and damn the Fascism of Amerika!They're trying to respect her! She doesn't deserve respect: She's an old Whore! Europe is trying to be married to Amerika, when they should cut her loose like a Whore!

BUT THE CAPITALISTIC FINANCIERS OF EUROPE: THEY'RE ALL LIKE A WHOLE BUNCH OF PIMPS! (Or Panders: Those who solicit business for a whore, and share in her wages and profits.)--They've got a whole lot invested in this Whore, and they don't want to lose it. So they try to save her so they can save their investments,so they can save her and continue to make a little money on her. She thinks she's their owner, but they're her owner, and unless they rescue her, she'll die; but they're trying to rescue her to save their own investments. She's going to die anyway, and they're going to lose anyway, so the quicker they cut her loose, the better!

IT'S TOTALLY ARTIFICIAL FOR THEM TO SUPPORT THE DOLLAR! If they'd just let the dollar sink down to where it belongs, Amerika would sink! But the whole trouble is, they each own too much of a share in the Whore, and they don't want to lose their investments. So the money pimps get together and agree to support her dollars when she's sick and not earning them any money. They think she's going to get well again, and they don't realize she's just going to die!
(REV.18:23b)" for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived."
Ted Rudow III,MA

Amerika the whore

U.S. | Global Justice and Anti-Capitalism
Amerika the Whore
by Ted Rudow III,MA
Thursday Mar 12th, 2009
We have to warn Europe she's got to cut her anchor to Amerika or she'll sink! She must not give Amerika all these artificial respirations and transfusions! Why should Europe save Amerika? They should just cut her loose and let her die!--Otherwise they'll bleed themselves to death! We've got to tell Europe to let Amerika go! They're putting their eggs in the wrong basket!


THEY CAN'T SEEM TO GET OVER THE "AMERIKAN DREAM," but that's not where God's going! They need to get on with their Socialism, and damn the Fascism of Amerika!They're trying to respect her! She doesn't deserve respect: She's an old Whore! Europe is trying to be married to Amerika, when they should cut her loose like a Whore!

BUT THE CAPITALISTIC FINANCIERS OF EUROPE: THEY'RE ALL LIKE A WHOLE BUNCH OF PIMPS! (Or Panders: Those who solicit business for a whore, and share in her wages and profits.)--They've got a whole lot invested in this Whore, and they don't want to lose it. So they try to save her so they can save their investments,so they can save her and continue to make a little money on her. She thinks she's their owner, but they're her owner, and unless they rescue her, she'll die; but they're trying to rescue her to save their own investments. She's going to die anyway, and they're going to lose anyway, so the quicker they cut her loose, the better!

IT'S TOTALLY ARTIFICIAL FOR THEM TO SUPPORT THE DOLLAR! If they'd just let the dollar sink down to where it belongs, Amerika would sink! But the whole trouble is, they each own too much of a share in the Whore, and they don't want to lose their investments. So the money pimps get together and agree to support her dollars when she's sick and not earning them any money. They think she's going to get well again, and they don't realize she's just going to die!
(REV.18:23b)" for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived."
Ted Rudow III,MA

Spartan Daily - Serving San Jose State University since 1934

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Campus weighs in on same-sex marriage case

Abstract:
In November 2008, California voters ruled against gay marriage, but the fight for its reversal wages on. Oral arguments involving the legality of Proposition 8, which recognizes marriage as strictly between a man and a woman, will be made in front of the California Supreme Court today....

3/06/09
AIDS was first identified in the USA in 1981. The epidemic has now spread to every part of the USA and to all sectors of society. It is thought that more than one million people are living with HIV in the USA and that more than half a million have died after developing AIDS.
If "to the pure all things are pure" and "all things are lawful unto me," and if, under this Law of grace and Love, extramarital sex and all of these other things are lawful, then where do things like sodomy fit in?
If you are truly pure and loving, you wouldn't do such things, because they're definitely not good for you physically or spiritually, and they're hurtful. Just because "all things are lawful" unto us doesn't mean that we can go around murdering or killing or torturing people OR GIVING THEM AIDS! That's not love!
Ted Rudow III,MA
class of 1996

Gestapo-like

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/04/18574939.php


Gestapo-like
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Wednesday Mar 4th, 2009
The proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS) would force even the smallest healthy farms to buy expensive new computer tracking equipment, and potentially would subject them to gestapo-like tactics by the USDA if they are in even slight technical non-compliance.
And all this just to fatten the pockets of the RFID chip manufacturers, and to make it LOOK like something is being done to make our food safer.
This is something they've been working on for years. They've already got this whole new credit system in the works. The whole World will soon buy on this credit system with no currency, no cheques, no paper money. You won't even need any more credit cards, because you will be your own credit card! You will have your invisible electronic number in your hand or in your forehead which can somehow be read by the cashier, or whoever you're buying goods from, who will then tap your number into his machine to see if you really have that much credit and to charge that up to your account and so on! Revelation 13:16 it says, "in the right hand, or in the forehead,"

Ted Rudow III,MA

Economic crisis has deeper roots than once believed

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Opinion


Paul Krugman writes for the New York Times.


