Saturday, November 21, 2009

plus 4, Ed Steer's Gold & Silver Report - Stockhouse

plus 4, Ed Steer's Gold & Silver Report - Stockhouse


Ed Steer's Gold & Silver Report - Stockhouse

Posted: 21 Nov 2009 07:12 AM PST

This is real interesting read today .... a lot of shorters are getting caught with their pants down .....Richard

http://www.caseyresearch.com/displayGsd.php

JPMorgan's Short 200 Million Ounces of Silver on the Comex

Almost the moment that I hit the 'send' button on my Friday commentary, both the gold and silver price headed south. Starting shortly before 9:00 a.m. in London trading... and ending precisely four hours later... gold dropped $12. But, from that point, and through the New York open about half an hour after that, the gold price kept rising right until the close of trading at 5:15 p.m. on Friday afternoon. Not only did gold close on it's high of the day, it closed at a new record high price as well.... $1,150.90 spot.

Silver's price followed gold's in virtual lock step, losing about 50 cents during the same four hour period during London trading. Silver recovered virtually of its losses of the day on the subsequent rally... but in order for silver to set a new high record closing price, it would have to close about $3 higher than it did yesterday... which was $18.51 the ounce.

This non-confirmation by silver during this rally is one of several reasons that this current run-up has made me nervous. The poor showing by the precious metals equities [considering gold's nice gain on the day] didn't add to my confidence level, either.

Open interest changes in gold for Thursday's trading activity showed another sharp rise of 11,750 contracts... which, considering the price activity [red line on the above gold graph] was a lot. Volume was an absolute stunning 253,364 contracts! Total open interest is now up to 538,709 contracts. In silver, open interest rose a more modest 1,470 contracts on more modest [but still huge] volume of 46,843 contracts. Total open interest in silver is now up to 141,208 contracts.

Now, for the latest Commitment of Traders report for positions held at the end of trading on Tuesday, November 17th. I wasn't expecting a lot of change in either metal... and, for once... that's the way it turned out. In silver, the bullion banks reduced their net short position a very small 365 contracts, but still hold a net short position of 58,381 contracts... which translates into 291.9 million ounces... and Ted Butler says that JPMorgan holds 200 million ounces of that short position all by themselves. The full-colour silver COT graph is linked here.

In gold, the bullion banks also improved their net short position by a bit. In this case it was an insignificant 1,238 contracts. So... as of Tuesday... the bullion banks were sitting on a net short position of 281,546 contracts, which represents 28.15 million ounces of gold. The full-colour gold COT graph is linked here... and it is ugly, ugly, ugly!!! Of course, the silver COT graph looks the same.

Silver analyst Ted Butler had a few things to say about the Commitment of Traders report in general... and the silver market in particular... during his weekly interview with Eric King over at King World News yesterday. As always, anything Ted has to say, is worth your undivided attention... and the link to the interview is here.

The CME Delivery Report contained nothing of interest... and there were no changes reported in GLD or SLV yesterday, either. However, the U.S. Mint had an update on eagle production yesterday. They reported another 25,000 gold eagles and 685,000 silver eagles were minted. Along with that was another 5,000 of the 24K buffaloes. Month-to-date there have been 99,500 gold eagles, 2,285,000 silver eagles... and 34,000 buffaloes produced. These are big numbers and there's still a lot of November left on the calendar. And over at the Comex-approved depositories, they reported that 181,763 ounces of silver were added to their collective inventories.

Yesterday was November 20th, and that's the day that the Central Bank of the Russian Federation updates their website with October's data. On the "Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity" page, they showed that they purchased another 500,000 "fine troy ounces" of gold. This brings their total gold bullion position to 19.5 million ounces. It's my guess that none of this gold reported was purchased was from Gokhran, the company that was about to sell up to 50 tonnes of gold on the open market. I would suspect that those purchases [now mentioned at 30 tonnes] are still forthcoming... and will show up in either November's or December's updates. If that's the case, then the Russian Central Bank is going to report adding at least another 960,000 ounces of gold to their reserves before they close the books on 2009. We won't know the final number until their December update which will occur on January 20th... if they follow the same update procedure for the year end.

