California: New Law Allows People Who Make Food At Home To Sell It To Restaurants And Grocery Stores

California’s Newest Business Craze: Homemade Food (Bloomberg, Jan 2, 2013):

Granola makers, homemade vinegar producers, and other foodies in California have cause to rejoice today. As of Jan. 1, a new state law allows people who make food at home to sell it to restaurants and grocery stores.

Leave it to California to upend decades of public health consensus that food businesses need commercial licenses to ensure their food is safe and free of harmful contaminants. The California Homemade Food Act creates a new category of food production called a “cottage food operation.”

Read moreCalifornia: New Law Allows People Who Make Food At Home To Sell It To Restaurants And Grocery Stores

Here Comes The Student Loan Bailout

Here Comes The Student Loan Bailout (ZeroHedge, Jan 5, 2013):

2012 is the year the student loan bubble finally popped. While on one hand the relentlessly rising total Federal student debt crossed $956 billion as of September 30, and was growing at a pace that will have put it over $1 trillion by the end of 2012, the one data point confirming the size, severity and ultimately bursting of this latest debt bubble was the disclosure in late November by the Fed that the percentage of 90+ day delinquent loans soared from under 9% to 11% in one quarter.

Which is why we were not surprised to learn that the Federal government has now delivered yet another bailout program: this time focusing not on banks, or homeowners who bought McMansions and decided to not pay their mortgage, but on those millions of Americans, aged 18 to 80, that are drowning in student debt – debt, incidentally, which has been used to pay for drugs, motorcycles, games, tattoos, not to mention countless iProducts. Which also means that since there is no free lunch, all that will happen is that even more Federal Debt will be tacked on to replace discharged student debt loans, up to the total $1 trillion which will promptly soar far higher as more Americans take advantage of this latest government handout. But when the US will already have $22 trillion in debt this time in four years, who really is counting? After all, “it is only fair” that the taxpayer funded “free for all” bonanza must go on.

Read moreHere Comes The Student Loan Bailout

Eric Sprott And Charles Biderman On Paper Vs. Physical Gold (Video)

Sprott And Biderman On Paper Vs. Physical Gold (ZeroHedge, Jan 5, 2013):

With gold prices dropping (notably divergent from the ever expanding global central bank balance sheets) but record-breaking levels of physical gold being purchased, we continue to reflect on the other ‘Great Rotation’ that we suspect is occurring as the New Year begins – that from paper gold to physical gold. Who better to discuss the nuances of this dilemma than Eric Sprott as he outlines to TrimTabs’ Charles Biderman the relative strengths and weaknesses of ETFs like GLD and SLV, physical-based ETFs such as PHYS and PSLV, and physical holdings themselves. While the new meme is that the Fed may be considering pulling back (on its ‘flow’) sooner than expected, reality is far different (as Bill Gross recently agreed with us) and that fact makes the following brief clip even more compelling.

CNBC’s Steve Liesman: ‘The Fed Gets To Print Dollars’; St. Louis Fed President James Bullard: ‘Indeed We Do’ (Video)

Liesman: “The Fed Gets To Print Dollars”; Bullard: “Indeed We Do” (ZeroHedge, Jan 4, 2013):

Fed mouthpieces Bullard and Lacker are out in force this morning talking the market back from the edge of yesterday’s FOMC Minutes and reassuring us that the economy is going to be weak enough for a lot longer to justify the Fed’s actions. However, right at the end of Jim Bullard’s interview with CNBC’s Steve Liesman, we got a glimpse of the reality behind the curtain as the St. Louis Fed president threw Bernanke under the purge-ry perjury bus… Following a discussion of fiscal policy uncertainty and the need to carefully spend what money we have, Liesman jokingly commented to Bullard that it is “Easy for you to say, you have a lot of dollars to spend; you get to print them!” To which the now foot-in-mouth Bullard replied, “Aaahh; indeed we do.” This seems a little different from what Bernanke previously told Congress.

Forward to around the 7:45 mark (though the early discussion is worthwhile as Bullard talks the economy down)…

Euros Discarded As Impoverished Greeks Resort To Bartering (Guardian)

Communities set up local currencies and exchange networks in attempt to beat the economic crisis


Stall-holders at a bartering market in the central Greek city of Volos, where shoppers use Tem coupons to exchange services or products. Photograph: Despoina Vafeidou /AFP/Getty Images

Euros discarded as impoverished Greeks resort to bartering (Guardian, Jan 2, 2013):

It’s been a busy day at the market in downtown Volos. Angeliki Ioanitou has sold a decent quantity of olive oil and soap, while her friend Maria has done good business with her fresh pies.

