Month: February 2013

Facebook Gets Multibillion-Dollar Tax Break, Pays Zero Taxes And Receives $429 Million Federal Tax Refund

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– Facebook Gets a Multibillion-Dollar Tax Break (Bloomberg, Feb 15, 2013):

It hasn’t drawn much attention, but Facebook’s first annual earnings report contains an accounting gem: a multibillion-dollar tax deduction for the cost of executive stock options and share awards.

Even though Facebook (FB) reported $1.1 billion in pre-tax profits from U.S. operations in 2012, it will probably pay zero federal and state taxes—and even receive a federal tax refund of about $429 million—according to a Feb. 14 statement from Citizens for Tax Justice.

Read moreFacebook Gets Multibillion-Dollar Tax Break, Pays Zero Taxes And Receives $429 Million Federal Tax Refund

Pope Benedict XVI Will Have Security, Immunity By Remaining In The Vatican

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– Pope will have security, immunity by remaining in the Vatican (Reuters, Feb 15, 2013):

Pope Benedict’s decision to live in the Vatican after he resigns will provide him with security and privacy. It will also offer legal protection from any attempt to prosecute him in connection with sexual abuse cases around the world, Church sources and legal experts say.

“His continued presence in the Vatican is necessary, otherwise he might be defenseless. He wouldn’t have his immunity, his prerogatives, his security, if he is anywhere else,” said one Vatican official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“It is absolutely necessary” that he stays in the Vatican, said the source, adding that Benedict should have a “dignified existence” in his remaining years.

Read morePope Benedict XVI Will Have Security, Immunity By Remaining In The Vatican

‘After Four Years America Remains In A Jobs Depression As Great As The Great Depression’ (WSJ)

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– By Any Measure, the Jobs Disaster Continues (Wall Street Journal, Feb 15, 2013):

Twelve million out of work, 48 million on food stamps, 11 million on disability. All that’s missing: bread lines.

Jobs! President Obama has set a record. In his speech to Congress on Tuesday, he uttered the word “jobs” more than in any of his previous four State of the Union addresses. His 45 mentions were more than double the references to any of the other policy ambitions encapsulated in his speech by such words as health, education, immigration, guns, deficit, debt, energy, climate, economy, Afghanistan, wage, spend or tax (the runner-up).

If only the president’s record on unemployment were as good.

The country isn’t confronted daily by scenes of despair like they were in the 1930s, the jobless however are still there.

After four years America remains in a jobs depression as great as the Great Depression. But the crisis isn’t seen in that light because the country isn’t confronted daily by scenes of despair like the 1930s photographs of bread lines and soup kitchens and thousands of men (very few women then) waiting all day outside a factory in a forlorn quest for work.

Read more‘After Four Years America Remains In A Jobs Depression As Great As The Great Depression’ (WSJ)

Currency Wars Are Trade Wars

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– Currency Wars Are Trade Wars (Azizonomics, Feb 16, 2013):

Paul Krugman is all for currency wars, but not trade wars:

First of all, what people think they know about past currency wars isn’t actually true. Everyone uses some combination phrase like “protectionism and competitive devaluation” to describe the supposed vicious circle of the 1930s, but as Barry Eichengreen has pointed out many times, these really don’t go together. If country A and country B engage in a tit-for-tat of tariffs, the end result is restricted trade; if they each try to push their currency down, the end result is at worst to leave everyone back where they started.

And in reality the stuff that’s now being called “currency wars” is almost surely a net plus for the world economy. In the 1930s this was because countries threw off their golden fetters — they left the gold standard and this freed them to pursue expansionary monetary policies. Today that’s not the issue; but what Japan, the US, and the UK are doing is in fact trying to pursue expansionary monetary policy, with currency depreciation as a byproduct.

There is a serious intellectual error here, typical of much of the recent discussion of this issue. A currency war is by definition a low-level form of a trade war because currencies are internationally traded commodities. The intent (and there is much circumstantial evidence to suggest that Japan at least is acting with mercantilist intent, but that is another story for another day) is not relevant — currency depreciation is currency depreciation and still has the same effects on creditors and trade partners, whatever the claimed intent.