Show below is the usual monthly graph of Russia's bullion purchases over the last three year period. My back-of-the-envelope arithmetic shows that the Russian Central Bank has added 2.8 million ounces of gold to their reserves so far in 2009... and if my above hypothesis is correct, they're going to add about another 1 million ounces before the end of the year. I thank Richard Nachbar [and his tireless assistant, Susan McCarthy] for providing this graph. Richard Nachbar is a rare coin dealer in upstate New York whose website coinexpert.com is linked here.


I have a fair number of items for your weekend reading/listening/viewing pleasure. The first item is from the pages of usatoday.com. We've all seen [and read] stacks of gold stories in the main-stream press lately... but this is the first one I've seen about silver, so I thought it was worth sharing. The headline reads "Silver price soars on heavy demand, high hopes for gains". I thank Florida reader Donna Badach for bringing it to my attention... and the link is here.

Earlier this week the news broke about John Paulson's new gold fund... which he seeded with $250 million of his own money. Here's another story about his new fund which is rather unusual... and the headline says it all... "Paulson's Golden Investors Have to Commit $10 Million"... and they also have to keep it in there for a year. With a price barrier like that, they're obviously not looking for Joe Six-Pack to invest his $1,000. And there was one other item concerning this fund that did not warm the cockles of the hearts of any of us over at GATA, and that was the fact that they hired John Reade, a former senior metals strategist at UBS, as one of the fund's managers. Mr. Reade is not a gold bull in any way, shape, or form... which, if you've read any of his comments while he worked at UBS, is an understatement. Nevertheless, I'm cheering for the fund's success, regardless of Paulson's error in judgment in this particular instance. The above Reuters story appears in a GATA release... along with a similar, but slightly different story in The Wall Street Journal... and the link is here.

The next story is to be found over at the huffingtonpost.com. "In an unprecedented defeat for the Federal Reserve, an amendment to audit the multi-trillion dollar institution was approved by the House Finance Committee with an overwhelming and bipartisan 43-26 vote on Thursday afternoon despite harried last-minute lobbying from top Fed officials and the surprise opposition of Chairman Barney Frank [D-Mass.], who had previously been a supporter." Alan Grayson [D-Fla.], co-sponsor of the bill, said afterwards that "Today was Waterloo for Fed secrecy." The link to the story... headlined "Fed Beaten: Bill to Audit Federal Reserve Passes Key Hurdle"... and the link is here.

The next story is posted over at mineweb.com and concerns a press release from the World Gold Council. Using the always dubious [and that's being kind] data from Gold Field Mineral Services, they conclude "that whichever way you cut it, gold demand in the third quarter of this year was down against Q3 2008." Both these organizations are always searching for dark linings in any golden cloud they find... and this report is no exception. But, it is gold-related, so I'm posting it here despite my personal opinions of the organizations involved. The headline [which is the only positive remark in the whole piece] reads "Central banks net gold buyers for the second quarter in succession - WGC"... and the link is here.

Ted Butler sent me a very interesting CNBC interview yesterday. It was 6-minute clip with CFTC chairman, Gary Gensler. The conversation mainly revolves around possible regulatory reforms of the over-the-counter derivatives market... but they do discuss the upcoming changes in the futures market... and Gensler mentions that the metals will be part of the package. Both Ted and I are absolutely convinced that when he says the word 'metal', he's talking about precious metals in general, and silver in particular. The link to the interview, headlined "CFTC Chairman Sounds Off", is linked here.

And lastly today comes this 20-minute interview of GATA Chairman Bill Murphy. Murphy appeared Thursday night on Bernie Lo's "Asia Confidential" on Bloomberg Television out of Hong Kong. The interview is posted in three parts on youtube.com... and is well worth your time. The link to the GATA release on all three of them is here.

My 'blast from the past' this week is straight out the 1970s. I remember playing her music when I was a D.J. on radio station CHAR in Alert, N.W.T. [82 degrees 20 minutes north latitude] way back then. Along with Karen Carpenter, Carole King and a small handful of others, this female vocalist ruled the airwaves, and is still a household name just about everywhere in North America... and probably beyond. Here she is... singing one of her signature pieces... and I thank reader Dave Mancini for bringing it to my attention... and the link is here.