But not a single euro has changed hands – none of the customers on this drizzly Saturday morning has bothered carrying money at all. For many, browsing through the racks of second-hand clothes, electrical appliances and homemade jams, the need to survive means money has been usurped.

“It’s all about exchange and solidarity, helping one another out in these very hard times,” enthused Ioanitou, her hair tucked under a floppy felt cap. “You could say a lot of us have dreams of a utopia without the euro.”

In this bustling port city at the foot of Mount Pelion, in the heart of Greece’s most fertile plain, locals have come up with a novel way of dealing with austerity – adopting their own alternative currency, known as the Tem. As the country struggles with its worst crisis in modern times, with Greeks losing up to 40% of their disposable income as a result of policies imposed in exchange for international aid, the system has been a huge success. Organisers say some 1,300 people have signed up to the informal bartering network.

Read moreEuros Discarded As Impoverished Greeks Resort To Bartering (Guardian)

Secretary Of Labor Hilda Solis: Paying People Not To Work Saved Millions Of Jobs



Hilda Solis: Paying People Not To Work Saved Millions Of Jobs (ZeroHedge, Jan 4, 2013):

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis made her ubiquitous post-NFP appearance on CNBC this morning and spouted the usual propaganda. However, while discussing how wonderful the ATRA was, the seemingly slap-happy Solis noted how great the fact that emergency unemployment benefits were extended for millions of people was – and that thanks to that (and the magic of the Keynesian multiplier), millions of jobs were saved. So, to sum up, paying people not to work, saved millions and millions of jobs? Indeed America, indeed.

Must Watch from 3:00 onwards, she stumbles and shakes her head when pushed on the question of how many jobs we lost due to fiscal cliff uncertainty (no idea – none she believes) and then the money-shot on the unemployed and saving millions of small business jobs…

“By the movement that the President did [in ATRA negotiations] we saved millions of jobs”

The Four Business Gangs That Run The US (Sydney Morning Herald)

The four business gangs that run the US (Sydney Morning Herald, Dec 31, 2012):

IF YOU’VE ever suspected politics is increasingly being run in the interests of big business, I have news: Jeffrey Sachs, a highly respected economist from Columbia University, agrees with you – at least in respect of the United States.In his book, The Price of Civilisation, he says the US economy is caught in a feedback loop. ”Corporate wealth translates into political power through campaign financing, corporate lobbying and the revolving door of jobs between government and industry; and political power translates into further wealth through tax cuts, deregulation and sweetheart contracts between government and industry. Wealth begets power, and power begets wealth,” he says.

Sachs says four key sectors of US business exemplify this feedback loop and the takeover of political power in America by the ”corporatocracy”.

First is the well-known military-industrial complex. ”As [President] Eisenhower famously warned in his farewell address in January 1961, the linkage of the military and private industry created a political power so pervasive that America has been condemned to militarisation, useless wars and fiscal waste on a scale of many tens of trillions of dollars since then,” he says.

Read moreThe Four Business Gangs That Run The US (Sydney Morning Herald)

Where American Jobs Are: ’55 And Older’ — Some 2.7 Million Jobs Lost In The 16-55 Year Old Category Since Obama’s First Term

Where The Jobs Are: “55 And Older” (ZeroHedge, Jan 4, 2013):

A good jobs report? Sure, if one is 55 and over. In December the American jobs gerontocracy continued its relentless course, and as the two charts below summarize since Obama’s first term, some 2.7 million jobs in the 16-55 year old category have been lost. The “offset”: 4 million jobs for Americans between 55 and 69. For all those young people graduating from college (with $150,000 in student loans) who are unable to get a job, here is our advice: tell your parents, and grandparents, to retire already. Oh wait, they can’t because Bernanke destroyed their savings. Oops – better luck next time.