Read moreCurrency Wars Are Trade Wars

Fukushima City Residents Really Want To Eat The Food They Are Growing

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– #Radioactive #Fukushima: Fukushima City Residents Want to Eat the Produce They Bring In to Measure Radioactivity, Researchers Oblige (EX-SKF, Feb 15, 2013):

I couldn’t tell that was what it was, when I saw the title of an article at one of the local newspapers in Fukushima, but it turned out that was what it was.

Go figure. Let them, at this point. After nearly 2 years, they choose to be there and choose to grow their food and eat it. “Oh we weren’t told” doesn’t fly any more.

I hope they don’t feed it to their children or grandchildren, but hope has been just that, hope.

Fukushima farmers certainly do feed it to the rest of Japan, because they are victims of TEPCO and residents in big cities outside Fukushima owe it to them, in their minds.

From Fukushima Minpo (2/16/2013):

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Radioactivity measurement without chopping up samples – new equipment will be used in Fukushima

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On February 19, Tohoku University will start using the new equipment to measure radioactivity in farm produce and food items without chopping them up at a monitoring center in Fukushima City. It is to respond to the residents’ complaints and requests, such as “it’s too tedious to chop up 1 kilogram of sample” and “I want to eat it after it’s tested”.

Read moreFukushima City Residents Really Want To Eat The Food They Are Growing

Insane Japan: Decon Workers Use Blowtorch To Melt Snow … Burn Down Entire House In Fukushima City

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– #Radioactive Japan: Decontamination Burned Down a House in #Fukushima City (EX-SKF, Feb 12, 2013):

Decon workers dispatched by Fukushima City used a blowtorch to melt snow in order to decontaminate a house. Instead of decontaminating, they managed to burn down the entire house.

Blowtorch?? Yes, decon contractors are free to use any method, including blowtorch, as there is no rule or regulation as to how they are supposed to remove snow in the decon manual.

Why they are doing this decon stuff in the snowy winter is a mystery to me.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (2/10/2013):

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Workers used blowtorch to melt snow in order to decontaminate, uninhabited house burned down

Read moreInsane Japan: Decon Workers Use Blowtorch To Melt Snow … Burn Down Entire House In Fukushima City

Over 44% Of Fukushima Children Have Thyroid Abnormalities

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– Fukushima Thyroid Examination Part 4 (Fukushima Voice, Feb 13, 2013):

The Tenth Report of Fukushima Prefecture Health Management Survey was released on February 13, 2013.

The Radiation Medical Science Center of Fukushima Medical University now has an English site where they have complete, official translation of the previous survey results.
http://www.fmu.ac.jp/radiationhealth/results/

However, the newly released result has not been officially translated yet.  Excerpts of the new thyroid examination result are translated into English in this article.  In addition, some critical information from the February 13, 2013 Committee meeting is included.

The thyroid examination section of the survey is shown in this link.
www.pref.fukushima.jp/imu/kenkoukanri/250213siryou2.pdf (Japanese)

It contains new thyroid examination results from April 1, 2012 through January 21, 2013, for Fiscal Year Heisei 24 (FYH24) which ends on March 31, 2013.  As of January 25, 2013, 111,546 of eligible 128,082 children underwent the examination in FYH24.  In FYH23, 38,114 of 47,766 eligible children underwent examination.  As a whole, 149,660 of 175,848 eligible children, about half of the Fukushima children, already underwent examination.

The results compiled up to January 21, 2013 revealed that 41,947 (44.2%) of 94,975 children had thyroid ultrasound abnormalities.  Together with 38,114 children (13,645 or 35.8% had thyroid ultrasound abnormalities) tested in the last half of Fiscal Year Heisei 23 (FYH23)  from October 2011 through March 2012, a total of 55,592 (41.8%) of 133,089 Fukushima children have been found to have ultrasound abnormalities.

