Financial fuckery thread

[Salty]

Jesus. Jesus fucking Christ.

The next person that blathers on about one world government bullshit around me is going to get a smack in the mouth. This isn't the work of sinister overlords, it's the work of goonish, greedy assholes.

[Scribbly]

US unemployment figures are down to 8.6% which is much less than the 9% forecasters predicted. A lot of people seem to be taking this as an amazing and brilliant event... The FT said it confirms the US as "The bright spot" in an ailing economic situation.

But the economy added only 120,000 jobs compared to the 125,000 that the median of forecasters predicted, and about half of the fall in unemployment is because 315,000 people left the workforce, accounting for 0.2% of the drop. And this is a time of year where stores will be hiring more staff for the holidays.

So... the situation is actually worse than expected, as far as I can tell? Yes, there's less 'unemployment' than expected strictly, but that's as a measure of people looking for work. The percentage of people searching for work who are able to find it is actually higher than expectations were hoping (only by 5000 across the entire country but still?) 

[Cain]

The way the US calculates unemployment is so hilariously inaccurate it could only have been designed to obscure the real rate of unemployment.

Also, this is not at all suspicious:

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/29/9099162-foreclosure-fraud-whistleblower-found-dead

A notary public who signed tens of thousands of false documents in a massive foreclosure scam before blowing the whistle on the scandal has been found dead in her Las Vegas home.

NBC station KSNV of Las Vegas reported that the woman, Tracy Lawrence, 43, was scheduled to be sentenced Monday morning after she pleaded guilty this month to notarizing the signature of an individual not in her presence. She failed to show up for her hearing, and police found her body at her home later in the day.

It could not immediately be determined whether Lawrence, who faced up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000, died of susicide or of natural causes, KSNV reported. Detectives said they had ruled out homicide.

Yeah, she just happaned to have a fatal accident and/or commit suicide on the same day she was due to show up to a court hearing about massive foreclosure fraud.  But it's definitely not murder!

Here's a fun game: try to think of a scenario where it is immediately clear that she was not murdered, but it is not clear if she committed suicide or died by accident.  Having trouble?  So am I.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

The way the US calculates unemployment is so hilariously inaccurate it could only have been designed to obscure the real rate of unemployment.

Also, this is not at all suspicious:

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/29/9099162-foreclosure-fraud-whistleblower-found-dead

A notary public who signed tens of thousands of false documents in a massive foreclosure scam before blowing the whistle on the scandal has been found dead in her Las Vegas home.

NBC station KSNV of Las Vegas reported that the woman, Tracy Lawrence, 43, was scheduled to be sentenced Monday morning after she pleaded guilty this month to notarizing the signature of an individual not in her presence. She failed to show up for her hearing, and police found her body at her home later in the day.

It could not immediately be determined whether Lawrence, who faced up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000, died of susicide or of natural causes, KSNV reported. Detectives said they had ruled out homicide.

Yeah, she just happaned to have a fatal accident and/or commit suicide on the same day she was due to show up to a court hearing about massive foreclosure fraud.  But it's definitely not murder!

Here's a fun game: try to think of a scenario where it is immediately clear that she was not murdered, but it is not clear if she committed suicide or died by accident.  Having trouble?  So am I.

Ummmmm yeah.

[Telarus]

 

[ñͤͣ̄ͦ̌̑͗͊͛͂͗ ̸̨̨̣̺̼̣̜͙͈͕̮̊̈́̈͂͛̽͊ͭ̓͆ͅé ̰̓̓́ͯ́́͞]

The way the US calculates unemployment is so hilariously inaccurate it could only have been designed to obscure the real rate of unemployment.

Also, this is not at all suspicious:

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/29/9099162-foreclosure-fraud-whistleblower-found-dead

A notary public who signed tens of thousands of false documents in a massive foreclosure scam before blowing the whistle on the scandal has been found dead in her Las Vegas home.

NBC station KSNV of Las Vegas reported that the woman, Tracy Lawrence, 43, was scheduled to be sentenced Monday morning after she pleaded guilty this month to notarizing the signature of an individual not in her presence. She failed to show up for her hearing, and police found her body at her home later in the day.