Job “gains” for all Americans 54 and younger vs those 55 and older:

And the same broken down by segment:

Read moreWhere American Jobs Are: ’55 And Older’ — Some 2.7 Million Jobs Lost In The 16-55 Year Old Category Since Obama’s First Term

New Year’s Eve In France: 1,193 Vehicles Burned Within A Few Hours

As Cars Burn In France, The Industry Of Hope Booms (Testosterone Pit, Jan 3, 2013):

New Year’s Eve was the main event. And it didn’t disappoint: 1,193 vehicles were burned in France in the course of a few hours, said Interior Minister Manuel Valls. Up 4% from 2009, when 1,147 vehicles were burned. A tradition no one has the balls to explain. In the days leading up to the annual rite, Valls had promised “complete transparence,” in contrast to the Sarkozy government, which had hushed up the numbers since 2009. But it’s a year-round event: 40,244 vehicles were burned during 2011 and 43,568 the year before. Even Valls was “shocked” by these numbers.

But the massive destruction of functional vehicles (most of them paid for by insurance) wasn’t nearly enough to bail out the automakers. New vehicle sales for the year 2012 dropped 13.9% from the already miserable levels of 2011. Only 1.89 million vehicles were sold, a low not seen since 1997, despite the growth of the population. Particularly alarming: sales by French automakers collapsed, PSA Peugeot Citroen by 17.5%, Renault by 22.1%. All hopes had been riding on their new models—the Peugeot 208 and the Renault Clio 4—which hit the market in the fall, but those hopes have since evaporated.

Other automakers got clobbered as well: Ford was down 19.8%, Fiat, which hardly anyone is buying anymore, fell 23.7%, only to be outdone by GM’s beleaguered Opel, down 23.8%. But there were winners: BMW was up 2.3%, Mercedes 5.3%, and Hyundai-Kia 28.2%! So the French automakers, like other French industries, have a complex problem: uncompetitive products in a morose market with unemployment that has been climbing with incessant brutality, and a tax quagmire of unprecedented proportions [“Trench Warfare” Or “Civil War” Over Confiscatory Taxes In France].

Read moreNew Year’s Eve In France: 1,193 Vehicles Burned Within A Few Hours

Gallup Poll: 65 Percent Of Americans Believe That 2013 Will Be A Year Of Economic Difficulty

65 Percent Of Americans Believe That 2013 Will Be A Year Of Economic Difficulty (Economic Collapse, Jan 3, 2013):

Do you believe that economic trouble is coming in 2013?  If so, you have a lot of company.  According to a brand new Gallup poll that was just released, 65 percent of Americans believe that 2013 will be a year of “economic difficulty” while only 33 percent of Americans believe that 2013 will be a year of “economic prosperity”.  Gallup has been asking this question for a lot of years, and the percentage of Americans that are anticipating economic difficulty in the year ahead has not been this high since the early 1980s.  And without a doubt, there are a whole lot of reasons to be deeply concerned about the economy as we head into the new year.  But it isn’t just 2013 that Americans are pessimistic about.  According to the new Gallup poll, 50 percent of all Americans believe that the best days of America are behind us, and only 47 percent of all Americans believe that the best days of America are ahead of us.  Those are very sobering numbers.  Half the country believes that it is only downhill from here for the United States.  Unfortunately, they are exactly right.  Things are rapidly going to get worse for our economy and for our nation as a whole.  We are going to start reaping the consequences of decades of very foolish decisions, and the pain is going to be immense.

Gallup asked some other very interesting questions as well.  The following are some of the other results from the poll

-68 percent of Americans believe that 2013 will be a year of rising crime rates.

-57 percent of Americans believe that 2013 will be a year in which American power will decline in the world.

-82 percent of Americans believe that 2013 will be a year in which taxes in the United States will rise.

Read moreGallup Poll: 65 Percent Of Americans Believe That 2013 Will Be A Year Of Economic Difficulty

Total Desperation: Spain Plunders 90% Of Social Security Fund To Buy Its Own Debt

Spain Plunders 90% Of Social Security Fund To Buy Its Own Debt (ZeroHedge, Jan 3, 2013):