So... where to from here in the gold and silver world? Do the U.S. bullion banks and their government sponsors fold their tents and withdraw from the market and let nature take its course... or are we in for another hit to the downside first? Beats me. Options expiry is on Monday, and there's no sign whatsoever that they have made much of an effort to mount a bear raid to cover their obscene short positions. It seemed like they made an effort in early trading on Friday morning, but willing buyers [or short covering] drove the price right back up to a positive close. It wouldn't be unheard of for them to hit the markets after options expiry is over... but why wait until then?

As Ted Butler has pointed out many times over the last month, these grotesque and obscene concentrated short positions held by the bullion banks must be resolved one way or another... sooner or later. I'm wondering if these changes in position limits that CFTC chairman, Gary Gensler, will play a part in this? Despite what the World Gold Council and the Gold Field Mineral Services have to say, we are currently at an historic moment in the precious metals market. It's only the resolution [and the timing of that resolution] that's unknown at this point.

One thing is absolutely certain... gold and silver prices will be significantly higher by this time next year, as this bull market in both metals still has a long way to go. I urge you, dear reader, to consider making an investment in your future by purchasing a subscription to Casey Research's flagship publication International Speculator. The returns on the many of the micro-cap exploration plays and small producers covered in it, should make big money for those of you who take an equity position in them. I'm certainly more than happy with the returns I've achieved... and they've paid for the subscription price at least by at least a factor of fifty. Besides which, it comes with the usual Casey Research "100% guarantee of satisfaction within 90 days, or your money is refunded." Think about it.

So, another week come and gone. Monday, Comex option expiry, awaits... and the following Monday [November 30th] is first day notice for delivery into the December contract in both silver and gold. I can pretty much guarantee that it's going to be an exciting week. The price action on Sunday afternoon/evening, when the markets open for trading in the Far East on Monday morning, should be interesting.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend... and I'll see you here on Tuesday.



 

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"Consumer Attitudes to Online savings", new research from Datamonitor - PR Inside

Posted: 21 Nov 2009 08:09 AM PST

2009-11-21 17:13:25 - Fast Market Research recommends "Consumer Attitudes to Online savings" from Datamonitor, now available

Consumer attitudes toward using the online channel for savings and investment activity are evolving. Ongoing technological advancement alongside growing confidence and use of all online platforms is driving these shifts in attitude. Savings and investment providers must understand how consumers feel about and actually use the online channel in order to maximize the advantages it can bring.

Scope

* Using global

data from our FSCI survey this report identifies how consumer attitudes towards the online channel are changing.
* The report analyzes the causes of these shifts and identifies strategies that can be employed by S&I providers to attract & retain online customers
* The report discusses real world examples of what savings providers are doing online, and action points on developing an effective online strategy.

Highlights

While online banking and online savings and investment activity is increasing, only 43.9% of online users globally are registered to use online savings platforms. While growth has been positive, there remains ample room for further development in all markets.

Online savers are more sophisticated and nuanced than stereotypes of online users would suggest. Characterised primarily by a greater willingness to make their own financial decisions and comfort in undertaking their own research online, online savers represent a financial literate high value target market for providers.

Fears over the security and stability of online savings and investment platforms and institutions remains the critical hold-up to wider uptake. Institutions and service providers must tread a careful balance of reassuring consumers without removing the ease of use and functionality of the online channel.

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Partial Table of Contents:
-- Full ToC is available at www.fastmr.com/catalog/product.aspx?productid=42979&dt=t