It could not immediately be determined whether Lawrence, who faced up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $2,000, died of susicide or of natural causes, KSNV reported. Detectives said they had ruled out homicide.

Yeah, she just happaned to have a fatal accident and/or commit suicide on the same day she was due to show up to a court hearing about massive foreclosure fraud.  But it's definitely not murder!

Here's a fun game: try to think of a scenario where it is immediately clear that she was not murdered, but it is not clear if she committed suicide or died by accident.  Having trouble?  So am I.

I'm guessing all the interior locks were bolted and there was no sign of forced entry, but even then....how could you rule out murder so quickly in these circumstances?

It seems as though whoever was involved with the murder of this woman, wants you to know they have cops in their pocket.

[Cain]

OK.  So, Germany wants EU fiscal union, which I can agree with, in theory.

However, in practice, what this will lead to is semi-permament austerity for the European periphery.

The amusing thing is this will eventually bite in the Germans in the arse, as they will no longer be able to find markets for their high-priced consumer goods within Europe.  However, by the time we reach that point, I doubt anyone will be in much of a mood to appreciate the irony.

The thing that really gets me is how Germany is proposing something which they themselves did not do during the financial crisis.  Instead, Germany increased government spending by 5%.  But, you know, rules are for little people, or as the German financial industry might say, "untermenschen".

[Cain]

S&P continue their assault on European sovereign debt:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-05/s-p-said-to-place-all-17-euro-nations-on-downgrade-watch-over-debt-crisis.html

Standard & Poor's said Germany and France may be stripped of their AAA credit ratings as the debt crisis prompts 15 euro nations to be put on review for possible downgrade.

The euro area's six AAA rated countries are among the nations to be placed on a negative outlook, and their credit ratings may be cut depending on the result of a summit of European Union leaders on Dec. 9, S&P said today in a statement. The euro reversed its gains and U.S. Treasuries rose earlier today after the Financial Times reported that the credit-ranking firm planned to reduce six AAA outlooks.

"Systemic stress in the eurozone has risen in recent weeks and reached such a level that a review of all eurozone sovereign ratings is warranted," S&P said in a statement.

[LMNO]

So, what I'm hearing is that, apart from the bread riots, it might actually be fairly cheap to vacation in Europe next year?

[Cain]

Perhaps.  I'm hoping the process can be sped up for this summer.

Meanwhile, the farce of Britain's involvement in the latest round of EU talks goes on.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16104275

David Cameron has refused to join an EU financial crisis accord after 10 hours of negotiations in Brussels.

Mr Cameron said it was not in Britain's interest "so I didn't sign up to it".

But France's President Sarkozy said his "unacceptable" demands for exemptions over financial services blocked the chance of a full treaty.

Of the 27 EU members Britain and Hungary look set to stay outside the accord, with Sweden and the Czech Republic having to consult on it.

A full accord of "wasn't possible, given the position of our British friends," President Sarkozy said.

The BBC's political editor Nick Robinson said the consequences "could scarcely be greater for Europe and for Britain's relationship with Europe".

Mr Sarkozy said the eurozone countries would sign an intergovernmental accord aimed at stabilising the currency in the face of the debt crisis, plus any other EU members that wanted to join.

Speaking in a press conference following the meeting he said: "The countries that have remained outside are Hungary and Britain, and the countries that have to consult with their parliaments are the Czechs and the Swedes."

Mr Cameron told a press conference: "We want the Eurozone countries to come together and solve their problems. But we should only allow that to happen within the EU treaties if there are proper protections for the single market, for other key British interests.

Cameron is not defending Britain. He is defending the financial sector that owns his party. A transaction tax is essential to discourage multiple speculative transactions and other banking practices which have shown they can wreck entire national economies. Yet all you will hear in the press is xenophobic bullshit about Cameron showing "bulldog spirit" and refusing to be "bullied" by the effete, evil, foreigners, led chiefly by France (boo) and Germany (boo!).

Because, as my previous thread on British attitidues shows, people here are retarded.

[Lenin McCarthy]

Just read this on Facebook:

Kick Britain out of the European Union! Ideal situation for Europe? Britain remaining in the European Economic Area (Common Market), like Norway and Iceland, but also losing its voice and voting rights, like Norway and Iceland. Then Europe can move forward without dragging the British by their feet. I'm sure the British would be utterly convinced they had somehow gained from it too.