With Spanish 10Y yields hovering at a ‘relatively’ healthy 5%, having been driven inexorably lower on the promise of ECB assistance at some time in the future, the market has become increasingly unsure of just who it is that keeps bidding for this stuff. Well, wonder no longer. As the WSJ notes, Spain has been quietly tapping the country’s richest piggy bank, the Social Security Reserve Fund, as a buyer of last resort for Spanish government bonds – with at least 90% of the €65 billion ($85.7 billion) fund has been invested in increasingly risky Spanish debt. Of course, this is nothing new, the US (and the Irish) have been using quasi-government entities to fund themselves in a mutually-destructive circle-jerk for years – the only difference being there are other buyers in the Treasury market, whereas in Spain the marginal buyer is critical to support the sinking ship. The Spanish defend the use of pension funds to buy bonds as sustainable as long as it can issue bonds – and yet the only way it can actually get the bonds off in the public markets is through using the pension fund assets. The pensioners sum it up perfectly “We are very worried about this, we just don’t know who’s going to pay for the pensions of those who are younger now,” or those who are older we would add.Via Wall Street Journal: Spain Drains Pension Fund In Borrowing Spree

Spain has been quietly tapping the country’s richest piggy bank, the Social Security Reserve Fund, as a buyer of last resort for Spanish government bonds, raising questions about the fund’s role as guarantor of future pension payouts.

Read moreTotal Desperation: Spain Plunders 90% Of Social Security Fund To Buy Its Own Debt

Japan May Pass New Law To Force Retailers To Sell Fukushima Produce

#Radioactive Japan under LDP: Law May Be Passed to Force Retailers to Carry Fukushima Produce (EX-SKF, Jan 3, 2013):

Speaking of population decrease, Japan has a ministerial post to deal with declining number of children in Japan. The new minister under the Abe pork-cutlet-curry administration is Ms. Masako Mori, who is also the minister in charge of consumer affairs.

In another WTF moment, Ms. Mori declares the new national government under LDP is considering passing the legislation to force retailers to sell Fukushima produce. It’s not very clear from the article below by Fukushima Minpo whether this legislation is intended for retailers only in Fukushima, or any retailers anywhere. (The more I read it, it feels the legislation will be for the retailers everywhere in Japan, but not 100% sure.)

Read moreJapan May Pass New Law To Force Retailers To Sell Fukushima Produce

PIMCO’s Bill Gross On Bernanke’s Latest Helicopter Flyover, ‘Money For Nothing, Debt For Free’ And The End Of Ponzi Schemes

Bill Gross On Bernanke’s Latest Helicopter Flyover, “Money For Nothing, Debt For Free” And The End Of Ponzi Schemes (ZeroHedge, Jan 3, 2013):

Back in April 2012, in “How The Fed’s Visible Hand Is Forcing Corporate Cash Mismanagement” we first explained how despite its best intentions (to boost the Russell 2000 to new all time highs, a goal it achieved), the Fed’s now constant intervention in capital markets has achieved one thing when it comes to the real economy: an unprecedented capital mismanagemenet, where as a result of ZIRP, corporate executives will always opt for short-term, low IRR, myopic cash allocation decisions such as dividend, buyback and, sometimes, M&A, seeking to satisfy shareholders and ignoring real long-term growth opportunities such as R&D spending, efficiency improvements, capital reinvestment, retention and hiring of employees, and generally all those things that determine success for anyone whose investment horizon is longer than the nearest lockup gate. Today, one calendar year later, none other than Bill Gross, in his first investment letter of 2013, admits we were correct: “Zero-bound interest rates, QE maneuvering, and “essentially costless” check writing destroy financial business models and stunt investment decisions which offer increasingly lower ROIs and ROEs. Purchases of “paper” shares as opposed to investments in tangible productive investment assets become the likely preferred corporate choice.

It is this that should be the focus of economists, and not what the level of the S&P is, as it is no longer indicative of any underlying market fundamentals, but merely how large, in nominal terms, the global balance sheet is. And as long as the impact of peak central-planning on “business models” is ignored, there can be no hope of economic stabilization, let alone improvement. All this and much more, especially his admissions that yes, it is flow, and not stock, that dominates the Fed market impact (think great white shark – must always be moving), if not calculus, in Bill Gross’ latest letter.

From PIMCO:

Read morePIMCO’s Bill Gross On Bernanke’s Latest Helicopter Flyover, ‘Money For Nothing, Debt For Free’ And The End Of Ponzi Schemes

Mississippi River Nears Historic Lows, Shipping At Risk

Mississippi River nears historic lows, shipping at risk (Reuters, Jan 2, 2013):

The drought-drained Mississippi River will rise slightly later this week between St. Louis and Cairo, Illinois, but later continue its decline toward historic lows, according to a National Weather Service forecast.Low water, due to the worst U.S. drought since 1956, has already impeded the flow of billions of dollars worth of grain, coal, fertilizer and other commodities between the central United States and shipping terminals at the Gulf of Mexico.