Overview 1
Catalyst 1
Summary 1
Methodology 1
Table of Contents 2
Introduction 3
This tracker provides both one-month and 12-month views of developments 3
Each month Datamonitor tracks the most relevant announcements from 100 competitors 3
Datamonitor's Retail Banking Team provides analysis of the key developments at both the one-month and 12-month level 4
A fully searchable database of the past 12 months of developments is also delivered alongside the report 4
Key trends and developments in September 5
Indian banks expand at home and abroad 5
Scandinavian banks continue to struggle in the wake of nationalization 5
Barclays enhances its mobile banking services 6
Competitor activity increased in August from the levels seen in July 7
Product and service innovation stories continued to dominate the headlines in September 7
New products and initiative announcements made up the largest share of news stories in September 8
Product, Services and Innovation 10
Abbey 10
UK: Abbey and Alliance & Leicester offer £100 current account switching incentive 10
ANZ 10
Australia: ANZ simplifies fee structure on personal accounts 10
Barclays 11
UK: Barclays introduces a new mortgage deal along with a reduction in the rate of existing mortgages 11
UK: Barclays enhances its mobile banking services 11
BBVA 11
Spain: BBVA extends preferential financing conditions to self-employed workers 11
Citigroup 12
Hungary: Citibank offers revamped online internet banking for Hungarian customers 12
Turkey: Citibank introduces a special loan package during the festival season 12
China: Citibank introduces consumer credit education program 13
Deutsche Bank 13
US: Deutsche Bank purchases student loans from Northwestern University 13
HSBC Bank 13
UK: first direct slashes arrangement fees on fixed rate offset mortgages 13
UK: first direct introduces a new offset tracker mortgage 13
National Australia Bank 14
Australia: NAB waives overdrawn account fees on personal transactions and savings accounts 14
Australia: NAB introduces microfinance programs in Queensland 14
Nationwide Building Society 15
UK: Nationwide introduces range of mortgage deals 15
UK: Nationwide offers personal loans at low rates 16
Northern Rock 16
UK: Northern Rock introduces a tracker mortgage and reduces interest rate on select mortgages 16
UK: Northern Rock unveils a range of mortgages for residential purchase customers 16
RBS 17
UK: NatWest and RBS reduces the price of unarranged borrowing 17
Standard Bank of South Africa 17
South Africa: Standard Bank moderates lending criteria 17
State Bank of India 18
India: SBI offers special farm loan schemes 18
Yorkshire Bank 18
UK: Yorkshire Bank launches current account TV advertising 18
M&A, Partnerships and Or

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About Datamonitor

The Datamonitor Group is a world-leading provider of premium global business information, delivering independent data, analysis and opinion across the Automotive, Consumer Markets, Energy & Utilities, Financial Services, Logistics & Express, Pharmaceutical & Healthcare, Retail, Technology and Telecoms industries. Datamonitor's market intelligence products and services ensure that you will achieve your desired commercial goals by giving you the insight you need to best respond to your competitive environment. View more research from Datamonitor at www.fastmr.com/catalog/publishers.aspx?pubid=1002

About Fast Market Research

Fast Market Research is an online aggregator and distributor of market research and business information. We represent the world's top research publishers and analysts and provide quick and easy access to the best competitive intelligence available.

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Jobless rate hits 7.1 percent - Tulsa World

Posted: 21 Nov 2009 06:57 AM PST

Oklahoma's unemployment rate hit 7.1 percent in October — the highest in more than 21 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

October's number topped the revised 6.8 percent jobless rate posted in September. In October 2008, the state's jobless rate was 4.2 percent, according to seasonally adjusted numbers released Friday by the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission.

Oklahoma last had a 7.1 percent unemployment rate in January 1988, based on BLS data.

Lynn Gray, the OESC's chief economist, said he is not surprised by the October number, given that the nation's unemployment rate is 10.2 percent. A year and a half ago he thought there was a "distinct possibility" that the state's jobless rate could reach the low 7 percent range if the U.S. rate were to rise above 10 percent.

"I'm not surprised we got to this point. I was surprised on this particular month to have this type of an increase, when we've seen a decline in some of our continuing claims numbers," he said.

Gray noted that over the last five weeks, the state also has seen a decline in initial unemployment claims.

For the past six weeks, the state's initial unemployment claims have ranged between 3,600 to 3,700 a week. That compares with May, when the state had a four-week moving average of between 4,700 to 4,900 initial claims filed weekly.

In early September, Oklahoma had a four-week moving average of about 4,100 initial claims a week, Gray said.

"But for the past six weeks we were kind of stuck in this range, which is elevated over what we typically would see in a more normal economy, which would be 2,000 claims a week," he said.