The Fukushima Prefecture Health Management Survey Planning Committee revealed that 10 of 186 eligible for the secondary examination from FYH23 were suspected of having thyroid cancer as a result of the examination.  They reported that three of them were confirmed to have papillary carcinoma of thyroid gland and already had surgery.  The remaining seven have 80% chance of having cancer based on their biopsy results. These children’s identities were not revealed, including their estimated thyroid exposure dose and place of residence, citing protection of their privacy.

The ten children included 3 boys and 7 girls, and their average age was 15.  The average size of their tumor was 15 mm.

Read moreOver 44% Of Fukushima Children Have Thyroid Abnormalities

Alan Greenspan: Ignore The Economy, ‘Only The Stock Market Matters’ (Video)

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You can’t make this stuff up!

– Greenspan: Ignore The Economy, “Only The Stock Market Matters” (ZeroHedge, Feb 15, 2013):

Starting at around 1:50, Greenspan states the odds of sequester occurring are very high – in fact, the playdough-faced ex-Chair-head notes, “I find it very difficult to find a scenario in which [the sequester] doesn’t happen” But when asked how this will affect the economy, Awkward Alan is unusually clearly spoken – “the issue is how does it affect the stock market.”While not so many of our leaders have taken the path to direct truthiness, Greenspan somewhat shocks a Botox’d and babbling Bartiromo when he admits “the stock market is the key player in the game of economic growth.”

Read moreAlan Greenspan: Ignore The Economy, ‘Only The Stock Market Matters’ (Video)

Missouri House Bill HB 545 Makes It A Felony To Manufacture, Import, Possess, Purchase, Sell, Or Transfer Any Assault Weapon Or Large Capacity Magazine

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– HB 545 (Missouri House of Representatives, Feb  16, 2013):

“Makes it a class C felony to manufacture, import, possess, purchase, sell, or transfer any assault weapon or large capacity magazine”

(Click on image to enlarge.)

Related info:

– Oath Keepers: Message To The Oath Breakers And Traitors:

OATH KEEPERS MOLON LABE PLEDGE

We will never disarm. We will never surrender our military pattern, semi-automatic rifles and the full capacity magazines, parts, and ammunition that go with them.  The fundamental purpose of the Second Amendment is to preserve the military power of We the People so we will have effective means to resist tyranny. Regardless of what unholy, unconstitutional filth issues from the mouths of oath breakers in “Mordor on the Potomac” our answer is MOLON LABE.

“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force: Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.”- Patrick Henry

We will not allow our children to be disarmed. We will pass on those military pattern rifles, magazines, and ammunition to our children and our children’s children.

Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are the birth-right of an American… [T]he unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the federal or state governments, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain, in the hands of the people. – Tench Coxe, 1788

We will die in battle before we give up our arms and leave our children in slavery.

…

Vatican’s New Bank Chief Ernst von Freyberg Is Also Chairman Of A Shipbuilder Making Warships

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– Vatican’s new bank chief has military ship links (AP, Feb 15, 2013):

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican was drawn into a new controversy Friday after acknowledging that its bank’s new president is also chairman of a shipbuilder making warships — a significant conflict for an institution that has long shunned ties to military manufacturing.

The Vatican announced to great fanfare that Pope Benedict XVI had signed off on one of the last major appointments of his papacy, approving Ernst von Freyberg as president of the Vatican’s bank, officially known as the Institute for Religious Works.

The Vatican spokesman was caught off-guard, though, when a journalist noted that the German shipbuilder von Freyberg chairs, Blohm + Voss, is known for its military ship construction.

Read moreVatican’s New Bank Chief Ernst von Freyberg Is Also Chairman Of A Shipbuilder Making Warships

AND NOW: Selling Gold, Silver And Other PM’s In Houston Now Requires Fingerprinting And Photograph

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Next time you try to sell gold, silver or other precious metals in Houston you can expect to be fingerprinted and photographed.