Could this actually work?

[Triple Zero]

Mr Cameron said it was not in Britain's interest "so I didn't sign up to it".

Cameron is not defending Britain. He is defending the financial sector that owns his party.

I understand that this must be the case. It's the same financial sector cover-your-ass politics that got us here, about which I thought the cards were sort of on the table now, but not yet entirely it seems? Aren't there any groups or organisations in Britain that would love to talk about this "little" fact in the medias far and wide? I mean basically, this sort of thing, "selling out the 99%", is what everybody should be keeping a damn close eye on, if we want to minimize the amount of them-getting-away-with-it. Is this sort of thing perhaps also stronger in Britain because of the class society?

[Scribbly]

Mr Cameron said it was not in Britain's interest "so I didn't sign up to it".

Cameron is not defending Britain. He is defending the financial sector that owns his party.

I understand that this must be the case. It's the same financial sector cover-your-ass politics that got us here, about which I thought the cards were sort of on the table now, but not yet entirely it seems? Aren't there any groups or organisations in Britain that would love to talk about this "little" fact in the medias far and wide? I mean basically, this sort of thing, "selling out the 99%", is what everybody should be keeping a damn close eye on, if we want to minimize the amount of them-getting-away-with-it. Is this sort of thing perhaps also stronger in Britain because of the class society?

The media narrative is that it is the fault of individuals taking huge amounts of overdraft and mortgages they can't afford which has dumped us in the mess; not the irresponsible banking practices and fraud which is really at the root of it.

There's some documentaries I've seen which break this narrative, but by and large people on the news always seem to talk about how it is 'our' fault and shift the blame to the poor. There's a lot of anger directed towards bankers, but this largely seems to be based on the fact they keep getting their bonuses when their businesses are collapsing, not because they committed criminal acts which destroyed the economy.

[Cain]

Just read this on Facebook:

Kick Britain out of the European Union! Ideal situation for Europe? Britain remaining in the European Economic Area (Common Market), like Norway and Iceland, but also losing its voice and voting rights, like Norway and Iceland. Then Europe can move forward without dragging the British by their feet. I'm sure the British would be utterly convinced they had somehow gained from it too.

Could this actually work?

That would actually be probably the best way of dealing with the UK.

The only two major losers in such a situation would be the UK hard right (for whom the EU is an excellent foil) and the USA (who uses the UK as a proxy within the EU to prevent closer integration).  Without the EU to struggle against, the entire UKIP group would dissolve overnight, and the Tory right would have to go back to bitching about bringing back capital death and banning gays and allowing teachers to eviscerate truant pupils and so on.

[Cain]

Mr Cameron said it was not in Britain's interest "so I didn't sign up to it".

Cameron is not defending Britain. He is defending the financial sector that owns his party.

I understand that this must be the case. It's the same financial sector cover-your-ass politics that got us here, about which I thought the cards were sort of on the table now, but not yet entirely it seems? Aren't there any groups or organisations in Britain that would love to talk about this "little" fact in the medias far and wide? I mean basically, this sort of thing, "selling out the 99%", is what everybody should be keeping a damn close eye on, if we want to minimize the amount of them-getting-away-with-it. Is this sort of thing perhaps also stronger in Britain because of the class society?

I'm not so sure about the class aspects of it, but politically speaking, all our major three parties broadly agree on economic issues.  Our last election, for example, was a debate over how fast and how deep cuts should be, not whether cuts were necessarily the best solution.  Ed Miliband, the current leader of the Labour Party, has talked about a fairer UK, and made broadly supportive noises about OWS.  However, at the same time he has not supported UK public sector strikes and, well, Labour was in power for the last 13 years, so it's a bit early to ask people to trust them again.

There was an Occupy London Stock Exchange group, but they were hilariously inept, and got shunted out to camp on the gates of St Paul's Cathedral - not known for being a major player in the financial crisis.  They're also supported by UK Uncut, which, as I understand it, is the same gaggle of union workers, SWP activists, peace protestors and anti-glablization groups that so successfully worked against the Iraq War /sarcasm.