A further drop in river levels could halt commercial shipping traffic entirely by this weekend, the American Waterways Operators and the Waterways Council Inc said in a statement on Wednesday.

Read moreMississippi River Nears Historic Lows, Shipping At Risk

Fiscal Cliff Deal: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly From The Fiscal Cliff Deal (Economic Collapse, Jan 2, 2013):

The fiscal cliff deal contains more bad news than it does good news.  Yes, the tax increases on the middle class could have been much worse, and we should be thankful that Congress at least did something for the middle class.  Unfortunately, they didn’t do enough.  Every American worker is going to pay higher taxes next year as a result of this deal.  The fiscal cliff deal represents the biggest tax increase in 20 years, and it is also projected to increase the U.S. national debt by an additional 4 trillion dollars over the next decade.  In the final analysis, U.S. government finances are still wildly out of control and we are all going to be paying higher taxes.  Not a whole lot to be excited about, and nothing has really been fixed for the long-term.  Our politicians have kicked the can down the road once again, but someday they will run out of road and all of this debt will absolutely crush us.  And of course a lot of our politicians didn’t even really know what they were voting for.  The fiscal cliff bill was more than 150 pages long, and our Senators got the bill into their hands just 3 minutes before they voted on it.  So none of them actually read the bill.  But that is the way things work in America today.  The blind are leading the blind and everyone is mindlessly hoping that everything will turn out okay somehow.

For a few moments, let’s take a closer look at the fiscal cliff deal.  There are some good things in there, there are some bad things in there, and there are some things about the deal that are downright ugly.

Read moreFiscal Cliff Deal: The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Impossible In America: ‘Executives At Collapsed Iceland Bank Jailed For Fraud’ (Reuters)


More on Iceland HERE.


Executives at collapsed Iceland bank jailed for fraud (Reuters, Dec 29, 2012):

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) – Two former executives at an Icelandic bank which collapsed in the 2008 financial meltdown were sentenced to jail on Friday for fraud which led to a 53 million euro loss, in the first major trial of Icelandic bankers linked to the crisis.

All three of the small North Atlantic island’s top banks collapsed in quick succession in October 2008 due to big debts incurred during a rapid overseas expansion.

Read moreImpossible In America: ‘Executives At Collapsed Iceland Bank Jailed For Fraud’ (Reuters)

Why Did A Train Carrying Biofuel Cross The Border 24 Times And Never Unload?

Why did a Train Carrying Biofuel Cross the Border 24 Times and Never Unload? (Oil Price, Jan 1, 2013):

A cargo train filled with biofuels crossed the border between the US and Canada 24 times between the 15th of June and the 28th of June 2010; not once did it unload its cargo, yet it still earned millions of dollars. CBC News of Canada was the first to pick up on this story on the 3rd of December 2012, and began their own investigation into the possible explanations behind this odd behaviour.

Read moreWhy Did A Train Carrying Biofuel Cross The Border 24 Times And Never Unload?

Moody’s Warns On USAAA Rating

Moody’s Warns On USAAA Rating; IMF Piles On (ZeroHedge, Jan 2, 2012):

Moody’s has stepped forward with the first warning shot across the bow that:

  • *MOODY’S: MORE MEDIUM TERM ACTIONS MAY BE NEEDED TO SUPPORT Aaa

Has contradicted itself (from September) on the debt-ceiling breach; and warns that while the deal ‘mitigates’ some fiscal drag, it does not remove it. To wit: the IMF piles on:

  • *IMF SAYS `MORE REMAINS TO BE DONE’ ON U.S. PUBLIC FINANCES
  • *IMF SAYS U.S. DEBT CEILING SHOULD BE RAISED `EXPEDITIOUSLY’

Full statements below.