– City council passes ordinance to fingerprint, photograph precious metal sellers (ABC13/KTRK, Feb 6, 2013):

HOUSTON (KTRK) — Next time you try to sell gold, silver or other precious metals you can expect to be fingerprinted and photographed.

The Houston City Council passed an ordinance meant to help track down criminals who try to resell stolen valuables. Gold-buying businesses will now be required to photograph and fingerprint sellers as well as photograph the items that are being sold to the dealer.

“It’s going to allow us the tools necessary to combat a lot of the high-end jewelry thefts that’s going on in the city, whether it’s robberies or burglaries,” said Houston Police Officer Rick Barajas.

A similar ordinance is already in place for scrap metal sellers and dealers.

– Brown calls new rules on jewelry dealers ‘safety theater’ (Houston Chronicle, Feb 6, 2013):

Houston City Council on Wednesday passed new rules on precious metals dealers despite a lengthy attempt to water down the ordinance by Councilwoman Helena Brown, who called it “safety theater” that would burden businesses and invade jewelry sellers’ privacy.

Officers in the Houston Police Department’s precious metals unit said reputable dealers already implement many of the new rules but said the ordinance – which requires a photograph and thumbprint of each seller and mandates dealers enter transactions into an online database – will help them catch crooks and recover stolen goods.

Brown sought to remove criminal penalties for violating the ordinance, to allow dealers more flexibility in when and how to report transactions and to scrap the rule requiring sellers to have a photo and thumbprint taken. Each amendment was easily defeated.

“Why even ask the legal, law-abiding people to submit to this? It’s not going to prevent crime and it’s not going to solve any crimes,” Brown said. “It’s ludicrous. We’ve gone way beyond what our Founding Fathers envisioned for this nation.”

Read moreAND NOW: Selling Gold, Silver And Other PM’s In Houston Now Requires Fingerprinting And Photograph

Silvio Berlusconi: ‘Bribes Are Necessary – They Are Not Crimes’

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– Berlusconi: “Bribes Are Necessary – They Are Not Crimes” (ZeroHedge, Feb 15, 2013):

With a week to go until the Italian elections, things are getting a little odd to say the least. The somewhat scandal prone Berlusconi, who self-declared himself leading in the polls just recently, has come out swinging in defense of his fellow business leaders’ ethical egressions. The Bunga party banner-man defends bribery, “These are not crimes,” he notes, as The FT reports, “bribes are a phenomenon that exists and it’s useless to deny the existence of these necessary situations…” This apparently on the heels of the Finmeccanica CEO’s Indian helicopter deal bribes and Monte Paschi’s derivative debacle. It would appear his argument lies somewhere betweeen, ‘if everyone’s doing it – then it’s ok’, and ‘everyone’s been doing it forever so why stop now?’ One Italian paper, though, disgusted at the state of their nation, describes the entire political and elite establishment of ‘guilty inertia’ – calling for an end to what Berlusconi appears to be saying is corrupt business-as-usual. And yet we are to trust these technocrats when they say ‘crisis over’, all is well, recovery is here?

Read moreSilvio Berlusconi: ‘Bribes Are Necessary – They Are Not Crimes’

Obama Pushes Preschool For All Kids

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– ??Obama pushes preschool for all kids so they don’t start out ‘a step behind’ (McClatchy, Feb 14, 2013):

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama visited a preschool in Georgia on Thursday to unveil details about his new plan to ensure that all 4-year-olds – including those whose families struggle to make ends meet – receive the same opportunities for a high quality early education.

Funded by federal and state tax dollars, the president’s plan would be a dramatic expansion of education for 4-year-olds, by making a year of optional preschool free for low- and moderate-income children.

“Hope is found in what works,” Obama said at the College Heights Early Childhood Learning Center in Decatur, part of Georgia’s widely available preschool program, funded by the state lottery. “This works. We know it works. If you’re looking for a good bang for your educational buck, this is it, right here.”