Paul Krugman: Economic crisis has deeper roots than once believed

Tuesday, Mar. 3, 2009 Page 13A

Remember the good old days, when we used to talk about the "subprime crisis" – and some even thought that this crisis could be "contained"? Oh, the nostalgia! Today we know that subprime lending was only a small fraction of the problem. Even bad home loans in general were only part of what went wrong. We're living in a world of troubled borrowers, ranging from shopping mall developers to European "miracle" economies.

And new kinds of debt trouble just keep emerging.

How did this global debt crisis happen?
Why? Bernanke cited "the depth and sophistication of the country's financial markets" (which, among other things, have allowed households easy access to housing wealth). Depth, yes. But sophistication? Well, you could say that American bankers, empowered by a quarter-century of deregulatory zeal, led the world in finding sophisticated ways to enrich themselves by hiding risk and fooling investors....

Nor is the damage confined to the original borrowers. In America, the housing bubble mainly took place along the coasts, but when the bubble burst, demand for manufactured goods, especially cars, collapsed – and that has taken a terrible toll on the industrial heartland. Similarly, Europe's bubbles were mainly around the continent's periphery, yet industrial production in Germany – which never had a financial bubble but is Europe's manufacturing core – is falling rapidly, thanks to a plunge in exports.

If you want to know where the global crisis came from, then, think of it this way: We're looking at the revenge of the glut.

And the saving glut is still out there. In fact, it's bigger than ever, now that suddenly impoverished consumers have rediscovered the virtues of thrift and the worldwide property boom, which provided an outlet for all those excess savings, has turned into a worldwide bust.

One way to look at the international situation right now is that we're suffering from a global paradox of thrift: Around the world, desired saving exceeds the amount businesses are willing to invest.

And the result is a global slump that leaves everyone worse off.

So that's how we got into this mess. And we're still looking for the way out.


03/03/2009 :
Then the big mortgage banks, the last stop in guaranteeing mortgages, started to go under. The two huge state-supported U.S. mortgage banks, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae—responsible for more than $5 trillion in mortgages—had to be nationalized, along with the world's largest insurance company, AIG.
Banks which had previously handled trillions in investments were finding that they were becoming insolvent almost overnight. Because of the global reach of these companies, this became a crash even more severe than the series of banking failures that led to the Great Depression in the 1930s.
This financial crisis has spread through the entire banking structure of the West. It has moved from a crisis of insolvency to a crisis of confidence in the banking system—everyone wants their money out because no one trusts their banks. The essential trust that allowed the goldsmiths to lend on the basis of their borrowed gold has begun to evaporate.
The International Monetary Fund warned that the world!
Ted Rudow III,MA

Predatory lending

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/02/18574605.php


Predatory lending
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Monday Mar 2nd, 20889
Predatory lending is a pejorative term used to describe practices of some lenders. There are no legal definitions in the United States for predatory lending, though there are laws against many of the specific practices commonly identified as predatory, and various federal agencies use the term as a catch-all term for many specific illegal activities in the loan industry.
Consumer advocates argue that borrowers, especially but not only unsophisticated borrowers, are not aware of their ability to negotiate, and might even be under the mistaken impression that the lender is placing the borrower's interests above its own.
When taxpayers gave Bank of America Corporation a $45 billion
bailout, the company was supposed to use the funds to help jumpstart
the economy. To date, this has not been the case. Instead the bank
has misspent on executive salaries and corporate jets. Then Bank of
America took even more money from cash-strapped states by not paying
for workers' healthcare. Bank of America' Platinum Plus charges 59.41%. It's just plain greed and selfishness as a result, their industries will fail, factories will close, unemployment will rise, and the next Great Depression will have started. The crash is going to happen.
Ted Rudow III,MA

Predatory lending

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/03/02/18574605.php


Predatory lending
by Ted Rudow III,MA ( Tedr77 [at] aol.com )
Monday Mar 2nd, 20889
Predatory lending is a pejorative term used to describe practices of some lenders. There are no legal definitions in the United States for predatory lending, though there are laws against many of the specific practices commonly identified as predatory, and various federal agencies use the term as a catch-all term for many specific illegal activities in the loan industry.
Consumer advocates argue that borrowers, especially but not only unsophisticated borrowers, are not aware of their ability to negotiate, and might even be under the mistaken impression that the lender is placing the borrower's interests above its own.
When taxpayers gave Bank of America Corporation a $45 billion
bailout, the company was supposed to use the funds to help jumpstart
the economy. To date, this has not been the case. Instead the bank
has misspent on executive salaries and corporate jets. Then Bank of
America took even more money from cash-strapped states by not paying
for workers' healthcare. Bank of America' Platinum Plus charges 59.41%. It's just plain greed and selfishness as a result, their industries will fail, factories will close, unemployment will rise, and the next Great Depression will have started. The crash is going to happen.
Ted Rudow III,MA