Demand for products is low, and until orders increase, businesses will not be hiring, said Steve Agee, professor of economics at Oklahoma City University and chairman of the Oklahoma City branch board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Oklahoma's unemployment rate probably won't go significantly higher, said Robert Dauffenbach, director of the Center for Economic and Management Research at the University of Oklahoma's Price College of Business.

"We don't really know what our unemployment rate is," Dauffenbach said. "It's not measured from the standpoint of how we measure national unemployment, which is a household survey.

"What the BLS tries to do is to model what the expected unemployment rate is, given what has happened nationally. So it's not a survey number, it's a model-based number and to that extent it could overstate or understate what the true unemployment rate is."

The BLS reported that 29 states saw their unemployment rates rise in October, while 13 had lower rates than in September.

Michigan's 15.1 percent rate was the nation's highest. It was followed by Nevada at 13 percent, Rhode Island at 12.9 percent, California at 12.5 percent and South Carolina at 12.1 percent.

Despite Oklahoma's higher rate, the state added 8,800 jobs in October, the fourth-highest number in the country. Monthly gains were seen mostly in professional and business services, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and other services.

Oklahoma's nonfarm employment has contracted by 43,400 jobs from October 2008, according to the OESC.

The unemployment rate is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed people by the size of the labor force. Because of this, it is possible for the rate to rise even as jobs are gained.

"The problems Oklahoma faces are not the same as the problems faced by the national economy, but we have to recognize we are a more diversified economy as a consequence of the travails we suffered in the '80s with the collapse of energy markets," Dauffenbach said. "Being a more diversified economy, we are more subject to the slings and arrows of the national economy."

October unemployment rates for the state's metro areas are scheduled to be released in December.


The Associated Press contributed to this story.


Laurie Winslow 581-8466
laurie.winslow@tulsaworld.com

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Dear Mr. President: If you REALLY want to create American jobs. . . - Democratic Underground.com

Posted: 21 Nov 2009 06:43 AM PST

and not just profits for the rich, then you are going to have to face some harsh realities AND you are going to have to lead the American public into an acceptance of those realities.

1. Allowing our manufacturing companies to move their operations into "cheap labor" countries without paying any reparations to the Americans whose jobs are erased is wrong. THIS DOES NOT CREATE AMERICAN JOBS. Again, let me reiterate, sir: If you REALLY want jobs for Americans, you have to face this reality. This is not an opinion; this is a fact. Moving jobs out of America and into Honduras or China, Vietnam or Turkey does not create jobs for Americans. I know this may be a difficult concept to grasp, but it is a fact.

2. Encouraging Americans to buy cheap throw-away merchandise that they really don't need with money they don't have is not good for the economy. I understand that this is a cornerstone of a consumer economy and the lifeblood of the advertising industry. But when people are bombarded with commercials and advertisements to buy, buy, buy, buy, buy they are often put deeply into debt which requires them to (collectively) demand higher wages and lower prices. This is not economically feasible. Our consumer economy has generated a demand for a higher and higher and higher minimum wage, but at the same time we want cheaper and cheaper and cheaper goods, which means more manufacturers are "forced" into cheap labor markets.

3. Allowing a very few people to accumulate vast amounts of wealth is destructive of a healthy economy. A healthy economy depends on the continuous circulation of wealth. If it accumulates in just a few spots, it can act exactly the way a blood clot acts on a human circulatory system. Those who are billionaires should be taxed accordingly. Those who have "unearned" income -- and by this I'm speaking primarily of capital gains but also income from rents and royalties -- should not get tax breaks for simply being wealthy enough to have unearned income.

4. Of all the categories of "unearned income," none is more "unearned" than inheritance. Those who have businesses they wish to pass on to their heirs should be able to make provisions for that transfer long before their death by bringing their heirs in as partners. This makes the inheritance "earned" rather than "unearned." But to give a large estate intact to someone who has no participatory interest in it is anathema to the American ideal. Those who have died no longer need the estate ("for their reward is in heaven") and those who inherit should either be active participants or be taxed on "unearned" income.