Read moreObama Pushes Preschool For All Kids

House Overrides Obama, Votes To Freeze Federal Pay For Third Straight Year (The Hill)

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– House overrides Obama, votes to freeze federal pay for third straight year (The Hill, Feb 15, 2013):

The House voted Friday to freeze the pay of federal workers for the third year in a row over the objections of congressional Democrats and the Obama administration.

Members voted 261-154 in favor of the bill, which would also lock in a pay freeze for members of Congress. It exempts people serving in the military.

Read moreHouse Overrides Obama, Votes To Freeze Federal Pay For Third Straight Year (The Hill)

Germany, Spain Set To Pull The Plug On Green Energy

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– Germany, Spain Set To Pull The Plug On Green Energy (ZeroHedge, Feb 14, 2013):

Over ten years ago, when Europe was a bright and shining example of experimental monetarist “brilliance”, and when the money was flowing, the continent decided to do the ethical thing and actively promote the pursuit and development of renewable energy through countless government subsidies. As a result, Germany and Spain became the undisputed leaders in the race for a green future, and both created similar laws to encourage the development of renewable energy. There were two problems: i) green energy, while noble in theory, is about the worst idea possible when it comes to profitability and capital self-sustainability and constantly needs governmental subsidies, and ii) it was the end consumers who would pay for the government’s generosity, in the form of a surcharge on electric bills. In Germany, for example, as the industry grew (in size, and thus in losses) demand for the subsidy increased, driving the surcharge higher. In January, the surcharge, which amounts to about 14% of electricity prices, nearly doubled to 5.28 euro cents per kilowatt hour.

And, as the WSJ so deftly explains, “that means ordinary consumers shoulder the lion’s share of the costs for what the German government calls its “energy revolution.” And here is where a third problem comes into play, because while German and Spanish consumers were happy to pay a surcharge in the golden days of a Dr. Jekyll Europe when everything was great, soon Europe become a doomed Mr. Hyde-ian Frankenstein monster, with imploding economies, 60%+ youth unemployment and resurgent neo-nazi powers. In short: the German and Spanish consumers have had it with funding an infinite money drain (even bigger than Greece), when cash flow is scarce and getting worse, and have just said “Basta” and “Nein“, respectively.

Read moreGermany, Spain Set To Pull The Plug On Green Energy

Renegade Ex-Cop Chris Dorner Died From Single Gunshot To Head (CNN Video)

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Related info:

– The End Of Chris Dorner: LAPD Police Radio: ‘Burn That Fuckin’ House Down … Fucking Burn This Motherfucker!!!’ (Video)

– Renegade ex-cop Dorner died from single gunshot to head (CNN, Feb 16, 2013):

Autopsy results on former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Dorner show he died from a single gunshot wound to the head that was likely self-inflicted, authorities said Friday.The renegade cop killed four people and wounded three others as part of a vendetta against his former comrades, before apparently taking his own life.

“While we’re still compiling the information and putting our reports together, the information that we have right now seems to indicate that the wound that took Christopher Dorner’s life was self-inflicted,” Capt. Kevin Lacy, with the San Bernardino County Sheriff-Coroner Department, told reporters.

Read moreRenegade Ex-Cop Chris Dorner Died From Single Gunshot To Head (CNN Video)

Pentagon Creates New Distinguished Warfare Medal For Joystick Warriors (Video)

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Medal of Droner: Pentagon award for deadly joystick warriors?

YouTube Added: 14.02.2013

Description:

They may be known as the faceless killers of modern warfare, but it seems the US military wants them firmly in the spotlight. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has announced the creation of the Distinguished Warfare Medal, which will be handed out to joystick wielding drone pilots, who wage their battles far from the frontline.

– Pentagon creates special medal for drone pilots (RT, Feb 13, 2013):

Soon receiving military honors might be as easy as adjusting a joystick. The Pentagon is reportedly planning on awarding the pilots of remotely controlled drones.

According to official defense sources speaking with the Associated Press, future recipients of the new Distinguished Warfare Medal could include the men and women of the US military who control unmanned aerial vehicles, sometimes from thousands of miles away, in America’s accelerating drone wars.