Read moreMoody’s Warns On USAAA Rating

Don’t Show Bernanke This Chart Of Gold Loans In India

Don’t Show Bernanke This Chart Of Gold Loans In India (ZeroHedge, Jan 2, 2013):

One of the Fed Chairman’s most memorable lines in recent history is that gold is not money… it is tradition.” Perhaps he was merely listening to the Fed’s computers, Ferbus, Edo and Sigma, which we now know form the backbone of US central planning and whose DSGE model output is usually spot on until it happens to be catastrophically wrong, on the issue. Or perhaps that is merely what one is taught (and teaches) in the Princeton economics department. Whatever the reason for Bernanke’s belief, don’t show him this chart from a just released “Report of the Working Group to Study the Issues Related to Gold Imports and Gold Loans by NBFCs” in India, part of a coordinated campaign to minimize Indian gold demand and imports whose direct substitution to “(un)sound money” in the country is one of the reason being attributed for the nation’s high current account deficit (as reported earlier) and why the finance minister said “demand for gold must be moderated.” The chart shows the staggering eightfold increase in India’s gold loans “which monetize the idle gold in the country“, in just four short years. In short it proves that in India, gold is the only real money, and is the only fallback option in a country where inflation is still rampant, and where even simple peasants prefer to keep their wealth not in the local paper currency, which has been losing its value aggressively in recent years, but in the shiny metal. Must be “tradition.”

Read moreDon’t Show Bernanke This Chart Of Gold Loans In India

Rick Santelli: ‘There Has To Be An Endgame To Insanity’ (Video)

Santelli: “There Has To Be An Endgame To Insanity” (ZeroHedge, Jan 2, 2012):

The ‘deal’ didn’t surprise CNBC’s Rick Santelli as he notes the administration did the “easy thing” once again. However, he does think the coming battle in 6-8 weeks regarding the debt ceiling will be surprising to many and believes “there has to be an endgame to insanity.” Rick’s rightly cynical perspective on the euphoric opening gap today in stocks and bonds (and questioning the veracity of manipulated ‘market’ prices) appears as frustrating to him as “watching politicians all slap each other on the back while the country slips into a Grecian like formula.”

50 Predictions For 2013

50 Predictions For 2013 (Economic Collapse, Jan 1, 2013):

Are you ready for a wild 2013?  It should be a very interesting year.  When the calendar flips over each January, lots of people make lots of lists.  They make lists of “resolutions”, but most people never follow through on them.  They make lists of “predictions”, but most of those predictions always seem to end up failing.  Well, I have decided to put out my own list of predictions for 2013.  I openly admit that I won’t get all of these predictions right, and that is okay.  Hopefully I will at least be more accurate than most of the other armchair prognosticators out there.  It is important to look ahead and try to get a handle on what is coming, because I believe that the rest of this decade is going to be extraordinarily chaotic for the U.S. economy.  The false bubble of debt-fueled prosperity that we are enjoying right now is not going to last much longer.  When it comes to an end, the “adjustment” is going to be extremely painful.  Those that understand what is happening and have prepared for it will have the best chance of surviving what is about to hit us.  I honestly don’t know what everybody else is going to do.  Many of the people that don’t see the coming collapse approaching will be totally blindsided by it and will totally give in to despair when they realize what has happened.  But there is no excuse for not seeing what is coming – the signs are everywhere.

So with that being said, the following are 50 bold predictions for 2013…

Read more50 Predictions For 2013

Why?

Why? (The American Dream, Dec 31, 2012):

Why does it seem like America is getting crazier with each passing year?  It has become glaringly apparent that very deep corruption has taken root in our society from the lowest levels of society all the way up to the highest levels of society.  In fact, some of the worst behavior of all is being exhibited by those that are supposed to be “examples” for our young people – politicians, bankers, lawyers, CEOs, etc.  As we enter 2013, the American people are greedy, selfish, boastful, proud, arrogant, disrespectful, ungrateful, materialistic, unforgiving, without self-control and they are completely and totally addicted to entertainment.  They believe that America will always be “the greatest nation on earth” just because of who we are, and they believe that the rest of the world should look up to us as a bright, shining example of everything that is good in the world.  Meanwhile, we lead the world in a large number of negative categories and our society is decaying right in front of our eyes.  It reminds me of what happened during the waning days of the Roman Empire.  The Romans just assumed that Rome would always be dominant forever, and they became extremely complacent and extraordinarily decadent.  We all know how that turned out, and at this point things are not looking good for America either.So where do we go from here?

Well, it might help to ask ourselves a few questions as another year begins.

The following are 25 “why questions” for you to ponder as we enter 2013…

Read moreWhy?