5. Regulation of those "industries" -- especially financial services (including banking, investing, insurance, etc.) -- that do not actively create wealth through manufacturing but rather skim off excess "profits" to the benefit of few and the burden to many is absolutely essential to the restoration of economic health in this country and therefore to the creation of jobs for Americans. This is the concept at the heart of "jobless recoveries," such as we are about to experience. Gross domestic production may be up and the stock markets showing gains, but if the wealth so produced ends up only in the hands of the already wealthy, then there is a cancer in the economic body. When you have a whole team of economic advisors whose philosophy AND actions are contrary to healthy economic policy, you should remove them and replace them with other advisors who will work for healthy change in the system.

6. The 535 legislators in Washington DC who have been elected to serve the people should be free to do so. That is, they should be free of the pressure of lobbyists who have the power to "buy" a legislator's vote on issues in which they have a vested interest. Corporations are not people and should not have a "voice" in shaping legislation to the extent that they are allowed to contribute huge sums to election campaign funds. Legislators who speak out in favor of corporate interests should be required to include a disclaimer that makes clear to the public that they have received significant sums from the industries and companies they are protecting. A violation of free speech? No, merely truth in advertising.

7. Wars are sinkholes. They suck up lives and money. The death or serious injury of a single soldier can affect dozens of lives: the immediate family, the community, the employer, to name just a few. As the US has moved over the past few decades into a two-tiered military that consists of volunteers on one hand and highly-paid private contractors on the other, the cost of war has skyrocketed. War is not healthy for humans or economies. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan MUST be wound down immediately. As truly horrifying as the prospect may be, if Afghanistan descends into chaos and bloodshed after an American withdrawal, then there is little we can do about it. If other nations are appalled, then they can join in a truly international coalition. They can put economic pressure on whatever passes for a government in Afghanistan. But leaving thousands of Americans -- military and private contractor alike -- to hold Afghanistan together at great financial and human cost to America is not the way to create jobs in America for Americans.

8. There are many ways to "create" jobs for Americans, more than I have time or space right now to detail. Throwing money, especially borrowed money, at amorphous ideas is not only not the best way to create "jobs" but it may also be the very worst thing to do. It's all too true that our national infrastructure -- roads, bridges, schools, hospitals -- need maintenance and repair and replacement. But so does our national manufacturing infrastructure. We should not be in a position where our military even considers buying ammunition from contractors who are selling old "Made in China" materiel that's been "laundered" through Albania. As long as, however, we are a nation that by our actions puts more importance in the accumulation of wealth by a few individuals than in the health of our national economy, such abuses will continue. We must do what is necessary to encourage the development and redevelopment of manufacturing in our country. If that means tariffs on certain imported goods, then we have to do it. To NOT do it is to maintain the status quo. In order to change the status quo, in order to bring back jobs, other things must change. If you only want to protect the wealthy, then continue the present course, because that is what has happened. But if you truly want to change the economy, if you really want to create good jobs for Americans in America, then you must return to the economic policies that created those jobs and nourished that economy.

9. One last thing, Mr. President. I would suggest you read an old book, Allen H. Eaton's "Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands." Published in 1937, it's a survey of the skills and products made by the Americans of Appalachia in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. Allow me to quote a small portion from a segment titled "Life of a Mountain Chair":


The length of service of mountain chairs varies, it would often seem, with the opinion of the informant. Some declare that they will last a lifetime, some a hundred years and others say forever. There seems to be evidence to support all claims unless it be the "forever" one, and if that is freely interpreted to imply "as long as a man lasts," that claim could likely be supported, too.

In an old home not far from White Top, Virginia, several chairs known to have been made on the place thirty-seven years ago are in prime condition, only the bottoms of oak splints having been replaced. Bud Godlove of Wardensville, Hardy County, West Virginia, one of the best known mountain craftsmen, whose father and gradnfather were chairmakers before him, says his family every day use chairs made over fifty years ago. Edward Loudermilk of Caldwell, Greenbrier, West Virginia, writes:

I make the life-time split bottom chairs. I use white tough hickory, fire-dried rounds, posts of young growth tough white oak. . . . My father taught me to make chairs when I was a boy. I have been making chairs for forty some years. . . . When a man buys chairs from me he gets what he needs and he is done buying chairs as long as he lives. . . . Nothing cross grain.