Read morePentagon Creates New Distinguished Warfare Medal For Joystick Warriors (Video)

Goldman Sachs Implicated In Heinz Insider Trading Probe

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– Goldman Implicated In Heinz Insider Trading Probe (ZeroHedge, Feb 15, 2013):

When the news broke of the SEC’s action against the HNZ call option insider traders, and we posted the full SEC charge against the perpetrators whose actions Zero Hedge reported on first, we asked this regarding one of the entities named: “the trade occurred through an “omnibus account located in Zurich, Switzerland in the name of GS Bank IC Buy Open List Options GS & Co c/o Zurich Office (the “GS Account”).” Does GS stand for Goldman Sachs one wonders?” This followed our prior post, rhetorically titled “Guess Who Was Buying HNZ Stock From Its Clients“, with the answer of course being Goldman Sachs, which had had HNZ stock at a Sell rating for months, and which just days before reiterated its negative sentiment. But for the most part the post was written in jest. Turns out the joke was on everyone else, because just as we feared, or rather knew, Goldman was indeed implicated all along.

From Reuters:

Goldman Sachs Group Inc is cooperating with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe into insider options trading in H.J. Heinz Co before the food company announced it was being acquired, Goldman said on Friday.

Earlier in the day, the SEC filed suit against unknown traders using an account in Switzerland to buy options in Heinz before the company was purchased. The SEC suit does not explicitly name Goldman Sachs but refers to the account in Switzerland as the “GS Account.”

While none of this is surprising, we do find it curious that from “Vampire Squid”, Goldman Sachs has now metastasized into “he who must not be named.”

Jesse Jackson Jr Charged With Stealing $750,000 In Campaign Cash

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– Jesse Jackson Jr Charged With Stealing $750,000 In Campaign Cash Used To Purchase “Fur Capes And Parkas” And Much More (ZeroHedge, Feb 16, 2013):

And so the surreal criminal saga of former Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. (“JJJR”, “Junior” or just “Jackson”) has ended. Jackson, 47, a prominent Chicagoan son of the civil-rights leader of the same name for the handful of people who are unaware, was a national co-chairman of President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign and an advocate of traditional Democratic Party constituencies. He disappeared in June, and it was later revealed that he was being treated at the Mayo Clinic for bipolar disorder and gastrointestinal issues, although now it appears kleptomania may have been one of the afflictions treated too. He returned to his Washington home in September but went back to the clinic the next month. As Bloomberg summarizes, “he pushed to maintain government support for the poor, including welfare, assistance for heating bills and the Head Start early education program.” He certainly was very generous with other people’s money.So generous, in fact, that hours ago he was charged with “misusing“, also known as stealing, some $750,000 in campaign funds for purchases including a $43,350 gold Rolex watch, $5,150 for fur capes and parkas, $9,588 worth of “children’s furniture”, Michael Jackson and Bruce Lee memorabilia and much more.

At the same time Jackson’s wife, Sandra Stevens Jackson, was charged in a separate case with filing false tax returns. She faces a maximum penalty of three years in prison. Junior’s charge has a maximum term of five years in prison. More importantly, he is sorry (to be caught, we can only surmise): “I want to offer my sincerest apologies to my family, my friends and all of my supporters for my errors in judgment and while my journey is not yet complete, it is my hope that I am remembered for the things that I did right.”

We hope Jackson’s career-ender is a shining beacon of light what happens when the “misuse” of other people’s money is finally exposed, especially, as the case may be, when once it finally all runs out.

From Bloomberg:

Read moreJesse Jackson Jr Charged With Stealing $750,000 In Campaign Cash

Wal-Mart Says February Sales ‘Total Disaster’, Worst Monthly Start Since 2006 – Stock Drops

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Flashback:

– Welcome to the Recovery (New York Times, by Timothy Geithner, August 2, 2010)

Recovery is the ‘GREATEST DEPRESSION’.

– Wal-Mart Says February Sales “Total Disaster”, Worst Monthly Start Since 2006; Stock Drops (ZeroHedge, Feb 15, 2013):

Wal-Mart shares are plunging as the firm reports a ‘total disaster’ in its February sales. Bloomberg obtained internal emails that note:

“In case you haven’t seen a sales report these days, February MTD sales are a total disaster,” Jerry Murray, Wal-Mart’s vice president of finance and logistics, said in a Feb. 12 e-mail to other executives, referring to month-to-date sales. “The worst start to a month I have seen in my ~7 years with the company…. That points to our competitive landscape, which means everyone is suffering and probably worse than we are”

It gets better:

“We have to fight against the tougher economic environment to earn a bigger share of a smaller consumer spending pie”

Obviously in WMT speak, “tougher” is what Obama would call “much better and rapidly improving.”

Things must not be serious over in Bentonville for this much truth to suddenly hit the tape.

One senior executive summed it up perfectly – “Well, we just had one of those weeks here at Walmart U.S. Where are all the customers? And where’s their money?” The company notes the end of the payroll tax cut by Obama and asks “We need to stop the stupid.”

Read moreWal-Mart Says February Sales ‘Total Disaster’, Worst Monthly Start Since 2006 – Stock Drops

Greece: 40% Have No Disposable Income Left After Covering Basic Needs

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– Greek Consumers Most Pessimistic On Earth: 40% Have No Disposable Income (ZeroHedge, Feb 13, 2013):

Chronicling the collapsing Greek socioeconomic reality would be an interesting business school case study of what a zombie monetary regime kept alive at all costs does to the “weakest link(s)” (most recently “Greek Economy Grinds To A Halt As New Construction Implodes By 66.6%” and “Person Trampled As Fight Breaks Out At Greek Free Food Handout“), if only there weren’t real men and women suffering as a result of the stupidity and greed of a few entrenched individuals who will stop at nothing to see their paper wealth preserved at all costs. The latest salvo of the utter misery Greek society finds itself in comes from Nielsen research, which reports that Greeks are now the most pessimistic consumers on the planet, with the Greek consumer confidence index dropping to 35 points in the last quarter of 2012. That is the lowest level among a total of 58 countries surveyed and 11 points lower than the same period last year in Greece.

It gets worse.

As Kathimerini reports: “Four out of 10 Greeks told the same survey that they no longer have any disposable money left after covering their basic needs, which is the highest rate ever recorded in Greece and the biggest in the October-December period in Europe. A year earlier (in Q4 2011) that rate had stood at 34 percent and in Q4 of 2010 it had been at 25 percent.” Obligatory spin: once nobody has any disposable income, things can only get better. Unless, as Rajoy might add, they get worse.

Read moreGreece: 40% Have No Disposable Income Left After Covering Basic Needs

Meteorite Hits Russian Urals: Fireball Explosion Wreaks Havoc, Over 900 Injured (Video)

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YouTube

– Meteorite hits Russian Urals: Fireball explosion wreaks havoc, over 900 injured (PHOTOS, VIDEO) (RT, Feb 14, 2013):

Russia’s Urals region has been rocked by a meteorite explosion in the stratosphere. The impact wave damaged several buildings, and blew out thousands of windows amid frigid winter weather. Hundreds have sought medical attention for minor injuries.

Around 950 people have sought medical attention in Chelyabinsk alone because of the disaster, the region’s governor Mikhail Yurevich told RIA Novosti. Over 110 of them have been hospitalized and two of them are in heavy condition. Among the injured there are 159 children, Emergency ministry reported.Army units found three meteorite debris impact sites, two of which are in an area near Chebarkul Lake, west of Chelyabinsk. The third site was found some 80 kilometers further to the northwest, near the town of Zlatoust. One of the fragments that struck near Chebarkul left a crater six meters in diameter.

Servicemembers from the tank brigade that found the crater have confirmed that background radiation levels at the site are normal.

Read moreMeteorite Hits Russian Urals: Fireball Explosion Wreaks Havoc, Over 900 Injured (Video)