(emphasis mine)

What fueled our economic health for a while, Mr. President, was our insatiable need for the new. Unlike the mountaineers who made what they needed and made it to last, our advertising-fueled need for more and more and more created an economy that consumed itself. In order for Detroit to sell more cars, it created "planned obsolescence." We made and sold paper plates and paper napkins, throw-away plastic cups and spoons and forks. Single-use Styrofoam containers that last forever in our landfills and along our highways. Pampers, Huggies, Luvs -- the disposable diaper is now just about the only kind here is.

Unfortunately, our demand for disposables of all kinds also created "jobs," in a vicious cycle of need. The more goods we needed, the more jobs we needed, too. Not just to produce the items but to generate the wages to buy them. And always, always, always, there were the "investors" to siphon off a part of the profits. When the investors got greedy, they broke the golden goose by shipping the jobs to cheap labor markets.

But in truth unlimited economic growth is no more sustainable than unlimited biological growth. We must scale back our consumption and ramp up our production until both meet at a sustainable level. It may begin with as simple a concept as making a chair that lasts a lifetime and learning to take pride in owning such a chair rather than in showing off and then throwing away a new one year after year after year.

To restore American prosperity -- and that means the prosperity of ALL Americans, not just the rich on Wall Street -- we must and YOU must begin to understand what makes an economy healthy. None of the current policies contribute to economic health. NONE OF THEM, Mr. President. They must be changed, and some of those changes may indeed be painful for a few of your friends. But those changes will ease the pain of many many many many more Americans who put their faith in your promise of change.

Yes, Mr. President, we CAN do it, but not without your leadership and insistence that change applies to everyone, even the wealthy. This is no longer a campaign, this is an administration. Some of the work isn't fun, and not everyone is going to like what you do. But that's the nature of the job.

So if you REALLY want jobs for Americans, you're going to have to implement some of that change, not just talk about it. That's the toughest reality of all.

Sincerely,

Tansy Gold


(Disclaimer: This was originally posted as a reply in another thread. The more I thought about it, the more I decided it needed its own thread.)

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Metro train stalls again, commuters stuck - SamayLive

Posted: 21 Nov 2009 07:12 AM PST

New Delhi: Delhi Metro's Dwarka to Noida line went haywire Saturday morning till noon. Hundreds of passengers where stuck when power supply failed. Consequently after long delays many commuters waiting on platforms took a refund on their tickets and opted for other means of transport.
In the second incident of its kind in two weeks, a Metro train on the Noida Line stalled and stopped en route to Dwarka when a technical snag snapped the power supply.


"Metro services on line 3 (Dwarka Sector 9 to Noida City Centre) were affected after a train stalled when its pantographs, which draw power from the overhead electrification line developed defects," Delhi Metro Spokesperson Anuj Dayal said.


The incident occurred at 9.18 a.m. when the train entered Uttam Nagar East Metro station with around 250 passengers on board. The passengers were finally asked to get off there.


Soon after, single line services were started between Janakpuri West and Dwarka and metro staff began rescue operations, the official said.


The stalled train was pushed by a rescue train to the Najafgarh depot and normal services restarted at around noon, Dayal informed.


However the delay of over 30 minutes caught people unawares, leading to snaking queues at stations.


Tired of waiting, a number of commuters sought refund of their metro tokens and used other conveyance for their onward journey.


Rajan Sharma, one of the commuters, said: "I always take the Metro from Dwarka to Yamuna Bank, but this morning when I reached the Dwarka Sector-9 station, I was shocked to see the crowd. A few people told me that the Metro was not running for at least 20 minutes."


"I was already getting late for work and I couldn't afford to just keep waiting. There was no announcement and no one could tell us how long the delay would be for. So I decided to get my token refunded and took the bus instead," he said.


Ashutosh Sinha, a student taking the Metro from Yamuna Bank to Rajiv Chowk which falls on the same route, said he had to wait for at least 15 minutes for the Metro.


Delhi Metro said that the stalling could have been a result of some foreign object entangled in the overhead power line. As a result six round trips of trains were cancelled and just eight trains were involved on single line operations. Other trains were looped on shorter routes on the same line.


--Indo-asian News Service


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